April 5, 2019 @ 5:03 am

Episode 41 - Three Years Old

Hello there and welcome to The Crochet Circle Podcast and the show notes for Episode 41 – Three Years Old.

My name is Fay and this is my audio and video podcast for those that love fibre crafts, particularly crochet. It’s a community for people that like to support their fellow humans regardless of race, gender, sexuality, ability, size or age. I hope you feel the welcome embrace and love of the Crochet Clan. Come on in and stay a while.

In this episode I cover: Review of KnitPro ball winder; Crochet Inclusivity; Final Destination; En Route; Designs in Progress; Feeding the habit; Quick News Beats and J’adore.

This podcast is sponsored by

KNIT IT - HOOK IT - CRAFT IT

Thanks to everyone who tunes into the podcast whether it is through Stitcher, Podbean, Spotify, iTunes or the YouTube Channel. Your support and engagement are really appreciated and makes running a podcast very special and worthwhile.

If you would like to support the podcast, you can now do that through my new Ko-fi account, just click on the image, or follow this link: https://ko-fi.com/crochetcirclepodcast

1 – Review

When I first started my yarn journey, I bought myself a cheap, plastic ball winder because I didn’t know then that crochet and all things yarn would literally take over my life!

ALT TEXT: Grey background and close up of cream and red crappy plastic ball winder with broken metal finger.

Over the last couple of months, I have tried a couple of different KnitPro wooden ball winders to see whether they would be a better option for me. Well, the proof is that I now own one.

ALT TEXT: Grey background with wooden ball winder and orange/grey wool scattered around it.

Given that I can be caking up yarn every other day, I thought it was a wise decision. So, here’s what I hate about my old ball winder and love about the new one:

1 – OLD: it creates a very tight cake which means that my yarn is being held under tension.

NEW: the cakes are taller and wider, so the yarn is not under the same amount of tension and pressure.

2 – OLD: it’s mainly made of plastic and is flimsy.

NEW: It’s predominantly made of wood with a little plastic and some metal. It feels very substantial and durable.

3 – OLD: the metal finger that your yarn is placed through stopped standing on its own after about the third use.

NEW: The metal finger is very firmly in place and does not move as part of the ball winder set-up.

4 – OLD: the cakes almost always get tangled at the bottom of the spinner towards the end of the skein wind. I have had t o cut my yarn before now, to release it.

NEW: The wooden base that the yarn caked up from is much bigger and can more than cope with the job.

5 – OLD: The ball winder struggles to create neat mini cakes.

NEW: The cakes are neat and seem to be staying in place. I need to test whether they work well or not though.

6 – OLD: It’s really difficult to get a nice centre pulled ball that doesn’t get knotted up.

NEW: There is a space big enough to get your fingers into to pull the centre yarn from. The cake seems to have more space in the core, so I am hopeful that the centre pull will be easy and not tangled.

The KnitPro ball winder also makes really pretty looking cakes – I know this isn’t really important, but when you have to photograph yarn as part of your living, it does factor in.

ALT TEXT: two photos, both with grey backgrounds. First shows two cakes of identical yarn, the left was wound with the plastic crappy winder and is shorter, denser and messier and the second cake is taller and prettier. Photo two shows 3 mini skeins (2 pink and a marroon), a green with neon colour pop cake and the brown tweed one from the first photo.

The wooden ball winder is clearly much bigger than the plastic one, so you will need more space to operate it, but the proof is in the pudding.

If you are often caking up yarn, then I wholeheartedly recommend this bit of kit. I bought mine from Nikki at Ewe Felty Thing and it arrived within a week. It’s not a cheap option at £105 + P&P, however, this is a piece of essential equipment for my hobby and job and I expect to be using this until the day I die. Caking yarn is now a joy and not a task, especially when they come out in such a pretty shape!

2 – Crochet inclusivity

Last month, I said that I was only going to purchase yarns from vendors that had crochet samples out. I spent much of Edinburgh Yarn Festival diligently asking whether yarn dyers and vendors had crochet samples that I could see. I got mixed reactions! Some stall holders had some crochet, but the vast majority did not. That isn’t specific to EYF, I find that to be the case at most yarn festivals.

Beyond the snobby reactions that I sometimes receive around crochet, there is a fundamental lack of understanding around our craft. That may be because the vendors don’t crochet or they did it years ago and associate it with blankets, acrylic yarn and clashing colours.

There are also the urban myths that surround crochet – such as it’s yarn hungry; done by grannies, or that there are no contemporary crochet designs coming through! In the podcast I reference a piece of research I did on knitting v crochet for grams used. You can access that research via my blog post here.

With most things in life, I am more carrot than stick. I am willing to put the work in to help educate people on crochet as a craft. My plan is to do this by writing an open letter to yarn shops, indie dyers, yarn vendors, yarn festival organisers that don’t currently give consideration to crocheters.

As part of the open letter, I will point them towards resources that dispel the urban myths and showcase the fantastic contemporary crochet that we have. In the long-term, I plan to pull together a Crochet Collective whereby, yarn shops etc. can call upon a list of crochet designers that have beautiful crochet patterns that have been fully tech edited and deserve space and attention in yarn shops, at shows and on Instagram.

Needless to say, this is all going to take time, so watch this space. I always say to Matthew that “if I haven’t helped to change the face of crochet by the time I die, I simply didn’t work hard enough!”

3 – Final Destination

I can finally share my secret projects with you! Before Christmas, I started working on a shawl called Drucilla. It was kept a secret because it is one of the patterns in the new John Arbon Textiles publication, The Annual. There are three knitting patterns in The Annual and my crochet pattern.

ALT TEXT for four clsutered photos: Top left has a grey background with some beach pebbles placed to the left of The Annual front cover. with skeins of yarn on a wooden table, mill bobbins on the floor. Top right is a blue wall with a dusky mauve shawl with a marroon border on a mannequin. Bottom left has a grey background with The Annual opened at a page with a triangular version of the shale in a marroon colour and dark browny/black border. Modelled out on Exmoor by a young female. Bottom right is the same but the shawl is now shown as a C2C version in a very light grey/blue laceweight yarn.

All yarns are from John Arbon Textiles. Top right used 2 x 100g skeins of Knit By Numbers DK KBN90 and 1 x mini skein DK in KBN75

Bottom left used 2 x Devonia 4ply in colourway 'Bleeding Heart' and 1 x colourway 'Cinder Glow'.

Bottom right used 2 x 100g skeins of Alpaca 2-3 ply (heavy laceweight) in colourway 'Sea Spray'.

Drucilla is a great all-rounder shawl, using V stitch. You can do it with one or two skeins, keep it as a triangular shawl or make it into a C2C shawl as I did with the heavy lace version. I have also just finished off a DK weight version to show that it can be crocheted from laceweight up to DK.

If you want to get your hands on the pattern, The Annual can be purchased via the John Arbon website. It costs £5 plus P&P. The whole thing is packed full of information and fun elements, like a spot the difference game!

I have also finished off some knitted socks. A pair for my best friend, Jenny and a pair for my Dad.

ALT TEXT: Two photos both with a grey background. The first shows a charcoal grey pair of socks with hot pink stripes, heels and toes. The second is a plain tealy/ blue pair of socks.

Striped socks are in Dragon Hill Studio 4 ply 'Metro Pinstripe'. Second pair is in Lang Jawoll, colourway 'Peacock'.

4 – En Route

The saga of my Esja jumper continues! I had hoped to be showing you how to work the sleeves as part of the podcast, but I ran out of yarn! We are heading up to Scotland on Friday, so I will pop into Blacksheep Wools on the way and pick up an extra skein and hopefully finish it off in the car on the way to Ben Nevis.

Next month, I WILL be wearing my Esja jumper!

5 – Designs in Progress

Last month I showed off a Barcelona inspired long cowl that I had been working on. It now has a name – Rocamora, after the family that lived in the building of the same name that inspired the cowl. I have actually submitted the design into a newish online magazine called Yarn People. I really like the inclusive nature of the magazine and the fact that they aren’t fussed about whether the pattern has already been published or talked about within the yarn community.

Whilst I wait to hear whether the submission was successful or not, I am busy working up another version of it that is much short and only uses three colours. There may be a third example in the offing which is a fade option too…

ALT TEXT: Grey background with wooden ball winder at top with mid grey yarn sat, balled up on it, foxy orange yarn in a skein to the left, a partial cake of dark grey yarn and a work in progress ribbed cowl with a green metal crochet hook.

6 – Feeding the habit

My friend Nic was in Australia, visiting family. We agreed to do a yarn swap whereby, she brought me back some lovely yarns from that side of the world, and I brought her back yarns form Edinburgh Yarn Festival. I failed to bring anything back for her that was suitable but will work on it when I vend at Spring Into Wool next weekend, but Nic brought me back two amazing yarns. One from White Gum Wool in Tasmania and one from Great Ocean Road Mill in Australia. They are so lovely and squishy!

I spent a lovely day over at Ewe Felty Thing in Llandudno, North Wales, helping Nikki celebrate her shop’s 1^st birthday. There was a lot of yarn to squish (and buy). I came away with a skein of the special birthday colourway that Nikki had dyed and some minis from Abercairn that will become sock toes, heels and cuffs (and already have in one case). I also pre-ordered my ball winder when I was there.

Obviously, I brought stuff back from EYF too, but because of my point about not buying from stands that don’t have crocheted samples, I didn’t buy as much as I could have. That said, I did buy four balls of wool from Jamieson’s. I was having an interesting discussion with one of their team and plan to recreate one of their classic Fair Isle patterns in crochet to really make that point that crochet can be beautiful and just sticking to marketing to knitters doesn’t need to be the way forward.

Mainly, I got yarn from John Arbon Textiles. My love of their wool continues, and I wasn’t really up for buying any indie dyed yarn. So, I bought the yarns that they had created as show specials. There is the Cocktail Yarn in colourway Dark & Stormy which is destined to be a trial for a new, simple design that I want to create (perfect for yarn shops and vendors to show off crochet with) and then a jumper’s quantity of their breed special yarns. I bought the Romney breed because I really love how squishy it is and the soft colours that I bought.

One of the real highlights of EYF for me was the Make::Wool event on the Sunday. I didn’t get much time in sales area because I was off listening to a couple of talks. I did, however, make a beeline for Shilasdair Yarns. Kirsty and Simon are due to open their version of the Shilasdair Yarn Shop on the Isle of Skye this Easter. They are still using traditional natural dyeing methods and I am very pleased to say that they have converted to using British breed yarns. I am excited to see how they develop the company and watch with eager anticipation!

ALT TEXT: Seven different photos all on bright yellow backgrounds, showing each of the yarn makers, dyers or designers. 1 - Kirsty from Shilasdair smiling and holding a massive cone of wool outside a shed. 2 - Nikkie from Ewe Felty Thing (yarn shop) behind a wall of indie dyed yarn. 3 - John and Juliet Arbon sitting in front of some of their mill machinary. 4 - Emily K Williams from Flutterby Knits stood at the edge of a loch, showing off her latest striped knitted jumper pattern - Canisp Sweater. 5 - Desiree from Abercairn Yarns stood on a porch, sporting her latest finished object - a purple jumper. 6 - Katie Green has long brown hair and is stood in a woodlend sporting a light brown knitted shawl. 7 - Sharon from Dragon Hill Studio is out in her garden wearing a black top, with glasses on a shortish brown hair, with her dog (cream and tan coloured).

ALT TEXT - a flat lay of many yarns with numbers atteched to each of the companies and listed below.

1 - 2 x mini skeins from Abercairn Yarn, bought at Ewe Felty Thing

2 - 4 skeins of British Breeds 'Romney' from John Arbon Textiles. These were an EYF special and aren't on the website, but may make an appearance at Wonderwool Wales.

Also, two skeins of Cocktail blend in colourway 'Dark & Stormy' which was also an EYF special.

3 - Three balls of Shetland Spindrift wool from Jamiesons of Shetland in colours Storm, Camel and Tan Green.

4 - 2 x 50g skeins (dyed with INdigi and Meadowsweet) and 3 x mini skeins from Shilasdair Yarns - dye stuff not identified.

5 - 50% Camel, 50% silk blend skein of yarn from Nikki at Ewe Felty Thing called 'Confetti in the Rain' which was a special for her shop's 1st birthday.

6 - Great Ocean Road Mill, La Bella yarn (Merino and alpaca mix) in colourway Salt & Pepper.

7 - White Gum Wool, 4 ply Fingering in colourway Quarrystone - 100% Merino

7 - Quick News Beats

1 – Here are some new hashtags/accounts for you to follow under inclusivity:

#disabledmakers is run by Eve and Anna, they are doing a grand job of showing off makes from lots of differently abled crafters.

@fatestknits is an account that has been set up specifically to work towards size inclusivity. Designers can have their patterns featured to find test crocheters and knitters. If you are smaller or bigger than the average body size, then this may be a great resource for finding patterns that you like and designers that actually care about catering from different sizes.

2 – When I was Edinburgh Yarn Festival, I attended a panel discussion on Diversity and Inclusion in the Fibre Space – Where do we go from here? It was an interesting discussion, with generally helpful questions from the audience. The panel discussion was recorded and as soon as the video is available, I will sign post you to it.

3 – I have been invited to come and do pop-ups at a couple of yarn shops. You can find me at Northern Yarn on 3^rd May between 6.30pm and 10pm. Kate is celebrating the shop’s 3^rd birthday and I will be there selling crochet patterns and notions.

I will also be at the RiverKnits open day on the 4^th March between 1aam and 5pm. Becci and Markus now have a dye studio and they are having a grand opening. Lost of other vendors will be there too, such as Ewe & Ply, Travelknitter, Garthenor Organic, Third Vault Yarns and RiverKnits of course. It’s going to be a fab day with demonstrations, stuff to buy and a lovely atmosphere where you get to talk to the vendors.

These are just two of the ten events that I will be vending at this year. If you want to know where else I am going to be, take a look at this blog post.

4 – I have set up a Ko-fi account. I have long thought about creating a way that you can support the podcast – if you would like to. I am not comfortable with Patreon as an option and when I came across Ko-fi, that felt like the right fit for me. Basically, there is a website page that is for The Crochet Circle Podcast. Within that page, you can buy me a coffee. In reality, this is making a donation towards the running of the podcast or may actually encourage me to leave the house, buy a coffee and take a break in a café. However, many of you have asked how you can support the podcast and the in-depth work that I do for it. I am very grateful to those that buy from my online shop, come to see me at shows, or buy my patterns, but some of you may prefer to support me through Ko-fi.

I love doing this podcast. But here is some of what it takes to create it:

$108 a year for the Podbean hosting platform

£12 a month for Zoom so that I can host the Global Hook Ups

On average, three full days of my time to pull the podcast together (recording, editing, photography, show notes)

Any extra time that I chose to spend on reviews, testing yarns, patterns etc.

There are also things you can do to support that podcast for free:

Leave comments and give it a thumbs up on YouTube - this puts the podcast in front of other people and increases awareness of its existence, making our community larger and stronger.

Talk about it on Instagram. If you like what I do, tag me when you are crocheting. It may seem like a little thing, but it makes a big difference.

All of these things also apply to any other podcasters that you watch. I am sure that they would also love extra comments, likes and tags. It really makes a difference to us and helps to make our experience of creating a podcast much more fun!

8 – J’adore

The podcast is three years old! The first episode went out on audio only back on 1^st April 2016. It is an absolute pleasure to put this podcast out and connect with our Crochet Clan. To celebrate, there will be a pattern giveaway. Sandra from the Cherry Heart podcast has kindly offered a copy of her Ziggy Interrupted scarf to one lucky winner, and I will do some pattern giveaways too. All you need to do to enter is leave a comment on YouTube or Podbean (underneath these show notes) and tell me what crafting technique you would like to conquer in 2019.

Here’s to another three years!

I will be back on Friday the 3^rd May.

Fay x

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March 1, 2019 @ 10:00 am

Episode 40 - When in Barcelona

Hello there and welcome to The Crochet Circle Podcast and the show notes for Episode 40 – When in Barcelona.

In this episode I cover: Inclusivity; Final Destination; En Route; Designs in Progress; Feeding the habit; Quick News Beats and Big Up.

This podcast is sponsored by

KNIT IT - HOOK IT - CRAFT IT

If you woudl like to support the podcast, you can now do that through my new Ko-fi account, just click on the image. Thank you

1 – Inclusivity

Following on from last month’s podcast and the actions I said I was going to take to increase inclusivity within our fibre community, here is what I have been working on:

Claudia from the Crochet Luna Vlogcast has been putting in the hard miles, pulling together a list of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Colour) crochet designers. She has created a permanent list in her Instagram ‘BIPOC Crochet Designers’ Highlights. From that list, I have created a ‘BIPOC Crochet Designers’ blog post giving you the designers names, Instagram handles, Ravelry Designer names and other selling platforms. If the designers have a podcast, website or Etsy shop, these have also been listed.
If you are looking for a decent article on the topic of inclusivity in the fibre community, I encourage you to read this one: The Knitting Community is Reckoning with Racism by Jay Saxena. If for whatever reason, you have been in the fringe of the conversation or come to it late, this article gives a very good breakdown of what has been going on. I meant to talk about this article in the podcast and through lack of organisation on my part, it slipped through the net.
You will notice from the show notes below and video podcast (if you watch rather than listen) that I have started to show the makers behind the goods that I am buying. My intention is to create a greater connection between the makers and those watching the podcast and/or reading the show notes. I want to show case the faces that put all the hard work into the fibre community whether they are designers, spinners, dyers or yarn shop owners.
I continue to use ALT text on my Instagram posts and within the show notes. My intention is to also expand this out to my website photos and blog posts (which I have started the process of).

2 – Old Dog New Tricks

I want to touch briefly on gut instinct and using that to shape your colour choices and pattern following.

You know that feeling when you have pulled colours together for a project, but your gut is bubbling, telling you that something isn’t quite right? I have had that quite a bit recently. I tend to think I am pretty good at choosing colours but of late, I have been asking for second opinions, mainly because I knew they weren’t right.

The same can be said for a part of the pattern design within my Esja jumper. I could see that the short row shaping was creating a different look within my jumper but I persevered with the pattern. My gut told me I was wrong to do so but I ignored it – I won’t do that again.

Here’s a quick trick for testing your gut feeling on something. Using colour choice as an example; you have two choices, grey and yellow or grey and pink. You assign each choice with a side of the coin. Toss the coin high in the air and before you move your hand to reveal which choice has been made, listen to the voice that is telling you which one you are actually hoping for. That is your gut reaction and the one you should actually listen to, regardless of what the coin toss actually tells you.

I use this for all sorts of decisions that I make. It’s a surprisingly easy way to make decisions and stop procrastinating!

3 – Final Destination

I have some quite varied finished objects this month.

I finished off my latest version of Doppio Colosseum in ‘Worn Denim’ (4ply 50% Merino/50% Silk) by The Wool Kitchen. It was a great reminder of how much I enjoyed designing this pattern and wearing it.

ALT TEXT: Mannequin against a white and teal painted wall. The shawl draped over the shoulders of the mannequin is in denim blue colours and you can just make out some of the lace lines of the pattern.

Did I mention I was in Barcelona? Whilst I was there, I was completely taken with an amazing building on Passeig de Gracia – Rocamora Houses. There is a ceramic turret that inspired my latest design. I wanted to capture the colours of the turret and the transition between them.

ALT TEXT: Roof top of Rocamore Houses, Passeig die Gracia, Barcelona. Bright blue sky with three ceramic tiled turrets showing on the skyline. The tiels are in earthy shades of brown, orange, yallow and cream.

ALT TEXT: White surface with crocheted cowl doubled over . A wooden carved crochet hook lying on a nest of egg yolk yellow yarn in the froefront. The cowl is in a gradient fo four colours from cinnamon brown, to cantelope melon orange, to egg yolk yellow to a pinky cream colour.

I visited All You Knit is Love, a yarn shop in the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona run by Jennifer and Miquel, and bought some of their K2tog yarn which is 70% wool and 30% milk. It’s beautifully soft and they had the perfect colours for the design.

I suspect that the design is going to be called Rocamora.

Finally, I have been on a bag sewing mission. I only meant to make one and ended up with 12. I used a couple of different YouTube tutorials for these and consider myself to be a novice sewer:

ALT TEXT: Cream surface with three machine sewn project bags. Top bag has a tear drop coral shape and turquoise, charcoal and grey details. Bottom right bag had a navy background with pairs of cats facing each other in pinks, corals, mustards and greens. Left hand bag is woven grey wool fabric with a light mustard coloured zip and it's a boxy baggy.

4 – En Route

My Esja jumper (to be made with yarn dyed by my friend Bec of Black Horse Yarns and Socks Yeah! in the colour 'Chryso'. I am now on sleeve island and am desperate to finish this for Edinburgh Yarn Festival.

Pattern: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/esja-sweater

Main Colour Yarn: https://coopknits.bigcartel.com/product/coop-knits-socks-yeah-yarn

Contrast Yarn: https://www.instagram.com/blackhorseyarn/

ALT TEXT: Light blue jumper yolk with a variegated detail with blobs of orange and teal. The stranded texture from brioche crochet is visible.

5 – Designs in Progress

The one crochet design that I have on the go at the moment is the Rocamora Cowl. I want to make it again using some other chunky yarn so that I can test the theory that it can be made with any yarn and almost any quantity.

ALT TEXT: Cream background with the same four coloutrred cowl at the top left. Three chunky, loose skeins of yarn are at the bottom of the photo. L-R they are a mid grey, dark grey and a fox orange. They look springy and full of character.

The next version will be a short cowl using some number 2 yarn that I bought from Die Mercerie in Munich. It’s a Bavarian yarn of some description…

February 1, 2019 @ 10:04 am

Episode 39 - Call me Crozelda

Hello there and welcome to The Crochet Circle Podcast and the show notes for Episode 39 – Call me Crozelda

In this episode I cover: Inclusivity in the fibre community; Old Dog New Tricks; CAL Updates; Final Destination; En Route; Feeding the habit; Quick News Beats and J’adore?

This podcast is sponsored by

KNIT IT - HOOK IT - CRAFT IT

1 – Inclusivity in the fibre community and beyond

Given the importance of this topic, I felt that it needed to be the first thing I covered. I don’t usually script exactly what I say, but because of the importance of inclusivity within the fibre community, I don’t want to ramble or use the wrong wording because of the pressure of recording and trying to get my thoughts across.

I am fairly sure that everyone listening and watching this podcast is aware of the conversations that have been ongoing for much of January. The discussions are on inclusivity and diversity in the fibre community and beyond. These are conversations that are long overdue and conversations that need to become actions.

This podcast at its very heart is about welcoming everyone with one exception. If you are watching or listening to this and have even a hint of an eye roll or a “uh, this again, just talk about crochet”, then this is probably not the podcast for you.

Now, if you are the kind of human that likes to support your fellow humans, to build them up, rather than knock them down, to offer them the handshake of crafting kindness, and to take that handshake beyond the crafting community to every aspect of your life, then come on in, stay a while. I hope you feel the welcome embrace and love of the Crochet Clan.

I would like to specify what I mean by inclusivity. For me and this podcast, that means creating an inclusive space for Black and Indigenous and/or People of Colour (BI/PoC), for people with differing abilities, for people within the LGBTQ community (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer) for people of all sizes for people that identify as binary or non-binary . An inclusive space where racism, and discrimination of your fellow humans cannot and will not be tolerated.

I spoke about the need for actions as well as conversations. So, what I would like to do is take you through the changes that I am making to the podcast to make it an even more inclusive space:

Logos – I am in going to change the logo for the podcast and have one created for the Global Hook Ups. It struck me that the current logo does absolutely nothing to say “everyone is welcome here”. So, in true Crochet Clan spirit I looked within to see who was part of our community that I could ask to take on logo commissions. I am really chuffed to say that Claudia from the Crochet Lune podcast is going to work up the new logos. If she comes up with different design options. Then my plan is to throw it out to you to see which logos speak most clearly to you of inclusivity.

Recognition of makers/dyers – my plan is to seek permission from makers and dyers to show a picture of them within the video podcast and show notes. Websites and Instagram handles don’t necessarily show the diversity within our community. I also know that when I have seen somebody’s face, it creates more of a connection with that dyer/maker and somehow cements them in my mind. I am also keen to do this from a business perspective because to me, seeing the face behind a small indie business is a very good for me to support them over big multi-national companies. Let me be clear, that this is not about tokenism. No matter who you are, if I am showing your product or yarn on the podcast and you’re are a small indie maker or dyer, I will be asking to show a photo of you in the video podcast and show notes. You have every right to decline and a photo will only appear if I have your permission.

Increasing diversity in my Instagram feed – I thought that my feed was already pretty diverse. I have a general policy of following people back unless their account is set to private. So, I am not an account that has thousands of followers (I don’t anyway) and only follows a handful back. That means that my account is full of lots of lovely diverse folk.

However, it wasn’t until I started following #blackcrocheter #blackcrocheters #blackcraftersofinstagram #diversknitty #spooniecrafts #lgbtqcrafts #lgbtcrafts #that my feed really became diverse. I encourage you all to do that same. Following hashtags is a great way of finding new people on Instagram, introducing yourself and making new connections. If you have suggestions for any other hashtags to follow, please let me know.

Highlighting under-represented groups – Back in November 2018 , Jeanette Sloan was asking the fibre community to point her towards BIPoC designers. She has done a lot of time consuming work to pull together a list from the details she was given. A similar piece of work is being done by Marceline from the Hey BrownBerry Podcast and she has highlighted BIPoC dyers and yarn makers.

Claudia from Crochet Luna podcast has been beavering away pulling together a list of BIPoC crochet designers. She is going through the painstaking work of communicating with the designers to ask whether they are happy to be featured. I am hoping to help Claudia to pull this list together in whatever way I can. The list of BIPoC crochet designers is going to be on my blog over at KNIT IT – HOOK IT – CRAFT IT – because Claudia has asked me to host it there.

My hope is that in time, this will also feature dyers and makers form other under-represented groups. However, this needs to be looked at in a sensitive manner and only undertaken with the backing and permission of the people within these underrepresented groups.

If you would like to be added to the work that Claudia and I are doing, then I would be really interested in having a discussion with you about what the parameters should be.

Creating a more accessible podcast and Instagram accounts – I have had some very helpful and interesting Instagram discussions with Sarah from @SarahDawnDesigns. She has been brilliant at pointing me towards ways that I can make changes to the podcast to make it more accessible for people with hearing or visual impairments.

If you have a hearing impairment, I always try to face the camera and not show things in front of my face, in the hope that people are able to read my lips. I always create show notes, and link to them from the dropdown box on YouTube. If you are watching the video, the section place markers correlate to the different sections in the show notes which can always be found at www.thecrochetcircle.podbean.com and I believe are in a suitable format as a text transcript.

If you have a visual impairment, I try to be very descriptive with textures and colours. Again, I believe that the show notes are in a format that are suitable for assistive technology. In addition to the written part of the show notes, I will start adding descriptions to each photo and the caption will start with Photo: I have also started using ALT text within my Instagram feed. I have gone back through the posts from the last month and added ALT text to those posts, but from now on, anything I post on @crochet_circle_podcast, @knitithookit or @faydhdesigns, will have ALT text attached to each of the images.

The final thing I would like to add is that twice a month there is the Global Hook up. I run it on a Saturday night and then again on the Sunday morning (both GMT/BST) so that the crafting session is available to different time zones. Everyone is welcome in the Global Hook Ups.

If you just want to check out what happens, you can join the crafting session and put something over your camera. You also have the option to mute your microphone. It’s really up to you how much you join in, which hopefully makes it a great crafting space for people that may be nervous about joining in. For some people, they started out by just sitting and listening and moved onto joining the conversations in the next session. It’s free to join, you just need a decent wifi connection.

2 – Old Dog New Tricks

It feels like many people are working on crocheted garments, or plan to in 2019. One of the factors that you may come across is wording like “increase/decrease by 12 stitches evenly across round/row”. In my opinion this is a little unfair of a designer to leave it at that. It isn’t hard to work out how you increase or decrease stitches, but if you haven’t done it before, then you should be getting more guidance within the pattern.

I am going to use one of my en route projects as an example. I have deliberately stopped this project where it is so that I can show you how I am going to tackle the bust decreases that I want to add in. This isn’t a feature of this pattern, it is one that I am adding in to give some shaping to the finished piece. That said, when the pattern did call for increases it didn’t give the calculations required…

I would like to think that if I ever design a garment for crochet or knitting, this is the kind of detail that I would add.

If you want to see this is video form, take a look at this video from Very Pink Knits – she is one of my favourites for giving simple hint and tips video tutorials.

Rather than using Very Pink Knits numbers, I want to use my jumper as the example piece. I have crocheted down to just below the bust area and now I want to decrease the overall number of stitches to pull the jumper inn and give some definition.

I have 269 stitches which gives me a circumference of 116cm. I want to get down to a circumference of 104cm for under the bust so need to do an initial calculation:

269 stitches/116cm means that I have approximately 2.32 stitches per cm.

I want the circumference to be 105cm, so I need 244 stitches (105cm x 2.32 stitches). My pattern requires an odd number of stitches, so I am actually going to decrease down to 243 stitches (because I rounded up to 244 in the first place).

Overall, I need to reduce my number of round stitches by 26 from 269 to 243.

So, my next calculation is to work out how I can decrease 26 stitches evenly across my round.

I start with my existing total stitch count (269) and divide it by the number that I need to decrease by (26):

269/26 = 10.35

Again, I am going to round that number down so that I will use 10 as my answer. Had the answer been 10.5, I would have rounded up to 11.

So, next I need to multiply the number of stitches to be decreased (26) by the number of decreases (10):

26 x 10 = 260 which leaves a remainder of 9 stitches

Because I would be decreasing two stitches together, those two stitches have to be factored in as part of the two stitch decrease every 10 stitches. This means that I will crochet 8 stitches and decrease over the last 2 stitches – giving one decrease over every 10 stitches. The remaining 9 stitches are simply crocheted at the end.

You may find it easier to attach a stitch marker at the beginning of every decrease section. This can help to make sure that you got your maths right and keep you on the stratight and narrow when you are counting and decreasing.

PHOTO: Esja Jumper (crocheted) in pale blue (main colour) and pale blue

variegarted with rust and teal as a contrast. Around the bottom of the jumper,

each decrease section has been marked with a black bulb pin.

Now, life isn’t that easy for me because my Esja sweater is in linen stitch which is a two stitch pattern repeat of 1dc and 1ch. That makes the calculation a little more difficult.

But here is how I have done it:

269 stitches need to be reduced by 26 down to 243 stitches.

To create an even decrease across the fabric without getting holes in the decrease area, I want to decrease in the following way:

Hook through first ch-sp, yrh, pull up a loop, hook through next ch-sp, yrh, pull up a loop, yrh, pull through all three loops. This action adds a bit more yarn bulk to the area and makes the decrease look less obvious. In doing so, you are using three stitches to decrease down to one.

So, I started looking for the number of stitches required per decrease section, remembering that each decrease will reduce the round by two stitches, not one.

So, here is where I started:

269 stitches / by 18 stitches gives 15 decrease sections and when you multiply that by the actual number of stitches per decrease section after the decrease has been made, 16, then you would be left with approximately 240 stitches with a remainder of 3 stitches which would simply be worked at the end of the round. You are basically looking for the division that will give you the least number of remainder stitches.

Here is how a linen stitch decrease will work for me over 18 sts:

Ch1, hook through first ch-sp, yrh, pull up a loop, hook through next ch-sp, yrh, pull up a loop, yrh, pull through all three loops, *ch1, skip 1 st, 1dc in next ch-sp; rep from * six (6) more times. (16 sts)

I would repeat the sequence 14 more times and finish off with ch1, skip 1 st, 1dc in next ch-sp ch1 as the stitch sequence for the remaining three stitches.

Clear as mud?

After the podcast, I will attempt to add some progress photos so that you can see how I have marked the shawl out every 18 stitches and worked the first decrease section.

3 – CAL Updates

The #ChristmasEveCAL is done and dusted! Once again, I had very little time to respond to the hashtags on IG. I want to be able to, but life is crammed. I am making some huge steps with the businesses this year and a lot of my time energy has to be on that.

So, I’m going to take a little break from running CALs – mainly because I know I won’t have the time and I won’t be doing you the justice you deserve. Things may shift by the end of the year, but for now I will try to concentrate on promoting the CALs that my fellow crafters and podcasters are running.

4 – Final Destination

I only have one proper finished object, because I don’t think I can legitimately show 1.5 socks as an FO!

Last year I started a bag and my intention was to add to every January with my ‘Word of the Year’. When I have previously seen people talk about their word of the year, I have dismissed it as a load of old tosh! Having lived with ‘Clarity’ as my 2018 word, I can now say that it definitely gave me grounding point throughout the year and gave me a flag to keep on coming back to.

Clarity was meant as a word for me to stick to my core goals and not stray. To keep on the path that I had set for the year. Given that it was so helpful for 2018, I have now added ‘STRUCTURE’ to me bag as my word for 2019.

This is the year when I hope to move KNIT IT – HOOK IT - CRAFT IT and Fay Dashper-Hughes Designs up a few notches and to do that I need to put more structure in place.

So now, I think about clarity and how I can structure my work flow to achieve what I want to achieve in 2019 and beyond.

Here’s what my bag looks like now. Every year I will add to it in a Scrabble format.

PHOTO: Ecru coloured linen bag with dark grey ribbon tie lying on a dark grey surface.The word CLARITY has been embroidered across the bag horizontally and STRUCTURE, embroidered vertically as if a game os Scrabble has just been started. Three bows of linen are at the base of the bag, in a dark grey, light fawn/grey and dark mustard

The bag was made from Scottish linen that I use in some of my products. I thin just draw around a wooden Scrabble tile to get the right size for each letter. Using a 3 ply linen thread from Namolio https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/237661664/linen-yarn-thread-25-grams-3-ply?ref=shop_home_active_1

5 – En Route

I have finished one of my Fallen Leaves socks and am ready to turn the heel on the other. I will show them off properly in the next podcast…

Pattern: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/fallen-leaves-socks

My Esja jumper (to be made with yarn dyed by my friend Bec of Black Horse Yarns and Socks Yeah! in the colour 'Chryso'. This has been really quick to crochet up so far and I only stopped to be able to use the jumper as an example in this month’s Old Dog New Tricks.

Pattern: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/esja-sweater

Main Colour Yarn: https://coopknits.bigcartel.com/product/coop-knits-socks-yeah-yarn

Contrast Yarn: https://www.instagram.com/blackhorseyarn/

PHOTO: Esja jumper (crocheted) as a close up to show the slight distinction in colours made between the main colour (light blue) and contrast colour (light blue with rust and teal). The contrast between the two yarns in the brioche section is very subtle.

I am also working on another Doppio Colosseum shawl. Originally, I used a yarn that Helen from The Wool Kitchen no longer dyes and she kindly gave me two skeins of yarn to make a new sample with. The yarn is 4ply (light fingering weight), 50% Merino and 50% silk and it is beautiful to work with. The sheen and drape are just incredible. By the time I podcast again, I hope to have this finished so that Helen can use it on her stand at her next two festivals (Unravel and Edinburgh Yarn Festival). It’s great to see another yarn dyer that wants to fly the crochet flag.

Pattern: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/doppio-colosseum

Yarn: https://www.thewoolkitchen.com/collections/4ply-merino-silk/products/worn-denim-merino-silk-4ply

PHOTO: Dark back background, flat lay of a started crocheted shawl in linen stitch. To the left is a skein of Worn Denim by The Wool Kitchen (light blue/grey with blotches of dark denim blue), to the right is a cake of the same yarn and below is the curled beginnings of a Doppio Colosseum shawl.

6 – Feeding the habit

I truly believed that I was going to severely restrict the amount of yarn that I was going to buy in 2019. The difficulty comes when I enter yarn shops. I want to be able to support Bricks and Mortar shops by purchasing from them and highlighting them on the podcast.

So, this month I have been a bit naughty. I went over to visit the Laxton’s spinning mill in West Yorkshire and on the way back, I ‘popped’ in to see the good folk at Black Sheep Wools. It’s probably my most local yarn shop (about 45 minutes away) and I always like having a good natter with Sara and the others.

When I was there, I picked up some of the ‘Pip Colourworks’ from Baa Ram Ewe. I had a little mini skein of this given to me as a test skein and couldn’t really do it justice with 10g. I have since knitted another Curlew hat with it and plan on hooking something up with it too, so that I can do a proper yarn review on it for the podcast.

PHOTO: Dark background with a blurred foreground of a dark dusky rose ball of yarn. At the back from left to right is the same Pip Colourwork yarn from Baa Ram Ewe, bit in a light green, dark forest green, grey sky blue and mustard. Just fo camera to the right is the brim of a knitted Curlew hat in the same colours.

PHOTO: Dark grey background with a close up of Reggia Nautic Color sock yarn. Self striping in a white and mid blue. The ball band is yellow and shows a white sock with thin blue stripes.

I also came across and had to buy the latest Regia sock yarn called Nautic Colour, which creates sailor striped socks. I am an absolute sucker for sailor striped anything!

Local Yarn Shop: https://www.blacksheepwools.com/knitting-yarn/baa-ram-ewe-pip-colourwork.html

Yarn – Pip Colourwork: https://baaramewe.co.uk/products/pipcolourwork?variant=1440591249416

Yarn – Regia: https://www.blacksheepwools.com/knitting-yarn/regia-nautic-color.html

Later that week, I snuck up to Lancaster to see Kate from Northern Yarn in her new shop location in the city centre. It’s a really beautiful shop that is easy to get to. Kate works really hard at developing both the shop and her relationships with local shepherds and shepherdesses. She only sells British yarns and many of them are local. That is definitely something worth supporting in my opinion.

PHOTO: Five balls of wool all in a horizontal row on a dark background and each with a cream "Jamiesons Shetland Spindrift" ball band. The colours from left to right are: a vibrant mid green, rusty red, rusty orange, bright rusty mustard and a bright mid blue.

Whilst there, I picked up some Jamiesons Sheltand Spindrift 2 ply to make into a hat from this book that I also got.

Local Yarn Shop: https://www.northernyarn.co.uk/jamiesons-of-shetland

Yarn: https://www.jamiesonsofshetland.co.uk/spindrift-1-c.asp

Book: https://www.shopkdd.com/books/milarrochy-heids

Hmm, it doesn’t stop there. Last week, I hopped on the train a went to Llandudno on the North Wales Coast. Nikki runs Ewe Felty Thing, a yarn shop just a few minutes away from the train station. It has the most impressive wall of indie dyed yarn from 16 different dyers.

PHOTO: Dark grey background showing top right, a skein of yarn from Abercairn. It's a skinny single plyed yarn in a blend of merino and silk and has a beautiful sheen. The variegated skein has pinks, purples, teals, greens and blues in it - just like the Grampian mountains. Underneath the skein are two mini skeins, one in a deep dusky pink and one in a bright aubergine purple. In the bottom corner there is a bit of a purple/pink mohair skein.

Of course I came home with yarn. Of course one of them was mohair! I bought a new to me indie dyer called Abercairn Yarns.

Local Yarn Shop: https://ewefeltything.co.uk/

Yarns: https://ewefeltything.co.uk/product-category/handdyedyarns/yarns-by-dyer/abercairn-yarns/4ply-fingering/page/2/

https://www.instagram.com/abercairn_yarns/?hl=en

I was also vending at Waltham Abbey Wool Show this month, and it was a great show! My bestie, Jenny turned up as a surprise in the afternoon and helped on the stand. As a thank you, she got to pick which yarn she liked best from Dragon Hill Studios. Andrew and Sharon run the company and I really love the way they cake up their yarn. I have been meaning to buy some of their yarn for a while and Waltham Abbey was the ideal time. I have a deal going with Jenny that if I am making socks with a yarn she likes, she can have a pair too. I can get two pairs of knitted socks out of a 100g skein of 4 ply (light fingering weight) yarn with contrast toes, heels and cuffs.

PHOTO:Dark background with a cake of yarn and a white circular tag from Dragon Hill Studios with a paired back green curled up dragon for a logo. The yarn is dark grey with bright pink stripes and they cleverly cake up the yarn, wrapping the last few lengths over the top and bottom of the cake to show off the ratio of self striping colours which is more dark grey and a pop of pink.

Yarn show: http://www.walthamabbeywoolshow.co.uk/

Yarn: https://www.dragonhillstudio.co.uk/

7 - Quick News Beats

1 - Global Hook Ups – I have had to change the date of the February hook up:

February – 16^th Saturday (night) and 17^th (morning) GMT

The other dates for the first half of 2019 are in the Ravelry thread.

2 – I am now heading to Edinburgh for all four days of the festival. I will be in the show on Thursday working on a stand (more on that to come), and back at the show for the Saturday and Sunday. This wasn’t what was planned, but it’s now happening!

Edinburgh Yarn Festival: http://www.edinyarnfest.com/

3 – I have also booked to go to Woolinn Festival, just outside of Dublin in June. I am landing at the airport on the Saturday morning and leave on the Sunday night. So, if you are coming over and fancy a meet up either at the festival or on the Saturday night in Dublin city centre – let me know!

Woolinn Festival: http://woollinn.com/

4 – Sean, you can never have too many shawls!

8 - J’adore

I am loving that January has really felt like a new start. I have reset the button, good changes have been made and 2019 is looking like a good one.

I am also off to Barcelona shortly with Matthewkins. We really need some time out and I am looking forward to soaking up some Spanish atmosphere and being inspired by the gothic architecture.

I will be back on Friday the 1st March!

Fay x

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January 4, 2019 @ 9:34 am

Episode 38 - World Pomination

Hello there and welcome to The Crochet Circle Podcast and the show notes for Episode 38 – World Pomination

In this episode I cover: Old Dog New Tricks: CAL Updates; Yarn Review; Final Destination; En Route; Feeding the habit; Quick News Beats; Big Up and J’adore?

This podcast is sponsored by

KNIT IT - HOOK IT - CRAFT IT

1 – Old Dog New Tricks

I never, ever, ever, expected to be writing the following words: “I am a little bit in love with a pompom”!

Normally, I see a hat and I think that it would look so much better without a pom pom on it. Then the flick switched during a silly shopping trip in TK Maxx with my best friend, Jenny. We tried on almost every single hat in there, to try to find a syles that actually suited us. Who knew, I could rock a pompom?

So now that I am pom pom obsessed, I have made two of them and my friend Bec came up with a very cunning idea. Pom poms are a pain to make and trim, so why not have some that are transferable to different hats? After all, you can only really wear one physical hat at a time.

If you sew a button onto the pompom and leave enough of a gap at the top of the crown to tightly pass the button through, you can wash the hat without the pompom, change the pompom colour, wear the hat without the pompom.

2 – CAL Updates

The #ChristmasEveCAL continues with lots of lovely projects being made.

As usual, you can crochet, knit, weave, do whatever yarn based craft you please. This is all about having a chilled out project that you can work on during the Festive Season and the month of January.

The CAL ends on Sunday 27^th 2019. It is a very chilled out CAL, mainly because I am flat out at the moment and don’t want to over-commit myself again.

Use #ChristmasEveCAL and #ChristmasEveCALFO to show off your projects and finished objects.

3 – Yarn Review

I have been working with ‘wild wool’ from Erika Knight. It’s an aran weight yarn (170m/186yds to 100g) and is a blend of 85% wool (unspecified breed/s) and 15% nettle fibres.

Last month I was talking about the Onion Yarns wool and nettle blend and how much I loved it. The same is true for ‘wild wool’.

I have really tested the metal of the yarn. It does brilliantly when ripped back and reworked. It creates a lovely stitch definition, and has a lovely, substantial feel to it.

It’s widely available in the UK and beyond and I have provided the stockist links and a full review as a blog over on my website.

I would definitely love to use this yarn again. The nettle brings qualities such as durability, and strength but also a silver strands to the yarn, no matter what colour the wool has been dyed.

I can see it making great accessories and on a larger hook/needle size amazing, drapey garments.

4 – Final Destination

I finished a couple of hats this month – both with pom poms! Who am I?

The first is the Wynn Slouch Hat by Harlee Wentworth. You can get this pattern for free on the Noowul website or pay for an advert free version on Ravelry. I paid for the pattern (about £3) to be able to support the designer.

I used my 100g skein of wild wool from Erika Knight in the colourway ‘Mooch’ and added a contrast pompom in some Rowan yarn I had stashed.

I have added project notes on Ravelry for both hats and you can fine me there as MaDashper.

My second hat is knitted colour work. I fell in love with this design when I saw Kate at Northern Yarn making one. In the lull between Christmas and New Year, I decided to treat myself with a quick project that taxed my brain a little.

The pattern is called Curlew and it’s by Linda Shearer. Again, it’s a free pattern but was designed to raise awareness of the decline of the Curlew. You can get the pattern through Ravelry or on the RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) website. I donated £5 to the RSPB as a thank you for a lovely pattern that I will make again and to help with bird conservation projects in the UK and across the globe.

My Curlew is made from Rowan Felted Tweed and some stash yarns that I had that are very similar to Felted Tweed. More details can be found on my project page.

I finished off my two whopper projects and got the designs in on time for the deadline. I actually quite enjoyed crocheting with a heavy laceweight yarn. I will be able to show those projects off in March/April time.

I also stupidly put myself under pressure to knit four pairs of socks as Christmas presents. It was worth it though to see some of my favourite people wearing matching handmade socks on Christmas day. They were all knitted in West Yorkshire Spinner’s special edition Christmas yarns: Candy Cane from 2017 and Fairly Lights form 2018.

5 – En Route

I have been making good progress on my pink Fallen Leaves sock, the heel has been turned and I am now just crocheting up the leg. It’s quite a dense, but well fitted sock, so it’s taking quite a lot of time to make. I suspect that I am going to knit the cuff onto it rather than crochet it, because I can make it more accurate and get better elasticity from a knitted cuff.

One of my interests this year is around using knitted cuffs, heels and toes for crocheted socks.

Let me introduce my future WIP - an Esja jumper to be made with yarn dyed by my friend Bec of Black Horse Yarns and Socks Yeah! in the colour 'Chryso'.

6 – Feeding the habit

I have been very good this month - not a single gram of yarn has been bought. This is just as well because I tidied up the Stash Palace and I have enough to be getting on with.

What I did receive were some lovely crafting and lifestyle books (see links below). My friend Jenny also ordered Vicki Brown’s 4 ply advent calander. Before I left her on Boxing Day, she pulled out six 10g mini skeins that she definitely won’t use. So, they are now in my stash and I have sent her six 10g mini skeins that are more her colours. Everyone is a winner!

Ikigai - The Japanese secret to a long and happy life

Look what we made - a tribute to a handmade life

Knits about Winter - 12 knittign patterns inspired by Winter

7 - Quick News Beats

1 - Global Hook Ups – the first Hook Ups of 2019 are:

January – 12^th Saturday (night) and 13^th (morning) GMT

The other dates for the first half of 2019 are in the Ravelry thread.

2 - The next yarn show that I am vending at is Waltham Abbey Wool Show on the 20^th January. It’s run by Diane from the Crochet Chain, so has a nice mix of crochet at the show too.

3 - I have set up the ‘Setting the Scene for 2019’ thread in Ravelry. Feel free to use this as a space to set out your crafting and personal goals for the year.

I will be pulling together a very relaxed 2018 round up and 2019 goals episode in the next week or so. It will be a chatty episode with coffee and a roaring fire rather than my usual heavy edited style. It’s more about signing up to the year ahead than spending hours at a computer making a shiny episode.

8 – Big Up

There’s another podcast for you. This one is hosted by the lovely and beautiful Marceline and it’s called the Hey BrownBerry podcast on YouTube. She has been podcasting for a while and has 60 episodes to go at. She is predominantly a knitter but does all sorts of crafts from crochet to drawing.

Marce also works with a friend called Kelly and together they run MakersMerch on Etsy https://www.etsy.com/shop/makersmerch selling pins and bags.

Until very recently Marce also had a natural yarn dyeing business that she runs with her daughter.

9 - J’adore

You lot. I am not particularly good at responding to comments. I see them all, but rarely get the time to respond. I figure that you all prefer me spending time on show notes, reviews and trips out to interesting places anyway.

Thank you for coming on my yarn journeys with me. I have some fab things lined up for the year ahead…

Have a great start to 2019. I will be back on Friday the 1st February!

Fay x

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December 7, 2018 @ 9:45 am

Episode 37 - Feeling Festive?

Hello there and welcome to The Crochet Circle Podcast and the show notes for Episode 37 – Feeling Festive?

In this episode I cover: Old Dog New Tricks: CAL Updates; Final Destination; En Route; Feeding the habit; Quick News Beats; Big Up and J’adore?

This podcast is sponsored by

KNIT IT - HOOK IT - CRAFT IT

1 – Old Dog New Tricks

Today’s Old Do is all about fixing crochet when a hole appears in it. My friend Lisa went to put on one of her crocheted shawls and discovered that somehow there were two ends poking out that were once a fully formed stitch. She wasn’t sure how to fix it, so I said I would have a go.

On investigating the shawl there were a few areas where loose ends were showing and one knot. I don’t know what caused the yarn breakage but suspect one of three things:

1 – moths

2 – the shawl was trapped in a drawer or door at some point

3 – the yarn has worn at particular points (it was a skinny single merino)

The good news is that you can fix crochet, the bad news is that I don’t think one method fixes all. With Lisa’s shawl she provided me with her leftover yarn (always a good reason to keep some spare) and I knew that the broken stitches were quadruple trebles.

Key to fixing these holes was spit splicing new yarn onto the tiny ends of yarn that were poking up. If you have never spit spliced before, it is a wonderful way of joining two ends of yarn together and works particularly well with wool or yarn with a high wool content. You can do it with superwash yarn, but it may take a bit more effort for the splice to take. If you are new to spit splicing, here is a link to a YouTube video on how to do it.

Ensure that you are joining to the loose piece at the top of the row so that you are starting from the correct height. Do the same with the bottom strand of loose yarn so that it won’t unravel further and weave this end in so that it is secure.

Go back to the newly spliced yarn at the top of the row and crochet the missing stitch as per the pattern. I finished by adding a slip stitch to really bed the new stitch in. Weave in the end.

If you don’t have enough yarn to do a spit splice, you may be better of tying a knot in it (this will likely create a puckered area in your work though) and then try to felt the two ends together (like the spit splice but without cutting any of the plies out). This should help to secure the ends which you may be able to weave in and tidy up.

2 – CAL Updates

I haven’t recorded it yet, but hopefully, this weekend, I will have announced the #SockCAL winners on Instagram, Ravelry and possibly a YouTube video (time allowing).

Charlie and I are colluding again on a Christmas Eve CAL. At any point on Christmas Eve you can start a new project. Last year we did it as a One Skein Wonderland CAL and this year it is up to you what you make and with how much yarn. The bundle is still up in the Ravelry group from last year, so if you need some inspiration for one skein projects, go and take a look.

The CAL starts on the 24^th December 2018 and ends on Sunday 27^th 2019. It is going to be a very chilled out CAL, mainly because I am flat out at the moment and don’t want to over-commit myself again.

Use #ChristmasEveCAL and #ChristmasEveCALFO to show off your projects and finished objects.

3 – Final Destination

Do you remember me saying that I was going to get time off in November and that I was going to finish all my WIPs before the end of 2019? Did you believe me?

It hasn’t quite worked out like that. I sort of forgot about a project that I signed up to do and got the go ahead on two rather large commissions that I need to deliver by mid-December…

So, there has been MUCH crocheting going on, but I can’t show you properly until March.

When I have large work crochet projects on the go, I tend to turn to other crafts as my personal crafts and vice versa. What this means is that I have finished up a couple of long-term knitting WIPs that I had on the go.

The first is a DK weight jumper which is called Joyride. It’s a free pattern on Ravelry and was really quite quick to make, even though I started it at the beginning of February. I made a few modifications and hope to get my project notes up on Ravelry shortly.

All of my other FOs are socks. I have listed all of the patterns and yarns used. Of particular interest are two new yarns that I used. The first was Tania’s (TJ Frog) Dorset Horn wool, which has no nylon in it whatsoever, just pure wool. We were both vending at Yarnporium together and had a little chinwag about the viability of using Dorset Horn for socks. I thought it was worth a try because of the decent staple length of the fibre and strurdiness of the twist and wool that Tania has had spun. Needless to say, Tania is currently testing out her new striped (Sufragette coloured) socks and will report back so that I can let all of you know how well her Dorest Horn wool has performed in sock form.

The other yarn of note is 70% SW wool and 30% nettle. I bought this yarn when I was at Stephen & Penelope’s in Amsterdam and loved working with it. It’s plump, warm and silky. The nettle makes a real difference to yarn. I haven’t worn the socks yet because I wanted to show them off, but even just from trying them on, I know that these are going to be toasty. I think that the Onion Sock Yarn would be amazing for crocheted socks. I need to find some more because I think that it would be incredible in a pair of Deanne’s (Addydae Designs) Baseline or Segue Socks.

If you are UK based and interested in this yarn, you can get it from Wild & Woolly in London. There are other stockists worldwide, just search for Onion Yarns Sock Yarn.

The stripey fellas were a quick make for my Father-in-Law because everyone needs a woolly hug every now and then. They were knitted in West Yorkshire Spinners Mallard colourway. The Eddisbury Socks are a pattern by my freind Gill, using Socks Yeah!

My other FO was for Crochetzine’s latest issue. I said that I would pull together a tutorial on intarsia crochet and I wanted to work that around something festive, so created an intarsia Christmas cracker. If you aren’t familiar with Crochetzine, it’s a mini crochet magazine on Instagram and it’s run by Chrissie, Sarah and Sharma. It is going from strength to strength and every month they have a new load of stories, giveaways, patterns and tutorials. It is a genius way of delivering crochet content to crafters for free.

Sometimes the smallest and simplest things take the longest time. That is certainly true of this little cracker!

In other news, I have had the laser cutter up and running. I have been working on a collaboration with Becci and Markus from RiverKnits and Nu Shearman from Hide and Hammer. I will talk more about the collaboration and kit sales in Quick Newsbeats, but that is another reason for the knitted sock extravaganza!

4 – En Route

As alluded to, I have to whopper crochet commissions on the go at the moment and they are taking up almost all of my crafting time. My fallen Leaves socks are sitting patiently, waiting to be picked up again. I know that as soon as I turn the heel on the first one, I will be away and they will be finished in no time!

5 – Feeding the habit

Given the number of yarns shows I vend at, you would think that is when I get the majority of my yarns. Not the case because you spend all your time setting up, vending and then taking down. That said, at Yarnporium, I did manage to sneak away for a few minutes because I was told that I must go and see Becca at Mahoodly. I wasn’t disappointed, especially as I seem to be on a mini skein kick at the moment. She dyes on 100% British Bluefaced Leicester.

We also went to Glasgow for a night to meet up with my Dad. We managed to cram a lot into just over 24 hours, which included two (yes two!) yarns shops! I had arranged to meet Fiona and Lorna at Queen of Purls on Saturday afternoon. Unfortunately Lorna couldn’t make it , but I had a lovely afternoon with Fiona, chatting to Zoe (yarn shop owner) and her sister, whom is also now dyeing and has a company called The Sleekit Hare. You can find her yarns at Queen of Purls and although Zoe is closing the bricks and mortar shop down because she is moving, her online shop will remain open.

I also bought a skein of Zoe’s yarn in a glorious mustardy colour to go with the mini skeins and a 50g skein of variegated to go with some of her yarn I bought last time I was in Glasgow!

After Yarnporium, I took a little trip to Richmond to go back to Tribe Yarns. I picked up some Isager yarn to crochet a lightweight top with. I have crocheted with their Alpaca 1 before, held double, and it creates the softest fabric with gorgeous drape. I also bought some Isager Silk Mohair to add some texture to parts of the top.

Milli also had Isager Spinne which is made in Denmark and 100% wool. I hadn’t touched this wool in the flesh before and wanted to give it a try as it is really quite rustic in it’s unblocked state. This will become my version of the shawl that I am currently making under commission.

I am currently reviewing what my yarn buying habits might be in 2019…

6 - Quick News Beats

Global Hook Ups – I said that the hook ups would be back in December, but looking at my calendar, I just can’t make it work. So here are the suggested dates for the first half of 2019:

January – 12^th Saturday (night) and 13^th (morning)

February – 9^th Saturday (night) and 10^th (morning)

March – 9^th Saturday (night) and 10^th (morning)

April – 20^th Saturday (night) and 21st (morning)

May – 11th Saturday (night) and 12^th (morning)

June – 15^th Saturday (night) and 16^th (morning)

Festive collaboration – the project that I have been working on with Nu and Becci goes love on Friday 7^th December and the kits are available to buy at the RiverKnits website up to Monday 10^th at midday or until the limited edition stocks have run out. There is a knit version of the kit and a crocheted version. I’m not yet confident enough to design a crocheted sock, but the yarns amounts should be perfect for Vicki Brown’s Sweetheart Socks or Deanne’s Segue Socks.

7 – Big Up

I have a new YouTube podcast for you. It’s called The Green Bean Podcast and it’s by Katie Green, formerly of Blacker Yarns. Katie lives on the Cornwall/Devon border and podcasts about her crafting which is mainly sewing, illustrating and knitting, but she does also crochet. It’s a lovely gentle podcast and her dog Jack often appears in it.

8 - J’adore

I was thinking about the things that make me feel festive or that I look forward to over the Christmas period. Here is what I came up with:

1 – Satsumas are in season and I could eat a bag a day!

2 – Mulled wine is perfectly acceptable on a Sunday afternoon as I sit by the fire.

3 – Seeing little children being excited by the magic of the festive season.

4 – Christmas cake is allowed.

5 – Unsolicited access to marzipan. Hmmmm, marzipan.

6 – Making things for people I love.

Have a fabulous December and festive season my lovelies. I will be back on Friday the 4^th January!

Fay x

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November 1, 2018 @ 11:14 pm

Episode 36 - Frolicking with hooligans

Hello there and welcome to The Crochet Circle Podcast and the show notes for Episode 36 – Frolicking with hooligans

In this episode I cover: Sock CAL; Final Destination; En Route; Feeding the habit; Quick News Beats; Big Up and J’adore?

This podcast is sponsored by

KNIT IT - HOOK IT - CRAFT IT

Thanks to everyone who tunes into the podcast whether it is through Stitcher, Podbean, Spotify, iTunes or the YouTube Channel. Your support and engagement is really appreciated and makes running a podcast very special and worthwhile.

1 - #SockAlong 2018 CAL

The response to the CAL has been incredible. As I recorded this episode, there were a few days left for the CAL. I would like to record a separate piece on the Sock Along and show off the finished objects.

All of the blogs are available here if you need support with making more crocheted socks.

Here are the links to all of the blog hop folk:

#1 Sat 15th Sep - Sock Making Tips - me (http://www.craftyescapism.com/)

#2 Sat 22nd Sep - Yarn Choice - Fay (https://www.knitit-hookit-craftit.com/)

#3 Sat 29th Sep - Knit vs Crochet Socks - Caroline (https://www.mindandmusecrafts.com/)

#4 Sun 30th Sep - Sock Anatomy - Deanne (http://www.addydae.com/)

#5 Sat 6 Oct - Toe up vs Cuff down Socks - Jo (http://jojotwinkletoes.blogspot.com/)

#6 Sat 13th Oct - Colour & colour patterns - Marta (http://mrsdaftspaniel.blogspot.com/)

#7 Sat 20th Oct - Customising socks - Kathryn (http://crafternoontreats.com/)

#8 Sat 27th Oct - Crochet Sock Heels are not Scary - Karen (https://www.karenwhooley.com/)

More prizes have come in for the CAL. Lovely Sandra from Cherry Heart podcast has kindly offered copies of her latest pattern, the Linden Bee Shawl.

Nikki from Ewe Felty Thing a LYS in Llandudno, North Wales and indie dyer, has kindly given a prize of the most beautiful 50% silk and 50% camel yarn. It is so beautifully soft. I am also pleased to say that in November, Nikki will be extending the size of her shop. It's always good to hear local yarn shop successes.

2 – Final Destination

Creatively, I have been very busy this month, it's just that much of it has been for the shop and for Yarnporium (a large London yarn show on 2nd & 3rd November). So, less crochet and a lot of pottery, sewing, bag making, designing, and, and, and...

I have finished off two shawls that I have been designing. The shawl is called Arria and on Friday 2nd November, the 4ply crocheted and knitted versions are being launched. They both use the intarsia technique and are a nice introduction to it because you only have three balls on the go. They both use 2 x 100g skeins of a 4 ply/light fingering weight yarn (400m/437yds) and a 20g mini skein of the same yarn weight.

If you prefer to work in DK weight yarns, the DK Arria patterns are being worked up at the moment and might be ready for the December podcast.

I have also been working on my first knitted sock pattern, which uses 20g mini skeins from River Knits. The pattern is called Mini Mania and if you buy a seventh 20g mini skein, you can use up almost all of your wool and get two pairs of socks from the 140g.

Discount codes are set up on all three patterns on Ravelry. Use CROCHETCLAN at check out to receive 50% discount.

3 – En Route

I have made very little progress on my Fallen leaves socks. I am desperate to get more crochet time in during November and catch up on life. Ho-hum.

4 – Feeding the habit

This section usually reflects any woolly adventures I have had during the month. October was a great month for going to new places and seeing some of my lovely woolly friends.

It all started with a trip to Hooligan Yarns on their open day. This is a small holding called Manor Farm Charitable Trust, where they take in animals that would otherwise go to slaughter. Di, her husband Allan and a team look after 170 sheep, goats, chickens, donkeys, pony, geese, geep (yes, there is such a thing as a goat/sheep cross) and ducks.

All of the animals get to live a full life and it was amazing to see the different personalities the animals have.

The trip was all down to my friend Bec who organised it, and we had a great day out. Di has been working over the last couple of years to create yarn from the fleeces of the sheep. Needless to say, I couldn’t come away without any. I really love that I have animal and fleece specific wool and I have seen just how happy the animals were. The sale of the wool offers direct support to the charity.

You can buy their yarn online. You can follow the different animals on Instagram (@hooliganyarns). You can also see the farm on Countryside Autumn Diaries 2018, Episode 3, go to 35:25 minutes.

I know of two other UK suppliers of slaughter free wool in case you are interested:

Doulton Border Leicester Flock and Izzy Lane.

The next day I was off to Bakewell Woolgathering in Derbyshire, a two day yarn festival. I didn't have long there and made a beeline to see some friends. One of my plans for this year has been to look to my stash, see where I have single skeins that need partners and buy those partners. Laili owns Emily Foulds, a LYS in Colne, Yorkshire and one of the yarns she carries is The Fibre Company and this was one of the stash areas that I wanted to marry up with an extra skein. I really like Laili and what a success she is making of her shop, so I was pleased to be able to buy from her. When my skein arrived in the post (she didn't have the colour I wanted at the show) it also arrived with a couple of skeins of the new The Fibre Company yarn - Arranmore. I am looking to design up a new crocheted bag with this yarn, so it was really nice to get some to play with.

I took a sneaky day off and headed down to London to meet up with a couple of friends. Stasia was over from Russia and Lisa works in London, so we met up int he afternoon for some tea, coffee and crochet at a very cool location called Drink, Shop & Do (later that night the cafe bar was hosting prosecco and pumpkin carving party!) We were all swapping little bits and pieces as gifts and I was blown away with the lovely things I received from Stasia and Lisa. I am now the happy owner of some Russian yarn and a really special stitch marker.

I also visited a new yarn shop called Tribe Yarns (@Tribeyarnslife). I only had about 20 minutes there and it was so amazing. I can't do it justice just now, so I am going to go back and have a proper look and photograph it properly. It's in Richmond on the Hill and it is easily one of my new favourite yarn shops.

The lovely Nikki from Ewe Felty Thing also sent me through a skein of yarn, very specifically for making socks with so that I can check out another type of yarn. I was searching at Yarndale for some alpaca based sock yarn but couldn't find any, so this skein is just perfect. I will report back in due course so that you know how it wears.

5 - Quick News Beats

Global Hook Ups – I am going to take a month off the Global Hook Ups. I know that when I come back form Yarnporium, my battery levels are going to be really low and I want to make sure I get a proper recharge during November. The hook ups will be back in December.

Meet up in Glasgow - 24th November meet up in Glasgow at The Queen of Purls at 3.30pm. It would be lovely to see some of you there.

WIPalong - Charlie from the Love Charlie Podcast and some Instagram friends are hosting #WIPvember. It runs from 1st - 30th November om Instagram. All you need to do is get cracking on your WIPs. My plan is to continue this throughout December too because ideally, I would carry just one WIP into 2019. I really want to move into the New Year with a clean slate, knowing that I can tackle whatever it is I want and there is no background guilt over long-suffering projects).

6 – Big Up

I don't think I have ever told you about my wonderful sister-in-law. Sarah is Matthew's sister and she is an author, and a very good one at that. She has a new book out under the Urban Fantasy genre and when she was visiting this weekend, we hatched a plan for a giveaway. 'The Night Raven' is the first novel in The Crow Investigation Series.

Sarah is giving away a signed copy of 'The Night Raven' and between us we picked out linen embroidery thread colours to match the front cover which is then part of a raven embroidery bag kit that I am giving away from KNIT IT - HOOK IT - CRAFT IT. The embroidery kit is an absolute one-off (apart from the one that I gave to Sarah - because she is an amazing person).

If you would like to win the prize bundle, take to Instagram and make sure you are following her account (@sarapainterbooks)and my business account (@knitithookit) and leave a comment on the post in my account @knitithookit If you want to tag a friend that might be interested, then please do, but it isn't compulsory. Simply comment on the post by 12pm GMT 9th November.

Sarah has a growing back catalogue, many of which are available through Amazon and Audible.

7 - J'adore

We have been binge watching The Marvellous Mrs. Maisel which is airing on Amazon.

Right, I am off to do more prep for Yarnporium and will be spending most of November on the sofa crocheting.

Fay x

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October 5, 2018 @ 9:08 am

Episode 35 - Sockdale

Hello there and welcome to The Crochet Circle Podcast and the show notes for Episode 35 – Sockdale

In this episode I cover: Old dog new tricks; Sock CAL; Final Destination; En Route; Feeding the habit; Quick News Beats; Big Up and J’adore?

This podcast is sponsored by

KNIT IT - HOOK IT - CRAFT IT

Thanks to everyone who tunes in to the podcast whether it is through Stitcher, Podbean, Spotify, iTunes or the YouTube Channel. Your support and engagement are really appreciated and makes running a podcast very special and worthwhile.

1 – Old dog new tricks

I was in our Ravelry pages the other day and came across a link that was helpfully posted to try to help people understand what kind of crocheter they are. You may be a yanker, rider or a lifter. Your style affects whether or not you are going to hit row tension/gauge and by crocheting in the Rider style, you should be able to hit gauge with most patterns (unless the designer is a Yanker or Lifter). This can help you to get the right number fo pattern rows/rounds and in the case of a Yanker, stop you from having to use more yarn to get the right length of project.

I thought I would raise this because a Crochet Clan member said that they managed to get gauge on their stitches, but not rows and their way around that was to add more rows. This has happened to me in the past too.

Yankers – tend to pull the golden loop (first loop pulled up from yarn round hook) and create shorter stitches because they are yanking down on the loops as they work through each stitch. With this technique, you are likely to create shorter projects unless you do extra rows/rounds,

Riders – this is really where you want to be because your hook is being worked parallel with your row/round and the height is where it ideally should be. When you pull through a loop from your first yarn round hook, your hook should almost be pointing diagonally down so that you are not extending the loop and you can continue to build the right height as you do the remaining parts of that stitch.

Lifters - A lifter is the opposite of a Yanker because they extend the golden loop every time, creating a taller stitch. With this technique you are likely to create taller projects overall.

If you want to know more about this, I thoroughly recommend looking up Deje Jetmir’s YouTube video. She takes you through what a difference it makes and how to overcome being a Yanker or Lifter.

2 - #SockAlong 2018 CAL

This CAL is well and truly underway and I am mightily impressed with how many socks are being crocheted and the progress so far!

It runs from Saturday 29^th September – 31^st October 2018.
There is a series of blog posts taking you through the intricacies of crocheting socks.
You can join in with crocheted or knitted socks.
The chatter thread is on Claudia’s (Crochet Luna’s Ravelry page), the FO thread will be hosted by Kathryn from the Crafternoon Treats podcast Ravelry Group and I am heading up the Instagram #SockCAL2018 #SockAlong2018.
Sock patterns are available from various designers.
There will be prizes for winning entries into the Ravelry FO thread and those using #SockAlong2018FO and I showcase some of them on the podcast.
The FO thread is already open in Kathryn's Crafternoon Treats Ravelry Group and there are entries already!

Here are the links to all of the blog hop folk:

#1 Sat 15th Sep - Sock Making Tips - me (http://www.craftyescapism.com/)

#2 Sat 22nd Sep - Yarn Choice - Fay (https://www.knitit-hookit-craftit.com/)

#3 Sat 29th Sep - Knit vs Crochet Socks - Caroline (https://www.mindandmusecrafts.com/)

#4 Sun 30th Sep - Sock Anatomy - Deanne (http://www.addydae.com/)

#5 Sat 6 Oct - Toe up vs Cuff down Socks - Jo (http://jojotwinkletoes.blogspot.com/)

#6 Sat 13th Oct - Colour & colour patterns - Marta (http://mrsdaftspaniel.blogspot.com/)

#7 Sat 20th Oct - Customising socks - Kathryn (http://crafternoontreats.com/)

#8 Sat 27th Oct - Crochet Sock Heels are not Scary - Karen (https://www.karenwhooley.com/)

These designers have offered a discount or free pattern:

Karen Whooley - 20% off all her sock patterns and books through Ravelry. Just use code socktober2018 at the checkout. https://www.ravelry.com/designers/karen-whooley

Deanne from Addydae Designs - 20% off Baseline Socks using code SOCKCAL2018 at the Ravelry checkout. https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/baseline-socks

Vicki Brown - free Magdalen Sock Pattern on Ravelry https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/magdalen-socks

Kathryn from Crafternoon Treats Podcast - free SuperSonic Socks on Ravelry https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/supersonic-socks

Caroline from Mind and Muse podcast - free Miniature Hooked Socks and My Sweet Socks on Ravelry https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/sources/mind-and-muse-crafts/patterns

Here are some of the prizes that have been coming in for the CAL:

1 - Shawl pin by Vesna and her Etsy shop UstvarjalniNavdih

2 - Yarn by Bec at Black Horse Yarn with a Votes for Women badge I found at Yarndale

3 - Yarn via The Wool Stop in Bristol but dyed by Deb at Crafty Cat Knitty Bits

4 - Stitch markers by Lisa

5 - Stitch markers by Kathryn at Crafternoon Treats

3 – Final Destination

I have a couple of finished things to share with you this month. I managed to do my project with the Blacker Tor, the birthday yarn I was sent by Blacker and it’s everything Jo said it was in the yarn review was spot on. It’s bouncy, recrochets brilliantly and is beautiful to work with. I made myself a little bag for all of my essential crochet designers kit. It’s just big enough to carry my design kit of stopwatch, calculator, notepad, scales and pen and fit inside a project bag.

I am pleased to have finished the crocheted version of Arete. I had to steek this project and it seems that steeking crochet IS NOT A THING. It is now. It works. My stitches haven’t come undone and the world didn’t implode! Yay. I plan on writing a couple of blog posts on steeking crochet because I really think it should be incorporated into more designs. I much prefer tapestry crochet in the round rather than in rows. So, here is the design and the ways I liked to style it:

Discount codes are set up on both patterns on Ravelry. Use CROCHETCLAN at check out to receive 50% discount.

I also finished my knitted version of Arete and here it is too.

4 – En Route

It is all about socks! Crocheted socks. I have two different pairs on the go. Both are using the same Fallen Leaves pattern by Vicki Brown.

I am making both pairs with some of Kathryn from Crafternoon Treats yarn so that I can do a side by side comparison. Both are 80% Corriedale and 20% nylon, but the bright pink one is non-super wash and the light blue is super washed.

I am intrigued to see the difference between the two and so I am making them both into the same crocheted sock pattern. My plan is to wear both pairs one day each week for a number of months, put them both through our weekly wool wash and test the side by side to discern whether there is any material difference between super wash and non-super wash.

The yarn is working up really well and is giving great stitch definition with the Fallen Leaves which is beautiful.

5 – Feeding the habit

Well, I was at Yarndale. I am now on a bit of a yarn ban again and I think I am going to try to take it right through to 2019 and assess the situation then.

So, here is what has been in my shopping basket this month, bearing in mind that much of it is for designs:

Left - 'Orchard' in Bear Twist by Bernie at Bear in Sheep's Clothing

Middle and right-hand side yarn are both Crafternoon Corrie Sock from Kathryn at Crafternoon Treats

Right photo shows all the lovely gifts I have receievd during the month. Lost of sticth markers and notions. There were chocolates and tablet...

Left - Alpaca Rose yarn from Border Mill

Right - crochet hook roll and bag from Clarisabeth from Crochet Cakes Podcast and DaintyByCrochetCakes Etsy shop, Chocolate bag and Patons Kroy sock yarn from Claudia at Crochet Luna Podcast and esty shop

Left - BFL, mohair and Pecora Brugno from Officina del Colore Naturale

Right - Poll Dorset Lambswool from Kate at Northern Yarn

6 - Quick News Beats

Global Hook Ups – The next Global Hook Up is due to be on Saturday 13th October 2018 (BST)

Time: Saturday 13th October 2018 8:30 PM London BST

Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android: https://zoom.us/j/4750475819 The meeting ID number is 475-047-5819 and you will need to join via Zoom which you can do here: https://www.zoom.us/join

There is then a second one on Sunday 14th October at 9am (BST)

Time: Sunday 14th October 2018 9:00 AM London BST

Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android: https://zoom.us/j/4750475819 The meeting ID number is 475-047-5819 and you will need to join via Zoom which you can do here: https://www.zoom.us/join

Making Things App - A new pattern app is in the making. It is called Making Things App and you can take a look at their website and Instagram. This is quite a different take on how you can access patterns form designers. Think of a Netflix monthly payment with access to all of the patterns on the app. I will report back when I know more about a launch date but what I can say is that as a designer and user of paid for patterns, I am excited about this new platform.

C2C CAL - Rosina of Zeens & Rogers podcast is hosting a corner to corner (C2C) CAL. It starts on Sunday 7^th October and runs until 17^th November. You can get all the details here in the blogpost.

Glasgow trip – I am heading to my favourite Scottish city on Saturday 24^th November. If anyone fancies meeting up, I will be heading to The Queen of Purls for about 3.30pm. The yarn shop is at 1069 Argyle Street, Studio 8, Second Floor, The Hive, Glasgow, G3 8LZ and is open until 5pm. So, if you are in or around Glasgow and fancy squishing yarn with me and going for a coffee, please drop me a line.

8 – Big Up

My friend Sophie has taken up podcasting. She is quite a few episodes in now and you can catch her easy breezy, positive catch ups and see her massive WIP pile over at the A Spring Snowflake Podcast over on YouTube.

Yarndale organisers – it is a fabulous event that is very crochet welcoming and I think becomes more and more crochet friendly every year.

Everyone with a zombie apocalypse plan. In a short and unscientific poll at Yarndale, three out of eight people do not have a zombie apocalypse plan. In case you don’t have a plan, here are some tips: https://comicvine.gamespot.com/profile/masterkungfu/blog/my-zombie-apocalypse-survival-plan/101215/

9 – J’adore

Song – I listen to a fair bit of folk music and Spotify brought me ‘Dark Honey’ by Martin Simpson, Andy Cutting and Nancy Kerr. It is just beautiful.

Claudia – Claudia from the Crochet Luan podcast was over for Yarndale. We had a blast. It is just as well we live far apart because I don’t think the world is ready for the amount of naughty we would create together!

Fay x

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September 7, 2018 @ 6:04 am

Episode 34 - Sock Season

Hello there and welcome to The Crochet Circle Podcast and the show notes for Episode 34 – Sock Season

In this episode I cover: CALs, Yarn review; Final Destination; En Route; Designs in Progress; Feeding the habit; Quick News Beats; Big Uo and J’adore?

This podcast is sponsored by

KNIT IT - HOOK IT - CRAFT IT

Thanks to everyone who tunes in to the podcast whether it is through Stitcher, Podbean, Spotify, iTunes or the YouTube Channel. Your support and engagement are really appreciated and makes running a podcast very special and worthwhile.

1 - #SockAlong 2018 CAL

This CAL is starting to shape up rather nicely. Here’s what you can look forward to:

It runs from Saturday 29^th September – 31^st October 2018.
You can join in with crocheted or knitted socks.
Designers, podcasters and yarn dyers are getting involved with the CAL.
You can get the full details closer to the CAL start date on both Ravelry and Instagram (#SockAlong2018)
Tamara is organising a blog hop which will start on the 15^th of September, two weeks before the CAL starts.
The chatter thread(s) will be available on Claudia (Crochet Luna’s Ravelry page), the FO thread will be hosted by Kathryn from the Crafternoon Treats podcast Ravelry Group and I will head up the Instagram # and information.
Behind the scenes we are pulling together some great crocheted sock patterns for you to try out. These range from free to paid for and beginner onwards.
My blog hop is all about choosing the right yarn for crocheted socks and that will come out before the CAL starts so that you have time to get your paws on yarn if you need to.
There will be prizes for winning entries into the Ravelry FO thread and those using #SockAlong2018FO
The CAL officially starts on 28^th September when a bunch of us will be gathered for a picnic at Yarndale.

2 – Yarn review – ‘Tor’ – Blacker’s 2018 birthday yarn

Blacker Yarns sent the podcast some of their latest birthday yarn to squish and review. I asked for some extra skeins so that another clan member could also have a squish with it. I sent three of the mini skeins to Jo (@jofeatherandthreads on Instagram) and I have been playing with the other three mini skeins.

Jo's full yarn review is up in the yarn review Ravery thread in The Crochet Circle Group.

3 – Final Destination

I finished yet another Loft which is a crocheted DK version in gorgeous wine colours. Again, this is in Knit by Numbers by John Arbon Textiles and will be available to squish on their show stand.

When I was over in Northern Ireland, Louise at Lighthouse Yarns gave me some vintage Irish linen. I have a bout 1kg of this linen left after I crocheted up a Zeens & Rogers Market Bag for a friend.

I did manage to whip up a pair of my standard socks using the Alley Cat (AKA Dirty Tiger) yarn that I bought over at Ewe & Ply in July. I have used West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4 ply for the contrast heel and toes in colourway ‘Poppy Seed’.

4 – En Route

Time is 100% against me at the moment. I have very little personal crocheting time and so things like my summer top have languished in a project bag. I am desperate to get to it but I just have too many design and show deadlines at the moment.

My Verity V neck is my only real WIP at the moment. Once this episode is out, I plan on getting some time back for me, myself and I.

5 - Designs in Progress

Heg tre is the pashmina/cowl that I have been working on, called Arete. You can see where it will be steeked - where the stitches differ. It's going to be nail biting stuff!

6 – Feeding the habit

I took a little look in my Stash Palace the other month and felt a little overcrowded by it all. That is usually a good time to stop spending or at the very least, slow it down and concentrate on making things instead. I even declined more Icelandic wool from my Dad…

That said, I had some lovely things liven to me at the Southern Wool Show. Flic has taken pity on my phone and bought me a child’s stopwatch so that I can get my phone fixed and hopefully not break it again! Ali gave me some dodgy yarn which isn’t at all dodgy and Helen baked some AMAZING brownies that clearly can’t be shown here because they got wolfed at the end of the show during take down.

So, here’s what has been incoming this month:

1 – Wild Wool from Erika Knight – a blend of wool and nettle.

2 – Some gorgeous hand spun from Mary at Marethdale. I went to see her at The Pop Up Wool Show at Port Sunlight.

3 - Supposedly 'dodgy yarn' from Ali of the Little Drops of Wonderful podcast.

4 - Hand Spun from Jo at Dancing Goat Crafts.

5 - Present from Flic to preserve my phone!

6 – Studio Donegal’s ‘Soft Donegal’ in shades 5528 & 5219. I bought these from Louise at Lighthouse Yarns when we were over for Yarnfolk.

7 – Woolganic Knitters Yarn from Australian Fleece Wool in shade CHB8. I forgot to add it to the photo!

Harvest Hues from John Arbon Textiles ready for a crocheted Arete pashmina/cowl. It’s a blend of Zwartbles (35%) and Merino (65%) and is only £11 per 100g.

7 - Quick News Beats

Global Hook Ups – The next Global Hook Up is due to be on Saturday 15th September 2018 (BST)

Time: Saturday 15th September 2018 8:30 PM London BST

Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android: https://zoom.us/j/4750475819 The meeting ID number is 475-047-5819 and you will need to join via Zoom which you can do here: https://www.zoom.us/join

There is then a second one on Sunday 16th September at 9am (BST)

Time: Sunday 16th September 2018 9:00 AM London BST

Thanks to everyone that came to say hi at the Southern Wool Show. I was hugging people right left and centre. It was an amazing day and I am hoping to be there again next year. My next show is Yarnporium in London on the 2^nd & 3^rd November. It’s a whopper of a show and I have lots of stuff up my sleeve for it. It’s all very exciting!

8 – Big Up

To everyone that is helping to pull together the #SockAlong2018. I am really stretched for time at the moment, so having so many great people being involved is making it a better and more interesting CAL. Huge thanks and appreciation going out to Caroline, Tamara, Kathryn, Claudia, Vicki and Deanne. Let’s get some socks on the hook.

9 – J’adore

Song – Of course I have a new song to obsess over and it’s another dance remix. It’s called ‘Send me on my way’ by Rusted Roots and it’s a Jesse Bloch remix. You may recognise the original from the film ‘Ice Age’.

TV – We have gone back to watch Green Wing for the umptieth time. This really is proper, silly, British humour. It can be a bit sweary, so if that’s not your thing then don’t look it up!

Autumn - It’s a bit Autumnal round these parts but I’m still managing to eek out a few more times sitting outside (with a blanket) as I work. I love the Autumn and the fact that soup, log fires and blankets are back on the menu.

Fay x

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August 3, 2018 @ 7:56 am

Episode 33 - It’s so close I can almost sniff it

Hello there and welcome to The Crochet Circle Podcast and the show notes for Episode 33 – So close, I can sniff it!

In this episode I cover: CALs, Old dog, new tricks; Final Destination; En Route; Designs in Progress; Feeding the habit; Quick News Beats and J’adore?

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1 – Old dog, new tricks

My Old dog, new tricks is still about the dratted moth.

Since last month, I have managed to get on top of the moth situation but I have tried a couple of different methods and wanted to tell you what worked best for me.

Lovely Crochet Clan member Lisa told me about pheromone traps that you can buy. They are meant to attract the male moths which therefore stops the breeding cycle. I put the traps down as I was coming to the end of dealing with Moth Gate but still didn’t catch and moths with the various traps I put throughout the house.

What worked best for me was using the hoover nozzle (obviously doing this diligently so that I didn’t suck up my boob this time!) I think that this is the best technique because you can catch them in mid-air and it doesn’t make a mess. Obviously, I would rather be able to catch them alive and put them outside but this is really hard to do.

Another lovely Crochet Clan member, Mara, has a pest controller friend and they suggest the zip lock freezer method but with an extended freezer time. Five days in the freezer, five days out and five days back in. That means that if any eggs survived and hatched after the first freeze, they should be dealt with in the second freeze.

2 - CALs

#SummerTopsCAL – is now finished and there have been so many entries. I am really impressed and thankful to everyone that took part. Lots of people made their first ever garments. Some people made multiple garments for the CAL!

If you want to see what everyone has been up to you can see the FOs in two locations:

1 – The Crochet Circle Group on Ravelry has a Summer Top CAL FO thread.

2 – On Instagram go to #SummerTopCALFO

I did a random number generator for the prizes and the following people won:

1 - Leather hook case by Nu Shearman, stitch markers by Lisa and a Liberty notebook - Mara (aka @Rubytombstone)

2 – 6 x 50g of Erika Knight Gossypium cotton (enough to make a summer top), stitch markers by Lisa and a Liberty notebook - Wendy (aka @wendlcol)

I also generated a random number for Sharon’s No Sew Mimosa Kimono. The winner for that was Diranish from YouTube.

#Loftalong – This C/KAL is going strong even with the heat that we have had. If you downloaded the pattern but you’re not sure what colours to use, look at #LoftAlong or #LoftAlongFO on Instagram for inspiration. There is also a chatter thread in the John Arbon Textiles group on Ravelry.

Use #Loftalong for your WIPs and #LoftalongFO for your FOs.

3 – Yarn shows – how to survive them

I lovely member of the Crochet Clan asked me if I had any tips on how to approach a yarn show, especially if you have never been before. So, I thought I would pull together my top ten tips for surviving and thriving at yarn shows:

1 – Go online and see what people have to say about the yarn show. Is the food good, is the ground uneven, is day two quieter than day one? All of this information can help you to really enjoy a yarn show rather than be frustrated by it because you know what you are getting yourself into.

2 – Most yarn shows put a map of the vendors up on their website a couple of weeks in advance. Download it, look at all of the vendors and decide which ones you would be gutted to miss out on. They should be your first people to visit, even if you miss out lots of stalls in between for now. You can always go back and see them once you have seen your favourite vendors.

3 – Dress appropriately. Wear layers because what on face value may look like a very cold venue soon heats up with thousands of bodies in it. Get your comfortable shoes on because you are going to do a lot of walking.

4 – Arrive early and try to park as close as possible to the venue. This means that you have easy access to your vehicle should you want to drop bags off and also a place to sit, rest and take your cup of tea to. Seating is always an issue at yarn shows.

5 – Of all of the yarn shows that I go to, I would say that only two of them have decent quality food (Wonderwool Wales and Woolfest) for all of the others I am always disappointed by the cost, quality and selection. If you have specific dietary requirements then taking your own food is a much safer bet. Again, this is where parking your car as close as possible comes in – you can leave your lunch in the car and go back there for a break. You can also check out what is available locally. At Yarndale there is a bus that runs down to Skipton and there are lots of cafes there that you can go and eat in. There is also an AMAZING farm shop down the hill from the venue where you can eat in or take away.

6 – Go in with a spending budget and take cash with you. The nature of yarn shows means that many of them are in rural locations and paying by card can be really tricky. If you take cash then you can only spend what you have with you. As a general rule of thumb, vendors have a minimum payment for card transactions because they have to pay a percentage for that transaction. With my system I have to pay 2.7% of the transaction back to iZettle. Vendors usually prefer cash for this reason.

7 – Be sociable. If you have gone alone, go and grab a cuppa and sit with the crowds. People will gladly strike up a conversation with you. I am forever being nosy and asking people what they have been buying and asking to see it.

8 – If you have friends on Ravelry or Instagram or a favourite podcaster, see if they are going and whether there is a meet up. It can be a very lovely hour out of your day where you get to meet people face to face and strengthen your online relationships.

9 – If like me, you don’t do well with big crowds, find out which day is quietest. In general, a two day event over a Saturday/Sunday will be quieter in the afternoons and MUCH quieter on the Sunday. For events that are on a Friday and Saturday, the same is true but the Friday would tend to be quieter.

10 – Check the small print. I have only just seen that people with advance tickets for Yarndale get in at 10am. If you are buying your ticket on the day, you won’t get in until 11am. Different shows will have different rules, so make sure you aren’t standing about waiting to get in when you could have had an extra hour in bed.

11 – I have added and extra one in because rather a lot of theft goes on at yarn shows. If all of the good people were helping to keep their eyes peeled for thieves we might be able to put a stop to it. So, if you see something that doesn’t seem quite right, please let the vendor know.

I thought I would also add a couple of things that it’s best not to do to vendors:

1 – If you want to take photos of a vendors stand or stock, please ask them in advance. It’s just good manners and stops us thinking that you are stealing our intellectual property, ready to create your own items.

2 – Don’t stand in a vendors stall and say “I could make that for half the price”. Yup, this does happen!

3 – Don’t be shy. Come and talk to us. There is nothing nicer for a vendor than people appreciating what they are selling and talking about it. If you ever see me vend, come and say hi and show me what you have bought so that I can live vicariously through your purchases.

4 – Final Destination

I have mainly been making Lofts! A few people asked me for a DK version and so I quickly turned around a DK Loft knitted and crocheted pattern. Both are available on Ravelry now. I know that quite a few of you from the US and Canada were interested in trying John Arbon Knit by Numbers but didn’t want to have it sent from the UK. Corrine from The Woolly Thistle stocks KBN DK in all the colours and shades, so you wouldn’t have to pay international postage. She has pulled together kits that are $49.95 and include 3 x 100g skeins a large tote bag and a pin badge. Both versions are also much quicker in the DK…

5 – En Route

I am still working on my second top for the #SummerTopCAL. It’s the Verity Top by the lovely Dawn at The Almond Snug. I am just struggling with time on non-design projects at the moment. I thought I was going to have a lovely quiet summer crocheting under the umbrella. Nope.

Last night I started my fourth and final crocheted Loft shawl. This one is in a DK/Light 3 weight and in the plum colour. We have a friendly competition going between a few of us on Instagram for a LoftOff and I have until midnight on Friday to get the finish line. I am currently on Row 60…

I love and hate deadlines in equal measure!

6 – Feeding the habit

I have been to lost of woolly events in the last few weeks. As with last month, I intend on having a double podcast and showing off all the things I have been doing in Episode 34 which will come out in mid-August when I get back from gallivanting in Northern Ireland because I want to show off Yarnfolk and Giant’s Causeway and, and, and…

In the meantime, here are some of the goodies that I have bought, been given as birthday pressies.

Button badges from Crochet Luna and second hand books from

the Blaze Farm Wool Experience

Icelandic wool from dewsnapswoollens.co.uk in the Peak District

(website isn't currently working)

1 - Shropshire Ply from Ewe & Ply in Shrewsbury

2 - Alley Cat (or as I called it "Dirty Tiger") from Ewe & Ply's Legends range

3 - Coloured Ryeland from Find Me Knitting

4 - North Ronaldsay from A Yarn From North Ronaldsay

5 - Feral Sphere Alpaca and Gotland blend from Find Me Knitting

6 - Mermaid and minis in shade Fuchsia from Riverknits

7 - Shepherd's Delight & Shepherd's Warning from Riverknits

8 - Hot Socks from Grundl and available from Ewe & Ply

7 - Quick News Beats

Global Hook Ups – The next Global Hook Up is due to be on Saturday 11th August 2018 (BST)

Time: Saturday 11th August 2018 8:30 PM London BST

There is then a second one on Sunday 12th August at 9am (BST)

Time: Sunday 12th August 2018 9:00 AM London BST

Here is the meringue recipe that I promised.

Here is the Weekday Summer Porridge recipe that's in the latest issue of www.olannand.ie

I found that I had already created the ragu recipe on my old website, so here it is. You can use red lentils instead of brown. I also do this as a massive batch cook and store it in preserving jars for months. It's a great store cupboard meal that is homemade and we always take a jar and a bag of pasta when we go on self catering holidays.

8 – Big Up

Everyone that joined in with the Summer Top CAL. I know that it has given a lot of people, including me, inspiration to make more tops. We even had a couple of crocheted dresses entered!

9 – J’adore

Song - The latest song that I am obsessed with is ‘Shotgun’ by George Ezra and in particular the Danny Dove remix. Happy, happy summer tune!

TV - The TV programme that we boshed in two nights (two seasons!) was The Good Place. I loved the premise of this series. It’s on Netflix and has some great actors (Kristen Bell, Ted Danson, William Jackson Harper, Jameela Jamil, Manny Jacinto and D’Arcy Carden) and is from the same creator as Parks and Rec – which I also loved!

Audio book – I am still making my way through The Baroque Cycle by Neal Stephenson. I’m on Book 4/5 (told in tandem) and I am loving it every bit as much as I did the first time around.

I will be back in mid-August with a second installment of my Summer Shennanigans.

Fay x

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