Podcasts about wonderwool wales

Hello there and welcome to The Crochet Circle Podcast and the show notes for Episode 54 – Simple, Soothing Stitches.    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 General Update; Old Dog New Tricks; Final Destination; Designs on Progress; Quick News Beats and Big Up.      This podcast is sponsored by my online crafting company, 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 do that through Patreon:     1 – General Update I know that globally, we are all on different states of stay at home/lockdown.  However, the reality is most likely a little like eat, sleep, distance repeat.  I’m used to working from home and probably only go at a handful of times a week anyway.  I’m a bit of an introvert, so although I am very happy in my little home bubble, I am starting to miss my people.  It would have been Wonderwool Wales this weekend.  It’s easily my favourite show of the year.  I get to catch up with lots of my yarn buddies, many of which I won’t have seen since the end of September.  It’s a chance to check-in and hug your friends.  So, I’m missing all of that. I can only imagine that if you are a social butterfly this must be really tough for you.     I know that many of you are being directly affected by the virus and have family members that are ill or have sadly died.  I am sending tender love and hugs.    2 – Old Dog New Tricks This month’s top Crochet Clan tip is from Caroline (Soltra on Ravelry).  Her tip is to regularly push yourself to try something new with crafting.  It could be a new technique, a new type of craft, just something that keeps pushing you forward.  Caroline references the fact that when she learned to do Tunisian Crochet, she made blanket after blanket and sickened herself by only doing blankets for 18 months.  It was only when she joined in with a Tunisian CAL that was all about skill-building that she really moved on with her Tunisian crochet skills and has worked her way through 13+ projects. It’s really easy to stick to what you know and feels comfortable.  And I know that I have called this episode Simple Soothing Stitches because I don’t currently have the mental capacity to work on really complicated things, but new techniques and skills don’t have to be complicated.   I don’t know how many times I have told myself “oh, I’m not good enough to try that technique out yet”.  It’s folly to think that way because you are just holding yourself back.  Dive in, if it works first time – great, if it needs a bit of extra practice then that’s also great because you are really getting to grips with the new thing.  If it doesn’t work then maybe it’s not for you.  Often, that’s my favourite outcome because I can cross it off my list and move onto the next technique.  You will never see me do crocheted cables.  I hated doing it.  It’s just not for me, but because I now know that, I’m never swayed to those projects and I let something else pique my interest instead.   3 – Final Destination Let me introduce you to Heulwen.  It’s a laceweight shawl using Garthenor wool (link) and is in this month’s Inside Crochet (Issue 125 (link)).  Heulwen means sunshine in Welsh which is very apt given the design and that Garthenor is a Welsh-based wool company. Heulwen is made from 2 x 50g of Gathenor’s Number 1 Laceweight Wool which is undyed Shetland (link) and 1 x 50g of their plyed laceweight, Pennine, in colour Tilia (link). The entire thing weighs about 120g and although it’s lightweight, it’s nice and cosy.     Image text: Image 1 - An undyed grey, Shetland wool shawl is displayed along with a wooden fence post with bright yellow oilseed rape flowers and woodland in the field behind and cow parsley in bloom in the verge in front.  The shell has details of the sun in the same yellow as the oilseed rape.  A semi-circle for the sun with beams of yellow coming off in fan stitches.  Image 2 - a close up of the shawl showing how fine the lace wool is with the yellow fan/sunbeam details.  Oilseed rape flowers and a blueish sky are visible behind.   I have been hooking up many Positivity Spirals (link to Ravelry, link to my website, link to Etsy).  This month I have made one from: John Arbon Textiles Exmoor Sock 4 ply, 50g/200m,  Mackerel Sky (link). John Arbon Textiles Knit By Numbers DK, 100g/250m, KBN111 (link). John Arbon Textiles  Harvest Hues light Aran/worsted, 100g/200m, Bracken (link). Gathernor Number 5, Chunky, 100g/70-100m, Pewter Jacob (link).   Image description: Four different versions of Positivity Spiral Cowl lying over each other. L-R is an undyed Jacob, chunky version in a Pewter Grey, Then a rusty orange Aran weight version, an aquamarine 4 ply version and a long thin DK version in lovely dirty mustard colour. I have one more to do and then I can update the pattern giving options for a wider range of yarn weights.  If you have already bought Positivity Spiral, as soon as it has been updated, you will receive a new copy with all of the weights on it.  I also set myself a design challenge last month to get a design, knit and publish a pattern inside of seven days.  I managed it by the skin of my teeth and it was intense!  I created a stranded colourwork knitted hat called the Coho Beanie (link to Ravelry, link to my website, link to Etsy).  I also used it as a chance to document my design process, the tools I use and the amount of time that is involved.  If you are interested in seeing that process, head over to my design Instagram account @faydhdesigns (link) and look for the videos. I used John Arbon Textiles Yarnadlic 25g/83m Minis (link) in colours Indigo Dust, Of my Hand, Woman in Blue and Ordinary Joe for the four-colour blue version and Harmonium, English Sparrows and Ordinary Joe for the three-colour green version.   Image description: Image 1 - me with my long brown hair down looking back over my shoulder beside a large pool of water.  I am wearing the M/L, four-coloured, knitted Coho Beanie which ranges from dark teal through to a warm cream and has feature scallops in stranded colourwork.   Image 2 - The five different size version of the hat laid out on a large mossy trunk, surrounded by nettles.  L-R they go from L/XL adult (green), M/L (teals), S (teals), XS/Child (teals) and toddler (green) sizes.  The green version is three-colours, ranging from a mid-forest green to bright spring green to the same warm cream.  Some of the hats have pom-poms on them.   Me being me, I knitted it up in five different sizes, so it’s available from toddlers up to a L/XL adult. So whilst I haven’t yet managed to whittle any wood – that’s my challenge for this weekend – I have managed to sew my first ever garment.  I managed to get some organic cotton from Fabworks (link) and used the Elise Tee from Fine Motor Skills (link) which is a free sewing pattern.  I really enjoyed this as a first attempt and I’m happy to be wearing it as I record.  I even regraded the pattern to make it a little bigger because it only goes from S-L.  Plop! There I go down the sewing rabbit hole.  My Nana used to sew all of her own clothes.  Don’t think tea dresses, think fine tailoring pinstripe suits with satin and chiffon blouses.  Elaine Dashper was a woman with very defined tastes and standards!  I am hoping I have inherited some of her sewing DNA.    4  – Designs in Progress I have almost finished my Scrapvent Blanket.  Lots of work has gone into this month because although I am trying to set myself challenges to keep focussed, I am also really drawn to simple soothing stitches.  I just don’t want my crochet time to be challenging too and the blanket has been perfect for that.  Image description: Cream background with my Scrapvent Blanket coming in from the right having been artistically 'dumped'.  It has a cream border and 24 different stripes (6 rows per colour stripe) ranging from peachy creams to mustard, greens, teals and finally, dark plummy purple.  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 1st December 2020. I’m so pleased with the way that the blanket is coming together.  There are a couple in there that I maybe would swap out in hindsight, but as soon as I attached the border, it really helped to bring the whole piece together.  For me, it was well worth pulling together the 24 colour sequence.  Even if I did think I was drunk when I added the acid green in that I now rather like! This will be finished next month, with a pattern to follow shortly. I was working on a laceweight version of Positivity Spiral with Organically Farmed Merino, 50g/650m, natural white (link) but I just can’t do it.  It’s too fine and I’m not enjoying it.  Given what I said in Old Dog New Tricks, I definitely know that cobweb lace is a step too far for me. I know that I keep on saying I don’t like laceweight, but clearly I must like it a little bit because I keep on going back to it. So, my alternative laceweight version of Positivity Spiral is in Garthenor’s Number 1 laceweight in Smoke, which is undyed Shetland, 50g/350 (link).    Image description: Image 1 - cream background with a cake of fine undyed, grey laceweight wool to the top left and a bundle of barely started crocheted rounds in the middle.  A pink metal crochet hook lyes to the right.  Image 2 - School green background with a photo of Jonny and Sally from Garthenor Organic.  Jonny with his arm around his Mum, Sally, as they stand in front of Niagara Falls.     5  – Feeding the Habit I am a very fortunate person.  I had three parcels turn up from lovely Crochet Clan folk.  Each parcel arrived just when I needed a little boost! I received some beautiful seaweed yarn and skeins of hemp from Rachael.  She has also requested that I do a bit of a feature on vegan yarns.  I have one planned and have lots of yarns to go through but don’t quite know when I’m going to get to it – someday! Three skeins of hemp yarn in an acid green, rusty brown/orange a dark lavender blue/purple lye diagi=onally beside a card with a crocheted hexagon and cake of seaweed yarn. Rica sent me through loads of German marzipan ( I even let Matthew have some) and yarn from her global travels.  So, I now have yarns from Germany, Iran, India, Uzbekistan, Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan, Peru and Bolivia in my stash.  I need to spend some proper time looking at the construction of the wools to see if there are differences from country to country. Image description: cream background with lots of different yarns from around the world.  Fluffy blue mohair from India, perfectly spun pecahy brown wool from Bolivia, loosely spun green wool from Iran.  The different plying methods from different countries is evident. Claudia also sent loads of marzipan from Germany.  If you have never tried marzipan with calvados, you are missing out!  I have a new favourite.  My parcel from Claudia was full of all sorts of lovely goodies including some amazing art yarn which I think I am going to make into a cushion, using the mustard coloured buttons that she popped in the parcel.  Image description: A large hank of art yarn that goes from thick to thin and ranges from sky blue to bring green and a slurry green /brown.   I can’t show you any marzipan because we have eaten it all! Nom, nom, nom. Given that I was buying design wool from Garthenor, I also treated myself to a little set of 10g mini skeins from their little shop update.  Often small companies have small updates that go out to newsletter subscribers first.  That’s what Garthenor and RiverKnits do.  John Arbon Textiles do their Mill Membership for special access.  It’s definitely worth subscribing to your favourite small businesses.  Image description: Five mini skeins fo wool, each bound in the centre with a kraft paper label.  The skeins are different types of wool and move from light grey/brown through to a dark chocolate, peaty colour. 6 – Quick News Beats 1 - Global Hook Up – The May hook ups are on: Saturday 23rd  at 8pm BST and Sunday 24th at 9am BST. 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.    7 – J’adore Going back to the premise of simple and soothing, I have been going back to gardening and growing more of our own food.  The current pandemic has given me a bit of a jolt to look again at my environmental impact and what is important to me.  My plan is to grow and make even more of our own food (we already do a fair bit) and to really work towards a handmade capsule wardrobe.  I don’t think I’m the only one using this strange time to reassess what they want from this one life. I have also been looking backwards through “The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady” by Edith Holden.  It’s an illustrated nature journal, documenting what Edith saw in the English countryside month by month.  I grew up with this book and bought my own second-hand copy at the beginning of the year.  Every month, I go to it and look at Edith’s writing and illustrations for that month.  One of May’s mottoes is “Shear your sheep in May and shear them all away”.  Image description: The book is open at pages for May with beautiful handwriting on the left page and a delicate illustration of May flowers on the right.   I‘m basically taking pleasure from the simple things.  I hope you are too.   I’ll be back on 5th June. Fay x   Instagram: Crochet_Circle_Podcast  Instagram: provenance.craft.co   Instagram: FayDHDesigns YouTube: The Crochet Circle Podcast Crochet Clan on Mighty Network: Invite

Anne is back early from her season break to talk about what’s on her needles, what’s coming, and what’s up. Welcome to season three! Links to Things Mentioned on the Podcast All the ways to support the show can be found here. Dip Dyeing Yarn in Wilton’s Violet Food Coloring. Dyeing Yarn with Food Coloring on the Stove. Frozen Skies Shawl Pattern Manos Del Uruguay FinoManos Del Uruguay Cabrito Akerworks Spindle Systems. Grown-Together Mittens. Morehouse Merino Flock Facebook Group. Webs. Stitch Sampler Shawl Pattern. Morehouse Open Farm Day–watch their blog! Knit New Haven. Wonderwool Wales. Day one of the Yarn Stash Destash can be found on Instagram, Facebook, and Ravelry! Sponsors Many thanks to Ashcroft Makers for sponsoring the show. Their new sock knitting machine is amazing. Have a look for yourself! Also be sure to check out her growing number of yarn colors! Patrons, be sure to hop over to the Patreon feed for your 10% off coupon code before you make any purchases from their site! Music in this Episode “Static,” by Anita Stemper “We Will,” by Anthony Lohan

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 my online crafting company, 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 do that through Patreon:   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 15th 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 15th 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 15th 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 1st 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 1st 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 1st 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 1st 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 6th March, I will be vending at the RiverKnits Open Day tomorrow 7th March and then the next places you can find me are Wonderwool Wales (link) on 25th and 26th April, Knit and Stitch Show at the Reghed Centre in Cumbria (link) on 2nd and 3rd May, Yarningham in Birmingham (link) on 11th and 12th 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 3rd April. Fay x   Instagram: Crochet_Circle_Podcast  Instagram: provenance.craft.co   Instagram: FayDHDesigns YouTube: The Crochet Circle Podcast Crochet Clan on Mighty Network: Invite    

Hello there and welcome to The Crochet Circle Podcast and the show notes for Episode 42 – The Craft Bank.   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: Update review of KnitPro ball winder; Craft Inclusivity; Perth Project Runway; Final Destination; En Route; Feeding the habit; Quick News Beats and J’adore.   This podcast is sponsored by my online crafting company, 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 do that through Patreon:   1 – Review Last month I reviewed my super-duper snazzy new KnitPro wooden ball winder and I thought that a month on, I should give you a bit of an update.  Put simply – I love it even more than I did last month.  I have now tested out how big a cake it can wind and the answer is big!  I managed to wind 350g of 4 ply before the cake went wonky and created its own planetary rings.    On the downside, at one point, the bearing cone came off.  I think that is my fault for caking up anti-clockwise rather than clockwise.     ALT TEXT: A massive cake of yarn (350g of 4 ply in a light bluey grey colour with mid-blue neps) on a grey background with a standard cake of 100g yarn for contrast.     2 – Craft inclusivity Update on the open letter and resources to yarn dyers, yarn shops and vendors – this piece of work is ongoing and something that I will sound you out on in the next podcast.  I don’t want to go out with the open letter until I have the resources ready and available.  I’m not trying to bash people with a crochet stick, I genuinely want to be part of force for change for crochet to be given the respect it is due.  More to come on this.   I am also really proud to tell you about a group that my friend Lisa (@lisa_raspberrycrochet on Instagram) has pulled together on Ravelry.  The inclusivity discussions on Instagram have moved into the realm of pattern and yarn prices and how as dyers and designers, we can make those goods readily available for all.     Lisa has created a group in Ravelry called The Craft Bank.  The premise is a simple one.  If you have yarn that you are destashing, you can offer it up for free or an affordable price.  The idea is that the yarn can be passed on to someone that will use it and is unlikely to be able to afford to purchase it otherwise.   There is a second thread in the group whereby, crafters are offering to buy patterns for crafters and designers are offering up their patterns for free.   By the end of this bank holiday weekend I will have done the following to ensure that I am contributing positively to this: 1 – For all of my electronic patterns on my website, I will have incorporated a payment scale for patterns.  They generally sell for £4 per pattern and there will be a scale of £2 - £6 for each pattern.  The concept is that you pay what you can afford and would genuinely like to see people on lesser incomes, taking me up on this offer. 2 -  I will have added to give-away patterns to The Craft Bank Thread (crochet and knit). 3 – I will have added some destash yarns to the yarn thread and will probably keep on adding some little and often.  Due to the cost of postage, this will be open to UK residents only – sorry. So, if you have a yarn stash that you want to decrease or want to know that you are directly supporting fellow crafters, I encourage you to go to The Craft Bank Group on Ravelry and see what support you can lend.   3 - Perth Project Runway I have something very exciting to tell you.  Not only am I vending at Perth Festival of Yarn with my company, KNIT IT – HOOK IT – CRAFT IT, but I am also looking to create some crochet gorgeousness to send down their runway!   On the Saturday night, there is a Gala Dinner and as part of that dinner, they have a runway fashion show of knitted and crocheted items.  Eva heads up the Perth Festival of Yarn team and we have been in conversation about more crochet representation at the show and she asked whether I might be able to crochet a garment for the runway.  Ehm, yeah I’ll do that!  The thing is though, that I would like the Crochet Clan to be part of it too.    So, here’s what I would love your help with.  I need to find a suitable jumper/seater/top pattern.  You know what my style is and ultimately this needs to be something that I will want to wear after the event.  I am looking for something really contemporary.  They yarn that I am going to use is a new base that Bernie from Bear in Sheeps Clothing is launching at Woollinn this year.  It’s a 4 ply (395m per 100g, light fingering weight) yarn and a blend of 50% Corriedale and 50% Mohair – so, think soft, silky, drapey with a fluffy halo! I can stretch to 6 x 100g of 4 ply, but I would prefer something around the 4-500g mark.   Let’s talk about granny stitch and granny squares.  I know lots of you love them, but I just don’t and that isn’t the image that I want to portray for contemporary crochet going down the Perth Festival of Yarn Runway.  So, without being rude, please don’t send me ideas of crocheted garments that have these elements.  I really want to show how crochet is moving on from what people already perceive it to be. So, here’s what to do if you want to be part of Perth Project Runway: 1 – Respond with YouTube comment or Podbean comment or DM me @crochet_circle_podcast (on Instagram). 2 – Let me know what the garment is called and who the designer is. 3 – Don’t worry if the design is for DK or worsted weight rather than 4 ply.  I can make changes to the pattern to make it fit and be able to use Bernie’s yarn.    In next month’s podcast, I will have looked at all the options sent to me and whittled it down to 3-5 patterns that I would be happy to make and wear.  You then get to vote on the final pattern choice and your decision is final, not mine!   I will make a bundle of all of your suggestions in Ravelry so that you can easily see all of the suggestions in one place. I will pick up the yarn from Bernie in June (it will likely be a custom dye lot) and then get hooking away from mid-June, ready for Perth Festival of Yarn on the 7th & 8th September.    Festival tickets went on sale last weekend and it is looking like a fantastic show.  I think there is still a handful of tickets for the Gala evening – it would be lovely to have some Crochet Clan folk there if you fancy it?   It’s all very exciting!   4 – Final Destination This is my one and only FO this month and I finished it at the beginning of the month when I was in Scotland!  I was vending at two, weekend shows, which has taken up most of my time. I don’t seem to like this jumper until I put it on and then I like it.  I seriously considered ripping it all out this morning and then I put it on to record the podcast and thought “you’re not so bad!”   ALT TEXT a flat lay of my Esja Sweater on a wooden floor.  The sweater is crocheted using a mid-blue grey yarn as the main colour and a speckled mid-blue, teal and rust yarn for the crocheted brioche areas of the yolk.     5 – En Route I don’t have much to show here either – sorry.  I am just about to finish off another Doppio Colosseum that I have crocheted for Kate at Northern Yarn in Lancaster.  She is keen to have more crochet in her shop and as part of her 3rd Birthday celebrations this Friday, she has had some of her Poll Dorset lambswool custom dyed by an indie dyer.  Two skeins of the wool were passed to me to crochet Doppio Colosseum.  The colours and indie dyer are under wraps until Friday night, so I won’t be able to share it with you until then.  Needless to say, I will show it off as an FO in the June podcast and post about it on Instagram this weekend.   I have also made a start on my Canisp jumper using the Romney/Corriedale yarn that I showed off in last month’s podcast.  It’s just rounds of knitted stripes for now, and so I won’t show you that until I am a bit further in.   The Romney/Corriedale is working up a treat though and I plan to have this off the needles, ready for the John Arbon Textiles Open Weekend at the beginning of June.  If you fancy coming to that, just follow the link above – it’s a great day trip out, but you have to book.   6 – Feeding the habit I’m trying to slow down on my wool purchases.  My Stash Palace is bulging at the moment and it’s starting to make me feel a little uneasy.  That said, I still have some Feeding the habit for you this month, but a fair amount of it was given to me as presents.   If you watch my Instagram stories, you will know that I was at the New Lanark Mill in Scotland at the beginning of April.  I first went there as a Conservation student, about 23 years ago.  If you want to know more about the mill, follow this link. It’s a very interesting place and happens to now spin Scottish wool on their original machinery.    ALT TEXT: New Lanark Mill in the sunrise/set, nestled by the river at the bottom of a steep valley.  Lots of mill buildings glowing orange with green trees surrounding the site.   ALT TEXT: Inside New Lanark Mill with arched windows and vintage machinery the length of the long hall.  Old tiled floor and a worker keeping the machinery going.   I had promised myself a jumper’s quantity of wool from there as my birthday jumper wool this year.  What I didn’t expect was to find such an utter bargain.  There was a random hank of 4 ply yarn that was labelled up as £22.50.  I asked them to check whether that was right, because it seemed like a lot of wool for such little money, and I was assured that it was correct.  When I got it home, I discovered that it was a 450g hank!  So, this is destined to be some form of colour-work birthday jumper – probably knitted because of the low twist on it.  See photo from ball winder cakes for New Lanark wool purchased (Donegal Silk Tweed 4 ply ‘Light Limestone’ 90% wool/10% silk)   I also had a very good discussion with them about crochet and crocheted samples.  They don’t have any out in their shop, but I am going to design something in their yarn – probably next year.  Think – thistle based colour-work shawl and you will be spot-on.   When I was vending at Wonderwool Wales last weekend, my stand neighbour was a lovely lady called Helen from Nellie and Eve.  We share the same environmental ideals and Helen’s naturally dyed British breed yarns quite honestly took my breath away.     ALT TEXT: Photo 1 is of Helen at her stand surrounded by lovely skeins of pastel, soft wools.  Photo 2 is a close up of the two skeins of 4ply British wool I bought from Helen.  The light siege green skeins lie on a grey background with white skein bands.    Helen is keen to have crocheted samples on her stand and I want to help her achieve that.  So, I bought two skeins of wool (75% BFL/25% Masham in a 4 ply) from her and the ideas for them are starting to filter through.  It may be next year before any of these designs come to fruition, but I am happy to be able to support companies that really want to have crochet as part of their offering.   I also received some very lovely, surprise gifts through the post from Tania and Edwyn.       ALT TEXT: Photo 1 - three skeins of creamy Dorest Down wool.  One lies on top of the other two, with white/green labels and the black TJ Frog logo. Photo 2 - Grey background with a linen, zippered bag with a print of large Dorest Buttons on oranges, browns and black.  Green TJ Frog tag lies to the left.       Photo 3 - grey background with a "crochet Workshop' book by James Walters.     7 - Quick News Beats  1 – Winners of 3 year podiversary were announced and I have been in touch with everyone.  Thank you for entering and giving so many great comments on what crafts you would like to master in 2019. 2 – Thank you to everyone that is supporting me through the Ko-fi account.  I was really quite bowled over by the response.  During the course of the weekend I promise to go and grab a coffee on you and sit in my local town, crocheting and chilling out.  Thank you also for leaving comments, tagging me on Instragram, following me.  It all makes a massive difference to the algorithm and helps to wide our community.  3 – May Global Hook Ups are on Saturday 11th May at 8pm BST and the 12th May at 9am BST.  Everyone is welcome. 4 – I am recording the interview with Lyndsey from Phoenix Occupational Health in a couple of weeks, so you still have time to get some questions in.  The interview will likely come out in July because of other time pressures. 5 – Happy 50th Birthday to Katherine- you know, the one with all the cats on Instagram!      8 – J’adore I have a new to me podcast for you - Quirky Monday Craftcast by Caleisha AKA @nadiratani Caleisha is based in Florida and is primarily a crocheter but dabbles in lots of other crafts too.  She is bright, positive and full of energy!  Go watch her, she will most definitely help to top up your positivity batteries.   I will be back on Friday the 7th June. Fay x   Instagram: Crochet_Circle_Podcast  Instagram: provenance.craft.co   Instagram: FayDHDesigns YouTube: The Crochet Circle Podcast Crochet Clan on Mighty Network: Invite  

Hello there and welcome to The Crochet Circle Podcast and the show notes for Episode 41 – Three Years Old. 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: Review of KnitPro ball winder; Crochet Inclusivity; Final Destination; En Route; Designs in Progress; Feeding the habit; Quick News Beats and J’adore.   This podcast is sponsored by my online crafting company, 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 do that through Patreon:   1 – Review When I first started my yarn journey, I bought myself a cheap, plastic ball winder because I didn’t know then that crochet and all things yarn would literally take over my life!      ALT TEXT: Grey background and close up of cream and red crappy plastic ball winder with a broken metal finger.   Over the last couple of months, I have tried a couple of different KnitPro wooden ball winders to see whether they would be a better option for me.  Well, the proof is that I now own one.    ALT TEXT: Grey background with wooden ball winder and orange/grey wool scattered around it.   Given that I can be caking up yarn every other day, I thought it was a wise decision. So, here’s what I hate about my old ball winder and love about the new one: 1 – OLD: it creates a very tight cake which means that my yarn is being held under tension. NEW: the cakes are taller and wider, so the yarn is not under the same amount of tension and pressure. 2 – OLD: it’s mainly made of plastic and is flimsy. NEW: It’s predominantly made of wood with a little plastic and some metal.  It feels very substantial and durable. 3 – OLD: the metal finger that your yarn is placed through stopped standing on its own after about the third use. NEW: The metal finger is very firmly in place and does not move as part of the ball winder set-up. 4 – OLD: the cakes almost always get tangled at the bottom of the spinner towards the end of the skein wind.  I have had t o cut my yarn before now, to release it. NEW: The wooden base that the yarn caked up from is much bigger and can more than cope with the job. 5 – OLD: The ball winder struggles to create neat mini cakes. NEW: The cakes are neat and seem to be staying in place.  I need to test whether they work well or not though. 6 – OLD: It’s really difficult to get a nice centre pulled ball that doesn’t get knotted up. NEW: There is a space big enough to get your fingers into to pull the centre yarn from.  The cake seems to have more space in the core, so I am hopeful that the centre pull will be easy and not tangled. The KnitPro ball winder also makes really pretty looking cakes – I know this isn’t really important, but when you have to photograph yarn as part of your living, it does factor in.     ALT TEXT: two photos, both with grey backgrounds.  First shows two cakes of identical yarn, the left was wound with the plastic crappy winder and is shorter, denser and messier and the second cake is taller and prettier.  Photo two shows 3 mini skeins (2 pink and a maroon), a green with neon colour pop cake and the brown tweed one from the first photo.   The wooden ball winder is clearly much bigger than the plastic one, so you will need more space to operate it, but the proof is in the pudding. If you are often caking up yarn, then I wholeheartedly recommend this bit of kit.  I bought mine from Nikki at Ewe Felty Thing and it arrived within a week.  It’s not a cheap option at £105 + P&P, however, this is a piece of essential equipment for my hobby and job and I expect to be using this until the day I die.  Caking yarn is now a joy and not a task, especially when they come out in such a pretty shape!    2 – Crochet inclusivity Last month, I said that I was only going to purchase yarns from vendors that had crochet samples out.  I spent much of Edinburgh Yarn Festival diligently asking whether yarn dyers and vendors had crochet samples that I could see.  I got mixed reactions!  Some stallholders had some crochet, but the vast majority did not.  That isn’t specific to EYF, I find that to be the case at most yarn festivals.   Beyond the snobby reactions that I sometimes receive around crochet, there is a fundamental lack of understanding around our craft.  That may be because the vendors don’t crochet or they did it years ago and associate it with blankets, acrylic yarn and clashing colours.   There are also the urban myths that surround crochet – such as it’s yarn hungry; done by grannies, or that there are no contemporary crochet designs coming through!  In the podcast, I reference a piece of research I did on knitting v crochet for grams used.  You can access that research via my blog post here.     With most things in life, I am more carrot than stick.  I am willing to put the work in to help educate people on crochet as a craft.  My plan is to do this by writing an open letter to yarn shops, indie dyers, yarn vendors, yarn festival organisers that don’t currently give consideration to crocheters.   As part of the open letter, I will point them towards resources that dispel the urban myths and showcase the fantastic contemporary crochet that we have.  In the long-term, I plan to pull together a Crochet Collective whereby, yarn shops etc. can call upon a list of crochet designers that have beautiful crochet patterns that have been fully tech edited and deserve space and attention in yarn shops, at shows and on Instagram.    Needless to say, this is all going to take time, so watch this space.  I always say to Matthew that “if I haven’t helped to change the face of crochet by the time I die, I simply didn’t work hard enough!”        3 – Final Destination I can finally share my secret projects with you!  Before Christmas, I started working on a shawl called Drucilla.  It was kept a secret because it is one of the patterns in the new John Arbon Textiles publication, The Annual.  There are three knitting patterns in The Annual and my crochet pattern.       ALT TEXT for four clustered photos: Top left has a  grey background with some beach pebbles placed to the left of The Annual front cover. with skeins of yarn on a wooden table, mill bobbins on the floor.  Top right is a blue wall with a dusky mauve shawl with a maroon border on a mannequin.  Bottom left has a grey background with The Annual opened at a page with a triangular version of the shale in a maroon colour and dark browny/black border.  Modelled out on Exmoor by a young female.  Bottom right is the same but the shawl is now shown as a C2C version in a very light grey/blue laceweight yarn.   All yarns are from John Arbon Textiles.  Top right used 2 x 100g skeins of Knit By Numbers DK KBN90 and 1 x mini skein DK in  KBN75 Bottom left used 2 x Devonia 4ply in colourway 'Bleeding Heart' and 1 x colourway 'Cinder Glow'.   Bottom right used 2 x 100g skeins of Alpaca 2-3 ply (heavy laceweight) in colourway 'Sea Spray'.   Drucilla is a great all-rounder shawl, using V stitch.  You can do it with one or two skeins, keep it as a triangular shawl or make it into a C2C shawl as I did with the heavy lace version.  I have also just finished off a DK weight version to show that it can be crocheted from laceweight up to DK.    If you want to get your hands on the pattern, The Annual can be purchased via the John Arbon website.  It costs £5 plus P&P.  The whole thing is packed full of information and fun elements, like a spot the difference game!    I have also finished off some knitted socks.  A pair for my best friend, Jenny and a pair for my Dad.     ALT TEXT:  Two photos both with a grey background.  The first shows a charcoal grey pair of socks with hot pink stripes, heels and toes.  The second is a plain tealy/ blue pair of socks. Striped socks are in Dragon Hill Studio 4 ply 'Metro Pinstripe'. The second pair is in Lang Jawoll, colourway 'Peacock'.   4 – En Route The saga of my Esja jumper continues! I had hoped to be showing you how to work the sleeves as part of the podcast, but I ran out of yarn!  We are heading up to Scotland on Friday, so I will pop into Blacksheep Wools on the way and pick up an extra skein and hopefully finish it off in the car on the way to Ben Nevis.    Next month, I WILL be wearing my Esja jumper!   5 – Designs in Progress Last month I showed off a Barcelona inspired long cowl that I had been working on.  It now has a name – Rocamora, after the family that lived in the building of the same name that inspired the cowl.  I have actually submitted the design into a newish online magazine called Yarn People.  I really like the inclusive nature of the magazine and the fact that they aren’t fussed about whether the pattern has already been published or talked about within the yarn community.    Whilst I wait to hear whether the submission was successful or not, I am busy working up another version of it that is much short and only uses three colours.  There may be a third example in the offing which is a fade option too…   ALT TEXT: Grey background with wooden ball winder at the top with mid grey yarn sat, balled up on it, foxy orange yarn in a skein to the left, a partial cake of dark grey yarn and a work in progress ribbed cowl with a green metal crochet hook.   6 – Feeding the habit My friend Nic was in Australia, visiting family.  We agreed to do a yarn swap whereby, she brought me back some lovely yarns from that side of the world, and I brought her back yarns form Edinburgh Yarn Festival.  I failed to bring anything back for her that was suitable but will work on it when I vend at Spring Into Wool next weekend, but Nic brought me back two amazing yarns.  One from White Gum Wool in Tasmania and one from Great Ocean Road Mill in Australia.  They are so lovely and squishy!   I spent a lovely day over at Ewe Felty Thing in Llandudno, North Wales, helping Nikki celebrate her shop’s 1st birthday.  There was a lot of yarn to squish (and buy).  I came away with a skein of the special birthday colourway that Nikki had dyed and some minis from Abercairn that will become sock toes, heels and cuffs (and already have in one case). I also pre-ordered my ball winder when I was there.   Obviously, I brought stuff back from EYF too, but because of my point about not buying from stands that don’t have crocheted samples, I didn’t buy as much as I could have. That said, I did buy four balls of wool from Jamieson’s.  I was having an interesting discussion with one of their team and plan to recreate one of their classic Fair Isle patterns in crochet to really make that point that crochet can be beautiful and just sticking to marketing to knitters doesn’t need to be the way forward.    Mainly, I got yarn from John Arbon Textiles.  My love of their wool continues, and I wasn’t really up for buying any indie dyed yarn.  So, I bought the yarns that they had created as show specials.  There is the Cocktail Yarn in colourway Dark & Stormy which is destined to be a trial for a new, simple design that I want to create (perfect for yarn shops and vendors to show off crochet with) and then a jumper’s quantity of their breed special yarns.  I bought the Romney breed because I really love how squishy it is and the soft colours that I bought.    One of the real highlights of EYF for me was the Make::Wool event on the Sunday.  I didn’t get much time in sales area because I was off listening to a couple of talks.  I did, however, make a beeline for Shilasdair Yarns.  Kirsty and Simon are due to open their version of the Shilasdair Yarn Shop on the Isle of Skye this Easter.  They are still using traditional natural dyeing methods and I am very pleased to say that they have converted to using British breed yarns.  I am excited to see how they develop the company and watch with eager anticipation!         ALT TEXT: Seven different photos all on bright yellow backgrounds, showing each of the yarn makers, dyers or designers. 1 - Kirsty from Shilasdair smiling and holding a massive cone of wool outside a shed.  2 - Nikkie from Ewe Felty Thing (yarn shop) behind a wall of indie dyed yarn.  3 - John and Juliet Arbon sitting in front of some of their mill machinary.  4 - Emily K Williams from Flutterby Knits stood at the edge of a loch, showing off her latest striped knitted jumper pattern - Canisp Sweater.  5 - Desiree from Abercairn Yarns stood on a porch, sporting her latest finished object - a purple jumper.  6 - Katie Green has long brown hair and is stood in a woodlend sporting a light brown knitted shawl.  7 - Sharon from Dragon Hill Studio is out in her garden wearing a black top, with glasses on a shortish brown hair, with her dog (cream and tan coloured).       ALT TEXT - a flat lay of many yarns with numbers atteched to each of the companies and listed below.   1 - 2 x mini skeins from Abercairn Yarn, bought at Ewe Felty Thing 2 - 4 skeins of British Breeds 'Romney' from John Arbon Textiles.  These were an EYF special and aren't on the website, but may make an appearance at Wonderwool Wales. Also, two skeins of Cocktail blend in colourway 'Dark & Stormy' which was also an EYF special. 3 - Three balls of Shetland Spindrift wool from Jamiesons of Shetland in colours Storm, Camel and Tan Green. 4 - 2 x 50g skeins (dyed with INdigi and Meadowsweet) and 3 x mini skeins from Shilasdair Yarns  - dye stuff not identified.  5 - 50% Camel, 50% silk blend skein of yarn from Nikki at Ewe Felty Thing called 'Confetti in the Rain' which was a special for her shop's 1st birthday. 6 - Great Ocean Road Mill, La Bella yarn (Merino and alpaca mix) in colourway Salt & Pepper. 7 - White Gum Wool, 4 ply Fingering in colourway Quarrystone - 100% Merino   7 - Quick News Beats  1 – Here are some new hashtags/accounts for you to follow under inclusivity: #disabledmakers is run by Eve and Anna, they are doing a grand job of showing off makes from lots of differently-abled crafters.    @fatestknits is an account that has been set up specifically to work towards size inclusivity.  Designers can have their patterns featured to find test crocheters and knitters.  If you are smaller or bigger than the average body size, then this may be a great resource for finding patterns that you like and designers that actually care about catering from different sizes. 2 – When I was Edinburgh Yarn Festival, I attended a panel discussion on Diversity and Inclusion in the Fibre Space – Where do we go from here?  It was an interesting discussion, with generally helpful questions from the audience.  The panel discussion was recorded and as soon as the video is available, I will signpost you to it - link 3 – I have been invited to come and do pop-ups at a couple of yarn shops.  You can find me at Northern Yarn on 3rd May between 6.30pm and 10pm.  Kate is celebrating the shop’s 3rd birthday and I will be there selling crochet patterns and notions.   I will also be at the RiverKnits open day on the 4th March between 1aam and 5pm.  Becci and Markus now have a dye studio and they are having a grand opening.  Lost of other vendors will be there too, such as Ewe & Ply, Travelknitter, Garthenor Organic, Third Vault Yarns and RiverKnits of course.  It’s going to be a fab day with demonstrations, stuff to buy and a lovely atmosphere where you get to talk to the vendors.      These are just two of the ten events that I will be vending at this year.  If you want to know where else I am going to be, take a look at this blog post.   4 – I have set up a Ko-fi account.  I have long thought about creating a way that you can support the podcast – if you would like to.  I am not comfortable with Patreon as an option and when I came across Ko-fi, that felt like the right fit for me.  Basically, there is a website page that is for The Crochet Circle Podcast.  Within that page, you can buy me a coffee.  In reality, this is making a donation towards the running of the podcast or may actually encourage me to leave the house, buy a coffee and take a break in a café.  However, many of you have asked how you can support the podcast and the in-depth work that I do for it.  I am very grateful to those that buy from my online shop, come to see me at shows, or buy my patterns, but some of you may prefer to support me through Ko-fi.    I love doing this podcast.  But here is some of what it takes to create it: $108 a year for the Podbean hosting platform £12 a month for Zoom so that I can host the Global Hook Ups On average, three full days of my time to pull the podcast together (recording, editing, photography, show notes) Any extra time that I chose to spend on reviews, testing yarns, patterns etc.    There are also things you can do to support that podcast for free: Leave comments and give it a thumbs up on YouTube  - this puts the podcast in front of other people and increases awareness of its existence, making our community larger and stronger. Talk about it on Instagram.  If you like what I do, tag me when you are crocheting.  It may seem like a little thing, but it makes a big difference.    All of these things also apply to any other podcasters that you watch.  I am sure that they would also love extra comments, likes and tags.  It really makes a difference to us and helps to make our experience of creating a podcast much more fun!   8 – J’adore The podcast is three years old!  The first episode went out on audio-only back on 1st April 2016.  It is an absolute pleasure to put this podcast out and connect with our Crochet Clan.  To celebrate, there will be a pattern giveaway.  Sandra from the Cherry Heart podcast has kindly offered a copy of her Ziggy Interrupted scarf to one lucky winner, and I will do some pattern giveaways too.  All you need to do to enter is leave a comment on YouTube or Podbean (underneath these show notes) and tell me what crafting technique you would like to conquer in 2019.    Here’s to another three years!   I will be back on Friday the 3rd May. Fay x   Instagram: Crochet_Circle_Podcast  Instagram: provenance.craft.co   Instagram: FayDHDesigns YouTube: The Crochet Circle Podcast Crochet Clan on Mighty Network: Invite    

Hello there and welcome to The Crochet Circle Podcast and the show notes for Episode 33 – So close, I can sniff it!    In this episode, I cover: CALs, Old dog, new tricks; Final Destination; En Route; Designs in Progress; Feeding the habit; Quick News Beats and J’adore?   This podcast is sponsored by my online crafting company, 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 do that through Patreon:   1 – Old dog, new tricks My Old dog, new tricks is still about the dratted moth. Since last month, I have managed to get on top of the moth situation but I have tried a couple of different methods and wanted to tell you what worked best for me.    Lovely Crochet Clan member Lisa told me about pheromone traps that you can buy.  They are meant to attract the male moths which therefore stops the breeding cycle.  I put the traps down as I was coming to the end of dealing with Moth Gate but still didn’t catch and moths with the various traps I put throughout the house.    What worked best for me was using the hoover nozzle (obviously doing this diligently so that I didn’t suck up my boob this time!)  I think that this is the best technique because you can catch them in mid-air and it doesn’t make a mess.  Obviously, I would rather be able to catch them alive and put them outside but this is really hard to do.    Another lovely Crochet Clan member, Mara, has a pest controller friend and they suggest the ziplock freezer method but with an extended freezer time.  Five days in the freezer, five days out and five days back in.  That means that if any eggs survived and hatched after the first freeze, they should be dealt with in the second freeze.      2 - CALs #SummerTopsCAL – is now finished and there have been so many entries.  I am really impressed and thankful to everyone that took part.  Lots of people made their first-ever garments.  Some people made multiple garments for the CAL!   If you want to see what everyone has been up to you can see the FOs in two locations:   1 – The Crochet Circle Group on Ravelry has a Summer Top CAL FO thread. 2 – On Instagram go to #SummerTopCALFO   I did a random number generator for the prizes and the following people won:  1 - Leather hook case by Nu Shearman, stitch markers by Lisa and a Liberty notebook - Mara (aka @Rubytombstone) 2 – 6 x 50g of Erika Knight Gossypium cotton (enough to make a summer top), stitch markers by Lisa and a Liberty notebook - Wendy (aka @wendlcol)     I also generated a random number for Sharon’s No Sew Mimosa Kimono.  The winner for that was Diranish from YouTube.  #Loftalong – This C/KAL is going strong even with the heat that we have had.  If you downloaded the pattern but you’re not sure what colours to use, look at #LoftAlong or #LoftAlongFO on Instagram for inspiration.  There is also a chatter thread in the John Arbon Textiles group on Ravelry.    Use #Loftalong for your WIPs and #LoftalongFO for your FOs.    3 – Yarn shows – how to survive them I lovely member of the Crochet Clan asked me if I had any tips on how to approach a yarn show, especially if you have never been before. So, I thought I would pull together my top ten tips for surviving and thriving at yarn shows:   1 – Go online and see what people have to say about the yarn show.  Is the food good, is the ground uneven, is day two quieter than day one?  All of this information can help you to really enjoy a yarn show rather than be frustrated by it because you know what you are getting yourself into. 2 – Most yarn shows put a map of the vendors up on their website a couple of weeks in advance.  Download it, look at all of the vendors and decide which ones you would be gutted to miss out on.  They should be your first people to visit, even if you miss out lots of stalls in between for now.  You can always go back and see them once you have seen your favourite vendors. 3 – Dress appropriately.  Wear layers because what on face value may look like a very cold venue soon heats up with thousands of bodies in it.  Get your comfortable shoes on because you are going to do a lot of walking. 4 – Arrive early and try to park as close as possible to the venue.  This means that you have easy access to your vehicle should you want to drop bags off and also a place to sit, rest and take your cup of tea to.  Seating is always an issue at yarn shows. 5 – Of all of the yarn shows that I go to, I would say that only two of them have decent quality food (Wonderwool Wales and Woolfest) for all of the others I am always disappointed by the cost, quality and selection.  If you have specific dietary requirements then taking your own food is a much safer bet.  Again, this is where parking your car as close as possible comes in – you can leave your lunch in the car and go back there for a break.  You can also check out what is available locally.  At Yarndale there is a bus that runs down to Skipton and there are lots of cafes there that you can go and eat in.  There is also an AMAZING farm shop down the hill from the venue where you can eat in or take away.  6 – Go in with a spending budget and take cash with you.  The nature of yarn shows means that many of them are in rural locations and paying by card can be really tricky.  If you take cash then you can only spend what you have with you.  As a general rule of thumb, vendors have a minimum payment for card transactions because they have to pay a percentage for that transaction.  With my system, I have to pay 2.7% of the transaction back to iZettle.  Vendors usually prefer cash for this reason. 7 – Be sociable.  If you have gone alone, go and grab a cuppa and sit with the crowds.  People will gladly strike up a conversation with you.  I am forever being nosy and asking people what they have been buying and asking to see it. 8 – If you have friends on Ravelry or Instagram or a favourite podcaster, see if they are going and whether there is a meetup.  It can be a very lovely hour out of your day where you get to meet people face to face and strengthen your online relationships. 9 – If like me, you don’t do well with big crowds, find out which day is quietest.  In general, a two-day event over a Saturday/Sunday will be quieter in the afternoons and MUCH quieter on Sunday.  For events that are on a Friday and Saturday, the same is true but the Friday would tend to be quieter.  10 – Check the small print.  I have only just seen that people with advance tickets for Yarndale get in at 10am.  If you are buying your ticket on the day, you won’t get in until 11am.  Different shows will have different rules, so make sure you aren’t standing about waiting to get in when you could have had an extra hour in bed. 11 – I have added an extra one in because rather a lot of theft goes on at yarn shows.  If all of the good people were helping to keep their eyes peeled for thieves we might be able to put a stop to it.  So, if you see something that doesn’t seem quite right, please let the vendor know.    I thought I would also add a couple of things that it’s best not to do to vendors: 1 – If you want to take photos of a vendors stand or stock, please ask them in advance.  It’s just good manners and stops us thinking that you are stealing our intellectual property, ready to create your own items. 2 – Don’t stand in a vendors stall and say “I could make that for half the price”.  Yup, this does happen! 3 – Don’t be shy.  Come and talk to us.  There is nothing nicer for a vendor than people appreciating what they are selling and talking about it.  If you ever see me vend, come and say hi and show me what you have bought so that I can live vicariously through your purchases.     4 – Final Destination I have mainly been making Lofts!  A few people asked me for a DK version and so I quickly turned around a DK Loft knitted and crocheted pattern.  Both are available on Ravelry now.  I know that quite a few of you from the US and Canada were interested in trying John Arbon Knit by Numbers but didn’t want to have it sent from the UK.  Corrine from The Woolly Thistle stocks KBN DK in all the colours and shades, so you wouldn’t have to pay international postage. She has pulled together kits that are $49.95 and include 3 x 100g skeins a large tote bag and a pin badge.   Both versions are also much quicker in the DK…         5 – En Route I am still working on my second top for the #SummerTopCAL.  It’s the Verity Top by the lovely Dawn at The Almond Snug.  I am just struggling with time on non-design projects at the moment.  I thought I was going to have a lovely quiet summer crocheting under the umbrella.  Nope.   Last night I started my fourth and final crocheted Loft shawl.  This one is in a DK/Light 3 weight and in the plum colour.  We have a friendly competition going between a few of us on Instagram for a LoftOff and I have until midnight on Friday to get the finish line.  I am currently on Row 60…   I love and hate deadlines in equal measure!    6 – Feeding the habit I have been to lost of woolly events in the last few weeks.  As with last month, I intend on having a double podcast and showing off all the things I have been doing in Episode 34 which will come out in mid-August when I get back from gallivanting in Northern Ireland because I want to show off Yarnfolk and Giant’s Causeway and, and, and… In the meantime, here are some of the goodies that I have bought, been given as birthday pressies.    Button badges from Crochet Luna and second hand books from the Blaze Farm Wool Experience   Icelandic wool from dewsnapswoollens.co.uk in the Peak District (website isn't currently working)   1 - Shropshire Ply from Ewe & Ply in Shrewsbury 2 - Alley Cat (or as I called it "Dirty Tiger") from Ewe & Ply's Legends range 3 - Coloured Ryeland from Find Me Knitting 4 - North Ronaldsay from A Yarn From North Ronaldsay 5 - Feral Sphere Alpaca and Gotland blend from Find Me Knitting 6 - Mermaid and minis in shade Fuchsia from Riverknits 7 - Shepherd's Delight & Shepherd's Warning from Riverknits 8 - Hot Socks from Grundl and available from Ewe & Ply   7 - Quick News Beats Global Hook Ups – The next Global Hook Up is due to be on Saturday 11th August 2018 (BST) Time: Saturday 11th August 2018 8:30 PM London BST Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android: https://zoom.us/j/4750475819  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 There is then a second one on Sunday 12th August at 9am (BST) Time: Sunday 12th August 2018 9:00 AM London BST Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android: https://zoom.us/j/4750475819  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   Here is the meringue recipe that I promised.   Here is the Weekday Summer Porridge recipe that's in the latest issue of www.olannand.ie    I found that I had already created the ragu recipe on my old website, so here it is.  You can use red lentils instead of brown.  I also do this as a massive batch cook and store it in preserving jars for months.  It's a great store cupboard meal that is homemade and we always take a jar and a bag of pasta when we go on self-catering holidays.   8 – Big Up Everyone that joined in with the Summer Top CAL.  I know that it has given a lot of people, including me, inspiration to make more tops.  We even had a couple of crocheted dresses entered!      9 – J’adore Song - The latest song that I am obsessed with is ‘Shotgun’ by George Ezra and in particular the Danny Dove remix.  Happy, happy summer tune! TV - The TV programme that we boshed in two nights (two seasons!) was The Good Place.  I loved the premise of this series.  It’s on Netflix and has some great actors (Kristen Bell, Ted Danson, William Jackson Harper, Jameela Jamil, Manny Jacinto and D’Arcy Carden) and is from the same creator as Parks and Rec – which I also loved!   Audio book – I am still making my way through The Baroque Cycle by Neal Stephenson.  I’m on Book 4/5 (told in tandem) and I am loving it every bit as much as I did the first time around.                            I will be back in mid-August with the second installment of my Summer Shennanigans.    Fay x   Instagram: Crochet_Circle_Podcast  Instagram: provenance.craft.co   Instagram: FayDHDesigns YouTube: The Crochet Circle Podcast Crochet Clan on Mighty Network: Invite  

Hello there and welcome to The Crochet Circle Podcast and the show notes for Episode 29 – All the dubs.   In this episode I cover: Global Hook Up; Final Destination; En Route; Feeding the habit; Quick News Beats and J’adore?   This podcast is sponsored by my online crafting company, 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 do that through Patreon: 1 – Different Designer CAL – Thank you to everyone that took part in the CAL.  As you know, I pulled for prizes live on the podcast.  Emma wanted the skein of yarn and Caroline wanted the bag – perfect!     There are lots of lovely projects in both the Ravelry FO thread and under #DifferentDesignerCAL on Instagram.   Many thanks to Gilly at Fjord Fibres for offering up some fabulous prizes!     2 – Final Destination It has been a bit of an odd month really.  I have been really busy but haven’t managed a scrap of personal crocheting!  I did, however, finish my copper Loft crocheted (3mm straight hook) and knitted (3mm circular needles) shawls (both use John Arbon Knit by Numbers Copper colours in 4 ply 100g/400m).     I have also finished my fourth (!) pair of Mini Mania socks and have another two pairs to make!  I love the pattern and how they look but really, I could do without making a further two pairs!  All pairs are made using RiverKnits mini skeins (British Bluefaced Leicester and 2.25mm circular needles).  I am working on an extension of the pattern to show how you can knit two pairs of socks from 7 x 20g skeins.     My biggest FO of all was my stand for Wonderwool Wales.  It takes a lot of effort to create a stand at a show and I was really chuffed with how it turned out.  I know what I want to improve on for the next show (Wool@J13 – I’m on stand 33) and next year’s Wonderwool Wales (if I get in).       3 – En Route I haven’t made any progress on my Stoborough shawl by Sarah Hazell so won’t show it off again until I have. The two ongoing projects that I showed were vanilla socks for Matthew using Fjord Fibres sock yarn (100g/350m and using a 2.5mm circular needle).  The main colour is called Night Storm and the contrast colour is Boreal Forest.  I love this yarn. Warm. Bouncy. Quality. Even. Beautiful.      The second is my second version of Loft Knitted which is in the grape colourways from the Knit By Numbers range 4 ply 100g/400m using a 3mm circular needle)       4 - Feeding the habit  What I am showing you below is a mixture of things I have bought and lovely things that were given to me.         1 - Southdown fibre from Adelaide Walker 2 - 'Wood' which is a collaboration between RiverKnits and BabyLongLegs 3 - Poll Dorset from the Kennixton Flock (thanks Caroline) 4 - Twool - twine made in Devon and spun by John Arbon (thanks again Caroline). 5 - Mini skeins from RiverKnits 6 - New badge pin from Claudia at CrochetLuna (if you wanted one of these and live in UK/EU they will soon be available from me at KNIT IT - HOOK IT - CRAFT IT) 7 - My bag swap bag from Claudia - my idiot cat was found attacking it this morning.  He does not share my love of all things cacti...   5 - Quick News Beats Global Hook Up – The next Global Hook Up is due to be on Saturday 5th May 2018.  Time: Saturday 5th May 2018 8:00 PM London Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android: https://zoom.us/j/4750475819  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 Dyeing with daffs - Depending on what part of the globe you are in, you may have daffodils that are or have just gone over.  The heads can make the most amazing, colourfast natural dye.  I aim to get twice the weight of flower heads to yarn to dry out so that I can use them when I am ready.  That ratio gives quite an intense mustard/ochre yellow so you could try 50:50 if you wanted a more subtle colour.      6 – J’adore Here is what I am currently loving: Woolly Wool Festivals – the next one that I am attending is Woolfest in Cumbria on the 22nd and 23rd June 2018.  There is something lovely about hearing sheep in the background as you walk around purchasing wool.   On the way back, I had 90's dance music blasting out of the van radio with this amazing sunset keeping me company. It was a good journey home, marking the end of a great weekend.     See you all in June when hopefully I will have had some decent crafting time out in my garden.   Fay x   Instagram: Crochet_Circle_Podcast  Instagram: provenance.craft.co   Instagram: FayDHDesigns YouTube: The Crochet Circle Podcast Crochet Clan on Mighty Network: Invite

In episode 108, Rosie and Jessica have seen each other twice this fortnight, for a sleepover and a stage show. Jessica’s been busy at her allotment while Rosie’s been at Wonderwool Wales and is not too tired to talk about it. Plus the haunting image of a man making mouth flapjacks! You can listen to … Continue reading Episode 108: Bunnies and Gherkins

Hello there and welcome to The Crochet Circle Podcast and the show notes for Episode 28 – Crochet Clan.   In this episode I cover: Quick news beats; Old dog, new tricks; Final Destination; En Route; DIPs; Feeding the habit; Big Up and J’adore?   This podcast is sponsored by my online crafting company, 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 do that through Patreon:   1 - Quick news beats Global Hook Up – The next Global Hook Up is due to be on Saturday 28th April 2018.  Keep an eye on the Ravelry thread and Instagram for updates as I will be vending that weekend at Wonderwool Wales and I’m not sure how good my internet reception is going to be at my accommodation, but I have a back-up plan called Claudia! Time: Saturday 28th 2018 8:00 PM London Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android: https://zoom.us/j/4750475819 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 Different Designer CAL – Is due to finish on the 9th April.  Thank you so much for all of your finished objects so far.  If you are looking for a new designer to try out, take a look at the threads to see who people have been working from.  Here are the designers to date: Elisabeth Davis de Herraiz, Nicki Trench, Kat Goldin, Hannah from The Cozy Cottage, Sarah Hazell, Ashleigh Kiser, Sybil R, Vicki Brown, Joanne Scrace, Cecile Balladino, Planet June, Heidebears, Yarnville, Inspired Professor, Iron Lamb, Fay Dashper-Hughes (that felt weird to type), Zeens and Roger, Rachele Camona, Dedri Uys, Emma Potter and Yan Schenkel.   Edinburgh Yarn Festival – The vlog for Edinburgh Yarn Festival is live in all the usual places.  If you want to see what happened, look at the vlog.  Needless to say, we all had a ball and are looking to do it all again in 2019 in Dublin if you fancy joining us?  I may have been looking at accommodation options yesterday... Spotify – the podcast can now be downloaded on Spotify which means that you can now listen on any wireless speaker you have linked to your Spotify account.  Just search for The Crochet Circle under Podcasts.   2 - Old dog, new tricks Class on reading and understanding crochet patterns – I had a query from a watcher that asked if I had any hints on how to read patterns and charts and whether it is something I could go into more detail on.  It would fill quite a few episodes up and so instead I searched out a really good alternative.  Craftsy has a class on Reading & Understanding Crochet Patterns by Shannon Mullet-Bowlsby.  I watched this the other weekend when Craftsy had a free to view weekend and honestly, this Craftsy Tutorial would really get you on the right track and it is nicely delivered.  If you pay for the class, I think you get comprehensive notes to download too.   3 – Final Destination Well, it has been all about shawls this month as I have finished three of them!   The first is my Treasure Island Shawl which is by Hannah Sigmund from The Cozy Cottage Crochet podcast.  I used The Little Grey Sheep yarn (colourway The Rhubarb Patch in their British Gotland 4 ply) and it crochets up a delight!  It’s for me and I have been using this shawl a lot over the last couple of weeks.     Next up is the knitted version of Doppio Colosseum which I managed in record time to get it to Edinburgh Yarn Festival in time.  It’s knitted using 2 x 100g of John Arbon’s Devonia in colourway Bleeding Heart.  It’s off living with the Arbon’s and being used as a show sample.     My last is a new design that I have just published called Loft. It’s a memory of all the people that made the Edinburgh Yarn Festival so much fun!  The stripes in the shawl represent all the stairs we had to climb to get to the top of our accommodation called The Loft.  It uses 3 x 100g of John Arbon Knit By Numbers 4 ply.     As always, there is a 50% discount code for these patterns, just type TCC50% at the check out on Ravelry.  The code is valid until the 13th April.  This shawl (or the one you can see down in En Route) will be heading to also be a sample with John and Juliet and the other will be on my stand at any shows I do throughout the year.   I also finished my cat blanket for Pom Pom.  It was part of the Granny A Long being hosted by Rosina and I used Álafoss Lopi in shades Dark Grey (0005), Mid Grey (0058) and Light Grey (0054).  I have more affinity for the granny stitch now but I’m still not really a fan.  Luckily Pom loves it!       4 – En Route I also have made decent progress on my Stoborough shawl by Sarah Hazell.  It needs 300g of 4-ply yarn (350m/100g) and I had previously dyed up 3 skeins of skinny merino for this project.  It’s my second Different Designer CAL entry but I don’t think it will be finished in time…     5 - Designs in Progress Loft really deserved to also be made in the new Knit By Numbers 4ply Copper shades.  I’m so close to the finishing line with this one so I will pop an FO photo up next month instead. I am also working away on the knitted version.  I’m really pleased with it because I think I have replicated the size and spacing of the crocheted version.    6 - Feeding the habit  What I am showing you below is a mixture of things I have bought and lovely things that were given to me.  I am a very lucky lady!   1 - RiverKnits Yarns Snow Dyed Mohair - 'There's No Business Like Snow Business', dyed on a narrowboat 2 - Birlinn Yarn - 4ply from the Outer Hebrides, Scotland 3 - Fjord Fibres - amazing sock yarn that now comes in 50g skeins! Dyed in Norway 4 - Cosmic Strings - 120g skein of Merino/ Yak/ Silk in colourway 'Pisces', dyed in Edinburgh 5 - Iona Single Origin Wool - DK in colourway 'Serpentine Green', from Scotland 6 - Hey Mama Wolf - Naturally dyed in Germany, Organic wool/ ramie, One of a Kind colourway 7 - Socks Yeah! - 4ply in colourways 'N1 Helium & N4 Xenon' 8 - Easy Knits - Mohair/ silk in colourway 'Orion' 9 - TJ Frog - Tania's new Dorset Horn in it's beautiful natural colour     I was also utterly spoiled by lovely friends.  On the left, you can see some gorgeous yarns that Yael & Emmie gave me.  These include a teal coloured flax (linen) which is grown and dyed in Sweden; the top left is Gotland (DK) which is from a small independent mill in Sweden called Solkustens Spinnvertstad; and the one at the bottom is a single-ply from Honer o Eir, a very small company that spins the fleece from their own sheep.  The chocolate?  Gone! On the right is wool from Lana Rara which I was very kindly given by Rachel.  It's a blend of Bündner Oberländer and Merino and it's grown by lots of smallholders and spun in Switzerland.   My love of proper woolly wools deepens... Below you can see some Romney Marsh Wools from Corrine and some Nash Island 'Tide' which was given to me by Sarah and came all the way from Maine and the Starcroft micro-mill!      Look at all these goodies!  Thanks to Jenny, Vivian, Alyson, Clarisabeth, Caroline, Yael, Emmie, Lisa, Asia, Rosina, Sharon, Gill, Corrine and Charlie.   Lovely things crafted things by lovely crafty friends.     7 – Big Up I have more crafting podcasts for you: Here are some of them for you to look at and listen to – Little Drops of Wonderful - Ali is a crocheter and knitter and is wonderfully upbeat and positive.  She’s based in the UK and LOVES yellow! YouTube FiberTrek – Sarah is a new to me podcaster, though I had heard of her before.  I really like her production style and the fact that she goes out into her fibre community to see what is happening in and around Maine.  If like me, you love woolly wool with provenance, then you will love what Sarah has to offer. The Woolly Thistle/ New Hampshire Knits - Claire is a Scot, living in New Hampshire, US and has an audio knitting based podcast (New Hampshire Knits).  She is also the force behind The Woolly Thistle, which is an online yarn shop.     When you order from The Woolly Thistle you receive your yarn quickly and without the added cost of international shipping.  Shopping is Tax Free at The Woolly Thistle.   9 – J’adore Here is what I am currently loving: Clan – all those people that make crochet a wonderful thing and something that I am proud to be part of. Songs – When I get really busy, I fall back on Ben Howard and the Deluxe version of Every Kingdom It is my chill-out music that just helps to keep me going. Book – I started listening to The Baroque Cycle by Neal Stephenson again. It has been about five years since I listened to is last and it is a fabulous set of books that will give me hours of entertainment while I crochet away in the coming weeks.  See you all in May.   Fay x   Instagram: Crochet_Circle_Podcast  Instagram: provenance.craft.co   Instagram: FayDHDesigns YouTube: The Crochet Circle Podcast Crochet Clan on Mighty Network: Invite  

Hello my lovelies, Welcome to The Crochet Circle Podcast and the show notes from Episode Sixteen - Common Thread.   In this episode, I cover: Old dog, new tricks; Tunisian CAL; Review of The Shawl Project Book Three; FOs; WIPs; Feeding the Habit; Big Up and What's Good?   This podcast is sponsored by my online crafting company, 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 do that through Patreon:   1 - Old dog, new tricks This month I was given a great tip by Claudia from the Crochet Luna Podcast.  She asked whether I had ever come across a standing dc (US terminology) and I hadn't.  So, I did what I always do and took to Google to see what it was all about and came across these YouTube videos by Tamara Kelly from Moggly.com: Standing dc (tr in UK terminology) Standing hdc (htr in UK terminology) Standing sc (dc in UK terminology)   I haven't had lots of time to test this technique out fully but I love the results that I got on the coaster that I crocheted.  I did one using the standard chain method for starting the new round in the new colour and one using a standing tr (Uk terminology).  I think that the use of a standing stitch makes the join look much neater and helps to avoid the gap that often appears.  The stitch looks more like a tr and is also bulkier, which means that my eye isn't automatically drawn to an area that looks 'different'.       Tamara's videos are very good and I suspect that once you have tried this technique, you won't go back to using a chain to start a new round off in a new colour.   What I want to investigate next is whether this technique can also be used when you are starting a new round in the same colour.  More on that next month...      2 - Tunisian CAL update This CAL started on the 3rd March and ran until the 16th of April.  Check out the CAL FOs thread on Ravelry (under The Crochet Circle Podcast Group) or on Instagram to see posts under #tccTunisianCAL. The projects have been great and lots of people can now do Tunisian crochet. Well done everyone!  I have pulled together the video for YouTube to announce the winners and show off all of the FOs.    Thanks to everyone that took part, it was great fun.   Our next A Long is going to be a CrAL called the Festival of Finishing. The idea is that through the months of June, July and August you work with some of your crafting WIPs.  I have three (crochet, cross stitch and knitting) that I want to work on and then I won't have any projects that are in hibernation anymore - oh the release!  I am trying to get to a place where I can scoot through projects and don't have my crafting resources tied up elsewhere being unloved.     The graphic for the CrAL looks like this, and you will see it on Ravelry and Instagram.         So why not look your WIPs out now and assess what you want to do with them?  In the next episode, I will cover some of the things that you can do with your WIPs, how to frog your projects, give you some stash buster patterns for those frogged WIPs and pass some advice on donating projects to charity shops.   3 - Review of The Shawl Project Book Three   Jo (jojotwinkletoes on Ravelry and Instagram) kindly agreed to review The Shawl Project Book Three for us. She has already made two of the five shawls and plans to make the other three too!  Rather than post all of the information here, I have created a new thread on Ravelry within The Crochet Circle Podcast group. The Shawl Project Book Three can be bought directly from The Crochet Project website, or through Ravelry.     This is Jo and her Fog Break shawl:     Here are the photos (thanks to Kat and Joanne for providing them) of each of the shawls from the book:       4 - Finished Objects (FOs) Once again, I didn't think I had too much to show but I am clearly busier than I think with crafting!       My FOs are a new bag that I have been designing and thanks to everyone that helped me to choose the colour combination on Instagram.  I'm not sure when this bag pattern will be released because I think it will now be a series of bags rather than a single pattern.     There is my version of the Ocaso shawl by Sol Rencoret.  I really loved doing this Tunisian crochet shawl and working with some different colour combinations that have pushed my boundaries.   I have made a knitted version of my Colum Cowl using Debbie Bliss Rialto DK and Hedgehog Fibres DK in colourway 'Dragonfly'.  The combination of these two yarns has created a very snuggly cowl.   I also managed to finish off another pair of socks using some of the yarn that I received from Racheal, my FibreShare partner.  I love the colours and how they have striped and pooled in the knitted sock.  I started a new pair last night to use the rest of the yarn and they will be donated to Winwick Mum's sock line at Yarndale later in the year.   I nearly forgot to add one of my favourite FOs from this month - my gorgeous new project bag based on the #herbembroiderysal that Chrissie from Chrissie Crafts has been running:     Even if you haven't tried embroidery before, I would recommend giving it a go.  Chrissie has brilliant tutorials on her YouTube channel and the design is lovely.   5 - Works in Progress (WIPs) I only have one WIP and that will be finished very shortly, so I am adding a very near future WIP to the pile. My actual WIP is a second bag design that I am working on as part of the 'KIHICI Bag' series.  This is a very simple pattern that comes with a few variations so that you can truly make it to your own taste.  It looks like a bit of a canoe in this picture but it is a really lovely bag (I actually finished it late last night!) and is most likely going to be called 'Versa'.   The second photo shows my yarn choices for the Hotel of Bees shawl, albeit I am not actually going to do the shawl because I am not really a fan of large open lace sections and I do love a cowl...   So, having bought the pattern, I am going to use the blocks of stitches that I do like and I am going to recreate the Hotel of Bees as a large squishy cowl instead.  Not quite sure how it will turn out but I will be turning my attention to it this weekend.   6 - Feeding the Habit Whilst in Amsterdam I visited the yarn shop which is run by Stephen West and Malia Mather, called Stephen & Penelope.  It is a really lovely shop as you can see from the photo below.  I took some nice video footage of it and will add that to my Amsterdam trip vlog which will be up on YouTube shortly. I bought some bespoke colourways from there and a few other things for designs.  If you are lucky enough to win a prize for the #tccTunisianCAL then you will be getting some buttons that I bought from there.     I also received a lovely parcel from Yael at Handmade by Yael which was full of gorgeous nuggets of Ullcentrum wool which is one of my absolute favourites (see my Linus on the Lines shawl project on Ravelry if you want to see how it knits up).  I have been wearing my lovely handmade necklace a lot and received LOTS of very nice comments on it.  I was a very happy recipient - thanks Yael!    I received an unexpected parcel from Tania at TJ Frog with some beautiful Dorset Button stitch markers and a notions bag in her lovely fabric.  Tania is a woman after my own heart and likes to know the different steps of manufacturing in the items that she sells.  This parcel arrived right in the middle of my preparation for Wonderwool Wales when I could barely keep my eyes open.  Needless to say, it made me very happy indeed.   Ahem, there seems to be rather a lot of stuff below!  It is all for designs, I promise.  Now that Wonderwool Wales is over, I have had designs flying through my mind and the below are all accounted for.  You will see that I had to sneak in all that was left of the 'Nightshade' Devonia because that design is now finished (the Versa bag) and I only got the wool the week before!     1 - John Arbon Textiles Knit by Numbers DK is going to be a large gradient pashmina.  KBN now comes in a whopping 97 shades. 2 - Onion is a new to me yarn brand and I picked out their nettle range to work with (70% wool and 30% nettle fibre).  It is supposedly good for making socks with which I can believe because nettle fibre is extremely strong.  I really wish I had bought more to test this out with socks but it will have to be next year instead!  They have a range of interesting yarns at Onion and although there are no UK stockists, they are widely stocked elsewhere. 3 - Laura from Bellica Yarns was my vending neighbour at Wonderwool Wales.  She was an absolute joy to meet and her yarns are beautiful and VERY reasonably priced at only £12 per 100g.  Here is the link to Laura's Etsy shop - Bellica Yarns.  The one that I bought will become a cowl design for Jenny as a thank you for helping me out during that weekend. 4 - Undercover Otter is in the process of moving their selling platform, but the www will be the same.  You can buy the bespoke Stephen & Penelope colourways online, ignore what I said in the podcast and Undercover Otter will be opening their shop up soon.  These two beauties will be a shawl and although I wouldn't usually do a pastel shade, it really works with the dark teal (always one of my go-to colours). 5 - A tiny little nugget of Devonia 'Nightshade from John Arbon Textiles.  This is very special wool given that it is 100% grown and spun in Devon, England. The composition is 50% Exmoor Blueface / 30% Devon Bluefaced Leicester / 20% Devon Wensleydale and it is lovely to work with.  Sturdy and soft with a beautiful sheen from the Wensleydale.  They have just released a DK range too. 6 - My lovely Dorset Button pouch and stitch markers from Tania at TJ Frog.  Tania also has an audio podcast which is delightful!     7 - Big Up I have a couple of podcasts for you and some new yarn: Crochet Luna Podcast with Claudia is a YouTube podcast all about crochet!  Claudia is lovely and her enthusiasm for crochet oozes through the screen!  Claudia is Crochet Luna on Instagram. Fiber Friends Podcast with Adrienne, Louise and Caroline is a YouTube podcast about knitting, bags, yarn, ding, patterns - everything basically. They have a great friendship and make me laugh a lot. Adrienne - dyes yarn as Old Oak Yarns and has an Etsy shop here. Louise - is also on Instagram and is a knitting designer and teacher. Caroline - is also on Instagram and makes bags for her shop on Etsy which is called Evertote. Poly Jane Yarns has a new range out called the Inca Collection which she sells alongside her own hand-dyed and other well-known brands.  If you were a fan of Atresano yarns, then you will be pleased to hear about the Inca Collection:     8 - What's Good The John Arbon Mill Open weekend is on on the 10th & 11th of June and I am hoping to get there!  It's free to attend, you just need to book in which slot you want to go to on the Saturday or Sunday.  The mill is at South Molton in Devon and is well worth a visit. I am heading to Woolfest and I'm not sure which day yet.  If anyone fancies meeting up for a coffee, let me know and that will help to set my mind on which day I head there.  Woolfest is on the 23rd & 24th June up in Cockermouth in Cumbria.   Until June my lovelies.  Remember to get your WIPs out and see what you want to work on in June, July and August.   Fay x   Instagram: Crochet_Circle_Podcast  Instagram: provenance.craft.co   Instagram: FayDHDesigns YouTube: The Crochet Circle Podcast Crochet Clan on Mighty Network: Invite  

Hello folks, come on into The Crochet Circle Podcast. Here are the show notes from Episode Fourteen - Unchained Melody?   In this episode, I cover: Yay Crochet or Nay Crochet; FOs; WIPs; Feeding the Habit; Tunisian CAL; Festivals; Big Up and What's Good?   This podcast is sponsored by my online crafting company, 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 do that through Patreon:   1 - Yay crochet, yay crochet, yay crochet and a wee bit more yay crochet! I love to learn, and so when I come across a new technique I like to dive in and understand its pros and cons rather than just accept that is naturally better.   I was coming across comments on Instagram about how many people preferred to start their projects with a chainless foundation, rather than the traditional chained foundation because it was quicker and they preferred the finished effect.  Hmm, time to get my hook out and investigate.   The below photo shows you the times, sizes, pros and cons that I found between chained and chainless foundations.        Bella Coco has a great YouTube tutorial on how to do a chainless foundation.   2 - Finished Objects I always get through more projects that I think.  Through the guise of #StashBingo I have been using some really lovely yarns that otherwise would have remained at the back of the Stash Palace.  I have really loved working with the Jamieson & Smiths Shetland wool and it comes in a fantastic range of colours.     1 - J&S 2 ply Jumper Weight (100% Shetland wool): Blue is shade FC41, dark green is shade 65, light green is FC62 and the fawn is actually J&S 3 ply jumper weight in undyed shade 2008/Katmollet.  I was testing out whether the 3ply was better for the beginning of the cowl because the colourwork strands mean that the patterned areas are heavier and contain more yarn.  My conclusion is that it is best to double up on the 2ply where needed rather than use the 3 ply. 2 - J&S 2 ply Jumper Weight (100% Shetland wool)  Cream is shade 1A, orange is shade 125 and the dark red is shade FC62.  I have been working on these projects as part of #StashBingo but also to design projects that can use up yarn straggles and look good.   I also did a bit of investigating on the best place to buy Jamieson & Smith wool from and the cheapest source was Purlesence.  They offer free UK and EU postage for orders over £25 and I believe that their non-EU shipping is also very reasonable.  25g of J&S 2 ply is only £2.90.     3 - This was a Corriedale pencil roving that I bought from Queen of Purls in Glasgow, but it doesn't seem to be listed on their website anymore.  I used it to crochet a hat for my niece Darcie, which you can see below. If you like the look of this yarn then you may want to try Erika Knight for John Lewis XXL which is a slightly chunkier version or Drops Eskimo.  The pattern is Super Chunky Bobble Hat by Jo Janes on Ravelry.        4 - Wolle Rodel Sport and Strumpfwolle in shade 16915  75% wool and 25% polyamide. 5 - Regia 4 ply 75% wool and 25% polyamide in Ocean (06629).  I think this is what the yarn is...   The pink yarn is West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4 ply, 75% wool (35% is Bluefaced Leicester) and 25% nylon in shade 545 Sarsaparilla.   To share the love with listeners and watchers of the podcast, I want to test giving out a 50% discount code for my patterns.  I am starting this off with my latest pattern Doppio Colosseum and so between 3rd and the 17th March (midnight GMT) you can get 50% off the pattern in Ravelry by using code DOPPIO50%. This is what Doppio Colosseum looks like and it requires 200g/800m of a 4ply fingering weight yarn.           3 - Work in Progress I have two main WIPs on the go at the moment, one crochet and one knitted.  From now on in the podcast, I am only going to talk about my knitting projects when they have become finished objects.  I want to make sure that the podcast remains predominantly about crochet but I still need to be able to reflect on the other things that I craft because they also give me inspiration for my crochet makes.   Here is my second #StashBingo project (project bag number 4).  This is some really course British wool that I picked up at Wonderwool Wales almost two years ago with the thought of making housewares with it.  I then dyed up some of the wool when I ran the dyeing workshop last September.  There was no real thought to how I dyed it, I was just helping to exhaust some of the wool in Gill's dye pot. The result is lovely with a shift in the depth of colour as you get to the outer parts of the skein because the dye couldn't penetrate the inner part of the yarn cake as readily.   I am holding two strands of wool together to make this rug, starting with two strands of undyed.  When the first cake of undyed had been crocheted, I added the lightest of my dyed wool in and continued to crochet with two strands - one undyed and one dyed.  This is adding a really nice sense of balance to the rug because the undyed yarn is visible throughout the whole piece.  I have then moved onto the next darkest skein of dyed yarn, and so on and so on.  I love it! This will be an FO on the next podcast.     Here is my knitting WIP.  It is Stream by Isabel Kramer and I am using one of my sock club skeins from Life in the Long Grass and Socks Yeah! in Sphene (104) the mustard colour and Sugilite (112) the plum colour.      4 - Feeding the habit I am still being good.  I have bought Top-Down Crochet Sweaters by Dora Ohrenstein and my subscription of Pom Pom Quarterly has turned up and here is a link to the Hanbira cardigan. I continue to focus on the MANY gorgeous yarns in my stash.     5 - Tunisian CAL is GO GO GO! This new CAL started on the 3rd March and runs until the 16th April.  We are being expertly guided by Sol through this CAL as she already teaches Tunisian crochet, has tutorials on her blog and is providing patterns for the CAL. Tamara (long-term listener and group member) has also pulled together her top Ten Tunisian Crochet Tips as a blog post, so give that a read too. There are three categories: 1 - Sol's Cobbled Streets Cowl which is free of charge pattern and needs one skein (400m) of 4 ply yarn, a 4mm (G6) hook and a 30cm cable, though you may be able to use a long-shafted hook instead. 2 - Sol's Ocaso shawl which is a paid-for pattern and needs three (1 x Yarn A and 2 x Yarn B) skeins of 4 ply yarn with about 380m per skein.  You will need a 4mm hook (G6) and an 80cm cable.  Use code TCCPODCAST to get 50% off this pattern in Ravelry. 3 -  Anything goes.  The pattern of your choice, it just has to be Tunisian crochet. A Ravelry thread has already been opened and you can use #tccTunisianCAL on Instagram.   If you are looking at joining in under category three, then you may be interested in a couple of new patterns: 1 - Zoe Halstead has a Tunisian shawl in Inside Crochet issue 87. 2 - The Crochet Project has a new Shawl book coming out and there is a Tunisian Crochet shawl in that.     Here are the yarns that I am thinking about using:     The one on the left is Denim 4ply (50% Merino/50% silk) 100g/400m by The Wool Kitchen and this is definitely going to become a Cobbled Streets cowl.   The second two yarns are another sock club skein from Life in the Long Grass 100g/400m and some Araucania Yarns Ranco 100g/344m (PT 2109) but the jury is out on these colours as I may change my mind.  Again.   6 - Festivals I didn't make it to Unravel but Helen did and has added a review to the thread in our group in Ravelry and also to get a new blog - thank Helen!   I am heading up to Edinburgh Yarn Festival on the 11th March and will be pulling together a vlog on my antics.   I will also be vending at Wonderwool Wales on the 22nd and 23rd of April and you can find me at stall H2.  Come and say hello!          7 - Big Up Here are some blogs and podcasts that you may want to check out:   Helen's making blog Making at Number 14 Chrissie Crafts on YouTube talking about her crochet and embroidery projects. Crochetcakes on YouTube talking about her life in Puerto Rico, crochet and knitting.     8 - What's good?   I am back in the room and that is what's good!      Until next month.   Fay x   Instagram: Crochet_Circle_Podcast   YouTube: The Crochet Circle Podcast Ravelry Group: Search for The Crochet Circle Podcast in Groups Pinterest: Crochet_Circle   Twitter: Crochet_Circle        

Hello folks, come on into The Crochet Circle Podcast. Here are the show notes from Episode Thirteen - Stash Bingo.   In this episode, I cover: Yay Crochet or Nay Crochet; CALs; FOs; WIPs; Feeding the Habit; Quod the Rav and the final segment What's Good?   This podcast is sponsored by my online crafting company, 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 do that through Patreon:   If you are missing Lynne, she is now doing audio recordings of her blog. They are available whenever she updates a new blog and are generally a lot shorter than podcasts, so you can dip in.   1 - Yay crochet or nay crochet I am very aware that it is always a yay crochet.  I am a glass half full kind of a girl, so maybe that is why?   It is all about Tunisian crochet.  Although I already crochet, I feel like I am learning a new genre of the craft by getting to grips with Tunisian crochet.  I haven't done a lot yet, but it is all leading towards me spiralling down yet another rabbit hole...     2 - CALs The Christmas CAL started on the 24th December and concluded on the 31st January.  The enthusiasm, support and skill showed within this CAL have been fantastic.     I have pulled together a 'TCC Christmas CAL' video montage to show all of the finished objects, the crafters behind them and the prize winners (drawn using a random number generator).     You can also view the finished projects by checking #tccChristmasCAL on Instagram or looking at the 'Christmas CAL FOs' thread within The Crochet Circle Podcast group on Ravelry.  You will see lots of beautiful projects.   The running of our first CAL has definitely helped to define how the next CAL is going to be managed.   Tunisian CAL This new CAL will start on the 3rd March and run until the 16th April.  We are being expertly guided by Sol through this CAL as she already teaches Tunisian crochet, has tutorials on her blog and is providing patterns for the CAL.     As with the Christmas CAL, there will be three categories: 1 - Sol's Cobbled Streets Cowl which is free of charge pattern and needs one skein (400m) of 4 ply yarn, a 4mm (G6) hook and a 30cm cable, though you may be able to use a long-shafted hook instead. 2 - Sol's Ocaso shawl which is a paid-for pattern and needs three (1 x Yarn A and 2 x Yarn B) skeins of 4 ply yarn with about 380m per skein.  You will need a 4mm hook (G6) and an 80cm cable. 3 -  Anything goes.  The pattern of your choice, it just has to be Tunisian crochet.   A Ravelry thread has already been opened and you can use #tccTunisianCAL on Instagram.     Roll on March 3rd.   3 - Finished Objects Many FOs are in my midst!  I have managed to get some major projects finished.  During the last podcast I promised that I would have my  Leigh Tee finished, and I had also started the Riveret crochet top, so here they both are:     I also finished off the redesign of Colosseum to make it into a two skein shawl.  I am currently writing the new pattern up and it will be available to purchase from Ravelry and my website shortly but I will also be sending it as a free pattern to people that have already bought a copy of Take Two.       My final FO was a pair of knitted Delilah socks from The Sock Drawer.  I also used these for a bit of test on sock blockers:     Here is the link to the differences in yarn usage between some knitted and crocheted stitches.  If you have any burning questions on similar topics, let me know via Ravelry and I will see if I can investigate.   4 - WIPs Hmmm, I want to start all of the things, but let's start with the thing that is not my best friend at the moment, my second Uncia shawl.  I had to work so hard to knit Juliet's Uncia for the self-imposed deadline that the thought of picking up my Uncia to finish it is filling me with dread.  I have 95 rows left to knit, about 25 hours worth of knitting maybe?  I just can't face it at the moment. Maybe next week.   I wanted to start a knitted garment at the back end of 2016 but was enticed into more Christmas CAL crochet and so made a start on a Leigh top on the 1st January 2017 instead.   This is really quick to knit up and I am using the yarn that the pattern called for - Rowan Cocoon (shade Crag).  This is gorgeous to work with and there is a very strong sheepy smell coming off the yarn (80% wool and 20% Mohair) which just makes me want to knit on it all day long.   I also seem to have started another crocheted garment!  The pattern is Riveret by Merrian Holland from Pom Pom Quarterly's Spring 2016 issue.  I liked the look of this pattern when I first got my copy through the door but I wasn't convinced that it would suit me.  I then saw the sample at Yarnporium in London and realised how big it was on the model and just how elegant it was.  I have done very little on this but it should receive some more love before the next podcast!     5 - Feeding the habit I have been very good.  Whilst I have bought yarn for designs and present crafting, I have bought NO personal yarn!   Instead, I bought books:   1 - Around the Corner Crochet Borders 2 - The New Tunisian Crochet   6 - Quod the Rav If you have some yarn that you want to use but you don't know what to make with it, then here are some simple ways of filtering through Ravelry to drill down to some suitable projects:         So much easier to search through 85 projects than 614,000+.     What's good? We are heading into a yarn festival season once more.  The first that I will be attending is the Edinburgh Yarn Festival on the 11th March so if anyone fancies meeting up, let me know.  I will also be vending at Wonderwool Wales on the 23rd and 24th April and who knows where else I will end up this year...   Until next month.   Fay x   Instagram: Crochet_Circle_Podcast  Instagram: provenance.craft.co   Instagram: FayDHDesigns YouTube: The Crochet Circle Podcast Crochet Clan on Mighty Network: Invite

                                  Welcome to The Crochet Circle Podcast. Here are the Show Notes from Episode Three.   This podcast is sponsored by my online crafting company, Provenance Craft Co. and Lynne Rowe Knitting and Crochet 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 do that through Patreon:   The books and yarns in this episode were all purchased by ourselves. Arne & Carlos yarn competition prize - supplied by Provenance Craft Co.   DMC Natura Medium competition prize - supplied by DMC Creative In this episode, we talk a lot about socks as well as Wonderwool and Edinburgh Yarn Festival, stylish crochet designers, crochet tension, Crochet Yeah! WIP Wall update, Finished Objects and The Woollen Woods.   1. Yay Crochet or Nay Crochet (at 1.25 mins) It's a yay from Fay on her Shoreline blanket: In Episode 1, I spoke about a blanket that I hadn’t touched for a year.  I can now safely say that it has moved on somewhat and has made me think about the shorelines beyond the small island that is the UK.  I've thought about our listeners that are further afield and love the idea that through something as simple as a hook and a length of yarn, with a bit of technology, we can share our passions for crochet, knitting and yarn.  Every time I pick up the blanket to do a bit more I think about our lovely listeners.         The Shoreline Blanket uses a very subtle 4dc, 1htr, 2tr, 1htr stitch pattern for the ripple.   It's a Nay from Lynne on paper yarn.  I used paper yarn recently for a knitting and crochet commission and I was really looking forward to trying it out. I have to admit it wasn't one of my favourite yarns, mainly because it wasn't as flexible as I thought it would be. You have to give it a tug when working a stitch and often it popped off the end of the hook. My projects turned out fine but I would only recommend using it for homewares and accessories that will be used indoors, mainly mats, coasters and baskets or bags because if it gets wet it will also get soggy. Quite a few yarn companies are now manufacturing paper yarn so we may see more projects and patterns becoming available.     2. Festivals (at 4.55 mins) Fay visited Edinburgh Yarn Festival in March and had a great time. If you're into your designers, workshops, patterns and like to meet up with fellow enthusiasts then it's a great show for you. Lynne and Fay visited Wonderwool Wales - we both love this show, which is open and airy with good light and it's great to get around and there's a lot of space. We found some great bargains that we can't wait to turn into something lovely.   Lynne's Wonderwool haul:    Fay's Wonderwool Haul:   We're also exhibiting at Yarndale later this year, which is really exciting. We will be sharing a stall so come and say Hi. For information on Yarndale 2016 see: http://yarndale.co.uk/http://thewoolnest.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/crochet-tension.html   Stylish Crochet Designers (at 18.35 mins): Marie Wallin: Ravelry: http://www.ravelry.com/designers/marie-wallin Website: http://www.mariewallin.com/   Joanne Scrace Ravelry: http://www.ravelry.com/designers/joanne-scrace Website: http://notsogranny.com/   Kat Goldin: Ravelry: http://www.ravelry.com/people/katgold Website: http://www.slugsontherefrigerator.com/   Vicky Brown Ravelry: http://www.ravelry.com/stores/lilley-stitches Website: http://www.vickibrowndesigns.com/    Contemporary Crochet - 37 European Designs - Sys Fredens For book details see here   Designer Crochet - Shannon Mullet-Bowlsby. Create figure-flattering garments with great shape, with easy-to-follow tutorials. For book details see herehttps://www.knitit-hookit-craftit.com/blogs/news/162848583-book-review-crochet-yeah-by-the-crochet-project   5. Yarn Reviews (at 33.50 mins) Socks Yeah!   In Shade Iolite (75% Superwash Merino/25% Nylon; 212m/50g) RRP £5.45 Machine washable at 30 degrees Recommended needle size 2.25mm Read Fay's full review here: https://www.knitit-hookit-craftit.com/blogs/news/162718215-yarn-review-socks-yeah-from-coop-knits   Regia Design Line by Arne and Carlos 4 ply engineered sock yarn (75% virgin wool and 25% polyamide; 50g/210m) RRP £5.19 Recommended needle size is 2-3mm Read Fay's full review here: https://www.knitit-hookit-craftit.com/blogs/news/162372423-yarn-review-regia-design-line-by-arne-and-carlos   6. Magazine Reviews (at 40.00 mins) Inside Crochet issue 76: The Theme for Issue 76 is Spring Time, so there are lots of lovely flowery projects, cute children’s accessories and cosy crochet for cooler evenings or country walks.   Lynne's choice: Celandine Wrap by Emma Wright – inspired by the flower of the same name. www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/celandine-wrap   Fay's Choice: Pop! Socks designed by Katherine Mills. Stretchy socks, comfortable to wear and fun to show off. www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/pop-socks Let’s Get Crafting issue 80: Includes a feature on Gregory Patrick (Madman knitting) and how knitting helped him to get out of homelessness. www.madmanknitting.wordpress.com Lynne's choice: Fairisle Purses designed by Lynne. I know I'm breaking my own rule of not talking about my own projects but I had such fun designing and making these and love the way they turned out. I've enjoyed seeing the reader's own versions too. www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/fair-isle-purses Fay's choice: Lavender Sachets designed by Nicola Valiji - but would try a crocheted version. Lavender is great from deterring moths from your stash. www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/scented-sachets Simply Crochet – issue 44: An Oriental theme with free amigurumi sea creature pattern cards.   Lynne's Choice:  Kat Goldin’s column – an interesting read, all about her sock obsession for cosy crochet socks and passing on tools and heirlooms.   Fay's choice: Blossom Cushion - simple cushion base with pretty Oriental flowers and embroidery (image not available yet) Woman’s Weekly Knitting and Crochet, May 2016: Bright/Spring theme.   Lynne's choice:  Crocheted Daisy Dog Toy and Blanket – a vintage pattern from the1970s, reworked in Yarn Stories Fine Merino and Baby Alpaca DK – in Cream and Dove. (Image not available yet).   Fay's choice: Crocheted Bowls. (Image not available yet).   Crochet Now issue 2 will be reviewed in our next Episode as it isn't on the shelves yet.   7. Finished Objects (at 41.00 mins) Fay's FOs:     EYF Scarf - Endless Possibilities - the pattern will be released shortly. www.ravelry.com/projects/MaDashper/endless-possibilities   Knit British - Nature's Shades along - Nougat Neck - design to be released shortly. http://www.ravelry.com/projects/MaDashper/nougat-neck   4 (yes 4!!) crochet shawlettes (shh it's a secret - to be released soon)   Crochet Socks for The Duke www.ravelry.com/projects/MaDashper/crocheted-baby-socks   Knitted Socks for Winkie www.ravelry.com/projects/MaDashper/basic-socks-2   Lynne's FOs   Simple Granny Square Blanket using Stash yarns (DMC Natura Just Cotton): own design (not published yet)   Baktus Scarf using Manos Del Uruguay Silk Blend Shade 7438 Zenith (2 skeins): http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/baktus-scarf   Simple Stocking Stitch cowl using Rowan Fine Tweed (discontinued): own design (not published yet)   8. Works in Progress and WIP Wall (at 41.00 mins)   See who's at the top of the WIP Wall this month over on Pinterest: https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/417920040403148820/    Fay's WIPs   Missed Kingfisher shawl by Joanne Scrace: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/missed-kingfisher  Scarf for Baby Bird using a knitting sequence from Cecilia Campochiaro’s book  Sequence Knitting: http://www.sequenceknitting.com/   The purple blanket that you can see was frogged during the recording of Episode 3!   Tardis cross stitch cushion (available to buy on Etsy): https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/203231184/tardis-de-lys-instant-pdf-pattern?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=tardis%20fleur%20de%20lys&ref=sr_gallery_1 John Arbon socks (update - these are now finished and another pair started) http://www.ravelry.com/projects/MaDashper/basic-socks Winkie's postal scarf is just simple rows of colour.   Shoreline Blanket (picture at beginning of show notes) is Fay's own design using a very subtle 4dc, 1htr, 2tr, 1htr stitch pattern for the ripple.   Lynne's WIPs   Spice of Life CAL (Sandra Paul): http://www.cherryheart.co.uk/p/spice-of-life-blanket.html   Agrarian Artisan Scarf CAL: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/august-crochet-scarf-mcal   Fairisle Blanket (Lynne Rowe): http://www.womansweekly.com/knitting/knit-a-long-knit-a-knitted-blanket-15631/   Odeletta Shawl (Anna Nikipirowicz) (update - I've now bought beads so ready to finish the last few rows): http://www.ravelry.com/projects/LynneRowe/the-odeletta-shawl---crochet-gifts-5   Accordion Mittens (Lynne Rowe): own pattern not yet published   9. Other links   Woollen Woods at Arlington Court, North Devon.  27th. August - 30th. October 2016 (at 59.30 mins)   Organised by Natalie Savage, Visitor Services Manager     For more information see: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/arlington-court-and-the-national-trust-carriage-museum/features/woollen-woods-in-autumn   The Crochet Circle will collect any mammals and fungi that you would like to make and send them all together. You can find out more along with some free pattern links here in our Ravelry Group: http://www.ravelry.com/discuss/the-crochet-circle-podcast/topics/3425147   John Arbon Mill Membership (at 10.50 mins) https://www.jarbon.com/mill-membership/mill-membership#.VysCaY-cHIW     Woolfest and the wool clip http://www.woolfest.co.uk/whos-involved/woolclip.htm   10. Competition Winners Thanks to everyone who entered our Ravelry competitions and Congratulations to the winners: Erika Knight Studio Linen - theemmashan Lynne Rowe's Once Upon a Time in Crochet - jojotwinkletoes Erika Knight's Simple Colour Knitting - Dianneb     11. New Competitions (at 63.30 mins) We have 2 new competitions open on our Ravelry Forum:   Arne & Carlos Summer Nights Yarn 2 x 50g http://www.ravelry.com/discuss/the-crochet-circle-podcast/3424381/1-25   200g DMC Natura Medium 100% Cotton http://www.ravelry.com/discuss/the-crochet-circle-podcast/3424604/1-25 Good Luck and thank you for listening to our chatter. Don't forget, every Episode is published on the first Friday of every month.   Happy Crocheting.   Lynne and Fay x   Instagram: Crochet_Circle_Podcast  Instagram: provenance.craft.co   Instagram: FayDHDesigns YouTube: The Crochet Circle Podcast Crochet Clan on Mighty Network: Invite      

Shout outs: Shout out to Sue Blacker and Helen, who corrected our completely butchered pronounciation of Tamar in a previous episode. PlanetFrouFrou, who came to the Knit with Attitude book do, and told us about the Wool Fair at Ickworth in June! News and Events: 7 May: Wharfe Wool Fair, Ilkley. 14-15th May: John Arbon Mill Open Weekend, South Moulton, Devon. 21 May: Highland Wool and Textile Fair, Dingwall Mart. 21-22 May: Baa Baa Bazaar at the Shepley Spring Festival, Shepley. 4 June: Leeds Wool Festival 4-5th June: Wool Fair, Ickworth 18th June: World Wide Knit in Public Day! We will be at the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain, Hyde Park, London, from 1:30-4:30. Come join us! 25-26th June: Woolfest, Cockermouth, Cumbria.   What we're working on: Allison has finished Welcome to the Flock by Julia Farwell-Clay (except for the grafting!), in Townhouse Yarns Camden Tweed. She had a traumatic experience with a mis-counted cast on for the Twist Pullover by Cecily Glowik Macdonald, which has since been rectified, and made some progress on the Toddler Hoodie she's been working on for a while. Rachel is still working on the Coffee Date with Mark Ruffalo shawl, and the rows are getting really really long. And she's been doing a bit of spinning. Wales in a Day We recap our trip to Wales and the gloriousness that was this year's Wonderwool Wales. As well as the downside of large and busy festivals.  Please leave us a comment or send us an email at hello@yarninthecity.com with your thoughts, or let us know what you think via Twitter, Facebook andInstagram. You can also find us on iTunes or Stitcher Radio (and please consider leaving a review for us!), or download us directly from the Yarn in the City website.   On Wednesday nights you can find us at knit night at The Goat on the Rise pub on Battersea Rise, close to Clapham Junction station in SW London. We meet from 7pm to around 10pm. The food is great and the knitters are friendly. Join us!  Music (all available on NoiseTrade): Living Room - Wylder You're My Friend - Midnight Pilot

I went to Wonderwool Wales on the 25th and 26th of April 2015 and had the fortune to chat to a number of different vendors and attendees, a spinning guild, bought some fibre, saw some bunnies…all good things! John came … Continue reading → The post Podcast Episode 14: Wonderwool Wales appeared first on Plutonium Muffins.

We have a guest on this episode! Say hello to chopkinsknits. Welcome Tangled Yarn! Awesome sponsor:We are thrilled to have Tangled Yarn joining us as our first YitC Podcast sponsor! Tangled Yarn specialises in hand-dyed yarn and natural fibres from smaller independent suppliers both here in the UK and further afield. They offer free UK shipping on orders of £25 or more, or free international shipping on orders of £75 or more.Tangled Yarn also carries a tempting and colourful selection of Jamieson & Smith yarns, which we'll be using in the Quotidian Colourwork workshop that we're hosting with Felicity Ford of Knitsonik. Some of the gorgeous yarns on offer at Unravel. These beauties were on The Fibre Co. stand. What's going on:We recap Unravel briefly and chat about the following upcoming events:5-8th March: the Spring Knitting and Stitching Show at Olympia Central, London8th March: the Muse Connection, hosted by A Playful Day and Curious Handmade. Sadly, this installment is sold out, but stay tuned for future events.15-16th March: EYF26th March: Felicity Ford is coming to London to teach her Quotidian Colourwork Class with us at Homemade London. Get your tickets on the Events page!25-26th April: the 10th anniversary of Wonderwool Wales in Builth Wells15-16th May: I Knit Fandango at the Royal Horticultural Halls in Westminster, where we will be at the Porpoise Fur booth!In the works:Catherine is working on a the Vivid Blanket by Tin Can Knits, for her impending grandchild. She's also working on a pair of socks in SweetGeorgia Tough Love Sock, doing them two at a time on two circs, and doing her best to incorporate them as an accessory at every opportunity.Rachel finished her Sooper Sekrit YitC Crafty Guide sample knit in gorgeous Eden Cottage Yarns Bedale (which we may have mis-identified as camel/silk -- it's actually yak and silk. Weep for us). Other then that, she's had a knitting fail as half-term was spent trying to prevent her kids from killing themselves on skis, eating too much cheese (is there really such a thing?), and falling asleep on the couch at 8:00 pm. On the spinning front, she's decided to jump on the Garter Squish bandwagon, and is spinning up some of her teensy wee fiber stash to get started. Allison's Munchkin Blanket by Amy Swenson Allison finished her Munchkin Baby Blanket by Amy Swenson, and it is gorgeous!!!! She's on stripe 8 of 13 in her Garter Squish blanket (by Stephen West) and has wound the yarn for her GLYC Not-A-KAL KAL project. Photo courtesy of Catherine Hopkins Six Items Challenge:Catherine is participating in a clothing fast called the Six Items Challenge to benefit Labour Behind the Label, a charity supporting garment workers around the world. For six weeks, participants wear only six items of clothing from their wardrobes (knickers, shoes and accessories are thankfully exempt). Money raised in the Challenge will be used both to directly support garment workers and to campaign for further awareness.You can follow Catherine's progress on her Six Items Challenge on her blog, and find her fundraising page here (as of this writing she's the leading fundraiser for the challenge - go C!!!). You can find Scrapianna's blog here.As always you can find us on Ravelry, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. Please don't hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback with us, and please come say hi at any of the events we're attending if you get a chance!Music credits (all available on NoiseTrade)Loneliness & Alcohol - Jars of ClayFierce Flawless - Ani DifrancoEverything You've Done Wrong - SloanDesperate Dreams - Jess Pillmore

Hello from an almost Springlike Cheshire Plain, specifically the carpark in the Blakemere Craft Village! In this episode I waffle on about the weather (again!), review something I've never reviewed before and just shake my head in despair at my knitterly ADHD. What's On The Needles? Zipping along on the Tomten:   I've also swatched for a seamless yoke sweater by Elizabeth Zimmermann (I blame A Playful Day ;) !), using some of the Sheepfold blues and purples and cream left over from my Woolsack cushions. This is one idea for some colourwork....    ...and this is the first part of the hem, with the picot row worked. Review Inspector Norse by Lipservice Theatre Something I Really Like The Killing Upcoming Events Wingham Woolwork Fibre Sampling Workshop, 6th April 2013, Frodsham Community Centre; Wonderwool Wales, 27-28 April 2013, Builth Wells, Powys; Woolfest, 28-29 June 2013, Cockermouth, Cumbria; Fibre East, 27-28 July 2013, Ampthill, Bedford; Yarndale, 28-29th September 2013, Skipton. Music Rondopolska by Barry Philips, from the album Tråd, available from Magnatune. Make Contact! We have a listeners' map. Please go on over to pop in a pin - we're covering 5 continents now but I'd still love to see where you all are! Please feel free to leave a comment here or at http://www.yarnsfromtheplain.blogspot.com/, or email me at yarnsfromtheplain AT googlemail DOT com. We have a Ravelry group here, so come on over to chat. You can find me on Ravelry as talesfromtheplain and on Twitter as talesfromplain (although Tweeting can be sporadic!). TTFN, Nic x

Hello from a distinctly un-Springlike Cheshire Plain... brrr! On The Needles I've completed the waist decreases on Adrift, but I've decided to lengthen it and add some complimentary increases. Ravelry details of my project are here. I've also knit and crocheted some bunting triangles for the Guild's bunting, using the Sheepfold Clotted Cream I dyed a year ago.   Yesterday I cast on a Tomten by Elizabeth Zimmerman for a new arrival in the family.   Oh the Joy! No progress pictures, but I have spun some more purple BFL on the Traddy and more green merino/silk blend on the Joy. The Traddy's had a good scrub down and wax too. Holiday Souvenir Competition We have a winner! Listen to find out who won one of these yarns from La Droguerie. Something I Really Like The National Gallery. Here's Whistlejacket, Mr & Mrs Andrews and Seurat's Bathers at Asnières. Upcoming Events Wingham Woolwork Fibre Sampling Workshop, 6th April 2013, Frodsham Community Centre; Wonderwool Wales, 27-28 April 2013, Builth Wells, Powys; Woolfest, 28-29 June 2013, Cockermouth, Cumbria; Fibre East, 27-28 July 2013, Ampthill, Bedford; Yarndale, 28-29th September 2013, Skipton. Music Rondopolska by Barry Philips, from the album Tråd, available from Magnatune. Make Contact! We have a listeners' map. Please go on over to pop in a pin - we're covering 5 continents now but I'd still love to see where you all are! Please feel free to leave a comment here or at http://www.yarnsfromtheplain.podbean.com/, or email me at yarnsfromtheplain AT googlemail DOT com. We have a Ravelry group here, so come on over to chat. You can find me on Ravelry as talesfromtheplain and on Twitter as talesfromplain (although Tweeting can be sporadic!). TTFN, Nic x

Hello from the M6, via a very long delay... sorry! In this episode I celebrate our mini KAL, talk about a new toy and swoon a little over Mr Thornton. On The Needles A few more rows on Adrift by Carol Feller at Stolen Stitches. Ravelry details of my project are here. I've also worked some more rows on the Mini-Mania Scarf by Sarah Core. Ravelry details of my project are here. This is a free pattern, so join me in a knit-a-long. Oh the Joy! We have become a two-wheel family, with the acquisition of a lightly used Ashford Joy. Bliss! Holiday Souvenir Competition Don't forget, to be in ith a chance of winning one of these yarns from La Droguerie, leave a comment or message me before the end of February. Something I Really Like Netflix Upcoming Events Unravel, 23-24 February 2013, The Maltings, Farnham, Surrey; Wonderwool Wales, 27-28 April 2013, Builth Wells, Powys; Woolfest, 28-29 June 2013, Cockermouth, Cumbria; Fibre East, 27-28 July 2013, Ampthill, Bedford Music Rondopolska by Barry Philips, from the album Tråd, available from Magnatune. Make Contact! We have a listeners' map. Please go on over to pop in a pin - we're covering 5 continents now but I'd still love to see where you all are! Please feel free to leave a comment here or at http://www.yarnsfromtheplain.blogspot.com/, or email me at yarnsfromtheplain AT googlemail DOT com. We have a Ravelry group here, so come on over to chat. You can find me on Ravelry as talesfromtheplain and on Twitter as talesfromplain (although Tweeting can be sporadic!). TTFN, Nic x

Hello from a crisp Cheshire Plain! In this episode I admit to a thick head, update you on some works in progress and share some New Year's Resolutions. Future Knits Owls by Kate Davies Portulaca by Carol Feller On The Needles Adrift by Carol Feller at Stolen Stitches. Ravelry details of my project are here. Mini-Mania Scarf by Sarah Core. Ravelry details of my project are here.   This is a free pattern, so join me in a knit-a-long. In The Weaving Shed I whipped up another Mobius cowl in a Saori style. Ravelry details of my project are here.     Details of how to make a Mobius Cowl can be found in this Ravelry forum page where there is a link to this Picasa Web Album. There are notes on each photo to explain what to do. Something I Really Like Craftsy Upcoming Events Creative Stitches & Hobbycrafts Show at Manchester, Glasgow, Birmingham, London and Exeter at various points through the year, starting woith Manchester 7-9 February 2013; Wonderwool Wales, 27-28 April 2012, Builth Wells, Powys; Woolfest, 28-29 Junes, Cockermouth, Cumbria; Fibre East, 27-28 July, Ampthill, Bedford Links New Lanark Mills; Natural Dye Studio Murder on the Moor Club Music Rondopolska by Barry Philips, from the album Tråd, available from Magnatune. Make Contact! We have a listeners' map. Please go on over to pop in a pin - we're covering 5 continents now but I'd still love to see where you all are! Please feel free to leave a comment here or at http://www.yarnsfromtheplain.blogspot.com/, or email me at yarnsfromtheplain AT googlemail DOT com. We have a Ravelry group here, so come on over to chat. You can find me on Ravelry as talesfromtheplain and on Twitter as talesfromplain (although Tweeting can be sporadic!). TTFN, Nic x

Hello from a sunny Cheshire Plain! In this episode I reflect on my lack of productivity, review a new toy and ‘fess up on my purchases at Wonderwool Wales. Works in Progress A little bit of work on the Sheep squares designed by Ann Kingstone. The pattern is for a 4ply colourwork cushion knitted in the round; I used it to knit 13cm squares in aranweight yarn. I also warped up my new loom with Bute from Texere. The weft is a selection of green yarns left over from my Woolsack cushions. Sorry for the lack of pictures. Woolsack Haul Some Polworth from EasyKnits (and some Falkland for my friend); a Manx Laughtan fleece; some Torddu from Sheepfold and some Dazzle HT from Natural Dye Studio to make a Millicent. The photo I have is rather badly lit, I'll try and sort it and get it up later. Review 12” Ashford Knitter’s Loom with carry bag Something I Really Like The Draw Something app on my phone. Upcoming Events: Woolfest at Mitchelss, Cockermouth, Fri 22nd and Sat 23rd June 2012 Fibre East is at Scald End Farm, Mill Lane, Thurleigh, Bedford, MK44 2DP, Sat 14th and Sun 15th July 2012 Links Woolsack Music: Rondopolska by Barry Philips, from the album Tråd, available from Magnatune. We have a listeners' map. Please go on over to pop in a pin - we're covering 4 continents now but I'd still love to see where you all are! Feel free to leave a comment here or at http://www.yarnsfromtheplain.podbean.com/, or email me at yarnsfromtheplain AT googlemail DOT com. We have a Ravelry group here, so come on over to chat. You can find me on Ravelry as talesfromtheplain and on Twitter as talesfromplain (although Tweeting can be sporadic!). TTFN, Nic

Hello from a cold and blustery Cheshire Plain. This episode I share spinning, update you on my Woolsack progress and reveal the answers to the Manchester music quiz. Spinning: I finished spinning the Cheviot I got in the Secret Santa on the UK Spinners board on Ravelry from Shunklies. Then I spun up a 125g sample pack of Shetland combed tops from Jamieson and Smith. Woolsack Update: I finished the back for the Celtic Yarns Cushion designed by Blacker, and have knitted an edging onto one of the too small Guild cushions. On The Needles: I've cast on for an Alletta shawl for the Alletta/Allegra Knit-along with the Caithness Craft Collective podcast. I'm using Fyberspates Sparkle Sock and Ravelry details are here. Prizes! Prizewinners need to let me know their order of preference of these five skeins: From left to right: Posh Yarn Lucia in "Skip" (100g/365yds); Posh Yarn Charlotte in "April Showers Bring May Flowers" (100g/350yds); Posh Yarn Lei (100g/380 yds); Fyberspates Echo Self-Striping Sock (100g/380yds); Natural Dye Studio Unicorn in "Apple" (100g/400m) Upcoming Events: Cheshire Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers are taking demonstrating and holding their exhibition at West Kirby Library on Tuesday 10th, Thursday 12th, Friday 13th and Saturday 14th April. I'll be there on Tuesday - come along and say hello! The Guild is also hosting a Woolsack Stuffing Event at Frodsham Community Centre, Fluin Lane, Frodsham, Cheshire on Saturday 21st April, 11am-3pm. This event is open to anyone in the area to drop in and stuff your cushion. There is carparking at the Centre and refreshments. Wonderwool Wales is at the Royal Welsh Showground, Built Wells, Powys, Sat 28th and Sun 29th April. Links Posh Yarn Fyberspates Natural Dye Studio Woolsack Music: Rondopolska by Barry Philips, from the album Tråd, available from Magnatune. We have a listeners' map. Please go on over to pop in a pin - we're covering 4 continents now but I'd still love to see where you all are! Feel free to leave a comment here or at http://www.yarnsfromtheplain.blogspot.com/, or email me at yarnsfromtheplain AT googlemail DOT com. We have a Ravelry group here, so come on over to chat. You can find me on Ravelry as talesfromtheplain and on Twitter as talesfromplain (although Tweeting can be sporadic!). TTFN, Nic

Hello from a slightly overcast Cheshire Plain. In this episode I talk about the original Woolsack, twitch over big art projects and small children and say thank you. A lot. Works in Progress/Woolsack Update: To console myself after last week, I cast on a new Woolsack Cushion, using Sheepfold and Jamieson of Shetland yarns. It's a Blacker Yarns pattern, the Celtic Yarns Cushion, and Ravelry details are here. In addition, I recapped on the aims of the Woolsack project amd the origins of the word. Here is a shot for the UK Parliament's Flickr stream that I found of the Woolsack: I also interrupted myself to take a photo of this little fella: Something I really like: Llama BBQ bites! Thank You!: Thank you to everyone who responsed to my meltdown last week. The squares are starting to roll in. Thank you also to the lovely sandcola, who was my partner in the Fabric Postcard swap over on the Caithness Craft Collective podcast. Upcoming Events: Cheshire Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers are taking demonstrating and holding their exhibition at West Kirby Library on Tuesday 10th, Thursday 12th, Friday 13th and Saturday 14th April. Come along and say hello! The Guild is also hosting a Woolsack Stuffing Event at Frodsham Community Centre, Fluin Lane, Frodsham, Cheshire on Saturday 21st April, 11am-3pm. This event is open to anyone in the area to drop in and stuff your cushion. There is carparking at the Centre and refreshments. Wonderwool Wales is at the Royal Welsh Showground, Built Wells, Powys, Sat 28th and Sun 29th April. Links: Woolsack; Sheepfold; Jamieson's of Shetland; CogKNITive Podcast; Caithness Craft Collective. Music: Rondopolska by Barry Philips, from the album Tråd, available from Magnatune. We have a listeners' map. Please go on over to pop in a pin - we're covering 4 continents now but I'd still love to see where you all are! Feel free to leave a comment here or at http://www.yarnsfromtheplain.blogspot.com/, or email me at yarnsfromtheplain AT googlemail DOT com. We have a Ravelry group here, so come on over to chat. You can find me on Ravelry as talesfromtheplain and on Twitter as talesfromplain (although Tweeting can be sporadic!). TTFN, Nic

Hello from a gloriously sunny, if blustery, Cheshire Plain. In this episode I talk about my crafty AD/HD, bemoan a lack of pictures and send you a postcard from my recent break in the Lakes. Works in Progress: I cast off my Damson! It's not yet blocked, but Ravelry details are here.You can't see the loopy border in this shot, but proof that it is indeed finished. I've also been dying more yarn (Kid Silk Lace from Posh Yarn) and fibre (more BFL and also some Falkland Sliver from DT Craft & Design, and a selection of Gotland curls from May Hill Gotlands (gotland_mayhill@yahoo.com) in the Forest of Dean and carded grey Gotland from Blacker Yarns) to use up the dye solutions from last weekend. Talking of last week's marathon dying session, I used the dyed Sheepfold Clotted Cream and some black Hebredian to crochet a set of interlocking rings for the Cheshire Guild's exhibition on the theme of circles. I also took the dyed BFL fibre and needled felted it on in a series of cirlces along a length of the undyed BFL top which I'd lightly needled felted to keep the wave of the fibre visible. Of course I've not been so clever as to take photos of them before I handed them over to the Exhibition Secretary, so you'll have to wait a while, or come and see the Exhibition! Woolsack Update: I've been working on more little squares using JaneKAL pattern recipe to make up cushion fronts and backs made by members of the Guild and seaming some of them together. It looks like we could have over 30 cushions just from the Guild alone, let alone any from members of the public who come along on the day. I'm so excited! I've also started warping up my loom to weave a cushion in Wool City Wool 4ply from Texere Yarns. A Postcard from ... the Lake District: Sadly the vast majority of photographs I talk about in the clips were lost when my memory card corrupted, but I have this shot of me behind Dove Cottage... ...my Cream Tea... ...a view from the drive north from Windermere, showing Derwentwater glistening by Keswick... and a shot of some of the alpaca... : Links: Woolsack; Keswick Launch on Derwentwater; Dove Cottage; I Wander'd Lonely as A Cloud, read by Graham Williams for LibriVox; Find out more about The Terrible Knitters of Dent at the Dent Village Heritage Centre; The Alpaca Centre; Wonder of Wool exhibition at Rheged; Susan Crawford; Kate Jenkins; Freddie Robins; Joss Wrigg; Amy Twigger Holroyd. Upcoming Events: Cheshire Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers are taking demonstrating and holding their exhibition at West Kirby Library on Tuesday 10th, Thursday 12th, Friday 13th and Saturday 14th April. Come along and say hello! The Guild is also hosting a Woolsack Stuffing Event at Frodsham Community Centre, Fluin Lane, Frodsham, Cheshire on Saturday 21st April, 11am-3pm. This event is open to anyone in the area to drop in and stuff your cushion. There is carparking at the Centre and refreshments. The WOW exhibition runs at the Rheged Centre, Cumbria until Sunday 15th April and is open daily. Wonderwool Wales is at the Royal Welsh Showground, Built Wells, Sat 28th and Sun 29th April. Music: Rondopolska by Barry Philips, from the album Tråd, available from Magnatune. We have a listeners' map. Please go on over to pop in a pin - we're covering 4 continents now but I'd still love to see where you all are! Feel free to leave a comment here or at http://www.yarnsfromtheplain.blogspot.com/, or email me at yarnsfromtheplain AT googlemail DOT com. We have a Ravelry group here, so come on over to chat. You can find me on Ravelry as talesfromtheplain and on Twitter as talesfromplain (although Tweeting can be sporadic!). TTFN, Nic

Hello from a blooming Cheshire Plain. In this episode, come with me as I go to Wonderwool Wales! Apologies for the occasional background noise, I've tried to even the levels out as best I could. On my needles and spinning wheel: I've been working on a bear for the Mother Bear Project, some Baker's Dozen Squares and my sock yarn blanket. I've also tried plying the Picperfec singles into a 4 ply and it's just what I want! At Wonderwool I met up with guzzisue from the Spinnotts (click here for more info about them) and ambermoggie at the Ravelry Meet-up area. I also spotted Jess in the finger-crocheted hat (sorry, can't remember your Rav name!) teaching Angie and Penny how to spin: I spotted more historic mill bobbins at The Threshing Barn and bought one. I also bought some fibre from Freyalyn's Fibres and some felted jewellery making cupkits from Bryncurl Workshops. I also saw some sheep! First some Shetlands... ... then a gorgeous Leicester Longwool... ...and finally some Manx Loaghtan (but I only photographed the ram, not the two ewes). Music: Rondopolska by Barry Philips, from the album Tråd, available from Magnatune. Feel free to leave a comment here or at http://www.yarnsfromtheplain.blogspot.com/, or email me at yarnsfromtheplain@googlemail.com. We have a Ravelry group here, so come on over to chat. You can find me on Ravelry as talesfromtheplain and on Twitter as talesfromplain (although Tweeting can be sporadic!). TTFN, Nic

Hello from behind a pile of fibre and washing here in the Cheshire Plain. Another bumper episode this week, with a report from the weekdays of the recent UK Knit Camp at Stirling in Scotland. Despite organisational problems and a lack of communication for day visitors, I had a brilliant time. I took classes with Jon Dunn of EasyKnits, Lucy Neatby, Kate Tetlow and Mary Jane Mucklestone. Photos from Jon's spinning class... ...and shots of my handspun taken in Mary Jane's class. Animal, spun from batts from EverImprovingMe Navajo-plied fibre from DT Craft & Design bought at Wonderwool Wales in April I also have an overwhelming desire to make Lucy Neatby's Bubbles Scarf. Luckily there's a knit-a-long for the pattern in September. There's also an interview with the designer of the Knit Camp Vest, Ann Kingstone.  Finally, if you want to imagine me whirling Debbie Stoller around the dance floor, this video shows (sort of) what we were doing. Music: Rondopolska by Barry Philips, from the album Tråd, available from Magnatune. Feel free to leave a comment here or at http://www.yarnsfromtheplain.blogspot.com/, or email me at yarnsfromtheplain@googlemail.com. We have a Ravelry group here, so come on over to chat. You can find me on Ravelry as talesfromtheplain and on Twitter as talesfromplain (although I don't Tweet much!). TTFN, Nic

Hello from a distinctly un-summery Cheshire Plain. It's a bumper one this time around! This episode I share some finished objects, give you a history lesson and subject you all to my ramblings and reminicences on livestock. On the needles/wheel: I've finished the Manos del Uruguay Clapotis in time for the Clap-o-tea party at UK Knit Camp. I've also taught myself how to navajo ply on the singles I spun from a hank of unidentified fibre (possibly BFL and tencel) I bought from DT Crafts at Wonderwool Wales. No photos here, I'm afraid, but details on Ravelry for the Clapotis and the handspun. I'm also having a blast spinning some Muppet batts from EverImprovingMe. Gorgeous!!! Something I really like: Open Country on BBC Radio 4, particularly using the iPlayer. The Fair Isle Kntting programme is here. Upcoming Events: UK Knit Camp, 9th-13th August and UK Ravelry Weekend, 13th-14th August, Stirling, Scotland; I Knit Weekender, 10th-11th September, London; Fibre Flurry, 30th October, King's Norton, Birmingham. The bulk of this episode is taken up with information about The Oxfordshire County and Thame Show. It's something I attended every year as a child and teenager, but haven't been sinc ei went into teachign in the mid-90s. So, ready for the photo fest that is my record of Thame Show? OK, don't say I didn't warn you. There's a lot of photos. Seriously. Heaps. First up, the patchwork class. The red certificate is for First prize, blue is Second, yellow is Third, white is Very Highly Commended. The first prize winner in the patchwork is the first piece completed by the entrant.Then it's the fibre classes. First knitting...   ... then baby and toddler knitting... ... then the single entry in the Crochet class. Then I wondered down the other end of the marquee to the vegetables. Later I went into the rabbit tent....   ... the pigeons.... ... and the caged birds. Onto the larger animals. This class appears to be for a South Devon bull, heifer and calf. Inside the tent were some beautiful livestock, including this Hereford heifer... and some Holsteins. Outside you can see some Jacob sheep in the pens on the left. Lookee! A livestock Judge, In a Bowler hat! A shot from the sheep judging ring. A Southdown with a fleecy face. Beautiful Alpaca! One of my favourite parts was the Sheep Show. Here's the lorry, with all nine sheep on show. Close up shots... Craig shearing his first ever Scottish Blackface. Some of the Sheep show participants. First Lenny the Lincoln Longwool... ...the Rupert the Rouge De L'Ouest from France... ... and finally Dougal the Scottish Blackface. Music: Rondopolska by Barry Philips, from the album Tråd, available from Magnatune. Feel free to leave a comment here or at http://www.yarnsfromtheplain.blogspot.com/, or email me at yarnsfromtheplain@googlemail.com. We have a Ravelry group here, so come on over to chat. You can find me on Ravelry as talesfromtheplain and on Twitter as talesfromplain (although I don't Tweet much!). Nic

Hello from a little piece of green space overlooking the Weaver Navigation Canal. In this episode I muse on my missing mojo, announce a winner and ponder on tails as an essential accessory. UFO contest: Thanks to all those who entered, but nobody guessed the correct UFO, which was in fact my Birthday Pinwheel Sweater: Details are here. Although no-one correctly identified it, I thought I would still have a draw, so the random number generator picked out a winner. Was it you? You can choose from either of the Abstract Cat yarns I mentioned in an earlier episode, a lovely pint silk laceweight from Knitwitches or some lovely Lei from Posh Yarn Abstract Cat Retro: Abstract Cat Jolly: Knitwitches 100% Pure Silk Laceweight: Posh Yarn Lei in Charming: or Posh Yarn Lei in an unspecified colourway I bought at Wonderwool Wales in 2008: Thanks to all who entered! What's on my needles: a Featherweight cardigan in Posh Yarn, a Clapotis in Manos del Uruguay Silk Blend and a Stripy Noro Messenger Bag. Fancy joining in the Fibre & CLay knit-a-long for this bag? We're already international, so feel free! The pattern can be downloaded from here. And finally.... what else would you see at the V&A than this... Random! Music: Rondopolska by Barry Philips, from the album Tråd, available from Magnatune. Feel free to leave a comment here or at http://www.yarnsfromtheplain.blogspot.com/, or email me at yarnsfromtheplain@googlemail.com. We have a Ravelry group here, so come on over to chat. You can find me on Ravelry as talesfromtheplain. Nic

Hello from a sunny yet cold Cheshire Plain. In this episode I talk about the wanderer returning, wander with a wonderful friend and wonder at Wonderwool Wales. What's on my needles, hooks and wheel: Not much knitting or crochet in the last fortnight. Work's been busy and any spare fibre moment has been spent at my wheel. I've spun about 60g of merino tops bought at Wonderwool Wales last year into an as yet unspecified 2-ply yarn. Lumpy in places, but well balanced (like me, perhaps?) Over the Bank Holiday weekend I did finish the last of the NYOBE Round 5 squares. Review: Wonderwool Wales. A brilliant time, with a fairly restrained amount of shopping I feel... Believe me, I could have bought an awful lot more! I mention pretty much everything in the podcast and link to it below, but when I looked at the photo I realised I didn't mention the glorious dyed oatmeal BFL from The Thylacine. Bad podcaster! Want to go? Next year's dates are Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th April 2011. Links: Knitwitches; Sheepfold; DT Crafts & Design; Sparkleduck; The Threshing Barn; Black Mountain Alpacas Music: Rondopolska by Barry Philips, from the album Tråd, available from Magnatune. There's now a Ravelry group for the podcast, which can be found here. Feel free to leave a comment here or at http://www.yarnsfromtheplain.blogspot.com/, or email me at yarnsfromtheplain@googlemail.com. You can find me on Ravelry as talesfromtheplain. Nic

Hello from an eerily silent Cheshire Plain. In this episode I talk about the lack of background noise, urge people to exercise their democratic responsibility and admit to a guilty change of allegiance (oh fickle creature!). On my needles and hooks: Mainly blanket squares, either from the Schuyler Blanket... or for NYOBE blocks. Review: Jamie Possum Paints DK Something I really like: Matt Smith in Doctor Who! Forthcoming events: the General Election on 6th May - make sure you are registered to vote here; Wonderwool Wales on 24th & 25th April 2010 at the Royal Welsh Showground, Builth Wells, Powys.

Hello from the Plain! This episode I celebrate my own making and doing and talk about the recent Make, Do and Knit event from Liverpool. On my needles, hooks and spindle: I finished seaming the stripy sweater... and the missing bear... I finished crocheting blocks for NYOBE Round 5: and I finished spinning the Shetland Top and then plied it: Make, Do and Knit, Liverpool A lovely relaxed atmosphere at the show, from the Blue Coat School at Liverpool (exterior and interior shots of the chapel). Did you spot the cobweb? There was a chance to see the Knitted Poem, although not in all its unrolled glory! Upcoming Events: In reverse order: Woolly Wormhead at Fibre & Clay, Knutsford, July 17th/18th; Wonderwool Wales, Royal Welsh Showground, Builth Wells, Powys, April 24th & 25th Dr Who!!!! BBC1, 6.20pm, Saturday 3rd April Links: Electric Sheep; CogKNITive Podcast; Mother Bear Project; Purlesque; Poetry Society; Kraft Koala; Babylonglegs; Fyberspates; Natural Dye Studio; Jamie Possum ; Just Call Me Ruby. Music: Rondopolska by Barry Philips, from the album Tråd, available from Magnatune. There's now a Ravelry group for the podcast, which can be found here. Feel free to leave a comment here or at http://www.yarnsfromtheplain.blogspot.com/, or email me at yarnsfromtheplain@googlemail.com. You can find me on Ravelry as talesfromtheplain. Nic

Advice from a Poncho, and Wonderwool Wales.