sunny days

Sunny days arrive!

After my last post when we were shivering in chilly London, it’s strange that we’ve just had the hottest April day here since 1949! We’ve been sweltering our way through the sunny days, eating nothing but salads and sipping buckets of ice-cold drinks. Poor Lily the dog has been panting every time she steps outside – even though we’ve been sticking to  the shady paths around the woods that thankfully are just a few minutes’ from here.

She’s been arriving home and rather than running around trying to distract me from my crocheting with her toys, she’s been heading straight for the spot in front of the fan, where the breeze even manages to blow her “down” ear up for once!

A craft for the sunshine

I always find crochet far more appealing craft than knitting during hot spells, don’t you? At least you can easily carry around small items, rather than having swathes of knitting draped over your knees.

It’s easy to take crochet out and about as well, so plenty of options to craft under the trees in the park (or even in the pub garden!). There’s often inspiration around too, like this pretty blossom I spotted while heading for a spot to sit…

And talking about being in the park and the great outdoors, I’ve been working on a whole range of items that would look perfect if you’re eating al fresco. I think they’d be a brilliant way to brighten up picnics – gorgeous sets of crocheted cotton coasters.

I find cotton yarn a really summery choice to work with (even though, technically, I know it’s still spring and it’ll probably be raining and chilly next week!). Cotton comes in such a mouthwatering range of shades as well.

New designs

First off, I thought I’d dig into my existing stash make some simple round mats in the peachy Sheepjes Catona I bought last year, with slip stitch overstitching in pink Rico Essentials DK cotton…

Then I spotted some Aran weight cotton, and next came some bright and cheerful, simple round coasters…

Luckily I found some colours that were ideal for a watermelon colourway, which I thought was fun, as melon’s always welcome on sunny days, isn’t it?

However, after ordering a whole new palette of shades of Rico Creative Cotton Aran from The Wool Warehouse, it sent me off in a new direction. I loved the fact that the yarn arrived in an organza drawstring bag, which is now in use as my coaster project bag. Here are just some of the colours!

Lacy days in the sun

The pattern I came up with next is more lacy than the bold circular ones, and I’ve made up lots of sets in different colourways.

Here are just a few…

I think the bright ones are such fun, and the vintage set would be lovely at a retro picnic or street party. And the pastels would be lovely at a at a christening party, or perfect for a summer wedding, especially outdoors or in a marquee.

Off to market

The sets will be heading to my Etsy shop very soon. However, if you’re in North London in a couple of weeks, they’ll definitely be on sale at my stall at the next Makers Market in Crouch End.

Did I tell you about the Makers Market? It’s a new collective of local craft makers that I’m part of, and we’re putting on a market every first Saturday afternoon of the month. It’s been great fun so far, and it’s lovely to show what I’ve been creating to everyone who comes along. Lots of interest in my crochet and knitting classes too! Here’s last month’s stall…

Talking of classes, lots of people have been asking to learn how to make crochet flowers, and there’ll be more floral classes soon, but, in the meantime, I’ve been planting out my window boxes again, so am getting plenty of inspiration for some new crochet designs. I mean, just look at some of these beauties…

Yellow is such a happy colour!

And it looks so striking with purples.

Daisies are always a must…

And how could I finish my Sunny Days post without sharing Lily among the dandelions?!