Mandala for Yarndale

The first ever Yarndale, the yarn-loving fest organised by Lucy of Attic24 fame, was a bit of a mixed bag of emotions for me. On one hand, it was the first time I'd ever spent a weekend devoted to all things crochet, a nice blend of learning and shopping and an opportunity to take in Skipton, a town I felt like I knew from Lucy's expressive writings and photos on her blog.  

And whilst I enjoyed my time at Yarndale (see my write up here and here), it wasn't quite all I had hoped for.  Luckily, we didn't get caught up in the traffic chaos that many others suffered through, but it was still very crowded in the pens, which made it hard to move through the stalls and get to see all that you wanted to see, and I was also a little disappointed by the variety (or lack of) of products.  Whilst Yarndale was honourably focused on promoting small, independent designers, this determination to showcase artisan talents for me meant that all the stalls were very similar; there's only so much variety you can get with handspun yarn or handmade crochet hooks.  I've been to other shows, such as the huge Knitting and Stitching Show, and whilst it is full of corporate offerings which may not be to everyones taste, it means in my opinion that there is a greater variety of products available.  And beings that the London Knitting and Stitching Show is a mere 2 hours journey compared to the 6-hour marathon we undertook to get across the country to Yorkshire, for the time being I've decided to stick with heading South, to give Yarndale a little time to iron out the creases.

All that being said, I'm still in awe of the work that Lucy and the team are undertaking to pull Yarndale together and really feel it will be the event to beat in a few years time.  In the meantime, I thought I would help the mandala effort to show my Yarndale support.  You can get all details about it from Lucy's website and there is a Pinterest Board showcasing all the mandalas sent in so far.  

Here's my contribution:

It doesn't like quite as eye-glaringly bright as this in real life I promise!  It's just left over yarn from my cotton stash and the design from this free pattern from Moogly.  I was a little hesitant at first as mandalas stray dangerously close to the granny square line for me with all the colour changes and chain starts but actually I quite enjoyed making something different for a change.  

I packaged it up in the envelopes I save for special occasions, and Sas and I walked it down to the post office to send the package on its way.  

I'm excited to see what Lucy plans to do with all these mandalas and am sure I'll be glued to everyones blogs for a full photo round-up when September rolls around...

Multi-coloured granny stripes - Lucy style

I've yet to share with you the bright bright bright granny stripe blanket I've been working on over the past 5 weeks.  As I may have mentioned, I am not a fan of the traditional granny square, although I can't quite put my finger on why.  I've never yet made anything that involves a granny square, and don't ever intend on doing so (I know that saying that out loud is like swearing at a crocheter, but it's the truth).  

I'm less offended by granny stripes, however.  I like that they look so homely, and I like that they can work in both really plain and really crazy colours and still look good.  And someone who has got the crazy bright colour thing down to perfection is Lucy from Attic 24.  I'm sure you've all heard of Lucy; in fact, I should think some of you even made it over to the first ever Yarndale that Lucy helped to organise in September last year.  If you haven't heard of Lucy, you definitely should nip over the Attic 24 and take a look at her natural flair for colour and creativity.  She's even become a writer for Simply Crochet magazine this year!  

I had been toying with the idea of starting a blanket for some time.  The last blanket I made was at least 15 months or so ago, and I was missing having a large scale project that could tick along, that didn't require amigurumi style double crochet and lots of counting.  Then, just at the right time, Wool Warehouse began to sell their Stylecraft Special DK Attic 24 pack, 17 skeins of the very same colours that Lucy used to make her granny stripe blanket.  I snapped a pack right up, and got started on the long chain as soon as it arrived - 240 in total!

This picture doesn't do the colours justice, there are some really lovely ones in the set

I looked at Lucy's granny blanket quite intently to get the idea for the colour order.  These aren' necessarily colours I'd put together and so I was a bit worried about how they would come together if I approached it in my usual way.  So I took Lucy's lead and here's the progress I've made so far:

I'm actually really enjoying it.  The blanket sits on my chair waiting for me to get home each night.  Partly so it's right in front of me so I can't forget it, and partly so it's ready for me to pick up and get on with as soon as I have a few spare minutes.  I like the repetitive nature of granny striping, it's so quick to pick up from where you left off without having to really think too much and it's nice not having to do any counting.  I like having a project that I can put on the back burner whilst I'm doing other things but is there ready when I get the urge to blitz it.  It's taking me about 25 minutes per stripe, so almost an hour for each colour, which means I'm really only adding one colour a night, yet it's still coming along really quickly.  I'm also really pleased with Stylecraft DK.  It's mega cheap yarn, around £1.60 a ball and yet it's nice and soft for a blanket, in the very nicest colours and doesn't really do the squeaky thing that other acrylics do.  Stylecraft is definitely going to be my go-to yarn for blankets from now on.  

I'll be sure to keep you updated as the blanket grows :) 

Projects, Projects, Projects!

Arrgggh, what a miserable day it is.  Rain, rain, rain.  Poor Squitchy is feeling very sorry for himself as I won't leave the back door open for him to wander in and out of the house as he pleases, and so he's curled up on the sofa, occasionally huffing to make sure we know that he is one unhappy husky.

It is not such a problem for me though as I have plenty of projects to keep me busy.  Usually, January is the month that drags on forever where I have to watch every penny to make sure I can make it through to the 25th (otherwise known as payday).  And there's so many temptations; a final dash for some extra christmas presents, sales, splashing out for my birthday, January is definitely there to test me.  But not this year, no.  This year, it seems like I've been much more in control (plus I was very lucky to get money/vouchers for Christmas and birthday so I didn't have to dip into my bank account too much) and so I've had a little bit spare.  And what better way to spend it then buying more crafty goodness!  I hadn't really realised just how much I've purchased until I had to try and find a home for it in my craft room, instead of my usual spread around the house approach.  

There's been a couple of books:

First up is modern baby crochet by my fav, Stacey Trock of Fresh Stitches fame.  Yep, I know I bang on about Fresh Stitches, but I genuinely love love love her stuff.  Now, I'm not a baby person, (I spend all day with other people's kids, it's enough to put anyone off!) but whilst this book certainly has a focus on designs for a new baby's room, there's so many other things in it that would work in any house.  I've already made a cute little amigurumi bird, but have my eye on the sea urchin pouf (I started making a pouf ages ago with Zpagetti yarn and it looks pretty average.  I want to frog it, but know how long it took me to get that far.  Maybe this is the push I need) the asymmetrical basket-weave blanket and the colourful wiggle pillow (which my sister has also put in an order for already).  

Then I bought My Crochet Doll by Isabelle Kessedjian.  This is a truly beautiful book; the first half is photos showing all the items in the book, laid out in a really inviting way that makes you want to make everything on each page RIGHT NOW!  I love that the crochet doll is in fact just a tiny part of the focus of this book; it's all the accessories that go with it that catch my eye, like the teeny tiny camera, or the little bucket and spade for the beach.  My particular favourites are:

There have been a couple of other pattern purchases, but these are for top secret projects and will be revealed all in good time :) 

I've also bought my first big yarn pack of the year, from Wool Warehouse, the Attic 24 colour pack.  17 skeins of Stylecraft Special DK in an Attic 24 inspired colour range. When I opened my huge bag, I was a little uncertain as to how this might pan out.  Not all the colours were those that I would pick myself, and certainly weren't ones I've put together in one project.  But I don't know why I doubted Lucy, it's not often she gets her colours wrong.  I've already made a good start by following her granny stripe tutorial:

...but being that it's 240 stitches across (about the size of a double bed) I've still got a long way to go!  I've decided to weave in the ends every so often so I don't have a big pile to work through at the end.  I'm sure you will be hearing a lot about this blanket over the coming months ;)

I was also very lucky that timing paid off in my favour.  I keep seeing a very lovely embroidery design popping up on Instagram which made me very tempted to give it a try.   It's Sew Laugh Love by Leanne's House but unfortunately it's no longer available to buy as a kit anywhere, except in Australia which just so happened to be where my parents were over Christmas, visiting my sister.  Following a desperate email, and a long flight it made it's way over to the UK and straight to my craft room.  I'm really looking forward to learning a new skill and hope I can do it justice on my first attempt.   

So I'm definitely going to be busy for the next few months!  I'm excited that it's a mix of projects that I love like amigurumi, easy going pattern free projects like the granny blanket, and a completely new skill in embroidery.  What are your crafty plans for 2014?

 

Yarndale 2013 part II

This was the sight that greeted you as you walked through the door to Yarndale, and it was breathtaking; the photos don't begin to show to bright colours and individual designs that made you stop and really look. 

Having said that, we were on a mission.  A Bunch of Buttons and I had scoped out the Facebook page, Instagram and Twitter feeds of many of the exhibitors and so knew what we were looking for.  My shopping list was small; a yarn bowl from County Alpacas, some beautiful hanks from A Stash Addict and a crochet hook from For The Love of Yarn for my lovely newby crocheter, Leanne.  Of course, I had still come prepared with a purse bursting with cash, just in case...  We quickly worked our way through the things we needed (yes, needed!) as we had a busy schedule.  I had secretly booked us both into one of the many workshops that were being held in the main ring.  Our class was 'Dyeing to Have Fun', and I selected it because it's not the kind of thing we usually get up to at home.  I told Anna over breakfast, when I suddenly had a panic that she might not want to do anything but shop at Yarndale.  I had nothing to worry about; Anna was made up that I was treating her to a surprise class so promptly at 11am we took our seats.

The class was run by local crafter, Jaki Bogg who was delightfully friendly and calm considering the  hubbub of the Workshop Theatre.  

The Workshop Theatre in the Main Ring

I had never tried anything like this before and so didn't know what to expect - but I loved it!  We were mostly working with acid dyes, as well as natural and food dyes, looking at how different wool materials took to colour and how you could work the dyes.  

It was a messy business!  I had stupidly decided to wear a cream top and cardi (no idea what I was thinking when I packed given that I knew exactly what we'd be doing on Saturday!) but was especially cautious and luckily managed to keep the dye on the table and the wool.  Jaki was well prepared and had gloves, aprons, jay cloths and kitchen towel all ready for us.  

We worked with super soft merino, a complete knitting swatch, a ready made piece of wool as you would get in a skein and wool straight from the sheep!  

It was amazing to see how differently things reacted to the dye, the knitting took to the dye beautifully, whilst the unprocessed wool was much more difficult to get to the colour you wanted.

Here's the finished products.  What will I do with them?  I"m not sure, but I absolutely loved the experience of getting to try something that I would never normally consider, and it's certainly made me appreciate the expertise of the exhibitors showing their own hanks at Yarndale.

Some worked well, some not so much...

Once we'd finished the workshop, we quickly got back down to business, shopping!  There were so many beautiful, brightly coloured stalls, I loved just wondering around, giving soft merino wools a squidge and stroking the fluffy alpaca furs as you moved between stalls.  There were so many pretty items to take home.

Alpacas and angora rabbits were hanging out at Yarndale too and they were incredibly cute!

The Knit 'n' Knatter lounge was right in the centre of the Exhibition Hall and home to Lucy of Attic 24.  She had set up an incredible crocheted lounge where she would meet and greet the Yarndalers and it was quite something.

Now, I have known Anna for quite some time and there is one thing she rarely does, and that's have photos taken.  But I have never seen her this excited before.  Like many others, she was dying to meet Lucy and so we duly waited in line for our turn.  I'm not sure that I think it's a good idea to meet your heroes, just in case they're not all you thought they might be, but actually, Lucy was delightful.  It must be so difficult to make light-hearted conversation with so many people for hours on end, but she certainly made it look easy, and made you feel like she was genuinely excited you were there to meet her too.  She even agreed to a  picture with Anna, such a rare event that I must show you.

The only thing that made Anna even more excited was to see that on the table behind Lucy, right in the centre, was the goat bunting that she had made and sent in.  After spending hours telling Anna that there was so much bunting that we'd never find hers, there it was!

The day was fantastic.  I enjoyed the happy, slightly younger atmosphere and crowd at Yarndale compared to the Knitting and Stitching Show at Kensington Palace that I visited last year.  It was nice to see so many local, independent exhibitors here rather than the large commercial companies, (the number of things I now follow on Instagram and Twitter must have trebled!) although I felt that by having so many smaller exhibitors, there was less variety than I had hoped for.  That being said, I still managed to return with an overflowing shopping bag!

                                   

Overall, it was a great experience, and I'm glad we made the long old trek to Yorkshire to be a part of it.  The Yarndale organisers should be so proud of what they accomplished; I can't imagine the effort and hard work it must have taken to pull it off, but pull it off they did.  Here's to Yarndale 2014!

PS.  Keep an eye out tomorrow for my Yarndale-inspired first ever pattern - Sheldon the Sheep!

Yarndale 2013 part I

So this weekend was THE weekend.  The weekend I'd been waiting what felt like forever for.  On Friday lunchtime I packed up my suitcase, filled my project bag and said good bye to Squitchy to make the 220 mile trip from Great Yarmouth to Skipton with my buddy A Bunch of Buttons.  To say it was a long journey would be an understatement.  Six and a half hours travelling through what became commuter traffic tested my concentration, temper and at times my nerve but we were both very excited when we finally saw this sign...

Anna's action shot from the car window

Anna had arranged the accommodation for the trip in the neighbouring village of Kelbrook.  We stayed in the very luxurious Craven Heifer Inn, a modern country inn with beautiful decor and a fantastic restaurant to match.  I felt very spoilt to stay in such a lovely place when I had originally suggested a Travelodge! We had a huge tasty meal in the restaurant below when we arrived (the place was crammed full of locals - always a good sign in my book!) and a hearty Yorkshire breakfast in the morning to prepare us for the busy day ahead.  

Yarndale was held at Skipton Auction Mart which is more used to wooly sheep than wooly skeins!  It was a great choice for the venue; it gave that real rural agricultural feel to the proceedings.  As promised, the yarnbombing appeared as soon as we got out of the car.  The 6000 or so bunting which had been sent in from across the world was everywhere...

Not to mention hanging decorations in many of the trees (I really love the knitting needles through the yarn balls below)...

And even the nearby park had had the Yarndale treatment with lampposts, fences and trees all brightly decorated in yarn...

My particular favourites appeared when you reached the picturesque canal at the end of the park.  Lucy of Attic24, one of the main organisers of the event had given little teasers in the weeks leading up to Yarndale that there could be a water theme to some of the yarnbombing and she didn't disappoint.  

Skipton canal

These little guys were so cute! 

Not to mention this little sweetie!

We arrived at the Auction Mart at 9:30 for a 10am start and already the queue was building, so we took  up our place (number 11 and 12 - that's commitment!) and waited in anticipation for the doors to open.  The queue grew so quickly, especially once the special London-style red Yarndale bus appeared from the train station.  Apparently there was issues with getting to, parking at and getting into the venue later that day, but everything was very straightforward for us. 

Finally, the doors opened, and Yarndale had begun...

Come back on Wednesday to find out what Yarndale held in store in Yarndale part II!