Episode 17 - Festival of Finishing

Hello Crochet Circlers,

 

Welcome to The Crochet Circle Podcast and the show notes from Episode Seventeen - Festival of Finishing.

 

In this episode I cover: Wolf woman of Cheshire; Edinburgh Yarn Festival 2018; Old dog, new tricks; Festival of Finishing CrAL; FOs; WIPs; Feeding the habit; Big up and What's good?

 

This podcast is sponsored by my online crafting company, Provenance Craft Co. 

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1 - Old dog, new tricks

On the back of the 'standing crochet stitch' tip that Claudia from the Crochet Luna Podcast gave me.  

 

Eleanor kindly passed on links for the 'starting crochet stitch' which gives a new technique for starting a new row or possibly round in the same colour. Please ignore that fact that I referred to 'standing' crochet during the podcast, I meant 'starting' crochet. 

 

Eleanor's link was to a blog by Tamara Kelly from Moggly.com:

Starting dc (tr in UK terminology)

 

A little further investigation brought me to this site by Jessie at Home which also gives details for starting dc (sc in US) and starting htc (hdc in US).  

 

I have investigated the differences when you use this technique in rows but want to do more to see how it can be used in the round, if at all.  

 

 

I have pulled together a blog post on using the standing dc to show how to do it and the results that you get compared to the standard turning chain method.

  

2 - Festival of Finishing CrAL

Our latest along is the Festival of Finishing Craft Along.  The idea is that through the months of June, July and August you work with some of your crafting WIPs.  I now have two (cross stitch and knitting) that I want to work on and one to salvage.  

 

The graphic for the CrAL looks like this, and you will see it on Ravelry and Instagram.  

 

 

I have been thinking long and hard on the reasons that projects become long-term WIPs and why we consequently get hung up about them and can even begin to feel some level of guilt. 

 

Rather than add all of the detail into the show notes, I wrote a detailed blog about it instead.  It's full of pointers and will hopefully help you to view your long-term WIPs in a positive and re-energised way.

 

Grab a cuppa and take a look at 'Why you don't finish projects and what you can do about it'.

 

I would love you to get involved with the CrAL and share what you are up to within the Ravelry thread in The Crochet Circle Podcast Group or by using #FestivalOfFinishing on Instagram.

 

A pile each for: finish, frog, salvage or donate will really help you to work out what you could do with each project.  Three of my WIPs are now going to be heading off to the Blanket of Love and Hope project in Sweden to be sewn into a larger blanket and distributed to women that need a woolly hug - thanks Yael for telling me about the wonderful project that you, Emmie and Hedvig do.  

 

 

 

As an additional element, via my company Provenance Craft CoI am going to donate £1 for every finished object (that was previously a long-term WIP) that is added to Instagram using #FestivalOfFinishing, or added to the Ravelry thread.

 

The amount will be capped at £150 and I would LOVE to reach that target.  The charity that will benefit from the money is Knit for Peace. Here is what they do:

 

Our policy is to encourage people to give, whether it is time or money. So we set about finding outlets. We now distribute regularly to over 200 outlets, including hospitals, women’s refuges, refugee drop-in centres, prisons, community groups, and hospices as well as to developing countries. We send the knitting (and crochet) to where it’s needed. We also pass on donations of yarn and needles to enable people on low incomes to knit. The operation has grown organically, and we estimate we have over 15,000 knitters.

Send your knitting to us and we will make sure that it goes to a good home.

 

If together we finish 150 long-term WIPs, the £150 that I will donate will help to deliver over 750 woollen items to people that really need them.

 

Feel free to also join in with the charitable donations and give £1 or more for every WIP you have that becomes a finished object.

 

Here is the 69-year-old WIP that Ros's Mum kindly let me photograph.  

 

 

As I was pulling together the information for the show Jojotwinkletoes put this up on Instgram and it sums up beautifully (well maybe not) what I intend do after my long-term WIPS has become finished object. 

 

 

 

3 - Finished Objects 

Once again, I didn't think I had much to show for myself, and once again I was wrong!

 

 

1 - Another version of Doppio Colosseum but this time in John Arbon Devonia 4 ply in 'Pollen Gold'.

2 - A pair of charity socks for the Sock Line by Winwick Mum.

3 - A first attempt at a cotton dishcloth by Jo at Feather and Thread.  Check Jo's patterns out and see her photo of them below - they are much nicer than my attempt (partial blame to the fact that I was gripped by Broadchaurch whilst crocheting it).

 

 

 

4 - I was shown this pattern for face pads by Lisa and they are fantastic!  The pattern is by Designs byZula and gives a lovely squishy pad for washing your face and taking off make up.

 

I have also been working on a couple of designs:

 

 

Versa is the second complete bag in the range that I am working towards and is being tech edited as I type, along with the below shawl.

I discovered post-crocheting it that the shawl seems to be very heavily influenced by a cottage that I owned (pre-Matthew) in Chirk, North Wales. Clearly, the gothic windows that dominated the estate worker's cottages stayed with me:

 

 

My final FO for the month was the Miso shawl by Ambah O'Brien using Tia Merino in The Mysterious Cities of Gold colourway by Countess Ablaze.  I knitted this shawl as part of a KAL with my favourite new knitting podcast Fibre Friends. I wasn't initially sure about a single-ply yarn for this shawl but the result is beautifully squishy:

 

 

 

4 - Works in progress

There is only one WIP this month and that is a grey cotton bag - the next in the range.  You can see it in the photo for the 'starting dc crochet' rows above - there really isn't much much to show you with that design yet.

 

5 - Feeding the habit

Only one thing to show here and that is a gorgeous citrus bag by Ann from Busy Pottering:

 

 

It came with a lovely notions pouch and some stitch markers - I love them!

 

6 - Big up

There are some great new crochet podcasts out there:

Hannah from Florida has The Cozy Cottage Podcast on YouTube

Lindsey from Lottie and Albert is also on YouTube

Alyson and Vivian have a lovely Mum and daughter audio podcast that airs on YouTube called Keep Calm and Carry Yarn

There is a new thread in the Ravelry group for people to add in any CALs/KALs that they know about.

 

7 - What's Good

10th June is World Knit (and crochet) in Public Day. I am holding a small event in Sandbach at The Old Hall between 11am and 3pm if anyone is local and fancies joining in?  

 

I have been listening to the amazing Norse Mythology audiobook, written and narrated by Neil Gaiman.  I will listen to this again in the not too distant future! 

 

Matthew has been on gardening leave and is currently working on what happens next...

 

It has been lovely to be able to spend more time with him as the pressures of his old employment cease to exist!  We have a lovely summer ahead of us and I am searching for coastal areas that we could live in.  Watch this space.

 

Until July folks.  

 

Fay x

 

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