Confessions
August End
In order to catch up I have to go all the way back to the end of August I think when it was still warm enough to run my evening class outside in the last rays of the sun. It started to get quite chilly by 8.30 though so we all snuggled up in some of my blankets. I just love having the excuse to get them all out in one go but it does make me realise that we really don't need any more. Ooooopsss!
Towards the middle of August I was contacted by the local paper who had heard a little bit about our group and who wanted to write a piece about us. Luckily the weather held out and all our poppies made for a colourful display!
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| Fame at Last! |
All my sessions have been proving very popular so I decided to contact another local library about the possibility of running another session there. Wokingham library were so enthusiastic they even designed and printed posters to advertise my weekly classes with them. This one currently has pride of place on the door inside the ladies' toilet...perfect marketing if you ask me!
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| Seen in the ladies' toilet! |
Not the nicest title of a scarf I know but really.....this scarf nearly broke me. Had it not been destined as a present for my own Mum then I'm pretty sure I would have given up. It's in Alpaca Laceweight by Drops. Really amazing value but OH! so fiddly and splitty and just TOO TINY to work with; I actually needed to wear reading glasses to finish it when I didn't at the start!
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| My Mum loved it though so it was all worth it. I think! |
Jewelled Pineapple Scarf
This one was SO much easier as it was 4-ply so I re-gained my CroJo and whipped it up very fast as a present for a friend.
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| My 365 blanket was steadily growing |
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| A butterfly shawl made for a friend's Birthday... |
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| ...and one that I sold |
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| Very proud of my custom-made Barkham Hooker project bags! |
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| This year we raised over £500 for Macmillan Cancer Care |
October/November
Poppy Art Project
Inspired by the stunning poppies at The Tower of London and with our own crochet poppy-making going great guns, one of my ladies suggesed a fantastic new project for us to raise some more money for the Poppy Appeal which involves mini granny squares. She had seen some incredible pixelated pictures of granny squares being used to create the most amazing art installations like this and this and this . We decided to embark on a massive group project which would hopefully be finished for November 2015.
A design was chosen,
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patterns drawn up and colours handed out.
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... and so began the mammouth task of crocheting over 1200 mini squares...
All these little squares will be pieced together very carefully to create our 6ft by 6ft art installation . All 1200 have now been made...we just need to sew them together...watch this space.......
Over-sized Pouffe!
I made this with my 10 year old one weekend in October out of lots and lots of thick yarn which she had finger knitted together first.
Well I think I had hooker's elbow after this...does that sound terribly wrong????
Then I started making crocodile stitch boots designed by Bonita Patterns
During all this we were frantically making poppies to sell. We yarnbombed Wokingham on the Saturday night before Remembrance Sunday and were thrilled with the positive response.
This year we were absolutely gobsmacked to have raised over £4,800 by making and selling crocheted poppies all of which which we donated to the Wokingham branch of the Poppy Appeal. It was a very special moment for us all. Proud Hookers of Barkham we are one and all. I have a fab photo of the huge cheque that we presented but am experiencing tech difficulties right now so will try to upload it another time...
In early December I realised that I had only a couple of weeks to finish my 365 Blanket as we would be away over New Year. So I assumed artistic licence and finished it ahead of time enabling me to photograph it and complete the EDGE. It is all made out of odds and ends except the cream final rows and the edge which I bought specifically for the job. When the kids let me, I leave it on the bed in the guest room but more often than not it finds its way back down to the snuggling sofa.
I love it and feel very proud to have completed it at last.
I used this pattern for the staccato shawl featured in back issue of Simply Crochet
Christmas Jumper
How could I resist this beauty? Just when I thought I had completed all my projects for this year when one more grabs me. Damn you Simply Crochet!
I ordered the wool but went with just the one colour for the Fair Isle bit and decided to make it a sleeveless tunic instead of a jumper as I knew I would wear it more...and I have worn it a lot in this windy, chilly weather we've been having of late.
To finish off my year I decided to do Lucy's Cottage Ripple at last. I bought the pack a few months ago but just wanted the right time. So with the weather closing in and a skiing holiday to look forward to I made a start. This is actually the first ripple I've done and I'm SO in love with it! Lucy is absolutely right when she describes rippling as therapeutic and calming (well it is once you get the hang of it and stop making mistakes that is). So...Ta Dah!
There's something rather lovely about folded blankets isn't there...or is it just me?
Just yummy all those gorgeous ripply ripples. Cannot fail to make me smile.
Only question now is...which one next?
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