Month: August 2024

Summer Craft Challenge 2024: Week Five

~ Making Stitches ~ Leave a comment

Hello there! I hope the summer’s treating you well. I’m writing this sitting in an armchair overlooking the water and across to the Isle of Bute on the west coast of Scotland. The picture above shows how I started the week (on a walk in Cheshire) and how I ended it (on a ferry from Gourock to Dunoon). Just look at the colours in those two photos – they would make a fab blanket don’t you think?

Anyway, back to the challenge for this week…

Day 29 – Saturday 17th August

Day 29 meant just a little time for a bit of knitting & a beer after a fun day with friends including a visit to Manchester Art Gallery & one of the nicest pizzas I’ve ever eaten in Manchester city centre.

Day 30 – Sunday 18th August

Crochet while playing monopoly can be dangerous… like missing when someone lands on your property and they keep quiet about it…

Day 30 of my #SummerCraftChallenge2024 an evening of playing monopoly after a lovely day with friends including that walk in Cheshire I was telling you about before.

Day 31 – Monday 19th August

Back working on my #MagpieMAL this evening after work. Completed section 6 and attempted to begin section 7 but had too many people talking to me to be able to count stitches, so ended up frogging that bit. Shall wait for a quiet moment before trying again!

Day 32 – Tuesday 20th August

I realised as I was writing this post that although I did take this photo on Day 32 I forgot to post it on Instagram at the time – whoops! I did find that quiet moment I was seeking the day before and managed to restart that section I had to frog. Hurrah!

Day 33 – Wednesday 21st August

As of lunchtime on Wednesday, I was officially ‘on holiday’ hurrah!

I spent a very happy hour playing with my @stylecraftyarns Special DK stash in the afternoon, so I have a new WIP to play with while I’m away with my family on holiday.

I’m hoping this means I will be able to share a few more inspiring al fresco crochet and knitting photos while I’m away!

Day 33 of my #SummerCraftChallenge2024 completed in an array of colour! 🌈

Day 34 – Thursday 22nd August

Day 34 of my #SummerCraftChallenge2024 was mainly dominated by GCSE results in our house. I’m pleased to say it was good news – phew! Sending best wishes to everyone else who was involved in such things. It’s an emotional time whether they bring positive or negative news.

Aside from that there were Granny Squares a plenty and the start of a new WIP for my holiday project.

Day 35 – Friday 23rd August

I had a very happy half an hour knitting at the hairdressers getting my holiday hair cut and to hide the silver which keeps appearing.

Do you take your craft projects to the hairdressers? I always do. They’ve stopped asking if I want a magazine to read now as they know I always have something in my bag ready to whip out!

The Summer Craft Challenge 2024 at large!

My word what a creative week it’s been for those of you joining me with the Summer Craft Challenge this year. There’s been slow stitching, sock knitting, blankets and plenty and this stunning embroidery of summer 2024 memories!

I’m still so thrilled that I’ve got company on this creative wander through the summer and so it’s so inspiring to see such lovely work! Thank you all for joining in Marisa @mariwish, Sandra @wilddaffodilwild , Carol @nanaseamakes, Kristina @catsy_crochet, and Alison @alisonswoolnwalks.

If you’d like to join me with a little bit of creativity every day this summer, please do. Just take a photo of your moment of creative fun and upload it to Instagram using the hashtag #SummerCraftChallenge2024 – there are no rules, just fun! Post once, occasionally or everyday – it’s up to you! 

That’s all for this week, I hope you’ e enjoyed my creative meander through the past seven days. I hope your week ahead is filled with fun & creativity!

Take care,

Lindsay x

A Postcard from July 2024

~ Making Stitches ~ 4 Comments

Hello there! I hope you’re doing ok. I had been hoping to get this post out weeks ago, but hey ho. The juggle of life, family, work, school holidays, podcasting & a craft challenge meant that craft challenge posts took priority and I’m pleased to say I’ve managed to stick to those each week so far! Gold stars all round for that I think.

As I write this, these memories from last month feel very distant, we are currently entering the 5th and penultimate week of the school summer holidays locally and it feels like it’s gone full steam and whizzed ridiculously fast. It’s hard to believe that we had a General Election last month! So much has happened since then.

I had the morning off work this morning to take some lovely friends who have been staying with us this weekend to the station and am feeling very chilled about life which is lovely. I’m back in work this afternoon so taking this sliver of opportunity to get this post written and out to you before I need to start thinking about my Postcard from August!! Here goes…

Greenhouse update

Looking at these little baby tomato plants they look rather tiny compared to the monsters I now have (you’ll have to wait until the August edition to see them now). However this was taken at the start of last month as my new-to-me green house became operational. I have 3 types of tomatoes, all cherry toms but different kinds and teeny sweet pepper plant too.

Also in my garden was this stunning white passion flower. I bought it as part of a deal at the supermarket (3 plants for £12 I think) and the photo label showed a traditional blue and cream kind of flower but this appeared and I love it, if the slugs stop eating it – I will be happy – I hope it survives!

[In slug news – after a particularly damp and rainy day last week we counted 32 in our back garden. 32!! Yuck!].

Back to the Lake District

Our first weekend of the summer holidays was spent back up in the Lake District with our lovely friends up there. We had such a brilliant time. We had a couple of walks – one which involved a kayaking expedition in the middle of it and another which had a fabulous pub Sunday Roast lunch at the end!

On one of our walks we passed these stunning nature-inspired gates. Aren’t they beautiful? They reminded me of the Lord of the Rings films – there are definitely Rivendell vibes in this part of the world.

The view below was from our walk to the pub lunch. The lake in the distance is Grasmere. The photo doesn’t really do it justice, it was so beautiful up there despite the moody skies.

And after that climb, we dropped down into Elterwater (below) where we had a gorgeous lunch. Guilt free after that strenuous climb!

My friends have a fab VW Camper which they’ve owned since forever. I wanted to make them a gift to thank them for their hospitality, so made them a squishy cushion version.

Unfortunately I didn’t manage to finish it before I arrived with them and didn’t take enough stuffing to fill it, so had to bring it back home to fill it properly (see below). It’s now back where it belongs up the Lakes.

Closer to home, we’ve had a few walks on nice days – the picture below is of a local park just about a mile from our house. I do so love that green colour you get as the sun shines through the leaves!

What I’ve been listening to

I have recently discovered that you can borrow audio books from my local library for free! How amazing is that? I’ve listened to Michelle Obama’s Becoming, Richard E Grant’s very moving A Pocketful of Happiness and am currently smashing my way through the Thursday Murder Club series by Richard Osman. I really enjoyed Andrew Ridgeley’s Wham! George & Me which was read by him. For people of a certain age who had Wham posters on their bedroom walls – I can highly recommend it!

Podcasting news

Emma Varnam

Last month, there were two episodes of Making Stitches Podcast released. The first with the fabulous Emma Varnam. I was so lucky to be invited to visit Emma at her home and had a lovely chat about how she began designing crochet patterns, how (like me) many of the people in her closest circle have hand made gifts foisted upon them and the joys of creating. It was so lovely to meet Emma and I have our mutual friend Christine Perry aka Winwick Mum for introducing us – thank you Christine! You can find our episode here.

My second offering featured a chat I had with Jen Simonic from the Loose Ends Project which matches volunteer ‘Finishers’ with craft projects which have been left part made by crafters who have either died or are unable to complete because of health reasons. It’s a truly remarkable project and mind blowing in how quickly it has spread around the world. You can find out more about this here.

Kasey & Jen from The Loose Ends Project

In case you missed my Summer Craft Challenge 2024 so far…

And that just about brings this Postcard from July to a close. I hope you had a good month and have been able to find a bit of creativity to unwind and relax as I have for the past month. You can read all about what I’ve been up to craft-wise in the last few weeks in the four previous posts.

Summer Craft Challenge 2024 Week One

Summer Craft Challenge 2024 Week Two

Summer Craft Challenge 2024 Week Three

Summer Craft Challenge 2024 Week Four

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Lindsay x

Summer Craft Challenge: Week Four

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Hello, and welcome for Week Four of this year’s Summer Craft Challenge! Here’s what I got up to (craft wise) this week:

Day 22:

Day 22 of my Summer Craft Challenge saw some happy yarny post, podcast editing and, continuing on from last week, a bit more sausage making in front of the Community Shield (on tv). I’m enjoying my crochet food experiment at the moment!

Day 23

Day 23 of my Summer Craft Challenge was a Sunday and I’m flittimg about from project to project a bit at the moment. So why not start a new one? 😂 I fancied some diagonal stripes today…

Day 24

I got a message today that it was time to get back to work on my #MagpieMAL – I looked out of the window and spotted 8 magpies on a neighbour’s roof! (See below for a rather blurry image of the said birds).

So, on Day 24 of my Summer Craft Challenge itinerary it was Magpie time!

Day 25

Busy, busy, busy day – only got to sit down at about 10:30pm! Time for a few rounds of sleeve before bed.

Day 26

Wednesday was a good bit calmer than Tuesday, so I spent a happy couple of hours on my diagonal stripes.What a difference a day makes!

Day 27

It was Granny Square Day on Thursday and I really enjoyed scrolling through Instagram looking at lots of beautiful grannies during my lunch break at work. I admit I was a little frustrated that I hadn’t been able to hook any up myself, so as soon as I got home I got busy.

I learned that day that Making Stitches Podcast had been named ‘Indie Pod of the Week’ by PodBible so went for a couple of podcast inspired granny squares!

Day 28

Day 28 and it’s almost feeling like we’re creeping towards the end of the summer seeing as the new football season’s underway.

It felt appropriate to be working on my red & white stripes as I watched Manchester United win their first match of the season!

Care to join in?

Thanks to everyone who has joined me again on the Summer Craft Challenge this week. There’s been English paper piecing patchwork, baking homegrown apples into a crumble, amigurumi, blanket making, sock knitting and a fair few granny squares too!

If you fancy joining in, you still can – you would be very welcome!

Thanks for stopping by!

Lindsay x

Summer Craft Challenge 2024 : Week Three

~ Making Stitches ~ 2 Comments

Week 3 of my Summer Craft Challenge has truly whizzed by! I can’t believe that a week has passed since I was sitting in the sun in my back garden with my bee mug of tea & my MagpieMAL crochet… We’re almost half way through the school summer holidays now for our family which means I’m almost halfway through the Summer Craft Challenge too! Sniff, it’s going too fast!

Here’s what I got up to this week:

Day 15

We had such lovely weather on Saturday – we went out for a lovely walk in the Cheshire countryside then headed home for dinner. I took the opportunity have a quiet sit in the garden for a while when dinner was in the oven.

You can’t beat a bit of Al fresco crochet and feeling the sun on your face!

Day 16

Had a bit of fun on Sunday trying to perfect a sprout pattern – I know there are patterns already out there, but wanted to come up with one of my own… still working on it!

Day 17

Day 17 of the Challenge and time for a bit more progress on my #magpiemal shawlette.

Day 18

It was a knitting mindless rounds in front of Olympics kind of a day… busy, busy, busy. And relax…

Day 18 of the #SummerCraftChallenge2024 done!

Day 19

Day 19 of my #SummerCraftChallenge2024 and there was time this evening for a spot of work on a pattern I’ve been sitting on for quite a while. Can you tell what it is? I got a couple of correct guesses over on Instagram which is reassuring I’m on the right path!

Day 20

Day 20 already on the #SummerCraftChallenge2024 and it was back to the #MagpieMAL for me. No work the next day so it felt like Friday already!

Pattern by Heather @kcaco.uk
Yarn by Kitey @the_yarnwhisperer
Cute Stitches Marker by Amanda @MrsGMakes

Day 21

Had rather a lot of fun yesterday hooking up some sausages – doesn’t everyone?

There’s been a bit of a food theme this week… I feel a project coming on – watch this space!

Join in!

Nothing says #SummerCraftChallenge like a bit of al fresco crafting, sock knitting by a loch in the sun, crochet by a tree in Norfolk and embroidery on the beach in Sardinia! Here’s a little snap shot of some of the fab creativity which has been happening this week.

Thank you so much to everyone who has joined in with the #SummerCraftChallenge2024 this week, including @catsy_crochet @mariwish @nanaseamakes @merkducrochet @yarnstorms & @alisonswoolnwalks

It’s so fun knowing so many people are joining in with my challenge this year!

If you’d like to join me with a little bit of creativity every day this summer, please do. Just take a photo of your moment of creative fun and upload it to Instagram using the hashtag #SummerCraftChallenge2024 – there are no rules, just fun! Post once, occasionally or everyday – it’s up to you!

Happy Summer Crafting!

Summer Craft Challenge 2024 : Week Two

~ Making Stitches ~ Leave a comment

Hello there and welcome to the second weekly round up of my 2024 Summer Craft Challenge.

It has been a very busy week for me doing the juggle of work, school holidays and podcasting too. It’s made me realise that maybe I’m doing a little bit too much. I’m going to have a look at what I can reduce to allow for a bit more down time!

As a consequence I haven’t had much concentration space to allow for much creativity as my creative juices have been consumed doing other things! There has been a lot of mindless knitting happening as a result so my photos this week aren’t the most inspiring – apologies for that.

Here goes…

Day 8

After the struggle I had last Friday getting in a tangle with my yarn winding for the Magpie MAL by Heather from Keep Calm & Crochet On UK (Yarn by Kitey of The Yarn Whisperer) I decided to take it nice and slow and really enjoyed sitting quietly winding yarn cakes with the rest of my yarn for this project on Saturday.

Day 9

The MAL began in earnest for me on Sunday morning accompanied by a cup of coffee enjoying the peace and quiet before the rest of the household woke up!

Day 10

Back to work and after a busy day I sat down to enjoy a few rounds of my long term project – a top down sweater by Tin Can Knits. I’m loving this section as you just go round and round and round and don’t need to think too much!

Day 11

Tuesday and more continuous rounds of knitting….

Day 12

On Wednesday I had to double up on the creativity – knitting while editing my podcast episode for Friday. (Normally I have my episodes edited further in advance but the juggle meant it was a bit last minute this week which doesn’t help with the stress levels). A lot of the editing process involves listening back to sections so I used my hands to knit while doing that.

You can catch my latest episode here, it features a chat I had with Jane Abraham, who is also known as The Cornish Knitter on YouTube. I found our chat fascinating as she talked about the challenges faced by more mature crafters – please do have a listen!

Remember these cushions I made in week 1? Well they went into a gift I was making for my good friend whom I saw on Wednesday evening – they were the stuffing for a….

…. Cuddly VW Camper Van. I can now share it as it’s been gifted and gone off to its new home up in the Lake District!

Day 13

Well Thursday was a day and a half. Full on, in person outdoors in the sun for 8 hours meeting and chatting to people all day long with work. My batteries were a little flat by Thursday evening so a teeny amount of knitting was all I could manage.

Day 14

A good night’s sleep was just the medicine to be able to get back to reading a pattern again and trying something more exciting for Friday’s crafty moment – back into the Magpie MAL and loving it!

Join in!

A few of the other Summer Craft Challenge Instagram posts this week!

This summer, more than on any of my previous Summer Craft Challenges (dating back to 2016) I’ve been joined by quite a few other crafters and it’s been fabulous to see so many other people enjoying a bit of creativity every day. It really helps me by encouraging me to dig out even a teeny bit of quiet and calm when I’m super busy, I hope it’s helping everyone else too.

There’s been quite a bit of variety of crafts too this week – did you know it was International Embroidery Day on Wednesday? I didn’t! There was quite a bit of slow stitching on the IG squares this week along with plenty of crochet, knitting, a fabulous doggie outfit ready for a Rock Choir event and a resin dipped flower!

If you’d like to join me with a little bit of creativity every day this summer, please do. Just take a photo of your moment of creative fun and post it on Instagram using the hashtag #SummerCraftChallenge2024 – there are no rules, just fun! Post once, occasionally or everyday – it’s up to you!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Lindsay x