Grasmere

A Postcard from July 2024

~ Making Stitches ~ 4 Comments

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

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

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

Greenhouse update

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

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

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

Back to the Lake District

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What I’ve been listening to

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

Podcasting news

Emma Varnam

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

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

Kasey & Jen from The Loose Ends Project

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

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

Summer Craft Challenge 2024 Week One

Summer Craft Challenge 2024 Week Two

Summer Craft Challenge 2024 Week Three

Summer Craft Challenge 2024 Week Four

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Lindsay x

Summer Craft Challenge 2024 : Week One

~ Making Stitches ~ Leave a comment

Hello there, well that’s the first week of the school summer holidays done in our house and that means week one of my Summer Craft Challenge is done too.

It’s been a really rather special one for me – I’ve been doing this every summer since 2016 (except during 2020) and occasionally other people have joined in here and there. It was primarily a way to give me a focus during the long summer school break (10 weeks long back then when we lived in Gibraltar) with 3 young men to look after and entertain. It had the benefit of reminding me that being creative is good for my mental health and it’s so easy to become overwhelmed with all the things which need to be done at the cost of carving out a little time for yourself.

Back when I started, I invited people to join me and never before has it been so whole heartedly done – thank you so much to everyone who has tagged along with me!

Here’s a little look back at this week in craft..

Day One

This time last week, we were in beautiful Grasmere in the Lake District visiting our good friends who live up that way. School finished the day before and we headed straight up to Cumbria that afternoon. We woke up, had breakfast and headed to the Mere for a morning out on the water. We all took a turn kayaking and while I waited for mine, I sat on the shore hooking! We even had a visit from an inquisitive duck!

Crocheting by the water at Grasmere

Day Two

Still in the Lakes, we hiked to Elterwater for a wonderful Sunday lunch in a hotel – it was delicious and all the more tasty thanks to our walk to get it! I took my yarn and hook with me to get some more al fresco crochet in – it ended up being crochet on the move as we caught the bus from Elterwater to Ambleside after lunch.

Elterwater

Day Three

We traveled back home on Sunday and I took Monday off seeing as it was the first proper day of the holidays. There were lots of jobs to do, as is always the case after a trip away so the first chance I had to sit down and do something creative was after dark! I’m hoping to finish this Tin Can Knits top down jumper I’ve been working on since before Christmas at some point this summer. I’ll keep you posted!

Day Four

Another busy day. Back at work but did manage a bit of knitting while there was still light in the sky!

Day Five

I ditched the yarn this evening and blew the dust off my sewing machine to repurpose an old unwearable school shirt into something new – a couple of little cushions for a project I’m working on.

Day Six

That project I was making the cushions for is finished. It’s a gift so I can only share a sneak peak and this is it. Once it’s been gifted, I promise I’ll show you what it is!

Day Seven

Today, I thought I’d crack out a new project I’ve been saving for this very purpose – the Mischievous Magpie MAL (Yarn by Kitey from The Yarn Whisperer & pattern by Heather from Keep Calm & Crochet On).

I got over excited and went a bit hell for leather on the yarn winding and got myself into a bit of a pickle. I was unraveling hours later as I watched the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games! I’m pleased to say I got there in the end…

Join the challenge!

So, as I said before, quite a few people joined me this week. You can see some of that creativity above – what a thrill! Thank you to you all for tagging along.

If you fancy joining in, please do, there are no rules. Just take a photo of your moment of creativity and post it on Instagram with the hashtag #SummerCraftChallenge2024

Until next time, enjoy your summer crafting!

Lindsay x

A postcard from November & December 2022

~ Making Stitches ~ 4 Comments

Hello there, can you believe it’s the last day of 2022? I can hardly believe it and am shocked I’ve been away from my little blog for so long.

Life (as always) has been rather busy of late and blogging found itself at the very end of the to-do list. This time though, blogging felt quite unattainable – I didn’t have the words to write or anything interesting to say either. So here goes, the jolt of moving from one year into a new one might just be the impetus I need to get me going again!

When I looked back I was shocked to see I hadn’t posted for so long. When I changed from Postcard from Gibraltar to Making Stitches I assumed I’d be back again very quickly but hey ho, I’m here now. Here’s a little jaunt through the past two months in my world.

Paid Work!

The main headline I guess from the last two months is that I’ve managed to secure the impossible – paid work for my crochet. I have rather excitedly been commissioned to design some things for a craft magazine. This has taken up a LOT of my time. Solid crocheting from the moment the Little Postcards leave for school in the morning until they come home! I’ve loved it, but it has been a lot of hard work.

The old spectre of self doubt popped into my head on many occasions during this work but I’m pleased to say, the first commission was gratefully received and got a stamp of approval so I’m thrilled about that. I have 3 more projects to complete by mid January and I’m in the midst of those right now.

I wish I could tell you more and show you photos of what I’ve been working on but sadly I can’t for now – just some of the yarn I have used for one of the projects (above). I will investigate further on whether I can share them once they are published.

New article published

Within the last week the latest issue of Simply Crochet magazine popped through my letter box complete with my latest article for them. It was prompted by the outbreak of war in Ukraine and the outpouring of support I witnessed in the online craft community. The main photo is of Amoami bears. This amazing social enterprise helping Ukrainian refugees featured in one of my podcast episodes too. You can listen to it here.

Inspired by their work, I ordered my very own mini Christmas Amoami bears. They were made by Yuliia. They look gorgeous on our tree this year!

A trip to the Lakes

Easedale Tarn

A very dear friend of mine and her husband moved away from our home town earlier this year and settled in beautiful Grasmere in the Lake District. It’s been something they’d been talking about for years, and this year ended up being the right time for them.

I don’t know this part of the world very well, but I have a feeling I’ll be getting to know it a whole lot better from now on!

In November we were invited for a visit to their new home – and boy what a move they have made. They have lost their old decent sized back garden but blimey with this on your doorstep, they have all the greenery they need!!

We took a walk from their front door up to Easedale Tarn. There were butties and crisps at the top to give us the energy to walk back down… what a picturesque picnic spot!

The weather was so kind to us!

It was wonderful to be able to share this with the two Littlest Postcards – unfortunately Eldest missed out by being away at University but hopefully he will be able to join us another time. It was remarkable to see a real change in the youngest two though, from their usual slightly grumpy teenagerish (11 & 15) demeanor to being full of life and scrambling over rocks as we undertook our walk.

We had one whole day of sunshine before the weather turned a bit grey and damp. We were so lucky to be able to truly see the beauty of their surroundings. We most definitely will be back!

November in a nutshell

Throughout November I took part in an excellent daily photo challenge on Instagram run by The Yarn Whisperer and The Pigeon’s Nest. It was called ‘Yarnovember’ and was lots of fun. That kept me rather busy on social media and reminded me just how much crochet has been in my life for the past few years which was such fun.

Also in November I competed my second pair of knitted socks. I picked up the ‘Hope’ yarn from Yarndale in September and used the Winwick Mum basic sock pattern to knit them. I love the colours – they are so autumnal.

I also had a lovely morning walk with Eldest to see the deer at Dunham Massey National Trust park early in the month. He managed to get home for a few days during his University reading week, and we headed out for a walk one day, coffee cups in hand to enjoy the greenery.

The big painting challenge

At the start of December I set myself a tough challenge – to redecorate our lounge in time for a surprise birthday party just over a week later. It was a tough one, but I managed it, despite 4 coats of paint to kill the pattern of the patterned wallpaper on the feature wall.

Before the paint!

I’d been living with wallpaper I disliked for 2 years, and the surprise party was the kick up the behind I needed to get busy. I’m very pleased to say I managed it (with a bit of help from the unsuspecting party recipient). We were all ready in time to welcome party guests to my lovely Dad’s 80th birthday party!

The delicious cake made by my brother & sister-in-law

Cold weather

Whilst it’s been rather mild recently, earlier this month, it was decidedly nippy. We had a proper cold snap in mid December which made the early morning school runs a bit on the cold side. I believe it was minus 9 one morning when my friend’s husband left for work. I walked with Littlest to the bus stop that day to keep him company as his friend was ill and I can confirm it was COLD! It had warmed up slightly when I drove son Number 2 to school (see below)…. It’s so hard to comprehend that a few months ago, parts of the UK were burning in the heatwave!

Back at Old Trafford

I managed to get back to Old Trafford to watch the Manchester United Women’s team play against Aston Villa. I went with my youngest two and my Dad. It was brilliant – the atmosphere is so lovely in women’s football. As you can see, the sun shone and they got a win too – a perfect trip out!

Betwixtmas

This year I’m taking part in the Betwixtmas Makealong by Black Sheep Wools. I have had a skein of Yarn Whisperer hand dyed yarn waiting for the right project to come along and I think this is it. I took it along to Black Sheep wools and picked out two contrasting colours to make up this ‘knitted’ – yes – knitted shawl. It’s pushing my abilities and a bit of a challenge but I have enjoyed putting my hook down for a while over the last few days. I wonder if it will be finished before next Betwixtmas?!!

That’s all I have for you this time, but it’s been lovely to be back and sharing my comings and going’s with you. I hope you have had a restful Christmas – I know it’s very difficult for so many people. I wish you a new year filled with joy and creativity.

Until next time, take care!

Lindsay x

December 2022