Getting to grips with Crochet

Crochet continues to enjoy a renaissance, increasing hugely in popularity over recent years. This may be related to cultural trends and experiences such as a period of austerity, the slow movement ethos, and a growing interest for many people in seeking a more simple life.

As well as being a great craft in its own right, crochet works beautifully with other textile crafts such as sewing and knitting in particular. If you are a knitter, crochet adds another string to your knitterly bow and enabling you to make effective edges and embellishments with relative ease.

The real challenge though with crochet is that as a beginner you need to get to grips with the hardest part first. Learning the basics of how to hold your hook, working a foundation chain, and making simple stitches in rows can be quite effort full , and feel a bit like you are wrestling an octopus! This can be a little off putting and frustrating to start with as we are mostly used to learning things the other way around, in that when learning something new we generally start with easier tasks, building up to the more challenging elements.

This can seem a little disappointing when you decide to learn crochet, and many of us imagine we'll be whipping up projects immediately, when in fact your only reward for a day's work at that stage is likely to be a few wizened looking scaps - if you manage more than that on your first attempt then I take my hat off to you! The hard truth is that, as for most crafts, you cannot expect to achieve fantastic results immediately - there are no shortcuts and you simply have to put the time in. The trick is to take your time and enjoy the journey rather than being too fixed on having a finished product on day 1.

I recently taught a Crochet from Scratch workshop at Swansea. I always enjoy workshop days - a whole day of woolly goodness, sharing your passion with a group of fellow yarnoholics - what's not to like?

Setting up at the start of the day

Here is the group of lovely participants who beavered away all day getting to grips with their first crochet stitches - and as you can see they were still smiling at the end of it.

The good news with crochet though, is once you've got to grips with those couple of building blocks, and that really doesn't take an age, it becomes easier and easier to learn more advanced skills and it really is just a tiny step more to start making some really beautiful projects. Honest. It really is the case.

April's Workshop at Swansea will be Next Steps with Crochet which helps you achieve just that, reinforcing those basic building blocks and walking you through a few new skills. Next Steps in Crochet is aimed at those who already know how to make chains, and can remember how to work doubles and trebles (even if a little rusty). This workshop moves you from the basics to making twirls and working in the round to form squares and motifs. You’ll be able to have a go at crocheting with beads, and you’ll be able to go home with your own unique flower corsage.

If you've already learned,or are in the process of learning to crochet, I'd love to hear how you got on with this - What did you find particularly difficult or easy? What did you find helpful when you were learning? Do leave a comment below, it'll make my day.

Sign up below to receive your copy of my Blossom Mitts knitting pattern and be one of the first to hear news of further posts and updates. 

 

Elements: A Collaborative Handknitting Project with Alison Crowther-Smith

If it seems like I've been a bit quiet here lately, it's because there's a lot going on behind the scenes. Not least of all I've been beavering away on an exciting collaborative  project with designer Alison Crowther-Smith. In six months time we will be launching our new (and first) collaborative book: 'Elements'. Elements is a collection of 24 hand-knit designs. Knitted with Rowan yarns, and inspired by our native landscapes, Elements will be available in September 2015.

It's a thrill to collaborate with Alison whose designs I have long admired, but also because she is such great fun to work with. I first met Alison when we both worked as in-store Rowan Design Consultants at Bristol a number of years ago. Both sharing a huge passion for the art and craft of knitting, we quickly became firm friends, and working collaboratively on Elements seems to me to be a natural course of that friendship.

I'm afraid I can't share any pictures of the project right now, so instead here's a picture of my latest offering, Blossom Mitts. This design was originally created during that time as a Rowan Design consultant, but I've dusted it off and reworked it.

Knitted in lusciously soft baby alpaca these lovely fingerless mitts will keep you snug in the cooler months and make an ideal gift.

Knitted flat and seamed, this design will suit knitters who don’t knit in the round. The cuff is softly frilled and worked in a simple twisted rib. The hand is worked in stocking (stockinette) stitch with a fully fashioned thumb and single opening for the fingers. A knitted flower with a central bead adds a feminine touch, but you can omit this or easily substitute for another motif if you prefer.

Rowan Baby Alpaca DK has now been discontinued, however you can use any DK (light worsted) weight yarn. I fancy re-knitting these in the sumptuous Rowan Alpaca Colour which I love.

Blossom Mitts will shortly be available to purchase from my website, Etsy shop and via Ravelry. To get your hands on a free copy ahead of time though, simply sign up for my newsletter below and you'll receive a personal email with the pdf  pattern within 48hours.

Sign up below to receive your copy of Blossom Mitts and be one of the first to hear  news of further posts and updates. 

Knit Design Inspiration

There is often the perception that artists and designers have lighting bolt/out of the blue flashes of inspiration which arrive 'from within' or from a divine entity as a full or near fully formed idea. Whilst this may be the experience for some individuals, and on rare occasions for others, for the majority of creative folk it's a much more grounded process often starting with a spark of inspiration and working (hard!) over a period of time teasing out and developing an idea from this original source.

More often design inspiration is found outside of ourselves in the first instance and may involve an interplay between this and our inner selves, previous experiences, current preoccupations etc. Finding design inspiration can be a real challenge for many, but the truth is it's all around us and we often encounter sources of inspiration in our everyday lives and often by accident. For example here is a Romanesco (broccoli/cauliflower) I had in my veg box one week: 
 

I don't know about you, but I hadn't seen one of these before and found myself completely fascinated by it and in awe of nature for this impressive structural design. Like many others, I often find inspiration from nature, though in this case I didn't even go outdoors! I've not done any design work with this yet though I'm sure I will, and it's on a back boiler while I ruminate further. I don't know at this stage what the destination will be, but it suggests a play with textured stitches such as blackberry stitch but I also want to capture the spiral/fractal structure............

I'd love to hear what sort of things fascinate and inspire you - do share by leaving a comment below.

If you enjoyed this post why not sign up below to be one of the first to hear  news of further posts and updates? 

 

Introducing Millie - Feline Design Assistant

"One Approves"

Well I thought it was time you should meet my fab little feline studio assistant, Millie - Wherever there are textiles to view Miss Millie is there like a whippet to perform essential quality assurance. Here she is undertaking a thorough assessment of the felted nuno scarf I put out to dry on the table. I made the scarf at a workshop I arranged last October for Stitches Coven which was tutored by the talented and inspiring Mandy Nash. I'm pleased to say it was a definite hit with Miss Millie (or Miss Millamena as she is sometimes called) who is a lover of girly accessories including bags & shoes.

The same could not be said for her opinion of the colour scheme I've been putting together for a new design. Here we see Miss Millie just in shot heading straight for the trouble spot with those blue/grey shades at the top of the stack.

She's quite right too with her diagnosis as there is simply not enough tonal contrast happening there, but I think a quick substitution of ivory for a blue does the trick.

After all that hard work here she is having a well-earned rest.

I can't believe how well behaved Millie is with my knitting and other work - unless you really waggle a bit of yarn under her nose that is. Do you have little 'helpers' like Millie? Or do you have little 'hinderers' instead?

If you enjoyed this post why not sign up below to be one of the first to hear  news of further posts and updates? 

How will you be greeting 2015?

A new day and a new start- yesterday we took a bracing walk on the beach to dust off the cobwebs and welcome in the New Year.  There we witnessed the Port Talbot New Year Dippers - a local tradition where brave souls gather at 11 in the morning to greet the new year by stripping off to their bathers and racing en masse for a dip in the icy sea.

Many will have gained sponsors to raise funds for various charities, some will do it for the fun (?) of it, but for others it is a way to embrace the new year with attitude - demonstrating an intent to face any challenges ahead with gusto. I was merely a spectator but hope this spirited approach will have rubbed off and I can take a leaf out of their book.

I'm not keen on making New Years Resolutions in the traditional sense - I see little point in making lists of things that I musn't do - where's the fun in that? I think it's always best to go with your strengths - and I have willpower by the sack load - just not so abundantly gifted with won't power!

So instead I like to think about what I will do - I have a short lost of things I'd like to achieve, such as learning a new skill or tackling a specific project I have in mind, and I like to have a couple of  life enriching principles/philosophies in mind to focus on for the year ahead.

1.This year I'm feeling inspired by Paloma Faith's recent song offering - Ready for the good life - this is about letting go of negative experiences, fostering optimism & positivity and being receptive to the good stuff instead.

2. Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful (William Morris). In order to be ready for this 'good life' I'm also going to be big on the decluttering this year to allow plenty of time and space for all these wonderful things that will of course be coming my way!

How will you be facing 2015? Do you have any New Year traditions or do you prefer to simply go with the flow? Do share by commenting below.

I hope you have had a lovely holiday period,  and wish you all the best for a fulfilling and creative 2015

If you enjoyed this post why not sign up below to be one of the first to hear  news of further posts and updates?