Episode 46 - Tipsy Crocheting

Crochet Circle Podcast

Hello there and welcome to The Crochet Circle Podcast and the show notes for Episode 46 – Tipsy Crocheting!

My name is Fay and this is my audio and video podcast for those that love fibre crafts, particularly crochet. It’s a community for people that like to support their fellow humans regardless of race, gender, sexuality, ability, size or age. I hope you feel the welcome embrace and love of the Crochet Clan. Come on in and stay awhile.

In this episode, I cover Old Dog new tricks; Final Destination; En Route; Feeding the habit; Quick News Beats and J’adore.

This podcast is sponsored by my online crafting company, Provenance Craft Co.

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1 – Old Dog New Tricks

I have two quickie tricks for you this month:

1 – Here is a neat little trick I learned from watching yarn dyers at work. Have ever popped a skein of yarn onto a swift to cake up and as you start to form the cake, it snags, isn’t as smooth as it is should be and create a tighter tension in your cake than needed? There is a very simple way around this and it involves what I can only describe as ‘snapping’ your yarn.

Once you have opened up the skein and ensured that the strands are flowing the right way, put both hands into the skein, using your upright thumbs to keep the skein on your hand, ‘snap’ the skein outwards. This will help to realign the strands back to the way they were initially wound back in the factory. This realignment makes it easy to get the skein onto your swift and should lead to tangle-free, even tension cakes of yarn.

2 – If you find yourself short of a locking stitch marker and desperately need to hold a stitch, check your hair. I found myself in desperate need of a cable needle the other evening and really could not be bothered to go downstairs for it. Instead, I used a Kirby grip/bobby pin that was in my hair. It did the job perfectly and is great for securing stitches and being lazy!

2 – Final Destination

Sound the trumpets! I have finished my Blurred Lines by Deanne at Addydae Designs (link). As I record this podcast, it is Wednesday the 4th September and I am due to wear the jumper down the runway at Perth Festival of Yarn on Saturday (I will pop some pics up on Instagram Stories (@crochet_circle_podcast) if you want to see what goes down).

I have added full project notes on Ravelry, so you can see any changes I have made. I just need to add some final photos.

ALT TEXT: Fay stands in her dining room, in front of an open fireplace with a small table and lamp to the left. She is looking down with hands in pockets, wearing jeans and her newly finished Blurred Lines Jumper which is a grey/teal blue main colour (top and bottom) with a middle variegated section in cream/pink with little pops of yellow, teal and blue.

I also have a couple of little things that I have crocheted up. These are samples for the online shop and for shows. I have started selling craft books, but only wish to sell ones that I have worked from personally and can therefore recommend. It’s not about fads, it’s about well-written books and patterns.

I finally managed to make something from my Crocheted Succulents book by Emma Varnam (link). I had this book on pre-order last year but just couldn’t find a window of time to make something from it. I crocheted up a Mexican Snowball succulent using 50g of Rowan cotton glace that I had in my stash. It was really easy to make, and the instructions were lovely and clean. It took me about 5 hours in total and I can see many more cacti and succulents in my future because I struggle to keep house plants alive!

ALT TEXT: Corner of the Crocheted Succulents book by Emma Varnam is in the bottom left. In the middle sits a white pottery reused candle holder with a sage green crocheted succulent (Mexican Snowball) on top. At the bottom of the pot lies a pink crochet hook, little worm of the leftover sage green cotton and a pair of snips shaped and decorated to look like a crocodile.

Another book that has been sitting on my crafting shelves waiting for some attention is Laly Lalas Beetles, Bugs and Butterflies book (link). Of all of the gorgeous little creatures in this book, I chose to hook up a moth! I was working on the basis that this is the only moth that is actually allowed anywhere near my yarn! This took me about 7 hours to make and used up lots of little odds and ends of cotton from my stash.

ALT TEXT: Two images - both with very dark grey backgrounds. Image one shows the Beetles, Bugs and Butterflies book by Laly Lala. The front cover shows lots of crocheted bugs as examples and to the right of the book is the front of a moth I have crocheted up from the book. The moth has detachable wings and har with antennae. Image two is the back of the moth, which shows clearly that the top of the wings are off-white edged with grey cotton and the bottom is blue. The main moth body is a green/yellow and the hat id a mustard yellow.

It was really nice being able to quickly plough through a couple of crochet projects, even if they are small.

3 – My Life

This is not going to be a regular segment, but I thought I would just offer up a little slice of what this year has been like so far and how I dearly want the last three months to unfold.

Most of 2019 has been spent bombing up and down the UK road and ferry network, attending yarn shows all over the place. It had been a busy year so far which I love because I get to see so many of you Crochet Clanfolk and it really helps to put my business on the map!

The downside though is the impact that it has. I. Don’t. Stop.

If you have ever met me in real life, when you watch my face, you can literally see the cogs turning. Most conversations make neurons ping in my brain and the ideas flow immediately. My brain is always on, it is never quiet.

As you listen and watch this podcast I will be up at the Perth Festival of Yarn – my last yarn show of 2019! I am really excited to be vending at this show but if truthful, I am just as excited about life calming down a little. I am planning on having a relaxing week, next week after I have counted the stock back into the shop.

Relaxation for me means audiobooks or courses and sitting with my feet up, crafting. I may even set myself a little crochet goal. See what I mean? I have already set myself a goal for my time off! There is just no hope for me.

When you are driving and sitting on ferries you get a lot of time to think. My main focus for this year was ‘structure’ and I have done a lot around that for the business, podcast and design work this year which has really helped to streamline my work focus.

My recent motorway mile shave given me time to think about what I need to concentrate on in 2020. It feels like it will be a big year, even if it’s just because of the repetition of the numbers! My focus for 2020 is going to be around the word ‘centre’. It is ‘centre’ because “no” or “selfish” just felt too negative! So, my focus is about saying no to things that other people want me to do for them, so that I can say yes to the things that I need to do for myself. My problem is that I want to be helpful and supportive and therefore take on too much because I hate letting people down. So, by saying no and centring back to what I need for my business, my family and me personally.

Saying to something is never saying yes to just one thing because there are always mini-tasks that lead to that final completed yes. My theory is that saying no to one thing is actually more like saying no to ten mini-tasks, which frees up ten things that I can then do for me or my business. It’s not all about saying no, it’s also about focussing some time back to me and creating a strong personal core from which to work.

Would anyone find it useful for me to write a blog post on what software I use to help with this and what podcasts I listen to for business/creative inspiration? Ping me a message if it would be useful and I will pull something together.

So, if you need me in October, November, December 2019, I will be chilling a little, drinking more tea and hopefully doing a lot more crafting and designing.

4 – En Route

As I record this podcast, I have no crocheted project on the go. However, I have two that I want to start:

The first is the Mya Shawl by Helda Panagary (link). This is going to be my entry into #RhineBIPOCSweater K/CAL – I can’t link to the bundle within Ravelry, but you can get details via Lady Dye’s Instagram post (link). As for the yarn that I want to use, I think I am going to crochet the shawl with ‘Orion’ by Cosmic Strings (the dyers are Phu and Bea (link)) as the main skein. As you know, I am on a yarn ban until 21st December, so I can’t buy any mohair which is what the pattern calls for. Instead, I took to my stash (deeeeep stash) and found some Rico mohair that I can use instead. Whilst this isn’t strictly within the parameters of the CAL, I’m not going to break my yarn ban when I already own something suitable!

ALT TEXT: Image one shows crochet designer, Helda Panagary standing side on in front of cream tiles, holding a ball of dark arn in her left hand and a crochet hook in her right. Helda looks beautiful long dark hair that curls at the bottom. Image two shows a dark background with a skein of a dark/dirty teal coloured yarn to the left (ball band reads 'Cosmic Strings' and two flattened mohair cakes of yarn piled to the right. These are is a very stormy grey colour.

ALT TEXT: Image three shows the same model twice, (Back and front), showing off Helda's Mya Shawl. It is triangular and shows subtle stripes in pinks where different yarn blends have been used. Each corner has a corresponding tassle.

I am off to Yarndale the last week of September and have a ticket to see Helda talk on Saturday afternoon. I would love to be wearing my version of Helda’s Mya Shawl when I sit and listen to her talk on life as a crochet designer.

The second is the Bark Sweater by Sidsel Sangild (link). I will be using John Arbon Textiles British Breeds 80% Romney/20% Corriedale blend and a 5mm hook. I can’t link to the wool because it was a special and only available to Mill Members on their website. I have a ridiculous self-imposed goal that maybe I could be wearing this at Yarndale too…

If I whizz through that, then I will also try to work up Claudia’s Encanto Wrap (link) which is her first-ever design!

ALT TEXT - A split image showing a very smiley Claudia from Crochet Luna on the left, wearing her first design around her neck. The textured wrap shows stripes fo bright green and purple leading up to her neck and a more solid purple around her neck. The second side of the image shows the wrap on a mannequin that has a black dress on.

5 – Feeding the Habit

Still, no stash additions and my Solstice to Solstice yarn ban is going well. I am still tempted by things but have managed to just say no!

There have been other things though:

Last month I showed off a lovely print that I received in the post from Lorna (@neveratalooseend). It was done by her daughter Eilidh (@by.eilidh on Instagram) and I love her style. I contacted Eilidh to say that I wanted to buy some prints from her to pass to friends and unbeknown to me, some more just arrived in the post! Needless to say, when I see Lorna at Perth Festival of Yarn, I will be passing her money to pass to Eilidh so that I can properly purchase the prints. More on this in Quick Newsbeats.

I have started selling Yael’s crocheted necklaces in my online shop and at shows (link). Her work is beautiful and I want to be able to support a fellow crafter. Because Yael is naughty, she snuck a notions pouch into my order – and it’s beautiful. Yael also makes beautiful linen project bags and I encourage you to check out her Etsy shop (link).

ALT TEXT: Black background with a patchwork linen notions pouch in grey/browns, pink and a navy with white dashed fabric and pastel yellow zip to the top left. Colourful print to the right in purples and corals, saying "All wool is yarn but not all yarn is wool" on a scarf that is wrapped around fibre giving animals (bison/Alpaca/goat/sheep/rabbit). Two large paper clips with material covered tops to the bottom left. One has a black and white cat on the fabric and the other has the head of a sheep.

While I was vending at Yarnfolk in Northern Ireland, I met Jean and not only did she bring me a can of pop to keep me going in the afternoon, she also gave me two large fabric button clips. One has a sheep on it and the other a black cat – not unlike Pom! These are perfect for marking which page you are on in a pattern!

6 – Quick News Beats

1 - Global Hook Up – I have set the dates for the next few months and will stick to the 8 pm GMT/BST on a Saturday night and 9 am GMT/BST on a Sunday morning.

The details for the next sessions are already up in the Ravelry thread, can also be found below and will be put out on Instagram in advance.

The meeting ID number is 475-047-5819 and you will need to join via Zoom which you can do here: https://www.zoom.us/join

If you are joining on your phone or tablet you will likely need to download the software in advance. If you are joining from a PC or Mac, you can join via the link above. Everyone needs to use the same ID number to get into the session.

September - Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th – NOTE THAT THIS IS A DATE CHANGE!

October - Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th

November - Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th

December - Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th

2 – Over on Instagram, I was showing off a vegan soup I was making on Stories and some of you asked for the recipe. I have created a blog post for it (link) and it’s a really hearty spicy tomato soup that is made mainly from store cupboard ingredients.

3 – I have three copies of Eilidh’s print (link) that I want to give away. It looks beautiful framed (I have one up on my studio wall). To enter, simply respond on YouTube, comment in Podbean or on Instagram. I will draw one winner from each platform and get in touch with you to say that you have won.

4 – I still have an unclaimed prize of one of Deanne’s patterns. Angee Stitch 78 from YouTube, you were a winner but haven’t responded, so could you please get in touch to claim your prize.

5 – I always provide links within the show notes, but sometimes people struggle to find them. From this month onwards, anything that I talk about and provide a link for, just look for “link)” and that is where to click to get to the relevant web page.

7 - J’adore

There is a very definite Autumnal nip in the air. I can feel my hibernation senses tingling and I am excited about woolly socks, fires, endless cups of tea and lots of crafting.

As I said earlier, it has been a very long year so far and it’s time to take life down a few notches and recharge my batteries.

I love the excuse to snuggle up under a blanket with an audiobook and my crochet. Also, the colours of Autumn are my jam – I am so inspired by these few months of all things earthy!

I will be back on Friday the 4th of October.

Fay x

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