crochet Archives — Page 5 of 7 — Picking Up Stitches

It’s Christmas crochet season – time to get busy

December 22, 2017 by Annie Leave a Comment

It’s Christmas crochet time

I’ve been soooo busy with Christmas crochet in the past few weeks, that I haven’t had a moment to write my blog until now.

Phew, the presents are all made and sent and Christmas merriment can finally begin… I’ve enjoyed all my Christmas crochet makes at the kitchen table, especially as I replanted the kitchen windowsill in Christmassy colours. I even managed to incorporate a little ‘Christmas tree’ with a tiny crochet star.

Christmas crochet star on tiny 'tree' on windowsill

The Christmas windowsill arrangement

I love the fact that the pink daisies from summertime are still going strong, and now with the addition of white cyclamen, silvery foliage plants, ivy and plants covered in bright red berries, the whole view over the back gardens looks so festive.
White cyclamen and pink daisies

Christmas crochet decorations

Even before I started the presents, I crocheted quite a few crochet stars and snowflakes… I’ve taught a couple of classes on stars in the run-up to Christmas, so hopefully crochet decs will be adorning a few trees in North London now. I particularly like my snowflake design, which I crocheted in sparkly yarn.

Christmas crochet stars and snowflakes

As usual, pride of place in our Christmas decorations at home goes to the wreath that I crocheted some years ago, using Attic24s wreath as a basis. There are lots of lovely floral patterns on that blog and it was a delight crocheting the various elements and positioning them with the beads and baubles.

Crochet Christmas wreath

I love the way that it incorporates buttons, bows and pompoms too…

Christmas in the open air!

Talking about wreaths, we take our dog Lily to a lovely park just minutes from our flat every morning and there are often unexpected artistic delights in wait there. Here’s a twig wreath that just appeared on a tree…

Twig wreath in park

And when we walked up to Alexandra Palace Park there was a completely unexpected tree standing alone in the middle of the grass. What a delightful surprise!

Ally Pally tree

Christmas crochet presents

But what about the presents? I hear you ask. Well, to all my relations, look away now (unless it’s after Christmas Day!).

For everyone else here’s a sneak preview of some of the items I’ve designed this year…

These coasters were made out of coloured garden twine and specifically designed to be used on the garden table (and there was a large matching mat, too)

Christmas crochet coasters

Using a few shades of Hoooked Zpagetti tee-shirt tape, I made striped baskets. I’m thinking of making a few more for myself now!

Striped crochet basket

One of my other favourites this year are my new Flora fingerless gloves/wristwarmers, which will be making their way to my Etsy shop very soon, as I think they’ll be perfect for chilly spring days. I’ll also be selling the pattern very soon as well. I’ve really enjoyed trying out lots of different colourways. They’re made from Stylecraft Special DK, which comes in loads of shades, so there’s scope for so much variety.

Flora crochet fingerless mittens

Mauve/pink Flora crochet fingerless gloves

It snowed!

And finally, I must say that it’s been lovely this year to actually have snow on the ground in London even if it was only for one day. Here was the view from the kitchen the morning it snowed.

Snow in the garden from the windowsill

It’s such a rarity, that our dog had never experienced snow before despite being two and a half. Here she is in here Rad’N’Bad collar. I think that snowy morning was definitely her Christmas treat!

Lily loves the snow!

Happy Christmas, everyone!

Knitting & Stitching Show at Ally Pally

October 26, 2017 by Annie Leave a Comment

The Knitting & Stitching Show

The Knitting & Stitching Show at Ally Pally (as Alexandra Palace is affectionately known by locals) is one of the highlights of my calendar. For a start, it’s just up the hill from my flat. I can actually see Ally Pally from my bedroom window. There was such a lot to see that I needed every minute I spent at the show. I can’t believe a fortnight has flown by since it opened its doors, but, then again, I’ve been busy since then putting my purchases to good use. Well, that’s my excuse!

The view of the city of London from Ally Pally

The view from Ally Pally – can you spot the Shard?

Meet the designers

One of the great things about the Knitting & Stitching Show is that you always have chance to meet amazing people. For example, on the Lady Sew and Sew stand, where Rowan was based, there were different designers on hand every day.

I loved Dee Hardwicke‘s gorgeous throw covered in intarsia flowers and foliage. Such a lovely person too, and so happy to share her tips on how to go about creating your own designs.

Dee Hardwicke

It was also brilliant to say hello again to a friend of mine from my college days. I’m pleased to say that Martin Storey is also one of my favourite designers (I’ve knitted so many of his designs over the years). We had a good old chat, and, of course had our photo taken too!

Martin Storey and Annie Windley on Rowan stand at Knitting & Stitching Show

Martin Storey and me

Animals, monsters and dolls

I love the Toft stand every year. The little characters on display are so appealing. No wonder the stand is always so busy. I’m going to be teaching a class on Toft kits at the Village Haberdashery in West Hampstead in November. Book your place now and you’ll be able to choose your kit from the full range… (and don’t forget I also teach other crochet classes there. Plenty of granny squares classes and more coming up in Crouch End too). I also went to a talk by Kerry, the brand’s founder, and it was fascinating to hear how she came to begin crocheting her characters.

Toft stand at Knitting & Stitching Show with dolls hanging from the top

Toft dolls just hanging about at the show!

Yarn everywhere

Give us a squeeze!

There is so much to choose from when it comes to yarn, that I had to make sure not to get carried away. You ought to see my yarn stash – don’t need any more, but that never seems to stop me. There’s everything from bargain packs at Black Sheep Wools, to extra chunky yarn at Wool and the Gang, to individually dyed skeins, to hand-spun loveliness, a huge range of colours and textures. You just have to handle yarn, don’t you? Especially when it looks like this…

Patterns to tempt us

If the yarn wasn’t tempting enough, there is no shortage of inspiration on the pattern front. Janie Crow‘s stunning blankets and shawls are intricate delights. I bought a Mexican Diamonds scarf pattern, though who knows when I’ll have the time to start it. There were also crocheted delights on the Stylecraft stand. I do think that a blanket is something to put on my wish list.

Pick a colour!

A beautiful building

The colour wasn’t confined to the products either. Yet another reason to visit the Knitting & Stitching Show is that Alexandra Palace is a beautiful building. and one can’t fail to be impressed by the beautiful stained glass window high on the wall when the sun shines through…

Ally Pally stained glass window

Another craft to take up?

I went to a brilliant talk about selling handmade products by Steffie Stem, one of the owners of The Makerss, who sell cute felting kits. In fact, felted animals seemed to be everywhere. There was an impressive display of Fi Oberon’s work in the Textile Gallery section of the show. Seagulls, penguins, sheep, sheepdogs and more in cute little settings.

Fi Oberon’s cute characters

If only I had the cash!

You never know what surprises are round the corner. For example, on the way out of the show there was an impressive display of handbags incorporating embroidery, all by hugely influential designers. I particularly liked the cat bag by Vivienne Westwood! A bit beyond my means, though, I think.

Get your claws out!

Back home – what did I buy?

Do you remember the blackberry crochet bag I made a few months ago? Well, the Knitting & Stitching Show provided the perfect opportunity to buy some cotton lining to finish it. There were loads of fabric stalls selling fat quarters for patchwork, so there was plenty to choose from, and I snapped up a piece in colours that matched perfectly. Just need to sew it up now.

Crochet blackberry bag and fabric for lining

A bit of everything

It wasn’t just fabric squares that found their way into my shopping bag…

Crochet hooks, wool, twine, magazines and knitting needles

Here’s some more of my haul. Included are a Socks Yeah! pattern book from Coop Knits, a needle threader (to thread beads onto my crochet cotton for my latest wristbands), a new set of Knitpro crochet hooks, a selection of twine and sparkly thread, a copy of Knitting magazine (I actually took up a subscription to The Knitter and was rewarded with a set of Knitpro needles in a handy case, too!), some Sheepjes cotton in a peachy shade, stitch markers, a needle-size tester and some ever-handy stitch holders.

Now I’d better save up quickly as I’m off to the Harrogate show next month! See you there…

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Blackberries from hedgerow to crochet hook

September 1, 2017 by Annie Leave a Comment

Blackberries abound

It’s time for blackberries! Every afternoon, I walk my dog for about an hour. For people who don’t know the capital city, you’d probably be surprised how many green spaces there are, expecially in the leafy North London area where I live.

From the vast grassy expanses of Alexandra Palace park (which used to be a racecourse, don’t you know!), to the ancient woodland of Queens Wood and Highgate Wood, up to the acres and acres of Hampstead Heath, there is greenery everywhere.

And over the past few months, there have also been blackberries in abundance.

Ripe blackberries on a bush in the hedgerow

Harvest time for blackberries

So, one day, I took a container with me and began to pick the beautiful ripe fruit. The difficulty was knowing when to stop!

Blackberries in a tupperware container

Since then I’ve collected a number of batches of blackberries and the fridge is full of frozen fruit, and portions of blackberry compote. It’s delicious with Greek yoghurt and honey for breakfast.

Overhead shot of blue bowl of yogurt, compote and honey with jar of blackberry compote

I’ve also made jars of yummy blackberry jam, which go down well as an afternoon treat.

Jar of blackberry jam with bread and jam on a plate

Blackberries – an inspiration

It got me thinking though – I had a dark blue ball of merino DK in my yarn stash, plus a dusky green – could I conjour up some crocheted blackberries?

The answer was definitely! I made a lovely little drawstring bag to keep all my crochet essentials in (scissors, round markers, tape measure, large-eyed blunt needles, pins and hooks)…

Blackberries bag in progress with jar of jam on table by a plant and window

Here it is in progress. I started by crocheting a circular base, then worked up the sides in treble stitches, with some treble clusters to make the berries. A row of double crochet in the blue had 2-chain spaces all the way around to thread the cord through. The cord itself was simply a long chain, which I worked back along with slip stitches. The cord is threaded through the holes in the double crochet before a tiny blackberry ball is attached to each end to keep the cord in place.

Crocheted blackberries drawstring bag on embroidered mat with crochet essentials

I just need to complete it with a cotton lining with a blackberry print when I find some, but it looks so sweet now that I just had to share it with you.

So what would you have to have in your crochet kit? I’d love to know…

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