Hello there! I hope you’re doing well. My word, March was a super month in my world, filled with fun, sunshine and lots to interesting chats with super people. The main highlight of the month was the TexStyle Festival in Manchester city centre. It was the first of its kind and I spent the whole weekend at it – it was amazing!
So, here’s a little round up of the past month in my neck of the woods…
Sunny days
I don’t want to sound like a weather bore, but in amongst the usual damp and grey March days, we enjoyed several beautiful sunny and warm days this month. Fortunately for me, some of them happened on days when I wasn’t working so I was able to enjoy some time out pottering in my garden.
It was lovely to be able to give the back lawn it’s first cut of the year – it was getting very long and tufty in places, and it stayed looking pretty smart for a couple of hours until it returned to being used as a penalty shoot out area again! One day I will have a pristine lawn, but only when my resident footballers have flown the nest, so I’m not wishing my life away.
A Literary Evening Out
In early March I went along to our local bookshop along with a very good friend of mine to hear local author, Helen Gaskell, speak about her first novel. Released at the height of Bridgerton Series 4 fever, her book The Regency Switch involves time travel from the present day, back to the Regency era.
Helen gave a really fascinating talk and we really enjoyed our evening out (on a school night too!).
Thank you Helen for a brilliant evening!
TexStyle Festival 2026
It’s official I was in!It was lovely seeing my friend Christine aka Winwick Mum at TexStyleSome of the work done by Yarn Addicts of Manchester
Oh my, where to begin with TexStyle Festival? What a wonderful weekend of fun, creativity and community!
I was thrilled to be asked to compere the Textile Talks stage at the festival, so I was lucky enough to spend the full two days at Manchester Central, enjoying all that it had to offer. The weekend’s speakers were textile artists, Sophia Gardiner, Stephen West from WestKnits, Amelia Rogers from Amelia Stitches, Gareth from Manchester Wool & Yarn, Debbie Munro from The Lace Knittery & Jane Smith from Japanese Embroidery UK.
Sophia Gardiner at her standStephen West in actionStephen West ready to go on stage
It was a brilliant weekend and I feel really privileged to have been a small part of it all. I took my podcast microphone with me (naturally) and shared an episode all about the weekend.
With Gareth from Manchester Wool & YarnJane Smith from Japanese Embroidery UKAmelia from Amelia Stitches in action
The whole TexStyle experience was a whirlwind, which I still can’t stop thinking about, I had so many lovely conversations with people and look forward to seeing lots of them again in the not too distant future. I’m really grateful to be a part of this super duper community.
Victoria Salmon from Another Knitted ThingAlena Ruth from Manchester Tufting WorkshopsWith the super Debbie Munro who gave 2 talks
My only full length photo of my new cardigan taken in the loos at TexStyle!The back of my Orla Square cardigan
Last month in my Postcard from February, I mentioned that I was working on something using the Orla Squares I had made during my summer craft challenge. The aim was to get a new cardigan made using the squares and I just about managed to get it finished in time for the second day of the TexStyle Festival.
I’m really chuffed with how the cardigan ended up and received some nice compliments about it when I had it on at TexStyle, which is always nice!
Once my cardigan was finished and I had time to hit my WIP pile with determination to tick another WIP off the list, I settled on this Small Bobble Cowl. I started it in January and then it was cast aside for cardigan making. The pattern is by Zeens and Roger and is called the ‘Small Bobble Cowl’, you can find a link to the crochet pattern bundle for cowls designed by Rosina here. I loved making this and used yarn from Kitey aka https://www.yarnwhisperer.co.uk I love the vibrancy of the colours against the cream background yarn. I just hoping when I wear it, I don’t look too much like a children’s TV presenter!
My final make for March was this ‘mini-me’ for my Zumba instructor, Guillaume who left us at the end of the month to concentrate on his other, candle making business.
I can’t tell you how much my Tuesday evenings dancing have meant to me over the past 4 years I’ve been going. They have been the highlight of my week and such a laugh.
If you want to support his business, I can highly recommend his candles, wax melts, diffusers and candle-making classes. All of which leave your nose in raptures of lovely smells! You can find all of Gui’s products at https://malumiere.co.uk
The mini-me is not anatomically correct by the way! I used my fail safe of adapting a pattern from the Carla Mitrani book Crochet Iconic Women.
On Making Stitches Podcast this month…
I kicked off a brand new series of Making Stitches Podcast this month with a chat I had with Katy Mitchell aka Kate’s Crochet Creations.
Katy is a passionate advocate for the Granny Square and has designed hundreds of different ones. She published her first book last year ‘The Granny Square Book’ which is filled with over 100 different designs for you to make your own unique Granny Square projects with.
I have said so much about this festival already in the post, but in case you missed it before, my second episode of the month came out last week and features the brilliant TexStyle Festival. You can listen to it along with all the previous Making Stitches Podcast episodes in all the main podcast places like Apple Podcasts, Spotify etc as well as on my Making Stitches Podcast website.
And that’s it for this month, I hope March was kind to you and that April goes well too. We have the Easter long weekend just around the corner and with it plenty of time to enjoy time with family and my yarn too! Thank you for stopping by to read my latest update.
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!
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 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!
Hello there, and hello September! Blimey that summer went quickly didn’t it?! And check me out posting on the first day of the month!
It’s been a funny kind of summer for us, as it’s been the first full summer of my current job – last year I worked 100% from home and that meant I was always around for the boys. They are now old enough to manage without me in the house all day every day, so for a chunk of the holidays this year, I’ve been out at work.
That led to the inevitable Mum guilt of not being around for as many days out as in the past but we did manage a few, and here they are…
At the start of the month we had a nice warm, sunny spell which was a relief after a particularly damp and grey time of it. We are very lucky to have the Cheshire countryside on our doorstep, so getting out into the green is quite easy. One day, when both myself and Eldest were off work, we all managed to get out for a lovely walk along the canal towpath towards Lymm and back again. I love this walk, whether in winter (with the reward of a bag of chips at Lymm) or as was the case this time, an ice cream in summer. It was so nice to get out and enjoy the fresh air!
A visit from special friends
Last month we were so happy to play host to a couple of friends who we’ve known since our time in Gibraltar. They moved back to the UK well before we did but we have stayed in regular contact and it’s so lovely to get together with them when we can.
They arrived in Manchester for a weekend with us and as their previous visit north had been during Covid times which rather restricted what we could do (although obviously not in lockdown though), we were thrilled to take them on a bit of a tour of Manchester.
As one of them is a newly qualified art teacher, I thought she might appreciate a trip to Manchester Art Gallery.
There was a fab exhibition on featuring outfits from a whole host of fashion designers from Balenciaga to Stella McCartney, Vivienne Westwood to Chanel. It was a real treat!
As well as having a dairy herd at the ice cream farm, there are several goats and a rather cheerful looking donkey, who stole the show!
Our final week of August was spent north of the border in Scotland, but I rather think that deserves a blog post of its own, so when I have the chance I will sit down and write that, watch this space!
International Granny Square Day
International Granny Square Day falls in August and this year I was in work on the day itself. I spent lunchtime at work scrolling through Instagram looking at so many gorgeous squares and feeling frustrated that I hadn’t been able to make any myself. So, when I got home, while making dinner for the family, I may have slightly overdone a few bits and bobs while I made these two podcast related granny squares of my own!
What I’ve been listening to
Well my audio book library card has had a fair bashing lately – I’m totally hooked. So much so, I’ve been having to catch up on my favourite podcasts! I have almost finished the four Thursday Murder Club books – I’m in the last few chapters now. I can highly recommend them if you’re after a light, funny and at times emotional read/listen. I can see why Richard Osman sits at the top of the best seller charts with them – he’s such an observant writer.
Podcast News
Dr Gemma McKenzie
There was just one Making Stitches Podcast episode in August – I decided to take a short break as it was proving difficult to keep up the schedule with the boys on holiday. In this episode Dr Gemma McKenzie spoke to me about the crochet exhibition she is planning to raise awareness about human rights around childbirth. It’s an area I admit to not knowing much about but I thoroughly enjoyed our chat and am interested to learn more because of it.
I almost forgot to add this exciting bit of news which happened in August too – my second design for Inside Crochet magazine was published. I really enjoyed making this soft, textured book for toddlers to celebrate autumn.
That’s all for this time. Thanks so much for stopping by, and until next time, take care!
Hello there, I hope May is treating you well! I was really meaning to get this post out at the start of the month, but somehow life got very busy and here we are half way through May already!
Well, better late than never, here’s a little look back at April in Making Stitches world!
A flower show
Last month, the first ever RHS Urban Show happened at the Mayfield Depot, close to Piccadilly Station in the centre of Manchester.
It was an interesting event – where we were greeted by a pair of very friendly pot plants!
One of the balcony gardens – this one was for an artist
There were many beautiful stalls from plants people, an exhibition of balcony gardening from a local group of students – there was even an indoor forest! (See below 👇).
It was a really beautiful use of a huge network of warehouses and tunnels. Inspiration was everywhere and it was nothing like anything I’ve experienced before!
There was even an art exhibition included…
… which included lovely felting…
… and punch needle work too.
And I came home with this beauty! 🪴
On my needles
I’m still knitting my Tin Can Knits top down basic sweater. It came out in a trip to the hairdressers with me last month, but hasn’t seen much action lately as I have been working on a rather large and all consuming crochet commission (which unfortunately I can’t share with you). I’m thrilled to say that went off in the post this week so I can get back to doing other things now – phew!
Podcast news
Well this was exciting – Making Stitches Podcast got a double page spread in Simply Crochet Magazine! What a thrill!! It sparked some really lovely messages from crafty friends who were surprised to spot me in their favourite magazine!
I’m pleased to say that work has begun on the next series of the podcast – I’m looking forward to being able to share that with you again soon.
Other news
I’m thrilled to say that last month, I started a new job! It’s a great role using my skills for a really important charity. I’m chuffed to bits. They’re a lovely bunch of colleagues and I’m looking forward to the future with them.
We also had a birthday in Making Stitches world, I am now the mother of a 20 year old… how did that happen?? And for Youngest, there was success for his football team as they won their league cup. 🏆
That’s all I’ve got for you this time I’m afraid other than some really pretty blossom which appeared in my back garden last month. I do love this time of year – it feels so full of promise for the summer ahead!
Hello there, blimey we’re on day 10 of April already, I genuinely don’t know where the time has gone! Well I kind of do, I’ve just started a new job, so that has filled my time somewhat and my brain too for that matter, but for now, here’s a little look back at March in my world!
Belinda Bunny
Last month I launched another new pattern in my shop, in time for Easter, Belinda Bunny made an appearance. Inspired by our very own little Diamond bunny (as you can see) bunnies aren’t just for Easter….
White bunnies were clearly the flavour of the month in March as when I spent a wonderful day at the Crochet Sanctuary last month, this bunny wreath was one of the projects we made! The wreath is sitting on an, as yet, still unfinished cowl.
I had a really lovely day just sitting, chatting and crocheting – I feel like I’d been away on a holiday rather than just a few hours!
Holiday
Speaking of holidays… I got on a plane last month for a fabulous break in Spain.
Along with 4 lovely friends from my University days, we had a joint celebration of our 50th birthdays (no, that can’t be right surely?!). The sister of one of my friends has a house in Spain which she offered for us to use for our 4-night-long getaway. It was amazing!
Sadly the weather wasn’t great, but we didn’t go for the sun, we went to spend some time with each other. What with family commitments and work, it had been nearly 30 years since we’d spent that long together. Apart from being in bed no later than 1am and having a beautiful clean tidy house with lots of nutrious food – it was just like being back in our student flat!
Isn’t it wonderful when you have friends who know you so well that you can just pick up from where you left off no matter how long ago it was the last time you saw each other? I feel truly blessed to have them in my corner.
I wanted to give them all something to mark this momentous occasion, but couldn’t think what was suitable to buy – after drawing a blank I opted for making them each a little ‘Keele girl’ (we met at Keele University). I surreptitiously asked them all what colour swimming costume they were bringing with them and made them a coordinating mini costume. I based the pattern on the Crochet Iconic Women book by Carla Mitrani (I thought that was rather appropriate seeing as I think they’re all pretty iconic in my book).
We had lots of fun taking the mini crocheted girls out and about with us…
To the beachTo the poolOut for tapasEven a night on the tiles!
We had a right giggle – it was an amazing break.
Out & About
Bridgewater Canal at Lymm
Easter school holidays meant the need to get out and about in fresh air to get the young men in my life off devices and, for one, away from GCSE revision for a while and we had a few nice walks. This one was along the Bridgewater Canal towpath in Lymm. The weather in Cheshire was better than in Spain to be fair!!
Lymm Cross
Podcast News
The latest series of Making Stitches podcast has come to an end with a lovely chat I had with Heather of KCACOUK (Keep Calm & Crochet on UK). We met in person at last year’s March Crochet Sanctuary and talked about recording an interview- it took almost a year to achieve it!
Heather Gibbs
You can listen to the podcast here if you missed it:
Hopefully the next series of Making Stitches won’t be too long in the making!
Keep on Running!
I have mentioned in my monthly postcards before that I’ve been doing a bit of running lately, and that I was thinking of signing myself up for a 10K. As I was approaching the age of 50, I decided that if I was ever going to achieve a 10K, it was probably a good idea not to out it off for too much longer. I gave myself a talking to as I remembered having the same one way conversation as I hit 40, but didn’t achieve that goal.
It’s now official, I am signed up to run the 10K race on the day of the Great Manchester Run on 26th May. I’ve been training since before Christmas and once I managed to run 7K last week, I thought it was safe to go public and tell people.
I’m not sure I’ll be repeating the feat, so thought I’d better make it a worthwhile venture and have opted to raise funds for the Jo Cox Foundation. Last year, I did some work for them and I wanted to thank them for putting their faith in me, as well as helping them going forward with the amazing work they do to help build community relationships, supporting civility in public life and generally continuing the work started by Jo Cox.
For those of you who don’t know who Jo was, she was a wife, mother, MP (Member of Parliament) and humanitarian who was murdered while she was working in her constituency of Batley & Spen in West Yorkshire in 2016. Had Jo still been alive, like my friends and I, she would be celebrating her 50th birthday this year, so this seemed very appropriate.
A view across our local golf course while on a sunny run!
Also in March, I managed to get a job! I’m thrilled and started the new position this week. It does mean I have a bit less time for podcasting etc, but I can pay the bills which always helps!!
And that is just about it for this month, sorry it was a few days late! It was a long one too, so if you made it to the end, thank you!
Until next time, take care, and thanks for stopping by!
Hello there! It’s the 1st of March – the first day of meteorological spring – how lovely! The days are slowly getting longer and that always puts a spring in my step. I hope this finds you well and that the past month has been kind to you. Here’s a little look back at what happened in my world in February.
A lovely gift to start the month
I started (and ended) the month as a ‘lady of leisure’ in other words I don’t have a job as such at the moment (other than freelance bits and bobs). I have to admit that at times I have found it a struggle. It’s not for the want of applying for jobs, I have spent a lot of time over the past couple of months filling in application forms, writing cover letters etc, but as yet, they haven’t borne fruit. I’m not sure whether it’s the state of the job market at the minute, the fact I’m not as young as I used to be or what, but as I write, I’m still looking.
On a positive note though, I did get a lovely parcel through the post, the yarn bowl pictured above was a gift from my former colleagues at my last place of work – they knew me well clearly! It has seen two projects completed using it (both of which are commissions I can’t share sadly) and is now home to my current make, which hopefully I will be able to share with you pretty soon.
My former colleagues were a really lovely bunch and I miss them but I can think of them whenever I’m using this yarn bowl.
I also had a go at making a stripy rainbow heart using my free pattern here. This was fun to make and I have one hanging in the room I do most of my crochet – it makes me smile especially on grey wet days!
A half term trip to London
Tower Bridge
The school half term holidays fell last month and we made a trip down to London to visit Eldest. He’s studying there at University and it was the perfect opportunity for Son Number 2 to see what University accommodation is like as it won’t be terribly long before he’s thinking about such things – eek!
It was a really lovely day – and super to be able to give Eldest a squeeze too. We ended the day looking around the area where he’ll be moving to for the next academic year – how are we talking about such things already? Time is galloping on!
Sunset in Islington
A sunny walk
Just 2 weeks after visiting him in London, Eldest had a reading week and made the trip up north to visit me and his brothers. We were very lucky to have some bright winter sunshine briefly so we dashed out for a walk before the next lot of rain came!
We had a lovely walk along part of the Trans Pennine Trail at Lymm in Cheshire. It was pretty busy as lots of other folk were making the most of the nice weather. After walking the trail for a while, we doubled back and went into Lymm itself. There’s a chippy there which does really rather fantastic chips which taste delicious with a slosh of vinegar, a sprinkling of salt and eaten out in the fresh air!
The Bridgewater Canal at Lymm
Sock darning
While Eldest was visiting, I darned a pair of his favourite socks for him. I mentioned it to my Mum and said I’d struggled to get the right colour of yarn and that his burgundy socks now had bright red toes! A day or so later, I received a package filled with sock yarn (some of which is specifically for darning) and my great grandma’s darning mushroom! Never again will I have to struggle and keep jabbing my fingers with the needle – and as long as future socks are grey or blue I should be sorted!
If only that mushroom to could speak and tell about all the socks which had been darned with its help. I shall treasure it, and am thrilled to be custodian of this family heirloom now.
In the long run
I started running (off and on) a few years ago. I did the Couch to 5K which is a miracle considering I was always vying for last place in school cross country races. I wasn’t built for speed! Once I’d got over the initial breathlessness and built up a bit of stamina, I was rather pleased with my progress and from time to time I start running again for a while.
I spotted these snow drops (above) when I was on a run early in February around the time I was considering upping my game a bit. You may be aware I celebrated a milestone birthday last month, and I wondered whether this was the year I should attempt a ‘real’ run. Now by real, I don’t mean a marathon or anything daft like that, more like a 10K.
I’ve thought about trying one, probably for 10 years, and I’m not getting any younger, so now is probably the time I need to stop procrastinating and give it a whirl. The picture below was taken of the picturesque Manchester Ship Canal at the end of my first proper training run – I managed to run for 10 minutes four times – which I impressed myself with.
I shall keep you posted on my progress and let you know if this is indeed the year for a 10K attempt. Watch this space!
10K training
Podcast news
Cathy Wright from Lazykate Textiles
I’m pleased to say that Making Stitches Podcast made a return last month after a longer than expected Christmas break. My first guest was Cathy Wright from Lazykate Textiles who spoke about her passion for spinning and weaving. You can catch her episode here.
That’s all for this month’s round up. Let’s hope March brings us more blue skies and good times ahead.
Thanks so much for stopping by! See you again soon.
So, hello there… it’s been an awfully long time since I’ve been around here… I thought that as we head towards the end of this year, it was time to blow the cobwebs & dust off my blog and check in with you.
It’s been a year and a half – 2023 – you know … and as I dipped into my drafts folder to open a new blog post I found this – A Postcard from November 2022 a post which was started but not finished. My word, a year is a long time and an awful lot can happen in that time.
These three first photos were indeed from November 2022, beautiful sunny blue skies above the River Mersey. Little did I know when I took them that the rug would be ripped out from under our feet – it’s just as well we don’t know what lies ahead…
The River Mersey
It’s funny really that one of the things which sparked my desire to post was a photo I took while I was on the very same walk with Son number 2 last weekend!
Taken on the same path as the above photo 1 year apart!
This new photo is of the same path, although I may have been facing a different direction, I’m not sure. It’s funny that when big things happen, that we cling to the small routines to keep our heads above water.
If you haven’t been around this way for a while, I’ll put you in the picture. This year we lost a hugely important person in our family. It’s been an unfathomable loss for me and my 3 boys. Life has changed forever in so many ways, obvious ones and in many other ways too.
Aside from the emotional side of things, I have had to return to ‘formal’ work which has meant less time for fun creative things. I have continued to make when time allowed and after taking half a year off from Making Stitches Podcast, I managed to get back into the swing of things with that. Blogging though, fell off the end of the ‘To Do List’.
Life is so different in so many ways from how it was this time last year, I have found strength I didn’t know I had and I have found my friends and family to be amazing. People are so kind.
I’ve learned many things, but the two most important ones are to lean on friends when they offer help and to keep putting one foot in front of the other.
The River Mersey last weekend
So, the real reason for me blogging is that I had been meaning to get around to it. I miss my monthly updates – looking back through the back catalogue, they form a rather interesting diary for me.
Did you keep a diary as a child? Or maybe you still do now? I did as a child – I wasn’t that great at it but I have a 5 year diary from when I was young somewhere and it’s probably about half filled. I bought another one 5 years ago… this year has been the final year and, to be honest I didn’t feel like filling that in either very much.
One thing I had done pretty regularly, since starting this blog (as Postcard from Gibraltar) many moons ago, was post updates, so I shall attempt to do that again I think. Here goes….
A new project on my needles
A few weeks back I went to Black Sheep Wools to have a catch up with my sock knitting friend, Christine Perry aka Winwick Mum. It was our first catch up of 2023 (because of the reasons outlined above). It was so, so good to get together again and catch up on each other’s news.
I went armed with a planned purchase in mind – I wanted to have a go at knitting a jumper. I haven’t knitted a garment for myself (other than socks) since Eldest was a baby. That was a beige cardigan (with variegated flecks of brown) with a cable pattern up both sides of the front. It ended up being an ok fit, but a bit itchy and had a distinctly ‘homemade’ look to it.
I have been squishing this desire down for ages saying to myself : “you don’t need to buy more yarn”, “you’ll never finish it!”, “it’ll probably look rubbish if you ever do finish it”, “why not carry on with one of your *many* WIPs instead??” – you know the drill…
Anyway I gave myself a good talking to and bought the yarn anyway! I am making a Simple Sweater by Tin Can Knits and had planned to do a rainbow striped yoke, but when I priced up how much it would cost to buy all the different colours I wanted in order to make it (bearing in mind I might never finish it and it may look rubbish if I do) I decided to opt for this (much easier on the pocket) super rainbow yarn instead. It’s called Knit Me Crochet Me and is made by Stylecraft. There was a lovely jumper knitted up in the shop made in another colour way which caught my eye. So there you have it, a jumper in the making … eventually!
I did make really good progress to begin with then when I tried it over my head it was so tight it felt like I was being choked (my fault for using the wrong size needles). This meant I lost a week’s worth of progress, but I’m back on track.
On my hook…
A mini person in the making
I am in the midst of a gift for a special person… who may read this blog so I can’t show any more than this. I will, however share this little ‘mini me’ once it has been gifted. I was thinking of writing up the pattern if it gets a decent reception, so watch this space!
A trip to the theatre (and the spooky world of Uncanny)
Last month I was lucky enough to have the chance to see Danny Robins, Evelyn Hollow & Dr Ciaran O’Keefe in action at the Lowry in Salford. I have been a fan of the Uncanny podcast since it first started, having listened to The Battersea Poltergeist previously.
When the Uncanny tour was first launched very early on this year, I really wanted to go and see it. I had no one to go with – none of my friends are into the podcast so, seeing as it was a matinee performance, I decided to go it alone. My first time ever doing that!
It didn’t faze me at all and in fact I ended up sitting next to a lovely lady and her son who commented on the fact she would never be brave enough to go to the theatre alone and shared her sherbet lemons with me! I would highly recommend it! I had my first solo cinema trip last year and that went fine – once it’s dark no one can see you are alone anyway! And if anyone has any judgements about it, it’s their problem not yours!
I pre ordered a copy of the Uncanny book and was able to pick it up at the show too – signed!! It was a big fan girl moment!
Crochet & Podcast News
My latest episode of the podcast features Fran Darlington-Pollock, CEO of the Greater Manchester Mayor’s Charity. The charity is joining forces with Black Sheep Wools in the run up to Christmas with their A Bed for the Night / Deck the Halls campaign. Money realised from selling wool packs and patterns for Christmas decorations will support the charity’s aim to provide 1,000 beds for rough sleepers over Christmas. It costs £30 for a bed for the night and the associated wrap around care. You can find out more information on the Black Sheep Wools website.
Also in Podcast news, at the end of October I went down to London to the Independent Podcast Awards. It was a fantastic night and I was able to meet up with some friends from my local podcasters club (yes they do exist – it’s our Christmas party tomorrow!). Making Stitches Podcast didn’t win but blimey the standard of the other podcasts was high so it was an honour to be considered alongside them!
You might spot Making Stitches on the shortlist (bottom right)!
Winter is here…
The temperature levels have fallen considerably in the last few weeks – this photo was taken on that walk by the Mersey a week ago – it was the end of the afternoon and the frost from the night before still lay on the fields. Yesterday it was -4 degrees when I scraped the ice off the car to drop the boys off for school!
Super cold days usually mean clear skies though so I’m not complaining – blue skies and sunsets are far preferable to damp greyness!
So that’s all from me, thank you for stopping by, it’s been nice to be back again!
