Blog
Testing the Sophie Twirl Raglan pattern
When was the last time you did something for the first time ever? This summer I volunteered to join the testing team for Amber Zumbrun’s latest crochet design. It was actually a double first for me: I had never done pattern testing for a designer, AND I had never made...
A day out at CHSI Stitches in Birmingham
Ruth and Jenny kindly let me tag along to their annual trip to CHSI Stitches. I didn’t know what to expect from a craft show only open to professionals…
Delicious Crochet Shawls, by Lisa Cook – a review
I hadn’t planned on buying a book about crochet shawls but while browsing I flicked through a few crochet books, but none caught my attention until I got to Delicious Crochet Shawls. It was a winner for me because… it contained charts!
Who needs a yarn diet?
Some people decide to go on a “yarn diet” in the New Year. I find it such a dreadful term! Yarn brings such joy to people like us, whereas diets… well, they are rather ghastly for everyone, aren’t they?
Knitters can’t crochet – a myth
Stephanie is a keen knitter, but stated categorically at the start of our first session “I can’t crochet!” Fast forward an hour: it turns out Stephanie can crochet, enjoys it and is even really good at it – she is now bistitchual!
Crochet Home, by Emma Lamb – a review
Like any good crochet book, this one starts with a section about how to go about using it and I love the fact that the very first information given is that Emma uses UK crochet terms throughout.
Don’t make a scarf!
The other day, I was chatting with fellow yarn lovers and we discussed the fact that the first thing most beginners want to do (whether they have a go at knitting or crochet) is to make a scarf, and that’s often a big mistake.
Raising money for Mind with a Crafternoon
Over the summer I saw a post somewhere on social media about the mental health charity Mind encouraging people to organise a Crafternoon to raise money for the cause and I thought, why not? So I ordered a fundraising pack!
Crochet in art: Joana Vasconcelos
Today I wanted to talk to you about an artist who uses crochet a lot in her work: Joana Vasconcelos. I discovered this French-born Portuguese artist back in 2012, when I went to visit the palace of Versailles with my aunt and my cousin.
A visit to Sirdar
Once we were all there, we were taken to a meeting room that made us all green with envy: walls lined with a ball of each yarn made by the DMC Group, which consists of DMC itself, Sirdar (and its sub-brands, like Sublime and Hayfield) and Wool and the Gang
Mandalas to Crochet, by Haafner Linssen – a review
It is a very pleasant book to own. As I work mainly with graphs and tend to ignore written instructions, I cannot guarantee that my copy is 100% error-free but I checked the keys of all 30 mandala charts and everything seems to be correct!
It’s my crochet-versary!
On this day 4 years ago I was giving my first crochet lesson. I love doing this more and more with each lesson I teach. I am eternally grateful to the people who have made this possible along the way.
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