healing crafts

Apologies in advance for the length of this post, but I have finally had to make the admission to myself (which you may have already gathered yourself from my previous sporadic posting!) that I am a blogger of very good intentions but a lack of time to actually dedicate to posting! I don’t want to make excuses, but since my last post, added to all the regular work and life stuff, there have been other reasons for my lack of presence.

Looking back at my last post, all the way back in March, it feels like such a short time ago, but in that few months so much has changed for us. I don’t usually talk about personal things on this blog. I try to keep to the yarny stuff. I find that comes more easily to me. But recently there seem to be a lot of stories on the web about craft as a powerful healer and I have found crafting (and talking) has helped me through a hard time this year.

Recently I had a lovely chat with the gorgeous sisters behind the yarn company Millamia, which is experiencing its own transitional year in many ways and it made me think once more about my experiences this year and was the motivation for writing them down here. When I wrote that last post in March I was in the middle of writing a new book (due out next year) and I was making a soft, pretty granny blanket for it using the gorgeously squishy Millamia Aran weight.  When I began making the blanket it was a daily reminder of the impending exciting, positive changes I had to look forward to this year. I enjoyed working on that blanket so much, the yarn is a pleasure to work with and the colours are so calming. As anyone who follows me on Pinterest or Instagram will know, the greyscale and pop of warm ochre is one of my all time favourite colourways!

In the week following that last March post, two things happened – I got very ill and we moved home. Not just to a new house, but a new county. I have always lived in and around London, but this confirmed big city gal has overcome her vertigo and moved (slightly) north! Away from friends and family for a new adventure. Despite my initial worries, I am finding that I enjoy the slower pace of life, the serenity of the surrounding countryside and the large network of families who surround us. The most joyous thing is seeing my daughter play in our street with her new friends, which she never did in the city.

The blanket, meanwhile, became something different – it was a symbol of the hopefulness I had felt before that fateful week and a soothing project I needed to work through to help myself heal. I needed to finish that project before anything else. It needed ‘closure’. As I worked, I posted a picture on Instagram, my little reach out to the world. I mused about how many different, conflicting emotions could be captured in a project, entwined in the rhythmical knotting of one long piece of thread. I thought I was being cryptic enough to protect my own privacy, but a good friend insisted that we meet to talk. I was moved to tears. The healing had begun. I am now looking forward to hopefully having that blanket returned to me once the book is published as a tangible reminder of all I have been through this year, in the hope I will never forget the myriad of important emotions I experienced. Much like a Crochet Mood Blanket, it is more powerful than even a diary from the time could have been, when I couldn’t phrase all the things I needed to say, pick out the important stuff from all the thoughts rushing through my head.

I know that the way I have used crafting in my life to work through problems is not unique. I have heard many similar stories to mine over my years working with yarn, especially when I worked in Loop. Our ancestors knew all about yarn, crafts and their healing, commemorative properties, about the love that can be shared through one piece of fabric. I have discovered, from my own experiences teaching textiles, that groups of people crafting talk about things they would not usually share with strangers, a phenomenon that I have read people have utilised in therapeutic ways. I feel almost like an online crafting, creative community has also aided my own healing and I want to say thank you to all the people who have generously shared their own stories directly with me, or indirectly through sharing with the Internet at large. You have been a great help.

Normal service will continue shortly. Hopefully with a new-look blog and a rejuvenated approach. In my time away I have been planning more tutorials, free patterns and content that I hope you will find useful. I am now starting the process of teaching my little one to knit, which I shall also share here to aid you with teaching your own little ones. I am hoping she will enjoy it and use it as a tool for relaxation, creativity, healing – whatever she wishes. Perhaps she will even think fondly of the craft as a link to me, in the way that I feel I have a link to my own mother, and even my great grandmother and the generations further back that I have no knowledge of who passed down these skills. These are the things I love about yarn crafts. The things I am endlessly interested in. I hope you are too. I will never tire of talking about them, and want to encourage this talking, crafting and perhaps even healing.

Granny square SOS

This month, Inside Crochet has a distinctly granny theme, with a good proportion of the patterns inspired by the humble granny square. In honour of that, I thought I would share my tutorial for repairing granny squares. We have all done it - chopped off our ends at the centre of our granny square, thinking that we have probably worked over the end enough to trap it in. Then, some months later, you notice that the square is unravelling from the centre out. As with the blanket I had assembled for my nephew Austin at my sister's baby shower, which I talked about in my last post.

Above you can see the square that became unravelled in Austin's blanket. The good thing about this granny, and traditional granny motifs, is that they are usually made of a different colour each round so you can easily see distinct rows and it makes it easier to repair. It also means that if you cannot salvage enough of that first round of yarn to make the same round again, you can simply substitute another yarn in a different shade and it will not look out of place.

To begin, run a 'life line' along the round above the broken round; the round the unravelled yarn runs through. You can do this by threading a yarn needle and passing it through the round, or by pulling a thread through each group of stitches with a small crochet hook, as I am doing above.
If you are a fan of lace knitting, you may be familiar with a lifeline - a thread used to 'save' or mark a number of stitches -  but it isn't often used in crochet, as you usually only have one stitch on your hook at one time. A lifeline is run through stitches to allow you to pull back to that point without dropping stitches. The yarn or thread you use for this should be finer than the yarn used in the project, for ease of passing through and to limit stitch distortion. It should also be smooth, so you can pull it out easily when it is no longer needed. Finally, it should also be a contrasting colour so that you can see it easily. Therefore, any kind of strong, fine, cotton crochet thread is perfect for a lifeline, I am using a DMC Petra thread for the lifeline shown.
Once your lifeline is in place, you can safely unravel the broken round without fear of the entire motif disintegrating.

Now, starting at the treble group to the right of a set of two corner trebles groups, thread the working yarn you will be using to recreate the first round clockwise around the stitches of the round that the lifeline is holding. Pull a little through to work the first stitches, but make sure that you are working the first stitches with the shorter end of the thread and that the long/ball end is at the end of the round. (Note: I have only threaded the bright orange yarn of that first round left to right through the first corner treble groups worked to pinpoint the groups you should be working with first).

With the short end of yarn, begin the first round again, as for a regular granny square, making the ring, then working the first three treble group into the ring. Pull up on the last loop on your hook, making it longer, then remove your hook from the loop.

Insert the hook through all the stitches of the next two three treble groups at the corner, from left to right, then insert your hook back through the original loop from the first round, and pull that loop back through the two three trebles groups. You may need to now pull on the yarn to make that loop the correct size - it shouldn't be too big.

Work a three treble group into the ring of the first round, then pull up on the final loop, remove the hook from the loop and repeat the same process for each corner. As with a regular granny square round, join with a slip stitch to the first stitch and your repair should be complete! This technique was revolutionary to me when I first learned it, I hope you enjoy it too.

I am aware that this technique can be very confusing and fiddly to work so I am preparing a video tutorial - will post it ASAP! 

hexagon motif cushion

The September issue of Inside Crochet is out this week, the inspiration for the issue is the humble granny square, and my contribution is this hexagon motif cushion based loosely on my favourite shape for granny motifs. 

The patches use puffs and popcorns instead of some of the traditional three treble groups so familiar in regular granny motifs. It is simple, quick and fun to hook and is easily adaptable for throws, chair covers and other interior uses, so hopefully it inspires you to pick up the hook! 

Issue 45 is out on Friday and includes a range of patterns inspired by the traditional granny square, as well as the regular collection of fashion, kids and homeware.

Fashion Crochet by...me!

Finally I am getting round to posting these images from my latest book, Fashion Crochet. I wanted to write a book that showcases how wearable crochet is - it is often relegated to homewares - and with so much on the catwalks, I wanted to use the modern pieces around to inspire the projects.

This week I am hoping to post all the projects from the book so you can take a peak inside. I am proud of this book, and it will forever remind me of my little babe - I shall have to post the picture my mum has of me crocheting the ruffle scarf over her lying in my lap when she was but a few months old. Most of the projects were completed like that....anyway, here's the projects:

 

LBD. Everyone's gotta have at least one, right? So why not have a crocheted one, too? this is probably my favourite project as I don't see many crocheted dresses I want to wear, but I love wearing this one. It was also difficult working in the black yarn, but so worth the final effect I think. Also got to use some of the assorted bootiful sparkly buttons I have been collecting over the years in one project! (if you can't see them very well, they are the back fastening)

The Granny cowl was inspired by a Paul Smith number, as soon as it went down the catwalk, I knew I wanted one...so made it from scraps in my stash. A perrrrfect stash buster.
Hope you like these...more to come!

DMC creative crochet patterns

Some new patterns I have designed for DMC using their Petra and Metallic yarns have been published, what do you think?!

My favourite piece is the little 50s inspired neck scarf above, although I do love a granny square, and one that sparkles is an extra special treat!!

You can buy the entire kit to make these patterns, so go treat yourself, they are the perfect cotton accessories for summer.

crochet granny square blanket

My new book, Knitting for Children turned out so well that I have been asked to do the same thing for crochet. This will be my first crochet book - hard to believe as I have designed so much crochet throughout the years. I think somebody has finally twigged that crochet is being left behind in the lovely book stakes, knitting and many other crafts have many beautiful books to choose from, whereas crochet is only just beginning to bloom. Hopefully that is all about to change and we shall see a burst in crochet books in the near future. For now, here is a half finished granny square blanket I was trying to complete in between lessons at West Dean last month...