tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54778899514084268102024-03-14T04:21:57.093-05:00Crafty escapismCrochet teacher in Bristol, UKUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger311125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5477889951408426810.post-73026523872830944482023-07-05T00:54:00.006-05:002023-07-05T01:15:00.090-05:00Crochet Stitch of the Week by Chat GPT - Primrose Stitch
<!--StartFragment-->
Primrose
Stitch Tutorial
A crochet
stitch of the week by ChatGPT with a little tech edit from me for the teenage crochet club.US terms
The Primrose
Stitch creates a beautiful textured pattern that resembles a field of blooming
primrose flowers. It's a versatile stitch that can be used for a wide range of
projects, including blankets, scarves, and garmentsUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5477889951408426810.post-23610249396434217652021-09-09T04:14:00.029-05:002023-03-05T03:23:36.533-06:00Stitches for Survival Interview in Bristol CathedralJacqueline Walker interviews Tamara Gooderham about Stitches for survival the mile and a half long scarf with climate change messsges heading for COP26 in Glasgow. Listen to the Audio Podcast
Uploaded with permission by the Producer Anthea Page
This interview has already aired on BBC via BCFM Bristol Community Radio / Bradley Stoke Radio & Back ChatMore details on this Climate Action Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5477889951408426810.post-56219453253535911112021-05-10T11:11:00.002-05:002023-03-05T03:21:53.308-06:00Craftivist Project - Stitches for SurvivalI've recently become involved with a craftivist project - Stitches for Survival - introduced to me by my sweet local friend Jan who runs an established group of stitching craftivists in Bristol. Stitches for Survival is a group of crafters across the UK crafting a 1.5 mile scarf of climate messages for the COP26 UN climate change conference. The length represents the 1.5 degree target to limit Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5477889951408426810.post-78757738825488064392020-05-22T09:50:00.005-05:002023-03-05T02:54:25.068-06:00Crochet Powers Activate!
Here in the UK, it's Mental Health Awareness Week so it's time for my blog to emerge from hibernation to chat a little about how crochet helps me and include some craft related resources too.
This year's theme is kindness. I am awful at being kind to myself and about the only regular self-care I have is crochet. The chores can wait. My craft is for me.
With crochet, I Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5477889951408426810.post-31154645817684671372019-12-05T03:12:00.002-06:002019-12-05T03:57:17.220-06:00Taking a blogging break...Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5477889951408426810.post-9588827348736780042019-07-24T14:00:00.002-05:002023-03-05T03:14:48.480-06:00Short & sweetI promised a quarterly update - it's time - and so here I am with my three of my most popular blog items to date, which you may or may not already be familiar with. And then I go off on a bit of tangent in my usual fashion...
1. My call to arms (or hooks)!
Read: The Craftivism Manifesto
And related to this - A book review of How To Be A Craftivist - essential Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5477889951408426810.post-16106507684054057592019-03-18T00:00:00.002-05:002023-03-05T03:12:10.834-06:00Springtime ramblings - a quarterly crafty updateIt's time for a blog post. I'm going to call it springtime ramblings. And my plan for the blog/podcast - it has taken me forever to figure this out - is to produce it once a quarter - surely I can manage that? And I'll make it a bit of a chatty update. Thank goodness for Instagram to remind me of what I've been up to! I've grouped my chatter under four headings - Social, Projects, Career andUnknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5477889951408426810.post-37215215753872147432019-01-01T11:29:00.002-06:002023-03-05T03:26:18.239-06:00Book Revew: The Art of Crochet Blankets by Rachele CarmonaHappy New Year readers and listeners!
I'm back with a book review of a new crochet pattern book - The Art of Crochet Blankets by Rachele Carmona, of Cypress Textiles. Even though I've moved back to the UK this summer, Interweave continues to send me a list of publications to pick from to review on my blog. I only pick the ones that I know that I will love and I write the review in exchange for aUnknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5477889951408426810.post-30476283524923268992018-11-04T06:34:00.002-06:002023-03-05T02:52:52.706-06:00Coastal CrochetHello! I'm back with another blog post! Feeling refreshed after our half-term holiday in North Cornwall with my hubby, the kids and the dog. We spent cold but sunny days hiking different parts of the gorgeous coast path, enjoying views of the dramatic cliffs, exploring secluded beaches, rock pools and caves at low tide, cooking on a Rayburn stove in our cosy cottage and visiting aUnknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5477889951408426810.post-6333033172738698222018-09-15T00:00:00.002-05:002023-03-05T02:55:35.445-06:00Crochet sock making tips Hello current
and future crochet sock lovers!!! This is our first blog post kicking off a series of posts for the Sock Along which starts in two weeks time on Saturday 29th September. I’m sharing some tips that I’ve
learnt while making crochet socks for myself and others and also
teaching crochet sock workshops. Next week we will have a post from Fay on her Knit it Hook it Craft it Blog on Yarn Unknownnoreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5477889951408426810.post-10797888110177002582018-09-07T00:00:00.002-05:002023-03-05T03:08:20.464-06:00My crafty British life to dateHave been back in the UK ten weeks already. If you're new to my blog I'm from the UK but have been living in Houston, Texas for the last six years (teaching crochet at my wonderful local yarn store Nimblefingers there for the last four). Now I'm back! Mrs Persuasion, Fay from the Crochet Circle Podcast, has asked me to organise a blog hop for the upcoming Crochet Sock Along she's running with Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5477889951408426810.post-44406153065428049862018-05-04T00:00:00.002-05:002023-03-05T03:09:41.650-06:00Packing frenzyI have not been crocheting or knitting much recently partly because our move back to the UK is imminent and there is so much to do but also because I have a shoulder injury. Arrggh. I haven't exactly pinpointed how I injured it. I have been swimming a lot but I suspect it's just overuse and poor posture is a contributor too. I've been visiting a physiotherapist and have read the most incredible Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5477889951408426810.post-15878950579881985672018-04-06T00:00:00.002-05:002023-03-05T03:33:28.216-06:00We're repatriating!
It's official. I'm moving back to Bristol. Yay! We're repatriating to the UK in June. Our two year adventure in Houston turned into six years and it's the most bittersweet feeling. I've met so many lovely people here in Texas and I'm really going to miss them. I will miss my job teaching at my local yarn store Nimblefingers, my workshop students, my colleagues and inspiring boss lady Chris .....Unknownnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5477889951408426810.post-57616516255173728072018-03-02T00:00:00.002-06:002023-03-05T03:02:38.308-06:00Hello March! Review of Crochet Kaleidoscope
Short February has flown by and thank goodness I can check my Instagram feed because I forgot to write a list... I've mainly been hooking a fabulous crochet blanket, joining in with the go go granny crochetalong run by super British crochet designer Rosina of the Zeens and Roger podcast. I was dithering a lot before the CAL began on my choice of project and then happy mail Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5477889951408426810.post-33609882139404565432018-02-02T00:00:00.002-06:002023-03-05T03:20:55.058-06:00Stash Busting, Grannies & YouTubeThe great thing about writing my blog & recording my podcast monthly rather then weekly is that I have so much content - too much in fact. Here's some of the best bits... The year has started out with me firmly focused on stash busting. This year I'm going to be even better at it than usual because I have Lynne Rowe's Use it or Lose it campaign running for the whole year. I love "-alongs" Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5477889951408426810.post-53894437387345108912018-01-05T00:00:00.002-06:002023-03-05T02:38:01.695-06:00A Book Review of How to be a Craftivist by Sarah Corbett
I realized I was a craftivist three years ago discovering "Craftivism: The Art of Craft and Activism" by Betsy Greer on a "new and notable in the 700s" display in Houston Downtown Library. Shortly afterwards I was fortunate enough to hear Betsy speak, on the topic, at our fantastic Houston Centre for Contemporary Craft. (I love this place and really don't visit it often enough!) I know we even Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5477889951408426810.post-7359021395948976222017-11-18T00:00:00.002-06:002023-03-05T02:51:05.411-06:00Back to School Sweater CAL - Celebration of Making
What an amazing few months Helen of Making at Number 14 and I have had planning and running our Back to School Sweater CAL (crochetalong) and blog hop. We'll be closing the FO (finished objects) thread on Ravelry shortly and running the random number generator for prizes. As we write there are 53 gorgeous finished objects in there and/or tagged with #BackToSchoolSweaterCAL on Instagram. Seven Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5477889951408426810.post-44674101572099945352017-11-11T00:00:00.002-06:002023-03-05T03:13:35.463-06:00Review of The Knit ShowThere's just one more week of our Back to School Sweater CAL left so the perfect thing to binge-watch on YouTube while you're finishing off those sleeves is The Knit Show with Vickie Howell. This publicly-funded studio quality series, launched just last month and is so inspiring! Just watching the show makes you a member of the Knit Hive. The definition taken from the website is: "A nod to Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5477889951408426810.post-67691953095832290112017-11-04T00:00:00.002-05:002023-03-05T03:06:57.634-06:00Houston International Quilt Festival 2017
This week the International Quilt Festival is taking place at the George R Brown Convention Centre in Downtown Houston. I'm not a quilter but I can appreciate the artistry and skill involved. And I love quilts that tell a story or illustrate a specific social or political issue. I've never visited before but Nimblefingers, the yarn store where I teach, are vending at the show for the first time.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5477889951408426810.post-68140074104754737792017-10-28T00:00:00.002-05:002023-03-05T03:37:25.804-06:00Yarn Review - Crafting Oasis Yarn CoThis week I'm reviewing hand-dyed yarn created by my talented friend Cat. She is a very crafty young lady - I am sure you know the type, they do it all crochet, knit, spin, dye, paper craft, embroider and more.. whereas I am firmly stuck on the crochet with the occasional knit project for variety. And of course Cat is really good at all of these things, is one of the sweetest people I know and Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5477889951408426810.post-58887849398235384732017-10-21T00:00:00.002-05:002023-03-05T03:34:48.135-06:00Woah We're Halfway ThereLovely Rosina from the Zeens and Roger podcast wrote a wonderful blog post this week about our Back to School Sweater crochetalong which included several photos of herself sporting not one but two sweaters. She is one of several talented crocheters out there who had never made a crochet garment until our CAL. I just love that!!
Her blog post reminded me that we're only halfway there. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5477889951408426810.post-18632168977375474232017-10-14T00:00:00.003-05:002023-03-05T02:36:34.487-06:00Back to School Sweater CAL - Garment in Progress
In January I decided this was going to be the Year of the Crochet Garment - I even blogged about it - and I bought a book: Top Down Crochet Sweaters by Dora Ohrenstein and wrote a review on it. I managed to make one garment the Tunisian Entrelac Yoga Top by Elena Fedotova and finish off another the Classic Sweater by Rachel Choi but then was hopelessly distracted by CALs (crochetalongs) and Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5477889951408426810.post-16007831312881236342017-10-07T00:00:00.002-05:002023-03-05T02:34:30.458-06:00A Garden of Shawls - Book Review & GivewayTaking part in the AutumnWAL2017 made me seek out my WIPs and I found the shawl I made while on holiday in Colorado and have duely blocked and finished it. Hurray!
This is the second shawl that I've made from Karen Whooley's latest book A Garden of Shawls so I thought I was in a good place to provide a review. I also contacted Karen to see if she would be able to offer a giveway for my blog Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5477889951408426810.post-26860125320220425922017-09-30T00:00:00.002-05:002023-03-05T03:27:53.063-06:00The Autumn WiP-Along Starts TomorrowI'm joining in with Love Charlie Crochet's Autumn WiP Along that she's running with Gosling and Plumb. It takes place throughout the month of October so is starting tomorrow. WiP stands for Works in Progress and any craft qualifies: knitting, crochet, sewing... etc. It's happening on Instagram with the hashtag #AutumnWal17 Charlie is a new crochet podcaster I've been following for a Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5477889951408426810.post-5318050283886492832017-09-23T00:00:00.002-05:002023-03-05T03:29:05.318-06:00The Back to School Sweater CAL is underway!Our Back to School Sweater CAL started just one week ago... and it's just so exciting. It's probably in my top three most exciting crochet-related things that have happened to me along with getting a job at my local yarn store and teaching at the Houston Fiber Fest. I have really got to stop checking our hashtag #BackToSchoolSweaterCAL on Instagram so often. I've become quite obsessed. ThereUnknownnoreply@blogger.com2