A postcard from…

A Postcard from June 2025

~ Making Stitches ~ 2 Comments

Hello there, how are we at 14th July already? Almost at the midpoint of the month! I hope it’s been a good one for you – it’s been a decidedly warm one for us, with temperatures in the 30s (which for those of you in hotter climes probably doesn’t sound too hot but we felt it was!).

Last month was a rather special one for me in my blogging life, this little blog celebrated its 10th birthday. Never in all my imagination did I think, it would still be going after all this time when I first started out. I can vividly remember going out for a walk one evening (about a decade ago) along the winding streets and passages of Gibraltar taking photos of bougainvillea to illustrate one of my earlier blog posts and thinking, ‘is there anyone out there who will want to read this?’. I’m thrilled to say there was, and I’m still here knocking out posts (a little less frequently these days due to work commitments) and you’re still out there reading them! Thank you!

That bougainvillea from 10 years ago!

Anyway, here’s a quick look back at June in my world:

International Stitch Day

What a way to kick off the month, and what an amazingly on-brand event for Making Stitches! I was thrilled to be able to attend International Stitch Day on 1st June at the opening of Woven in Kirklees Festival in West Yorkshire. It was a brilliant day hosted at Oakwell Hall in Birstall. There were stalls, workshops (including one I had a play at), lots of interesting things to look at, and the most amazing thing I have experienced this year so far, the Red Dress was on display in the old hall itself. 

I have been aware of the Red Dress for quite a while now through social media and blog posts I have read, but to be able to witness it myself in real life was quite something. As I arrived early at the start of the event, I was able to go and have a look once the initial flurry of visitors had been in and at one brief point, I was the only person in the room (apart from the staff standing discretely at the back). The atmosphere was amazing and I felt truly privileged to witness it for myself. 

To see the intricate stitching and the countless hours of work by 380 different embroiderers, both professional and amateur, and to learn about some of the stories of the people who have stitched onto the dress was just amazing. After seeing it for myself, I was able to go and hear the ‘creator’ of the dress, Kirstie Macleod, give a talk about how the project had come about and a snapshot of some of her adventures as she has traveled around the world with it. It’s just mindblowing how big this project was and the complexity of the logistics involved. 

I was delighted to be able to sit down briefly with Kirstie after her talk to record a short chat for a future episode of Making Stitches Podcast and I’m thrilled to say that she agreed to a longer chat with me for a special ‘Red Dress’ episode which will be out in autumn.

A weekend away

Unfortunately one of us had to take the picture – but there were 5 of us!

I was so lucky in June to experience not one, but two brilliant weekends – first came Woven and next came a weekend away with four very special ladies who I have known since University days (one even since primary school!)

One of them lives in the Lake District and we have been trying to arrange for us all to spend a weekend together at her house for years. Each time we thought we had a date in the diary, something would come up and we were determined to do it with us all there. Persistence paid off and we had the most amazing couple of days reconnecting, walking, eating and drinking.

True old friends are just the best. They hold you up in the worst of times, share the best of times and, no matter how long passes between your meetings, when you are back together it’s as if you were never apart. 

I feel truly blessed to have them in my life.

10 years of this blog

Back in June 2015, after years of reading other people’s blogs, I decided to have a go myself. I thought the chances of anyone reading it were slim, but I thought I could use it as a kind of diary to record our life as a family living in Gibraltar. In its first iteration as Postcard from Gibraltar, it really surprised me – I found people around the world all reading it and sending me lovely messages. 

In the intervening years, our family has changed, has moved back to the UK, I’ve gone from being a full-time stay at home Mum to a working Mum Postcard from Gibraltar morphed into Making Stitches and the Making Stitches Podcast was born too! If you missed my post about the anniversary, you can find it here.

First strawb of the year!

I don’t know what happened to my strawberry plants over the winter – but I went from having about six containers full last year to just having three weedy looking specimens. My parents felt sorry for me and sent me over a new container filled with healthy plants and this was my first strawb. I am giving the new pot a lot of attention – especially during this very hot and dry weather so that it survives beyond the first month in my possession!

Soccer Aid

Honestly, trips to Old Trafford are like buses, you wait for years to go and then get two trips straight after each other! After going to the last match of the season for Manchester United in May, I went back with my Dad and Youngest to watch Soccer Aid on Father’s Day.

It was a great evening’s entertainment and really quite funny at times. There was even a musical interlude at half time which included a grand piano on the centre circle!

Making Stitches 2025 CAL : June

Summer Solstice Square
Bonus Birthday Square

June saw not one, but two new squares for the Making Stitches 2025 CAL. The main reason for me doing this CAL this year is because of the special anniversary, so it seemed appropriate to mark the occasion with a bonus square in addition to this month’s main square. The Summer Solstice square was launched on 1st June and the Bonus Birthday square pattern was released on my blogiversary. 

I am thrilled that I have managed to reach the mid-point of the year with people still discovering the crochet along and joining in along the way. The more the merrier! If you would like to have a go at any of the Making Stitches 2025 CAL patterns, you can find them all here!

Podcast News

There was just one episode of Making Stitches Podcast released in June as series 9 drew to a close ahead of the summer break. My guest this time was Micah Clasper-Torch a punch needle designer who has taught thousands of people the craft through her online platform. She has a new book out and is hoping to reach an even wider audience through her wearable punch needle designs. You can listen to the episode with Micah here.

Before I go…

This Postcard is almost at an end but before I head off, just a couple more things…. I have been so busy with crochet designs and recording new episodes for the next series of Making Stitches Podcast that I am well and truly ready to have a bit of a breather as life shifts down a gear and we hit the soon-to-be-upon-us school summer holidays. 

Before the holidays hit though, I am looking forward to sharing a bit of lovely news with you very soon. Keep your eyes pealed for that please – because I am going to need your help with something very special and worthwhile. 

Also, when my boys break up for their school summer holidays I will be launching my Summer Craft Challenge 2025 when I do something creative every day during the school summer holidays. I would love it if you would join in too! I love doing it each year and carving out a little bit of time each day to do something creative (it’s a real sanity saver amongst the chaos). As one of my boys finished for the summer on Friday this week, so I am going to be starting day one on Saturday (19th July) and posting a social media post each day to share what I have done, which will keep me focused on maintaining the challenge. 

The thing about a Summer Craft Challenges is that it’s always better when you’re not the only one doing it. So… please do join in and share your makes this summer on social media with the hashtag #SummerCraftChallenge2025 so I can see what other creativity is going on – just like the Making Stitches 2025 CAL – it’s better with friends and it would be great to build a Summer Craft Challenge community!

Until next time, thanks for stopping by!

Lindsay x

 

A Postcard from May 2025

~ Making Stitches ~ 2 Comments

Hello, and welcome to this Postcard from May! I’m starting off with this brilliant sign of spring turning into summer, the first swift I spotted this year.

Back when this blog first began, and my family was living in Gibraltar, we used to spot scores of swifts screaming around the tightly packed streets of the Upper Town in March! This was as they were on their way up north from Africa to spend the summer in the skies above northern Europe. Every time I hear one, I think of those early spring skies in Gib!

So, to May, well, it was a month of lots of podcasting (more on that later!), quite a bit of crochet and the small matter of a running race…

Sporting highlights

Beautiful Manchester Central Library on 10K day

Back on 18th May, a huge chunk of Manchester pulled their running shoes on and took part in the Great Manchester run. The city centre was buzzing and the weather was lovely (almost a little too lovely for the runners – but I’m not really complaining about that!). The atmosphere was utterly amazing and I was so glad I’d signed up to take part again this year.

For those who have followed my blog for a while, you will know I’m not a natural runner, I wasn’t built for speed, but last year, as a personal challenge to prove that hitting the big 5-0 didn’t mean I was ready for the scrap heap, I undertook a lot of training and ran the Great Manchester Run 10k. It was only ever meant to be one-time-only affair, just so I could say “10K you say? Oh yes, I’ve run one of those!” However, on the finish line, those plans were scuppered…. I can honestly say that that last kilometre was a killer and I was vowing to myself, “Just keep going, don’t stop – you’ll never have to do it again!”

But… when I caught up with Son number 2, who was 16 at the time, he said “I’m really proud of you Mum, when you run it next year, I’ll do it with you!”. Not one to thwart the enthusiasm of the young, I kind of had to say yes and sign up again. Fast forward 12 months and there I was, standing back on the starting line, with hundreds of people separating me from Son number 2 as he had pushed forward to be with the fast folk so he could clock a good time!!

This was me at around the 5K mark – photo credit, my lovely friend V who cheered us on

I can honestly say that this time around it wasn’t as bad as last year, I knew that the last kilometre would be hard, but I was prepared for it, and I did it just a minute slower than last year (had I realised, I may have speeded up!) but, that said, I didn’t feel as bad as last time – I won’t go so far to say it was easier, but I guess I must have been a bit fitter. As my Mum said, (who saw me between 6K and 7K) “You didn’t look as dead as you did when you passed us last year dear”. So I’ll take that as a compliment – thanks Mum!

Proof I did it! Me and my medal

I decided to raise funds this year for FareShare Greater Manchester, the charity I work for. If you would like to support my amazing sporting achievement (haha) my Just Giving page is still open for business. Thank you to everyone who has sponsored me so far – as I write this, the total stands at just over £600 which is brilliant. You can find the link to my page here if you want to check it out.

Also last month, I went to watch our family’s team, Manchester United for a very significant occasion, which happened to be the last match of the season. It was my lovely Dad’s last match as a season ticket holder. He decided that this year, at the age of 82, he was finding the winter matches too cold to sit in the stands for so long and the amount of standing during the matches to see over the people in front was too much for his octogenarian legs. Dad has held his season ticket in the same stand since the season I was born (1973-4). He decided that as he was going to be a Dad and that meant he was getting old, he should treat himself to a seat and move out of the Stretford End which was a standing only area at the time.

So for as long as me and my brother have been alive, Dad has sat in that stand with the same match-going buddies around him. It felt too significant to let it pass without a bit of a fuss. So, I booked tickets for me and Son number 3 to go (the only United appreciator of my offspring) and be in the stadium at the same time, I got Dad’s name put up onto the scoreboard and a little bit about him in the match day programme too.

My view of the Old Trafford pitch at the top of the tallest stand, Dad was in the stand on the left – I even managed to spot him at one point!

It was so lovely to be back at Old Trafford, as once upon a time I was a frequent visitor – my first ever job at the age of 16 was there and I worked there throughout my A-Levels and in university holidays too. In fact it was Manchester United which set me on the career path into radio which eventually led to me creating the Making Stitches Podcast!

I’m so glad we managed to join Dad on this special day – even if we were sitting miles away from him. Oh, and they won too which was a relief!

Making Stitches 2025 CAL

May Blossom square

The May square for the Making Stitches 2025 CAL was a blossomy one. I really debated whether to feature cherry blossom in the April square but changed my mind, opting for April showers for the driest month since records began in the UK (I may be slightly exaggerating there). However, thankfully for me, there was still plenty of blossom around and about when April turned into May, so I still had the chance to jump on the blossom band wagon – what a thrill!

I was really pleased with how turned out, and it would appear that lots of you liked it too as there were some beauties which popped up in my Instagram feed through out the month – you can see some of them below.

Some of the May Blossom Squares

If you missed out on the May Blossom square when it came out, you can still find it on my blog here.

In other crochet news….

Since early this year, I have been beavering away on a cardigan project. I made myself one of these cardigans a good few years ago. It’s a Fran Morgan pattern from Simply Crochet magazine called ‘A Good Vintage’ – you can still buy the pattern online.

My Mum has long admired my cardy, so I decided to make one for her birthday – only problem is, that was in March not May! On the big day, I gave her the body and one sleeve wrapped up and had to ask for it back to finish it. Well, here it is out in the sunshine on my blocking mat.

I’m pleased to report, she thought it was worth the wait!

And, there’s more crochet too…

A special crochet project ❤️

I’m sure an awful lot of you will be aware of a significant blog anniversary which happened earlier in June – the 10th anniversary of Coastal Crochet, by the lovely Eleonora Tully. I have been reading Eleonora’s blog since the early days, as I discovered her as I began my own blogging journey in June 2015 too. Obviously Eleonora’s and my blog trajectory hasn’t quite been the same, but it’s an anniversary worth celebrating none the less! So, last year, when we met up at Yarndale, we discussed the possibility of collaborating on something to mark our joint blog birthdays. The photo above is evidence of that design in progress.

We are hoping to share the finished design next month, and can’t wait to share it with the world!

Podcast News

The first Making Stitches Podcast episode in May was another 10th anniversary celebration (there must have been something in the water in the late spring/early summer of 2015 surely?). This time it was being celebrated by my fabulous sock-knitting friend Christine Perry from Winwick Mum.

During that decade of encouraging the world to knit socks, there have been literally tens of thousands of socks knitted – that’s some achievement. You can find out more about the episode and listen to it here.

Next came a chat I had with Rachael Mills, a crochet teacher and designer and dressmaker from Lancashire. It was Rachael who was responsible for crocheting the giant doily which adorned a Ford Escort car and which was part of the installation which won the 2024 Turner Prize.

I loved hearing about how she took a phone call from the artist, Jasleen Kaur and wasn’t put off about the size of the project – just saying “Yes, I’m up for that!”. What a life lesson that is, you never know where opportunities might lead….

Find the full episode show notes here.

And finally, one week ahead of schedule, I published this episode featuring Nat Walton, the curator of the Woven in Kirklees textiles festival – the reason for the early episode – it went out on the eve of the start of the festival, World Stitch Day on 1st June.

This biennial festival draws on the whole community of this West Yorkshire district and covers all sorts of crafts and creativity. It was fascinating to hear the story of the festival and all the things visitors to this year’s events can enjoy.

Find out more here.

Simply Crochet, simply exciting!

So, this is exciting. A little while back I was approached by Simply Crochet Magazine to ask whether I would like to be featured for my blogging and crochet work. I have been the subject of an article about my podcast, but never about my crochet before. I have to say, after reading the magazine for many years (I even had it delivered to me when I lived in Gibraltar and we moved back home to the UK in 2020), it really made me feel like I’d ‘arrived’ a bit.

What an honour to be featured in this brilliant magazine. You can find the article in issue 162, if you want to have a read. Thank you so much Simply Crochet, and thank you to Marianne Rawlins (@mazcrochets on Instagram) for interviewing me and writing such a lovely interview.

And that just about brings this latest postcard to a close, but I can’t go without acknowledging the awful news our online crafty community received yesterday about Amanda Bloom. I never met her, but I did have the opportunity to speak to Amanda on a couple of occasions for Making Stitches Podcast, and we had spoken recently about me going to visit her at her latest creative endeavour, her ‘Craft Room’ at Bentham in North Yorkshire.

I hope Amanda has found peace at last and that she has been reunited with her beautiful daughter, Jenny.

Take care of yourselves everyone,

Lindsay x

Jenny’s Mandala, from Amanda Bloom’s Little Box of Crochet

A Postcard from April 2025

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Hello there! How have you been? We’re ticking along fine up here at Making Stitches HQ, we have been basking in the sunshine recently. My decision to opt for April showers for last month’s square of the Making Stitches 2025 CAL was a bit of a mistake – or maybe it caused the sunny weather we’ve enjoyed?

Here’s my latest postcard, a week and a bit later than planned… I hope you enjoy it!

Sunny Rochdale

Rochdale Town Hall

At the start of April I travelled to Rochdale to visit an old school friend of mine, it was a stunningly sunny day and we decided to go out and enjoy the lovely weather. Whilst I had visited her at home several times before, I had never been into Rochdale town centre, so we headed off and went to the recently refurbished Town Hall – my word it was stunning. The main entrance hall had the feeling of an ecclesiastical building more than a civic one.

The stained glass was stunning and shown off to its advantage by the bright sunshine outside. Inside there was an exhibition of more modern stained glass made by artists which was beautiful too. I particularly loved this bunch of flowers and the blue & green design. The floral window, created by Deborah Lowe, was called ‘Right there with you, Mr Morris’ and was inspired by William Morris. The blue & green one was created by Debbie Copley and was called ‘Goldfinch & Blue Teasels’.

Right there with you, Mr Morris by Deborah Lowe
Goldfinch & Blue Teasels by Debbie Copley

Also on display were two textile pieces produced by Artist Alison Greyer. One had an emphasis on nature, community & remembrance and was made in collaboration with a local arts & crafts group, the second piece was inspired by pupils at a local primary school.

Upstairs in the town hall is the most amazing space which, on the day we visited, was prepared for a boxing match!

The joy of nature

One of our favourite walks down to the River Mersey close to our home

The beautiful dry and sunny weather persisted throughout April, which was truly lovely to enjoy. There were odd days when it was overcast and wet, but to my mind it was nice far more often than when it was cold and wet. What a luxury! This, in turn had a brilliant effect on the nature around me, there have been fabulous shows of blossom, from cherry blossom early on to hawthorn and many other sorts too. It’s thanks to the brilliant displays we have enjoyed this year, that I was inspired to make May’s Making Stitches 2025 CAL square a blossom themed one. 

Crochet…

An Easter themed post box topper in my local town

I will start this section with some crochet that doesn’t belong to me – I always admire post box toppers when I see them – the amount of work and time that goes into them for the benefit of others. This Easter themed one was on one of the main roads through my nearest town. I’m so glad it was left to look lovely and not destroyed.

April Showers Square – last month I opted for the weather as the theme of my Making Stitches 2025 CAL square. I had been toying with the idea of going for blossom as the theme but in the end went for April Showers as the the March square had been floral. It’s always so lovely to see squares appearing on social media throughout the month as other people join in and make their own versions! Thankfully the beautiful blossom has persisted which meant I was able to use that as the inspiration for the May Square instead!

If you would like to have a go at making any of the Making Stitches CAL squares, you can find the patterns all here.

Some of the brilliant Making Stitches CAL Squares which have appeared online this month

Crochet collaboration!

Making Stitches Blog is going to be celebrating a big birthday this summer – it will be 10 years since I set off on this blogging adventure. Back then, of course, it wasn’t called Making Stitches – the name was Postcard from Gibraltar but when we moved back to the UK, I changed the name. Way back in the early days of my blog, I found a fellow blogger who was talking about crochet and other things I was interested in and we became online friends. That blogger then went on to much bigger and better things, designing for Yarn Companies, teaching workshops and is now about to fly to Australia to talk to crocheters over there! She is, of course, Eleonora from Coastal Crochet.

Eleonora’s picturesque beach reveal of our colour palette
My own, back garden version!
Work is underway!

We have been lucky enough to meet in person a couple of times (both times at Yarndale) and when we met up last September, we talked about our impending 10th anniversaries. We decided it would be nice to do something together to mark this landmark and are now collaborating on a joint crochet pattern which we will be unveiling in the summer. Eleonora broke the news on her social media with a perfectly ‘Coastal Crochet’ photo showcasing the yarn we have chosen. I’m afraid my version in my back garden isn’t quite as romantic but it doesn’t matter! 

Eleonora & I at Yarndale last year

We have decided upon the design for our joint project and work has already begun, if you follow our social media (Instagram in particular) you may have spotted some sneak peaks of our progress along the way. I’m looking forward to sharing more in the weeks to come!

Big Birthdays

Eldest’s 21st birthday cake
Making Stitches Podcast turned 5

There were 2 big birthdays in the Making Stitches household in April – Eldest turned 21 (eek!) and Making Stitches Podcast turned 5!

I have no idea how I have ended up with a fully formed adult as a child – it doesn’t seem possible. It’s only 5 minutes ago we were going to baby music groups and then talking about starting school! Time flies far too quickly. On the day after he celebrated his 16th birthday in April 2020’s first lockdown, I launched Making Stitches Podcast as something fun to focus on as we navigated lockdown and an impending relocation back to the UK. I feel quite proud that it’s still going 5 years on. It’s a common fact that podcasts often run out of steam and some don’t last even a complete first series, so to have one which has survived 5 years is a pretty good achievement I think.

Podcast News

So while I’m talking about the podcast, here’s what you may have missed in April. First of all I got to sit down and chat to Marianne Rawlins a crochet designer based in the South West of England. Marianne designs and writes for Simply Crochet Magazine. It’s because of her work writing articles that our paths crossed as she asked to turn the tables and interview me about my blog and podcast for a future issue of the magazine. After that, I returned the favour and asked whether she would like to come on the podcast to talk about her work. It’s funny that we discovered we have an awful lot of things in common, including starting out in journalism and now working in marketing & communications. You can find her episode here.

The second April episode included a chat which was a total joy to record. I have honestly never laughed so much while recording an interview. My guests were husband and wife team Sean and Sara MacLeod. Sara is an avid crocheter who shares hermakes on Instagram. What makes her account stand out is not just her beautiful creations, but the stunning scenery of their home on the Cowal Peninsula on the West coast of Scotland AND her husband Sean. Sara describes Sean as her ‘crochet supermodel’ and he can be seen wearing all sorts of crocheted garments as well as being draped in blankets too. They are such a funny pair, and clearly Instagram agrees as they have a following of almost 30,000. You can find their episode here.

A favour before you go…

You might remember that this time last year, I ran my first ever 10k. It was a challenge to myself for my 50th birthday so I could say ‘I did one’. It was only going to be one-time-only event.

However, on the finishing line, Son Number 2 told me he was very proud of me and that when I do it next year, he would run it with me. I couldn’t very well say – “I’m sorry I’m not doing it again”. So, on 18th May (next Sunday – eek!), I will be running the Great Manchester Run 10k again, this time though I will have Son Number 2 with me at my side as we set off (then I won’t see him for dust!). He’s aiming to run it in under 1 hour, I’m aiming to just get round.

We are going to be fundraising for FareShare Greater Manchester, the charity that I work for and where Son Number 2 has volunteered several times. We have a Just Giving Page, so if you have a little spare cash and wouldn’t mind sponsoring our efforts we’d be most grateful – thank you!

Our race numbers have arrived so it’s official now!

And that’s all for this round up of April. I hope it was a good month for you and that life is treating you well. Until next time, thank you for stopping by!

Lindsay x

A Postcard from March 2025

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Hello there! Blimey, the end of March already…. I may be sounding a bit repetitive with these monthly postcards but where does the time go? The year is a quarter of the way through already and it’s showing no sign of slowing down!

It may be going fast, but March was a beautiful month for us here in my little corner of the world. We were so lucky to have quite a few beautiful bright sunshiny days.

Spring did its thing!

My word, the world does look a better place when the sun is in the sky! I really do love this time of year, the end of the long dark nights and cold weather begins as the spring flowers pop up and the acid green new leaves begin to appear on the trees.

The River Mersey

I find, at the minute, that the weeks are so full of school, work, after school activities and rushing and then the weekends also seem full of engagements, football matches and other things. It’s quite hard to be able to take a moment to stop and truly enjoy the beauty of the world around me. I luckily had a few short occasions to do this this month. First of all (top picture) was when I went to collect Youngest from an event in Cheshire. As I sat waiting for him to finish, I enjoyed the surroundings of fields and trees.

Then, one day when it was just me and son number 2, we took the chance to head for one of our favourite walks along the banks of the River Mersey near us. It was a beautiful day – the kind when you are reminded how lovely it is to feel the warmth of the sun on your back.

In the middle of our walk, we stumbled upon this lovely bunch of daffs bobbing about in the sunshine.

Clear bright days also often lead to lovely sunsets. Quite often I’m in the midst of cooking dinner when the sun is setting at present, but one evening, we had a parent’s evening at school, and as we came out we were greeted by this lovely sky!

What’s been on my hook lately

I felt compelled to make this Ukrainian inspired sunflower granny square after watching the news on the day of President Zelensky’s visit to the Oval Office. I was appalled at what I saw and felt utterly helpless. Hooking up a granny square doesn’t actually do anything in the grand scheme of things, but it made me feel a teeny bit better.

Sticking with the sunflower theme, we had a sustainability event at work this month and we were giving away packets of sunflower seeds to guests as they left. I thought the basket they were in needed a bit of decoration, so had a go at making this sunflower and bumble bee.

Crochet on the go…

There’s no such thing as a waste of time while sitting in a waiting room if you have a project to keep you company! I’m working on a cardigan as a birthday gift for my lovely Mum. As it was getting close to the deadline (ie: the birthday) I was taking my crochet with me everywhere.

I’m afraid to say I have missed the deadline – what was done was wrapped so she could open it, with the promise that it will be finished soon!

Spring Cleaning was the theme for a brilliant March Crochet Day at the Crochet Sanctuary at Cranage Hall Hotel in Cheshire. I do love my crochet days with the lovely folk at the Crochet Sanctuary!

I made a waistcoat stitch crochet basket and some waffle stitch crochet wash cloths.

A cuppa & a catch up

It had been about 10 months since the last time I’d had the chance to catch up with my lovely yarny friend Christine from Winwick Mum. I forgot to take any pictures of our time at Black Sheep Wools when we met other than our two tea cups – so you’ll have to take my word for it! It was lovely seeing her again and hearing all her news.

An afternoon with some footballing legends

Also this month, I got the chance to take my lovely Dad to the Lowry in Salford for an afternoon with some Manchester United legends. It was a great show with lots of jokes and laughter about the old days in the 1980s and 1990s at Old Trafford.

Podcast news

In March, there have been two episodes of Making Stitches Podcast. The first one featured a chat I had with a pair of friends, Jenni Smith & Kay Walsh, who have written a book called Menopause Makes filled with beautiful sewing projects to help ease menopause symptoms and get people sewing. You can find out more information about this episode here.

Next up was a chat I had with Justine Robson, a crochet teacher and all round fabulously creative person. Justine started the Carry on Crafting Festival after having a dream about putting one on! She is also the current custodian of Little Box of Crochet. You can find out all about our chat here.

Making Stitches 2025 CAL March Square

I decided to go for spring flowers as the theme of the Making Stitches 2025 CAL square this month. They give me such optimism for the future and the warmer days to come. Plus the colours are stunning!

I was thrilled to see that again, literally within hours of publishing the pattern, some March squares began to appear in my Instagram feed. You have no idea how happy it makes me to see other people making my patterns and enjoying them too. Thank you to everyone who has joined in with the CAL so far!

I will be sharing Part 4 tomorrow evening, I do hope you like it when you see it!!

That’s all for this time. Thank you for stopping by and I hope April is kind to you!

Lindsay x

A Postcard from February 2025

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Hello there! I do hope February has treated you well. I have had a great month, and for once actually have some photograph worthy updates for you! Here goes…

London calling

The view from Greenwich Observatory towards the City of London

I started the month with a fabulous overnight getaway to London. It was courtesy of Eldest who, for my Christmas and birthday presents paid for me to stay in a hotel near his student hall of residence and booked tickets to take me to see Mama Mia! What a lovely boy – I am one very lucky Mum!

One of the joys of train travel (assuming they are on time and you can get a seat) is the uninterrupted craft time…

Once I’d arrived down in London, we had a bit of time to kill, so Eldest took me for a walk around his neighbourhood, which is in the Shoreditch/Islington area.

Although it’s very much an inner city area, there were lots of quiet back streets to explore and wander around.

I had to stop and take a photo of this, I like the sound of the ‘Worshipful Company of Haberdashers’!

After our wander, we headed back to base so I could get changed ready for our big night out. First stop was a delicious pizza for an early tea before hopping on the tube towards the West End…..

My word, I did enjoy the show. I think I must be one of just a handful of people who haven’t seen any of the Mama Mia films. I have seen bits of them but never the whole way through, so I didn’t know the storyline at all.

It was so good and really interesting to see how the ABBA songs were used to tell the story. Eldest made a great choice getting me this present – it was perfect.

On Sunday morning, we woke up to brilliant blue skies. It was the perfect day for an explore, so we hopped onto the Tube and then took the DLR out to Greenwich. First stop was a wander to the bank of the River Thames and a quick Look at the Cutty Sark before heading towards Greenwich Park.

It was such a beautiful morning that there were loads of people out in the park and it took a bit of negotiating to get to the top of the hill to see the Greenwich Observatory.

We really were spoiled to see it on such a beautiful day. That stunning blue sky was the perfect backdrop to the skyline.

After getting an alfresco cup of coffee sitting in the sunshine by the Observatory, we made our way back down into the town centre.

Back down at the River Thames, it looked more like August than the first weekend in February – it was so beautiful! I really was lucky in so many ways during my 24 hours away from home!

We decided to take an alternative route back to the hotel and walked under the Thames through the pedestrian tunnel!

Birthday celebrations continued…

Just two weeks on from my belated birthday celebration in London, I was taken out for another birthday celebration (I could get used to this!). My lovely brother and his wife told me on by big day back in January, that they wanted to take me out for lunch as my gift.

We went to Dishoom in Manchester for the most beautiful lunch. It was such fun and the food was out of this world. The building where the restaurant is based is stunning too.

After lunch, we called in to this Mancunian institution – Peveril of the Peak. Inside are photos of famous visitors to the pub including Robbie Coltrane and the Gallagher brothers.

I can’t remember the last time I went to the pub in the afternoon! It felt like being a student again!

Loving the longer days…

One of the great things about this time of year is the fact that the days are getting longer. I took this photo on the first day when I got home from work before it was dark! It’s the simple things which make all the difference!

Spring is around the corner

Just this week I went out for a walk on an afternoon off work. The sun shone brightly and lit up this fantastic display of white and purple crocuses – just stunning!

An evening with the News Agents

Tower of Light lit in the colours of the Ukraine flag

I was blessed with two weekends with Eldest this month. He had a week off lectures owing to a ‘reading week’ and came home for a few days to see me and his brothers. On Monday evening (thanks to a last minute booking on my part when I heard he was coming home and it coincided with the show) we went to see the News Agents Live at the Bridgewater Hall in central Manchester.

We both have a fascination with current affairs and politics and love to listen to the News Agents podcast on weekdays. When they announced that they were coming to Manchester I had toyed with the idea of going but discounted it as it was on a ‘school night’, however when Eldest said he’d be here and the dates coincided, it felt like it was meant to be, so I booked two of the last few tickets just days beforehand.

We took the tram into the city centre and walked the short distance from the tram stop to the venue past the Tower of Light which was lit in the colours of the Ukraine flag to mark the unfortunate 3rd anniversary of the Russian invasion and subsequent on-going war. It felt rather fitting to see it on the way into a highly political evening of chat which was rather obviously dominated by conversations about Putin, Zelensky and most notably Donald Trump.

Our view as we waited for the show to start

We really enjoyed ourselves, it was a great show and very thought provoking on so many levels. I would highly recommend it to anyone who might be thinking of going.

As we left the venue and began our walk back to the tram, Eldest exclaimed that he had just seen Emily Maitlis at the rear of the building (her bright turquoise dress had caught his eye) then we spotted Lewis Goodall who was chatting with people who were leaving too. Eldest nearly died of embarrassment, but I went along to say how much we had enjoyed the show as well as the podcast and got a celebrity selfie (please ignore the double chin – I didn’t exactly catch the right angle!!).

Not my best angle but a thrill nonetheless to meet Lewis Goodall!

Making Stitches 2025 CAL February Square

The All You Need Is Love February Square

Love seems to be in the air a lot during February, so this month’s square for the Making Stitches 2025 CAL had to involve a heart. It was so thrilling to see squares appearing on my Instagram account literally 24 hours after I published the pattern – wow! Thank you so much to everyone who has taken part in the Crochet-Along so far.

❤️Some of the brilliant February Squares out in the wild! ❤️

If you fancy tagging along, please do, the patterns will be living on my blog for free (there’s a section now in the main menu where you can find links to the CAL patterns so far). It doesn’t matter if you didn’t start in January – a few new faces appeared online this month and have caught up. You don’t even need to do all of the squares – just the ones you feel like! If you do make a square and decide to share it on social media – please use the hashtag #MakingStitches2025CAL so I can see your square!

I’m off shortly to put the finishing touches to the March square pattern ready for it being released tomorrow!

And finally…

Making Stitches Podcast is back! The brand new episode went live this morning and features a chat I had with Felix Ford from KNITSONIK. You can listen to it here.

In it we chatted about Felix’s work with sound, colour, yarn and stranded colourwork knitting as well as her Masters project which involved making knitted cosies for walking sticks which diverted conversations away from disability and towards appreciation of creativity instead. It also features a few snippets of Felix’s musical compositions too. Please do give it a listen!

That’s all for this time – I’m quite pleased I’ve been able to share so much with you for a change! February may be the shortest month, but it’s been a busy one – I can’t promise my postcard from March will be as exciting!

Thanks for stopping by!

Lindsay x

A Postcard from January 2025

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Hello there! I hope you’re doing ok.

I know lots of people complain that January is a month that lasts forever, but I can’t believe how fast it’s whizzed by in my world. It doesn’t seem 5 minutes since we were celebrating Christmas & New Year and yet here we are on the cusp of a new month.

I’m afraid that although it’s been very busy for me, with work and non-photogenic things, it’s been rather uneventful in bloggable tit-bits, but here goes…

Feeling the cold

We started the month (and year) with a rather cold spell of weather. After a very damp and grey December it was to change. Although it was cold, the bright blue skies one the days we had them were very welcome!

Some local schools were closed due to snow and ice (for those who are used to heavy snow, I’m sure this will sound rather pathetic – but it was quite a big deal for us!).

One day, I was forced to work from home as heavy snow on the morning commute caused such chaos, I ended up turning round and going back home after taking 45 minutes to drive less than a mile!

The snow wasn’t that deep for us, it just fell at the busiest time of the day and caused gridlock! I was grateful to be in a position to work from home next to a toasty warm radiator that day!

I loved seeing these ice crystals on the roof of my car!

Birthday fun

I celebrated my birthday this month, which was rather nice. I took the day off work (I received these lovely flowers from my colleagues too). On the day itself, I had a really nice lunch out at a pub in Cheshire with my Mum & Dad. It was a real treat!

I am also just about to enjoy a very special birthday/Christmas present from Eldest this weekend – I can’t wait. It involves a trip down to London to see him too. You’ll have to wait for the Postcard from February to see that one!

Making Stitches 2025 CAL

On a bit of a whim, towards the end of December I decided to take the plunge and start hosting a CAL or crochet-along.

❄️ A flurry of January snowflake squares ❄️

I have taken part in CALs in the past – particularly when I was a full-time stay-at-home Mum. The little bit of crochet time carved out every now and again around Mum duties worked wonders for my sanity back then. There was the thrill of waiting for the next section of a pattern to be released, the fun of being part of a community of other crocheters working on the same thing at the same time AND the pride at the end of it all of competing a project – usually a blanket, which, if I’d been working on it alone would probably have ended up in the eternal WIP pile!

A year or so ago, I fancied the idea of trying to host a CAL myself. By then, I had designed patterns for my own online shop and for a couple of magazines, so I knew I ‘could’ write a pattern, but could I manage a CAL?

In the intervening years since my first participation in CALs, my life has become somewhat busier than before. There are less disturbed nights and needing to be in three places at once, but that’s been replaced by parenting teenagers and a young adult and a paid job. My days of being able to keep up with a weekly CAL are gone (temporarily I hope).

So, hosting a weekly CAL was off the cards for the time being and that dream was parked until my next holiday when I forget how busy life is and start thinking about all the things I could be doing! But what about a monthly CAL instead? If I could come up with a pattern on a monthly basis, that wouldn’t be so hard would it?!

There’s only one way to find out – just do it!

I felt a bit silly launching my January snowflake square on New Year’s Day when the weather was warmer than you might expect – it felt more like March than January. But lo and behold, just a few days later, snow began to fall in Manchester and I was able to dash out into the back garden and take some photos of my January square in the snow – vindication for opting for a snowflake as my motif for January!

Also, when I first said I was doing this CAL, I really didn’t know whether I was just throwing it out into the ether and no one would be interested. I was really pleasantly surprised to hear back from people who said they wanted to join along too. In some cases they told me they were pleased it was a monthly CAL rather than a weekly one because, like me, they struggle to keep up with a weekly one. What good luck that turned out to be!

Slowly throughout January, I began to see January snowflake squares popping up on Instagram! I can’t tell you how happy that made me feel! Friends of mine who have been crocheting for years, people I only know online and even some people I had previously never heard of said they were joining in! What fun!

You can see above (in the flurry of snowflake squares) that a small collection of beautiful January snowflake squares have, to date, been shared with me online. I know that there are others out there which haven’t been shared with the world yet.

This photo here, posted by @crochet_at_holme on Instagram, was the first one that I saw. Just check out the date it was posted – 4th January! It made its appearance just 3 days after I published the pattern!!

Thank you to everyone who has, so far, joined in with my CAL. Thank you too to everyone who has cheered me on from the sidelines with lovely comments and words of encouragement, you’re all lovely!

I can’t wait to share the February square with you tomorrow….. I LOVE it (hint, hint)!

That’s just about it for my Postcard from January. Thank you very much for stopping by and having a read of my ramblings, it’s lovely to have you in my little crocheted corner of the internet.

Until next time, take care!

Lindsay x

A Postcard from December 2024

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River Yarrow in Lancashire

Hello there! I hope you have had a good month and that Christmas went ok for you. I have decided to go into 2025 with good intentions and try to be up to date with things so here’s my Postcard from December on the last day of December!

It’s been a funny old month weather wise with us not so much cold and frosty weather as you might expect but plenty of grey, dull, wet and in some cases very foggy days.

In spite of the weather it’s been looking really rather pretty in our neighborhood with lots of lovely Christmas lights adorning people’s homes and gardens.

A lovely yew tree dressed for the season

The FareShare Festive Feast Wreath

I was able to pay £55 to FareShare Greater Manchester just before Christmas, thanks to the sale of patterns of the FareShare Festive Feast Wreath.

Thank you so much to everyone who has bought one! It was a thrill to see photos of wreaths which have been made so far out in the wild!

The pattern will remain in my Etsy shop and any money raised through its sale will continue to go to FareShare Greater Manchester.

Podcast News

The annual Christmas Special from Making Stitches Podcast made an appearance just before Christmas. It was lovely to be able to look back at my podcast year and share a few of the highlights.

It’s still available in case you’ve missed it. You can find it here.

Festive wanderings

We had a nice quiet Christmas and Boxing Day, followed by a lovely walk with family in Lancashire. We visited a route by the River Yarrow near Chorley. It was rather muddy under foot but we were dressed appropriately and really enjoyed our woodland wander.

It felt good to be moving again after a couple of rather sedentary days!

Even when there are no leaves left on the trees it was still a treat to get some ‘Vitamin Tree’.

The walk saw us zig-zag back and forth across the series of small foot bridges as we followed the river.

This bright orange fungus & green moss were real pops of colour on an otherwise grey day.

I believe this spot is a perfect place to enjoy bluebells in springtime. I’d love to come back and see them myself one day…

My word, that work did us all the world of good after a little bit too much chocolate & other naughty food!

And that just about wraps up this final Postcard from 2024. Thank you for stopping by and having a read and to anyone who’s a regular visitor to Making Stitches, thank you for your continued support.

Next year is a big one for me in terms of my blogging, I look forward to speaking more about that next year as this little site celebrates it’s 10th birthday – isn’t that crazy?!

As part of my celebration I’ve decided to release a new crochet pattern each month – a very relaxed crochet-along if you will. Watch this space – more will follow very soon!!

Until then, thank you again for sticking with me to the end of another year, I hope you enjoy your evening tonight however you plan to see in the New Year!

See you in 2025!

Lindsay x

A Postcard from October & November 2024

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Halloween decor in London

Hello there! This should really be a Christmas post, but life’s been very busy so it’s a Postcard from October & November instead!

Better late than never eh?

I really don’t know where the weeks have gone but the juggle with work and family meant blog writing got put on the back burner for a while.

Here’s a quick whistle-stop round up of October & November in my world.

October 2024

Half term trip to London

Back in October I took my 2 youngest sons to London to visit big brother at University. As well as visiting him in his Uni accommodation to let Number 2 Son see what lies ahead for him in the not-too-distant future, we did a bit of sightseeing.

We’d prebooked to visit the Natural History Museum as myself and Youngest had never been before. Prebooking was wise because it was so incredibly busy and we skipped the entrance queue. However, once inside it was so busy it was quite unpleasant.

I have never felt panicky in a crowd before (I’ve been to a Wembley cup final & big gigs) but this was intense.

We went to see this big animatronic T-Rex then made the decision that perhaps we should leave as it wasn’t a fun experience.

We took a long route through the museum to appreciate a bit of the architecture, then, once outside we bought an ice cream and found a nice bench to sit on to take a moment.

That bench happened to be next to the Albert Memorial overlooking the Royal Albert Hall.

We sat there for ages as Eldest read us information about the history of the Albert Memorial curtesy of Google. It was an unexpectedly fun hour or so learning about the meanings of all the little statues around the memorial. We just sat there for ages chatting – much nicer than being jostled in a hot, crowded museum!

Then we decided to walk through Kensington Gardens and spied Kensington Palace in the distance as the sun started to set.

We had a lovely meal together before Eldest directed us back to Euston for the trip back up north to Manchester.

One finished jumper!

Well it’s been on the go since about October last year, and stupidly I thought it would be finished for Christmas 2023. It is finished for this Christmas though! I really enjoyed making this Tin Can Knits pattern – for those who don’t know them, you buy a ‘real’ pattern which you can print but you also access it on the Tin Can Knits app and can mark your progress on the pattern and make notes on your app – it’s brilliant! I would highly recommend it!

[The yarn I used was Knit Me Crochet Me by Stylecraft.]

The FareShare Festive Feast Wreath

In case you missed my last post back in October, this is my FareShare Festive Feast Wreath! I started working for FareShare Greater Manchester earlier this year and decided I wanted to create a crochet pattern to help raise funds for the charity. I even made a Making Stitches Podcast episode about it. The pattern’s still available for sale in my Etsy shop if you fancy making your own!

Podcast News

As well as podcasting about the wreath pattern, I revisited a guest who I met at Yarndale this year – Becky Davies-Downes. Becky worked for decades in TV & Film costume departments and now created beautiful things inspired by British wartime fashion. You can find out more about our chat here.

November 2024

And so to November… and that month saw me taking another train journey down to London for a meeting. Thankfully I also got some precious time with Eldest again as it fell on a day he had just one lecture!

It was a bitterly cold day as I left Manchester and saw some lovely snowy and frosty scenes on the way down south. This photo was taken close to the Wedgewood factory in Staffordshire. I took so many but most were blurred as we were speeding past.

I had my crochet for company – the Mischievous Magpie Mal from Heather at Keep Calm & Crochet On & yarn from Kitey at The Yarn Whisperer. One day I will finish this…

After the meeting, Eldest took me to Loop in London – I once visited many years ago while we made a family trip to London from Gibraltar. I remember it was at the end of a long day with lots of walking. Tired, argumentative boys waited outside with their Dad while I walked in and was slightly overwhelmed. I left after a hurried look around aware of the increasingly fractious situation outside and bought, wait for it, a pair of scissors!

This time, Eldest told me he was happy waiting outside and to take as long as I wanted (what a lovely boy!).

Similarly, I was a little overwhelmed by the colours & yarns on offer but this time I left with this lovely hand dyed skein. I wonder what I’ll use it for?

After our trip to Loop and a fabulous pizza for lunch, we went for a short walk along the canal from close to Angel in Islington. It was such a beautiful, bright, sunny day and it was lovely to escape the traffic noise and hubbub of the city.

It really was a lovely day, and a luxury to spend some time with Eldest on my own.

November yarny things..

I decided that I wanted to make myself a quick tank top. After the elation of finishing my jumper in October, I thought I’d see how quickly I could whip up a granny treble cluster tank top. I made one for Christmas a couple of years ago making it up as I went along and did the same with this. I used some ‘Nigel’ yarn I had bought at Yarndale in September. (I did have to order some more mid project as one ball wasn’t enough).

I’m really pleased with how it turned out and how quick it was to make – it goes really nicely over a denim shirt.

Also in November I challenged myself to a bit of knitted colourwork. I ordered the kit for the Season’s Greetings Festive Stocking kit from Black Sheep Wools designed by Debbie Abrahams.

It includes beading with the colourwork and is such a clear pattern to follow. I have amazed myself that I’ve managed to do it so far. I shall share a finished photo when I get that far!

And that just about brings this very belated Postcard from October and November to a close.

As it’s Christmas Eve, I would like to wish you a happy and peaceful Christmas.

If this is a difficult time of year for you, I hope you find some peace and time to do something that makes you happy.

With love,

Lindsay x

A Postcard from Scotland

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Hello there, it’s been a while since I’ve posted about any travels and when I looked back at my posts from last year I was surprised to see that my family’s trip north of the border for our summer holidays didn’t make it into blogland. I’m not going back as far as last year for this post, just a couple of months to this summer’s trip up North!

image of Welcome to Scotland road sign

I spent so many holidays in Scotland as a child. My Mum is Scottish, so almost every school holiday, my parents would pack up the car and we would trundle along the 200+ miles from our home in Manchester to my grandparents’ home in Glasgow. We wouldn’t just stay in the Glasgow suburbs though, we’d go to the west coast for day trips to places like Largs, up to Loch Lomond and further afield to visit my Gran’s cousin ‘Great Aunt Daisy’.

Aunt Daisy lived in a tiny place called Tighnabruaich in Argyll. It took hours to get there from Glasgow – almost as long to get there as it did to get from Manchester to Glasgow in the first place in those days with the roads as they were. I have often thought of Tighnabruaich and my childhood trips there in the intervening years but never found a way to return (in no small part because we moved to Gibraltar for 11 years!). Anyway, last year, along with my parents, we made the trip back to Tighnabruaich after many years and it was so nice we went back again this year for another holiday!

View of calm water and a boat at dusk
The view from our rental holiday home this summer

Rather than taking the long way round this time, like we did in the old days with a stop off in Glasgow en route, we drove directly to Gourock, which is on the River Clyde, just west of Glasgow. There, you can catch a ferry which, in less than half an hour lands you on the outskirts of the lovely town of Dunoon, just an hour’s drive from Tighnabruaich.

View of the water towards Dunoon from the ferry
The view from the ferry

Just like last year, the excitement of actually driving onto the ferry (something I’d never done myself until last year) was just magical. It felt like the holiday began as soon as the handbrake went on and we got out of the car to have a look at the water!

View from the deck of the ferry heading to Dunoon

Once we docked in Dunoon, we took a drive to the local supermarket to load up on supplies (this is the nearest supermarket to where we were staying and a 2 hour round trip to pick up something we’d forgotten was not something we wanted to be doing!). Once fully loaded with edibles, we set off on the drive to Tighnabruaich. It takes you through some stunning scenery, much of which is on single track roads with passing places (think Skyfall – I channeled my inner Daniel Craig as I motored along the winding single track roads – not that I was in an Aston Martin I hasten to add). These roads can be a bit high pressure when you suddenly have a large farm vehicle or logging truck bearing down on you out of nowhere – but it’s all part of the experience!

There are climbs and descents throughout the journey between Dunoon and Tighnabruaich, the most spectacular of which has a lay-by with a viewing spot to look along the Kyles of Bute and Isle of Bute – just stunning.

View of the Kyles of Bute from above
Looking south across the Kyles of Bute

Not long after that stopping place, you find yourself entering Tighnabruaich itself.

image of Tighnabruaich roadsign

Tighnabruaich, which means ‘house on the hill’ in Gaelic is a small village which hugs the coastline of the Cowal Peninsula overlooking the island of Bute.

This view (below) taken from the next village along called Kames, looks towards Tighnabruaich. The land on the right of the picture is Bute and the waterway in between heads towards where that viewpoint picture was taken (further above).

View over rooftops to Tighnabruaich

Last year, we stayed in Tighnabruaich itself, but this year, we went a 5 minute walk down the coast to Kames. The two villages are pretty much separated by a shinty field so almost run into each other. [Shinty is a sport played in this part of the world, which involves sticks and a very hard ball].

image taken from the coastal road in Kames looking towards Tighnabruaich
The coastal road at Kames looking towards Tighnabruaich

It was such a quiet and tranquil place to have a break. This year we were a 15 minute walk into the centre of Tighnabruaich if we headed one way out of the front door, if we headed in the other direction, we came to this deserted spot.

panoramic image of the Kyles of Bute

Up above Tighnabruaich itself, you can find the ‘Ark’. It was built by a local artist to make a statement about global warming and rising sea levels. The structure itself was created using local timber which had to be felled because of disease. It’s really quite a thing of beauty and is striking when you spot it from the road. The view from the top must be amazing on a clear day, although the day we chose to climb up to it, there was a very heavy rainstorm which blew in from nowhere when we got there and before we knew it, visibility was severely reduced!

Image of the Tighnabruaich Ark with the Kyles of Bute beyond
The Tighnabruaich Ark
Image of the Tighnabruaich Ark

Also above the village, in a different direction is this fabulous coffee pit stop called Wild Kitchen. I have to give it a mention, because we became regular visitors (the photos here were taken last year when we had much better weather). The coffee beans used here come from the building next door, which happens to be the Argyll Coffee Roasters the coffee there is amazing AND the cakes…

image of Wild Kitchen, Argyll
Wild Kitchen, Argyll

…well, I will let you see for yourself….

image of slice of chocolate cake with caramel on top
Yum! A homemade cake from the Wild Kitchen, Argyll.

One place we visited both last year and this time was Puck’s Glen. We were looking for a woodland walk and found a leaflet advertising it. It was about an hour’s drive from Tighnabruaich, back towards Dunoon. It was so lovely last year, there was a special request from the younger members of the party to return again this year.

image of woodland

There’s a free car park and then you just follow the signs up the hill and away from the main road. Before long you can hear just the sounds of the woodland around you, creaking trees moving in the breeze, birds tweeting and in the distance the sound of water running.

view of path disappearing into the trees

There are different ways to attempt the walk but we followed the path up quite a steep climb through the woodland and eventually ended up on a rough forestry road.

View of path through woodland

At the road, you take a left over a concrete bridge and then begin your descent down the Pucks Glen gorge. It is a magical place. The path, a Victorian walkway, follows the path of the river past waterfalls, over bridges and down lots and lots of steps. It wouldn’t be a great walk for someone with who wasn’t too steady on their feet and I’d not want to do it with very small children either but it is really worth a visit.

View of walkway at Puck's Glen
The beginning of the path into Puck’s Glen

If you are due a dose of vitamin tree or need a refill of greenery, this is 100% the place to go!

View of waterfall at Puck's Glen
One of the many waterfalls at Puck’s Glen

It is so beautiful there, you feel like you have slipped into a magical world of fairies, or should I say Kelpies?

View of Puck's Glen

It’s like something out of Lord of the Rings – just wonderful!

view of Puck's Glen

Down at the bottom of the gorge, you pick up a footpath back to the carpark to complete the circular route.

image shows sign pointing to Dunoon pier with woodland in the background

Another walk we made was to the seaside rather than into the woods. We visited Ostell Bay or Kilbride Bay as it’s also known. You get to it along a countryside path alongside fields and wooded areas, then you come to a large area of sand dunes.

image shows country lane with field at the side

Wherever we went and except for when we were in the midst of heavy rain, the views in this part of the world were stunning.

image shows view over fields with a pond

We did get a lot of rain though this year, which of course resulted in quite a bit of mud….

image shows large muddy puddle

It was worth getting through the mud though, because on the other side of the dunes was this amazing beach which although it had other people on it, is huge, beautiful and so so quiet.

image shows sand dunes with a beach beyond

It’s the perfect spot to have a sit down and watch the clouds pass by!

image shows a deserted beach
Ostell Bay

It’s not a bad place to knock out a few rows of knitting either!

Image shows close up of knitting with a beach in the background

On our final night in Scotland, we were treated to a light show. Not quite the spectacle that many people witnessed in Britain this week, but it made our day!

Image shows a pale hint of pink Northern Lights in a dark night sky
A hint of the Northern Lights

On our last morning, we woke to bright sunshine and the best weather of the entire week – never mind! It was hard to stay goodbye to my adopted crochet corner when we left…

Image shows an arm chair facing a patio window looking out over the water

The weather also meant for a stunning trip back over on the ferry. My word, what a beautiful place!

View looking out over the back of the Western Ferries ferry towards Dunoon on a sunny day.
Looking back towards Dunoon on our homeward voyage

Goodbye Scotland, and thank you for having us!

A Postcard from September 2024

Double rainbow over a green grassy field
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Double rainbow over a green grassy field

Hello there! Well, I blinked and then missed September! It was only 5 minutes ago that I was on holiday in Scotland at the end of August surely – how can we be on 4th October already?!

Although it went quickly, September was a good month for us with Eldest heading back to University, Number 2 son beginning A-levels and Son number 3 returning to school too. It’s been a bit full on with work, and despite having great intentions to keep up the momentum I managed to achieve with my crochet adventures during my Summer Craft Challenge, it has, I’m afraid to to say, rather fallen by the way side.

I have been working on something on the QT which I’m super excited to tell you about, but that will have to wait for now I’m afraid. I’m keeping my powder dry on it for the time being, but there will be a big ta-dah moment coming up in the not-to-distant future.

Despite my best efforts to keep up to date with my blog posts (I’m still due to share a Postcard from Scotland) I haven’t managed to, but my excuse is that my laptop died early in the summer and since then I have been struggling on with just my phone to post from. I’m thrilled to say that I am sitting here tapping away on my brand new laptop and it feels good after having had months without one! No excuses now.

Here’s a little look back at what I got up to in September!

Double Rainbow

Now, when I scrolled back through my phone to find some photos from the past month to share with you, I realised I didn’t take very many at all – so I am making up for the lack in variety with the sheer number of rainbow photos from one evening in the first half of the month. It had been raining and sunny in equal measure and I came round from the back of our house to spot this vivid rainbow in the sky in front of where we live.

That’s not over remarkable really, they do happen from time to time. What marked it out as remarkable was the fact it must have lasted for over an hour. It was so vivid and it was a double rainbow!

I drove Youngest to Scouts and spotted it on the field ahead of us (so was able to get him to take a photo)

Then, after dropping Youngest at Scouts, I drove back to the field, got out of my car (much to the bemusement of people sitting in traffic watching the crazy woman who was actually choosing to get wet) and took this lovely picture below!

I then drove round to visit my parents and you could see it shining there for about another 40 minutes – it was truly remarkable.

A finished item!

Do you remember I was working on some Granny squares during my Summer Craft Challenge (particularly when we were on holiday in Scotland)? Well I joined them all together and finished my *very loud and colourful* All You Need Is Love cardigan from Inside Crochet Magazine.

It was supposed to be made in a cotton yarn which I would have loved to have used but it was rather pricey, so I took a look in my stash, and found that I had comparable colours in my Stylecraft Special DK stash and only needed to get a handful of extra balls. I changed the main colour from cream/off white to dark grey and got cracking. I’m quite please with it. I even got it finished in time to wear it to Yarndale!

Yarndale 2024

Looking down towards Yarndale from the Yarn Walk

I made my 4th visit to Yarndale last weekend. I first went in 2016, back in the times before Covid when I actually had to get on a plane and fly over to the UK from Gibraltar to visit (imagine that – it feels like a lifetime ago!). I also visited in 2021 in the first post Covid festival and again in 2022. I didn’t make it last year, but a little bird told me that she would be there this year, so I had to book my ticket so I would get the chance to see her again. Can you guess who that little bird was?

Arriving at Yarndale

I got up early on Sunday morning for a 10am entry (thankfully Skipton is only about 75/80 minutes drive from where I live in Manchester) because there was someone special giving a talk at 11am – it was Eleonora from Coastal Crochet!

Eleonora giving her talk about her crochet along blankets and holding her first one – the Seaside Stashbusting Blanket

It was so nice to catch up with Eleonora and hear her speak about her many, many crochet along blankets. I vividly remember her posting on her blog back in 2018 (I think) that she was thinking of hosting a crochet along and inviting anyone who wanted to join her to make a Seaside Stashbusting Blanket. I was compelled to join in after following Eleonora and her yarny coastal exploits from the early days and it was an utter delight. Before long there was a huge community of coastal crocheters around the world hooking up Eleonora’s lovely designs.

I was lucky enough to meet Eleonora at Yarndale in 2022, and when she messaged me to say she would be going back again this year, I simply had to book my ticket! It was so nice to hear her talk about her passion for being creative and also to have a nice chat afterwards. I had my podcast head on while I was there and recorded a lovely chat with her for a future episode of Making Stitches Podcast, which will be coming your way soon.

After hear Eleonora’s talk, I went off for a wander around the many lovely stalls, I spoke to some truly fascinating people and managed to get to another talk – this one about the economics behind the British yarn industry which was really thought provoking.

Some woolly friends

I do love Yarndale, it’s such a friendly place filled with so much inspiration, I’m so glad I made the journey over the Pennines again this year.

There were some pretty impressive yarn bombed bollards outside Skipton Auction Mart. I remember being bowled over by all the yarny items on my first visit, and this is the first time since then that I have really paid attention to them.

There is so much work which has gone into making each one of them – all of them were works of art!

What I’ve been listening to

My latest audiobook loan was Elton John’s Me read by the man himself & Taron Egerton, the actor who played him in the Rocketman film. Blimey, that man’s had a life and a half. I found it very moving and utterly hilarious. There were times when I burst out laughing and others when I found myself in tears. Just as well I listened indoors!

And that, I’m afraid is it for September’s news – I was pretty rubbish at taking pictures of inspiring things this month. I promise to do better with October’s edition!

Until next time, take care of yourself, and thank you for stopping by!

Lindsay x