Come in and watch Episode 7!
Social media links
- Crafternoon Treats on Instagram – wow, I now have over 27,000 followers Fantastic, thanks to all who follow and like my ramblings!
- Crafternoon Treats on Facebook – another wow, I topped 15,500 this week. The two FB groups are Bagalong with Crafternoon Treats now has 5000 lovely members and The Crafternooners is not far behind with almost 4000 🙂
- Crafternoon Treats on YouTube – please do go along and subscribe to my channel as we are very close to 1000 subscribers and have some fantastic giveaways this week
- Crafternoon Treats (@crafterstreats) on Twitter
- The Crafternoon Treats Ravelry group for crochet chat and natter about the crochet podcast if you are a Ravelry regular
- @crafternoontreats on Ello
Super sonic socks
I’ve written a new pattern for crochet socks – the Perfect Fit Crochet Socks – otherwise known as the Super Sonic Socks. Find out why in the podcast 🙂
Go straight to the Deramores blog to download the free crochet sock pattern.
Visit the free tutorials showing how to make the socks:
- Part 1: the cuff, leg and heel flap
- Part 2: the heel turn and gusset
- Part 3: the foot, toe and finishing (available next Thursday)
Find the yarn I used on the Deramores online shop:
- West Yorkshire Spinners signature 4ply in Wood Pigeon
- West Yorkshire Spinners signature 4ply in Blackberry bomb
My yarn shop day
I visited Black Sheep Wools in Warrington at their Craft Barn with some of my bags and met loads of lovely people. The lovely Sue Pinner was also there signing her books and I met Lynn Rowe and Fay Daspher-Hughes, co-hosts of The Crochet Circle audio podcast.
What is yarn shop day?
Yarn shop day was founded in the UK in 2014. Its an annual event to encourage people to go into their local, bricks-and-mortar yarn shop. Find out more on the Let’s Knit website.
My yarn spending spree
Well, being in a yarn shop all day long, I had to buy a bit of yarn. It would have been rude not to! I really enjoyed adding to my stash and picked up some lovely yarn for future projects.
In the podcast I show and tell about several of them:
Regia The Sockwool: design by Arne and Carlos
King Cole Zig Zag sock yarn in the colourway mish mash
Sirdar Divine DK (not available on the website – you would need to call Black Sheep Wools)
Regia Lace (not available on the website – you would need to call Black Sheep Wools)
Other yarn purchases made recently
I visited Needlecase, one of my local yarn shops in Tadcaster a couple of weeks ago and picked up some gorgeous sock yarn…
Shawl news
I’ve been working on my second Victoria Shawl and its one of the WIPs I’ve targeted for finishing pretty soon as I’ve still got 19! I also want to pass one WIP on to someone who will appreciate it more and tackle the rest with renewed enthusiasm.
I’ve been knitting a bit!
As well as getting on with some of my 19 crochet works in progress (WIPS) and finishing two of them this week, I’ve also been knitting. I’m trying to complete the second sock to the one I made last year with Christine at Winwick Mum.
Christine has a marvellous blog and sockalong and has even published a book with her tutorials. Here are all the links if you want to have a go.
- Join the sockalong
- Buy Christine’s sock tutorials in book form at Amazon
- Read about the first anniversary of the sockalong
She shows how to make a basic sock using a small circular needle, double pointed needles (dpns) and a circular needle using the magic loop method. She has tutorials on everything from the heel flap and turn to picking stitches up at the gusset to decreasing at the toe and finishing with the kitchener stitch.
I’ve managed to match up the stripes on my knitted sock, made in King Cole Zig Zag in Calypso, but managed to knit my second sock too far, so now I’m busy knitting backwards for about 15 rounds before I can start the heel flap!
As I’ve struggled with socks, I’m practicing my knitting skills with a simple garter stitch shawl. The Linus Shawl by Annett Corder is available free on Ravelry and its beautiful. I’m using Stylecraft Special Effects DK in Foxtrot and its coming along really well.
What can I make socks with if I’m allergic to wool?
I review some yarns that Deramores very kindly sent me. I haven’t worked with any of them yet but I review how I think they will work for socks. Some will be better as shawls and for anyone allergic to wool, all of these yarns are well worth a look.
Sirdar Snuggly Jolly DK in Pizazz
Bergere de France Bigarelle 4ply
Podcasts to look up on YouTube
My mentions this week are:
- The Crochet Circle – a new audio podcast on Podbean about crochet (with a bit of knitting on the side), co-hosted by Fay and Lynn
- The Celtic Cast On podcast – a new Canadian podcast hosted by Kelly, who knits beautiful things but also does quite a bit of crochet…
Giveaways!
The Crafternoon Treats crochet podcast is nearing 1000 subscribers on YouTube and I’ve announced several giveaways for You Tube subscribers in this episode.
1 Make your own Victoria Shawl – pattern and yarn! Sandra of Cherry Heart has kindly donated the Victoria Shawl pattern for one subscriber, who will also receive 4 x 100g skeins of Deramores Studio DK (in colours jade, malachite and topaz) to try out the yarn and make the shawl if they would like to.
2 Fabulous pattern giveaway… Susan Carlson, the fabulous designer behind The Felted Button on Ravelry and who hosts the blog The Felted Button and who is @thefeltedbutton on Ravelry has kindly donated one of her fabulous blanket patters – the Cottage Garden blanket for one lucky subscriber.
3 and 4 We also have two crochet book giveaways including a book by Lynn Rowe – details will be released during the week on my blog and on Instagram and on Facebook.
5 Finally, I’ve been making my own stitch markers for a while and I’ve put together a lovely seaside-themed set as a fifth giveaway prize.
I’ve finally found time to listen to this episode, and it was fascinating! Thank you so much for the lovely mentions – I’m sure you’re going to finish that second sock without too many problems, and I agree that the Yan Tan Tethera yarn would look gorgeous as a Couthie shawl. It’s very easy to knit so you shouldn’t have any trouble knitting it up very quickly. I was really interested to see the wool-free yarns that you have as I often get asked about wool-free sock options. Looking forward to your next episode! xx
Hi Christine – I am raring to go and have ordered the needles today. Just got to finish the charity bag as the tea party is in a couple of weeks 🙂
Thanks for your latest podcast. How does one enter for the giveaway? 🙂
Hi Nicola You just need to be a subscriber to the YouTube Channel – https://www.youtube.com/CrafternoonTreatsCrochet xxx
Great podcast Kathryn! 2 questions / requests. How do you get your giant granny square blanket straight? Mine always twists – is it just because I am inexperienced? Secondly could you talk about blocking on one of your podcasts please? I am doing the sunny beach bag and want to block it and I am also making a blanket with acrylic in 18cm squares which are a bit wonky and I hope blocking will help! Once again thanks for the podcasts.
Hi Rowena I start my granny squares with a circle and then alternate rounds working on the wrong side and right side. That really does help to stop the twisting. Its a tension issue and the skewing occurs because of the pull of the slip stitch when you close each round. By alternating you compensate for that. Yes, I have a future podcast planned in which I will talk about blocking – within the next month certainly xxx