Episode 8 - I'm Still Standing

Welcome to The Crochet Circle Podcast. Here are the show notes from Episode Eight - I'm Still Standing.

 

In this episode we will be covering Yay Crochet or Nay Crochet; Yarn Clubs; Book Review of 'Three from the Top'; Yarndale Festival Review; FOs; WIPs; Feeding the Habit; a quick update on our first book 'Take Two' and finishing with What's Good?

 

This podcast is sponsored by my online crafting company, Provenance Craft Co. and Lynne Rowe Knitting and Crochet

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1.Yay Crochet or Nay Crochet (at 3.25 mins)

It's a yay from Fay: Having previously had a Nay Crochet about the lack of crochet stalls at yarn events, I am pleased to report that my Yay Crochet is the amount of crochet related stalls at Yarndale.  I pulled together the below map to aid crocheters that were coming to Yarndale and for those that weren't able to get there so that they could go on-line and investigate the vendors.

 

It's also a yay from Lynne: 

The love for crochet seems to be growing - I currently have 12 lovely ladies eagerly awaiting their weekly "learn to crochet class" at Sandbach Boys School, Cheshire. Classes are run by The Link and the next round of classes will be "next steps crochet".

2. Yarn Clubs (at 7.35 mins)

This kick starts the beginning of a new series where we talk about yarn clubs.  The intention is to cover off standard yarn clubs within this episode and in the coming couple of months investigate themed yarn clubs (where you get more than just the yarn) and crochet boxes (where you receive the yarn, pattern etc. either in one hit or as part of a larger month by month project). 

 

Fay signed up to a club from Life in the Long Grass, an Irish based husband and wife dying team.  They take inspiration from their surroundings and pull together some of the nicest speckled yarns available.  

 

Amazingly, Fay managed to wait a whopping 24 days to open up the package so that it could be done as part of the podcast recording. Was it worth the wait?  Yes it was!  Looking forward to the next instalment? Oh, yes.  

 

Here are the details of Fay's yarn club subscription:

Name: Life in the Long Grass (LITLG) Autumn Club.

Cost: The single subscription is 70 EUROS or you can double up to get 2 x 100g skeins over three months for 120 EUROS.  This means that each skein including P&P costs 20 EUROS (about £105 for the entire double subscription - £17.50 per skein).  This is good value for money given that a single skein costs £19 elsewhere and you may also incur P&P costs if you buy online.  

 

Colours: You don't know what they will be in advance, although you can guess that because it is the autumn club, the colours will be autumnal. Had I seen this in a shop, I wouldn't have gone to buy it, however, I absolutely love all of the colours.  Receiving yarn in this way can be a risk because you don't know what the colours will be.  I am very happy with the colours I received in the first month and the fact that they will move me on from my usual colour palette of blues. 

 

Yarn base: Another factor to think about is whether you are going to like the base that they are using.  I had already squished LITLG yarn and so I knew that I liked their base (75% superwash merino 25% nylon, 100g is 400m) and wouldn't have any issues with it.  

 

 

Lynne has ordered a one-month subscription from Baa Baa Brighouse and it is due to arrive in October. The yarn dyer for October was Katie Pearce of Sylvan Tiger Yarn, based in Leeds, West Yorkshire.

Her inspiration came from ‘Stained Glass’ by Shutterspot Photography. The picture was taken at St Matthew’s Church in Rastrick, just a stone’s throw away from Baa Baa Brighouse HQ. There is evidence to suggest that the site has been a place of worship from as early as the 10th Century.  The colourway will be based on a stained glass window.

 

Here are some of the other yarn only clubs (from the British Isles) that we have come across, and if you think we have missed any or, you have suggestions, why not add them to our yarn club chat thread in Ravelry? 

 

1 - Hedgehog Fibre Twist Club, 100g each month for three months for 64.50 EUROS (not sure if this includes the 14 EUROS P&P).

2 - The Golden Skein The Power of 3 Yarn Club, 100g each month includes postage and continues for three months for £75 in total.

3 - Devon Sun Yarns Sock Yarn Club, 100g each month for three months for £55 including P&P.

4 - DT Crafts Super Sock Medley Membership. 100g each month for three months including P&P for £45.

5 - Ripples Crafts Yarn Notes from Assynt (Reliable Sock) Club, 100g each month for three months including P&P for £52.

6 - Cuddlebums Sock Yarn Club, 100g per month and can be purchased on a monthly basis for £16.50 including P&P. 

A general google search for 'Yarn Clubs UK' will bring up lots of other options.  Our suggestion would be to check them all out (you won't know the prices of some until the club goes live) and sign up to the dyer's newsletters and follow them on social media.  That way, you will be one of the first to know about their yarn club openings.  You need to be quick though because they generally sell out very quickly.

 

3. Book Review - Three from the Top (at 25.55 mins)

We talk about the duo of Kat Goldin and Joanne Scrace rather a lot, and with good reason.  They create gorgeous, functional, well-written patterns using beautiful yarns.  Back in April, they brought out a book called 'Three from the Top' but whilst we haven't been able to make anything from it yet, one of the Crochet Circler's, Helen, has so far made two of the three cardigans from the book, so we asked her to do the review for us and she kindly agreed!

Here is a picture of Helen wearing her version of the Aberfoyle cardigan and below are the top-line details of her review.  The full review can be read on Ravelry here.  

 

Three from the Top highlights:

Overall: 5/5.

Value for money: 5/5 (£12 hardcopy plus digital or £10 digital only).

Likelihood to make again: High.

Likelihood to recommend to a friend: Yes - I already have! 

The book can be bought online at The Crochet Project.

4. Yarndale (at 34.20 mins)

Fay: It is a very different proposition to attend a yarn festival as a trader rather than a visitor.  It is hard work and you are 'on' with nowhere to hide for a full two days.  I have a newfound respect for people that are trading at yarn festivals weekend after weekend.

 

It was lovely to meet so many Crochet Circle listeners and special thanks to Kate for showing us her beautiful crocheted shawl and Eleanor for the offer of a cuppa next time we are in the area.

The only downside to Yarndale 2016 was that I didn't have any time to go yarn shopping.  Dinna fash yersels readers, I was in Glasgow for 24 hours last weekend and more than made up for it!

 

Lynne: Despite being shattered, I had a great time exhibiting at Yarndale. It was lovely to meet so many people and chat about knitting and crochet. Thanks to everyone who bought my books and to my good friend Cassie for helping me on the stand - I couldn't have done it without her. And thanks to Martine for providing regular hot drinks on Sunday. Overall it was a great success. I'm so glad that a lot of my knitting and crocheted samples have gone to new homes and hopefully, I'll be seeing lots of FOs of your Mandalas and Fairytale characters.

 

 

Easily the cutest visitor that we had at the stand.  

The baby was given one of Lynne's samples to wear.

 

5. FOs (at 58.25 mins)

Fay: My FOs have been reasonably small ones this month because I was making little things to dotaround my Yarndale stall such as the Cow Parsely Garland that I had favourited in a previous Magazine Roundup.  The only big item that I finished was my second crocheted garment for Yarndale - Wrapover Top as seen below. You can get all of the details from my Ravelry page.

 

Lynne: most of my FOs have been work-related so it's hard to share them with you before they're published. But I did create a cute little cuddle bear for Yarndale with his own snuggle blanket, and he proved very popular.

 

Also, I recently completed another toy for Crochet now magazine, which is a dress-up doll. Each month, a new outfit will be published. I love how Editor Hugh has made a clothes rail for her outfits.

 

6. WIPs (at  66 mins)

Fay: Some of mine (shorelines blanket, Tardis cushion, two Uncia shawls) haven't been picked up at all but this is mainly because of Yarndale and Take Two preparations.  I have been working on a couple of knitted pairs of socks, one of which is for a charity project and that is all I have had time for.   So, my WIP list is currently at six including the socks below.

 

Lynne: I'm the same as last month at 14, as I haven’t had any time to work on my own WIPS. I’ve started and finished lots of projects (work-related) but nothing for myself so I’m really looking forward finishing my Search Press book so that I can get on with making things for myself (hopefully).

7. Feeding the Habit (at 76.50 mins)

Fay: Well of course very little was added at Yarndale, but a couple of weeks before, I took part in The Great London Yarn Crawl.  In short, you sign up to be with a group that has a specific route for the day and times to be at certain yarn shops in London.  We had a fab tour guide called Jenny who successfully navigated us around the busy London streets from Liberty's to i Knit London and then on to Sharp Works (my absolute favourite of the three shops).  As we were all so fleet of foot, we managed to cram in Loop London as well before making our way to the pub (open just for yarn crawlers) for the raffles and a Q&A session. It was a great day out and formed a large part of my best friend Jenny's birthday present.

Here are September's yarn purchases!

1 - Sassenach from Yarns from the Plain    2 - Knit by Numbers from John Arbon Textiles   3 - DK from Wensleydale Sheep Shop bought at i Knit London   4 - Mini from Owl About Yarn   5 - Mini from Third Vault Yarns   6 - Alpaca from Juniper Moon Farms, bought at Sharp Works in London   7 - Madelinetosh bought from Loop London

A couple of weeks before that, I had organised a yarn dying workshop which of course meant more yarn acquisitions.  It was great fun to try dip dying, kettle dyeing and hand painting and all three techniques gave very different results.  So far, I have started a pair of socks off in my hand-painted yarn (see the Fugly Sock picture under my WIPs).

This picture shows lots of the yarn dyed during the workshop - so many colours!

Lynne: I bought a sock bag from Fay at her yarn dying workshop along with a tension square gauge and some lovely Italian scissors and a leather sheath. I also bought a couple of skeins of yarn from Nic (Yarns from the Plain) and two cute little tins of hand cream from Rachel Atkinson at Yarndale.

   

 

8.Take Two update

 

 

We took our samples for our book 'Take Two' to Yarndale and they were very well received.  The book will be available in November and here is a hint of what it will contain:

 

It will cost £12 for the hard/digital copy and £10 for digital-only copy.

 

 

9. What’s Good (at 105 mins)

Fay: Whilst doing all of the preparation work I had many hours to listen to/watch podcasts.  I binge-watched Tilly Trout on YouTube because she is always upbeat and positive and kept me motivated through many days of hard graft!  Tilly mainly knits but also makes quite a few crochet projects.  If you need to brighten your day, try a Tilly Trout episode!

 

A sneaky second What's Good? is that I am going to be in Glasgow for 24 hours and my DAD (!) has looked up which yarn shops I would want to go to. I will be heading to The Yarn Cake and The Queen of Purls and will report back in the next episode.

 

Lynne: I've made a start on my new regime - to work upstairs in the Woolnest instead of downstairs in the dining room/living room. It's much better in terms of keeping the house tidy and having everything accessible and close to hand. Next stop is to sort out my work/life balance - watch this space.

 

Also, I spotted a new yarn shop in Congleton, on West Street, called the Craft Barn (or the Craft room?) - I'll check it out and let you know all about it next time.

 

Happy listening and crocheting.

 

Lynne and Fay x

 

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