Hello everyone and welcome to Episode 51 of my podcast. Although I’ve not exactly been around on my blog very much, I am getting back to normal after the kitchen renovation and I’ve been playing catch up since I got back from Edinburgh.
Its so nice to have time to sit in peace and crochet when I feel like it rather than being surround my mess than needs cleaning up after each day’s ‘man activity’. Hahaha – so glad to have my space back too 🙂
Here is the podcast – I hope you enjoy it and thanks, as ever, for all your lovely comments and support and for making podcasting so worthwhile!
Time stamps for Episode 51
The time stamps to the different sections are below, then the relevant links for each section are further down the post.
Start to 3.23
Intro and general chat
3.23 – 18.21
Crochet sock love
I’ve finished my latest crochet sock project – the Gorman Street cuff down socks by Rohn Strong from the book Step into Crochet. I’d forgotten how good it was to make a crochet sock and there are a lot on my list for the next few months! I’ll be talking more about them in a future podcast episode.
18.21 – 25.21
Garment struggles and progress
I felt a bit sheepish at the Spring into Wool show when I realised that I haven’t yet finished the garter stitch jacket I bought there last year. I admit I slipped by their stall without saying much… I’ve had more success recently with a crocheted pointy hem vest, which I’m making in really rustic but gorgeous Hebridean wool.
25.21 to 28.27
The Mystic Wrap
I had to show of this gorgeous and huge shawl made by my friend Nicola (@creative.explorer on Instagram) who used two Stylecraft Batik Swirl cakes in the Rainbow colourway.
28.27 to 37.01
Spring into wool
A short report and some pics about my Saturday at this lovely local yarn show in Leeds, West Yorkshire.
37.01 to 47.40
Donna’s lovely bag, a swap and the In a Pickle Knitting podcast
I’ve been corresponding with Donna recently and am so pleased an honoured that she sent me a beautiful example of her three zipper project bag, made just for me in a huge size and with crochet hook pockets. She has a lovely podcast and is well worth watching.
47.40 to end
Etsy shop news, Ravelry group admin and a giveaway
I have a small amount of new natural wool and my first new batches of hand dyed yarn going into the shop this week. We also finished the Stick your Neck Out Make along in the Ravelry group and the winners and their prizes are included here. I’ve contacted them all on Ravelry and their prizes should be with them very soon.
We are also having a giveaway for this episode – to enter to win the Knitter’s Companion by Janet Segley comment on the video with what you would like to see in a Crocheter’s Companion and add your Ravelry name. Even if you aren’t a knitter yourself, the prize would make a really nice gift for a knitting friend!
Important links
Step into Crochet by Rohn Strong – a newish book about crochet socks with fabulous background information. There are a few errors and the patterns don’t have enough detail for crochet sock newbies but if you try out the patterns and get stuck, there is a lot of help if you are in a Ravelry group. Claudia of the Crochet Luna podcast has a particularly helpful and active thread on crochet socks called Sock it to me.
Claudia also mentioned on one of her recent podcasts that you can download some corrected pages for the book from the publisher’s website. You need to click this link, go to book errata and then scroll down to find the Step into Crochet book.
The Mystic Morning wrap is by Alexandra Tavel on Ravelry who writes the blog Two of Wands. The pattern is free on her blog but you can pay a small fee on Ravelry to download an ad-free printable version if you’d like.
Visit the official show website for more information on Spring into Wool
Links to all of the vendors at Spring into Wool, including the few that I mentioned in detail, are on the exhibitor page
My one purchase (supposed to be on a yarn ban after Edinburgh!) was from Tanja, who is The Knitting Swede. We had a lovely chat with her and I bought two gorgeous skeins of BFL in these colourways…
We were also so impressed at the way she had arranged her yarn on the stand – it just looked so inviting.
We also enjoyed meeting Becci of Riverknits. Check out the interview that Fay of The Crochet Circle Podcast did with them last year on YouTube…
My lovely bag is from Donna from the In a Pickle Knitting podcast, who has an Etsy shop too. It is updated and then empties rapidly, so definitely one to favourite!
Crafternoon Treats Etsy shop news
This is at the end, together with the Ravelry group admin. The new yarns in my Etsy shop this week include some natural colours of 80% British Alpaca and 20% Shetland wool from a single farm in Scotland.
These four colours are working up really well together…
I’ve also just added two new batches of my dyed yarn in the new base. This is 20% British Alpaca and 80% Shetland and is so woolly and so soft, its just incredible. I hope my dyeing will do it justice over the next few weeks.
Ravelry prize donors
Thank you to the following lovely designers for donating prizes for the Stick your Neck Out CAL and the Poncho-along. Check out the Ravelry threads to look at all the gorgeous projects in addition to those done by the four winners, who were chosen by random number generator and post number.
The Caravan of Love Shawl pattern was donated by Emma Potter of the Potter and Bloom podcast. Emma has new videos on her channel that reflect on the months as we go through 2018 and I can highly recommend them. Not really any crafting but she talks about self care, well being and things like tarot cards and incense… I found it really relaxing!
The beautiful Inishfree shawl pattern was donated by Carmen Heffernan who is AnnieDCrochet on social media. Its another gorgeous crochet shawl and so beautifully photographed against the dramatic scenery in Ireland.
The lovely Deanne of Addydae Designs has donated several prizes to the podcast for giveaways this year but her Blurred Lines Sweater goes to one of the winners of the Ponchoalong, which I didn’t get chance to mention in the podcast. Two of the entries in the Stick your Neck out CAL made the Blurre shawl, which is beautiful too and will be up for grabs soon!
My fellow Stylecraft Blogger Sarah Shrimpton of Annaboos House very kindly donated any pattern (the winner’s choice!) from her Etsy store for the Stick your Neck out CAL. She has some gorgeous patterns ranging from amigurumi animals to garments to shawls, so well worth checking out.
And last but not least I was contacted by Andrea of Andrea Delhey designs on Ravelry who offered a prize of any one of the patterns from her Ravelry store. And she sent me a gorgeous delicate scarf/shawl pattern which I’ll be talking about in the next podcast.
Giveaway for this episode
The giveaway for this episode, as I’ve mentioned earlier, is the Knitter’s Companion. If you want to enter to win the copy, please comment on the YouTube video with your Ravelry name and a suggestion of what features you would like to see in a Crocheter’s Companion. It would be lovely to feedback to Janet to help her bring such a thing to fruition!
Phew! I think that’s it for now so until next time xxxxxxx Kathryn xxxxx
Lovely episode, Kathryn! So inspiring to see your crocheted socks–they are beautiful! I’ve been wanting to try crocheted socks, too, so that CAL later in autumn will be great, and looking forward to it! I’m learning to knit socks at the moment, so one new thing at a time, ‘eh? 😉 Your friend Nicola did a lovely job with the Mystic Shawl–those colors are gorgeous! VERY much enjoyed your taking us to Spring into Wool–what a nice little festival…just enough of everything, but not too overwhelming! Your new friend Donna makes beautiful things, and glad you shared of her podcast, which I’d not come across before. VERY exciting too is your natural dyeing!! Looking forward to your dyeing podcast devoted to that, as the new yarns are lovely. The Knitter’s Companion sounds like a fun addition to a yarner’s life–and maybe one for crochet too! I’ve used Ravelry for so long to catalogue my projects. I used to keep fiber swatches of my projects, but stopped when I started on Raverly and went digital. I could be fun tracking projects in a more “analog” way! Thank you for the book giveaway…I’d love to be in on that! I’m PinkMagic on Ravelry. 🙂
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