Postcard Months

A Postcard from August 2026

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It’s 1st September – hello autumn! I don’t know about you but there has been a definite autumnal feeling over the past few days where I am, with heavy rain and thunder storms so it’s been feeling a little bit like summer had come to an end already. 

Normally I feel a little bit melancholy at this time of the year as I mourn the end of the summer weather and lighter evenings, but this time, I’m feeling that as we had into a new month and a new season, it’s a time for fresh starts and new challenges – I’m not entirely sure what they are, but if I hear of any, I’ll keep you posted.

Summer Craft Challenge 2026

My summer craft challenge is about to come to an end for another year – this one being my 10th which is a little bit crazy. Again, it’s been lovely to give myself permission to carve out a little bit of time every day since the start of the school summer holidays in our house to be creative. It all started 11 years ago, when I was a stay-at-home Mum with three young men to entertain during the long summer break in Gibraltar (which was 2 months-long). I found those long summers very hard going at times and something which is as true today as it was back then, is that if I don’t manage to do something creative (crochet, painting, sewing etc) for a while I tend to get very grumpy. By setting aside at least a few (guilt-free) minutes of me time each day, it made the summer run a lot smoother. 

Even though my boys are all a lot older these day (one has left home, another is soon off to university) I have kept the challenge going and I have loved doing it. It’s so easy to be busy and not find the time for such things, but this summer, as always, it’s been a fun endeavour.

PARIS!!

Paris sightseeing


We didn’t make our annual pilgrimage up to Scotland this year, it felt like the end of an era with just one child still in school, and I have the feeling the older two may not still want to go on holiday with their old mum in the years to come, so we decided to do something different. 

We opted for a city break and hopped on a flight over to Paris. Half of our traveling party had never been before, so it was fun to be able to share the city with the other two. We did all the usual things, the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre (from the outside only – they didn’t fancy the queues to see the Mona Lisa etc). We also caught a double-decker train (very exciting) out to Versailles.

As I didn’t have my brain in gear early enough to book tickets to go inside, we just did some of the outside areas. We took a walk through the gardens and watched the lovely fountain displays accompanied by classical music. We also hired bikes and rode them around the wider estate for a couple of hours. I’m so glad we did this, because this is the one thing that everyone has spoken about being their favourite bit! 

Versailles

We also took a ride out to a beautiful park called Buttes-Chaumont out in the suburbs which I visited with Eldest on our previous visit a few years ago, and we visited the Paris Natural History Museum for the first time too with its amazing gardens and stunning interior (would highly recommend even for people visiting without young folk in tow).

Natural History Museum

All in all, it was a brilliant 4 days – including some gorgeous food. We found a favourite new eatery called Bo & Mei which had the most amazing pastries for sale. We visited two different branches, one was near the Louvre and the other at Bastille en route out to visit the park. I can highly recommend a visit if you find yourself near one. The Pain au Chocolat was out of this world!

Buttes-Chaumant Park

A trip up to the Lakes

We had a very quick turn around when we arrived back home from Paris – less than 24 hours later we were up in the Lakes! I had to do some emergency washing and speedy packing to be ready in time to load the car up for a trip up to Grasmere to visit some very dear friends who live up that way now. We had such a lovely time with them out in the fresh air, star gazing on our way home from an evening playing pool, riding bikes through the Langdale Valley and generally having fun.

Back to reality

And then, as if by magic, the summer was over and it was time to get things ready for school and an impending move to University for Son number 2. Just before we headed off on holiday, A-level results day happened. I’m very relieved to say things went well in our house and he’s off on his next chapter very soon. It’s going to be strange in our house with him gone…..

There’s no podcast news this month, as I have taken a break from putting episiodes out, but Making Stitchest Podcast will be coming back again soon. Watch this space…

That’s all for this time, I’m off now to do an emergency shop for school stationary which I forgot to grab at the weekend! Thanks for stopping by!

Happy September!

Lindsay x

A Postcard from July 2026

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Southwold Beach Huts

Blimey just looking back at my photos reminds me of just how busy July was in my world. I had 3 trips – not my normal kind of month at all! We made our annual trip to Norfolk and Suffolk to visit family, I headed off down South to Carry on Crafting AND our family went to London at the end of the month to celebrate the graduation of Eldest from university.

Trip to East Anglia

Sunset on the River Yare, Norfolk

At the start of the month, we made our annual pilgrimage down to Norfolk and Suffolk to visit family. We were blessed with lovely weather and were able to get out and about to enjoy it.

We had a lovely evening walk along the side of the River Yare in Gorleston (the opposite side of the river from Great Yarmouth). We stopped for an evening drink outside the Pier Hotel – which for film fans was the location for the ending of the Danny Boyle film Yesterday. 

Image shows view from Southwold pier

We also made our regular visit to Southwold. We have so many happy family holiday memories of this place – when we lived in Gibraltar, we would often stay in Southwold and use it as our base for a week while we visited family nearby. It’s such a lovely spot, although it does get busy on a sunny summer’s day, but if you are lucky enough to stay there overnight, you find that once the crowds of day trippers leave around teatime, you feel like you have the place to yourself.

There are so many Instagramable corners and alleyways, the little fishermen’s cottages are so well looked after and painted lovely colours, there is often an abundance of hollyhocks growing in the tiny front gardens adding to the pastel-coloured palette of the place. I do so love it there!

You can’t go to Southwold and not get a portion of chips to sit on a bench and eat – we did that – I also managed a bit of seaside crochet too for old time’s sake.

Seaside chips
Seaside crochet

Carry on Crafting

Well, what can I say about Carry on Crafting – it was epic!

I don’t really know what I expected, but it was brilliant in every way – Justine managed to arrange beautifully dry, sunny weather for us and even arranged for England to win in their World Cup match while we were there! (Sadly it didn’t last).

Carry on Crafting 2026
With Eleonora from Coastal Crochet

It was a truly lovely weekend. I arrived on Friday and met up with my glamping buddy for the weekend, Nicky from A Heart Shaped Cherry. Nicky was there as a stall holder and she had a space in her bell-tent for one more (me!). It was a long old trip down there by train from Manchester to London, across London with heavy bags and camping chair on the Underground, then an overland train to Haywards Heath and a bus to the show ground – but my word it was worth it!

On the Friday I helped Nicky pitch her gazebo and get ready for the visitors coming the following morning. We had some dinner, a nighttime herbal tea and then collapsed onto our camp beds!

Nicky on her Heart Shaped Cherry stall
With Kitey aka The Yarn Whisperer

Morning brought with it more sunshine and lots of opportunities to wander, potter, chat to people, meet new friends, see old friends and generally have fun. I joined a wired crochet workship with Kitey from The Yarn Whisperer. It was such a treat to get to meet him IRL after being a customer for quite a few years AND speaking to him for the Making Stitches Podcast back in 2022**. The workshop was very addictive – we were creating feathers or petals by crocheting around wire using Kitey’s hand dyed yarn specially created for the weekend – called Carry on Crafting 2026. 

It was so lovely to chat with Kerry Lord from Toft in person too after speaking to her for the podcast a few years back. I was able to see quite a bit of Eleonora from Coastal Crochet too on her own home turf! We have met in person a couple of times before up north at Yarndale, but this was the first time at her local festival.

Lovely to meet Carol from @nanaseamakes
Thank you Justine!

Can we just have a moment of appreciation for Justine and her amazing team of volunteers who bring the festival to life. It’s no mean feat. It’s a huge undertaking. You are talking about campers, toilet/shower facilities, food, traders, craft and vintage vendors, craft workshops, publicity, electricity, football and movie screenings and that’s probably not even half of the things that need to be looked after to put on an event of this kind.

Thank you Justine for the most amazing weekend. I loved every minute of it. I’m just sorry I had to leave on Sunday morning in order to get back in time for Sunday dinner time and getting everything ready for school and work again for the following week. 

Footnote: Thank you also to my brilliant little brother and his lovely wife who were ‘present’ in the house while I was away and for the amazing job they did dismantling my back garden decking!

If you would like to get a flavour of what happened at Carry on Crafting this year, you can listen to the latest episode of Making Stitches Podcast – I took my microphone with me and recorded my favourite episode of this year so far. You can listen to it on all good podcast apps and on YouTube too, or here.

Graduation Trip to London

Celebratory mini me for Eldest


We hit a milestone in our family towards the end of July when Eldest graduated from University. I can’t put into words how proud I am of him for what he has achieved. He’s a clever lad but he worked so very hard to get the grades he got.

We had a family trip en masse down to London to celebrate with him. Only two of us were able to be with him when he got his degree conferred on him, but the rest of the gang were able to watch on a livestream while it happened. We then all got together to spend the rest of the day with each other, and he got the chance to give Grandma and Grandad a tour of the campus.

Such a brilliant day. Here’s to the future for all the fabulous young people who have been celebrating their graduations this summer – the future is bright for us all.

Podcast News

As well as sharing the episode on Carry on Crafting in July, I also shared a fun episode with a film maker who explored the journey of yarn from sheep to finished products.

I published a chat I had with a film maker called Paul Wyatt, who made a film called Sheep, Actually exploring the story of wool. Paul visits city farms in London to see where sheep live with the capital city, he also speaks to crafts people (including Kitey from The Yarn Whisperer) who use wool in their crafts from yarn dying in Kitey’s case, weaving, knitting and other crafts and the project to collect the fleeces from all of London’s city farms, wash and process it and turn it into wool. It’s a lovely film, and one you can apply to screen at your own local venue. You can listen to Sheep, Actually here.

Summer Craft Challenge

My 10th annual Summer Craft Challenge is well underway and it’s brought me a lot of pleasure already. You know what it’s like when you get stuck in a rut with things? I was seriously getting worried about losing my crojo in the recent weeks and months. I had to consciously decide to pick up my hook and wasn’t always too happy with the results.

Despite that, the prospect of doing something creative every day during my sons’ school summer holidays as has become a tradition for me, filled me with such joy thinking about what interesting places I would be able to take my projects with me to, and encouraging me to dig to the bottom of my wip pile and get busy finishing some things off at last.

As in previous years, I have been joined by a merry band of creative folk who have joined in and shared photos of what they’re working on as part of their own Summer Craft Challenge. So far we have had knitting, crochet, cross stitch embroidery, weaving and flower arranging  photos shared, I wonder what else we’ll see before the summer is out?

If you fancy joining in too, please do – just take a photo of what you are working on in your moment(s) of creativing and share it on Instagram with the hashtag #SummerCraftChallenge2026

And that just about brings this Postcard from July to a close. Thank you for stopping by and for reading my ramblings! It’s been lovely to have your company.

Until next time, take care!

Lindsay x

A postcard from June 2026

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Take That Circus at the Etihad Stadium

Hello there, I hope this finds you doing ok. I’m a bit earlier with this monthly review than I managed last month, but not by much!
I had a lovely month in June – although it didn’t produce many exciting pictures to share (other than a very impressive evening I spent at the Etihad Stadium in the company of Gary, Howard & Mark!).

The main reason for being so late to the game with this update is because of the Carry on Crafting Festival which happened just over a week ago – it was utterly amazing and I look forward to sharing more of it with you next month. In the meantime, you can catch the latest episode of Making Stitches Podcast to hear a flavour of Carry on Crafting (which was an absolute delight to edit last week!).
Anyway, back to June..

Crochet Corner

My Carry on Crafting Squares so far…

I had a bit of a dabble with designing again in June. I am working on another little amigurumi character, but I want to wait to share her with you once she is finished – she is currently sitting on my sideboard without a head (poor love!). Away from amigurumi, I had the chance to give away a pair of tickets to Carry on Crafting festival on my social media channels, and that inspired me to make a few CoC inspired squares. I am hoping to make a complete Carry on Crafting blanket over the course of the summer, so will share more squares with you as they develop!


Also, a good friend of mine at work celebrated a big birthday last month and I simply had to knock up a mini-me for her. I was bought the Crochet Iconic Women book by Carla Mitrani by Eldest a few years ago and along with creating quite a few of those wonderful ladies (including HM Queen Elizabeth & Emmeline Pankhurst) I have used the pattern to create so many little people as gifts when they have hit milestones like big birthdays and other events. I can honestly say this is the most used crochet book I have! As a matter of fact, I am using it right now to create some more little characters – more on them next month!

A mini me gift for a lovely colleague

Take That!

Now to the biggest thing which happened to me in June…


Back in the 1990s, I met Take That very briefly when they visited the place I was working at (conveniently during my lunch hour) I got Gary and Mark’s autograph on my spiral bound notebook! I had never seen them play live in their original incarnation, but amazingly during our last summer living in Gibraltar (in the days before Covid) they came and did a few songs at the Gibraltar Music Festival which was literally a 10 minute walk from our home! It was at the very end of their big world tour. It was not a Take That concert in the conventional sense, but it was a thrill to see them at last as they sung about half a dozen songs between Rick Astley and a Mel C DJ set!


A couple of years ago, I was offered a last minute ticket to see Take That appearing in Manchester at the AO Arena – and when I say last minute – I mean literally hours before. It was an unexpected and very pleasant surprise. It was a truly amazing show – I’d heard they put on a good show but it blew my mind. When I heard that they were coming back to Manchester this summer, I joined the online queue for tickets when they went on sale and was amazed to be successful in getting a couple of tickets.

Take That in Gibraltar 2019
Take That in Manchester 2024

My Mum said when I went the last time, that she wouldn’t mind seeing Take That and that she’d never actually been to a ‘gig’ before so I offered her the other ticket. She didn’t hesitate in saying yes! So, I took my Mum with me which was lovely.

Belinda Carlisle
The Script

The support acts were Belinda Carlisle (I was amazed how many songs she had and how many of them I remembered from my teens) and the Script (who we also saw at the Gibraltar Music Festival in years gone by). They both put on a great show with the crowd singing along.

Then the show began – wow! It truly was a show. It went on for hours, had a cast of hundreds of performers, acrobats, dancers, a tightrope walker, trapeze and the most amazing mechanical elephant which had a woman dangling upside down at the back to give the impression of a tail! I felt privileged to be able to witness it – it defies description.

I’m so glad I got to share it with Mum too. It was a perfect evening – apart from the journey home which including queuing in the world’s longest queue for a tram home which didn’t help Mum’s legs.

The longest tram queue in the world – this was less than half of it!!

Podcast News

In June, I released a couple of episodes of Making Stitches Podcast:

Episode 107 Connection, Confidence & Community with Melissa Santiago-Val – I really enjoyed my chat with Melissa who set up the charity helping people through sewing after a lockdown Covid mask making initiative grew into something lasting and very impactful.

Episode 108 Reconnecting with your imagination with textile artist, Murron Fraser – Murron is a textile artist based in my hometown of Manchester. She uses her work to encourage others to reconnect with their whimsical, childhood imaginations and is inspired by nature, folklore and storytelling.

Anyone for a Craft Challenge?

Back in the summer of 2016, as I approached the 10-week-long school summer holiday in Gibraltar with apprehension, wondering how I was going to manage the juggle of entertaining 3 young men for all that time and keep my sanity.

I decided to set myself a challenge. The plan was to do something creative every day during the long, hot school summer holiday. It worked – and the #SummerCraftChallenge was born. The simple act of giving myself permission to do something for me (even for a short while) really helped.

Every year, since then, (except for during 2020 when we relocated back the UK that summer holiday) I have kept up the challenge.
This year, I am going to do the same.

My youngest is the only one still in school – GCSEs loom next year – but even as they got older and I found myself back in work rather being stuck at home, I kept the challenge going. His school breaks up for the summer today, so as of tomorrow, the #SummerCraftChallenge2026 will begin.

If you’d like to join in, please do! All you have to do is share a picture of what you have done that day (which can involve any sort of creativity) and use the hashtag #SummerCraftChallenge2026 – at the end of each week, I will share a blog post with a round-up of peoples’ summer creativity.
There is no pressure to do something every day (I don’t always manage it myself to be honest), it’s just a gentle reminder to do something that makes you happy and takes you away from the stresses of the everyday grind.

It would be lovely if you could join me!

That’s all for this time, thanks for stopping by!
Lindsay x

A Postcard from May 2026

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View from the Metrolink on Castlefield Viaduct

Hello there, this is coming to you more than a little bit late! I was in the midst of lots going on at the end of May/ start of June so it didn’t see the light of day until now. Such is the pace of life at the moment, that I can’t even remember what was going on which took my time back then – so it was nothing drastic, just general busyness!

Anyway, here we are, at the end of June and here’s a little snapshot of my life last month…

May marked the end of an era in our house, Son number 2 left school and went off on study leave ready to start his A-levels. It felt very odd, just having one child left in school. Times have certainly changed since the early days of this blog when I had three young men in school… I am pleased to say that at the time of writing, the big A-level exams are now finished and have been survived, it’s a waiting game now.

Crochet News

Image of crocheted amigurumi doll which looks like a bluebell flower standing on the grass in front of a clump bluebells

For several months, my crojo had been a bit off, but in May, it came back in abundance inspired by the lovely spring flowers on display – you can’t help but be inspired by all the lovely colours! I bought the yarn to create a Bluebell inspired ‘Up the Garden Path’ character about 3 or 4 years ago, this spring the appearance of Bluebells in my back garden as the inspiration I needed to crack out my hook and get busy – Belle is still a work in progress, but thankfully she has at least appeared!!

Did someone say flowers?


I found myself at our local National Trust property, Dunham Massey early in May and was thrilled to see a brilliant exhibition of what looked like botanical drawings. They were, in fact, the most intricate decoupage I have ever seen. Created by Mary Delany in the 18th century, they were as vivid and crisp as if they had been created yesterday. The exhibition was put on in collaboration with the British Museum and is running through until autumn. If you get the chance to visit, I would highly recommend it.

Going underground

Last year, Eldest went on a tour of a disused Tube station and when he reported back, it sounded fascinating, so this year, for his birthday present I booked for us both to go on another one – together. It meant a night away from home – you can’t guarantee that the trains between Manchester and London will actually run or not at the moment, so I travelled down the day before to ensure we would be there in plenty of time for our tour in the morning.


After arriving down in London, Eldest took me on an epic walking and railing tour of the capital which involved the most amazing Rhubarb crumble with frozen custard in Spittlefields Market, a long and very warm and sunny walk around the Olympic Park in Stratford (which I forgot to take a photo of!) and a wander through the West End and China Town. My word, we walked!! I clocked up just under 30,000 steps – I don’t think I’ve walked so far in one day since my days doing the Med Steps 5 Challenge back in Gibraltar (where you climb to the top of the Rock and walk back down to the bottom of the Nature Reserve 5 times in a row).


On the day of the tour – around Moorgate Station – which is still a functioning station on the network but which has lots of secret tunnels and interesting bits not open to the public, we got to go through doors and passageways not normally visited by folk who don’t work there. It was actually part of the very first Tube line back in Victorian times and has had lots of uses for its tunnels through the years including as an interchange between overground local trains and a World War II bomb shelter. If you have any interest at all in recent history, transport or London in general, I would highly recommend the tour it was super. It was booked through the London Transport Museum if you’re interested in finding out more.


Back to the V&A

When I was at secondary school, we had a brilliant English teacher called Mr Dixon. Sadly he’s no longer with us, but his memory lives on with those of us who were lucky enough to be taught and inspired by him.

Mr Dixon had spent his undergraduate years in London, and it transpired, he spent all his free time between lectures traveling around the capital and immersing himself in all the free entry museums and art galleries. At our school, he set up the ‘Cultural Society’ where one afternoon after school each week, he would play classical music, speak about art or his beloved Japanese carvings and Samurai swords.

I was lucky enough to be allowed to join the Cultural Society and, being in that exclusive club (which a lot of my fellow students had absolutely no interest in) we would, at least once a year, have a day trip down to London with Mr Dixon leading a route march around the city taking in a couple of significant destinations. We rarely took the Tube, because Mr Dixon said we would miss too many important things. As we walked he would regale us with tales of the goings-on which had happened in the streets we were pounding, from the Great Fire of London to the sites of royal executions to tales of scandal in the 1960s, and countless other interesting tit bits.

One of our regular destinations to visit was the V&A where I fell in love with the textiles department. I loved the gorgeous designer gowns, the fabulous textures and colours, and I decided back then I wanted to be a fashion designer.

Fast forward 30+ years and Eldest and I found ourselves with some time on our hands before my return train was due and he asked me where I’d like to visit next. It had to be the V&A for old times’ sake. My word, it was so lovely to be back.

I made a beeline for the textiles area and was thrilled to find so many costumes from the worlds of stage and screen! It was amazing. There was a film showing how wigs were made for the Crown – that was mindblowingly complex – plus Kylie’s entire dressing room from one of her tours. If you get the chance to go, I’d highly recommend it!

Great Run Fun


Regular readers to this blog may remember that when I hit the big 5-0 I set myself the challenge of running my first ever 10K. It was supposed to be a one-time-only event, but on the finish line, son number 2 said he’d run it with me the following year. I couldn’t say no, so signed up again last year. Then, when the email saying early bird places for this year’s event landed in my inbox, before I knew it, I found myself hitting the enter button again.

Lo and behold on Sunday 31st May, I found myself back on Portland Street in the centre of Manchester city centre along with thousands of other folk in trainers and set off on my third Great Manchester Run 10K. In the run up to this year’s event I chose not to do it for charity, but that may have been a mistake as I didn’t have the same dedication to training as I had done in previous years. Despite that, and against my own prediction, I managed to run the whole thing and was less than 1 minute slower than last year’s time so I’m taking that as a big win – there’s life in the old bird yet!!

At the end of that run, I promised myself, I would keep up with the running, however, as I write, I have still not put my running shoes back on…. oops!

Podcast News

First of all in May, I was thrilled to be able to share a chat I had with Kit Giroux, semi-finalist in the latest series of the Great British Sewing Bee.

Kit very kindly invited me to his home and showed me some of his Sewing Bee creations including his Pop Art inspired paper dress. It was absolutely fascinating to hear his experiences from inside the sewing room!

Next up, I shared a chat I had with Angharad & Isobel from the Knitting & Crochet Guild. I was invited to meet them at the home of the Guild’s Collection, an archive of tools, patterns, samples and knitted and crocheted items dating back through the years.

I loved hearing about some of the items which have been donated to the Collection and the detective work which goes into finding out who made things and the lives they led.

You can listen to both of these episodes and the full back catalogue of over 100 episodes over on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube as well as on my website.

And that brings this little postcard to a close, I shall have to press publish now so that it goes out while it’s still June (for a few hours at least!!).

Thanks for stopping by!

Lindsay x

A Postcard from April 2026

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Hello there! I hope April was kind to you. We have been blessed with some truly beautiful sunny days with blue skies and they have meant the gorgeous spring blossoms have been looking fantastic. From my own back garden, to walking down the street and visiting a university open day with Son number 2 this month, the one constant has been floral colour and it’s been spectacular.

An azalea in my back garden
Beautiful cherry blossom on a street I walked down
Stunning blossom at Keele University

So here’s what I’ve been up to last month…

Easter Weekend

The month of April kicked off with Easter this year and it was a lovely weekend for us. Eldest set aside some time from his studies to return home and we were able to spend a good chunk of time together which was lovely. We had a family meal (finished off with a gorgeous chocolate cake made by my Mum – Grandma’s Easter cakes are legendary in our household!), we got out for a lovely walk which included some very seasonably appropriate coffee! I made up some cute Easter jar lids for table decorations. The pattern is by @blossom.and.yarn on Instagram and was so easy to follow. This little collection of bunny ears worked up very quickly.

Another University Open Day

One sunny Saturday, I found myself back on my old stomping ground of Keele University with Son Number 2 who is considering it for his next step.

Keele has a very special place in my heart. I spent 3 of the happiest years of my life in this place and have lifelong friends and three very special young men in my life as a consequence of my time there.

I’m not sure if Keele will be his first choice for where he wants to study, but it was so lovely being back there briefly.

Vitamin Tree!

My word, I do love being out in the greenery of nature. We are blessed to have Dunham Massey, a National Trust property in our area and we made the most of the sunshine last weekend to pay it a visit. We got there relatively early in the morning before it got too busy and it was so lovely to enjoy the peace and tranquility of the place.

Big news!

I have been bursting to share this news… last week it was announced that I am going to be a guest designer at The Crochet Sanctuary! My appearance will be in October 2027 – so there’s a bit of time before then. Although I have been designing for over 5 years, this is the first time I have ever done anything like this – so it’s all very exciting!

If you are interested in coming along to join me and everyone else that weekend, you can book onto the weekend here: https://www.crochetsanctuary.co.uk/product-page/october-29th-31st-2027-774-per-person-50-deposit

A visit to Stockport

Early in April, I popped along the M60 to Stockport to visit a fantastic independent yarn shop called Manchester Wool & Yarn! It’s run by Gareth, who I met for the first time at TexStyle festival in March. We chatted then and he invited me to come and visit him in his fab yarn shop to record an episode of Making Stitches Podcast.

I have to confess that despite living back in Manchester for almost 6 years, I haven’t visited Stockport since my return. It was a place we often went to for a mooch around the shops when I was growing up, but it had fallen off my radar of late. I keep seeing posts about the vibrant independent shops which have sprung up in the town centre, and it was high time I returned!

It was lovely to actually see Manchester Wool & Yarn in real life after seeing so many of Gareth’s social media posts! It really is a delightful shop, packed full of beautiful yarn and lots if gorgeous hand dyed skeins created by North West yarn dyers.

Do please pop in if ever you are in that neck of the woods – it’s so nice.

And as for my podcast chat with Gareth, that came out last week – you can listen to it here!

Podcast news

The first podcast episode I released in April featured the amazing Anna Nikipirowicz, a hugely talented crochet designer, who is passionate about crochet, mosaic crochet, Tunisian crochet and embroidering on crochet too.

You can find her episode here.

And, of course there’s Gareth’s episode too! (Link to listen if above).

That’s all from me for this month, thanks for stopping by!

If you have a bank holiday weekend in your part of the world this weekend, I hope you enjoy it!

Lindsay x

A postcard from March 2026

Image shows a closeup of some white blossom against a blue sky
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Hello there! I hope you’re doing well. My word, March was a super month in my world, filled with fun, sunshine and lots to interesting chats with super people. The main highlight of the month was the TexStyle Festival in Manchester city centre. It was the first of its kind and I spent the whole weekend at it – it was amazing!

So, here’s a little round up of the past month in my neck of the woods…

Sunny days

Image shows a closeup of some white blossom against a blue sky

I don’t want to sound like a weather bore, but in amongst the usual damp and grey March days, we enjoyed several beautiful sunny and warm days this month. Fortunately for me, some of them happened on days when I wasn’t working so I was able to enjoy some time out pottering in my garden.

It was lovely to be able to give the back lawn it’s first cut of the year – it was getting very long and tufty in places, and it stayed looking pretty smart for a couple of hours until it returned to being used as a penalty shoot out area again! One day I will have a pristine lawn, but only when my resident footballers have flown the nest, so I’m not wishing my life away.

A Literary Evening Out

In early March I went along to our local bookshop along with a very good friend of mine to hear local author, Helen Gaskell, speak about her first novel. Released at the height of Bridgerton Series 4 fever, her book The Regency Switch involves time travel from the present day, back to the Regency era.

Helen gave a really fascinating talk and we really enjoyed our evening out (on a school night too!).

Thank you Helen for a brilliant evening!

Image is of author Helen Gaskell posing for the camera holding her first novel, The Regency Swap in a book shop in front of book cases

TexStyle Festival 2026

It’s official I was in!
It was lovely seeing my friend Christine aka Winwick Mum at TexStyle
Work completed by Yarn Addicts of Manchester
Some of the work done by Yarn Addicts of Manchester

Oh my, where to begin with TexStyle Festival? What a wonderful weekend of fun, creativity and community!

I was thrilled to be asked to compere the Textile Talks stage at the festival, so I was lucky enough to spend the full two days at Manchester Central, enjoying all that it had to offer. The weekend’s speakers were textile artists, Sophia Gardiner, Stephen West from WestKnits, Amelia Rogers from Amelia Stitches, Gareth from Manchester Wool & Yarn, Debbie Munro from The Lace Knittery & Jane Smith from Japanese Embroidery UK.

Sophia Gardiner at her stand
Stephen West in action
Stephen West ready to go on stage

It was a brilliant weekend and I feel really privileged to have been a small part of it all. I took my podcast microphone with me (naturally) and shared an episode all about the weekend.

With Gareth from Manchester Wool & Yarn
Jane Smith from Japanese Embroidery UK
Amelia from Amelia Stitches in action

The whole TexStyle experience was a whirlwind, which I still can’t stop thinking about, I had so many lovely conversations with people and look forward to seeing lots of them again in the not too distant future. I’m really grateful to be a part of this super duper community.

Victoria Salmon from Another Knitted Thing
Alena Ruth from Manchester Tufting Workshops
With the super Debbie Munro who gave 2 talks

To get a true flavour of the event, please check out my TexStyle 2026 episode of Making Stitches Podcast.

My March Makes

My only full length photo of my new cardigan taken in the loos at TexStyle!
Image is of the back of a cardigan made using Orla Squares
The back of my Orla Square cardigan

Last month in my Postcard from February, I mentioned that I was working on something using the Orla Squares I had made during my summer craft challenge. The aim was to get a new cardigan made using the squares and I just about managed to get it finished in time for the second day of the TexStyle Festival.

The pattern I used for the squares was on PS I Crochet’s Instagram account last year in Karen’s Orla Love Bag post you can see her account here.

I’m really chuffed with how the cardigan ended up and received some nice compliments about it when I had it on at TexStyle, which is always nice!

Zeens and Roger Small Bobble Cowl pattern

Once my cardigan was finished and I had time to hit my WIP pile with determination to tick another WIP off the list, I settled on this Small Bobble Cowl. I started it in January and then it was cast aside for cardigan making. The pattern is by Zeens and Roger and is called the ‘Small Bobble Cowl’, you can find a link to the crochet pattern bundle for cowls designed by Rosina here. I loved making this and used yarn from Kitey aka https://www.yarnwhisperer.co.uk I love the vibrancy of the colours against the cream background yarn. I just hoping when I wear it, I don’t look too much like a children’s TV presenter!

My final make for March was this ‘mini-me’ for my Zumba instructor, Guillaume who left us at the end of the month to concentrate on his other, candle making business.

I can’t tell you how much my Tuesday evenings dancing have meant to me over the past 4 years I’ve been going. They have been the highlight of my week and such a laugh.

If you want to support his business, I can highly recommend his candles, wax melts, diffusers and candle-making classes. All of which leave your nose in raptures of lovely smells! You can find all of Gui’s products at https://malumiere.co.uk

The mini-me is not anatomically correct by the way! I used my fail safe of adapting a pattern from the Carla Mitrani book Crochet Iconic Women.

On Making Stitches Podcast this month…

I kicked off a brand new series of Making Stitches Podcast this month with a chat I had with Katy Mitchell aka Kate’s Crochet Creations.

Katy is a passionate advocate for the Granny Square and has designed hundreds of different ones. She published her first book last year ‘The Granny Square Book’ which is filled with over 100 different designs for you to make your own unique Granny Square projects with.

You can find Katy’s episode here

Episode art for Episode 101 of Making Stitches Podcast
Episode artwork for the TexStyle festival 2026 episode 102 of Making Stitches Podcast

I have said so much about this festival already in the post, but in case you missed it before, my second episode of the month came out last week and features the brilliant TexStyle Festival. You can listen to it along with all the previous Making Stitches Podcast episodes in all the main podcast places like Apple Podcasts, Spotify etc as well as on my Making Stitches Podcast website.

And that’s it for this month, I hope March was kind to you and that April goes well too. We have the Easter long weekend just around the corner and with it plenty of time to enjoy time with family and my yarn too! Thank you for stopping by to read my latest update.

Have a lovely month!

Lindsay x

A Postcard from February 2026

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Hello there! I hope life is treating you well. I am writing this bathed in early spring sunshine which is so welcome after a very grey and damp few weeks we’ve had.

I honestly thought that February had been quite a busy month for me, but when I took a look back at my photos I realised that perhaps it wasn’t as busy as I remembered – or perhaps maybe the busyness wasn’t as photogenic as I’d hoped it was!

One thing which happened (which I have no photos for) was the excitement of a new BBC show being filmed in my local area which was a bit of a thrill. Have you watched Small Prophets? There has been a lot of noise about it locally as some of the filming locations are less than 10 minutes walk from my front door!  For those who may not know what I’m banging on about, it’s a show written by Mackenzie Crook (from The Office (the original UK version), Pirates of the Carribean and more recently the TV show Detectorists) about a man whose girlfriend disappeared years ago and he’s effectively waiting for her to return. It’s a really touching story with great actors. I won’t spoil it by saying any more, but it’s a heartwarming story about friendship with a bit of supernatural activity involved and cameo from Michael Palin. Do go and watch it on BBC iplayer if you can – you’ll see one of our local pubs, the street that’s central to the plot and a few other locations around my hometown featuring.

 

Without further ado here is a rather potted version of what I got up to last month…

 

A trip over the Pennines

I got the chance to travel over the Pennines to Halifax one weekend to visit a work colleague who I worked with pre children (20+ years ago – eek). In fact, we both went off on maternity leave with our firstborns at the same time. I didn’t go back to that job and I think she then went off and did other things pretty quickly too.

We hadn’t seen each other since a chance get together on the Costa del Sol back when we lived in Gibraltar! It was high time for a catch up, so we chose a spot which was halfway between where we both are now and that spot was Piece Hall in Halifax.

Inside the Visitor Centre

 

It was so lovely to be back as Piece Hall was somewhere we had visited a few times back in the days before children, Gibraltar and blogging were a thing for me! I arrived a bit early so had a look around the visitor centre first of all. We had the most delicious lunch and put the world to rights before heading off for a mooch around the lovely independent shops which are nestled in amongst the different rooms of the hall.

 

One of the beautiful gates at one of the entrances to Piece Hall

There was a big exhibition of vintage tractors going on in the central area which had attracted loads of visitors and little ones were entertained with a treasure trail put on for the half term holidays – there was such a vibrant atmosphere, it was really lovely to be back again.

Spring

It certainly feels like Spring is doing its thing in the sunshine today. I just love seeing the first tiny hints of green appearing on branches at this time of the year. I went out for a walk one afternoon during the half term holidays and spied this hawthorn about to burst forth which made me smile. Half terms have taken on a new meaning for me these days. Gone are the days of trying to find activities to keep young ones entertained, and now (thanks to my manager being very flexible) I am often able to work from home during the school holidays so I can be a presence in the house even if I am not ‘off’ work. I was fortunate this time that I was able to take a bit of leave (before the financial year end) and got out and about for a few walks on my own – one teenager was otherwise engaged and the other was revising for exams so I escaped for some fresh air alone!

My Makes in February

I set myself a deadline which I thought would be pretty tough to hit when I started work on my cardigan in January. I wanted it to be finished by the end of February, and I’m thrilled to say I managed it with 2 days to spare – go me! I’m so pleased with how it turned out. I have knitted cables before but never lacework and I really enjoyed seeing how this intricate panel appeared just thanks to some slipped stitches and yarn overs! I shall be dipping my toe back into knitting again before too long, I’m sure of that.

My next make involves the crocheted ‘Orla Squares’ I made during  my Summer Craft Challenge last year. I used the project to use up some tiny balls of Scheepjes Catona which I was gifted a box of a while ago (they have been sitting there waiting to be used for quite some time). I determined to only make one square using each of the shades which limited how many squares I could make, but didn’t know what their ultimate use would be.

The planning stage…

Recently, I got to thinking about them again and thought they might make a nice cardigan. I don’t have enough to make an entire cardigan out of them, so think I’ll use them to make the body and have the sleeves with a different design. I’m at the playing with colours stage trying to work out how they will sit alongside each other – random or colour blocked? Only time will tell!

Exciting news

Now this is something I’m really excited about which is happening next week. The first ever TexStyle Festival is coming to Manchester Central on the weekend of 14th & 15th March. I spoke to Michelle, one of the organisers of the event on Making Stitches Podcast last year and heard all about the plans for the event. There will be stalls, workshops and all sorts going on over the weekend and I was getting giddy to have such a large craft related event happening so close to my home.

Last month, I was thrilled to be asked to host the Textile Talks stage at the festival! I will be there to introduce the guest speakers including Stephen West from WestKnits, Amelia from Amelia Stitches, Gareth from Manchester Wool & Yarn, Debbie from The Lace Knittery, Laili from Emily Foulds Knits and Charmingo Sews Academy. I simply cannot wait!!

If you would like to come along and enjoy what promises to be a brilliant event, you can find all the information about it here: https://texstyle.uk/

And that just about brings this Monthly Postcard to an end. I promise I will have a more exciting round up by the end of this month – thanks to TexStyle! If you are going to be there, please pop along to the talks stage and say hello!

Until next time, have a great month and look after yourself!

Lindsay x

A postcard from January 2026

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Hello there! I hope 2026 is treating you kindly so far. It’s been a pretty good month for us, no dramas, no insurmountable problems and despite people calling January the longest month of the year – I think it’s sped by pretty quickly. I wasn’t really ready for it to come to an end, but it has and here I am with my first monthly postcard of the year.

Here’s a little snapshot of what I have been up to so far this year…

A cold start to the month

Our first snowy dusting of the year

I know some places around the UK and further afield have experienced some very cold and snowy weather of late. As usual, in my part of the world – which is renowned for its dampness – we have had a rather cold snap but not so much of the white stuff. I always get excited when I see a flurry of snowflakes coming down, it immediately transports me back to being a child again. Unfortunately for the children (and some of the grown ups) in my part of Manchester, there certainly wasn’t enough for snowmen this month!

We did experience some very cold weather in the first week of the year though, unfortunately for us, it coincided with our central heating boiler going on the blink. Youngest had a football match on the first Sunday of the month, in minus 6 weather. It was bitterly cold, but thanks to the fact it was being played on a very smart, state-of-the-art artificial pitch, it was the only game that week in their league which wasn’t called off.

Despite wearing thermal leggings and top under my usual clothes, with two pairs of socks, double coat and hat, I wimped out and ran back to the car to get the heaters on at half time, this picture shows the payers heading back onto the pitch after the shortest half time I’ve ever experienced. Clearly everyone wanted to get it over and done with and get back to warm houses! I had enough time to walk to the car, turn on the ignition and then it was time to go back out into the cold again!

We ended up going home to a cold house as our boiler had stopped working. Thankfully, some of the football parents had spare electric heaters which they leant to us until we could get it fixed (a faulty sensor apparently). It was a stark reminder that without central heating it can be very cold, and for those who struggle to pay for heating, it must be very bleak indeed.

100 episodes of Making Stitches Podcast

I can hardly believe I’m writing this, but at the start of January, I released episode number 100 of Making Stitches Podcast. It was a bit different this time, as my friend Christine Perry aka Winwick Mum offered to interview me! It was lovely having a chat with Christine, we talked about how I got into my crafty passions as well as my broadcasting experiences and my previous podcast, Gibraltar Stories.

It was a bit out of my comfort zone at first, I normally like to be the one asking the questions! But Christine was very gentle with me and was an excellent podcast host! If you haven’t listened yet, you can find it in all the usual podcast places (by searching for Making Stitches Podcast) – you can also find it here, on the Making Stitches Podcast website.

Also this month, my podcast host (Buzzsprout) sent me a lovely recap of the year. It was filled with stats about 2025 for Making Stitches and I was floored to hear that last year, it was listened to in 156 countries & territories around the world!! That’s just a little bit bonkers isn’t it??

Another birthday!

I celebrated my birthday this month, and was spoiled by Eldest who sent these beautiful flowers to me through the post. They were super. I felt very appreciated.

Our approach to Manchester Cathedral
Ready for the show to begin
During the amazing show!

Also for my birthday, my lovely parents took me to see an amazing show at Manchester Cathedral called Luminisence. It was incredible. We arrived knowing very little about what to expect and found some chairs at the back. Slowly the cathedral began to fill with people and then the music started. It was a stunning performance of so many great tunes by a gospel choir with the stunning backdrop of Manchester Cathedral illuminated by a light show. Lights and moving pictures were projected onto the walls and ceiling while the music played along with a narration by the actor, Christopher Eccleston talking about the history of the city and the cathedral itself. If you get the chance to go, I highly recommend it – it was stunning.

January makes

One of my lovely colleagues at work celebrated a big birthday recently. I felt it warranted a mini-me to be made so knocked this little lady up. I used Carla Mitrani’s Crochet Iconic Women book as the basis for the pattern. I love this book and have made so many gifts for special people using the patterns in it.

This gorgeous book was a birthday present to myself. The Crochet Stitch Companion by Anna Nikipirowicz. I want to try to get to grips with mosaic crochet this year, and thought this was a good place to start.

When it arrived through the post, it came wrapped up with this cute crocheted flower and a tea bag! Never before have I received such a beautifully presented book through the post.

Also this month, I managed to get around to getting these hearts off to the North West & North Wales Paediatric Transport Service. The service has an appeal for yarny hearts (knitted or crocheted will do). They ask for 3 matching hearts, one for the patient (a child) and one for each parent, so if they have to be separated from each other during the journey they are on, or at their destination, they will all have a matching heart to keep hold of.

You can read all about the appeal here.

And I’ve been knitting! I got a voucher at Christmas for my favourite yarn shop, Black Sheep Wools, so popped along and spent it on a pattern, some yarn and new needles. I have set myself a tight deadline of mid March for two new cardigans, one knitted (see picture) and another one which is crocheted. Do you think I’ll manage to hit the deadline? Only time will tell.

Miles for Meals

The view from the top of Rivington Pike
My frosty birthday morning run
My final walk on 31st Jan taking me to my target

I didn’t really start the year with any resolutions, but I did set myself the target of walking or running 104km this month. At my work (FareShare Greater Manchester) we are trying to raise £25,000 to replace one of our delivery vans which have a habit of breaking down. We use those vans to get food out to the charities and community groups which we support with surplus food. I pledged to walk or run the distance of one of those delivery routes – the one from our base in Openshaw to Atherton and Wigan which is around 65 miles long or 104 km.

I set out on my Miles for Meals mission in the first few days of the year. We traveled to Rivington which is just a stone’s throw from the Atherton and Wigan delivery route and climbed to the top of Rivington Pike. It was a cold and sunny day and we could see as far as Manchester city centre, the mountains of North Wales, Liverpool docks, Blackpool tower and the mountains of the southern Lake District from the top of the hill. It was stunning.

Since then, my walks and runs haven’t been quite as picturesque and were often after dark, but I did manage a morning run on my birthday which was frosty and sunny and then yesterday, on my final day, I woke up with another 10km still to cover, so I set off on a solo walk from our home to a lovely riverside coffee shop beside the River Mersey and back again – a round trip of 10.5km which took about 2 hours to complete. I can safely say I have completed my mission and should you like to contribute to my fundraising efforts, you can find my Just Giving page here.

Thank you!

And that brings me to a close. Thank you for joining me on this jaunt back through the last 31 days! I’m hoping to maintain this throughout the year with a monthly postcard – something I failed to do last year, but we’ll see how it goes.

I hope that February is kind to you and I look forward to seeing what it has in store for us!

Thanks for stopping by!

Lindsay x

A Postcard from June 2025

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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

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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