Little Box of Crochet

Farewell old friend….

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The Rock of Gibraltar painted my me at one of my watercolour lessons

Way back in the summer of 2015, I set off on a blogging adventure. Inspired by the likes of Lucy at Attic24 and several other craft bloggers, I decided that I would have a go at sharing a few snap shots of my life on the Rock. At the time, I had a the unique selling point that I was based in Gibraltar, and at that time, there were no other craft bloggers active on the Rock. I thought that even if no one was interested in what I was making, at least I could share beautiful photos of my sunny surroundings way down in the south of Europe.

The Upper Rock Nature Reserve

I felt compelled to share some of the quirks and beauty of where I was living at the time – a much misunderstood place from the outside. There is so much more to Gibraltar than the day trips from cruise ships and bus tours from along the Costa would have you believe. There’s much more than red phone boxes and fish & chips, British bobbies and Marks and Spencer in the sun. It’s home to a diverse group of people with origins from far and wide, the fortunate byproduct of it’s geographical location at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsular and just a short distance across the Strait of Gibraltar from Morocco and the African continent beyond.

The Europa Point lighthouse with the Strait of Gibraltar beyond

Soon I began sharing a series of blog posts called ‘A stroll around Gibraltar’ as I took my camera and later my phone along on walks around the narrow streets and back alleys of Upper Town and into the Nature Reserve of the Upper Rock – in fact my post about the ‘facts and figures of the Med Steps’ remains my most read post to date. I posted more than 200 Sunday Sevens posts and hosted a Friday Photo Challenge on Instagram one year as well.

The view northwards from part way up the Med Steps

I also used Postcard from Gibraltar to share what I was making, from the dressmaking and watercolour classes which I was able to attend once all three Little Postcards (my three sons) were old enough to all go to school, as well as a number of community crochet projects I joined in with from Yarndale worldwide appeals for crocheted bunting and mandalas to Eleonora from Coastal Crochet‘s Seaside Stashbusting blanket and Changing Tides blanket crochet-alongs.

My Seaside Stashbusting blanket inspired by Sandy Bay in Gibraltar

As our family went on trips around the place I would blog about our travels in my ‘A Postcard from…’ posts which included Rome, The Algarve, Carcassonne, and skiing in the Dolomites, as well as UK destinations like Manchester, Cheshire, and Suffolk.

A few photos from one of our holidays in Suffolk as I worked on an Eleonora Tully design from Little Box of Crochet for that year’s Summer Craft Challenge

Postcard from Gibraltar also opened doors for me and I began writing for an online parenting magazine in Gibraltar which now no longer exists sadly, I also got articles published in print for the Calentita! Gibraltarian food festival magazine. In short, Postcard from Gibraltar gave me the confidence to venture back out of my domestic set-up after many years being a stay-at-home Mum.

My Attic24 cosy stripe blanket at Europa Point

In 2020, along with everything else which was happening in the world, close to home for us, change was afoot. We found ourselves moving back to the UK after 11 very happy years in Gibraltar. It was a big adjustment, which wasn’t made any easier by the pandemic, but we survived! At the time, I wondered whether I should continue with Postcard from Gibraltar as it would no longer be ‘from Gibraltar’. I had begun my new podcast project ‘Making Stitches Podcast’ by then, and whilst it brought me very welcome creative distraction – especially during lockdown, I felt I would miss Postcard too much if I just finished it, so I kept it going in a slightly less regular, less sunny and blue skies kind of a way!

I may be in the north of England now but we do still get occasional blue skies!
(Photo taken at Dunham Massey this week)

More than 2 years on from our move though, I think the time is right to say goodbye to Postcard from Gibraltar. I won’t be saying goodbye to it completely though. This blog and all of the previous posts will still be available to read and if you should search for Postcard from Gibraltar online, it will still lead you here. Postcard from Gibraltar is evolving, just as I have, and from now on, will be known as Making Stitches.

It felt right to adapt what I’m already doing to compliment what I have been working on with Making Stitches Podcast. In the last two years, that has gone from strength to strength and is now in it’s 6th Series with more than 50 episodes featuring interviews with creative people from many different disciplines including crochet and knitting (including my old friend Eleonora Tully from Coastal Crochet), dressmaking, embroidery, textile art, weaving, yarn dying and more. In addition to this, I have made a foray into crochet design myself with the launch of my amigurumi crochet patterns. My life has changed quite a bit from what I was doing back in Gibraltar and it’s time this blog caught up with me.

Looking south towards the Rock – photo taken on Alcaidesa beach

I will still post my monthly Postcards (because I would miss writing them too much) although I can’t guarantee I’ll be any more prompt with posting them (!) and I’m pretty sure I will have another go at a Summer Craft Challenge again next year, so in a way nothing has changed, just the name.

View of Gibraltar from La Linea

Thank you to everyone who has read my posts, liked them or commented through the years and a special thank you to those of you who have become friends through this medium too. Your support, although virtual, has been very much appreciated over the years and it’s that which has kept me going. Who knows what lies ahead?

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Lindsay x

A postcard from April 2022

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Quarry Bank Mill at Styal

Hello there and welcome to this latest Postcard from April – if a little late! It’s a teeny look back at what I got up to in April and as spring has sprung well and truly round here, it meant spending a lot of time out in my little garden.


Where we live we are surrounded by streets and roads filled with trees. I believe the local town planner back in the 1930s believed that there should be a tree planted for every person who lived in the district, so we have him to thank for all the lush greenery around here.

One of the side effects of having so many trees about is that they drop their seeds in autumn and as I discovered last spring (our first in this house) those seeds produce dozens and dozens of tiny seedlings in our pebble driveway. This is just one handful of seedlings picked during about 10 minutes one afternoon – there are approximately 124 seedlings there. I reckon in total I’ve pulled up at least 200 – which would have left me with a jungle or even a forest between our front door and the pavement! It’s no trouble really and rather therapeutic, although they can be hard to spot against the pebbles, and are easy to miss.

Fence panel painting before & after (left panel is painted, right panel isn’t)

Also in the garden, I decided that this year, it was time to give the fence panels a treat. Thankfully the previous owner had left a partially used pot of fence paint, so I was able to set to work straight away once the mood took me. Once I ran out of the original stuff, a quick trip to the local DIY shop had me back to work. One day over Easter weekend I managed to paint 15 fence panels. I was a little tired that evening!

I also thought the shed could do with a treat, despite painting it last year, it was looking a little tired. So that got a coat of paint too along with a new trellis and a new honeysuckle which I bought from the local allotment which was having a plant sale. It’s more than doubled in size since this picture was taken!

Birthdays

There were two birthdays in the household in April. One was a big one as Eldest turned 18 – eek! I have no idea how that happened. I’m just mentally preparing myself for the fact he’s going to be leaving home (all being well) in September to go off to University. Not sure how I’ll feel when the time comes….

Another birthday I celebrated last month was the 2nd birthday of Making Stitches Podcast – but more on that later….

Psyduck (minus his tuft of hair/feathers)

I was invited to a special 21st birthday party last month too. Special in that it was 2 years late. A very good friend of mine has a lovely son who turned 21 in April of 2020, at the time a party had been planned and of course lockdown happened so he had no celebration at all. In fact his parents only managed to deliver a cake to the driveway of where he was living and sang happy birthday from the car, before driving home.

Unlike certain other people, he didn’t have a party….. that was until this year, when, two years later than planned, family and friends were able to get together for a better-late-than-never celebration. Oh, and the amigurumi I’m holding above is Psyduck (a Pokémon character – in case you didn’t know). This young man was a huge fan of Psyduck when he was younger, so I made him one – albeit with out the tuft of hair he’s supposed to have because I left it to the last minute and forgot to in the rush! But the recipient was happy and the party was a great night.

Easter holiday trip out

We are very fortunate to have a few really great National Trust properties close to where we live. One of those is Styal Mill near Manchester Airport. Our great friends and neighbours across the road were going for the day, so I took youngest along with me (the other two were otherwise engaged) for an Easter treasure trail and picnic on a lovely warm and, at times, sunny day.

We hadn’t been for a few years – it’s so easy forget what’s down the road isn’t it? But I’m so glad we had the invitation to join our friends. The kids had fun and ran off some energy whilst learning about the industrial revolution and leeches (on the tour of the apprentice house). It had particular resonance for my young man because the mill was actually used as a location for the filming of the new CBBC drama Dodger, which he had very much enjoyed watching.

The grounds were looking gorgeous and the picture of spring with tulips galore and azaleas too – the rhododendrons were just about to explode into colour too.

A trip down to London

As mentioned before, Eldest has his sights set on University for later this year, and last month was invited for a look around one of the Unis on his list. I tagged along so I could see where he might be disappearing off to. Blimey, universities have moved on a lot since I was at one! The services and support are so much more sophisticated than I can remember, which certainly put my mind at rest as a slightly anxious parent. Another positive of the day trip was plenty of time for hooky on the train!

Podcast Update

In podcast news, as well as celebrating 2 years of Making Stitches Podcast, I released a couple of new episodes. Episode 42 was ‘Crochet-tastic’ and packed full of crochet chatter featuring a conversation I had with Hannah Cross of Hanjan Crochet and another with Amanda Bloom formerly of Little Box of Crochet and now from Cosy Life Boxes about her amazing fundraising efforts for Ukraine with her ‘Blanket of Hugs’ for Ukraine appeal. You can find a link to the episode here.

Hannah Cross of Hanjan Crochet (l) & Amanda Bloom (r)

Episode 43 was bright and colourful (if you can do that with sound) and featured the lovely Clare Albans from Hello Hooray Blog about her creative journey from music teacher to hand-embroidery designer and small business owner. Last year, Clare was able to open her own bricks and mortar studio and haberdashery shop thanks to a Kick-starter campaign. You can find a link to that episode here.

Clare Albans from Hello Hooray Blog

And that’s just about it from me for this month. I have been working on a few crochet projects behind the scenes but I hope to be able to share them with you very soon, and I’m still working on up-coming episodes of Making Stitches too.

I hope you have enjoyed this little look back at April in my world and that it hasn’t been too boring for you! I hope you’ve had a good month too.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and until next time, bye for now!

Lindsay x

Summer Craft Challenge 2021 (Weeks 4 & 5)

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Hiya, I’m a bit late with this post – again! So late it’s two weeks for the price of one!

It’s not been that exciting I’m afraid – just a super busy couple of week with us traveling down south to see some very dear friends. Then, on my return, I’ve been busily crocheting something which I can’t share with you yet. It’s a very exciting new endeavour which I’m bursting to share with you, but that will have to wait for now I’m afraid. Hopefully in October I can tell you more…

For now though, here’s what I got up to during the last two weeks in my Summer Craft Challenge.

Day 22 : Saturday 14th August

Day 22 of my Summer Craft Challenge saw me back working on another Flora the Gardener ably assisted by my gorgeous Mrs G Makes stitch marker.

Day 23 : Sunday 15th August

My make for Granny Square Day 2021 on Day 23 was this gorgeous square designed by @lovedottycrochet for Simply Crochet Magazine – you’ve got to love a rainbow 🌈 granny square!!

Day 24 : Monday 16th August

Day 24 of my #summercraftchallenge and I was back on the holly leaves again – adding prickles this time! Quite hard in Amigurumi.

Day 25 : Tuesday 17th August

We took a road trip down south to visit some very dear friends, the crochet came with me though… another amigurumi head in the making.

Day 26 : Wednesday 18th August

A couple more amigurumi arms…

Day 27 : Thursday 19th August

Crochet by the pool! Our last morning down south brought the sunshine.

Day 28 : Friday 20th August

Day 28 of my #summercraftchallenge2021 and I put my crochet hook away for a moment to begin something new. Remember that fabric purchase I made at Liberty in London? Well it was a kit to make a EPP (English Paper Piecing) patchwork cushion cover.

I’ve done some EPP before and find it’s easy to pick up and put down if I get bored or need something new to focus on. I’m very much looking forward to getting stuck into this.

Day 29 : Saturday 21st August & Day 30 : Sunday 22nd August

Days 29 & 30 of my #summercraftchallenge2021 were filled with crochet which unfortunately I can’t share with you at the moment – but will do in a couple of months 🤞. But in other news my hexies are very slowly growing in number…

Day 31 : Monday 23rd August

🧶Day 31 of my #summercraftchallenge2021 saw the super exciting arrival of the August Little Box of Crochet – squeeeel!! It’s adorable but I’m not showing you inside incase it spoils the surprise… I think I may have to wait until term begins and I have a quiet house again to give this my full attention, but we’ll have to see if I can last that long… 🧶

Day 32 : Tuesday 24th August

Day 32 and I’m really enjoying all the gorgeous fabrics in this pack from Liberty London ❤️ It’s the perfect little project to have going on the side – when my current crochet pattern is making my brain into mush I can zone out as I stitch a hexie or three.

Day 33 : Wednesday 25th August

Not the most inspiring photo for Day 33 but at least it’s decent daylight for crocheting with black yarn! Crochet on the sidelines at goalkeeping practice… thank goodness it’s not raining! 😃⚽️🧶

Day 34 : Thursday 26th August

There hasn’t been much time for crafting but I fitted in a teeny bit of crochet – I wonder what those red bobbles will be? Red noses, cherries? Ear muffs for a tiny person? You’ll just have to wait & see!

Day 35 : Friday 27th August

Just a little bit of time for some more hexies today.

That’s all there is from me for now. I hope the last 2 weeks have been good for you. Thanks for stopping by!

Lindsay x

Summer Craft Challenge 2021 (Week 3)

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Hello there, I’m a bit late with this post – it should’ve been written on Saturday – but hey, it’s the school summer holidays so we’re just rolling with it…

Here’s what I got up to last week in my crafty challenge 😊

Day 15 : Saturday 7th August

More festive leaves on the hook for day 15.

Day 16 : Sunday 8th August

My pile of Daisy hexies is growing… perhaps not as quickly as I had envisioned. I don’t think this blanket will be finished this summer somehow!

Day 17 : Monday 9th August

Summer craft challenge Day 17 went on the road… or perhaps that should be the train! I began a project I’ve been keeping on the back burner for a special occasion – a Little Box of Crochet designed by the lovely ladies The Crochet Sanctuary @Lynda-Rose & Lisa. I got half way through my heart which was made between Manchester & London.

Then I got to visit a place I’ve wanted to go to for aaaaages….. Liberty of London! ahhhh! Those fabrics, all the beautiful things….

I may have accidentally made a teeny-weeny fabric purchase 🤪

Day 18 : Tuesday 10th August

Managed most of the second half of my heart on the train home but I was utterly pooped and ran out of steam. The miles we covered on foot and public transport was bonkers (40,000 steps in less than 48 hours), but it was a very informative trip looking at possible places for Eldest to study next year – eek.

Day 19 : Wednesday 11th August

I made a crown and a chubby squidgy heart!

Day 20 : Thursday 12th August

Thursday’s crochet was all about leaves again!

Day 21 : Friday 13th August

A second project finished! I’ve been waiting over a year to make this and it was well worth the wait – a beautiful heart pincushion designed by The Crochet Sanctuary ladies for Little Box of Crochet. I love it!

That’s all for this installment of my summer craft challenge. I hope I can keep it up – I seem to be powering through my projects which is great. Onwards….

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Lindsay x

Sunday Postcard #10 18.10.20

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Hello there, there wasn’t a postcard last week because there was nothing to report. Just lots of painting and box shuffling, so thought I’d leave it until today. I hope all is well in your world…..

Making progress

Last week, preparations for our move into our own place stepped up a gear with the arrival of paint & rollers! I had had three bedrooms to sort out, the above one was the first with a change from Manga cartoons to turquoise. Another had one glittery wall and a pink wall which required neutralizing for a young man and another which was a simple wallop over.

Sunshine on a rainy day…

We’ve had a very mixed bag of autumnal weather lately. Lots of grey skies and showers with bright sunny skies in between. We have had rainbows on a few occasions, one was in the morning (above) before from school. There’s something about a rainbow which just lifts my spirits.

Happy Post!

So this was the happy post I received last week, it’s the yarn pack for the latest CAL from the Crochet Sanctuary ladies; Lynda-Rose & Lisa. I chose the ‘Christmas Eve’ colourway for this special Christmas blanket CAL. It should go well in our new dining room, although seeing this photo near to the paint job above I might need to be careful it doesn’t disappear into a young man’s bedroom to match his new wall!!

I won’t be starting the CAL until I have finished at least one of my many ongoing WIPs….. so there has been a flurry of A Trip to the Seaside activity of late!

Nothing to see here… just a trio of dinky buckets & spades!!

Embracing autumn

When we lived in Gibraltar, I really missed autumn. The weather doesn’t change as much there and the trees don’t tend to drop their leaves the same way either. I did wonder whether I would find the end of summer and the nights drawing in a bit difficult, but thankfully, so far, it’s going ok. That might be down to some of the beautiful colours we’re being treated to.

Some mornings (when it’s dry) I meet up with a friend for a walk after the school drop off. Seeing as we can’t go to each other’s homes for a coffee because of the Covid restrictions, we walk the streets near our homes at a socially acceptable distance and have a good old chin wag. It sets us both up for the day and when we get home we’re raring to go with the jobs we have in store for us. These beautiful leaves form a very pretty backdrop to our chats.

Birds on the wing

While returning from one of those walks on Friday morning, as we stood saying our goodbyes at the garden gate, we were downed out by a load of very noisy geese above! They were fascinating to watch as they shuffled their positions in the v formations above us.

It’s finished!

Ta-dah! It’s finished, my Little Box of Crochet ‘A Trip to the Seaside’ wreath is finished – this was my summer project. It was delivered to my parents home when we were still living in Gibraltar so that I would have something to make while all my crafty bits and bobs were in transit from our old home to Manchester where we are now. I thought it would all be finished well before the end of the summer but I underestimated how little time I would have for crochet over the past 3 months. The last few bits were finished off last night.

I’m really pleased with it, and now need to find somewhere for it to go in our new home when we move there during the next few weeks. I can now begin the Crochet Sanctuary Christmas CAL with a clear conscience!

Podcast news

This week’s podcast episode was all about crochet and community and featured the lovely Jill from Gum Leaf Crochet who came to crochet after a period of ill health and injury. Jill has created an amazing online community of crocheters who offer support and inspiration to each other. You can listen to the episode by searching for Making Stitches on your favourite podcast app or here.

That’s it for this week, I hope you’ve had a good week and where ever you are and whatever you’re up to, it’s not being weighed down with Covid restrictions too much.

Thanks for stopping by, see you next week!

Lindsay x

Monday Sunday Postcard #009 28.9.20

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Last week felt a bit like these snails I spotted in the garden… going nowhere fast!

Hello everyone, apologies for not making an appearance yesterday, it was a bit of a ‘week’. There was a lot of stuff going on behind the scenes which resulted in not much to take nice photos of and not much time either.

One of the Little Postcards was sent home from school to self-isolate for a fortnight after someone in their school bubble tested positive for Covid-19. That led to a steep learning curve getting our heads round a new remote learning system which was completely different from the one used at his last school in Gibraltar. (I’m pleased to report he is perfectly fine at home and have no news at all about the person who’s infected).

There were also several issues with our temporary rented home which took a lot of time to sort out too, so there was very little postcard-worthy stuff happening.

Apart from a lovely socially distanced Monday morning walk across some fields nearby with a very good friend after the school run…

And despite it being officially autumn now, I began making progress on assembling my summer project – the A Trip to the Seaside wreath from Little Box of Crochet. This has proved some very welcome light relief within all the chaos.

I’ve got everything crossed that this week will be a much more positive one! Until next time, thanks for stopping by!

Lindsay x

Sunday Postcard #008 20.9.20

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Hello and happy Sunday to you, I hope the sun’s shining with you today. Here’s this week’s Sunday Postcard:

Vitamin Tree

Last Sunday, much like today, we were enjoying some glorious sunshine here in the North West of England. We decided to make the most of what may well be our last few days of summer, packed a picnic and jumped into the car to head for Worden Park nearly Chorley in Lancashire.

We visited the park for the first time last summer after it was recommended by a family friend. It took about 45 mins to drive there from our home in Manchester along nice quiet motorways and we were rewarded with wide open spaces and beautiful trees. Long time readers of this blog will know I am a tree lover. You really need a bit of Vitamin Tree in your life every so often wouldn’t you agree?

Worden Park is basically the estate of a formerly grand house. The house is no longer standing but some of the outbuildings remain which are now artisan workshops and a lovely little tea room and some of the formal gardens have been retained too, including a rather stately yew tree which was planted by Queen Victoria (sadly I didn’t photograph that).

As we are in the market these days for outdoor walks where we won’t see too much of other people, Worden was perfect. Although many, many other people had been drawn out to enjoy the wide open spaces and fresh air, in the most part we were all well distanced away from them. It was a bit of a bottleneck in the formal garden (see above) although we quickly negotiated our way through there.

Although it felt warm enough to be a summer’s day, the first signs of autumn were in evidence as some of the leaves had started to turn. There will be an amazing show of colour here in the weeks to come I imagine.

I can never make up my mind how I feel about autumn. When I was away in Gibraltar for the past 11 years, where the seasons don’t have the same impact (mainly because the weather doesn’t change as dramatically and many trees there are evergreen), I really missed autumn. I had a real fondness for misty mornings, dew drops on cobwebs and crunching through fallen leaves.

Now that we are about to experience our first autumn back in England since our move, I’m looking forward to the colours which lie ahead (although sadly not the smells as my sense of smell is still to recover fully from Covid), but I’m also feeling a little sad that it marks the end of summer. I’m sure I’m not alone in that…

Perhaps the sense of uncertainty and unknown about the winter that we are heading into adds to that slight sense of unease about autumn too. Never mind, we will all go through it together, and all being well will be fine.

Sunny Monday morning

How about that for a sky? This is what I gazed up to after walking Littlest to school on Monday morning. What a belter. I can handle more of this kind of September weather thank you very much!

Mmmm delicious!

We had apple & bramble crumble for pudding one evening this week. It was very nice!

On the mend

Midweek I began to feel very tired, and then I succumbed to a rather nasty cold. The Little Postcards had it too in varying degrees but it hit me hardest. There was nothing for it other than to go to bed for a couple of days (well as much as you can do with young people to look after). I’m pleased to say I am now well and truly on the mend and even felt up to a bit of crochet . I really had better get a move on with this summery Little Box of Crochet wreath before winter!!

Birthday time

There was a Little Postcard birthday this week, there are now 2 teenagers in the house – wish me luck!!

Because of our current state of half unpacked/half packed-ness after our move from Gibraltar and our impending move to our ‘forever’ home, I have no idea where my cake tins are. So it was a shop bought birthday cake this time!

Podcast update

Making Stitches Podcast is back, my goodness I’ve missed making these episodes over the summer! This time I’ve decided to release an episode once a fortnight as weekly would be too much for me to manage at the moment bearing in mind we have another house move coming up in the next few months. This week I decided to revisit some of my guests from last series and get up to date with them.

You can find the podcast by searching for Making Stitches in your favourite podcast app or by clicking onto this link.

And that brings this week’s Sunday Postcard to an end. I hope this coming week is a good one for you!

Lindsay x

Sunday Postcard #007 13.09.20

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Hello! Did you know it was International Crochet Day yesterday? It almost passed me by. I managed a tiny bit of work on my Trip to the Seaside wreath from Little Box of Crochet, so I just about fitted some hooky in!

I hope it’s been a good week for you, for part of this week I had all 3 Little Postcards in school for the first time in 6 months. My word, what a difference it made!

Here’s this week’s Sunday Postcard…

Rain rain go away

So last Sunday was a bit wet (thankfully it cleared up later on though). It meant we had the perfect excuse to stay at home and just hang around. Two Little Postcards had begun their new schools the week before and youngest was due to begin his new school on Monday. A quiet day at home listening to the rain was rather pleasant and called for.

Unearthing treasures

During a much anticipated morning alone with all 3 in school I set about on the hunt for the elusive name tapes to sew into new uniforms. As we only found out what schools 2 of them were going to last week – it was all a bit last minute.

I failed to find the name tapes but I unearthed some crafty treasures. Embroidery patterns given to me by my Gran as a child (above). I had no idea they were in a bag with some yarn scraps and long forgotten WIPs. I will have to have a go at some of them! Plus…..

… what must’ve been my first attempts at granny squares, no doubt taught by my Gran! Not the neatest attempts granted, and those colours have a touch of of 1980s about them don’t you think?!

Diamond update

Our bunny, Diamond is doing very well and seems to have adjusted to life in his hutch in England well. He’s a happy chappy and seems to like stretching out listening to the birds in the garden and watching the neighbour’s cat as it parades past!

Happy post

I got a lovely parcel through the post this week, all the way from Gibraltar….

When we were over in Gib to collect Eldest’s GCSE results in August, I bought myself a lovely artisan silver and garnet ring.

I thought it looked a bit lonely on its own and decided to contact Frances, the lady who made it and asked if she would make me another, this time with a blue stone.

It arrived this week, along with a cute little stacking ring to sit in between the blue & red stones. I am so happy with them and will always have a bit of Gib with me now!

You can find Frances’ work on Instagram @silver_quirk and her Etsy shop can be found here.

Podcast preparation

The recorder is out, and that can only mean one thing… work has started on Series 2 of Making Stitches Podcast. I have a couple of interviews in the bag and I’m hoping the first episode will be with you very soon! Watch this space…

International Crochet Day

As I said before, yesterday was International Crochet Day… who knew that was a thing?! I only had time for a little bit but enjoyed making some swishy swashy grass for my Little Box of Crochet wreath.

Gibraltar National Day 🇬🇮

Gibraltar National Day 2019

On Thursday, it was 10th September- Gibraltar National Day. It was our first national day since leaving the Rock and the first one without any of the big community events which normally take place because of Covid. I did listen to the political rally on the radio though and enjoyed being with my Gibraltar friends in spirit.

And that brings this week’s Sunday Postcard to an end. I hope it’s been a good week for you. Until next time, thanks for popping by.

Lindsay x

Sunday Postcard #005 30.08.20

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Hello again! Blimey it feels like more than a week ago that I woke up to the sunrise in the first photo. It’s been a week of getting ready for school starting – that can be an expensive business!! Here’s this week’s Sunday Postcard…

One last Gibraltar sunrise

So this was one week ago, our last wake-up in Gibraltar for a while. In case you missed last week’s postcard, I headed back to Gib with Eldest so he could collect his GCSE results in person and say goodbye to his teachers. It was a lovely few days – if a little odd after leaving so recently, however I’m really glad we made the trip. Last Sunday though, it was time to head home.

A long road home: plane, trains, trams & automobiles!

Our epic homeward journey in 3 cars, 2 trains, 2 trams and 1 plane! With a bit of crochet to pass the time.

Unfortunately for us, we missed out on a flight back to Manchester, we delayed booking due to Covid and the fact I was preoccupied with moving, so when we did try to book, the flight we needed was sold out grrr! Our only option was to fly to Heathrow and travel up from there.

We got a fabulous view of London as we came in to land, we saw Buckingham Palace, Wembley and all sorts of easily recognisable places which was a treat. Then came the rest of the journey.

We booked a car to take us from Heathrow to Watford Junction station to avoid having to take the tube into central London (we were trying to limit the amount of people we would come into contact with). Then had two (thankfully) very quiet trains from Watford to Milton Keynes and then from Milton Keynes up to Manchester. Then caught a couple of trams to the rendezvous point where we managed to get a lift home! Phew, that was a trek. But at least I had plenty of time for crochet on the move!

Happy post

When I arrived home this was waiting for me, a cute crochet pin badge and some stitch markers from Mrs G Makes. She has some lovely stuff on her Etsy shop.

Sunset on a Wednesday

Last Wednesday we had a lovely evening trip to the park. Our local park gets rather busy on a dry day and, as we don’t really want to mix with too many people at the moment, we have been giving it a wide berth. We have been popping back there in the evenings though, which is great as we often have the place to ourselves! This was the lovely sunset which heralded our walk home.

A blanket for Bluebell

Our new set of wheels, Bluebell was so lovely and clean when I picked her up from the garage, it seemed such a shame to dirty her, so I grabbed my crochet hook and made her a blanket to protect the back seat.

I don’t know what our neighbours thought when they spotted me popping out to the car several times every evening to see if it would fit properly! Anyway, I’m pleased with the result, let’s hope it works and keeps Bluebell spick and span for now!

Dishcloths for Yarndale

Yarndale may not be happening for real this year anymore, but this year’s charity appeal is still going. This year festival organisers are asking knitters and crocheters to make dishcloths to raise money for Martin House Children’s Hospice. Earlier this year I spoke to Carole Rennison from Yarndale about this for Making Stitches Podcast, so I thought it was about time I got round to making my contribution.

A magical treasure trail

Yesterday we buzzed into Manchester City Centre to have a go at a magical treasure trail. We had to follow clues to get us from place to place, solving anagrams and codes as we went and looking out for fabulous fantastical beasts along the way.

‘Manchester – the Wizard’s Spell Book’ was loads of fun and took us to parts of the city I have never visited before (or at least I haven’t visited since major building work has taken place there). The Little Postcards loved it and so did I!

You can find the trail by visiting the Treasure Trails website and pay to download the instructions and treasure map or they will send one out to you in the post. It made for a good few hours of entertainment and was great fun. We can highly recommend it.

It’s amazing how many mystical creatures you can spot in the city. You often just need to look up!

And that brings this week’s Sunday Postcard to an end. If you have a bank holiday weekend this weekend, I hope you are enjoying it.

Thanks for stopping by!

Lindsay x

Sunday Postcard #004 23.8.20

~ Making Stitches ~ 2 Comments

Hello there! My word it’s been a busy week this week as you will see. I hope it’s been a good one for you. Here’s this week’s Sunday Postcard…

Stormy skies

Last Sunday we headed out to our local field to play frisbee. It seemed like a great idea at the time – we had a brief frisbee session the day before and the Little Postcards loved it – so we headed back for a longer session on Sunday. It was fun, I’ll give you that, but blimey I didn’t half ache afterwards!! My neck, shoulders, arms, back legs…. I’m showing my age!

Rainy day

After a bright Monday morning, the afternoon was a rather damp affair in our part of the world. Despite that, I thought the rain drops on this spiders web looked rather pretty.

Leaving on a jet plane

Eldest and I had an early start on Wednesday morning…. we were Gibraltar bound for the small matter of picking up GCSE results.

And there she is…

A seat with a view

A postcard from Gibraltar

It had to be done… we left the two youngest Little Postcards behind under the care of grandparents, so we simply had to send a postcard back home on Wednesday when we arrived. I’m amazed to be able to tell you that it arrived in Manchester on Saturday just 4 days later!

Sunrise on results day

We were up early on Thursday so we could collect Eldest’s GCSE results (the reason for our visit). As we were staying on the East side of the Rock this time we were able to witness sunrise over the Mediterranean Sea. It was a lovely moment as we anticipated what might be coming that day.

I’m thrilled to be able to tell you the results were as sunny as the skies above us. I have been having a proud Mum moment ever since.

Friends reunited

Friday evening meant meeting up with some old friends who I only said goodbye to last month! It was great to see them, tell them all our news and hear theirs.

Making waves on the beach

Our trip back to Gibraltar hasn’t exactly been a holiday, there have been things which needed to be sorted following our move back to the UK. A few admin jobs which had slipped through the net before we left and such like. Yesterday though, in the afternoon, I found myself alone and my to-do list was complete so I took my crochet hook, yarn & deckchair down to the beach at Sandy Bay.

I had a few blissful hours crocheting, watching the world go by and also had a solo dip in the sea. I can’t remember if I have ever been to the beach alone before. I normally always have young people with me. I can highly recommend it! It may only have been a few hours but it felt like a holiday after months of planning, packing, unpacking and everything else that moving countries with a family entails. I feel very lucky to have had this time away.

And that brings this week’s postcard to an end. We are now back in Manchester after a very long day of travel – more on that next week!

Have a great week, and thanks for stopping by.

Lindsay x