March 6, 2020 @ 10:03 am

Episode 52 - Radical Kindness

Hello there and welcome to The Crochet Circle Podcast and the show notes for Episode 52 – Radical Kindness.

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 awhile.

In this episode, I cover Old Dog New Tricks; Final Destination; Designs on Progress; Quick News Beats and Big Up.

This podcast is sponsored by Provenance Craft Co.

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 – Old Dog New Tricks

This month’s top Crochet Clan tip is from Rica (woolroundtheworld on Ravelry and @woolaroundtheworld on Instagram). Rica has highlighted how stitches can look completely different worked in the round, compared to in rows.

Examples given show Lemon Peel Stitch in rows and rounds and the same for Feather Stitch. The textures and final looks are really quite different.

Even the simplest of stitches like double crochet, look different in the round form in rows.

Image 1: Two examples of Lemon Peel stitch, on the left it has been crocheted in rows and on the right in rounds. It looks neater in rounds and the stitch definition is better.

Image 2: Two examples of Feather stitch, on the left it has been crocheted in rows and on the right in rounds. It has more stitch detail in rows and presents more of a slanted stitch in rounds.

Image 3: Herringbone htr are shown on the left which creates a left and right slanting diagonal pattern in the work because it's worked in rows. On the right Herringbone tr are shown worked in the round, so all of the stitches are slanting to the left.

So, if you have stitch dictionaries or are looking to start some of your own designs, have a think about whether you could create something that looks completely different. I have a few stitch dictionaries and I find them really helpful for my work.

I thought I would share two of my absolute favourites with you:

1 – The Crochet Stitch Bible by Betty Barnden

ISBN-10: 0785830480
ISBN-13: 978-0785830481

2 – Crochet Every Way Stitch Dictionary Dora Ohrenstein

ISBN-10: 1419732919
ISBN-13: 978-1419732911

2 – Final Destination

I have one FO and it’s another garment! It’s the Adelong jumper pattern (link)

Image: My mustard coloured Adelong jumper is lying on dark wood floorboards. The top of the bust upwards, including the sleeves, is ribbed by working back loop only and from the rib downwards it's all half trebles, giving two distinct sections of stitch definition.

The yarn is Erika Knight British Blue 100 which is a DK weight yarn (link). It’s 100% British Bluefaced Leicester, 220m per 100g and I am using shade Mrs. Dalloway.

The pattern is by Deanne from Addydae Designs (link to IG account) and it’s a top-down construction, creating the sleeves and neckline at the same time. I crocheted up a size medium so that there is less positive ease and also changed the ribbing a little so that it was shorter and joined from front to back and I added a couple of rounds of dc to the sleeves to pull them in a little and finish them off.

Image 1: shows the hem of my finished Adelong jumper. The hem is the same length front and back with a 4 stitch join so that the two ribs are joined. The jumper is in a proper mustard colour.

Image 2: The sleeve of my Adelong jumper shows the neat short-row shaping that forms from the neckline all the way down the top of the arm and the two rounds of dc (SC US) I did to pull the sleeve in a little.

3 – Designs in Progress

I finally have some designs in progress that I can show you that aren’t for commissions! In fact, there are three!

First up is Positivity Spiral. This design will be launched on March 15^th in support of Operation Social Justice Warrior. I want to be able to support positive ways for our fibre community to be inclusive and this feels like a good way forward.

If you would like to know more about Operation Social Justice, please go and have a look at Angie at Gamercrafting’s information, because she is the one putting all the hard work into organising it (link).

Positivity Spiral is a one skein cowl pattern that can be made as long or short as you like. It can be worked up in any weight of yarn too. Because the deadline is quite tight for this pattern, the initial pattern release will have three cowl examples (light DK, sportweight and 4ply). For anyone that buys the pattern through Ravelry, Etsy or my website, as soon as I have finished the details with the other weights, a pattern update will be sent to everyone that already purchased it.

100% of the profits are going to ROTA (link) for any pattern sales from 15^th March to the end of the month. Race on the Agenda (ROTA) is one of Britain's leading social policy think-tanks focusing on issues that affect Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities. Originally set up in 1984, ROTA aims to increase the capacity of BAME organisations and strengthen the voice of BAME communities through increased civic engagement and participation in society.

So, if you would like to buy the pattern from 15^th onwards, you can do so on Ravelry, Etsy or my own website. Remember that my pattern prices are scaled on my website, so you can access them from £2 to £6 depending on your budget.

What is doubly exciting is that I am hoping to crochet the 4 ply sample with a special skein from Ishrat at Fruitful Fusion (link).

What is also amazing is that my very lovely friend and Tech Editor, Deb from Find me Knitting (link) has offered to tech edit for free. This is no small thing because that means the money I would have spent now goes straight to ROTA because it isn’t being deducted from design expenses. Thanks Deb!

The examples shown were in Blue Sky Alpacas Metalico (light DK) and John Arbon Textiles Alpaca Supreme sportweight.

Image: Two cowls on a light pink background with a bow-tie of yarn and a blue crochet hook. The smaller cowl is resting on top of the other and it's a silver colour. The other is a caramel/fawn brown. Both have the same stitch pattern with Herringbone tr slanting to the left and the filet crochet also slants to the left.

My second design is very much in its infancy, but it combines two lovely yarns – both from RiverKnits. Using the solid Bluefaced Leicester 4ply as a background colour, it allows the different colours of the Chimera yarn to really show off.

I am just at the beginning of the first hand warmer, so there is still a fair way to go on this design, especially as I want to make mittens, a cowl and a hat from it! So, it will be a while before you see this as a finished set of designs.

Image: white background with the beginnings of a hand warmer. The main colour is navy and ears of barley type corn are worked up in puff stitches. The puff stitches are worked up in Chimera yarn which is spun with mustard, white, teal and blue.

Design number three is a blanket. I have never really designed a blanket before and this one is inspired by all of the lovely mini yarn advent calendars that people were showing off at the end of 2019.

It got me thinking about my stash, using what I’ve got and offering a solution for folk that can’t afford yar advents but would really love one.

If like me, you have lots of half-used cakes of 4 ply yarn, then this is something that you can do now and put away, ready for the 1^st December to unwrap your own yarn advent.

I went to my stash and pulled out 24 cakes of 4 ply yarn that had 20g or more in them. As I had lost to choose from, I also chose the 24 that I thought worked best together.

The next part is up to you. You can either bag them up in any old order, or you can do what I did and create a colour sequence that won’t make your inner-pedant scream.

I then numbered 24 brown bags and popped each of my 20g+ yarn cakes into a bag and popped them all into one big bag. Come 1^st December 2020, you will not remember what you had in those bags and you will have a lovely yarn advent that cost you the sum total of 24 brown paper bags.

The pattern I am designing is called the Scrapvent Blanket and it’s designed to make the yarn go as far as possible. I’m using Herringbone half Treble because it creates such a beautiful fabric that isn’t very holey. My plan is to finish the blanket off with a solid cream border – also from stash.

Image: pale pink background with a cream/ light teal project bag and a multi-coloured blanket spilling out of it. The blanket shows six-row repeats in different yarns and the lastest colour, a dark green yarn is caked up and ready to go. To the right is a pink crochet hook, an empty brown paper bag and a full paper bag with scrap yarn 10 in it, ready to be added to the blanket.

So, I’ll continue to work away on the blanket over the coming months and the pattern will be ready well in advance of the 1^st December.

Why not head to your stash and see if you have 24 x 20g leftovers or minis in 4 ply and 100g for a border? Get them bagged up and put away for 1^st December 2020.

4 – Quick News Beats

1 - Global Hook Up – The March hook ups are on:

Saturday 21st at 8pm (GMT) and Sunday 22nd at 9am GMT.

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

If you are joining on your phone or tablet you will likely need to download the software in advance. If you are joining from a PC or Mac, you can join via the link above. Everyone needs to use the same ID number to get into the session.

2 – As this goes live on the 6^th March, I will be vending at the RiverKnits Open Day tomorrow 7^th March and then the next places you can find me are Wonderwool Wales (link) on 25th and 26^th April, Knit and Stitch Show at the Reghed Centre in Cumbria (link) on 2^nd and 3^rd May, Yarningham in Birmingham (link) on 11^th and 12^th July. There are lots of other events during the year, but these are the ones I’m allowed to tell you about so far!

5 – Big Up

The moon. Okay, I’m going to go a bit woo here. I don’t understand why it has taken me nearly 43 years to understand the impact that the lunar cycle has on me.

In case you are also a creative soul, here is what it does to me. A few days before and after the new moon I am bone-tired and need to take naps. I feel drained, down-hearted about everything and generally meh!

At the opposite end of the scale in the days leading up to and after a full moon, I am full of energy, and the creative ideas just flow out of my head uncontrollably – there is literally no stopping me.

Now that I understand this rhythm, I can plan my design work around the cycle. When I need new designs, I wait until the full moon is due and then I use that more relaxed time of the new moon to actually work on the new designs and products.

It’s actually the perfect balance because I can’t keep at full-pelt all the time, much as I think I can. With my new-found understanding, I now track what is going on and allow myself a bit of a break when it’s new moon time.

I know it sounds a bit woo, but honestly, this realisation has completely changed the way I structure my months and creative output. The proof is in the number of new designs I have on the go!

If any of you are interested in tracking the lunar cycle, I have been using an app on my phone called Moon Pro and it also gives you sunrise and sunset times which is really handy.

I’ll be back on 3^rd April.

Fay x

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Hello and welcome to the Crochet Circle Podcast. I’m Fay, and this is my monthly crochet podcast with a little bit of knitting on the side.

You can catch the audio version of the podcast on A cast, Apple Podcasts, Podbean, Stitcher, Spotify and more. The video version is available on YouTube. Each podcast has full, linked show notes which can be found at www.thecrochetcircle.podbean.com or follow me on Instagram crochet_circle_podcast and get the links to all aspects of the podcast from there.

Welcome into the Crochet Clan and our amazing community.

February 6, 2020 @ 11:03 pm

Episode 51 - Light

Hello there and welcome to The Crochet Circle Podcast and the show notes for Episode 51 – Light.

In this episode, I cover Old Dog New Tricks; Yarn review; Final Destination; En Route; Quick News Beats; Big Up and J’adore.

This podcast is sponsored by Provenance Craft Co.

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 – Old Dog New Tricks

This month’s top Crochet Clan tip is from Stasia (Stasiacrochet on Ravelry and Instagram). Stasia has been on a real crocheted garment journey. She managed to make 13 last year and is already on her second of 2020.

We both struggle to make tops fit because we have actual boobs to fit into a garment. Stasia’s top tip is to rearrange some of the stitches from your back to your front. For example, if you are making a top-down raglan and you are supposed to have a starting chain with 40 chains for the front and for the back, you may have 38 for the back (-2) and 42 for the front (+2). I sometimes deduct 5!
If you are working top-down in the round then you need to do this before splitting for the sleeves and not from the beginning.

Designers usually say that your back and front are the same width but mine are about 13cm different.

This is a great tip if you aren’t a fan of the boxy sweater which tends to just hang straight off us big boobed people like a tent. You can make a smaller size, tailor it for your bust and create something more flattering. You just need to keep an eye on the arm length and bicep circumference though.

My top tip is to know what you are looking for when you are choosing a garment pattern. For instance, there are patterns on Ravelry that go up to 60” bust but are listed as a 4XL, there are also 5XL patterns listed that also go to 60”. It is always better to go by your measurements rather than a size option.

2 – Yarn review

I have written a full review for Yarnadelic by John Arbon Textiles (link) over at Provenance Craft Co. (link). It’s absolutely beautiful.

Image text: soft grey background with three skeins of squishy Yarnadelic wool. It has a base of blue with dark fawn brown heathered throughout the yarn. It shows quite a high twist in the strands and a beautiful blend of the colours.

3 – Final Destination

I have one little crochet FO from January. Needless to say, I have lots of stuff bubbling away that I will be able to share with you in the future. I am doing submitting some designs to magazines, partly because I really like working with an extended team and partly because it gives me a very firm deadline to work to, which is how I work best.

The quickly whipped up this mitten pattern to be able to review the Yarnadelic yarn. I’m not going to write up a pattern for them, but the knowledge gained will be used in one of my next designs, so you will see a similar-ish pattern from me in the future.

Image text: grey background showing on the right, a full mitten with rib and starting rows in Yarnadelic colourway 'Black Gold of the Sun' transitioning through some simple colourwork into the rusty orange colour that is Bracken from the Harvest Hues range. To the left is my hand, showing how the fingerless mitten fits.

I did finish my Dad’s knitted Icelandic jumper. I posted it on the Wednesday morning and he phoned me on Thursday night to tell me how much he loved it. He is a step closer to becoming Icelandic!

Image text: Double image. On the left is my white-haired Dad wearing his new Jon jumper with his hands crossed to show the details on the sleeves. On the right is the jumper on my mannequin. The main body is dark grey with colourwork at the bottom of the sleeves and the yoke in a gradient of greys into ash white.

The design is called Jon (link) and is by Hulda Hakonardottir. I knitted it using Lettlopi (link) in four shades of grey.

Before I sent it to my Dad, I asked Matthew to try it on to see what the shaping was like. He got his fingers about 3cm into the body of the jumper before he recoiled and refused to put it on. Matthew is at the other end of the wool softness scale to me. He loves lambswool, merino and Bluefaced Leicester and that’s about it. Luckily, I make up for it with my love of characterful wool.

4 – En Route

I have one crocheted WIP on the go and it’s another garment! I was given the Adelong jumper pattern (link) as a present by lovely Claudia Dingle and I happened to have just the right amount of yarn for it from my Christmas pressies. Of course, it’s mustard coloured.

I am using the Erika Knight British Blue 100 which is a DK weight yarn (link). It’s 100% British Bluefaced Leicester, 220m per 100g and I am using shade Mrs. Dalloway.

Image text: grey background with the beginnings of a mustard wool jumper. My hand is holding the remains of a cake of yarn on the jumper and a crochet hook can be seen in the top right of the photo. The jumper is ribbed and the back panel from the collar down is finished, ready to start the front panel from the collar down.

This is a really lovely, soft wool to use and it is crocheting up a dream. The pattern is by Deanne from Addydae Designs (link to IG account) and as you can expect from her patterns, it’s really well written and broken into bite-sized chunks.

Image text: yellow background with a washi-taped photo of Deanne wearing her version of her Adelong jumper in a steel grey. Deanne has on hand on her hip and is looking to her left, with mid-length dark blond hair falling down the front.

I am loving the top-down construction of this jumper. As mentioned in Old Dog, New Tricks, boxy jumpers don’t really suit my shape, so I am crocheting up a size medium so that there is less positive ease and I can make the most of my assets!

5 - Feeding the Habit

I obviously bought more of the Yarnadelic yarn because I am in love with it! I have six skeins and am currently knitting a jumper with it. I also got some mini skeins during a jolly to see Ewe & Ply's new shop in Oswestry (link). There was also some incoming new yarn from RiverKnits (link) which is destined for my next crochet designs.

Image text: Image 1 - grey background with a skein of Chimera yarn from RiverKnits which is a marl of blues and yellow, lying on top of a dark navy skein. In the middle is a hardback copy of Vanishing Fleece by Clara Parkes which has a bright green cover with a hand-drawn big sheep and a very small person riding on its back with a lasso. To the right of the book are three skeins of Yarnadelic yarn in colour Badi Da (mid steel blue/grey with a blend of mid-brown). To the top of the book is a bundle of mini skeins in pastel, sugared almond colours.

Image 2 - yellow background with a washi-taped photo of Becci and Markus from RiverKnits wearing their dye aprons. Bothe have glasses on and are smiling as they look straight at the camera.

5 – Quick News Beats

1 - Global Hook Up – The February hook ups are on:

Saturday 22^nd at 8pm (GMT) and Sunday 23^rd at 9am GMT.

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

2 – I will be vending at the RiverKnits Open Day on the 7^th March. It’s held at their dye studio in Weedon, Northants. All the details can be found here (link). There are even more vendors than last year, including Katie Green, Garthenor, Fruitful Fusion and many others.

3 - International crocheters. If you are interested in being on a list that I can pass out to dyers, yarn shop owners etc. that need test crocheters, then please email me: fay@provenancecraft.com

6 - J’adore

I have just listened to Clara Parkes’ book Vanishing Fleece. It was wonderful and gave me a real insight into the wool industry in the US and where the concerns and issues are. It is a book worth reading if you are interested in how wool is processed and where the pressure points are.

I’ll be back on March 6th. Have a fab festive season!

Fay x

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January 3, 2020 @ 8:19 am

Episode 50 - Woohoo

Hello there and welcome to The Crochet Circle Podcast and the show notes for Episode 50 – Woohoo!

In this episode, I cover Old Dog New Tricks; WIP RIP 2019; Final Destination; En Route; Quick News Beats; Big Up and J’adore.

This podcast is sponsored by:

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 – Old Dog New Tricks

Last month, I said I was also going to start sharing your top tips in this section. This fist Crochet Clan tip comes from two folk – Trina (browneyedgirlGB on Ravelry and @browneyedgirl on Instagram) and Andrea (woolwoman2k8 on Ravelry, @woolwomank2k8 on Instagram and Woollen Yarns Blog). The tips are all about using stitch markers. Andrea uses them to mark the right side of her work, making it easier to find where you are in a pattern. Trina uses them to mark the first stitch of each row.

I really like the bulb safety pins and stitch markers with the lever back arch because they are easy to attach and lock in place.

Using stitch markers may seem like a bit of a faff, but it can honestly save you hours of work and help you to keep your row and round counts accurate.

I’m working on a blog post which answers your questions on blocking. You still have time to ask me specific questions on blocking, if you have any. One of the questions was about how to block hats. If you are lucky enough to have a bowl that has the same circumference as the recipient, then you can use that. However, if the bowl is too deep, you run the risk of the hat brim being stretched too widely.

I wanted to create a hat blocker that was bespoke to the circumference of my head, so I made one with papier mache and a balloon. Here is how to do it:

1 – Measured the circumference of your head. I measured 58cm across my forehead, over my ears and around the nape of my neck.

2 – Blow up a balloon and deflated it until it has a circumference of 2cm less than your measurement at the widest point and tie it off. Note that you reduce the circumference by 2cm so that the hat will block slightly smaller than your head and will be a good fit.

3 – Make a ‘glue’ from ½ cup of flour and 2.5 cups of water, heat on the hob and whisk until it creates a thick paste. Allow it to cool. This was enough to create two hat blocking moulds.

4 – Tear a few pages of newspaper into strips.

5 – Using a pastry brush (or similar), spread some of the paste over the balloon and press strips of newspaper over the balloon. Cover most of the balloon in an initial layer. Use a mug to stand the balloon on. Keep on building up paste and newspaper layers over the balloon. I added three layers of newspaper and three layers of tissue paper. You will need at least five layers to create a thick enough mould that will retain its shape when the balloon has deflated.

6 – Leave the mould to dry thoroughly.

7 – Coat the mould with three layers of clear varnish, allowing it to dry between coats. This will help to harden the mould and stop create a waterproof barrier between your wet damp hat and the paper.

ALT TEXT : Photo 1 - cream background with two blown up balloons covered in newspaper and brown tissue paper.

Photo 2: a newspaper/tissue covered balloon is sat on a mug on top of newspaper. A tin of interior clear wood varnish and a brush lie beside the mug.

If you make hats for other people too, you may as well make two hat blockers at the same time. I also made a smaller one that fits my nieces head.

To wet block your hat, soak it in wool wash, squeeze out the excess water and place it on the hat blocker (you may want to stand it on a mug). The shape of the mould should mean that the brim of your hat is at a point with a smaller circumference. This means that the brim will block to a smaller size from the main body of your hat and help to keep it on your head.

ALT TEXT: Papier mache balloon mould is in a mug and has an orange and green knitted hat blocking on it.

2 – CAL Updates

#wiprip2019

You did so well with the #wiprip2019. So many projects were finished up before the 31^{st of} December.

I managed to pass into 2020 with the following WIPs:

1 – a knitted jumper for my Dad

2 – a crocheted shawl design (30% done)

3 – a new crocheted shawl design (about 10% done)

Basically, no personal WIPs, which is exactly what I was aiming for.

3 – Final Destination

I have finished a lot of items in the last month. Some of them were things that needed to be sorted and others were designs or samples.

Here is what has been finished off:

My Bark Sweater by Sidsel Sangild (link) needed a remedy for the bottom because it was curling up. I have added two rounds of dc (US sc) and although it is curling a little, I haven’t yet blocked it and I think it will work.
My Strandir knitted jumper (link) by Hulda Hakonardottir needed to be lengthened. I picked up stitches from the bottom, cut off the original ribbing and knitted a new 2 x 2 rib to make the jumper my desired length.
I finished off my laceweight design shawl. I thought I would be able to show them all to you in this podcast, but I am entering them into a design competition that Unravel Yarn Festival is running. I’ll let you know how I get on!
I finally finished my Verity Vest – it has only been about 18 months. It was designed by Dawn at The Almond Snug (link) and I crocheted it in Aruancania Ranco (link) in the colour – turquoise. I haven’t blocked the vest because it’s for my friend and she may want to add more length to it.
I was also taking part in The Craft Bank, Gift along. I had chosen to sew for my gift partner and so made matching large and small project bags because she was teaching her granddaughter to knit. Whilst I was making the bags for my gift partner, I made some for me too. I’m trying to use up some of my fabric stash…
Over the festive season, I made another bag, but this time, I added embroidery to one side and embroidery applique to the other. This will be used as a shop sample to show what you can make from some of the books I sell. I really enjoyed doing these embroideries. Sometimes working on a different craft can create a welcome break.

ALT TEXT Photo 1 - waist rubbing of Strandir jumper showing the cut off the old rib and newly finished 2 x 2 rib.

ALT TEXT Photo 2 - finished Strandir jumper on black background. The jumper is a snowy white colour with tabs of a midnight blue at the yoke and cuffs.

ALT TEXT Photo 3 - cream background with mottled turquoise coloured Verity Vest. The top is sleeveless and is worked in diagonal rows the form in the centre. Eyelet rows give it more features.

ALT TEXT Photo 4 - front of a cream, linen handmade project bag. Three detailed black and yellow bees have been embroidered onto the bag and loo as though they are flying upwards.

ALT TEXT Photo 5 - back of the same cream, linen bag has mustard and green leaves appliqued onto it with woollen threads in an oval wreath with additional foliage embroidery.

ALT TEXT Photo 6 - Two, one skein handmade bags on top of a cream background. The bag on the left is a French blue colour with white clouds dumping snowflakes. The bag on the right has a cream background and a light teal motif that looks like a knit stitch/cat head. Both bags have two poppers to close them and sage green tabs as a small handle.

4 – En Route

I have two WIPs on the go. The first is a jumper for my Dad and it’s a design called Jon (link) and is by the same designer as my Strandir Jumper – Hulda Hakonardottir. I’m knitting it using Lettlopi (link) in four shades of grey. I’m trying to make this quickly so that my Dad can get some use out of it this winter.

I’m also about to start on the marsupial pouches to send to WIRE in Australia. I plan to make three of them, with cotton liners, before the end of January.

Crocheted pouch patterns – https://www.facebook.com/rubylovesbrains/photos/pcb.10159191872638032/10159191871513032/?type=3&theater

Knitted pouch pattern – https://www.wires.org.au/wildlife-info/wildlife-factsheets/making-possum-pouches

Sewn cotton liners – https://www.wires.org.au/wildlife-info/wildlife-factsheets/making-possum-pouches

Birds’ nest pattern - https://www.wires.org.au/wildlife-info/wildlife-factsheets/making-wildlife-nests

If you are unable to create something but want to help in some way, donations are also being accepted by WIRES (Wildlife Rescue (link)).

All donated items should be sent to Jacqui Fink, who is matching items up with the volunteers animal carers and organisations who need them. Her details are:

Jacqui Fink
PO Box 126,
Balgowlah NSW 2093
Australia

ARRINGAH MALL

NSW 2100

5 – Feeding the Habit

I have managed my six months of no yarn buying (this excludes yarn that I needed to buy for designs and the yarn dyeing workshop that I did). I was giving myself until the beginning of January to see if any yarn took my fancy, but I haven’t seen anything. That said, I was given three sets from Matthew for Christmas. I do have my eye on some yarn, but it isn’t available until the end of January, so my plan is to start another six-month yarn ban from the beginning of February.

Here are my Christmas pressies.

Three skeins of Autumn in colour Narcissus from Freehold Yarn Company (link). I asked for this because I already had a skein of the mustard and a skein of the grey in my stash and wanted more to make a jumper – also, it was 40% off. It’s a fingering weight yarn (385m per 100g) and a blend of 25% Gotland and 75% Bluefaced Leicester.

ALT TEXT: cream background with three skeins of sunshine, mustard coloured yarn and white label.

Eight skeins of Tuku Wool (link) in colour H22 Valo. It’s a fingering weight yarn (195m per 50g) and 100% Finish wool. This was also from Freehold Yarn Company and was 40%.

ALT TEXT: cream background with seven, 50g skeins of greeny mustard lying vertically and one skein lying on top diagonally. The yarn looks woolly and is heathered with green and mustard colours.

Six skeins of Erika Knight British Blue 100 (link) which is a DK weight yarn ( 220m per 100g) and 100% British grown and spun Bluefaced Leicester. The colourway is called Mrs Dalloway. This was a last-minute addition because a local garden centre was selling off their Erika Knight stocks at 50% off, so £6.50 per skein. More skeins were bought to make Matthew a jumper too.

ALT TEXT: cream background with two skeins of plum – proper mustard, squishy wool with a kraft paper label.

I also received a skein of variegated yarn as a present from my friend Charlie. It is the colourway Exposed Steel by Gilly at Fjord Fibres (link). I really love crocheting and knitting with Gilly’s yarn – it’s really plump and warm. 80% Norwegian wool and 20% nylon – 350m per 100g.

ALT TEXT - cream background with a variegated skein of plump yarn. It is green, grey, yellow, brown, orange and utterly gorgeous.

6 - Ask me anything

As we are at Episode 50 of the podcast (woohoo) and I said that if you had any questions to ask, then I would answer them, so here you are:

Ally asked - I know you left your job to start your business but what made you decide to design as well as running the business? Did you do any training/reading/workshops, etc before doing your first pattern?

Pretty much as soon as I picked up a hook, I was designing my own items, even if it was just crocheting a cowl with a stitch pattern. It sounds a bit cheesy, but it was like I finally found my creative calling. Prior to crocheting, I wouldn’t have called myself a creative person at all. Crochet is what helped me understand that creativity isn’t just about being and to draw or write or play an instrument. Crafting opened up a whole new part of my life and creativity just keeps on pouring in.

Fiona asked - When it is suggested you alternate skeins of hand-dyed yarn does it mean every 2 rows or how many? Does that mean extra ends to sew in too?

Personally, if it was something worked in rows then I would do alternate every two rows so that there were no extra ends to weave in. If I was working in rounds, I would change every round to really blend the skeins.

Claudia asked:

What is your goal - where do you see your business in five years time?

I would love my designs to have more prominence. It’s really hard to get your designs seen and to become well known in the world of crochet and knitting.

I would also like to be in a position to support other new designers. This is something that I am working towards now, but I think one of my skills is in pulling people together to move crochet forward as a craft.

Do you think that Brexit will have an impact on your business and if so - in which way?

Most of my customers are UK based and I try to buy in as much stock as possible from the UK or make it myself, so I’m not seeing a massive impact at the moment. I know that there has been an increase in some of my raw materials that come from the EU which isn’t great. I suspect that there is a tightening of belts for UK citizens which isn’t great for our economy in general. However, there is an increase in the number of people crafting because it’s a skills-based hobby that is seen as useful and value for money. Interest in crochet, in particular, is on the up.

Do you have many friends in your local area you can meet up with and knit/crochet together?

Do you know that saying “if you want something doing, ask a busy person”? Well, I also run a fortnightly craft group called Woolgathering Sandbach. It has been going for four years now and we have a lovely group that meets up.

I’m also beginning to work on another crafting meet-up with my friend Bec. The plan is to offer a meet up just south of Manchester a few times a year so that we can increase the number fo crafters meeting up in our part of the UK.

Let’s not forget the Global Hook Ups too, where I et to meet with crafters from Russia, Australia, Germany, France, Scotland…

Why did you leave Scotland and would you ever like to move back and live there?

I had to leave to get a job associated with my degree. The expectation was that I would have to do voluntary work to be able to get a conservation job in Scotland and I couldn’t see why after five years of further education, I shouldn’t be paid for my expertise. I moved to England to have a job interview and became the Compost Development Officer for Oxfordshire County Council.

I don’t ever imagine going back to Scotland. I suspect that our next move will be to North Devon!

What other things - aside from yarn - are you passionate about? Which of your other talents would you like to develop more in future?

Cooking! I love food and finding new ingredients. At one point, I was actually working towards running a charcuterie company. Then I started crocheting and decided it was a safer bet than charcuterie. I love the idea of crocheting a garment from shearing to hook and also learning to weave. I basically want to learn all the crafts.

Corrine asked - What’s your naughtiest yarn-based project/ story?!

I think I would probably have to hark back to a time when we had a fair bit more money coming into our household. Matthew had bandmates staying to write and record an entire album in one weekend.

I was basically banished to the bedroom whenever I was in the house and by Sunday lunchtime, I had had enough. I basically surfed all the big yarn websites and pulled together a very large basket of goodies. The more frustrated I got, the better the yarns got. Needless to say, I have some very lovely cashmere in my stash that Matthew bought me to ease my pain over that weekend!

7 – Quick News Beats

1 - Global Hook Up – The January hook ups are on:

Saturday 25^th at 8 pm (GMT) and Sunday 26^th at 9 am GMT.

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

2 – I have had my first ever pattern printed in a crochet magazine! Basalt has been printed in Inside Crochet. I really like the team at Inside Crochet, so it wasn’t exactly a hard decision when they asked if they could use the pattern for the magazine. It’s in issue 121, which came out on the 19^{th of} December.

3 – My company name has changed from KNIT IT – HOOK IT – CRAFT IT to Provenance Craft Co. You may have seen some of my details change over on Instagram and across other social media. This is what the new logo looks like:

I’ll be back on February 7th 2020. Have a fab festive season!

Fay x

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Instagram: provenance.craft.co

Instagram: FayDHDesigns

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December 6, 2019 @ 10:17 am

Episode 49 - My kind of rainbow

Hello there and welcome to The Crochet Circle Podcast and the show notes for Episode 49 – My kind of rainbow

In this episode, I cover Old Dog New Tricks; WIP RIP 2019; Final Destination; En Route; Quick News Beats; Big Up and J’adore.

This podcast is sponsored by

KNIT IT - HOOK IT - CRAFT IT

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 – Old Dog New Tricks

I have a couple of things for you this month.

The first is a great way of getting accurate charts for your colourwork crochet designs. This trick came about because Claudia mentioned in a Global Hook Up that she wanted to be able to take motifs and recreate them in crochet. By inputting your swatch gauge into this website (link) you can get gauge specific graph paper which you can then colour in with your motif. This will help to ensure that your motif will easily convert to crochet stitches and look great when you have hooked it up.

The second one comes from a really good discussion in the Saturday night Global Hook Up on size inclusivity. When uploading garment projects onto Ravelry, I have been guilty of just adding ‘me’ to the box about who it is being made for. It hadn’t dawned on me that it would actually be helpful to give my measurements so that other makers could assess the size I made against my measurements.

I’m not a massive fan of having my photo taken, so I’m going to get over myself and start uploading more photos of me in my FOs so that others can see how the size I made looks on my body shape. If you are also making garments, I encourage you to do this too if you can. I often refer back to other people’s projects to see what the sizing and fit are like.

One of the things I would like to introduce in 2020 is tips from the Crochet Clan. Beyond continuing to share what I have learned in the previous month, I would also like to share your top crochet or yarn tips. Because these are a bit more involved it would be easier for me to get these via Ravelry or my email address. So, I have started a new thread on Ravelry called Old Dog New Tricks and you can add your tips to that thread. If you prefer, you can email me (fay@knitit-hookit-craftit.com).

Each month, I will feature a tip from a member of our community so that we are all learning from each other and we continue the Crochet Clan spirit that our podcast is known for.

2 – CAL Updates

#wiprip2019

The #wiprip2019 I am co-hosting with Sophie from A Spring Snowflake Podcast (link) is in full swing.

You have from now until midnight on the 31^st December to finish up or rip out some or all of your WIPs so that you go into the New Year with fewer projects.

On Instagram, you can use #wiprip2019 for chatter and #wiprip2019FO to show off your finished or frogged projects.

Go to Sophie’s Ravelry group for chatter and the Crochet Circle Podcast group for the FO thread.

Come and join us and together, let’s carry fewer projects into 2020.

One Skein Wonderland CAL

I was asked whether we were doing the One Skein Wonderland CAL again and I figured why not? My plan is to make this very informal and just a lovely way of us all connecting together during the festive season and throughout January.

You can start any, one skein crafting project from the 24^th December onwards.

3 – Final Destination

I have finished my Bark Sweater by Sidsel Sangild (link). I’m used a 5mm hook and a sportweight Romney/Merino d’Arles blend from John Arbon Textiles. This wool was a show special and is no longer available.

It was really quick to work up because of the hook size and use of chains to create a sort of lace pattern. I made some changes to the pattern and have added these details to my project page on Ravelry. Look for a pattern called “Romney Bark Jumper”. What I would say is that this isn’t a size-inclusive pattern by any stretch of the imagination. It covers small and large. However, because of the pattern repeats, you can make it bigger or smaller, but you would have to do the maths yourself.

I have also finished three shawls for my latest design. But, more on that in the future, other than to show you how the different weights are working up.

ALT TEXT: Black background with the corners of four shawls coming in from the left. The bottom is a duck egg light blue version on heavy laceweight, the next up is a salmon pink version in 4ply, then a mid-blue version in DK and finally a biscuit brown version in Aran. With each shawl, you can see a defined stitch pattern and the use of filet crochet to create latticed areas. Each of the four yarns is from John Arbon Textiles (link).

4 – En Route

I am slap-bang in the middle of a laceweight version of my latest design, so that’s taking a while! You can see it in the photo above.

I do have a project that I am just about to start though. I was alerted to the plight of the animals that have been affected by the huge expanses of land that have been burning in Australia. The fires have particularly affected Koala habitats and crocheted pouches are needed for joeys, possums and wombats.

Podcast friend Mara, has created a PDF pattern on how to crochet up pouches. You can also knit them and the wildlife charities are also in desperate need of sewn cotton liners for inside the pouches. Don’t worry if you think that it will take you a while to crochet up some pouches. There is an ongoing need for crocheted or knitted pouches, liners and birds’ nests. They do need natural fibres such as wool or cotton to be used. No acrylics and no blends because they aren’t breathable and so can’t be used.

I was looking for a charity that I could make for during the festive season and I hope to crochet quite a few pouches. For each pouch, I also want to make 6 cotton liners because they get changed regularly throughout the day.

Crocheted pouch patterns – https://www.facebook.com/rubylovesbrains/photos/pcb.10159191872638032/10159191871513032/?type=3&theater

Knitted pouch pattern – https://www.wires.org.au/wildlife-info/wildlife-factsheets/making-possum-pouches

Sewn cotton liners – https://www.wires.org.au/wildlife-info/wildlife-factsheets/making-possum-pouches

Birds’ nest pattern - https://www.wires.org.au/wildlife-info/wildlife-factsheets/making-wildlife-nests

If you are unable to create something but want to help in some way, donations are also being accepted by WIRES (Wildlife Rescue (link)).

All donated items should be sent to Jacqui Fink, who is matching items up with the volunteers animal carers and organisations who need them. Her details are:

Jacqui Fink
PO Box 126,
Balgowlah NSW 2093
Australia

ARRINGAH MALL

NSW 2100

I have also been working on a knitted jumper called Strandir by Hulda Hákonardóttir (link). I am using Icelandic yarn from Alafoss. The 'Light Ash' coloured Plotulopi wool comes in plates (link) and I am using Einband wool that was naturally dyed by Hespa for the contrast (link) and is a blue/green colour.

ALT TEXT: Black background with my folded up version of Strandir jumper. The main body is in a very light heathered grey colour and it has contrast bubbles at the cuffs and neckline in a blue/grey. To the right is a leftover plate of Plotulopi with a broken strand to show how friable the wool roving is.

5 – Feeding the Habit

I have some yarn to share with you! For the first time ever, I found indie acid-dyed yarn in Iceland. By chance, I came across a yarn shop in Selfoss and there was a small amount of yarn from ‘From the Shire’ yarns (link). I bought a couple of skeins of a colourway that reminded me of my trip – basically snow, yellow snow poles and tarmac. These skeins are destined to become part of a design. The colourway is Betri Helmingurinn and it’s 75% SW Merino and 25% nylon 100g/425m.

Last weekend I was haring around the country doing various yarny things. On Saturday I went down to an event in Bristol called Flock. It is arranged by the husband and wife team that is Claire and Jonathan of BirdStreetUK/Mr. b yarns (link).

It’s a lovely gathering of knitters and crocheters in a community hall. People go there to craft together and purchase from the pop-up shops. You can usually buy Mr.b yarns there and Claire’s project bags and they invite another company from the yarn industry to come and join them for a trunk show. This time, Rachael from Cat and Sparrow Yarns (link) was there.

I bought two skeins if her Sweater Weather DK wool in colourway Grape. It’s a gorgeous blend of 75% BFL and 25% Masham. I have used this blend before in a 4 ply weight and it’s beautiful to crochet with. The yarn is 240m/100g and really squishy.

ALT TEXT: Black background with the bottom of two skeins of very plump and squishy wool. The skeins are both a semi-solid purple colour with a very obvious and lovely twist to the yarn.

On Sunday I headed over to the RiverKnits studio (link) for a yarn dyeing workshop. I had so much fun! The workshop was all about mixing colours and having a rainbow of 12 mini skeins at the end of it. Of course, I wanted a dirty rainbow – I am definitely not of the pastels persuasion! We had a really lovely group of five of us and all came out with different strengths of rainbow minis.

ALT TEXT: A group of five women proudly show off their rainbow mini skeins. Each is different, ranging from extremely bright to mucky rainbows and almost everything in-between. We are all wearing lots of woollies because it was chilly.

ALT TEXT: Black background with a rainbow of twelve mini skeins hanging from a twig. From L-R the colours are bluey purple, indigo blue, teal, jade green, moss green, poppy lime green, dirty mustard, orangey-brown, rusty fox, warm red, pinky-red and pinky purple.

I am very pleased with mine, especially the Rusty Fox colour that I was determined to create. I’m not sure what I am going to design with it yet, but they are going to be paired with a stormy grey to make a crochet design.

The workshop was a little treat for another year of podcasting, running the shop and designing. I already had a healthy level of respect for the dyers that I consider to be true artists. After the workshop, that respect increased massively – it’s really difficult to get to the colours you have in your head.

Becci and Markus will be running more workshops in 2020, so if you are interested in going to one, sign up to the newsletter on their website because that is where you will hear about it first.

6 – Quick News Beats

1 - Global Hook Up – There will be more than two Hook Ups in December:

Saturday 14^th at 8 pm (GMT) and Sunday 15^th at 9 am GMT.

Wednesday 25^th December from 11 am until 2 pm (GMT) and Thursday 26^th from 9 am until 12 pm (GMT).

The Christmas Day and Boxing Day sessions have been added because I know that some of you are looking forward to a festive Hook Up. I will be there at the start of the session and then might dip in and out. Each session will go on for three hours and other folks will likely come in and out during that time.

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

2 – The next podcast is episode 50! I am delighted to have been podcasting for this long and to have consistently put a podcast out on the first Friday for that long.

To mark the fact that it’s episode 50, I wondered about introducing a new topic just for this podcast. The idea is that you can ask me any questions and I will give you the answer in Episode 50. If you like the idea and want to ask a question, you can leave a question in the YouTube dropdown box or in Podbean, or leave a question in the Instagram grid story for Episode 49 (this is easier for me to find than you sending me a dm).

It doesn’t matter if there aren’t any questions, I will be recording a podcast anyway.

3 – I have now added all of my electronic patterns (crochet UK terminology, crochet US terminology and knitting) to my Etsy shop FayDHDesigns (link). This means that all of my patterns are now available on Ravelry (link), Etsy and from my shop website (link).

7 - J’adore

This can only really be about my trip to Iceland. I had a great time with my Dad. We stayed in four different locations and did a lot of travelling, moving from the SW corner all the way to the East and then up to the North and back again for our flight back.

You can see snapshots of my trip on the grid on Instagram as I crocheted my way across the island.

Iceland is an amazing country to visit and if you are thinking about going there, I thoroughly encourage you to go to some of the places that are beyond the usual Golden Circle tourist route – there is so much more to the country.

I particularly enjoyed when we happened across a herd of reindeer up in the mountain pass as we were driving north. They were magical to watch, as were the moonrises and sunsets.

Also, my Dad has asked me to knit him an Icelandic yoked jumper. He chose the wool while we were out there and I have already made a start on it. I’ll show it off more in the January podcast.

I’ll be back on January 3^rd 2020. Have a fab festive season!

Fay x

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Instagram: FayDHDesigns

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November 1, 2019 @ 9:12 am

Episode 48 - Barking up the right tree

Hello there and welcome to The Crochet Circle Podcast and the show notes for Episode 48 – Barking up the Right Tree

In this episode, I cover Losing your Cro-jo; WIP RIP 2019; Final Destination; En Route; Quick News Beats; Big Up and J’adore.

This podcast is sponsored by

KNIT IT - HOOK IT - CRAFT IT

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

This podcast is also a supporter of BIPOC in Fibre, a group of amazing people that set up a crowdfunding project to create a website/project to "become a vital, interactive resource that will increase the profiles of all the BIPOC makers listed and show the true diversity that exists in our community." If you would also like to support the project, you can do so by clicking here.

1 – Cro-jo

I popped some questions up onto a post on Instagram. I was curious to know what made people lose their crochet mojo and what they have done to get it back.

I deliberately asked the question in October because I suspected that the pressure of making crocheted/crafted presents for a Christmas deadline would be one of the main reasons. I wasn’t wrong.

Thank you to everyone that came back to tell me their stories. I have compiled them into categories and listed them out below. If you want to read some wider thinking around this topic, I created a ‘Lost your crojo’ blog post on it (link).

The main reasons for people losing their love of crochet or crafting were:

Current skill levels don’t match what they want the finished object to look like or stops them from tackling next level patterns.
Deadline crocheting – particularly for Christmas or teacher presents.
Summer months – either too hot or you are off doing other things because of the daylight.
Too many WIPs.
Big life changes such as births, deaths, weddings, house moves, relationship issues, country moves.
Projects that are in the naughty corner because something needs to be fixed, there are long, boring sections or the project just overall feels like a chore!
Being new to the craft and not yet knowing what you like to make.

Here are some of the suggestions for how to get your crojo back:

If you are on Instagram, look up crochet related hashtags to get inspiration and see what others are up making. Try searching for crochet in different languages such as 'haken' so that you see what is popular in different parts of the world.
Choose a really quick project that you can finish in one sitting. The dopamine hit that you get from finishing a project shouldn't be underestimated.
Look back at your Ravelry project pages or go through your handmade wardrobe. Remind your self of all the beautiful things you have made and how far you have developed your skills.
Have a selection of WIPs. One for quiet times that needs a bit of concentration, one for watching the TV or reading that requires very little concentration and one the will fly off your hook so that your brain gets that dopamine hit.
Do just a couple of rows. Even one stitch is one stitch further...

In the blog post, I also talk through my Worthy Decision Ladder which helps me work through who I spend my precious making time on.

2 – CAL Updates

The #wiprip2019 I am co-hosting with Sophie from A Spring Snowflake Podcast (link) is in full swing.

You have from now until midnight on the 31^st December to finish up or rip out some or all of your WIPs so that you go into the New Year with fewer projects.

On Instagram, you can use #wiprip2019 for chatter and #wiprip2019FO to show off your finished or frogged projects.

Go to Sophie’s Ravelry group for chatter and the Crochet Circle Podcast group for the FO thread.

Come and join us and let’s carry fewer projects into 2020.

3 – Final Destination

My monogamous crafting is continuing! Whilst it means that I don’t have as much to talk about on the podcast month by month, what it actually means is that I get projects finished and I’m not building up piles of WIPs.

I have a couple of finished objects to show off. The first was a really quick make – a crocheted headband, ready for my impending trip to Iceland. The pattern is by Ami from Hook of Love (link to Ravelry and link to her website) and it’s called “Minta Hat Headband Earwarmer”.

It needed just 35g of an aran/worsted weight yarn and a 6mm hook. I chose some Brigantia Luxury Aran from my stash in colourway 4c4. It’s 100% British wool, spun in Yorkshire and 140m/100g. Sadly, Brigantia wool is no longer available to buy.

ALT TEXT Photo 1: grey background with a folded piece of checked woven cashmere top left, a cake of aran weight wool top right, pink 6mm crochet hook and a crocheted headband showing back loop only dc (sc in US) squish. The wool and headband are in a scarlet/cranberry red colour.

Photo 2: Blue background with a photo of a crocheted tank top design with open ace work in a green/yellow under a blue and white checked shirt. To the right is the slide title "Another of Ami's designs" in a bold white font.

My second thing off the hook is my Mya Shawl by Helda Penagary (link). The yarn is ‘Pisces’ Yak Single Ply by Cosmic Strings (the dyers are Phu and Bea (link)) as the main skein and some Rico mohair as the dark grey background colour. I extended the width of the shawl, changed the row count and blocked it aggressively to get the width that I wanted. If you want to see what I did, full details are in my “Sythermort Shawl” project notes on Ravelry. I am also entering it into Clarisabeth’s (Crochet Cakes podcast) Mischief Managed CAL (link) which finished on 31^st October.

ALT TEXT: Two photos on one slide showing the same version of the Mya Shawl. The shawl is on a mannequin and is crocheted using a dark grey laceweight mohair with alternating stripes of a bright teal/turquoise 4 ply yarn. The stripes are quite thin and there are 50 in total, shown off nicely in the triangular-shaped shawl.

4 – En Route

In just four short days I have managed to progress really well with my Bark Sweater by Sidsel Sangild (link). I’m using a 5mm hook and a sportweight Romney/Corriedale blend from John Arbon Textiles. This wool was a show special for Edinburgh Yarn Festival and is no longer available.

It’s really quick to work up because of the hook size and use of chains to create a sort of lace pattern. I suspect this will be finished by the end of this weekend and will be going straight into my suitcase for Iceland.

ALT TEXT Photo 1: Dark grey background with the beginnings of my Bark Sweater laid out with the 5mm hook and cake of wool. The wool is a natural brown/grey colour and the pattern and texture of the crochet pattern is very obvious. The use of front post treble stitches and chains create an ovate leaf shape throughout the jumper.

Photo 2: Blue background with a photo of the designer Sidsel Sangild. Sidsel is in front of a dusky pink wall wearing a grey v-neck jumper and holding her right hand up in the air. To the right is the slide title "This is Sidsel" in a bold white font.

I have made some changes to the pattern (I can’t help myself) and will be adding these details to my project page on Ravelry. Look for a pattern called “Romney Bark Jumper”. What I would say is that this isn’t a size-inclusive pattern by any stretch of the imagination. It covers small and large. However, because of the pattern repeats, you can make it bigger or smaller, but you would have to do the maths yourself (I have added some guidance on this).

In my project notes I have also added how you can create an invisible round join and new round start. In the picture below you would be hard pushed to see where the rounds end and start.

ALT TEXT: close up of my Bark jumper showing off how invisible the round joins and starts are.

5 – Feeding the Habit

I have nothing to show you under Feeding the Habit. Matthew has bought me wool for my Christmas present but that has already gone into hiding and I will share it with you in the January 2020 podcast.

6 – Quick News Beats

1 - Global Hook Up – I have set the dates for the next few months and will stick to the 8 pm GMT/BST on a Saturday night and 9 am GMT on a Sunday morning.

The details for the next sessions are already up in the Ravelry thread, can also be found below and will be put out on Instagram in advance.

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

November - Saturday 23^rd and Sunday 24^th

December - Saturday 14^th and Sunday 15^th

2 – I had three kilted bear pins from Bernie at Bear in Sheep’s Clothing (link). These pins are made in the UK and I love them.

The winners are:

Instagram – theartsypescatarian

Podbean – marikaisa01

YouTube – Ana Bernardino

7 - J’adore

I have been beavering away on my knitted sock designs and needed something on in the background to keep me company. I love the Great British Bake Off and a friend introduced me to the Great Australian Bake Off. I am loving it.

The bakers are so talented and I really enjoy the Australian sense of humour too. They are even allowed to swear – you didn’t get that with the BBC!

Do other countries get their own version of Bake Off? I need to know because I am fast running out of GABO episodes to consume.

8 – Big Up

Much love to everyone that took the time to answer my questions on crojo over on Instagram. The input from the Crochet Clan can’t be underestimated because learning from your experiences allows me to gain greater knowledge and pull together better-informed blog posts to share with the wider community.

I had to recently attribute some words to what I think my role is with this podcast and I chose “thought leader”. I know that sounds a bit business and jargon-heavy, but what I’m trying to create is a podcast that is hopefully fun and informative. I would love new crocheters to come across the podcast in 10 or 20 years time and for it to still bring value to them. So thank you for being part of that process!

I’ll be back on December 6^th.

Fay x

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October 4, 2019 @ 9:01 am

Episode 47 - Tardy

Hello there and welcome to The Crochet Circle Podcast and the show notes for Episode 47 – Tardy

In this episode, I cover Old Dog New Tricks; 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

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 – Old Dog New Tricks

I have a quick Ravelry tip for you this month. This feature has always existed, but the good folk at Ravelry have now spruced up the feature a little to make the suggestions more prominent.

If you have a favourite designer that you like and a favourite design of theirs, click into that pattern page and on the right-hand side, at the bottom of the page you will see thumbnails of suggestions for other, similar patterns and a link for “More that people also like…” which takes you through to lots of other pattern suggestions.

I think this is a really great way to search for patterns and come across new, smaller designers that may struggle to get known.

Photo: Shows the Ravelry screen having searched for my Criss-cross pattern.

Photo: At the bottom right-hand side some thumbnails will appear showing alternative patterns.

Photo: By clicking through to more suggestions, you will see a page of other suggested patterns that have been favourited.

2 – CAL Updates

This podcast is titled “Tardy” because that is what I have been! If you aren’t familiar with the word, it means delaying or delayed beyond the right or expected time. About 12 months ago I was running the #sockalong2018 and 11 months ago I should have drawn for prizes from Instagram and the FO thread that was hosted in Kathryn from Crafternoon Treats podcast group on Ravelry.

About three months ago I found the prizes in my Stash Palace and figured I may as well wait and mark the occasion a full tardy twelve months later!

So, if you have won a prize, I have already been in touch with you. On Instagram, the winners were @yarn.adventurous and @fizzcrail. Over on Ravelry, the random number generator picked Woolwoman2k8, NinaCamilleri and Stasiacrochet.

Sorry, it has taken me this long to do the prize draw, it very much speaks to the reason why I haven’t been doing CALs this year.

That said, I am co-hosting a #wiprip2019 with Sophie from A Spring Snowflake Podcast (link) albeit, Sophie is doing most of the work because she is hosting the chatter thread over on her Ravelry Group Page.

The whole idea is that you have from now until midnight on the 31^st December to finish up or rip out some or all of your WIPs so that you go into the New Year with fewer projects.

On Instagram, you can use #wiprip2019 for chatter and #wiprip2019FO to show off your finished or frogged projects.

Go to Sophie’s Ravelry group for chatter and I will open and host the FO thread.

From my end, these are the projects that I will be finishing up:

1 – Chapman Socks (knitted)

2 – Verity Vest (crochet)

3 – Anything else I have started and need to finish

I have less to go through because I have been trying to be quite a monogamous crafter over the last few months, but there may be projects lurking that need to be sorted out!

Come and join us and let’s carry fewer projects into 2020.

3 – Final Destination

Okay, so whilst I don’t have any finished crochet objects that I can show you, I do actually have some knitted ones. This month I finished off two commission projects for a yarn company, but I won’t be able to show them off properly until well into next year.

However, I have been finishing up a load of knitted socks. I quite often have a sock on the go because I leave them in yarn bowls when I am at shows to show off their potential and also to talk through my sock patterns.

Now, instead of three single socks, I have three pairs all finished and ready to wear this winter.

ALT TEXT: Three socks on a grey background. Left is a striped sock in light grey, forest green, bright green, purple, steel blue and hot pink. The middle sock is also striped and is a dark rusty copper and dark verdigris colour. The sock on the right is cream with blips of brown, yellow, peach and blue. This sock has a contrast cuff, heel and toe in soft peachy pink.

The colourful striped socks are in John Arbon Textiles Exmoor Sock Yarn (link). I was using up the ends from my Kinbaine shawl (link) and Acanthium Mittens (link). The pattern is my own and it’s called Mini Mania (link).

The copper and green Mini Mania socks are also in John Arbon Textiles Exmoor Sock Yarn but were dyed up by RiverKnits and the colours are no longer available.

The beautiful speckled pastel socks are the Pebbles and Pathways pattern by Marceline Smith (link). In the pattern, Marce encourages you to go your own way and add your own elements and I definitely did that – mine are cuff down and I added all sorts of extra bits! The main colour is ‘Orchard’ by Bernie at Bear in Sheep’s Clothing (link) and is 100% Corriedale with no nylon or superwash. I will be reporting back on how well these wear. The contrast colour was an unnamed mini by Desiree at Abercairn Yarns (link) and I think is 75% Merino and 25% nylon.

I also attended an eco-printing workshop at my local Weavers, Spinners and Dyers Guild. You place leaves and flowers on pre-mordanted material, roll it up and steam it. This sets the vegetation print onto the material with varying results and takes a lot of trial and error. The below photos show some of the results I got.

If you are interested in the subject of Eco-Printing and creating plant-based inks, I have just listed a book in my shop by Babs Behan called "Botanical Inks" (link).

ALT TEXT: Collage of three photos. Left - a square of undyed silk with Japanese Maple, ferns and purple Heuchera leaves and flower stems laid out on a table. Below the silk is the broom handle that he silk will be rolled onto for steaming. Top right - cream wool fabric after steaming. Eucalyptus leaves have left a rust orange print from the eco-printing process. Bottom right - another sheet of silk with Japanese Maple and fern. The second half of the silk has been placed on top to create a 'ghost' print.

4 – En Route

The only project on my hook is the Mya Shawl by Helda Panagary (link). This is my entry into #RhineBIPOCSweater K/CAL – I can’t link to the bundle within Ravelry, but you can get details via Lady Dye’s Instagram post (link).

After a bit of fiddling around with hook sizes and the number of rows, I settled on using ‘Pisces’ by Cosmic Strings (the dyers are Phu and Bea (link)) as the main skein and some Rico mohair as the sort of background colour.

I had been hoping to finish this up and be wearing the shawl as I listened to Helda do her talk on ‘Being a Crochet Designer’ at Yarndale on Saturday. I didn’t quite manage it and settled instead for crocheting on it whilst she talked.

Had I just stuck to the pattern and not fiddled (I will never learn), then I would have had an FO. However, because I am doing 4 rows of mohair laceweight (100m per 100g) to 2 rows of 4ply, it’s taking a little longer. My plan is to use up all of the mohair, which I suspect will leave me with a little bit of the Cosmic Strings teal.

My reason for fiddling is a good one though. The pattern makes quite a deep, but short shawl and I have quite wide shoulders. By changing the number of row repeats, I am able to make a bigger shawl that will better fit my body shape.

I am calling it my Slythermort shawl and also entering it into Clarisabeth’s (Crochet Cakes podcast) Mischief Managed CAL (link). I have until the 31^st October to get this finished!

ALT TEXT: Image shows a dark background with a cake of a dark/dirty teal coloured yarn to the left and a flattened mohair cake of stormy grey yarn to the right. At the fore are a blue metal crochet hook and a striped shawl in the yarn.

5 – Feeding the Habit

Did I got to Yarndale and manage to not buy any yarn? Yup, yes I did! This is totally aided by the fact that I picked up two loads of yarn from vendors which is yarn support for my patterns.

So, what did I buy instead of yarn? I bought a knitted pattern book by Jimi Knits (link), some pin badges from Bear in Sheep's Clothing (link) and Nerdbird Makery (link) and a small sewn project bag by Border Tart (link).

ALT TEXT: grey background with Jimi Knits A4 pattern book to the left, linen project bag with sewn scraps of blue fabric overlapping the book. To the right are folds of soft cashmere tweed and in the fore are two pins on cards, one is the back of a polar bear wearing a kilt and the other is head and of a BIPOC knitter with yarn and knitting needles in her hair.

I’m not really missing buying yarn. I have so much in my stash and I am really enjoying shopping in my own Stash Palace and using up deep stash in particular.

6 – Quick News Beats

1 - Global Hook Up – I have set the dates for the next few months and will stick to the 8 pm GMT/BST on a Saturday night and 9 am GMT/BST on a Sunday morning.

The details for the next sessions are already up in the Ravelry thread, can also be found below and will be put out on Instagram in advance.

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

October - Saturday 19^th and Sunday 20^th

November - Saturday 23^rd and Sunday 24^th

December - Saturday 14^th and Sunday 15^th

2 – I promised in the last podcast that I would write a quick blog on what apps and podcasts I use to help to run my business. You can find that blogpost on my website (link).

3 – I had three copies of Eilidh’s print (link) to giveaway and the winners are:

Instagram – @craftybritabroad (Amy)

Podbean – Marce (BrownBerry Podcast)

YouTube – Patty Crochets

Well done everyone.

4 – I did the catwalk at Perth Festival of Yarn! It was a lot of fun and definitely showcased crocheted garments. However, I had an epic fail on getting photos or video footage. It was a lot of fun and luckily, Laura from The Lonely Knitter Podcast recorded it all, so you can see all of the lovely crocheted and knitted items that went down the Gala Dinner catwalk (link).

To celebrate the fact that I managed to finish my Blurred Lines jumper in time, I bought three kilted bear pins from Bernie at Bear in Sheep’s Clothing. These pins are made in the UK and I love them. I already own one that Bernie gave me at Perth and I thought some of you may want to try to win one too!

If you would like to be in with a chance of winning, leave a comment on the threads of this episode of YouTube, Podbean and/or Instagram. It’s open to everyone across the globe. I will draw winners just before I record the November podcast. Start your comment with “bare bear” so that I know you are entering to win. Why bare bear? Bears are true Scots – no knickers!

7 - J’adore

I had an absolute ball at Yarndale. I went with a bunch of friends, we laughed, wore pyjamas for most of the weekend, drank gin and generally had a great time.

I met lots of my lovely yarn colleagues and friends and made new friends. Plans have been hatched, new business ideas have formed and 2020 is shaping up rather nicely.

My sleeves are bulging with all of the ideas, projects, interviews and designs that I want to do in the coming months.

8 – Big Up

I already mentioned that I went to see Helda give her talk at Yarndale on being a crochet designer. Before she started her talk, she was nervous and had no reason to be. Her talk was genuine, from the heart and fab! Big Up Helda you were great!

Fay x

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September 6, 2019 @ 7:39 am

Episode 46 - Tipsy Crocheting

Hello there and welcome to The Crochet Circle Podcast and the show notes for Episode 46 – Tipsy Crocheting!

In this episode, I cover Old Dog new tricks; Final Destination; En Route; Feeding the habit; Quick News Beats and J’adore.

This podcast is sponsored by

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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 – Old Dog New Tricks

I have two quickie tricks for you this month:

1 – Here is a neat little trick I learned from watching yarn dyers at work. Have ever popped a skein of yarn onto a swift to cake up and as you start to form the cake, it snags, isn’t as smooth as it is should be and create a tighter tension in your cake than needed? There is a very simple way around this and it involves what I can only describe as ‘snapping’ your yarn.

Once you have opened up the skein and ensured that the strands are flowing the right way, put both hands into the skein, using your upright thumbs to keep the skein on your hand, ‘snap’ the skein outwards. This will help to realign the strands back to the way they were initially wound back in the factory. This realignment makes it easy to get the skein onto your swift and should lead to tangle-free, even tension cakes of yarn.

2 – If you find yourself short of a locking stitch marker and desperately need to hold a stitch, check your hair. I found myself in desperate need of a cable needle the other evening and really could not be bothered to go downstairs for it. Instead, I used a Kirby grip/bobby pin that was in my hair. It did the job perfectly and is great for securing stitches and being lazy!

2 – Final Destination

Sound the trumpets! I have finished my Blurred Lines by Deanne at Addydae Designs (link). As I record this podcast, it is Wednesday the 4^th September and I am due to wear the jumper down the runway at Perth Festival of Yarn on Saturday (I will pop some pics up on Instagram Stories (@crochet_circle_podcast) if you want to see what goes down).

I have added full project notes on Ravelry, so you can see any changes I have made. I just need to add some final photos.

ALT TEXT: Fay stands in her dining room, in front of an open fireplace with a small table and lamp to the left. She is looking down with hands in pockets, wearing jeans and her newly finished Blurred Lines Jumper which is a grey/teal blue main colour (top and bottom) with a middle variegated section in cream/pink with little pops of yellow, teal and blue.

I also have a couple of little things that I have crocheted up. These are samples for the online shop and for shows. I have started selling craft books, but only wish to sell ones that I have worked from personally and can therefore recommend. It’s not about fads, it’s about well-written books and patterns.

I finally managed to make something from my Crocheted Succulents book by Emma Varnam (link). I had this book on pre-order last year but just couldn’t find a window of time to make something from it. I crocheted up a Mexican Snowball succulent using 50g of Rowan cotton glace that I had in my stash. It was really easy to make, and the instructions were lovely and clean. It took me about 5 hours in total and I can see many more cacti and succulents in my future because I struggle to keep house plants alive!

ALT TEXT: Corner of the Crocheted Succulents book by Emma Varnam is in the bottom left. In the middle sits a white pottery reused candle holder with a sage green crocheted succulent (Mexican Snowball) on top. At the bottom of the pot lies a pink crochet hook, little worm of the left over sage green cotton and a pair of snips shaped and decorated to look like a crocodile.

Another book that has been sitting on my crafting shelves waiting for some attention is Laly Lalas Beetles, Bugs and Butterflies book (link). Of all of the gorgeous little creatures in this book, I chose to hook up a moth! I was working on the basis that this is the only moth that is actually allowed anywhere near my yarn! This took me about 7 hours to make and used up lots of little odds and ends of cotton from my stash.

ALT TEXT: Two images - both with very dark grey backgrounds. Image one shows the Beetles, Bugs and Butterflies book by Laly Lala. The front cover shows lots of crocheted bugs as examples and to the right of the book is the front of a moth I have crocheted up from the book. The moth has detachable wings and har with antennae. Image two is the back of the moth, which shows clearly that the top of the wings are off-white edged with grey cotton and the bottom is blue. The main moth body is a green/yellow and the hat id a mustard yellow.

It was really nice being able to quickly plough through a couple of crochet projects, even if they are small.

3 – My Life

This is not going to be a regular segment, but I thought I would just offer up a little slice of what this year has been like so far and how I dearly want the last three months to unfold.

Most of 2019 has been spent bombing up and down the UK road and ferry network, attending yarn shows all over the place. It had been a busy year so far which I love because I get to see so many of you Crochet Clanfolk and it really helps to put my business on the map!

The downside though is the impact that it has. I. Don’t. Stop.

If you have ever met me in real life, when you watch my face, you can literally see the cogs turning. Most conversations make neurons ping in my brain and the ideas flow immediately. My brain is always on, it is never quiet.

As you listen and watch this podcast I will be up at the Perth Festival of Yarn – my last yarn show of 2019! I am really excited to be vending at this show but if truthful, I am just as excited about life calming down a little. I am planning on having a relaxing week, next week after I have counted the stock back into the shop.

Relaxation for me means audiobooks or courses and sitting with my feet up, crafting. I may even set myself a little crochet goal. See what I mean? I have already set myself a goal for my time off! There is just no hope for me.

When you are driving and sitting on ferries you get a lot of time to think. My main focus for this year was ‘structure’ and I have done a lot around that for the business, podcast and design work this year which has really helped to streamline my work focus.

My recent motorway mile shave given me time to think about what I need to concentrate on in 2020. It feels like it will be a big year, even if it’s just because of the repetition of the numbers! My focus for 2020 is going to be around the word ‘centre’. It is ‘centre’ because “no” or “selfish” just felt too negative! So, my focus is about saying no to things that other people want me to do for them, so that I can say yes to the things that I need to do for myself. My problem is that I want to be helpful and supportive and therefore take on too much because I hate letting people down. So, by saying no and centring back to what I need for my business, my family and me personally.

Saying to something is never saying yes to just one thing because there are always mini-tasks that lead to that final completed yes. My theory is that saying no to one thing is actually more like saying no to ten mini-tasks, which frees up ten things that I can then do for me or my business. It’s not all about saying no, it’s also about focussing some time back to me and creating a strong personal core from which to work.

Would anyone find it useful for me to write a blog post on what software I use to help with this and what podcasts I listen to for business/creative inspiration? Ping me a message if it would be useful and I will pull something together.

So, if you need me in October, November, December 2019, I will be chilling a little, drinking more tea and hopefully doing a lot more crafting and designing.

4 – En Route

As I record this podcast, I have no crocheted project on the go. However, I have two that I want to start:

The first is the Mya Shawl by Helda Panagary (link). This is going to be my entry into #RhineBIPOCSweater K/CAL – I can’t link to the bundle within Ravelry, but you can get details via Lady Dye’s Instagram post (link). As for the yarn that I want to use, I think I am going to crochet the shawl with ‘Orion’ by Cosmic Strings (the dyers are Phu and Bea (link)) as the main skein. As you know, I am on a yarn ban until 21^st December, so I can’t buy any mohair which is what the pattern calls for. Instead, I took to my stash (deeeeep stash) and found some Rico mohair that I can use instead. Whilst this isn’t strictly within the parameters of the CAL, I’m not going to break my yarn ban when I already own something suitable!

ALT TEXT: Image one shows crochet designer, Helda Panagary standing side on in front of cream tiles, holding a ball of dark arn in her left hand and a crochet hook in her right. Helda looks beautiful long dark hair that curls at the bottom. Image two shows a dark background with a skein of a dark/dirty teal coloured yarn to the left (ball band reads 'Cosmic Strings' and two flattened mohair cakes of yarn piled to the right. These are is a very stormy grey colour.

ALT TEXT: Image three shows the same model twice, (Back and front), showing off Helda's Mya Shawl. It is triangular and shows subtle stripes in pinks where different yarn blends have been used. Each corner has a corresponding tastle.

I am off to Yarndale the last week of September and have a ticket to see Helda talk on Saturday afternoon. I would love to be wearing my version of Helda’s Mya Shawl when I sit and listen to her talk on life as a crochet designer.

The second is the Bark Sweater by Sidsel Sangild (link). I will be using John Arbon Textiles British Breeds 80% Romney/20% Corriedale blend and a 5mm hook. I can’t link to the wool because it was a special and only available to Mill Members on their website. I have a ridiculous self-imposed goal that maybe I could be wearing this at Yarndale too…

If I whizz through that, then I will also try to work up Claudia’s Encanto Wrap (link) which is her first-ever design!

ALT TEXT - A split image showing a very smiley Claudia from Crochet Luna on the left, wearing her first design around her neck. The textured wrap shows stripes fo bright green and purple leading up to her neck and a more solid purple around her neck. The second side of teh image shows the wrap on a mannequin that has a black dress on.

5 – Feeding the Habit

Still no stash additions and my Solstice to Solstice yarn ban is going well. I am still tempted by things but have managed to just say no!

There have been other things though:

Last month I showed off a lovely print that I received in the post from Lorna (@neveratalooseend). It was done by her daughter Eilidh (@by.eilidh on Instagram) and I love her style. I contacted Eilidh to say that I wanted to buy some prints from her to pass to friends and unbeknown to me, some more just arrived in the post! Needless to say, when I see Lorna at Perth Festival of Yarn, I will be passing her money to pass to Eilidh so that I can properly purchase the prints. More on this in Quick Newsbeats.

I have started selling Yael’s crocheted necklaces in my online shop and at shows (link). Her work is beautiful and I want to be able to support a fellow crafter. Because Yael is naughty, she snuck a notions pouch into my order – and it’s beautiful. Yael also makes beautiful linen project bags and I encourage you to check out her Etsy shop (link).

ALT TEXT: Black background with a patchwork linen notions pouch in grey/browns, pink and a navy with white dashed fabric and pastel yellow zip to the top left. Colourful print to the right in purples and corals, saying "All wool is yarn but not all yarn is wool" on a scarf that is wrapped around fibre giving animals (bison/Alpaca/goat/sheep/rabbit). Two large paper clips with material covered tops to the bottom left. One has a black and white cat on the fabric and the other has the head of a sheep.

While I was vending at Yarnfolk in Northern Ireland, I met Jean and not only did she bring me a can of pop to keep me going in the afternoon, she also gave me two large fabric button clips. One has a sheep on it and the other a black cat – not unlike Pom! These are perfect for marking which page you are on in a pattern!

6 – Quick News Beats

1 - Global Hook Up – I have set the dates for the next few months and will stick to the 8 pm GMT/BST on a Saturday night and 9 am GMT/BST on a Sunday morning.

The details for the next sessions are already up in the Ravelry thread, can also be found below and will be put out on Instagram in advance.

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

September - Saturday 14^th and Sunday 15^th – NOTE THAT THIS IS A DATE CHANGE!

October - Saturday 19^th and Sunday 20^th

November - Saturday 23^rd and Sunday 24^th

December - Saturday 14^th and Sunday 15^th

2 – Over on Instagram, I was showing off a vegan soup I was making on Stories and some of you asked for the recipe. I have created a blog post for it (link) and it’s a really hearty spicy tomato soup that is made mainly from store cupboard ingredients.

3 – I have three copies of Eilidh’s print (link) that I want to give away. It looks beautiful framed (I have one up on my studio wall). To enter, simply respond on YouTube, comment in Podbean or on Instagram. I will draw one winner from each platform and get in touch with you to say that you have won.

4 – I still have an unclaimed prize of one of Deanne’s patterns. Angee Stitch 78 from YouTube, you were a winner but haven’t responded, so could you please get in touch to claim your prize.

5 – I always provide links within the show notes, but sometimes people struggle to find them. From this month onwards, anything that I talk about and provide a link for, just look for “link)” and that is where to click to get to the relevant web page.

7 - J’adore

There is a very definite Autumnal nip in the air. I can feel my hibernation senses tingling and I am excited about woolly socks, fires, endless cups of tea and lots of crafting.

As I said earlier, it has been a very long year so far and it’s time to take life down a few notches and recharge my batteries.

I love the excuse to snuggle up under a blanket with an audiobook and my crochet. Also, the colours of Autumn are my jam – I am so inspired by these few months of all things earthy!

I will be back on Friday the 4th of October.

Fay x

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August 2, 2019 @ 8:48 pm

Episode 45 - None (Yarn) Shall Pass

Hello there and welcome to The Crochet Circle Podcast and the show notes for Episode 45 – None (Yarn) Shall Pass.

In this episode, I cover Old Dog new tricks; Perth Project Runway update; Final Destination; En Route; Feeding the habit; Quick News Beats and J’adore.

This podcast is sponsored by

KNIT IT - HOOK IT - CRAFT IT

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 – Old Dog New Tricks

I have a quick top on how to satiate that thirst to start a new project when you still have a bit to go on an existing project. Before you have finished the existing project, do the swatching and wet blocking for your new project. That way, if you have to play about with gauge, you have time to do that and hopefully be ready to start your new project the moment you have finished the other one.

2 – Perth Project Runway update

Progress is going really well on my Blurred Lines by Deanne at Addydae Designs. This is one of the best patterns I have ever worked from and the fit is really good, even though I came down to a 3mm hook.

I have been keeping my project notes up to date on Ravelry, so you can see any changes I have made.

I am currently working on the sleeves even though I haven’t yet finished the main body. I have chosen to do this because I have now finished using the contrast colour on the main body, which freed up the yarn to do the sleeves. I find it bulky and cumbersome to add sleeves when you have the near full weight of a jumper and you are constantly moving it about to complete the short rounds of the sleeves. So, I am doing the sleeves before I finish the rest of the body. This also means that I won’t be stranded on sleeve island!

The other thing I would like to highlight and encourage you to do is swatch with your different cakes of the same yarn. Even is the same colourway is from the same batch, there can still be differences. By swatching with all of them, you will quickly see if there is a difference and whether you need to alternate skeins in your project. This is particularly applicable to garment making.

As I mentioned in the podcast. there is a slight but noticeable difference between two of my contrast colour skeins and it seems very likely I will have to rip back about 350m of crochet.

Will this be finished for Perth Festival of Yarn? Hell yeah!

ALT TEXT: Blurred Lines jumper progress is shown on an old mannequin Semi tonal blue yarn with a real halo to it and it’s called ‘Sprucey Bonus’ because it is the colour of the underside of a Spruce Tree. It is paired with a yarn called ‘Sulk’ and is on an ecru pink base with small patches of teal blue, acid yellow, sea green and plummy purples. You can see the difference betweek the two variegated skeins.

Remember that there is a very informal MAL. You have from now until 7^th September to make or finish off a garment. WIPs are allowed, it can be in any craft and any garment pattern, you just need to use the #crochetcirclemal and I have also opened a Ravelry thread for you to add to.

3 – Final Destination

I only have one FO to show you. By the time you hear and see this podcast, I will be busy setting up my stand ay Yarnfolk festival in Northern Ireland. I was fortunate enough to be asked to create a crochet design for the festival and came up with Kinbaine. I talked about it in Episode 43 and showed off the saturated colour version.

I wanted to make a second version using just two colours and used a collaboration yarn between John Arbon Textiles and RiverKnits. This yarn has now sold out and the shawl is with Becci and Markus at RiverKnits, but I can at least show you the shawl and the yarn colours caked up.

ALT TEXT: White background with a vintage mannequin covered in the Kinbaine shawl. The shawl is thick stripes, using two different semi-variegated colours. The main colour is copper and the contrast is green with hints of teal and brown.

Kinbaine is now live on Ravelry and up on my website. It’s the standard price on Ravelry and I have the pay what you can option on my website.

4 – En Route

Monogamous me means that I am just working on the Blurred Lines jumper at the moment as a personal project, but taking my own words of advice, I have swatched for a new crocheted garment – the Bark Sweater by Sidsel Sangild.

I tested out the John Arbon Textiles British Breeds 80% Romney/20% Corriedale blend on a 6mm and a 5mm hook to see which gave the best stitch definition and gauge for the project. I definitely preferred the 5mm hook stitch definition and also as a size of hook I my hand. The 6mm just felt a bit cumbersome and slow.

The swatch is now dry and now I can work out what size of Bark Sweater I need to make and whether I want to make any alterations.

ALT TEXT: Black background with a ball of wool top right in a mushroom brown colour. In the foreground is a crocheted swatch showing lines of front post treble crochet and chains that make up a bark pattern. This is the swatch for my Bark Sweater.

5 – Feeding the Habit

My Solstice to Solstice yarn ban is going well. I have been tempted by things but have given myself a good talking to and remembered why I am doing this! I have enough yarn! I actually feel a little overwhelmed by how much yarn I have and all the things I want to make with it.

So, there have been no stash additions this month and I am clearly working my way through some of the garment quantities that I have bought recently, which is great.

Whenever I see something that I *must have, I pop it into a list and if I still feel that way about it on 21^st December 2019, then it may be a contender for my first skein after six months of no yarn.

So whilst I haven’t bought anything, I did receive a lovely print through the post from Lorna (@neveratalooseend). It was done by her daughter Eilidh (@by.eilidh on Instagram) and I love her style. I suggest checking out both of their accounts. Lorna also has a blog which is jam-packed, full of the many, many crafts she does. I am hoping to see Lorna when I am at Perth Festival of Yarn.

ALT TEXT: Black background with a pink, coral and purple print featuring goats, sheep, alpacas and rabbits. Text is placed over the animals saying “all wool is yarn but not all yarn is wool”.

I was also given a lovely watercolour painting by Charlie (@love.charlie) for my birthday present. It's a particulat view that I love - Glencoe.

ALT TEXT: Framed painting in soft greens and blues. Deep sides of a grassy glen with a road and a small cottage. Clouds in a blue sky.

6 – Quick News Beats

1 - Global Hook Up – I have set the dates for the next six months and will stick to the 8 pm GMT/BST on a Saturday night and 9 am GMT/BST on a Sunday morning.

The details for the next sessions are already up in the Ravelry thread, can also be found below and will be put out on Instagram in advance.

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

August - Saturday 17^th and Sunday 18th

September - Saturday 21^st and Sunday 22^nd

October - Saturday 19^th and Sunday 20^th

November - Saturday 23^rd and Sunday 24^th

December - Saturday 14^th and Sunday 15^th

2 – The ‘Healthy Crochet’ interview with Lyndsey from Phoenix Occupational Health is now live. I have been getting great feedback from people on it – so thank you for that. Video version is here and the audio version is here.

3 – I have a giveaway for two tickets for the Southern Wool Show on the 31^st August and the 1^st September at Newbury Raceground. If you want to be in with a chance of winning, leave me a comment in the show notes or on YouTube starting with the words Southern Wool Show. I will pick a random winner on the 9^th August. I will also be vending at the show, so do come and see me for a hug if you are coming.

7 – Big UP

There is an amazing collaboration between Lady Dye Yarns (Diane will be vending at Perth Festival of Yarn) and Jasmin from the Knitmore Girls. To create some proper inclusion at Rhinebeck (New York Sheep and Wool Festival) they have devised the #RhineBIPOCsweater CAL/KAL. There is a massive bundle of designs to choose from in a Ravelry bundle. You can filter that bundle to show just crocheted designs and every single design has been created by a BIPOC designer. You use or buy yarn from a BIPOC dyer/ producer and ideally in the following colours: purple, green, blue, golden yellow, and black.

Use the #RhineBIPOCSweater and show off your make and support for inclusivity with pride!

I will be crocheting up some form of garment and looking to my stash to promote BIPOC/BAME dyers that I have already purchased from. The festival is on the 19^th and 20^th October, so although the dates of the CAL/KAL haven’t been nailed down yet, but working towards the 19^th of October is a good call.

Our friend Claudia from the Crochet Luna podcast has started a twitch channel. Twitch is an interactive platform and you can interact with Claudia when she is on her twitch channel doing crochet. You can send her messages and links and she can respond live. The sessions stay online, so if you wanted to join her or go back to old videos and have somebody crochet alongside you, then it’s perfect.

I didn’t have to set up an account, I could just go straight into twitch and search for Crochet Luna. It’s never a bad thing to sit and spend time with Claudia!

I will be back on Friday the 6th of September.

Fay x

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July 23, 2019 @ 12:30 pm

Healthy Crochet Interview with Lyndsey from Phoenix Occupational Health

Hello!

It has been a while since I released an interview episode and I think this one is really helpful. I had great fun chatting with Lyndsey outside in my back garden. That does mean that there are some background noises (breeze, birds tweeting, and aggressive magpie and a small child singing down the lane). Nonetheless, this interview is full of great tips on how to keep your self healthy while you crochet and craft.

PLEASE NOTE

The information contained within this interview is intended for your general knowledge only and is not a substitute for medical advice or treatment for specific medical conditions.

Here are the links to the resources Lyndsey (https://www.phoenixoh.uk/) spoke of:

Hand and wrist exercises.. https://www.summitmedicalgroup.com/library/adult_health/sma_wrist_tendonitis_exercises/

https://www.nhsinform.scot/illnesses-and-conditions/muscle-bone-and-joints/exercises/exercises-for-wrist-hand-and-finger-problems

http://www.relievus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Hand-and-Wrist-Exercises.pdf

https://ahpsuffolk.co.uk/Portals/1/Documents/Exercise%20Sheets/Wrist%20and%20Hand%20Pain.pdf

Exercises to manage all sorts of pains
https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/managing-symptoms/exercise/exercises-to-manage-pain/

Exercises for lower back
https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/exercise/lower-back-pain-exercises/

Lovely viewer Claudia watched this interveiw and recommended the follwoing: "I find it very helpful and relaxing to use gel frio relax from Naturales Canarias.... a gel which cools, relax the muscles and helps against pain and inflammation with aloe, arnica, devil‘s claw , camphor and menthol. The devil‘s claw is very good against arthritis. We all use it in the family when we feel a bit stiff or have neck and shoulder pain."

So, you may want to give Naturales Canarias a try.

Fay x

July 5, 2019 @ 8:59 am

Episode 44 - Go Garment Go

Hello there and welcome to The Crochet Circle Podcast and the show notes for Episode 44 – Go Garment Go.

In this episode, I cover Old Dog new tricks; Perth Project Runway update; Final Destination; En Route; Feeding the habit; Quick News Beats and J’adore.

This podcast is sponsored by

KNIT IT - HOOK IT - CRAFT IT

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 – Old Dog New Tricks

Have you ever looked to buy a skein of variegated yarn and struggled to see how it might look crocheted up? I know that work has been done on how stocking stitch knits up and it’s because of SpaceCadet’s brilliant blogpost that I am doing this work for crochet.

Many yarn dyers have samples of their yarns knitted up but fewer do that same for crochet. I am pleased to report though that this is changing and more crochet is being sighted as swatches and samples at the yarn shows I am attending. We are having a positive impact!

Reading a skein of variegated could really help you to work out whether it is going to work for you or not. I have done some of the work for you, but if you really want an accurate gauge, you need to do some swatching too! I have written and illustrated this for you in a blog post: 'How to read a skein of variegated yarn for crochet'.

As a rough guide, here is how many centimetres each stitch takes in 4 ply and DK, my favourite two weights of yarn:

4 ply/light fingering weight dc (US sc) uses about 3 - 3.5cm per stitch using a 3mm hook

4 ply/light fingering weight htr (US hdc) uses about 4.5 - 5cm per stitch using a 3mm hook

4 ply/light fingering weight tr (US dc) uses about 6 – 6.5cm per stitch using a 3mm hook

DK dc (US sc) uses about 5cm per stitch using a 4.5mm hook.

DK htr (US hdc) uses about 7cm per stitch using a 4.5mm hook.

DK tr (US dc) uses about 9cm per stitch using a 4.5mm hook.

So, next time you are thinking about buying a variegated yarn in person, you can measure the length of each colour change (you will need to take a little measuring tape with you) to see whether the colour changes are right for you.

As a general rule, I prefer variegated yarns with quick colour changes for crochet. I think that it leads to a nicer looking, more cohesive finished project. You may prefer otherwise, and either way, it’s good to understand where your preference lies so that you buy yarn that you are more likely to want to use.

Please don’t just walk into a yarn shop or to a yarn vendor at a show and start opening out their skeins of yarn. If you ask them nicely, they will most likely be happy for you un-skein the yarn and take a look at it. Often there are hidden colours inside anyway that you may not see when it is all twisted up.

2 – Perth Project Runway update

The votes are now closed on the five garments that I short-listed (I have kept the list below in case you want to take another look at them). The top that won by one vote (between Instagram and Ravelry votes counted at midnight on Thursday 13^th June) was Blurred Lines by Deanne at Addydae Designs. This was a pattern that was suggested time and time again by many of you and so I am unsurprised that it came out as the favourite. The Citizen Pullover by Kabila Sri Punnusamy (Tunisian crochet) was the next favourite.

ALT TEXT: Blurred Line jumper is being worn outside. It is a light grey with a

faded core down the trunk and arms of a light grey/teal variegated yarn.

ALT TEXT: Citizen Pullover is being worn outside beside a city building. It is a light grey with coral pink stripes running on diagonals. Quite a long pullover with short sleeves.

1 – Citizen Pullover by Kabila Sri Ponnusamy

2 – Liza Pullover by Yuliya Tkacheva

3 – Blurred Lines by Addydae Designs

4 – Bark Sweater by Sidsel Sangild

5 – Bruni Top by Elven Handmade

On the Friday of Woollinn Festival of Yarn I scooted over the marquee to see Bernie at Bear in Sheep's Clothing to choose a variegated yarn to go with the teal blue that she had custom dyed for me. This was the day that Bernie was launching this new base which is called Corrie Halo (50% Corriedale and 50% Mohair).

ALT TEXT: Semi tonal blue yarn with a real halo to it and it’s called ‘Sprucey Bonus’ because it is the colour

of the underside of a Spruce Tree. It is paired with a yarn called ‘Sulk’ and is on an ecru pink

base with small patches of teal blue, acid yellow, sea green and plummy purples.

I know that when Stasia made her version of Blurred Lines, it took three weeks and she was working on it almost constantly. Although I have until the 6^th September to get this jumper crocheted, it’s still going to be a tall order with all of the other things I have going on at the moment.

The lovely Catherine asked whether I was going to host a make along for this project. I wasn’t but I am now! It’s all very informal and you have from now until 7^th September to make or finish off a garment. WIPs are allowed, it can be in any craft and any garment pattern, you just need to use the #crochetcirclemal and I have also opened a Ravelry thread for you to add to.

3 – Final Destination

I only have one FO to show you, my latest version of the Arria shawl. I finally finished this just before I headed up to Cumbria to vend at Woolfest last weekend.

This version is in John Arbon Textiles Harvest Hues (4ply/light fingering 400m/100g) in shades Russet and Blue Spruce and I am loving the shawl in solid colours.

ALT TEXT: White background with a vintage mannequin covered in the Arria shawl. It has a deep V front with dark petrol blue triangle segments running in a spine up the centre of the shawl. The rest of the shawl is in a russet brown/orange colour.

4 – En Route

Monogamous me means that I am just working on the Blurred Lines jumper at the moment as a personal project. There is a design project on the go at the moment but I will show you that in a future episode.

So, for the next couple of episodes, it may just be all about Blurred Lines because it needs up to 600g of 4 ply yarn - that’s 2,400m of yarn to crochet!

So, here’s my progress so far. I have completed the neck ribbing and the second round of increases. I keep on trying the project on to make sure it fits nicely. If you are interested in making one of these, I am making notes for each stage that I pass through in my Ravelry project. If you want to take a look, simply search for ‘Perth Project Runway Blurred Lines’ under projects. I will also be adding updates to Ravelry.

ALT TEXT: The collar and beginnings of a yolk in a mid teal blue sit on a grey background. To the right is

a small ball of the same coloured yarn and above is a cake of the variegated pinky/ecru yarn which is the contrast colour.

I am hoping to get to the contrast colour in the next couple of days and am intrigued to see how the variegated skein will work up.

Deanne, the designer of Blurred Lines is an absolute star and has offered up some free patterns. To be in with a chance of winning one of her brilliantly written patterns, simply leave a comment in YouTube, Ravelry (there is a specific thread called Garment Make Along in time for Perth Festival of Yarn) or on the Instagram post for Episode 44 over @crochet_circle_podcast

5 – Feeding the Habit

Oooh, it has been a bit of a month and all of my purchases probably seem ridiculous, but I have plans, oh yes, I have plans!! Mwahahahahahahaaaa!

My biggest plan of all is that I have signed up to a solstice to solstice yarn ban with a friend. So, design yarn aside, I won’t be buying any yarn until the winter solstice on the 21^st December. In 2017 I only bought design yarn, so know that I can manage 6 months. It is time to work through some of my stash!

ALT TEXT: Two handmade bags on a grey background. The one on the left has a deep brown base and the top is bold autumnal coloured flowers and seed heads with a drawstring. Little balls of different coloured fibres are spilling out of the top and some ocean-inspired stitch markers are nearby. The bag to the right has a material handle and is cream with shop fronts of cafes and coffee shops.

These two bags were lovely gifts from friends. Marceline and I agreed way back at Edinburgh Yarn Festival to do a bag swap as we both aim to improve our machine sewing skills. The date was set for when she was over vlogging Woollinn Festival of Yarn. You can catch up with Marce’s trip to Dublin and the festival from her YouTube Channel. While I was vending at this festival – one of the friendliest I have ever been to – I was also given a bag by Sophie from A Spring Snowflake Podcast. I am so spoiled!

Then there is some yarn! I have been at the John Arbon Open Mill Weekend, Woollinn Festival of Yarn and Woolfest in the last month. Here is what has come in. The John Arbon wool is a mill special; before the open weekend they spin various colours together, so they are one-offs and sometimes move into a bit of a fade. I bought a jumper’s worth of this in a 4 ply and it will fade from a blue and cream into teal and cream. I also have a jumper’s quantity of the undyed Romney that I initially bought for my knitted Canisp jumper. I finished Canisp and the shape didn’t look right on me but looked fab on Juliet and she insisted on replacing the finished jumper with the means for me to make myself another. The Romney Sportweight is now destined to become a Bark Sweater which will be my next crocheted garment after I have finished Blurred Lines.

ALT TEXT: Four skeins of marled yarn on a grey background. The skeins are all marled with a grey/cream but fade from teal to blue.

ALT TEXT: THree skeins of a mushroom brown wool lie on a grey background. The labels have sheep on them and sat Romney. The twist of the yarn is obvious and squishy.

At Woollinn I picked up a couple of skeins for a one-skein shawl design that I am working on. The first is a beautiful blend of Alpaca and silk from Tara at Irish Artisan Yarns. I love that Tara is inspired by the colours of her home turf of the Antrim Coast in Northern Ireland. The second is a skein of Alpa-Si-Li (50% Alpaca, 25% silk, 25% linen) in colourway Passion, by Dye Dye Done. I was vending along from both of these lovely vendors at Woollinn which was an absolute delight. Dye Dye Done is a husband and wife team. Hanna is an extremely talented knitwear designer and Daniel is the yarn dyer – what a duo! They also have vegan yarns.

ALT TEXT: Grey background with a skein of pale, delicate and luxurious yarn at the front from Irish Artisan Yarns. It is pink, purple and grey.

Behind it sits a ball of yarn with the tail pulled forward. It's plummy purple/scarlet with silver slivers running through it.

On our way up to Woolfest in Cumbria, we stopped off at Blackwell Arts and Crafts House. It is a stunning example of arts and crafts architecture and interior design and well worth a visit. It’s right beside Lake Windermere. While I was there, I picked up a Japanese book on embroidery called ‘Simply Stitched’ by Yumiko Higuchi which is stuffed full of beautiful projects that you can use odds and ends of wool and cotton for.

ALT TEXT: Grey background with the 'Simply Stitched' book lying flat. The front cover shows

examples of embroidery motifs (trees, flowers, a chicken), all sewn with wool thread.

6 – Quick News Beats

1 - Global Hook Up – I have set the dates for the next six months and will stick to the 8 pm GMT/BST on a Saturday night and 9 am GMT/BST on a Sunday morning.

The details for the next sessions are already up in the Ravelry thread, can also be found below and will be put out on Instagram in advance.

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

July – Saturday 20^th and Sunday 21^st

August - Saturday 17^th and Sunday 18th

September - Saturday 21^st and Sunday 22^nd

October - Saturday 19^th and Sunday 20^th

November - Saturday 23^rd and Sunday 24^th

December - Saturday 14^th and Sunday 15^th

2 – The good folk behind The Craft Bank on Ravelry, Lisa and Sophie are hosting a gift-along. You just need to go to The Craft Bank Group on Ravelry and fill in the very quick online survey that is linked and then you will be paired up with a partner. I have already signed up, so some lucky, lucky soul will be getting a dodgy project bag from me…

3 – I have a handful of yarn shows left that I am vending at in 2019 and the next one to let you know about is Yarnfolk in Northern Ireland on Saturday 3^rd of August. It’s a one-day show in Whitehead (accessible via train from Belfast) and is such a friendly show. This will be my third year vending there, which says a lot really.

7 – J’adore

While I was up in the Lake District with my friend Annabel, our lovely hosts Sarian and Andrew took us for a picnic to Derwent Water. It was a cracking evening by the lakeshore and I went swimming! In the lake!

ALT TEXT: A lake with mountains in the background. Some stones are in the foreground with various people

out swimming and a man and his dog on a paddle board. I am one of the swimmers!

I am now a little obsessed with the idea of wild swimming. It wasn’t as cold as you might think! My very lovely Papa Bear has asked me to go to Iceland with him in November, so I see a lot of trips to geothermal plunge pools and outdoor pools in my future.

I will be back on Friday the 2^nd of August.

Fay x

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