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!
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!
I hope you had a peaceful and happy Chtistmas time. I’ve been a bit quiet on here lately owning to being very busy. I am hoping to be around here a little more often in future if life allows!
I’m looking forward to sharing some posts about the last few months including a fabulous visit back to Gibraltar in autumn in the coming weeks all being well.
Gibraltar in October 2025
Before then though, I wanted to let you know about a very special Making Stitches Podcast episode which is out tomorrow – Episode 100!
Before then though, I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has read my posts, sent me comments and messages, listened to my podcast and joined in with the Making Stitches 2025 CAL this year. You have made it a very special one for me as I celebrated 10 years of this blog (previous Postcard from Gibraltar) and now Making Stitches.
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!
Today marks a very special day for my blog – it is 10 years old!!
Back in June of 2015, I would never have imagined that I would still be blogging a decade on. It kind of blows my mind that my blogging adventure has lasted so long. I had no idea what an impact it would have on my life, the people I would meet and the doors it would open for me. It has brought me friends – both online and in person, it has given me skills that brought me paid work, I have gone from being simply a hobby crafter to a published crochet designer and podcast award finalist and it’s been a whole lot of fun.
I am taking the liberty of using today to have a look back at the past ten years, for some of you who’ve been in my little corner of the internet for a long time, much of this won’t be ‘news’ but I think it’s worth revisiting (if only to remind me of how much fun I’ve had along the way). Back in the early days, I thought this blog would be a kind of diary, to record our life as a family and it has very much been that for me. Back at the beginning I wrote the blog anonymously, I was living in a very small community at the time and I didn’t want to stick my head above the parapet and ‘show off’ I preferred to be an observer. Since those days I’ve got a bit less self-conscious about my blogging (maybe it’s an age thing and I worry a teeny bit less about what people think of me!).
For those of you who have only found me in the past few years, you may not be aware that this blog first started life when my family lived in Gibraltar. I had long been a fan of crafting blogs and I had, for quite a while, fancied having a go at blogging myself. Whilst I have been a crafter all my life, I would never have thought of myself as accomplished enough back then to share too much about what I was making, but living in the Med, I had lots of photos of blue skies, the sea and pretty flora to share instead.
Looking north from the Med Steps in the Upper Rock Nature Reserve
After much indecision over whether anyone would actually want to read anything I had to say about my little corner of the world, I decided to have a go anyway and Postcard from Gibraltar was born. The annual Gibraltar Convent Garden open day was the perfect content for me to share in the very early days, lots of beautiful flowers and well-kept borders as well as being able to share a little bit about what it was like living on the Rock.
The Governor of Gibraltar’s back garden at the Convent
So many people visit Gibraltar fleetingly, on a cruise ship stop-off or on a day trip from the Costa del Sol, but the longer we lived in Gibraltar, in spite of its size, I discovered there was so much to learn about it. When we first arrived there as a family through a work relocation, I knew precious little about it. Myself and ‘Mr Postcard’ had visited just twice in the preceding months to find somewhere to live and to get the eldest ‘Little Postcard’ into school (there were just 2 ‘Little Postcards’ in those days!).
The early days
My old Postcard from Gibraltar profile picture which I painted at watercolour class
When we first arrived in Gibraltar, I was a stay-at-home Mum full time, I had one young son in primary school and a toddler. I threw myself into life in Gib, in a bid to make friends and settle into the community and found that, unlike when we had moved towns in the UK, very quickly I made friends in Gibraltar. I think this was mainly down to the fact that within the ex-pat community, your friends very quickly become your family. Everyone of us was a long way from our actual family and when someone needed help, we would all rally round to support each other. That said though, the Gibraltarians I met outside the school gates were just as welcoming and we found ourself attending our first Gibraltar kids birthday party within a couple of weeks of arriving there.
Celebrating Gibraltar National Day
By throwing myself into the Gibraltar community I learned so much about the place and its people. It is famously a melting pot of cultures and traditions, populated by Genoese fishermen, Moroccan traders, families who straddle the land border between Gibraltar and Spain and lots of other nationalities too. There is a large south Asian population, lots of Jewish families of different denominations and from around the world, an Anglican Cathedral as well as a Catholic one (there was also a Church of Scotland when we lived there – although that has sadly now closed) and there are two mosques as well. Even the local dialect, Llanito (pronounced Yaneetoh), borrows words from Spanish, English, Genoese, Maltese, Moroccan and other languages!
In those early days of blogging, the advice was to read plenty of other blogs and get involved in the blogging community. During those days I came across another blogger who lived by the sea and had a penchant for crochet. Her name is Eleonora and you may know her! Little did I know at the time that Eleonora had just started her blog, Coastal Crochet, a couple of weeks before I launched mine, or that one day we would finally meet in person (more on that later)!
The first few rows of my Sandy Bay Seaside Stash Buster Blanket
It is safe to say that Eleonora’s blogging journey has been rather more stratospheric than mine, but despite her hitting the big time, we have stayed connected through the years. I can clearly remember the day she launched her first crochet along – the Seaside Stashbuster blanket. I loved crocheting along with many, many other crocheters around the world throughout the weeks as the patterns were released. For some reason, when I first began the blanket, I decided I would reflect Gibraltar in the colours I used. Our favourite beach on the Rock was Sandy Bay, so I thought it would be good to try to create a blanket inspired by that little corner of Gibraltar. It was such fun to make and amazingly some of the stitches Eleonora chose just worked perfectly with the stage of the pattern I wanted to reflect at that time! It was as if she knew what I needed to happen! You can read all about my Sandy Bay Blanket here.
Eventually we actually met in real life, the first time was at Yarndale in 2022, more recently we caught up at Yarndale last September.
Eleonora & I at Yarndale 2024
When we met up last year, we started talking about something special to mark our joint 10th blog anniversaries. You can find a sneak peak of that project in a little while….
Another blogger I had the privilege to meet is the person, is Lucy from Attic 24. Had it not been for me reading Lucy’s inspirational posts about her crochet, craft and beautiful home town of Skipton in North Yorkshire all those years ago, when I started my crochet adventure, I don’t think I would have started this blogging adventure myself. After several years of reading and absorbing posts all about Yarndale, I managed to get a ticket for the festival, a ticket for a plane journey back to the UK and a train ticket from Manchester to Skipton to visit Yarndale myself in 2016. It was the year they’d asked for people to crochet and knit little Yarndale sheep. I made Llanita, the Yarndale Sheep and she was posted off for the Yarndale appeal. I also took her twin sister with me and gave her to Lucy when I met her – it was a true fangirl moment!
Lucy with Llanita at Yarndale 2016
Sunday Sevens
Just 4 months into my blogging adventure I read about a blog series called Sunday Sevens, which involved writing a post about your week just gone and featuring seven photos from the past seven days. The idea was conceived by Natalie from the Threads & Bobbins blog and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to share a snapshot of my life in Gibraltar without writing a long blog post about some rather mundane day-to-day things. On 11th October 2015, I published my first Sundays Sevens. Very quickly, the Little Postcards would comment, when I stopped to take a photo of a nice sunset or a pretty flower or some other thing, “is that for Sunday Sevens?” Very often the answer would be “Yes!” On 26th July 2020, I published the 230th and final Sunday Sevens. That marked the point at which we moved back to the UK from Gibraltar and seemed like the right time to wrap the series up.
That didn’t mean my round ups would stop. At the start of August 2020 I started my Sunday Postcards, which later morphed into my monthly ‘Postcard from…’ updates.
A stroll around Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a very photogenic place – especially in the sunshine. I would often be stopped in my tracks as I wandered the streets of the town centre pushing a buggy on the way back home from the school run or wandering to the shops and appreciate just how lucky I was to be able to call it home for a while.
Whenever we were away from the Rock, I would often document our travels with a little ‘Postcard from…’ post. We were very lucky that at that time we were able to travel quite a bit, both back home to the UK to visit family and friends and to a few parts of mainland Europe too. The ‘A Postcard From…’ series was one I really enjoyed writing, and is one which I really must keep going with whenever I can. In fact I have a few ‘postcards’ in my pending drafts folder from years ago, which if I get the time to work on, I will finish and add to this collection.
Summer Craft Challenges
Each summer, since 2016 (excluding 2020 & 2023), I have set myself a Summer Craft Challenge. I found, in the early days when my blog first launched and I was a full time stay-at-home Mum with 3 young boys and a 10-week-long school summer holiday, I would easily find myself rushing around doing family things all the time and my crafting took a back seat, and my sanity along with it. By carving out just 5 or 10 minutes of craft everyday throughout the long summer break, and documenting it on my blog, it worked wonders for my mood.
I’m looking forward to starting my Summer Craft Challenge 2025 when my boys break up for summer this year too! If you fancy joining in, it would be lovely to have your company! Just tag any social media posts #SummerCraftChallenge2025 and if you want to see any of the previous years just search for #SummerCraftChallenge on Instagram and some should pop up for you to see.
Big Changes
Life doesn’t always work out quite the way we’d planned. In 2020, our family of 5 became a family of 4 and I brought my 3 boys back to live in England. In the 7 months running up to our impending big move, there was a lot of adjusting to do. Not only that, we were ‘enjoying’ a lot more time indoors during the early days of the Covid pandemic. In the preceding 18 months, I had launched a podcast in Gibraltar as a way of sharing more about the stories I had learned during my time living there and sharing chats I’d had with some of the fascinating people I’d met over the previous decade.
Unfortunately, with an impending move back to the UK, that podcast wasn’t sustainable but I had really enjoyed making it, so wanted to find an alternative podcast subject I could start work on during lockdown and take back with me to the UK. Something I’ve always loved is craft and creativity, and after almost 5 years of blogging about it, I’d made quite a few connections with other crafty people who said they would be interested in joining me as guests (Bingo!). One of the (few) benefits of that time was learning how to record audio off video calls, it was no longer necessary to be in-person to record interviews and meant I could chat to people anywhere in the world for this new podcast endeavour.
Just as in the early days of Postcard from Gibraltar, I doubted whether anyone would be interested in hearing what I had to say, but rather than making me and my crafting the focus of each episode, I decided to speak to another crafter about their creative life and journey. At the time I couldn’t find any other podcasts which did that for crafting. There were plenty of podcasts featuring crafters talking about what they were making but none that I could see who exclusively spoke to other crafters. I spotted a gap in the market and Making Stitches Podcast was born.
I have to admit that Making Stitches really helped me in those days. They were grim for many reasons and it gave me something to focus on that was fun rather the other stuff (moving countries, finding somewhere to live in England, finding schools etc from overseas, recovering from a rather nasty dose of early days Covid etc.).
The joy I still get from making it continues. It’s been a ride. From putting my first episode out just over 5 years ago and wondering whether anyone would ever listen to it, to becoming a finalist in the first ever Independent Podcast Awards in 2023, to hitting 100,000 worldwide downloads in the last few months, it’s been great. Thank you to everyone who’s listened, everyone who’s spoken to me for the podcast and all the support!
From Postcard from Gibraltar to Making Stitches
In 2022, two years after moving back to England to live, I decided it was time for a name change. I hadn’t been sending my blog postcards from Gibraltar for 2 years by then so decided to bring the blog under the same umbrella as the podcast. Nothing really changed other than the name. I still write monthly posts looking back at what’s been happening in my life and what I have been working on.
Crochet
Another thing which has changed has been my confidence in developing my own crochet patterns. My first (and for many years, my only one) was Mr Bumble, a bumblebee which I created for a yarn bomb I put up in the Gibraltar Botanical Gardens in 2016 -I can’t find the pattern now, but here he is along with the other bits I put up. I was so worried about getting something wrong, it took until 2021 until I tried again! Hope the Snowdrop was the first of my Up the Garden Path characters (you can see two others below). Later came some magazine commissions including some for Inside Crochet Magazine!
Oakley the Acorn Tree Sprite & Agatha the Fly Agaric Mushroom
Most recently I have been sharing my first ever crochet along: The Making Stitches 2025 CAL which, unlike most others CALS which release patterns on a weekly basis, comes out on a monthly basis instead (I simply couldn’t keep up with a weekly one these days – never mind design one!).
Each square has a design which is related to the month it’s released in. I have really enjoyed doing this so much and the thrill of seeing what someone else has made while using your pattern is real!
With this in mind, I would like to share a new pattern with you today to mark this tenth birthday of my Postcard from Gibraltar/Making Stitches blog – the Bonus Birthday Bunting Square! The pattern for this is here!
The Making Stitches 2025 CAL Bonus Birthday Bunting Square!
Talking of crochet patterns, I mentioned earlier about my collaboration with Eleonora from Coastal Crochet… Watch this space for more details on that in the coming weeks!
And that, my friends, brings me to the end of this round-up of a decade of blogging for me. Thank you for joining me for the ride, it’s been fun hasn’t it? Who knows where we will all be ten years from now? We’ll not think about that for the time being.
Thank you for being there, for reading these rambling posts and for keeping me company for the past 10 years!
Until next time, as I say at the end of my podcast episodes, take care of yourself and enjoy your crafting!
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.
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.
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….
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.
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
Hello there! How have you been? We’re ticking along fine up here at Making Stitches HQ, we have been basking in the sunshine recently. My decision to opt for April showers for last month’s square of the Making Stitches 2025 CAL was a bit of a mistake – or maybe it caused the sunny weather we’ve enjoyed?
Here’s my latest postcard, a week and a bit later than planned… I hope you enjoy it!
Sunny Rochdale
Rochdale Town Hall
At the start of April I travelled to Rochdale to visit an old school friend of mine, it was a stunningly sunny day and we decided to go out and enjoy the lovely weather. Whilst I had visited her at home several times before, I had never been into Rochdale town centre, so we headed off and went to the recently refurbished Town Hall – my word it was stunning. The main entrance hall had the feeling of an ecclesiastical building more than a civic one.
The stained glass was stunning and shown off to its advantage by the bright sunshine outside. Inside there was an exhibition of more modern stained glass made by artists which was beautiful too. I particularly loved this bunch of flowers and the blue & green design. The floral window, created by Deborah Lowe, was called ‘Right there with you, Mr Morris’ and was inspired by William Morris. The blue & green one was created by Debbie Copley and was called ‘Goldfinch & Blue Teasels’.
Right there with you, Mr Morris by Deborah LoweGoldfinch & Blue Teasels by Debbie Copley
Also on display were two textile pieces produced by Artist Alison Greyer. One had an emphasis on nature, community & remembrance and was made in collaboration with a local arts & crafts group, the second piece was inspired by pupils at a local primary school.
Upstairs in the town hall is the most amazing space which, on the day we visited, was prepared for a boxing match!
The joy of nature
One of our favourite walks down to the River Mersey close to our home
The beautiful dry and sunny weather persisted throughout April, which was truly lovely to enjoy. There were odd days when it was overcast and wet, but to my mind it was nice far more often than when it was cold and wet. What a luxury! This, in turn had a brilliant effect on the nature around me, there have been fabulous shows of blossom, from cherry blossom early on to hawthorn and many other sorts too. It’s thanks to the brilliant displays we have enjoyed this year, that I was inspired to make May’s Making Stitches 2025 CAL square a blossom themed one.
Crochet…
An Easter themed post box topper in my local town
I will start this section with some crochet that doesn’t belong to me – I always admire post box toppers when I see them – the amount of work and time that goes into them for the benefit of others. This Easter themed one was on one of the main roads through my nearest town. I’m so glad it was left to look lovely and not destroyed.
April Showers Square – last month I opted for the weather as the theme of my Making Stitches 2025 CAL square. I had been toying with the idea of going for blossom as the theme but in the end went for April Showers as the the March square had been floral. It’s always so lovely to see squares appearing on social media throughout the month as other people join in and make their own versions! Thankfully the beautiful blossom has persisted which meant I was able to use that as the inspiration for the May Square instead!
Some of the brilliant Making Stitches CAL Squares which have appeared online this month
Crochet collaboration!
Making Stitches Blog is going to be celebrating a big birthday this summer – it will be 10 years since I set off on this blogging adventure. Back then, of course, it wasn’t called Making Stitches – the name was Postcard from Gibraltar but when we moved back to the UK, I changed the name. Way back in the early days of my blog, I found a fellow blogger who was talking about crochet and other things I was interested in and we became online friends. That blogger then went on to much bigger and better things, designing for Yarn Companies, teaching workshops and is now about to fly to Australia to talk to crocheters over there! She is, of course, Eleonora from Coastal Crochet.
Eleonora’s picturesque beach reveal of our colour palette My own, back garden version!Work is underway!
We have been lucky enough to meet in person a couple of times (both times at Yarndale) and when we met up last September, we talked about our impending 10th anniversaries. We decided it would be nice to do something together to mark this landmark and are now collaborating on a joint crochet pattern which we will be unveiling in the summer. Eleonora broke the news on her social media with a perfectly ‘Coastal Crochet’ photo showcasing the yarn we have chosen. I’m afraid my version in my back garden isn’t quite as romantic but it doesn’t matter!
Eleonora & I at Yarndale last year
We have decided upon the design for our joint project and work has already begun, if you follow our social media (Instagram in particular) you may have spotted some sneak peaks of our progress along the way. I’m looking forward to sharing more in the weeks to come!
There were 2 big birthdays in the Making Stitches household in April – Eldest turned 21 (eek!) and Making Stitches Podcast turned 5!
I have no idea how I have ended up with a fully formed adult as a child – it doesn’t seem possible. It’s only 5 minutes ago we were going to baby music groups and then talking about starting school! Time flies far too quickly. On the day after he celebrated his 16th birthday in April 2020’s first lockdown, I launched Making Stitches Podcast as something fun to focus on as we navigated lockdown and an impending relocation back to the UK. I feel quite proud that it’s still going 5 years on. It’s a common fact that podcasts often run out of steam and some don’t last even a complete first series, so to have one which has survived 5 years is a pretty good achievement I think.
Podcast News
So while I’m talking about the podcast, here’s what you may have missed in April. First of all I got to sit down and chat to Marianne Rawlins a crochet designer based in the South West of England. Marianne designs and writes for Simply Crochet Magazine. It’s because of her work writing articles that our paths crossed as she asked to turn the tables and interview me about my blog and podcast for a future issue of the magazine. After that, I returned the favour and asked whether she would like to come on the podcast to talk about her work. It’s funny that we discovered we have an awful lot of things in common, including starting out in journalism and now working in marketing & communications. You can find her episode here.
The second April episode included a chat which was a total joy to record. I have honestly never laughed so much while recording an interview. My guests were husband and wife team Sean and Sara MacLeod. Sara is an avid crocheter who shares hermakes on Instagram. What makes her account stand out is not just her beautiful creations, but the stunning scenery of their home on the Cowal Peninsula on the West coast of Scotland AND her husband Sean. Sara describes Sean as her ‘crochet supermodel’ and he can be seen wearing all sorts of crocheted garments as well as being draped in blankets too. They are such a funny pair, and clearly Instagram agrees as they have a following of almost 30,000. You can find their episode here.
A favour before you go…
You might remember that this time last year, I ran my first ever 10k. It was a challenge to myself for my 50th birthday so I could say ‘I did one’. It was only going to be one-time-only event.
However, on the finishing line, Son Number 2 told me he was very proud of me and that when I do it next year, he would run it with me. I couldn’t very well say – “I’m sorry I’m not doing it again”. So, on 18th May (next Sunday – eek!), I will be running the Great Manchester Run 10k again, this time though I will have Son Number 2 with me at my side as we set off (then I won’t see him for dust!). He’s aiming to run it in under 1 hour, I’m aiming to just get round.
Our race numbers have arrived so it’s official now!
And that’s all for this round up of April. I hope it was a good month for you and that life is treating you well. Until next time, thank you for stopping by!
Hello there! Blimey, the end of March already…. I may be sounding a bit repetitive with these monthly postcards but where does the time go? The year is a quarter of the way through already and it’s showing no sign of slowing down!
It may be going fast, but March was a beautiful month for us here in my little corner of the world. We were so lucky to have quite a few beautiful bright sunshiny days.
Spring did its thing!
My word, the world does look a better place when the sun is in the sky! I really do love this time of year, the end of the long dark nights and cold weather begins as the spring flowers pop up and the acid green new leaves begin to appear on the trees.
The River Mersey
I find, at the minute, that the weeks are so full of school, work, after school activities and rushing and then the weekends also seem full of engagements, football matches and other things. It’s quite hard to be able to take a moment to stop and truly enjoy the beauty of the world around me. I luckily had a few short occasions to do this this month. First of all (top picture) was when I went to collect Youngest from an event in Cheshire. As I sat waiting for him to finish, I enjoyed the surroundings of fields and trees.
Then, one day when it was just me and son number 2, we took the chance to head for one of our favourite walks along the banks of the River Mersey near us. It was a beautiful day – the kind when you are reminded how lovely it is to feel the warmth of the sun on your back.
In the middle of our walk, we stumbled upon this lovely bunch of daffs bobbing about in the sunshine.
Clear bright days also often lead to lovely sunsets. Quite often I’m in the midst of cooking dinner when the sun is setting at present, but one evening, we had a parent’s evening at school, and as we came out we were greeted by this lovely sky!
What’s been on my hook lately
I felt compelled to make this Ukrainian inspired sunflower granny square after watching the news on the day of President Zelensky’s visit to the Oval Office. I was appalled at what I saw and felt utterly helpless. Hooking up a granny square doesn’t actually do anything in the grand scheme of things, but it made me feel a teeny bit better.
Sticking with the sunflower theme, we had a sustainability event at work this month and we were giving away packets of sunflower seeds to guests as they left. I thought the basket they were in needed a bit of decoration, so had a go at making this sunflower and bumble bee.
Crochet on the go…
There’s no such thing as a waste of time while sitting in a waiting room if you have a project to keep you company! I’m working on a cardigan as a birthday gift for my lovely Mum. As it was getting close to the deadline (ie: the birthday) I was taking my crochet with me everywhere.
I’m afraid to say I have missed the deadline – what was done was wrapped so she could open it, with the promise that it will be finished soon!
Spring Cleaning was the theme for a brilliant March Crochet Day at the Crochet Sanctuary at Cranage Hall Hotel in Cheshire. I do love my crochet days with the lovely folk at the Crochet Sanctuary!
I made a waistcoat stitch crochet basket and some waffle stitch crochet wash cloths.
A cuppa & a catch up
It had been about 10 months since the last time I’d had the chance to catch up with my lovely yarny friend Christine from Winwick Mum. I forgot to take any pictures of our time at Black Sheep Wools when we met other than our two tea cups – so you’ll have to take my word for it! It was lovely seeing her again and hearing all her news.
An afternoon with some footballing legends
Also this month, I got the chance to take my lovely Dad to the Lowry in Salford for an afternoon with some Manchester United legends. It was a great show with lots of jokes and laughter about the old days in the 1980s and 1990s at Old Trafford.
Podcast news
In March, there have been two episodes of Making Stitches Podcast. The first one featured a chat I had with a pair of friends, Jenni Smith & Kay Walsh, who have written a book called Menopause Makes filled with beautiful sewing projects to help ease menopause symptoms and get people sewing. You can find out more information about this episode here.
Next up was a chat I had with Justine Robson, a crochet teacher and all round fabulously creative person. Justine started the Carry on Crafting Festival after having a dream about putting one on! She is also the current custodian of Little Box of Crochet. You can find out all about our chat here.
Making Stitches 2025 CAL March Square
I decided to go for spring flowers as the theme of the Making Stitches 2025 CAL square this month. They give me such optimism for the future and the warmer days to come. Plus the colours are stunning!
I was thrilled to see that again, literally within hours of publishing the pattern, some March squares began to appear in my Instagram feed. You have no idea how happy it makes me to see other people making my patterns and enjoying them too. Thank you to everyone who has joined in with the CAL so far!
I will be sharing Part 4 tomorrow evening, I do hope you like it when you see it!!
That’s all for this time. Thank you for stopping by and I hope April is kind to you!
Hello there! I do hope February has treated you well. I have had a great month, and for once actually have some photograph worthy updates for you! Here goes…
London calling
The view from Greenwich Observatory towards the City of London
I started the month with a fabulous overnight getaway to London. It was courtesy of Eldest who, for my Christmas and birthday presents paid for me to stay in a hotel near his student hall of residence and booked tickets to take me to see Mama Mia! What a lovely boy – I am one very lucky Mum!
One of the joys of train travel (assuming they are on time and you can get a seat) is the uninterrupted craft time…
Once I’d arrived down in London, we had a bit of time to kill, so Eldest took me for a walk around his neighbourhood, which is in the Shoreditch/Islington area.
Although it’s very much an inner city area, there were lots of quiet back streets to explore and wander around.
I had to stop and take a photo of this, I like the sound of the ‘Worshipful Company of Haberdashers’!
After our wander, we headed back to base so I could get changed ready for our big night out. First stop was a delicious pizza for an early tea before hopping on the tube towards the West End…..
My word, I did enjoy the show. I think I must be one of just a handful of people who haven’t seen any of the Mama Mia films. I have seen bits of them but never the whole way through, so I didn’t know the storyline at all.
It was so good and really interesting to see how the ABBA songs were used to tell the story. Eldest made a great choice getting me this present – it was perfect.
On Sunday morning, we woke up to brilliant blue skies. It was the perfect day for an explore, so we hopped onto the Tube and then took the DLR out to Greenwich. First stop was a wander to the bank of the River Thames and a quick Look at the Cutty Sark before heading towards Greenwich Park.
It was such a beautiful morning that there were loads of people out in the park and it took a bit of negotiating to get to the top of the hill to see the Greenwich Observatory.
We really were spoiled to see it on such a beautiful day. That stunning blue sky was the perfect backdrop to the skyline.
After getting an alfresco cup of coffee sitting in the sunshine by the Observatory, we made our way back down into the town centre.
Back down at the River Thames, it looked more like August than the first weekend in February – it was so beautiful! I really was lucky in so many ways during my 24 hours away from home!
We decided to take an alternative route back to the hotel and walked under the Thames through the pedestrian tunnel!
Birthday celebrations continued…
Just two weeks on from my belated birthday celebration in London, I was taken out for another birthday celebration (I could get used to this!). My lovely brother and his wife told me on by big day back in January, that they wanted to take me out for lunch as my gift.
We went to Dishoom in Manchester for the most beautiful lunch. It was such fun and the food was out of this world. The building where the restaurant is based is stunning too.
After lunch, we called in to this Mancunian institution – Peveril of the Peak. Inside are photos of famous visitors to the pub including Robbie Coltrane and the Gallagher brothers.
I can’t remember the last time I went to the pub in the afternoon! It felt like being a student again!
Loving the longer days…
One of the great things about this time of year is the fact that the days are getting longer. I took this photo on the first day when I got home from work before it was dark! It’s the simple things which make all the difference!
Spring is around the corner
Just this week I went out for a walk on an afternoon off work. The sun shone brightly and lit up this fantastic display of white and purple crocuses – just stunning!
An evening with the News Agents
Tower of Light lit in the colours of the Ukraine flag
I was blessed with two weekends with Eldest this month. He had a week off lectures owing to a ‘reading week’ and came home for a few days to see me and his brothers. On Monday evening (thanks to a last minute booking on my part when I heard he was coming home and it coincided with the show) we went to see the News Agents Live at the Bridgewater Hall in central Manchester.
We both have a fascination with current affairs and politics and love to listen to the News Agents podcast on weekdays. When they announced that they were coming to Manchester I had toyed with the idea of going but discounted it as it was on a ‘school night’, however when Eldest said he’d be here and the dates coincided, it felt like it was meant to be, so I booked two of the last few tickets just days beforehand.
We took the tram into the city centre and walked the short distance from the tram stop to the venue past the Tower of Light which was lit in the colours of the Ukraine flag to mark the unfortunate 3rd anniversary of the Russian invasion and subsequent on-going war. It felt rather fitting to see it on the way into a highly political evening of chat which was rather obviously dominated by conversations about Putin, Zelensky and most notably Donald Trump.
Our view as we waited for the show to start
We really enjoyed ourselves, it was a great show and very thought provoking on so many levels. I would highly recommend it to anyone who might be thinking of going.
As we left the venue and began our walk back to the tram, Eldest exclaimed that he had just seen Emily Maitlis at the rear of the building (her bright turquoise dress had caught his eye) then we spotted Lewis Goodall who was chatting with people who were leaving too. Eldest nearly died of embarrassment, but I went along to say how much we had enjoyed the show as well as the podcast and got a celebrity selfie (please ignore the double chin – I didn’t exactly catch the right angle!!).
Not my best angle but a thrill nonetheless to meet Lewis Goodall!
Making Stitches 2025 CAL February Square
The All You Need Is Love February Square
Love seems to be in the air a lot during February, so this month’s square for the Making Stitches 2025 CAL had to involve a heart. It was so thrilling to see squares appearing on my Instagram account literally 24 hours after I published the pattern – wow! Thank you so much to everyone who has taken part in the Crochet-Along so far.
❤️Some of the brilliant February Squares out in the wild! ❤️
If you fancy tagging along, please do, the patterns will be living on my blog for free (there’s a section now in the main menu where you can find links to the CAL patterns so far). It doesn’t matter if you didn’t start in January – a few new faces appeared online this month and have caught up. You don’t even need to do all of the squares – just the ones you feel like! If you do make a square and decide to share it on social media – please use the hashtag #MakingStitches2025CAL so I can see your square!
I’m off shortly to put the finishing touches to the March square pattern ready for it being released tomorrow!
And finally…
Making Stitches Podcast is back! The brand new episode went live this morning and features a chat I had with Felix Ford from KNITSONIK. You can listen to it here.
In it we chatted about Felix’s work with sound, colour, yarn and stranded colourwork knitting as well as her Masters project which involved making knitted cosies for walking sticks which diverted conversations away from disability and towards appreciation of creativity instead. It also features a few snippets of Felix’s musical compositions too. Please do give it a listen!
That’s all for this time – I’m quite pleased I’ve been able to share so much with you for a change! February may be the shortest month, but it’s been a busy one – I can’t promise my postcard from March will be as exciting!
I know lots of people complain that January is a month that lasts forever, but I can’t believe how fast it’s whizzed by in my world. It doesn’t seem 5 minutes since we were celebrating Christmas & New Year and yet here we are on the cusp of a new month.
I’m afraid that although it’s been very busy for me, with work and non-photogenic things, it’s been rather uneventful in bloggable tit-bits, but here goes…
Feeling the cold
We started the month (and year) with a rather cold spell of weather. After a very damp and grey December it was to change. Although it was cold, the bright blue skies one the days we had them were very welcome!
Some local schools were closed due to snow and ice (for those who are used to heavy snow, I’m sure this will sound rather pathetic – but it was quite a big deal for us!).
One day, I was forced to work from home as heavy snow on the morning commute caused such chaos, I ended up turning round and going back home after taking 45 minutes to drive less than a mile!
The snow wasn’t that deep for us, it just fell at the busiest time of the day and caused gridlock! I was grateful to be in a position to work from home next to a toasty warm radiator that day!
I loved seeing these ice crystals on the roof of my car!
Birthday fun
I celebrated my birthday this month, which was rather nice. I took the day off work (I received these lovely flowers from my colleagues too). On the day itself, I had a really nice lunch out at a pub in Cheshire with my Mum & Dad. It was a real treat!
I am also just about to enjoy a very special birthday/Christmas present from Eldest this weekend – I can’t wait. It involves a trip down to London to see him too. You’ll have to wait for the Postcard from February to see that one!
Making Stitches 2025 CAL
On a bit of a whim, towards the end of December I decided to take the plunge and start hosting a CAL or crochet-along.
❄️ A flurry of January snowflake squares ❄️
I have taken part in CALs in the past – particularly when I was a full-time stay-at-home Mum. The little bit of crochet time carved out every now and again around Mum duties worked wonders for my sanity back then. There was the thrill of waiting for the next section of a pattern to be released, the fun of being part of a community of other crocheters working on the same thing at the same time AND the pride at the end of it all of competing a project – usually a blanket, which, if I’d been working on it alone would probably have ended up in the eternal WIP pile!
A year or so ago, I fancied the idea of trying to host a CAL myself. By then, I had designed patterns for my own online shop and for a couple of magazines, so I knew I ‘could’ write a pattern, but could I manage a CAL?
In the intervening years since my first participation in CALs, my life has become somewhat busier than before. There are less disturbed nights and needing to be in three places at once, but that’s been replaced by parenting teenagers and a young adult and a paid job. My days of being able to keep up with a weekly CAL are gone (temporarily I hope).
So, hosting a weekly CAL was off the cards for the time being and that dream was parked until my next holiday when I forget how busy life is and start thinking about all the things I could be doing! But what about a monthly CAL instead? If I could come up with a pattern on a monthly basis, that wouldn’t be so hard would it?!
There’s only one way to find out – just do it!
I felt a bit silly launching my January snowflake square on New Year’s Day when the weather was warmer than you might expect – it felt more like March than January. But lo and behold, just a few days later, snow began to fall in Manchester and I was able to dash out into the back garden and take some photos of my January square in the snow – vindication for opting for a snowflake as my motif for January!
Also, when I first said I was doing this CAL, I really didn’t know whether I was just throwing it out into the ether and no one would be interested. I was really pleasantly surprised to hear back from people who said they wanted to join along too. In some cases they told me they were pleased it was a monthly CAL rather than a weekly one because, like me, they struggle to keep up with a weekly one. What good luck that turned out to be!
Slowly throughout January, I began to see January snowflake squares popping up on Instagram! I can’t tell you how happy that made me feel! Friends of mine who have been crocheting for years, people I only know online and even some people I had previously never heard of said they were joining in! What fun!
You can see above (in the flurry of snowflake squares) that a small collection of beautiful January snowflake squares have, to date, been shared with me online. I know that there are others out there which haven’t been shared with the world yet.
This photo here, posted by @crochet_at_holme on Instagram, was the first one that I saw. Just check out the date it was posted – 4th January! It made its appearance just 3 days after I published the pattern!!
Thank you to everyone who has, so far, joined in with my CAL. Thank you too to everyone who has cheered me on from the sidelines with lovely comments and words of encouragement, you’re all lovely!
I can’t wait to share the February square with you tomorrow….. I LOVE it (hint, hint)!
That’s just about it for my Postcard from January. Thank you very much for stopping by and having a read of my ramblings, it’s lovely to have you in my little crocheted corner of the internet.
Hello there! I hope you have had a good month and that Christmas went ok for you. I have decided to go into 2025 with good intentions and try to be up to date with things so here’s my Postcard from December on the last day of December!
It’s been a funny old month weather wise with us not so much cold and frosty weather as you might expect but plenty of grey, dull, wet and in some cases very foggy days.
In spite of the weather it’s been looking really rather pretty in our neighborhood with lots of lovely Christmas lights adorning people’s homes and gardens.
A lovely yew tree dressed for the season
The FareShare Festive Feast Wreath
I was able to pay £55 to FareShare Greater Manchester just before Christmas, thanks to the sale of patterns of the FareShare Festive Feast Wreath.
Thank you so much to everyone who has bought one! It was a thrill to see photos of wreaths which have been made so far out in the wild!
The annual Christmas Special from Making Stitches Podcast made an appearance just before Christmas. It was lovely to be able to look back at my podcast year and share a few of the highlights.
We had a nice quiet Christmas and Boxing Day, followed by a lovely walk with family in Lancashire. We visited a route by the River Yarrow near Chorley. It was rather muddy under foot but we were dressed appropriately and really enjoyed our woodland wander.
It felt good to be moving again after a couple of rather sedentary days!
Even when there are no leaves left on the trees it was still a treat to get some ‘Vitamin Tree’.
The walk saw us zig-zag back and forth across the series of small foot bridges as we followed the river.
This bright orange fungus & green moss were real pops of colour on an otherwise grey day.
I believe this spot is a perfect place to enjoy bluebells in springtime. I’d love to come back and see them myself one day…
My word, that work did us all the world of good after a little bit too much chocolate & other naughty food!
And that just about wraps up this final Postcard from 2024. Thank you for stopping by and having a read and to anyone who’s a regular visitor to Making Stitches, thank you for your continued support.
Next year is a big one for me in terms of my blogging, I look forward to speaking more about that next year as this little site celebrates it’s 10th birthday – isn’t that crazy?!
As part of my celebration I’ve decided to release a new crochet pattern each month – a very relaxed crochet-along if you will. Watch this space – more will follow very soon!!
Until then, thank you again for sticking with me to the end of another year, I hope you enjoy your evening tonight however you plan to see in the New Year!
