Romantic Crochet blog tour stops here today!

Hello! Welcome to my stop on the Romantic Crochet blog tour. If you are new here, I am more of a vlogger and podcaster than a regular blogger but my small space on the internet puts together everything I do, including dyeing yarn, making videos and generally living a crafty life.

This blog post and the accompanying vlog is to celebrate the publication of Emma’s new book. Always very happy to support a fellow crochet podcaster! You can now order Romantic Crochet here from Amazon UK or here from Amazon US as well as other book stores.

Today’s vlog is part of my Craft like no-one is watching series and is on YouTube here:

When Emma contacted me about doing the blog tour I was very happy to agree as this gave me the perfect excuse to try out one of her lovely projects from the book.

I chose the sweet crochet lace drawstring bag and had in mind that I would put it too good use during my upcoming Vlogmas 2020 series, which starts, of course, on December 1st. This is the second time I’ve done vlogmas and hopefully it will be just as enjoyable as last year, but maybe a bit more polished. Having a lovely crochet bag to store my home-dyed advent calendar seemed just perfect.

As you can see, it turned out really well. I put a saucer in the base to block it and I like the effect, so I’ve decided to leave it in there. I have plenty of mismatched saucers, so even if it does get broken, its not an issue.

To open up the lace stitches in the bag, I blocked it and I show my method in the video. As the bag is made of 100% pure wool (my Corriepol DK in Lichen), I needed to wet block it. So the first step was to wash it gently in warm soapy water. I used baby shampoo, just a dot, and did the filming in my dye palace (AKA garage!)

Its an odd shape to block but the saucer kept the base flat and stretched and then I used three old rolled up towels as the blocking form.

I stretched the bag over the towel cylinder, the pinned it in place at the top to keep the lace well separated as the bag dried completely. Blocking always makes a big difference and the finished bag is about twice its original size and the lace really pops now.

You can see the blocking process in more detail in the vlog and you can also find out what I’m going to use it for during vlogmas.

I’ve also recorded a 2 minute flick through of Emma’s book, so if you want to have a closer a look, you are very welcome.

Romantic Crochet Book Tour 2020
Date	Instagram @
15 November – Sunday	@aufaitcrochet
16 November – Monday	@craftingbylucy
17 November – Tuesday	@chrissie_crafts
18 November – Wednesday	@lovanii.design
21 November – Saturday	@sweetpeafamilycrochet
22 November – Sunday	@sweet_sharna
23 November – Monday	@hanjancrochet
24 November – Tuesday	@penelope_and_the_squish
25 November – Wednesday	@mycrochetplace
26 November – Thursday	@crafternoontreats
27 November – Friday	@hurremarslan
28 November – Saturday	@themoulehole
29 November – Sunday	@hookychia
30 November – Monday	@zeensandroger
1 December – Tuesday	@oneskeinoflove
2 December – Wednesday	@steviebythesea
3 December – Thursday	@crochetedbytess
4 December – Friday	@bluestarcrochet
6 December – Sunday	@ltblogged
7 December – Monday	@lottieandalbert
8 December – Tuesday	@crochetluna
9 December – Wednesday	@yarnbae
10 December – Thursday	@gumleaf_crochet
11 December – Friday	@thoresbycottage
12 December – Saturday	@hookonepurlone
13 December – Sunday	@jellybean_junction
14 December – Monday	@heldap123
15 December – Tues	@ollie.and.bella