Hello there! Bit late getting this out to you following the Bank Holiday Weekend. It’s thrown me out of routine and I’m only just getting back on track (and knowing what day it is!) today. We started Week Five of this year’s Summer Craft Challenge up in the Lake District visiting some lovely friends of ours. The view behind the pictures above is of Grasmere, where we enjoyed a lovely kayak around on Sunday. We have visited the Lakes many times over the years, and have never seen it in such warm and sunny conditions – we were really lucky.
Here’s what I got up to this week!
Last Saturday, we woke up in the Lakes again and packed a picnic ready for a big climb. We managed to get to top of a mountain! Cat Bells to be precise. When we made it to the top and found a quiet space to sit, those cheese rolls tasted like nectar from the Gods! Bliss! After our picnic lunch, I whipped my hook out and made another Orla Square at the top as a souvenir of our big climb.
Sunday morning was my last Lake District crochet session, we went to Grasmere and got our friends’ inflatable kayak pumped up so the boys could get out on the water. Once they had all had a go paddling around the island in the middle of the lake, my friend and I got in and had a go. While I was waiting for my turn, I sat in the shade and hooked up another Orla square. I wonder if I will remember where I made each one, when I finish the project later on? Maybe not, but they will certainly remind me of this summer.
On Monday, after work, I found myself back at home with the rather boring backdrop of our dining table for my Orla Squares today!
On Day 32, work was incredibly busy and the evening was too, but I managed to find a bit of time before bed to begin another heart for the North Wales and North West Paediatric Transport Service (full details of appeal is here). Unfortunately, once I was committed, I discovered I’d run out of filling to stuff it with, so had to leave it like this! Off to the shops soon…
Wednesday already and as I am planning on using my Orla Squares to make a garment (once I have enough made), I realised that I will probably need some ‘half’ squares to help with the shaping, so I did a bit of experinenting tonight.
Busy day on Day 34, including a really lovely funeral for a very good friend’s Dad, so not much inclination for making when I got home, some mindless sock-knitting rounds was just the ticket.
On Friday, I did a different bit of crafting – I crafted a podcast episode! The first episode of the new series of Making Stitches Podcast is ready to go live on Friday!
And that’s it for Week 5 of my Summer Craft Challenge from my part of the world.
Huge thanks to everyone who has joined in with the Summer Craft Challenge this week, it’s been so lovely to have company on this challenge. Included below are some of varied Instagram posts I’ve seen including a beautiful crocheted sea shell from Sandra @wilddaffodilwild, a beautiful Crochet Sanctuary Christmas blanket and a cardigan in the making from Kristina @crochet_at_holme, a Making Stitches 2025 CAL Bonus Birthday square from Sarah @sarahsheehangib and the cutest Snoopy and Woodstock from Jothi @jothiquestcraft – Thank you all!
And that’s all for this week, thanks again to everyone who’s joined in with the craft challenge to keep me company this week! If you want to join in, you can do at any time, just share what you’re making (any crafts welcome) over on Instagram using the hashtag #SummerCraftChallenge2025 and we can all enjoy each other’s creativity!
Week Four of this year’s Summer Craft Challenge was much like week three – a real mix of things going on. I made a point of trying to have something different each week. Back in the old days when this summer challenge first started, it was completely different – we were living in Gibraltar (where the beach was a 10 minute drive and the sun (almost) always shone, I was a stay at home mum and my kids were a lot smaller. I now work part time, have only 2 young men at home and they are teenagers, so things have needed to be a bit more strategic.
This week was chilled for the lads as I was working 3 days, then we packed up the car and headed north again (not as far as our last holiday to Scotland though) and went to visit our very good friends who live in the Lake District. It was quite hard trying to find time for crochet or anything else in between things on my working days, but after that, it was a different matter.
Here’s what I got up to this week!
Last Saturday was a busy one (every day seems to be busy at the minute) and the first time I had to sit down and get my hook out was in the evening as I watched Guardians of the Galaxy 3 with the boys. That’s another 2 hearts made for the North West and North Wales Paediatric Transport Service. For full details on why I’m making these, check out this post!
Sunday and I revisited my Orla squares. I’m really enjoying making these as they work up so quickly.
On Monday I managed to make a third yellow heart for the North West and North Wales Paediatric Transport Service. That’s a fourth trio of hearts done.
On Day 25 and I took my knitting into work with me in the hope of getting a few rounds done on my sock at lunch time. I was a crazy busy day at work with one thing and another, so no time for lunchtime knitting for me. I enjoyed a sit down late at night and managed a few rounds whilst watcing the finale of Series 3 of The Guilded Age.
Blimey it was really hot on Wednesday (Day 26), and I managed to spend a good chunk of the afternoon sweating it up under a nylon cape at the hairdresser while she made my ‘silver highlights’ a bit less silver. I managed to hook some more squares up while I was in the chair!
Day 27 found us in the Lake District visiting some very dear friends. First night there involved half a pint of local ale and a lovely pub meal. I managed a teeny bit of crochet while we waited for dinner to come.
On Friday, I found myself beside Loughrigg Tarn (after taking a dip on my first ever wild swimming experience). It was a bit cold, but very invigorating and I am so proud of myself for going out of my comfort zone. I also managed to get last night’s square finished by the side of the water too!
And that’s it for Week 4 of my Summer Craft Challenge from my part of the world. This is coming to you a little bit late on Monday rather than Saturday owing to us being away for a few days. Back home safely now and back to ‘normal’ again for the time being.
Huge thanks to everyone who has joined in with the Summer Craft Challenge this week, it’s been so lovely to have company on this challenge. Included below are some of varied Instagram posts I’ve seen including some crocheted sea anemones from Sandra @wilddaffodilwild, a beautiful Merton Abbey Flower Square designed by Janie Crow and made by Kristina @crochet_at_holme, a stunning black crocheted fan comission from Sarah @Sarah.livelovecrochet. A truly lovely cardigan in the making from Carol @nanaseamakes, some dressmaking for the first time this summer from @seaside_karen, a Making Stitches 2025 CAL August square from Sarah @sarahsheehangib, a stunning collection of Granny Squares from Jothi @jothiquestcraft and finally a beautiful photo from Zeli @yarnstorms of her crocheting at the top of Foel Offrym, the Hill of Sacrifice in Wales. Thank you all!
Some of the brilliant Summer Craft Challenge posts shared on Instagram
And that’s all for this week, thanks again to everyone who’s joined in with the craft challenge to keep me company this week! If you want to join in, you can do at any time, just share what you’re making (any crafts welcome) over on Instagram using the hashtag #SummerCraftChallenge2025 and we can all enjoy each other’s creativity!
The Making Stitches 2025 CAL squares to date with the new bonus Granny Square Day square
Hello and happy Granny Square Day to you! What a joyous celebration of crochet today is, where ever I look online, there are colourful granny squares popping up all over.
Seeing as this year has been rather dominated by crochet squares in my world, I thought it would be silly not to join in and create my very own Making Stitches 2025 CAL Granny Square Day Bonus Square too. If you fancy having a go at making this square, look no further, you can find the pattern down below…
As always, I have made these squares using my own stash of Stylecraft Special DK yarns, I have included the numbers for the shades I have used below, but please use any yarn you like. It’s a perfect way of using up any small odds and ends you have left over from other projects.
Each square in the Making Stitches 2025 CAL is made to a similar basic pattern and should have 120 stitches in the final round to make joining the squares together at the end a little bit easier.
You will need: Using Stylecraft Special DK (A) Pomegranate (1083) (B) Pistachio (1822) (C) Lobelia (1825) (D) Saffron (1081) (E) Spice (1711) (F) Silver (1203) Size 4mm crochet hook Scissors Stitch Marker Yarn Needle
Abbreviations (in UK terms): blo = work in back loop only, ch = chain, dc = double crochet, dtr = double treble crochet, fyo = final yarn over, htr = half treble crochet, mc = magic circle / magic ring, rep = repeat, RS = right side, slst = slip stitch, st = stitch, tr = treble crochet.
Round 1 Ch2 (not counted as a st unless noted), 12 tr into MC. Slst into top of ch2 to close the round. Pull the central yarn tail tight to close the MC. (12tr)
Round 2 Ch2, 2tr into every st around. Slst into top of the Ch2 (24tr)
Round 3 Ch2, (2tr in next st, 1tr in next st) rep around. Slst into the top of the Ch2 to close round changing to Yarn B with fyo. (36tr)
Round 4 With Yarn B, and working in the blo for this round, (2dc into next st, 1dc into next 2 sts) rep around. Slst into top of ch1 to close round. (48dc)
Round 5 Working into both loops as normal in this round, ch1 (2dc in next st, 1dc into next 3 sts) rep around. Slst into top of ch1 to close round. (60dc)
Round 6 Ch1, (1dc in next 3 sts, 1htr in next 2 sts, 1tr in next 2 sts, 1dtr 2ch 1dtr in next st, 1tr in next 2 sts, 1htr in next 2 sts, 1dc in next 3 sts) rep around. Slst into top of the ch1. Fasten off and break yarn. (16 sts on each side = 64 sts)
Round 7 Join Yarn C into any st. Work 1dc into every st around and 1dc ch2 1dc into every corner space. Slst to top of 1ch. Fasten off and break yarn. (72dc)
Round 8 Join Yarn D in one of the corner spaces, Ch3 (counts as 1tr in this instance) 2tr ch2 3tr, (skip the next 2 sts, 3tr into next st) repeat along that side until you reach the corner. In the corner space work a 3tr cluster, ch 2 and then work another 3tr cluster and continue along the side as you did before (skip the next 2 sts, 3tr into next st) rep around. Slst into top of first Ch3. Fasten off and break yarn. (You should have 7 x 3tr clusters along each side = 28 x 3tr clusters in total)
Round 9 Join Yarn E into one of the corner spaces. Ch3 (counts as 1tr in this instance) 2tr ch2 3tr, then work around the square making 3tr clusters into every space between the 3tr clusters of Round 8. Work a 3tr cluster 2ch 3tr cluster into each corner space. Slst into top of Ch3. Fasten off and break yarn. (8 x 3tr clusters along each side = 32 x 3tr clusters in total)
Round 10 Join Yarn Cinto one of the corner spaces and rep Round 9. Fasten off and break yarn. (9 x 3tr clusters along each side = 36 x 3tr clusters in total).
Round 11
In order for the final stitch count on this round to add up to 120 (to match the other Making Stitches 2025 CAL squares), you will need to work 1 more st in this row than there are stitches to work into i.e. the last row was made up of 108 tr sts, or 27 sts on each side and we need to end with 30 sts on each side. The natural increase at the beginning and end of each side accounts for 2 extra sts, but you will need to add an extra one somewhere to bring that count up by an extra one. I did this by working 2dc 2ch 1dc into the corner spaces. If you are just making this square as a one-off, this additional stitch is not necessary.
Join Yarn B into any st, 1ch (does not count as a st) 1dc into the same st, 1dc into every st around, when you reach a corner space, 2dc ch2 1dc. Rep around. Fasten off and break yarn. Weave in your ends. (120dc)
Then make 2 longer strands of yarn of 15ch and 2 shorter strands of yarn of 12 ch in Yarn A and for the hook, you will need to make a ch of 22 using Yarn F. In each instance, make sure you leave a decent length of yarn tail on each end of your strands and your hook chain to allow you to sew them into place on top of the yarn ball.
Sew three yarn strands across the middle with the longest length across the centre of the ball and one shorter length on either side. Once they are secure, add your crochet hook by sewing it in place at a different angle to your yarn strands. Then turn your square by approximately 180 degrees and repeat the process of sewing the remaining yarn strands over the top of the crochet hook.
Your Granny Square Day Making Stitches 2025 CAL square is now complete. I hope you enjoyed making it! If you decide to share your make online, please use the hashtag #MakingStitches2025CAL so I can see what your colour choices have been, I would love to see it!
Week Three of this year’s Summer Craft Challenge was for us a mix of being back at home and in work, traveling down to London to visit Eldest and entertaining friends back at our home in Manchester. Lots of fun times for us all and thankfully a few little windows of opportunity for me to get crafty!
Here’s what I got up to this week!
Last Saturday we headed off on the train down to London to visit Eldest. It gave me the perfect opportunity to get a good amount of crochet done, I couldn’t help but start a new project! I found the pattern for these ‘Orla Squares’ from @psicrochet on Instagram and fell in love with the multi coloured flowers. I only had a teeny amount of the off-white yarn for the centres so squeezed as many out of it as I could while on the train both ways.
Sunday and Day 16 offered me the chance to sit down and relax a bit after a very busy day of traveling and walking around London the day before. I was able to add to my collection of little Orla Square flowers before running out of the yarn for the middles.
Last day of leave for now and it was mainly spent cleaning, washing and ironing! I did manage to fit in a teeny bit of crochet time in the evening though to complete my third trio of hearts for the North West and North Wales Paediatric Transport Service. If you don’t know what this is, please find the full details here.
On Day 18 and my first day back at work after our holiday, I received some happy post to come home to – supplies of the yarn I need to turn my Orla Square flowers into squares – hurrah!
Yet another busy day in our household, once work was out of the way, we were joined by some lovely friends from our days in Gibraltar who traveled up today to visit us for a couple of days. Needless to say, there wasn’t much time for craft, but I did fit in a few moments of sock knitting in bed, before dropping off!
I’m so pleased with these little squares which are growing slowly but surely in number!
Unfortunately we had to say goodbye to our lovely friends on Friday, we had a really lovely time with them. As I sat in front of the TV after taking them to the station, I indulged in a little bit more of this embroidery project which I started in Scotland. Will I get it finished before the end of this Summer Craft Challenge? Somehow, I think not, but it’s proving a really cheerful ongoing project.
And that’s it for Week 3 of my Summer Craft Challenge from my side of things.
Huge thanks to everyone who has joined in with the Summer Craft Challenge this week, it’s been so lovely to have company on this challenge. Included below are some of varied Instagram posts I’ve seen including some embroidery from Kristina @crochet_at_holme, an ever growing crochet coral reef from Sandra @wilddaffodilwild. Also included below are a Making Stitches 2025 CAL July Square from @sarahsheehangib, purple mandalas from Mo at @mojo_5_yng, a rainbow wind spinner from @sarah.livelovecrochet, a beautiful rose covered blanket from @jothiquestcraft, a temperature embroidery from @crochet_at_holme, a brand new project from Ann Marie aka @crochetscot and a beautiful granny square in the making from Carol @nanaseamakes. Thank you all!
Some of the other Summer Craft Challenge posts from Instagram
And that’s all for this week, thanks again to everyone who’s joined in with the craft challenge to keep me company this week! If you want to join in, you can do at any time, just share what you’re making (any crafts welcome) over on Instagram using the hashtag #SummerCraftChallenge2025 and we can all enjoy each other’s creativity!
Week Two of this year’s Summer Craft Challenge found us in Argyll on the West Coast of Scotland, such a beautiful place to visit and one which has strong family connections for us.
Here’s what I got up to this week!
I’m really enjoying this embroidery kit from Hello Hooray Blog, it’s been quite a while since I last did any embroidery so it’s been a lovely change.
Day 9 brought with it a new design, I have created a brand new bonus square design for my Making Stitches 2025 CAL, which I’ll be releasing very soon!
We had a busy day, meeting friends, having a woodland walk and then time for ice cream & a bit of sock knitting on the beach at Dunoon!
My last full day on holiday in Scotland, and my last early morning sitting in my favourite chair enjoying the peace and quiet before everyone else was up and being creative with a beautiful view.
Long trip home today – my only opportunity for craft was a spot of sock knitting while sitting on the car ferry!
First day back at home in Manchester after our lovely holiday and I felt restless and unable to settle on anything. I raided my pattern library to look for granny squares and made a few to satisfy my need to make, I think there may be a new WiP in the pipeline!
Huge thanks to everyone who has joined in with the Summer Craft Challenge this week, it’s been so lovely to have company on this challenge. Included below are some of varied posts I’ve seen including some incredible sculptural felting from Sandra at Wild Daffodil. Also included below are photos from @sarah.livelovecrochet @sarahsheehangib @crochet_at_holme @nanaseamakes @jothiquestscraft & @yarnstorms. Thank you all!
Some of the other Summer Craft Challenge posts from Instagram
And that’s all for this week, thanks again to everyone who’s joined in with the craft challenge to keep me company this week! If you want to join in, you can do at any time, just share what you’re making (any crafts welcome) over on Instagram using the hashtag #SummerCraftChallenge2025 and we can all enjoy each other’s creativity!
Hello and welcome to Part 8 of the Making Stitches 2025 CAL! As August is traditionally a time for summer holidays in the part of the world I live in, I was inspired by our many seaside holidays from being a child myself to taking my own children away on holiday. But what could I put in the centre of my square which indicated the seaside and was based on a circle? After much head scratching and debating with myself, I opted for a life saving rubber ring, the kind of floatation device you often see fastened to a fence or sea wall near the beach or on a pier.
As luck would have it, over the past month or so, I found myself beside the seaside a few times, in Norfolk and Suffolk on the South East coast of England and on the West coast of Scotland too. That meant I could get inspiration from my trip to Norfolk and Suffolk and then use my trip to Scotland for my photo shoot! Perfect!
The whole point of this CAL is to be a stash buster project to help you get rid of some of your odds and ends of yarn left over from previous projects. I am certainly using it for that purpose!
I have made my squares using my own stash of Stylecraft Special DK yarns and I will include the names and numbers of the shades I’ve used in case you want to replicate what I have done exactly, but you can use any yarn you like. The only thing you need to do is make sure it’s all the same weight, ie all DK or all Aran or whatever yarn you choose, and if you are making the whole project along with me, make sure all your squares are made using the same weight and the same size of crochet hook to make sure they all measure the same size so they can be joined together easily at the end.
Here’s the pattern for my August Making Stitches 2025 CAL square!
August : Seaside Holiday Square
Using Stylecraft Special DK:
(A) Aster (1003)
(B) Stone (1710)
(C) White (1001)
(D) Matador (1010)
Size 4mm crochet hook
Scissors
Stitch Marker
Yarn Needle
A small amount of toy filling
Abbreviations (in UK terms): blo = work in back loop only, ch = chain, dc = double crochet, dtr = double treble crochet, fyo = final yarn over, htr = half treble crochet, mc = magic circle / magic ring, rep = repeat, RS = right side, slst = slip stitch, st = stitch, tr = treble crochet.
To make the square:
Using Yarn A, make a MC. Round 1 Ch2 (not counted as a st throughout), 6 tr into MC, changing to Yarn B in fyo of last st, then make 6tr into MC, changing to Yarn A in fyo of last st. Slst into top of ch2 to close the round. Pull the central yarn tail tight to close MC. (12tr)
Change to Yarn A fyo of last st of Round 1Round 1 complete Change to Yarn B halfway through Round 2Change to Yarn A fyo of final st in Round 2Round 2 complete
Round 2 Ch2, 2tr into next 6 sts changing to Yarn B in fyo of last st, then work 2tr into the next 6 sts, change to Yarn C in fyo of last st. Slst into the top of the ch2. Fasten off and break yarn, but mark the first st of the round with a stitch marker (24tr)
Round 3A Join Yarn C into flo of first st and working in the flo around this round, ch2, 2tr in first st, 1tr in next st, change to Yarn D in fyo of last st, [2tr in next st, 1tr in next st, change to Yarn C in fyo of last st, (2tr in first st, 1tr in next st) x2 change to Yarn D with fyo,] x3 times, then with Yarn D 2tr in next st, 1tr in next change to Yarn C, 2tr in next st, 1tr in final st. Slst into top of Ch2 (36tr) (You should have 4 red stripes).
Beginning of Round 3ARound 3A complete Round 4A complete
Round 4A With Yarn C, Ch2, (2tr in first st, 1tr in next 2 sts) around making sure you work white stitches into white stitches and red into the red stitches of the previous Round. Slst into top of ch2. Fasten off and break yarn. (48dc)
Round 3B Join Yarn A into blo of 1st st, ch2, (2htr in first st, 1htr in next st) rep around, changing to Yarn B in fyo of 18th st, continue following pattern to end of Round & changing to Yarn A in fyo of final st. Slst into top of ch2. (36 htr)
Start of Round 3B Round 4B completed
Round 4B Ch2, (2tr in first st, 1tr in next two sts) rep around following the colour change as detailed in Round 3B. Slst into top of ch2.
Round 5 You will be joining the front (Round 4A) and back (Round 4B) of the rubber ring together in this round, and you can add a small amount of toy filling between the layers to make the ring stand proud.
With Yarn A, Work 2dc into the first sts of both Round 4A & 4B, then 1dc into next 3 sts, (2dc in first st, 1dc into next 3 sts) rep around, making sure to change to Yarn B on the fyo of your 30th st so you can continue the colour pattern as it was in the centre of the square. Once you have reached the final st, change to Yarn A with your fyo and slst into the top of the ch1 to close the square.
Round 5 in progress Round 5 complete
Round 6 With Yarn A ch1, 1dc in next 3 sts, 1htr in next 2 sts, 1tr in next 2 sts, 1dtr + 2ch + 1dtr in next st, 1tr in next 2 sts, 1htr in next 2 sts, 1dc in next 6 sts, 1htr in next 2 sts, 1tr in next 2 sts, 1dtr + 2ch + 1dtr in next st, 1tr in next 2 sts, 1htr in next 2 sts, 1dc in next 3 sts changing to Yarn B in fyo of 3rd st, with Yarn B 1dc in next 3 sts, 1htr in next 2 sts, 1tr in next 2 sts, 1dtr + 2ch + 1dtr in next st, 1tr in next 2 sts, 1htr in next 2 sts, 1dc in next 6 sts, 1htr in next 2 sts, 1tr in next 2 sts, 1dtr + 2ch + 1dtr in next st, 1tr in next 2 sts, 1htr in next 2 st, 1dc in next 3 sts slst into top of ch1 to close round. Fasten off and break yarn.
Round 6 Round 7
Round 7 Join Yarn C into any st. Work 1dc into every st around and 1dc ch2 1dc into every corner space. Slst to top of 1ch. Fasten off and break yarn. (72dc)
Round 8 With Yarn B, join into the blo of the final st of one of the sides of the square, ch2 & 1tr in the blo of that st, in corner space work 1tr + 2ch + 1tr, then working in the blo around, continue with (1dtr, 1tr, 1htr, 1dc, 1htr, 1tr,) and repeat to penultimate st of each side, work 1tr into final st, and 1tr +2ch +1tr into the corner space. Repeat around and slst into the top of the ch2 at the start of the round. Fasten of and break yarn. (80 sts)
1st side of Round 8Round 8 complete
Round 9 With Yarn A, join in the blo of the final st of one of the sides, ch2 & 1htr into that st, 1htr + 2ch + 1htr into corner space, then working in the blo around, continue with (1htr, 1dc, 1htr, 1tr, 1dtr, 1tr) and repeat along the side of the square your final st will be a dc, and work 1htr 2ch 1htr into the corner space. Repeat around the square slst into the top of the first ch2 to close the round. Fasten off and break yarn. (22 sts on each side = 88 sts in round)
Start of Round 9Round 9 complete
Round 10 Again, working into the blo around, join Yarn C into any st around ch1 and 1dc in that st, 1dc into every st around, 1dc 2ch 1dc into every corner space. (96 dc)
Round 10Round 11
Round 11 Join Yarn D in any st, ch1 and 1dc into that st, work 1dc into every st around and 1dc 2ch 1dc into every corner space. Fasten off and break yarn. (104 dc)
Round 12Round 13
Round 12 Join Yarn C into any st, rep Round 11. (112 dc)
Round 13 Join Yarn B into any st, rep Round 11. (120 dc)
With added surface crochet / embroidery
If you wish, you can use some Yarn C to either surface crochet or chain stitch embroider along the edge of the wave between Rounds 8 & 9 – I have left one of the squares I’ve made without the embroidery and added it to the other so you can see both. I like them both and can’t decide which I like best!
So there you have it, your Making Stitches 2025 CAL August Seaside Holiday square is completed. I hope you enjoy making one, or maybe even more than one!
Happy hooking!
Lindsay x
PS If you do decide to make an August Seaside Holiday square, please, if you share it online, I would love it if you could use the hashtag #MakingStitches2025CAL so I can see any squares when they appear!
Blimey – that was a quick week. Week one if my Summer Craft Challenge 2025 is done!
I have to say I have been thrilled to be joined by so many other crafters so far this time – some are joining everyday, others just now and then. There is absolutely no pressure to post something everyday, but if you feel inspired to do something creative after reading this, please join in! Here’s a little look back at my creative week number 1!
I had enough time today to actually make a full trio of matching hearts for the appeal – the staff on the ambulances need three matching hearts for each family, so this is my first full set done!
Day 3 : Monday 21st July
Now this was fun, a new make for a very special collaboration I am working on with Eleonora from Coastal Crochet. I won’t say any more for now, but I am very much looking forward to sharing it with you very soon…
Day 4 : Tuesday 22nd July
Super busy day for me both at work and at home in the evening meant there was very little time for crochet, but I did plan ahead and take my hook into work with me and managed a quick five minutes during my lunch break!
Day 5 : Wednesday 23rd July
Another frantically busy day meant not much time for fun things after work, cutting the lawn, food shopping, washing, ironing and packing to go on holiday, but it was all worth it because….
Day 6 : Thursday 24th July
….after a very long drive and ride on a ferry, we arrived at our home for the next week, in Scotland! Hurrah! Check that view out for a backdrop to my sock knitting!
Day 7 : Friday 25th July
I’ve been saving up this embroidery project to bring with me on holiday. I bought it a few months back from Hello Hooray Blog with the intention of bringing it away on holiday with me. It’s perfect, it’s small, portable and has everything I need inside and I LOVE the colours! I can’t put it down… just one more diamond….
Not only did I manage to do some embroidery on Friday, I also managed a bit of crochet on the side of the shinty pitch while my boys had a kick around!
Thank you to everyone who has joined in with the Summer Craft Challenge 2025 so far – I have loved seeing your creations appearing online. Here are just a few of the brilliant snapshots of creativity which have been shared under the #SummerCraftChallenge2025 hashtag this week!
Thank you all for being good sports and joining in! Have a lovely weekend!
Hello there! In our household, school finished for the year yesterday (for one of my boys) and so that means, today is the first day of my Summer Craft Challenge for 2025!
In case you haven’t come across one of my Summer Craft Challenges before, it first started way back on 9th July 2016. At the time, I was living in Gibraltar with my family. I was a full-time stay-at-home Mum, I had 3 young men in my life (aged 12, 8 and 4 at that time) and I was staring down the barrel of a 10-week-long school summer break.
Having lived in Gibraltar for 7 years by then, I was well used to the chaos of the long summer break. I would often find myself at home, parenting alone for long stretches due to my former husband’s work schedule and frequent trips away. It was hard work.
Being creative is amazingly important to me for supporting my mood. If I go for too long without making something – I get grumpy!
So, back in 2016 I challenged myself to do something crafty every day of that 10-week-long holiday (even if it was only for 5 minutes), take a photo of myself doing it and post it to Instagram to keep me accountable and it worked! Not only did I feel better but I had a nice crafty photo diary of my summer!
(This was my first ever Summer Craft Challenge Photo – taken on 9th July 2016 in our back patio as we enjoyed a start of the summer holiday barbecue).
My Summer Craft Challenge wasn’t just for days when we were at home, my projects came away with us on family holidays including in 2016 when we visited the Norfolk Broads!
Always having a project with me wherever I was during the summer holidays meant that sometimes I just found myself in the perfect situation to take a photo of what I was working on including when I took my Little Box of Crochet project (designed by Eleonora Tully from Coastal Crochet) away with me to finish on holiday in Southwold in Suffolk in 2018.
It has come on planes with me – along with my mascot for the summer of 2017 – Europa the Unicorn, who accompanied the family to England, France, Italy & Portugal that year – much to the embarrassment of my boys! (I made Europa on the first day of my Summer Craft Challenge 2017 using a kit from Simply Crochet Magazine).
I continued working on that shawl while escaping the heat of the midday sun in Carcasonne in Southern France in 2017.
My crochet also joined me on the beach in Portugal! (2017)
Not all of my summer making has been in such exotic locations though, I’ve done sock knitting between rain showers at the top of a hill in the West of Scotland! (2022)
Oh the glamour of knitting on a wet and windy Scottish hillside… I enjoyed it so much the last time, I did it again last year!
I love my Summer Craft Challenge, even though life is so different now to how it was when I first started, we are now a family of 4, my boys are 21, 17 & 13 and I work now too, so my time is a lot more limited than it once was. However, doing this reminds me of lovely summer memories of days gone by and it still helps keep me on an even keel with the juggle of work, family and everything else.
The best thing about the Summer Craft Challenge though is when others join in. Each year, the number of people joining in has grown and grown and that’s so lovely. If you want to join, please do – you don’t need to commit to doing it every day (sometimes I can’t manage it these days) but you are very welcome to dip in and out at any time. If you share a photo of your current project online, please use the hashtag #SummerCraftChallenge2025 so everyone can see what you’ve been up to! Please do give it a go – the more the merrier!
I’ll be sharing my photos daily on Instagram and writing a weekly blog post looking back at what I’ve been up to as well. I can’t wait to see what you get up to yourself though!
Today I would like to share something very special with you. Recently, I was contacted by a lady called Emma who works for a very special organisation – the North West and North Wales Paediatric Transport service (NWTS).
The North West and North Wales Paediatric Transport Service transports critically ill children from their local hospitals to regional Paediatric Intensive Care Units for ongoing care. During Covid, when they were unable to have parents traveling in the ambulances with their children, they asked knitters to make matching hearts for the children and their families.
The team carry sets of three hearts – one for the child and one for each parent. The child receives their heart while the team stabilises them before the transfer, and the parents are encouraged to hold their hearts during this time. Before the transfer, the hearts are swapped over, so that each family member holds the other’s heart.
Emma explained that although this may seem like a little thing, it helps families feel connected at such a stressful time. The NWTS team has the goal of having 3 hearts to give to each family they work with, so their hearts remain together even if they cannot physically be together during the hospital transfer.
Currently, NWTS’s supply of hearts is running low and they are asking for help to boost their supply of yarny hearts. Emma contacted me to ask if she could share my amigurumi heart pattern for crocheters to use, naturally I said yes and asked if she would like me to spread the word about the appeal.
So here we go, if you have the time to hook up a trio (or multiple trios) of matching hearts for this very special cause, please do! You can find my little amigurumi heart pattern here. It’s a pretty small pattern which is perfect for using up little odds and ends of yarn and a teeny bit of toy filling to make it nice and plump. It works up very quickly, so you will have your hearts made in a jiffy! Also, if you are going to be joining me with my Summer Craft Challenge this year, these little hearts are the perfect palate cleanser mini project to slot in between your other wips.
“We would be incredibly grateful for help from anyone who enjoys crocheting, to create matched hearts for the children and their families. Our team carries sets of three hearts – one for the child and one for each parent. Right now, our supplies are running extremely low, and any contribution – no matter how small – would be deeply appreciated. The goal is to provide three hearts for each family: one for the child and one for each parent, so their hearts remain linked even if they cannot be together during the transfer” – North West & North Wales Paediatric Transport
When you have made your hearts, please send them to this address:
NWTS, Room 005, Newton House, Birchwood Park, Faraday Street, Risley, Warrington, WA3 6FW, United Kingdom.
If you do decided to make some hearts for NWTS, and you share them on social media, please use the hashtag #Hearts4NWTS so we can see all the beautiful hearts as they appear.
I would be so grateful if you would please help me spread the word about this yarny heart campaign to help make a very difficult time a little bit easier for poorly children and their parents.
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 SquareBonus 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.
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!
