☀️ Today is the first day of the school summer holidays chez Making Stitches and while it’s a normal work day for me, I’m still marking the official start to summer with my Summer Craft Challenge!
This will be my 10th year creating posts throughout the school summer holidays showing a bit of creativity every day.
The challenge was born in the summer of 2016 when I was a stay-at-home Mum of 3 young men, aged 12, 8 and 4!! Back then, we lived in Gibraltar and experienced/endured 8-week-long school summer holidays – believe me, they were lengthy!
My first ever Summer Craft Challenge photo taken in Gibraltar on 9th July 2016
Each year I would feel completely exhausted and bogged down in the hamster wheel that is being a parent and my creativity took a back seat – there just wasn’t the time (or at least I thought there wasn’t). Then, in 2016 I read something somewhere that basically said it was up to me to find time to do something for myself (even if it was only for 5 mins) and surely it would have a positive impact on my mood. I tried it and it worked.
I made sure that I didn’t leave home without a small crafty project with me, crochet, embroidery, knitting or anything ‘creative’. That way, if I had a window of opportunity, no matter where it was, in a carpark, a waiting room, the beach, on a bench, I could do something creative and I felt like I’d achieved something that day.
By posting a photo each day, it kept me accountable and kept me going on days I felt I couldn’t be bothered.
That year, and every year since then (except in 2020 when we moved countries) I’ve been joined by fellow creativity seekers who have also shared their summer makes and that has given me such joy to see.
If you want to join in, I’d love you to! All you have to do is take a snap of your daily creativity (or weekly, or whatever you can manage) and post it on socials with the hashtag #SummerCraftChallenge2026
There’s no pressure to do it every day, some people just do a week or two when they are actually on holiday. Dip in and out at will, you will be most welcome!
Hello there, I hope this finds you doing ok. I’m a bit earlier with this monthly review than I managed last month, but not by much! I had a lovely month in June – although it didn’t produce many exciting pictures to share (other than a very impressive evening I spent at the Etihad Stadium in the company of Gary, Howard & Mark!).
The main reason for being so late to the game with this update is because of the Carry on Crafting Festival which happened just over a week ago – it was utterly amazing and I look forward to sharing more of it with you next month. In the meantime, you can catch the latest episode of Making Stitches Podcast to hear a flavour of Carry on Crafting (which was an absolute delight to edit last week!). Anyway, back to June..
Crochet Corner
My Carry on Crafting Squares so far…
I had a bit of a dabble with designing again in June. I am working on another little amigurumi character, but I want to wait to share her with you once she is finished – she is currently sitting on my sideboard without a head (poor love!). Away from amigurumi, I had the chance to give away a pair of tickets to Carry on Crafting festival on my social media channels, and that inspired me to make a few CoC inspired squares. I am hoping to make a complete Carry on Crafting blanket over the course of the summer, so will share more squares with you as they develop!
Also, a good friend of mine at work celebrated a big birthday last month and I simply had to knock up a mini-me for her. I was bought the Crochet Iconic Women book by Carla Mitrani by Eldest a few years ago and along with creating quite a few of those wonderful ladies (including HM Queen Elizabeth & Emmeline Pankhurst) I have used the pattern to create so many little people as gifts when they have hit milestones like big birthdays and other events. I can honestly say this is the most used crochet book I have! As a matter of fact, I am using it right now to create some more little characters – more on them next month!
A mini me gift for a lovely colleague
Take That!
Now to the biggest thing which happened to me in June…
Back in the 1990s, I met Take That very briefly when they visited the place I was working at (conveniently during my lunch hour) I got Gary and Mark’s autograph on my spiral bound notebook! I had never seen them play live in their original incarnation, but amazingly during our last summer living in Gibraltar (in the days before Covid) they came and did a few songs at the Gibraltar Music Festival which was literally a 10 minute walk from our home! It was at the very end of their big world tour. It was not a Take That concert in the conventional sense, but it was a thrill to see them at last as they sung about half a dozen songs between Rick Astley and a Mel C DJ set!
A couple of years ago, I was offered a last minute ticket to see Take That appearing in Manchester at the AO Arena – and when I say last minute – I mean literally hours before. It was an unexpected and very pleasant surprise. It was a truly amazing show – I’d heard they put on a good show but it blew my mind. When I heard that they were coming back to Manchester this summer, I joined the online queue for tickets when they went on sale and was amazed to be successful in getting a couple of tickets.
Take That in Gibraltar 2019Take That in Manchester 2024
My Mum said when I went the last time, that she wouldn’t mind seeing Take That and that she’d never actually been to a ‘gig’ before so I offered her the other ticket. She didn’t hesitate in saying yes! So, I took my Mum with me which was lovely.
Belinda CarlisleThe Script
The support acts were Belinda Carlisle (I was amazed how many songs she had and how many of them I remembered from my teens) and the Script (who we also saw at the Gibraltar Music Festival in years gone by). They both put on a great show with the crowd singing along.
Then the show began – wow! It truly was a show. It went on for hours, had a cast of hundreds of performers, acrobats, dancers, a tightrope walker, trapeze and the most amazing mechanical elephant which had a woman dangling upside down at the back to give the impression of a tail! I felt privileged to be able to witness it – it defies description.
I’m so glad I got to share it with Mum too. It was a perfect evening – apart from the journey home which including queuing in the world’s longest queue for a tram home which didn’t help Mum’s legs.
The longest tram queue in the world – this was less than half of it!!
Podcast News
In June, I released a couple of episodes of Making Stitches Podcast:
Episode 107 Connection, Confidence & Community with Melissa Santiago-Val – I really enjoyed my chat with Melissa who set up the charity helping people through sewing after a lockdown Covid mask making initiative grew into something lasting and very impactful.
Episode 108 Reconnecting with your imagination with textile artist, Murron Fraser – Murron is a textile artist based in my hometown of Manchester. She uses her work to encourage others to reconnect with their whimsical, childhood imaginations and is inspired by nature, folklore and storytelling.
Anyone for a Craft Challenge?
Back in the summer of 2016, as I approached the 10-week-long school summer holiday in Gibraltar with apprehension, wondering how I was going to manage the juggle of entertaining 3 young men for all that time and keep my sanity.
I decided to set myself a challenge. The plan was to do something creative every day during the long, hot school summer holiday. It worked – and the #SummerCraftChallenge was born. The simple act of giving myself permission to do something for me (even for a short while) really helped.
Every year, since then, (except for during 2020 when we relocated back the UK that summer holiday) I have kept up the challenge. This year, I am going to do the same.
My youngest is the only one still in school – GCSEs loom next year – but even as they got older and I found myself back in work rather being stuck at home, I kept the challenge going. His school breaks up for the summer today, so as of tomorrow, the #SummerCraftChallenge2026 will begin.
If you’d like to join in, please do! All you have to do is share a picture of what you have done that day (which can involve any sort of creativity) and use the hashtag #SummerCraftChallenge2026 – at the end of each week, I will share a blog post with a round-up of peoples’ summer creativity. There is no pressure to do something every day (I don’t always manage it myself to be honest), it’s just a gentle reminder to do something that makes you happy and takes you away from the stresses of the everyday grind.
It would be lovely if you could join me!
That’s all for this time, thanks for stopping by! Lindsay x
Hello there, this is coming to you more than a little bit late! I was in the midst of lots going on at the end of May/ start of June so it didn’t see the light of day until now. Such is the pace of life at the moment, that I can’t even remember what was going on which took my time back then – so it was nothing drastic, just general busyness!
Anyway, here we are, at the end of June and here’s a little snapshot of my life last month…
May marked the end of an era in our house, Son number 2 left school and went off on study leave ready to start his A-levels. It felt very odd, just having one child left in school. Times have certainly changed since the early days of this blog when I had three young men in school… I am pleased to say that at the time of writing, the big A-level exams are now finished and have been survived, it’s a waiting game now.
Crochet News
For several months, my crojo had been a bit off, but in May, it came back in abundance inspired by the lovely spring flowers on display – you can’t help but be inspired by all the lovely colours! I bought the yarn to create a Bluebell inspired ‘Up the Garden Path’ character about 3 or 4 years ago, this spring the appearance of Bluebells in my back garden as the inspiration I needed to crack out my hook and get busy – Belle is still a work in progress, but thankfully she has at least appeared!!
Did someone say flowers?
I found myself at our local National Trust property, Dunham Massey early in May and was thrilled to see a brilliant exhibition of what looked like botanical drawings. They were, in fact, the most intricate decoupage I have ever seen. Created by Mary Delany in the 18th century, they were as vivid and crisp as if they had been created yesterday. The exhibition was put on in collaboration with the British Museum and is running through until autumn. If you get the chance to visit, I would highly recommend it.
Going underground
Last year, Eldest went on a tour of a disused Tube station and when he reported back, it sounded fascinating, so this year, for his birthday present I booked for us both to go on another one – together. It meant a night away from home – you can’t guarantee that the trains between Manchester and London will actually run or not at the moment, so I travelled down the day before to ensure we would be there in plenty of time for our tour in the morning.
After arriving down in London, Eldest took me on an epic walking and railing tour of the capital which involved the most amazing Rhubarb crumble with frozen custard in Spittlefields Market, a long and very warm and sunny walk around the Olympic Park in Stratford (which I forgot to take a photo of!) and a wander through the West End and China Town. My word, we walked!! I clocked up just under 30,000 steps – I don’t think I’ve walked so far in one day since my days doing the Med Steps 5 Challenge back in Gibraltar (where you climb to the top of the Rock and walk back down to the bottom of the Nature Reserve 5 times in a row).
On the day of the tour – around Moorgate Station – which is still a functioning station on the network but which has lots of secret tunnels and interesting bits not open to the public, we got to go through doors and passageways not normally visited by folk who don’t work there. It was actually part of the very first Tube line back in Victorian times and has had lots of uses for its tunnels through the years including as an interchange between overground local trains and a World War II bomb shelter. If you have any interest at all in recent history, transport or London in general, I would highly recommend the tour it was super. It was booked through the London Transport Museum if you’re interested in finding out more.
Back to the V&A
When I was at secondary school, we had a brilliant English teacher called Mr Dixon. Sadly he’s no longer with us, but his memory lives on with those of us who were lucky enough to be taught and inspired by him.
Mr Dixon had spent his undergraduate years in London, and it transpired, he spent all his free time between lectures traveling around the capital and immersing himself in all the free entry museums and art galleries. At our school, he set up the ‘Cultural Society’ where one afternoon after school each week, he would play classical music, speak about art or his beloved Japanese carvings and Samurai swords.
I was lucky enough to be allowed to join the Cultural Society and, being in that exclusive club (which a lot of my fellow students had absolutely no interest in) we would, at least once a year, have a day trip down to London with Mr Dixon leading a route march around the city taking in a couple of significant destinations. We rarely took the Tube, because Mr Dixon said we would miss too many important things. As we walked he would regale us with tales of the goings-on which had happened in the streets we were pounding, from the Great Fire of London to the sites of royal executions to tales of scandal in the 1960s, and countless other interesting tit bits.
One of our regular destinations to visit was the V&A where I fell in love with the textiles department. I loved the gorgeous designer gowns, the fabulous textures and colours, and I decided back then I wanted to be a fashion designer.
Fast forward 30+ years and Eldest and I found ourselves with some time on our hands before my return train was due and he asked me where I’d like to visit next. It had to be the V&A for old times’ sake. My word, it was so lovely to be back.
I made a beeline for the textiles area and was thrilled to find so many costumes from the worlds of stage and screen! It was amazing. There was a film showing how wigs were made for the Crown – that was mindblowingly complex – plus Kylie’s entire dressing room from one of her tours. If you get the chance to go, I’d highly recommend it!
Great Run Fun
Regular readers to this blog may remember that when I hit the big 5-0 I set myself the challenge of running my first ever 10K. It was supposed to be a one-time-only event, but on the finish line, son number 2 said he’d run it with me the following year. I couldn’t say no, so signed up again last year. Then, when the email saying early bird places for this year’s event landed in my inbox, before I knew it, I found myself hitting the enter button again.
Lo and behold on Sunday 31st May, I found myself back on Portland Street in the centre of Manchester city centre along with thousands of other folk in trainers and set off on my third Great Manchester Run 10K. In the run up to this year’s event I chose not to do it for charity, but that may have been a mistake as I didn’t have the same dedication to training as I had done in previous years. Despite that, and against my own prediction, I managed to run the whole thing and was less than 1 minute slower than last year’s time so I’m taking that as a big win – there’s life in the old bird yet!!
At the end of that run, I promised myself, I would keep up with the running, however, as I write, I have still not put my running shoes back on…. oops!
Kit very kindly invited me to his home and showed me some of his Sewing Bee creations including his Pop Art inspired paper dress. It was absolutely fascinating to hear his experiences from inside the sewing room!
I loved hearing about some of the items which have been donated to the Collection and the detective work which goes into finding out who made things and the lives they led.
You can listen to both of these episodes and the full back catalogue of over 100 episodes over on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube as well as on my website.
And that brings this little postcard to a close, I shall have to press publish now so that it goes out while it’s still June (for a few hours at least!!).
Hello there! I hope April was kind to you. We have been blessed with some truly beautiful sunny days with blue skies and they have meant the gorgeous spring blossoms have been looking fantastic. From my own back garden, to walking down the street and visiting a university open day with Son number 2 this month, the one constant has been floral colour and it’s been spectacular.
An azalea in my back gardenBeautiful cherry blossom on a street I walked downStunning blossom at Keele University
So here’s what I’ve been up to last month…
Easter Weekend
The month of April kicked off with Easter this year and it was a lovely weekend for us. Eldest set aside some time from his studies to return home and we were able to spend a good chunk of time together which was lovely. We had a family meal (finished off with a gorgeous chocolate cake made by my Mum – Grandma’s Easter cakes are legendary in our household!), we got out for a lovely walk which included some very seasonably appropriate coffee! I made up some cute Easter jar lids for table decorations. The pattern is by @blossom.and.yarn on Instagram and was so easy to follow. This little collection of bunny ears worked up very quickly.
Another University Open Day
One sunny Saturday, I found myself back on my old stomping ground of Keele University with Son Number 2 who is considering it for his next step.
Keele has a very special place in my heart. I spent 3 of the happiest years of my life in this place and have lifelong friends and three very special young men in my life as a consequence of my time there.
I’m not sure if Keele will be his first choice for where he wants to study, but it was so lovely being back there briefly.
Vitamin Tree!
My word, I do love being out in the greenery of nature. We are blessed to have Dunham Massey, a National Trust property in our area and we made the most of the sunshine last weekend to pay it a visit. We got there relatively early in the morning before it got too busy and it was so lovely to enjoy the peace and tranquility of the place.
Big news!
I have been bursting to share this news… last week it was announced that I am going to be a guest designer at The Crochet Sanctuary! My appearance will be in October 2027 – so there’s a bit of time before then. Although I have been designing for over 5 years, this is the first time I have ever done anything like this – so it’s all very exciting!
Early in April, I popped along the M60 to Stockport to visit a fantastic independent yarn shop called Manchester Wool & Yarn! It’s run by Gareth, who I met for the first time at TexStyle festival in March. We chatted then and he invited me to come and visit him in his fab yarn shop to record an episode of Making Stitches Podcast.
I have to confess that despite living back in Manchester for almost 6 years, I haven’t visited Stockport since my return. It was a place we often went to for a mooch around the shops when I was growing up, but it had fallen off my radar of late. I keep seeing posts about the vibrant independent shops which have sprung up in the town centre, and it was high time I returned!
It was lovely to actually see Manchester Wool & Yarn in real life after seeing so many of Gareth’s social media posts! It really is a delightful shop, packed full of beautiful yarn and lots if gorgeous hand dyed skeins created by North West yarn dyers.
Do please pop in if ever you are in that neck of the woods – it’s so nice.
The first podcast episode I released in April featured the amazing Anna Nikipirowicz, a hugely talented crochet designer, who is passionate about crochet, mosaic crochet, Tunisian crochet and embroidering on crochet too.
Hello there! I hope you’re doing well. My word, March was a super month in my world, filled with fun, sunshine and lots to interesting chats with super people. The main highlight of the month was the TexStyle Festival in Manchester city centre. It was the first of its kind and I spent the whole weekend at it – it was amazing!
So, here’s a little round up of the past month in my neck of the woods…
Sunny days
I don’t want to sound like a weather bore, but in amongst the usual damp and grey March days, we enjoyed several beautiful sunny and warm days this month. Fortunately for me, some of them happened on days when I wasn’t working so I was able to enjoy some time out pottering in my garden.
It was lovely to be able to give the back lawn it’s first cut of the year – it was getting very long and tufty in places, and it stayed looking pretty smart for a couple of hours until it returned to being used as a penalty shoot out area again! One day I will have a pristine lawn, but only when my resident footballers have flown the nest, so I’m not wishing my life away.
A Literary Evening Out
In early March I went along to our local bookshop along with a very good friend of mine to hear local author, Helen Gaskell, speak about her first novel. Released at the height of Bridgerton Series 4 fever, her book The Regency Switch involves time travel from the present day, back to the Regency era.
Helen gave a really fascinating talk and we really enjoyed our evening out (on a school night too!).
Thank you Helen for a brilliant evening!
TexStyle Festival 2026
It’s official I was in!It was lovely seeing my friend Christine aka Winwick Mum at TexStyleSome of the work done by Yarn Addicts of Manchester
Oh my, where to begin with TexStyle Festival? What a wonderful weekend of fun, creativity and community!
I was thrilled to be asked to compere the Textile Talks stage at the festival, so I was lucky enough to spend the full two days at Manchester Central, enjoying all that it had to offer. The weekend’s speakers were textile artists, Sophia Gardiner, Stephen West from WestKnits, Amelia Rogers from Amelia Stitches, Gareth from Manchester Wool & Yarn, Debbie Munro from The Lace Knittery & Jane Smith from Japanese Embroidery UK.
Sophia Gardiner at her standStephen West in actionStephen West ready to go on stage
It was a brilliant weekend and I feel really privileged to have been a small part of it all. I took my podcast microphone with me (naturally) and shared an episode all about the weekend.
With Gareth from Manchester Wool & YarnJane Smith from Japanese Embroidery UKAmelia from Amelia Stitches in action
The whole TexStyle experience was a whirlwind, which I still can’t stop thinking about, I had so many lovely conversations with people and look forward to seeing lots of them again in the not too distant future. I’m really grateful to be a part of this super duper community.
Victoria Salmon from Another Knitted ThingAlena Ruth from Manchester Tufting WorkshopsWith the super Debbie Munro who gave 2 talks
My only full length photo of my new cardigan taken in the loos at TexStyle!The back of my Orla Square cardigan
Last month in my Postcard from February, I mentioned that I was working on something using the Orla Squares I had made during my summer craft challenge. The aim was to get a new cardigan made using the squares and I just about managed to get it finished in time for the second day of the TexStyle Festival.
I’m really chuffed with how the cardigan ended up and received some nice compliments about it when I had it on at TexStyle, which is always nice!
Once my cardigan was finished and I had time to hit my WIP pile with determination to tick another WIP off the list, I settled on this Small Bobble Cowl. I started it in January and then it was cast aside for cardigan making. The pattern is by Zeens and Roger and is called the ‘Small Bobble Cowl’, you can find a link to the crochet pattern bundle for cowls designed by Rosina here. I loved making this and used yarn from Kitey aka https://www.yarnwhisperer.co.uk I love the vibrancy of the colours against the cream background yarn. I just hoping when I wear it, I don’t look too much like a children’s TV presenter!
My final make for March was this ‘mini-me’ for my Zumba instructor, Guillaume who left us at the end of the month to concentrate on his other, candle making business.
I can’t tell you how much my Tuesday evenings dancing have meant to me over the past 4 years I’ve been going. They have been the highlight of my week and such a laugh.
If you want to support his business, I can highly recommend his candles, wax melts, diffusers and candle-making classes. All of which leave your nose in raptures of lovely smells! You can find all of Gui’s products at https://malumiere.co.uk
The mini-me is not anatomically correct by the way! I used my fail safe of adapting a pattern from the Carla Mitrani book Crochet Iconic Women.
On Making Stitches Podcast this month…
I kicked off a brand new series of Making Stitches Podcast this month with a chat I had with Katy Mitchell aka Kate’s Crochet Creations.
Katy is a passionate advocate for the Granny Square and has designed hundreds of different ones. She published her first book last year ‘The Granny Square Book’ which is filled with over 100 different designs for you to make your own unique Granny Square projects with.
I have said so much about this festival already in the post, but in case you missed it before, my second episode of the month came out last week and features the brilliant TexStyle Festival. You can listen to it along with all the previous Making Stitches Podcast episodes in all the main podcast places like Apple Podcasts, Spotify etc as well as on my Making Stitches Podcast website.
And that’s it for this month, I hope March was kind to you and that April goes well too. We have the Easter long weekend just around the corner and with it plenty of time to enjoy time with family and my yarn too! Thank you for stopping by to read my latest update.
Hello there! I hope life is treating you well. I am writing this bathed in early spring sunshine which is so welcome after a very grey and damp few weeks we’ve had.
I honestly thought that February had been quite a busy month for me, but when I took a look back at my photos I realised that perhaps it wasn’t as busy as I remembered – or perhaps maybe the busyness wasn’t as photogenic as I’d hoped it was!
One thing which happened (which I have no photos for) was the excitement of a new BBC show being filmed in my local area which was a bit of a thrill. Have you watched Small Prophets? There has been a lot of noise about it locally as some of the filming locations are less than 10 minutes walk from my front door! For those who may not know what I’m banging on about, it’s a show written by Mackenzie Crook (from The Office (the original UK version), Pirates of the Carribean and more recently the TV show Detectorists) about a man whose girlfriend disappeared years ago and he’s effectively waiting for her to return. It’s a really touching story with great actors. I won’t spoil it by saying any more, but it’s a heartwarming story about friendship with a bit of supernatural activity involved and cameo from Michael Palin. Do go and watch it on BBC iplayer if you can – you’ll see one of our local pubs, the street that’s central to the plot and a few other locations around my hometown featuring.
Without further ado here is a rather potted version of what I got up to last month…
A trip over the Pennines
I got the chance to travel over the Pennines to Halifax one weekend to visit a work colleague who I worked with pre children (20+ years ago – eek). In fact, we both went off on maternity leave with our firstborns at the same time. I didn’t go back to that job and I think she then went off and did other things pretty quickly too.
We hadn’t seen each other since a chance get together on the Costa del Sol back when we lived in Gibraltar! It was high time for a catch up, so we chose a spot which was halfway between where we both are now and that spot was Piece Hall in Halifax.
Inside the Visitor Centre
It was so lovely to be back as Piece Hall was somewhere we had visited a few times back in the days before children, Gibraltar and blogging were a thing for me! I arrived a bit early so had a look around the visitor centre first of all. We had the most delicious lunch and put the world to rights before heading off for a mooch around the lovely independent shops which are nestled in amongst the different rooms of the hall.
One of the beautiful gates at one of the entrances to Piece Hall
There was a big exhibition of vintage tractors going on in the central area which had attracted loads of visitors and little ones were entertained with a treasure trail put on for the half term holidays – there was such a vibrant atmosphere, it was really lovely to be back again.
Spring
It certainly feels like Spring is doing its thing in the sunshine today. I just love seeing the first tiny hints of green appearing on branches at this time of the year. I went out for a walk one afternoon during the half term holidays and spied this hawthorn about to burst forth which made me smile. Half terms have taken on a new meaning for me these days. Gone are the days of trying to find activities to keep young ones entertained, and now (thanks to my manager being very flexible) I am often able to work from home during the school holidays so I can be a presence in the house even if I am not ‘off’ work. I was fortunate this time that I was able to take a bit of leave (before the financial year end) and got out and about for a few walks on my own – one teenager was otherwise engaged and the other was revising for exams so I escaped for some fresh air alone!
My Makes in February
I set myself a deadline which I thought would be pretty tough to hit when I started work on my cardigan in January. I wanted it to be finished by the end of February, and I’m thrilled to say I managed it with 2 days to spare – go me! I’m so pleased with how it turned out. I have knitted cables before but never lacework and I really enjoyed seeing how this intricate panel appeared just thanks to some slipped stitches and yarn overs! I shall be dipping my toe back into knitting again before too long, I’m sure of that.
My next make involves the crocheted ‘Orla Squares’ I made during my Summer Craft Challenge last year. I used the project to use up some tiny balls of Scheepjes Catona which I was gifted a box of a while ago (they have been sitting there waiting to be used for quite some time). I determined to only make one square using each of the shades which limited how many squares I could make, but didn’t know what their ultimate use would be.
The planning stage…
Recently, I got to thinking about them again and thought they might make a nice cardigan. I don’t have enough to make an entire cardigan out of them, so think I’ll use them to make the body and have the sleeves with a different design. I’m at the playing with colours stage trying to work out how they will sit alongside each other – random or colour blocked? Only time will tell!
Last month, I was thrilled to be asked to host the Textile Talks stage at the festival! I will be there to introduce the guest speakers including Stephen West from WestKnits, Amelia from Amelia Stitches, Gareth from Manchester Wool & Yarn, Debbie from The Lace Knittery, Laili from Emily Foulds Knits and Charmingo Sews Academy. I simply cannot wait!!
If you would like to come along and enjoy what promises to be a brilliant event, you can find all the information about it here: https://texstyle.uk/
And that just about brings this Monthly Postcard to an end. I promise I will have a more exciting round up by the end of this month – thanks to TexStyle! If you are going to be there, please pop along to the talks stage and say hello!
Until next time, have a great month and look after yourself!
Hello there! I hope 2026 is treating you kindly so far. It’s been a pretty good month for us, no dramas, no insurmountable problems and despite people calling January the longest month of the year – I think it’s sped by pretty quickly. I wasn’t really ready for it to come to an end, but it has and here I am with my first monthly postcard of the year.
Here’s a little snapshot of what I have been up to so far this year…
A cold start to the month
Our first snowy dusting of the year
I know some places around the UK and further afield have experienced some very cold and snowy weather of late. As usual, in my part of the world – which is renowned for its dampness – we have had a rather cold snap but not so much of the white stuff. I always get excited when I see a flurry of snowflakes coming down, it immediately transports me back to being a child again. Unfortunately for the children (and some of the grown ups) in my part of Manchester, there certainly wasn’t enough for snowmen this month!
We did experience some very cold weather in the first week of the year though, unfortunately for us, it coincided with our central heating boiler going on the blink. Youngest had a football match on the first Sunday of the month, in minus 6 weather. It was bitterly cold, but thanks to the fact it was being played on a very smart, state-of-the-art artificial pitch, it was the only game that week in their league which wasn’t called off.
Despite wearing thermal leggings and top under my usual clothes, with two pairs of socks, double coat and hat, I wimped out and ran back to the car to get the heaters on at half time, this picture shows the payers heading back onto the pitch after the shortest half time I’ve ever experienced. Clearly everyone wanted to get it over and done with and get back to warm houses! I had enough time to walk to the car, turn on the ignition and then it was time to go back out into the cold again!
We ended up going home to a cold house as our boiler had stopped working. Thankfully, some of the football parents had spare electric heaters which they leant to us until we could get it fixed (a faulty sensor apparently). It was a stark reminder that without central heating it can be very cold, and for those who struggle to pay for heating, it must be very bleak indeed.
100 episodes of Making Stitches Podcast
I can hardly believe I’m writing this, but at the start of January, I released episode number 100 of Making Stitches Podcast. It was a bit different this time, as my friend Christine Perry aka Winwick Mum offered to interview me! It was lovely having a chat with Christine, we talked about how I got into my crafty passions as well as my broadcasting experiences and my previous podcast, Gibraltar Stories.
It was a bit out of my comfort zone at first, I normally like to be the one asking the questions! But Christine was very gentle with me and was an excellent podcast host! If you haven’t listened yet, you can find it in all the usual podcast places (by searching for Making Stitches Podcast) – you can also find it here, on the Making Stitches Podcast website.
Also this month, my podcast host (Buzzsprout) sent me a lovely recap of the year. It was filled with stats about 2025 for Making Stitches and I was floored to hear that last year, it was listened to in 156 countries & territories around the world!! That’s just a little bit bonkers isn’t it??
Another birthday!
I celebrated my birthday this month, and was spoiled by Eldest who sent these beautiful flowers to me through the post. They were super. I felt very appreciated.
Our approach to Manchester CathedralReady for the show to beginDuring the amazing show!
Also for my birthday, my lovely parents took me to see an amazing show at Manchester Cathedral called Luminisence. It was incredible. We arrived knowing very little about what to expect and found some chairs at the back. Slowly the cathedral began to fill with people and then the music started. It was a stunning performance of so many great tunes by a gospel choir with the stunning backdrop of Manchester Cathedral illuminated by a light show. Lights and moving pictures were projected onto the walls and ceiling while the music played along with a narration by the actor, Christopher Eccleston talking about the history of the city and the cathedral itself. If you get the chance to go, I highly recommend it – it was stunning.
January makes
One of my lovely colleagues at work celebrated a big birthday recently. I felt it warranted a mini-me to be made so knocked this little lady up. I used Carla Mitrani’s Crochet Iconic Women book as the basis for the pattern. I love this book and have made so many gifts for special people using the patterns in it.
This gorgeous book was a birthday present to myself. The Crochet Stitch Companion by Anna Nikipirowicz. I want to try to get to grips with mosaic crochet this year, and thought this was a good place to start.
When it arrived through the post, it came wrapped up with this cute crocheted flower and a tea bag! Never before have I received such a beautifully presented book through the post.
Also this month, I managed to get around to getting these hearts off to the North West & North Wales Paediatric Transport Service. The service has an appeal for yarny hearts (knitted or crocheted will do). They ask for 3 matching hearts, one for the patient (a child) and one for each parent, so if they have to be separated from each other during the journey they are on, or at their destination, they will all have a matching heart to keep hold of.
And I’ve been knitting! I got a voucher at Christmas for my favourite yarn shop, Black Sheep Wools, so popped along and spent it on a pattern, some yarn and new needles. I have set myself a tight deadline of mid March for two new cardigans, one knitted (see picture) and another one which is crocheted. Do you think I’ll manage to hit the deadline? Only time will tell.
Miles for Meals
The view from the top of Rivington PikeMy frosty birthday morning runMy final walk on 31st Jan taking me to my target
I didn’t really start the year with any resolutions, but I did set myself the target of walking or running 104km this month. At my work (FareShare Greater Manchester) we are trying to raise £25,000 to replace one of our delivery vans which have a habit of breaking down. We use those vans to get food out to the charities and community groups which we support with surplus food. I pledged to walk or run the distance of one of those delivery routes – the one from our base in Openshaw to Atherton and Wigan which is around 65 miles long or 104 km.
I set out on my Miles for Meals mission in the first few days of the year. We traveled to Rivington which is just a stone’s throw from the Atherton and Wigan delivery route and climbed to the top of Rivington Pike. It was a cold and sunny day and we could see as far as Manchester city centre, the mountains of North Wales, Liverpool docks, Blackpool tower and the mountains of the southern Lake District from the top of the hill. It was stunning.
Since then, my walks and runs haven’t been quite as picturesque and were often after dark, but I did manage a morning run on my birthday which was frosty and sunny and then yesterday, on my final day, I woke up with another 10km still to cover, so I set off on a solo walk from our home to a lovely riverside coffee shop beside the River Mersey and back again – a round trip of 10.5km which took about 2 hours to complete. I can safely say I have completed my mission and should you like to contribute to my fundraising efforts, you can find my Just Giving page here.
Thank you!
And that brings me to a close. Thank you for joining me on this jaunt back through the last 31 days! I’m hoping to maintain this throughout the year with a monthly postcard – something I failed to do last year, but we’ll see how it goes.
I hope that February is kind to you and I look forward to seeing what it has in store for us!
I hope you had a peaceful and happy Chtistmas time. I’ve been a bit quiet on here lately owning to being very busy. I am hoping to be around here a little more often in future if life allows!
I’m looking forward to sharing some posts about the last few months including a fabulous visit back to Gibraltar in autumn in the coming weeks all being well.
Gibraltar in October 2025
Before then though, I wanted to let you know about a very special Making Stitches Podcast episode which is out tomorrow – Episode 100!
Before then though, I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has read my posts, sent me comments and messages, listened to my podcast and joined in with the Making Stitches 2025 CAL this year. You have made it a very special one for me as I celebrated 10 years of this blog (previous Postcard from Gibraltar) and now Making Stitches.
So we are in the midst of December already, and I thought I would share what I did with my Making Stitches 2025 CAL squares. Once I had laid them all out, I realised that 15 squares didn’t make for a great blanket shape. As I had gone to the trouble of designing 3 extra squares this year in addition to the 12 monthly ones, I decided to use them all.
Throughout this CAL I’ve been using my stash of Stylecraft Special DK yarn to make up all of my squares, and this square is no different. In a bid to use some of my brighter coloured yarn, I opted to be inspired by highlighter pens – well this CAL and the people I have ‘met’ through creating it have truly been a highlight of this year for me, so why not?
I have included the names and numbers of the shades I’ve used in case you want to replicate what I have done exactly, but you can use any yarn you like. The only thing you need to do is make sure it’s all the same weight, ie all DK or all Aran or whatever yarn you choose, and if you are making the whole project along with me, make sure all your squares are made using the same weight and the same size of crochet hook to make sure they all measure the same size so they can be joined together easily at the end.
Here’s the pattern for my Bonus 2025 Making Stitches 2025 CAL square!
Bonus 2025 Square
Using Stylecraft Special DK:
(A) Black (1002)
(B) Silver (1203)
(C) Turquoise (1068)
(D) Bright Green (1259)
(E) Jaffa (1256)
(F) Bright Pink (1435)
Size 4mm crochet hook
Scissors
Stitch Marker
Yarn Needle
A small amount of toy filling
Abbreviations (in UK terms): BBL = Bobble Stitch, blo = work in back loop only, ch = chain, dc = double crochet, dc2tog = double crochet 2 together, dc3tog = double crochet 3 together, dtr = double treble crochet, fyo = final yarn over, htr = half treble crochet, mc = magic circle / magic ring, rep = repeat, RS = right side, slst = slip stitch, st = stitch, tr = treble crochet.
To make a 5 Tr Bobble: Bobble coloured yarn over hook (eg Red for the first fairy light), insert hook into st, yarn over, pull up loop, yarn over, draw through 2 loops on hook – repeat this another 4 times so you have 6 loops on your hook and all are worked into the same st. Yarn over with Black yarn (Fairy lights wire colour) and pull through all of the Red loops to close the bobble. Chain 1 to lock the bobble closed. If the bobble is poking through the back of the work, gently poke it back through to the front. [When you come to work the next round, make sure you work into the first st (the one that was pulled through all the loops and leave the 1ch unworked.
To make the square:
Using Yarn A, make a MC. Round 1 Ch2 (not counted as a st throughout), 12 tr into MC. Slst into top of ch2 to close the round. Pull the central yarn tail tight to close MC. (12tr)
Round 2 Ch2, 2tr into each st around. Slst into the top of the ch2. (24tr)
Round 1Round 2Round 3
Round 3 Ch1, (2dc in first st, 1dc in next st), rep around. Slst into top of Ch2 (36dc)
Round 4 Ch2, (2tr in first st, 1tr in next 2 sts) around. Slst into top of ch2. (48tr)
Round 4Round 5Round 6
Round 5 Ch1, (2dc in first st, 1dc into next 3 sts) rep around, slst into the top of the ch1 to close the square. (60 dc)
Round 6 Ch1, (1dc in next 3 sts, 1htr in next 2 sts, 1tr in next 2 sts, 1dtr + 2ch + 1dtr in next st, 1tr in next 2 sts, 1htr in next 2 sts, 1dc in next 3 sts) rep around. Fasten off and break yarn.
Round 7Round 8Round 9
Round 7 Join Yarn B into any st. Work 1dc into every st around and 1dc ch2 1dc into every corner space. Slst to top of 1ch. Fasten off and break yarn. (72dc)
Round 8 With Yarn A, join into the blo of the final st of one of the sides of the square, 2ch 1htr into every st around working 1htr 2ch 1htr into each corner space. (80 htr)
Round 9 Ch1, 1dc in every st around plus 1dc + 2ch + 1dc into each corner space. Slst into top of first Ch1. (88 dc)
Creating first bobble in Round 10First side of Round 10 completeRound 10 complete
Round 10 Ch1 & 1dc in same st, 1dc 2ch 1dc into corner space and work 1dc into first 3 sts of the next side changing to Yarn C with fyo, make a 5tr BBL into the next st using Yarn C, change to Yarn A with fyo of BBL, with Yarn A, work 1dc into next 4 sts changing to Yarn D with fyo, with Yarn D make a 5tr BBL into next st, change back to Yarn A with fyo of BBL, using Yarn A work 1dc into next 4 sts changing to Yarn E in fyo, with Yarn E make a BBL into next st changing back to Yarn A in fyo of BBL, work 1dc into next 4 sts changing to Yarn F in fyo, with Yarn F make a BBL changing back to Yarn A in fyo of BBL, 1dc in remaining 3 sts of side, 1dc + 2ch +1dc into corner space repeat this process around the remaining 3 sides, slst into top of 1ch to close round. (Total of 80 dc and 16 bobbles).
Round 11Round 12Round 9 complete
Round 11 Continuing with Yarn A, ch1 & 1dc into same st, 1dc into every st around (being careful to only make 1dc into the top of each BBL) plus 1dc + 2ch + 1dc into each corner space. Slst into top of 1ch to close round. (104 dc)
Round 12 Ch1 & 1dc into acme st, 1dc into every st around and 1dc + 2ch + 1dc into each corner space. Slst into top of 1ch to close round. Fasten off and break yarn. (112 dc)
Round 13 Join Yarn B in any st, ch1 and 1dc into that st, work 1dc into every st around and 1dc + 2ch + 1dc into every corner space. Fasten off and break yarn. (120 dc)
To make the numbers:
The numbers!Numbers ready to be sewn onAll done!
Number 2 (Make 2) With Yarn D & Yarn F, Ch 17, 2dc in 2nd ch from hook, 2dc in next 3 ch, 1dc in next 5 ch, dc2tog, dc2tog, 1dc in next 3 ch. Fasten off.
Number 0 (Make 1) With Yarn E, Ch 16, then work into the first chain you made in order to close the loop making sure you don’t twist the chain, 2dc in that first ch, 2dc into the next 4 ch, 1dc into next 3 ch, 2dc into next 5 ch, 1dc into next 3 ch. Slst into top of first dc to close round. Fasten off.
Number 5 (Make 1) With Yarn C, Ch 20, 1dc in 2nd ch from hook, 1dc in next 3 ch, dc3tog, 1dc in next 2 ch, dc3tog, 2dc in next 7 ch. Fasten off.
Once you have woven the ends in from your numbers, place them in the centre of your square and once you are happy with their placement, sew them securely onto it.
That’s your Bonus 2025 square finished! Time to join the squares all together.
How I joined my squares:
Once I’d completed all of my square and they had all been blocked, I realised that in order to do a 3tr cluster join-as-you go, I would need a different stitch count to make the joining rows evenly spaced. By adding a 14th round to each square gave me the basis for this particular join-as-you go method.
Round 14 With Yarn B, Ch1, 1dc into every st around (1dc + 2ch + 1dc into corner spaces), slst into top of first st to close round. Fasten off and break yarn. (128 dc)
Once all 16 squares had Round 14 added, it was time to get cracking with the joining. I am not a fan of sewing when it comes to crochet, so if at all possible I will join any pieces I have by crocheting them together. In order to do this, it’s helpful to have a plan of how you are going to do this. Below is my plan for joining the squares. I started at number 1 (highlighted in red) and followed along each side as shown with the arrows.
Join-as-you-go plan (JAYG)
Begin at the bottom left hand side of square number 1, work 3tr cluster in corner square, (miss next 2 sts, and work another 3tr cluster) rep along bottom of square to corner. Work 3tr cluster + 2ch + 3tr cluster into corner space and continue in the same fashion up to to the top of the 2nd side. At this point we need to join to square number 2. Ch1 and then work 3tr cluster into the corner space of square number 2 as shown in 3rd photo below.
Start of JAYGReady to join to square 2First 3tr cluster of square 2
At this stage, take your hook out of the loop and put it through the gap between the last 2 tr clusters on square one. Pull the loop up through that gap, miss the next 2 sts and work a 3tr cluster into the next st. Continue down the side making sure you pull your loop through the gaps on the side of square 1 until you reach the bottom corner. In the corner work a 3tr cluster, ch 2 remove loop from hook and pull it through the corner ch space on square 1 before making a 2nd 3tr cluster in that corner space on square 2 then continue along the bottom of square 2 as shown in the JAYG plan above as arrow 4.
Turn the corner of square 2 as you did on square 1 and work back up to the top before joining square 3 in the same fashion. Repeat the process to join Square 4 but once you have worked along the bottom of square 4 (arrow 10), you need to slst into the top of the first st of the first 3tr cluster, then turn your work to join square 5 along the bottom edge.
Joining square 5 into opposite cornerJoining the 4th corner to opposite corner4 corner join complete
When you reach the end of the top of square 5, in the corner space work 3tr cluster ch 1, take loop off hook and pull it through the opposite corner on square 3, ch1 and work 2nd 3tr cluster in the corner space of square 5 before working back down the side edge of square 5 (arrow 12). Join square 6 and work back up to the top right hand corner of square 6 before joining the final 4th corner to the opposite corner space as shown above.
Continue joining the 6th, 7th & 8th squares as shown in the plan above, then work along the bottom of all 4 squares before embarking on square 9 as detailed in the plan.
Once you have joined all your squares, work back along the bottom edge (arrow 34), up the side (arrow 35), along the top (arrow 36) and back down to where you began on the bottom left corner of square 1 (arrow 37). In the corner space, work 3tr cluster, ch2 and slst into the top of the first st.
Fasten off and weave in all your ends. After this, I worked another 3 rounds of 3tr clusters then changed to a darker grey (Graphite 1063) for a round of 1dc around.
My border
And that truly is it for this Making Stitches 2025 CAL. I’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has joined in with this, my first ever CAL. It’s been a real learning experience for me and one which has been such a lot of fun. I’m thrilled that together we have made it through to the finish – there’s nothing more satisfying than having a finished project!
So as this year comes to a close, thank you for keeping me company throughout 2025 with this fun crochet adventure. I am not going to be starting a new CAL in January for next year, I think I need a little break to give my brain room to ponder some ideas I have for future crochet projects, but as soon as I’m ready to share my next crochet adventure with you, I will let you know!
Have a lovely Christmas and I hope 2026 brings you lots of happiness & creativity.
Happy hooking,
Lindsay x
PS If you do decide to make a Bonus 2025 Square, or for that matter, any of the Making Stitches 2025 CAL square, please, if you share it online, I would love it if you could use the hashtag #MakingStitches2025CAL so I can see any squares when they appear!
Well here we are on 1st December! I’m so thrilled to have been able to share this 2025 Crochet Along with you all year. It genuinely doesn’t feel like long ago that I thought, during that time between Christmas and New Year, that I would like to host a monthly crochet along. I wondered whether I’d be able to sustain it, or whether anyone would be interested in and join in. I’m so glad I had a go and didn’t listen to my inner doubts as it’s been a lot of fun and it’s been so lovely to be able to share it with you.
Part 12, follows the same sort of pattern as the 11 preceding monthly squares with a circular pattern at its heart and a border to reflect the time of year. My December centre is a traditional Christmas wreath and my border this time is inspired by Christmas lights – particularly the loud, gaudy coloured ones we had on our tree when I was a child growing up in the late 70s and 80s.
The whole point of this 2025 CAL has been to create a fun way of stash busting to help you get rid of some of your odds and ends of yarn left over from previous projects. I am certainly using it for that purpose!
I have made my squares using my own stash of Stylecraft Special DK yarns and I will include the names and numbers of the shades I’ve used in case you want to replicate what I have done exactly, but you can use any yarn you like. The only thing you need to do is make sure it’s all the same weight, ie all DK or all Aran or whatever yarn you choose, and if you are making the whole project along with me, make sure all your squares are made using the same weight and the same size of crochet hook to make sure they all measure the same size so they can be joined together easily at the end.
In addition to the Stylecraft Special DK I also used some glittery gold coloured yarn from my stash which is called Sparkle by Claire in Glam Gold (003).
Here’s the pattern for my December Making Stitches 2025 CAL square!
December : Christmas Decorations
Using Stylecraft Special DK:
(A) Cypress (1824)
(B) Green (1116)
(C) Poppy (2170)
(D) Gold yarn – Sparkle by Claire in Glam Gold (003)
(E) Black (1002)
(F) Citron (1263)
(G) Aster (1003)
(H) Jaffa (1256)
Size 4mm crochet hook
Scissors
Stitch Marker
Yarn Needle
A small amount of toy filling
Abbreviations (in UK terms): BBL = Bobble Stitch, blo = work in back loop only, ch = chain, dc = double crochet, dtr = double treble crochet, fyo = final yarn over, htr = half treble crochet, mc = magic circle / magic ring, rep = repeat, RS = right side, slst = slip stitch, st = stitch, tr = treble crochet.
To make a 5 Tr Bobble: Bobble coloured yarn over hook (eg Red for the first fairy light), insert hook into st, yarn over, pull up loop, yarn over, draw through 2 loops on hook – repeat this another 4 times so you have 6 loops on your hook and all are worked into the same st. Yarn over with Black yarn (Fairy lights wire colour) and pull through all of the Red loops to close the bobble. Chain 1 to lock the bobble closed. If the bobble is poking through the back of the work, gently poke it back through to the front. [When you come to work the next round, make sure you work into the first st (the one that was pulled through all the loops and leave the 1ch unworked.
To make the square:
Using Yarn A, make a MC. Round 1 Ch2 (not counted as a st throughout), 12 tr into MC. Slst into top of ch2 to close the round. Pull the central yarn tail tight to close MC. (12tr)
Round 2 Ch2, 2tr into each st around. Slst into the top of the ch2. Put this stitch onto a stitch marker. (24tr)
Round 2 completeRound 3A completeRound 4A
Round 3A Join Yarn B into flo of first st and working in the flo around this round, ch2, (2tr in first st, 1tr in next st), rep around. Slst into top of Ch2 (36tr)
Round 4A Ch2, (2tr in first st, 1tr in next 2 sts) around. Slst into top of ch2. Fasten off and break yarn. (48tr)
Round 3B Remove the stitch marker at the end of Round 2, ch2 and working into blo of 1st st, ch2, (2htr in first st, 1htr in next st) rep around. Slst into top of ch2. (36 htr)
Round 4B Ch2, (2htr in first st, 1htr in next two sts) rep around. Slst into top of ch2. (48 htr)
Round 5 You will be joining the front wreath section (Round 4A) and background (Round 4B) together in this round, and you can add a small amount of toy filling between the layers to make the ring stand proud if you want to.
Continuing to work with Yarn A, ch1, work 2dc into the first sts of both Round 4A & 4B, then 1dc into next 3 sts, (2dc in first st, 1dc into next 3 sts) rep around, slst into the top of the ch1 to close the square. (60 dc)
Round 6 completeRound 6 completed & bow componentsBow ready to be attached
Round 6 With Yarn A ch1, 1dc in next 3 sts, 1htr in next 2 sts, 1tr in next 2 sts, 1dtr + 2ch + 1dtr in next st, 1tr in next 2 sts, 1htr in next 2 sts, 1dc in next 6 sts, 1htr in next 2 sts, 1tr in next 2 sts, 1dtr + 2ch + 1dtr in next st, 1tr in next 2 sts, 1htr in next 2 sts, 1dc in next 3 sts changing to Yarn B in fyo of 3rd st, with Yarn B 1dc in next 3 sts, 1htr in next 2 sts, 1tr in next 2 sts, 1dtr + 2ch + 1dtr in next st, 1tr in next 2 sts, 1htr in next 2 sts, 1dc in next 6 sts, 1htr in next 2 sts, 1tr in next 2 sts, 1dtr + 2ch + 1dtr in next st, 1tr in next 2 sts, 1htr in next 2 st, 1dc in next 3 sts slst into top of ch1 to close round. Fasten off and break yarn.
Make bow: With yarn C, Ch31, 1dc in 2nd ch from hook and work 1dc into the remain chains. (30dc) Turn, ch1 and work 1dc into each st. Fasten off and break yarn. Then ch9, 1dc in 2nd ch from hook, 1dc along the ch. Turn, ch1 and work 1dc into each st. Fasten off and break yarn. Arrange the longer strip to look like a bow with 2 loops, then wrap the shorter strip around the centre to look like the knot and stitch it into place securely. Then sew the bow to the wreath.
Round 7 completeRound 8
Round 7 Join Yarn D into any st. Work 1dc into every st around and 1dc ch2 1dc into every corner space. Slst to top of 1ch. Fasten off and break yarn. (72dc)
Round 8 With Yarn A, join into the blo of the final st of one of the sides of the square, ch2 & 1tr in the blo of that st, in corner space work 1tr + 2ch + 1tr, then working in the blo around, continue with (1dtr, 1tr, 1htr, 1dc, 1htr, 1tr,) and repeat to penultimate st of each side, work 1tr into final st, and 1tr +2ch +1tr into the corner space. Repeat around and slst into the top of the ch2 at the start of the round. Fasten of and break yarn. (80 sts)
Beginning of Round 9Beginning first bobble6 loops on the hookFirst fairy light madeFirst side of Round 9Round 9 complete
Round 9 With Yarn E, join in the blo of the final st of one of the sides, ch2 & 1dc into that st, 1dc + 2ch + 1dc into corner space, and work 1dc into first st of the next side. Make a 5tr bobble into the next st using Yarn C, change to Yarn E in fyo of BBL and close the bobble (see instructions above if you are unfamiliar with bobbles). Using Yarn E, work 1dc into blo of next 2 sts changing to Yarn F in fyo then work BBL into next st changing back to Yarn E in fyo of BBL, with Yarn E 1dc into blo of next 2 sts changing to Yarn G with fyo, BBL using Yarn G changing back to Yarn E in fyo of BBL, using Yarn E work 1dc into blo of next 2 sts changing to Yarn H in fyo, BBL into next st using Yarn H changing back to Yarn E with fyo. repeat this process across row until you have 7 BBLS of alternating colour and end with 1dc in blo of last st, 1dc + 2ch =1dc into corner space and repeat around following the colour sequence of the BBLs, slst into the top of the first st to close the round. Fasten off and break yarn. (60 dc & 28 bobbles).
Start of Round 10Round 10 complete
Round 10 Join Yarn A into the last st of one of the sides. Ch2 1htr into same st, 1htr + 2ch + 1htr into corner space, 1htr into next st, (1htr in next st, 1dc in next st, 1htr in next st, 1tr in next st, 1dtr in next st, 1tr in next st) rep along that side, 1dc + 2ch + 1dc into the corner space. NB: You will be working the dc and dtr stitches into the top of the BBLs). Rep around, slst into the top of the first st to close the round. (96 dc)
Round 11Round 12Round 13
Round 11 Join Yarn D in any st, ch1 and 1dc into that st, work 1dc into every st around and 1dc + 2ch + 1dc into every corner space. Fasten off and break yarn. (104 dc)
Round 12 Join Yarn A into any st, rep Round 11 but do not fasten off. (112 dc)
Round 13 Ch1, 1dc into every st around (1dc + 2ch + 1dc into corner spaces), slst into top of first st to close round. Fasten off and break yarn. (120 dc)
By the way – I can only apologise for all the ends you will need to sew in after making the multi-coloured fairy lights!
Finally, you can embellish your wreath with French knots made using the golden yarn.
And that is your 12 Making Stitches 2025 CAL squares all finished. But I couldn’t just stop there…. in total I had designed 15 squares including the two July squares, the Bonus Birthday Square and the International Granny Square day bonus square. 15 doesn’t make for a nice shaped blanket though. I thought I’d like to make a blanket using all of my squares so that called out for an extra bonus square and I simply had to have one to mark the year we went on this yarny adventure together! So, the 2025 Bonus Square was born.
I look forward to sharing the Bonus 2025 square pattern with you next weekend along with details of how I have been joining all of my squares together using a sewing free method. I can’t wait to share this final instalment of the Making Stitches 2025 CAL with you next weekend! In the meantime, happy hooking, and I hope you enjoy making your December Christmas Decorations Square.
Lindsay x
PS If you do decide to make an December Christmas Decorations Square, please, if you share it online, I would love it if you could use the hashtag #MakingStitches2025CAL so I can see any squares when they appear!
