Blog Lang Syne

*sung to the tune of “Auld Lang Syne”

Should long blog pauses be forgot

and never brought to mind

I’m starting fresh, with new-found zeal

and making more blog time

There’s Instagram that’s kept me close

to you while life’s so full

But I miss sharing WIPS, long chats,

and writing to you all

This brand new year I’m striving to

weekly share a post

And finish the crochet and embroidery makes

that I love the most

Thank you for reading and following

I’m so grateful, for goodness’ sake

Here’s to a joyous 2015

Now let’s all go and *make*!

Happy New Year!

Chrissie x

Craft therapy in a chaotic world

What is it about cutting up fabric

and sewing it back together again

that is so gratifying?

Why does choosing yarn in beautiful colours

and spending a few hours basically hooking it into tangles and knots

make the tough realities of life just a bit easier to take?

How can a needle and a few bits of coloured thread

yield small beauties that put the ugliness of the news into the background for a while?

Craft is the perfect antidote to the horrors of the world around us.

We crafty folk find happiness in sharing our knowledge

One of the workshops I teach

One of the classes I take

inspiring new friends

Teaching a new friend to sew on a rainy afternoon

enjoying the company of old friends

Enjoying decadent treats on Craft Night with Jooles!

The news has been getting to me lately. It’s all too much sometimes. I switch off the radio and reach for something to make, something to take my mind off all the negativity.

Craft therapy. In these tumultuous times, we’re all holding onto our creative gifts, enriching our family lives with simple makes

I've been making snowflakes with linen thread and iridescent thread hooked together...

And while conflicts spread the globe, so too do our creative connections

We’re sticking together, we crafty folk, we’re reaching out across the vastest distances to share the simplest of pleasures in this complicated world.

Craft therapy.

Don’t you wish a news report would end not with the weather, but with a Craft Update?

“And in Surrey this evening, Chrissie Crafts has finally finished her daughter’s quilt! A lovingly made patchwork in shades of rose and aqua, Chrissie reveals exclusively to us that this will be Bunny’s Christmas present. Well done, Chrissie.”

Happy crafting!

Chrissie x

P.S. I first wrote about craft therapy a few weeks after starting my blog. You can read it here.

Adjusting...and sharing the yarn love

The flowers in my garden are confused...

A second flush of lavender, chives, borage, even wild strawberries!

It is September, but the sun has been shining bright, the air has been warm, and the garden doesn’t know whether it is coming or going!

The sky is Mediterranean blue behind a small cluster of jasmine blossoms.

The nasturtiums continue to burst open in hot colours.

Tree leaves are beginning to turn behind a late-blooming rose.

I am similarly muddled. But today I finally feel a nip in the air that hints of autumn. I reach for my shawl and my crochet hook.

‘Tis the season for super-chunky yarn

A blanket in the works.

‘Tis also the season to get a head-start on Christmas

Oh, this book! The possibilities! While I wait for my Anchor Aida Crochet Cotton No. 10 in a range of icy pastel shades, I made three of the snowflake designs from this new book with DK yarn. All using a 4mm hook, all with different, pleasing results. I have yet to weave in the ends and block these snowflakes, so they're a bit untidy, but you get the idea...

The Louisa Harding Etoile has beautiful tiny sequins to give that authentic snowflake sparkle. The grey Smooth DK has the slightest sheen, and the lilac Patons is a mercerised cotton, so it hooks like smooth string.

I’m going to experiment with blocking and stiffening - a comparison of fabric stiffening spray and a mix of PVA glue and water. Watch this space for results!

I am adjusting to a new phase of life, and while I am thoroughly enjoying all the busy-ness that has made up these past few weeks, I am still trying to find my feet. Trying to find time to be *still* and get a grip on what’s happening all around me. I know that time will come, but not yet. 

For the moment I wake up and look at the calendar on the wall and do exactly what it tells me: “Crochet Course 10-12”; “Embroidery Workshop 9.30-12.30”; “Lunch Date 1 p.m.” “Choir Practice 7.30-9.30”. If I didn’t have that thing on the wall I’d probably stand stupid in the middle of the kitchen each morning not knowing which way to turn!

But it’s all good. All good! I just don’t have as much time to blog as I used to, but I will find my groove. You can also find me on Instagram (check the link up there on the right) where I share simple photos of what I’m doing until I’m able to sit down and write about it all.

Here’s some yarn I shared recently on IG, nestled comfortably here in my favourite pink basket:

I was teaching my Beginner’s Crochet Course at Pins & Needles in Grayshott. It is dangerous business, teaching in lovely haberdasheries. I’m constantly spending my earnings on bits of fabric and yarn...well, it just so happened that stock was being cleared to make room for the new season, and those pretty pastel balls of Debbie Bliss Eco Baby were £1 each!

I left with 15. It would have been a crime to leave them!

The yarn is soooo soft and pretty, I was thinking they would make lovely washcloths to wrap up with a beautiful bar of handmade soap for Christmas gifts. However, upon hooking up three shades into a flower just for fun...

I have discovered that the colours coordinate perfectly with my living room! 

Now there’s a dilemma...I just happen to have purchased Annette’s newest pattern, the Popcorn & Lace pillow...pretty granny square pillow or Christmas gifts? What would you do?

Chrissie x