Hello there, well that’s the first week of the school summer holidays done in our house and that means week one of my Summer Craft Challenge is done too.
It’s been a really rather special one for me – I’ve been doing this every summer since 2016 (except during 2020) and occasionally other people have joined in here and there. It was primarily a way to give me a focus during the long summer school break (10 weeks long back then when we lived in Gibraltar) with 3 young men to look after and entertain. It had the benefit of reminding me that being creative is good for my mental health and it’s so easy to become overwhelmed with all the things which need to be done at the cost of carving out a little time for yourself.
Back when I started, I invited people to join me and never before has it been so whole heartedly done – thank you so much to everyone who has tagged along with me!
Here’s a little look back at this week in craft..
Day One
This time last week, we were in beautiful Grasmere in the Lake District visiting our good friends who live up that way. School finished the day before and we headed straight up to Cumbria that afternoon. We woke up, had breakfast and headed to the Mere for a morning out on the water. We all took a turn kayaking and while I waited for mine, I sat on the shore hooking! We even had a visit from an inquisitive duck!
Crocheting by the water at Grasmere
Day Two
Still in the Lakes, we hiked to Elterwater for a wonderful Sunday lunch in a hotel – it was delicious and all the more tasty thanks to our walk to get it! I took my yarn and hook with me to get some more al fresco crochet in – it ended up being crochet on the move as we caught the bus from Elterwater to Ambleside after lunch.
Elterwater
Day Three
We traveled back home on Sunday and I took Monday off seeing as it was the first proper day of the holidays. There were lots of jobs to do, as is always the case after a trip away so the first chance I had to sit down and do something creative was after dark! I’m hoping to finish this Tin Can Knits top down jumper I’ve been working on since before Christmas at some point this summer. I’ll keep you posted!
Day Four
Another busy day. Back at work but did manage a bit of knitting while there was still light in the sky!
Day Five
I ditched the yarn this evening and blew the dust off my sewing machine to repurpose an old unwearable school shirt into something new – a couple of little cushions for a project I’m working on.
Day Six
That project I was making the cushions for is finished. It’s a gift so I can only share a sneak peak and this is it. Once it’s been gifted, I promise I’ll show you what it is!
Day Seven
Today, I thought I’d crack out a new project I’ve been saving for this very purpose – the Mischievous Magpie MAL (Yarn by Kitey from The Yarn Whisperer & pattern by Heather from Keep Calm & Crochet On).
I got over excited and went a bit hell for leather on the yarn winding and got myself into a bit of a pickle. I was unraveling hours later as I watched the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games! I’m pleased to say I got there in the end…
Join the challenge!
So, as I said before, quite a few people joined me this week. You can see some of that creativity above – what a thrill! Thank you to you all for tagging along.
If you fancy joining in, please do, there are no rules. Just take a photo of your moment of creativity and post it on Instagram with the hashtag #SummerCraftChallenge2024
Hello there! I hope you’re doing ok. True to form, here is a ‘Postcard from June’ coming to you two thirds of the way through July.
Back in the day, when I first started this blog under the name of Postcard from Gibraltar, I was a stay at home mum of three young men. Now I am a working mum of three young men with a podcast to make and crochet commissions to complete too, so despite my best intentions, time can run away with me. It frustrates me sometimes when I realise I have failed my own self imposed deadlines, but then I stop and think about the fact that there are only so many hours in the day and I can give myself a break every now and again.
So, without a guilty conscience on my part, here is a little look back at June in my world.
Talking of giving myself a break…
Langdale YHA first thing in the morning…
The top photo is of the calm before the crowds arrived at a very good friend’s 50th birthday party at the start of the month. They moved from our home town of Manchester a couple of years ago up to the Lake District, a dream of theirs which they decided to just do rather than thinking about it any longer.
They live in a little slice of gorgeousness and love to share it with family and friends, hence the invitation for a jolly good knees up to celebrate the significant birthday. The party spilled out into the driveway which they share with lovely neighbours (who also came to the party) and a brilliant time was had by all – even the weather behaved. It was a truly brilliant celebration.
I went along without the young men in my life in tow and spent the whole time chatting to old friends and having a good laugh. That night, as we all made our way to our various overnight lodgings, I headed over the (rather large) nearby hill to Langdale YHA, my bed for the night. The photo immediately above is the view from the youth hostel first thing the following morning. I got myself a coffee and sat out on the veranda admiring the view and the peace and quiet while I waited for breakfast.
What bliss it was, a mini 24-hour-long holiday in the sunshine with lovely friends. I caught a lift down to Windermere later that morning to catch another lift back to Manchester and my boys. While I waited for the second lift back home, I sat on the shore of Lake Windermere with my crochet… it doesn’t get better than this!
What a place to sit an crochet, while contemplating life!
Such a beautiful place to visit…..
The longest day…
This photo was taken after 11pm on 21st June, the longest day of the year. Despite being on this planet for 50 years already, it never ceases to amaze me that within the matter of a few months, we can go from living in near darkness from around 3:30pm in the depths of winter to still having light in the sky so late on in the middle of summer.
Having had lots of holidays north of the border, I am aware that the days are much longer up there, but this still impressed me!
I have a greenhouse!
One of my oldest friends is having a garden rejig which includes upgrading her mini greenhouse to a full sized greenhouse. That meant her old one needed a new home. So imagine the scene as, along with the help of my two eldest boys, we walked the greenhouse round from her house to mine (some of the journey was spent with me actually in it holding it up – arms above my head – in a Fred Flintstone feet through the bottom of the car style with one son at the front walking backwards and another son taking the weight at the back) it must have been quite a sight for the neighbours between our two homes. On a ‘normal’ day the walk is just over 5 minutes. It took a bit longer than that with a few breaks to rest our arms along the way. I had a giggle, even if the boys died a little bit inside at their crazy mother’s schemes….
Anyway, it is now happily residing up the side of our house (where the sun reaches in the morning and again, mid to late afternoon) and is home to three tomato plants and a sweet pepper plant. I shall keep you posted on any updates on their fruiting – fingers crossed!
A trip down memory lane
At the end of the month, Keele University celebrated its 75th birthday. It’s the place where I spent an incredibly happy three years, meeting life-long friends and the man I married. There was a special open day to celebrate the milestone and former students and local residents were invited along to wander round the campus. I took two of my boys down to see it for the first time. It was lovely to retrace the footsteps of my much younger self!
Keele Hall, where I spent many hours studying English Literature
My design in print
In a month of lots of lovely things, this was probably the most exciting… for the first time ever I got to see my own design in print in a magazine. I designed and made this canal boat art inspired bottle holder for Inside Crochet (my first design for them) and it even made it onto the front cover!!
It was such a thrill to see my design photographed by a professional and presented so beautifully – thank you so much Inside Crochet!!
And that brings, this latest Postcard to an end. But, before I go….
Anyone fancy a Summer Craft Challenge?
As I mentioned at the top of this post, my time is tight right now. I remember back in the summer of 2016, as my boys’ schools in Gibraltar broke up for the long summer break, I wondered how I would survive with three young men for a 10-week-long ‘holiday’. I decided to set myself a challenge that no matter how busy or hectic or tiring a day was, I had to carve out a little bit of ‘me’ time to be creative. It didn’t matter if it was just 15 minutes of crochet late at night when everyone was in bed, or a lazy afternoon hooking some granny squares sitting on a deck chair on the beach.
Each day I took a photo of my little creative moment and wrote a blog post each week to talk about what I was making. It really worked you know, rather than spending weeks too busy to ‘make’ and getting grumpier and grumpier as time went on, I managed to carve out a little bit of creativity and it worked wonders.
Tomorrow, school comes to an end for my youngest, and this year, for the first time since being a Mum, I have a job which takes me out of the house to an office and I have a bigger juggle than ever to fit everything in. No better time then surely to make sure I have a window of creativity each day to keep me on an even keel. So, I have thrown myself the gauntlet of attempting to create that space each day and document it as I go along. Summer Craft Challenge 2024 is a matter of hours away.
Care to join me? If so, please post the photos of your summer creativity and use the hashtag #SummerCraftChallenge2024 and join the creative fun! I’d love to have your company on this summer adventure!
Until next time, look after yourself and enjoy your creativity!
