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...

tales from the sock drawer

...and here's my humble offering from the exhibition, along with the tale from the sock drawer...

Learning to Fly

"Old Mrs Habberknackle has a large chest of drawers in her bedroom, where she likes to keep her stockings and her balls of yarn for knitting, nestled cosily beside each other. It is a great joy to her every time she opens the little brown drawer full of all the colours of the rainbow and she always has a hard time choosing which pair of stripy socks to wear under her long swishy skirts or exactly what colour yarn to use as she knits another incredibly loooong scarf for one of her fifteen grandchildren.

The trouble is, it is not just old Mrs Habberknackle who loves the drawers so much. A few of the cheeky birdies from the neighbouring woods have discovered just how cosy it is to nest in balls of yarn – so much more comfortable than twigs and moss. So now every time old Mrs Habberknackle opens her drawers she is not quite sure who, or what, is about to fly out next, as each doting mother teaches her chicks the basics of taking off and landing!

However, she doesn’t mind, why should she be the only one to benefit from such a glorious set of drawers filled with a cosy, warm rainbow? Although next time she pokes her hand in, she had better be careful as I am sure I spied some sort of strange and hairy creature burrowing through the yarn last time she opened it – can you spot him?!"

tales from the sock drawer exhibition

Some lovely little shots have come through from the final pieces entered into the Tales From the Sock Drawerexhibition, which I was madly making for last year, like these aliens,and birdies

It is so interesting how each designer has taken a totally different spin on the drawers set up, and I of course love Abigail Brown's unusual and fun display as I have mentioned before that I am a big fan of her work.

I also liked Kate Toms' creative drawers, which were opened up at the back so we could have an insight into a tiny secret world. It did make me wonder whether I should have thought a little bit more outside the box (or drawer) but as you know, I am a simple kinda gal and liked the way my simple tale fitted the drawers and display...more of that tomorrow!

experimental handknitting

My first class of the year at City Lit was an experimental class, where we all basically sat around and played with yarn, stitch and colour for six Friday evenings! I had some very creative students who even had the chance to have a great week making their samples into felt with Heather Belcher while I was away in Florence. Here are some of the fabulous colours and strange yarns and fibres they put together.

Some beautiful samples made from yarn, ribbons and other oddments, plus the string saved from a well known veg box - that is what I call recycling with style!

crochet cables

Here's another from Inside Crochet 15! This time, cabled. This issue has a bit of a cable theme, and I had lots of fun working these out - the J C Rennie yarn was also a dream to create crochet cables out of. It is a bit fiddly, but well worth it I think!

hairpin dress

Wow, February is a short month - it is nearly time for the next issue, 16, of Inside Crochet to come out, and I haven't told you of a new pattern in the current issue of 15. This issue has a slightly retro air so my starting point was a link to this stunning dress placed onto the Inside Crochet group on Ravelry after my last hairpin piece in the magazine.

west dean vintage knitting

Huge apologies for my lack of posting in February, but I have been unbelievably busy. Now a few of the pressures are off, I shall catch you up with everything I have been doing.

First, I spent a relaxing weekend in West Dean teaching a new class - adapting vintage knitting patterns - which is the perfect place to begin to learn how to design your own knitting patterns.

Had another great view from my room this time....