Up the Garden Path Crochet

A Postcard from October 2022

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Hello there! I hope this finds you well. It’s November – eek! How did that happen??

Here’s what I’ve been up to over the past month…

Autumnal colours

October began and ended in a blaze of orange! The first photo is of one of my little Acers which took on a great colour at the beginning of the month, we also enjoyed this sky of fire at the start of October (below) – the second sunset was taken on Saturday evening before the clocks went back to put us on Winter time….. the last hurrah of the summer that was…

Changing times…

Postcard from Gibraltar

Last month, you may have noticed that there were some changes on this blog from Postcard from Gibraltar to Making Stitches Blog. I won’t go into all the reasons behind it, as you may well have already read the previous post, but if you have just landed here and are wondering why Postcard from Gibraltar is no more, you can read why here.

Yarny news

Last month I decided the time had come to finally dig out my knitting needles and have another go at knitting some socks! About a year ago, I was inspired by Christine Perry of Winwick Mum, to have a go at knitting socks for the first time. Now I learned to knit well before I learned to crochet, but apart from an odd cardigan here and there over the years I haven’t done too much so the prospect of knitting in the round, turning a heel and using double pointed needles sent me running for the hills. (It turns out you don’t need to used DPNs after all – hurrah!) After interviewing Christine for Making Stitches Podcast, we got together for a brew and with her help I actually managed to knit a pair!

At Yarndale this year, I picked up a ball of Yarndale sock yarn called Hope (I have admired this colourway for a while). I have done non-stop crochet for so long, I fancied a change and early in October I cast on the first sock. Determined that it wouldn’t take me months to complete this project (as happened last time) I powered on through and had my first sock finished in less than a week!! I’m very pleased to say that on Monday (31st) (with the help of Christine’s fabulous book “Super Socks“) I Kitchener Stitched the toes of my second sock and I own a second pair of hand knitted socks made by me!

Up the Garden Path friends

Oakley the Acorn Tree Sprite & Agatha the Fly Agaric Mushroom Up the Garden Path crochet patterns

Two new friends joined the Up the Garden Path gang in October, Oakley the Acorn Tree Sprite and Agatha the Fly Agaric Mushroom. I had loads of fun making these – they had both been in my head since last autumn, and finally I was able to complete the patterns in time to get them out for this autumn. Oakley and Agatha should actually have a couple of other autumnal companions but I’m afraid other things got in the way of getting to the finishing line with them, so they will need to stay under wraps (or maybe that should be hibernation) until next autumn.

I took them with me to the gorgeous Dunham Massey National Trust parkland for a photo shoot a couple of weeks ago on a bright sunny morning. It was so lovely to have the perfect excuse to get out of the house and enjoy nature for a few hours. It was great fun finding suitable spots for them to pose with the gorgeous natural backdrop. The only issue is that as it is a deer park, there are lots of lovely areas you can’t go into because they are exclusively for the deer. Any parts where you are allowed to stray a little from the path are generally rather well populated so there’s a ready made audience for a crazy middle aged lady arranging crocheted little people on tree stumps or next to fungi.

I tried to keep my head down and not make too much of a spectacle of myself but I was sniffed out by a rather lovely little spaniel on a super long lead at one point, and at another, I was asked by an amateur photographer if he could photograph my little people too. Those were just the passers-by I engaged with – with many others I just ducked down behind the ferns and tree stumps and hoped for the best! I think most people were just glad to give me a wide berth as I was clearly barmy.

Downloadable PDF patterns for Agatha and Oakley are available now in my Etsy Shop if you fancy making either of them and if you would like to make both, you can buy the pair as a bundle with a bit of a saving.

As you can see below, it was a truly stunning morning at Dunham Massey when I went for my photo shoot….

The first Great Northern Textile Show

A week or so ago it was the first ever Great Northern Textile Show, just down the road from where I live in Manchester. I stumbled across the event on Instagram and reached out to the show’s organiser Tracy Fox to ask for more details. Once I’d spoken to Tracy it became apparent that not only did I have to go to the show, but that I also had to go to meet Tracy and hear more about her story. Tracy is an artist working with textiles, she dyes fabric to create art cloth for art quilts and can use anything from leaves from her back garden to rusty saw blades to create the most amazing patterns. I interviewed Tracy for Episode 52 of Making Stitches Podcast which you can listen to below. Then, on 23rd October I found myself at my second big show in a month by going to the Great Northern Textile Show. It was fab – I met some really lovely people. I shared my experience of the day in the latest episode of the podcast which went out last week – you can also listen to that below too.

Tracy Fox – my guest for Episode 52 of Making Stitches Podcast

In other podcast news, I got a rather lovely surprise at the weekend. I noticed that there had been a rather big upward surge in my listener figures so thought I’d check on the Apple Podcast charts to see if the numbers had had an impact there – and they did! I found Making Stitches Podcast at the Number 1 spot in the craft podcast charts in the UK, Canada and New Zealand, at Number 2 (then up to Number 1) in Australia and at Number 5 in the USA!! What a thrill! The podcast has made it to number 1 several times in the past but never in so many places at once or for so long. Thank you to everyone who has listened to it, recommended it to a friend or left a review – I am a very happy podcaster!

A return to ABBA Voyage!

If you read my August Postcard, you may remember that I made the trip down to London with a couple of school friends to see Abba Voyage. The trip had originally been meant to be for my parents to join me but their holiday which had been booked for 2020 and had been rearranged so many times ended up clashing with the ticket dates. I was able to return to London this month with my lovely Mum, the person responsible for introducing me to ABBA in the first place. It was super to be able to share the experience with her. (It also meant that I was able to meet up with Eldest – who is now a London based Uni student – for the briefest of times for a quick cuddle before hopping onto the train back home).

Half term football fun

Last week was half term week for the two youngest Little Postcards. Youngest is back in love with football after breaking his thumb and really enjoyed being able to take part in the local soccer school for the week. There was some rain, but they were really very lucky with the weather. The pitches, despite appearances, were rather muddy so I spent a week with the washing machine going almost constantly!

Pumpkin season

After a busy half term week and a weekend grass roots football match, it was rather nice to have some time at home on Sunday. Sunday afternoon meant there was time for a session of pumpkin carving and pumpkin soup making with the innards. I may have been a little heavy handed with the chilli flakes – the soup is in need of yogurt to make it palatable but never mind. It was fun to do.

And that, is that. October ticked off. It’s been a pretty good month all in all and the icing on my cake was the arrival of Eldest home late on Halloween night for a reading week break from Uni. It was so lovely to be able to get him back home again and look after him. He has been very sorely missed these last six weeks.

That’s all from me for this time, thanks so much for stopping by and reading my October ramble!

Until next time, take care!

Lindsay x

A Postcard from September 2022

Postcard from Gibraltar Postcard from September 2022
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Well here we are again, in the midst of October and slowly inching towards the October half term holidays…. Roll on Monday and no early alarm!

I hope October’s been kind to you thus far. I have some news for you coming soon, but before then, here’s my Postcard from September. It was a busy month, but blimey it feels like a long time ago already! Here goes…

End of summer

The beginning of the month fell in the last few days of the school summer holidays. A group of friends from Youngest’s old primary school got together for a final hurrah before they went their separate ways to their new secondary schools. The venue for the meet up was Manley Mere Country Park in Cheshire.

It’s a super place with a huge lake for water sports, and an adventure trail which we went to….

There were tunnels, woodland walks…

…bridges…

….and lots and lots of mud. Thankfully we were forewarned and Youngest was dressed in old clothes – just as well as he went swimming in a pool of mud!! I think I’ve just about got him clean now!

New season of football… or not

The football season got back into gear at the start of the month too with some pre-season friendlies and assessment matches but not for us. In his first week of school, Youngest managed to break a bone in his thumb whilst in goal playing football at school – not the most auspicious start to his secondary school career, although he was very proud of the fact he did save the goal in spite of the injury. No contact sport for 6 weeks meant no football of course. I’m pleased to say that the thumb is now healed and he has restarted PE and training at last.

Royal news

Of course last month was dominated by the news that HM Queen Elizabeth died, so it wasn’t your average September. When the Royal Proclamation was made in Manchester, I went along to witness history being made. I’m glad I was there.

Eldest off to Uni

September was also significant for us as Eldest flew the nest down south to University. I didn’t fancy my chances driving down to central London to drop him off, so we had to be packing ninjas and fit as much as we possibly could into suitcases ready for the train. I’m not sure how we did it but all bedding, pots and pans, food and clothes were squeezed in and we got him there! He got the keys to his accomodation on the evening before the Queen’s funeral – it was an auspicious time to be in London. I wrote a post about that time if you are interested in reading more, you can find it here.

Moody skies over Westminster as the people queued to see the Queen lying in state.

Once Eldest was safely ensconced in his lodgings I headed off for a walk to soak up a bit of the atmosphere and made it to Parliament Square in time for the National minutes silence. You could have heard a pin drop.

Spuds!

This was our second year in our ‘new’ home and the second year I have attempted to grown some food. I wasn’t quite as adventurous this time, just strawberries, cut and come again salad leaves and some potatoes. There’s a narrow strip of land behind our summer house and next to the back fence which isn’t really any use for anything. It doesn’t get much sun at all and is completely out of sight from the house. Last year I took a gamble and tried planting spuds there – it worked, although it wasn’t the largest of crops. I had another go this year and we enjoyed some lovely zero food miles potatoes with our dinner!
Harvest time!

Happy birthday Yarndale!

I managed to get to Yarndale again this year in time for the festival’s 10th birthday and it was great fun. There was so much lovely yarn to squish and bucket loads of inspiration. It’s such a lovely festival. You can read all about my trip to Yarndale 2022 in this post.

One of the benefits of being out in the Yorkshire countryside while visiting Yarndale was that I was finally able to find the perfect spot to do a photo shoot with my latest Up the Garden Path dolls – Oakley the Acorn Tree Sprite and Agatha the Fly Agaric Mushroom. I may have had a few funny looks from passers-by but I don’t care! The light and location were perfect!

Podcast news

Making Stitches Podcast came back for a new series in September. The first episode featured my trip to Yarndale. You can listen to it here….

You can also access the episode show notes here.

And that’s just about it from me for this monthly Postcard, I will be back again soon with that news I promised. Thank you for stopping by!

Lindsay x

Introducing Agatha & Oakley…

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Hello there, we’re well and truly into October now and there’s a chilly damp feeling in the air, which means of course that Autumn is here. Whilst I love the colours and cosiness of autumn, I can’t help feeling a creeping dread about the cold, dark days which lie ahead, so I thought I’d better head those feelings off at the pass with a couple of crochet pals to keep me company….

Oakley the Acorn Tree Sprite & Agatha the Fly Agaric Mushroom crochet patterns by Making Stitches
Oakley & Agatha

Please allow me to introduce you to Agatha the Fly Agaric Mushroom and her woodland friend Oakley the Acorn Tree Sprite.

Agatha & Oakley have been with me for a while, they were bouncing around in my brain long before I set to work with a hook and yarn as is often the case with my little crochet folk. Back in early 2021 I drew up a list of lots and lots of little crochet people I would one day like to make – that list is still there, I’m maybe about an eighth of the way through it, but it keeps growing!!

Inspired by childhood fairy stories of flower fairies and tree sprites and funny little enchanted woodland people I have added Agatha the Fly Agaric Mushroom and Oakley the Acorn Tree Sprite to my Up the Garden Path collection of amigurumi crochet patterns. They have joined Flora the Gardener, Hope the Snowdrop, Cariad & Dave the Daffodils, Sophia Sunflower, Holly & Ivy and Daisy in the Up the Garden Path gang.

You may have spotted them before either on my Instagram or when we were out and about as they came with me to Yarndale last month for a trip out in my bag…

Some of the Up the Garden Path gang bound for Yarndale

In fact the first photo in this post (and the next one) was taken just outside Skipton Auction Mart as I left Yarndale. I know for a fact a few people walked past while I was kneeling down in a pile of moss next to a hedgerow trying to get a decent photo of my little people. Nobody laughed out loud, but I’m sure a few of them must have thought I’d lost my marbles! I didn’t find them at the bottom of the hedgerow while I was down there by the way!! (My marbles that is) .

Oakley the Acorn Tree Sprite by Making Stitches
Oakley

So anyway, I just wanted to pop on and tell you about my two latest crochet creations. I can’t help but be inspired by the natural world, the colours and textures set my brain firing with ideas for new crochet creations, and regular readers of this blog will be well aware I love woodland walks, so what better than to combine two of my favourite things; trees & woodlands with crochet?

Agatha the Fly Agaric Mushroom from Making Stitches
Agatha

There’s something intensely satisfying about trying to figure out how to engineer the different parts of my Up the Garden Path gang. It might come to me straight away or it may take weeks or even months as I shove a part-made project away in a bag because I can’t figure something out… (I’m currently working on another autumn themed little person who has just come out of hiding in a project bag – will I get her finished in time for this autumn or next? And don’t even get me started on my Christmas project which was due to see the light of day nearly 12 months ago!!).

If you would like to have a go at making an Agatha or Oakley of your own, you can find the patterns for sale on my Etsy Shop they can be bought individually or in a bundle of two which works out a bit cheaper.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/MakingStitchesShop

If you do decided to have a go at making one or both of them, please do share a photo with me as I’d love to see them. If you tag me on Instagram or use the hashtag #upthegardenpathagatha, #upthegardenpathoakley or #makingstitchescrochet I should be able to see what you have made.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Happy hooking!

Lindsay x

Summer Craft Challenge 2022 : Week Two

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I can’t believe that week two of the school summer holidays is over already… where has the time gone?!

Here’s a little crafty recap of what I got up to this week – and despite having no plans to have a traditional summer holiday this year I even managed some beach crochet!!!

Day 8 : Saturday 30th July

Day 8 of my challenge was also day 1 of the Dragonfly River MAL from Heather from Keep Calm and Crochet On UK (@kcaco.uk) and Kitey from The Yarn Whisperer (@the_yarnwhisperer).

No dragonfly crochet for me yet, but a pleasant time winding my skeins into yarn cakes – aren’t they just gorgeous colours?! 💙💚🤍. I can’t wait to get started….

Day 9 : Sunday 31st July

Due to the hectic nature of things, I only had a few snippets of time to get crochet done. I’m being firm with myself and won’t let myself begin the #dragonflyrivermal until I’ve finished my current little person from my latest Up The Garden Path School Days pattern – once he’s off my hook I’ll be diving straight into dragonfly river believe you me!

In the meantime, here’s my dragonfly river yarn from @the_yarnwhisperer in all it’s beautiful glory (above)! Oh and a teeny tiny tank top too (below)!

Day 10 : Monday 1st August

Day 10 of my challengeand he’s finished! I had to somehow give him glasses and the only way I could think of doing it was by chaining embroidery cotton then sewing it into place. I’m reliably told by Youngest he looks nothing like his human counterpart. There’s nothing like kids to completely deflate your pride 😂.

Aside from that – it means that I’m free to get started on my Dragonfly River MAL!!! Rather conveniently I have two longish train journeys to make tomorrow so my MAL will be keeping me company!!!

Day 11 : Tuesday 2nd August

Manchester Piccadilly

Day 11 of my challenge and it was my first day on the #dragonflyriverMAL by Heather Keep Calm and Crochet On UK & Kitey from The Yarn Whisperer.

Coming into Birmingham New Street

Well I had 6 hours to kill on trains, so what better pass-time than this? Started at Manchester Piccadilly, frogged at Stockport, started again, then frogged at Macclesfield, started again and it was 3rd time lucky! Progress shots at Birmingham New Street & almost at Oxford!

Just outside Oxford

Final picture on my return trip – and I’m loving it! Not sure I’ll have as long to dedicate to it every day though!

Homeward bound

Day 12 : Wednesday 3rd August

Day 12 of my challenge didn’t see quite as much crochet as yesterday – just time for one row of the #dragonflyrivermal in the afternoon sun! ☀️

Day 13 : Thursday 4th August

Beautiful Lytham St Annes

Day 13 of my has been a beach day! I made crochet waves on the beach at Lytham St Annes in the sunshine!

Crochet on the beach

It was a super day organised by one of the mums at Youngest’s old school. There were loads of families there, lots of digging in the sand, football, games, hotdogs, amusements and summertime fun…. And a teeny tiny bit of crochet too!

Day 14 : Friday 5th August

Day 14 of my challenge was so busy I didn’t have time for any crochet sadly. But I did have time to drop this little chap off to his new home, so hopefully this counts. (Well I make the rules so l’ll say yes – but must do better tomorrow!)

The recipient was thrilled to bits with him despite the damning review from Littlest that he looked nothing like his human counterpart! So that was a job well done.

That’s all for this week’s installment of crafty shenanigans. Let’s hope the coming week is full of crafty fun too!

Thanks for stopping by!

Lindsay x

Introducing Daisy…..

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Up the Garden Path Daisy - a new amigurumi crochet pattern from Making Stitches Shop on Etsy
Daisy

Hello there! Please allow me to introduce the newest member of the Up the Garden Path gang – Daisy.

Did you make daisy chains as a child? It’s something I always liked to do during the summertime – if I could find any…. you see my Dad was very proud of his garden (he still is to be fair) and rarely did he allow the grass to get long enough to allow daisies to appear in the lawn. Most of my daisy chain making was reserved for playtime on the school field or the occasional trip to a field or meadow.

But despite that, daisies always mean summer to me. Way back in the very early days of Postcard from Gibraltar, in July 2015 on one of our family trips back home to Manchester from Gibraltar during the school summer holidays I blogged about a lovely family outing we made into the Cheshire countryside. Amongst the delights on offer that day were a woodland walk, a picnic, creamy Cheshire ice cream and, you guessed it, a daisy chain. Living in Gibraltar at the time, there was very little access to ‘real’ grass due to the climate, and certainly no daisies, so they were a bit of a novelty.

You can find that blog post about Daisies and Damselflies here .

Fast forward to last year and we were enjoying our first summer in our new home in Manchester and what should pop up through the blades of grass in our new back garden lawn than a small but very welcome crop of daisies? As I was already in the mindset to try and turn any floral inspiration I found in my garden into something yarny and specifically amigurumi, there was absolutely no question that I had to make a daisy inspired doll.

Fortunately I had some yarn in my stash which fitted the bill perfectly for the job – a couple of balls left over from making Hope the Snowdrop and some yellow which had been bought with daffodils in mind (do you remember them?) and I was able to crack on pretty much immediately. Before long Daisy was beginning to take shape.

Hope the Snowdrop and Cariad & Dave the Daffodils

I actually had another inspiration for my Daisy too, she was a lovely lady who was full of fun and involved in everything going – my Great Aunt Daisy. Although not her actual name, she was known as Daisy from being young and was always Aunt Daisy to me.

She lived on the west coast of Scotland in a tiny little village, which although small, made up it for with a sense of community and boy did she squeeze every ounce of fun out of that community. She was involved with so many groups and events from country dancing to women’s groups. Sadly no longer with us (she would have been well over 100 if she was still around today) I initially set out on my Daisy crochet adventure with Aunt Daisy in mind.

I had thought to give her white hair and glasses befitting of a village elder, but this Daisy is youthful and no less great for it. I imagine she is never one to say no to turn around the dance floor and ready to squeeze every last ounce of fun out of life.

Yet again, my pattern is based on the amigurumi technique of crocheting in the round and is in UK crochet terms. It comes in a beautifully produced and illustrated version (thanks to my wonderfully talented childhood friend Emma from Emma Jackson Art) and a text-only printer friendly version too for those who prefer to work from paper patterns and perhaps scribble notes in the margins (like me). The Daisy pattern has been launched on my Etsy shop today and is available for immediate download.

Emma’s beautiful illustration of Daisy

I hope this inspires many Daisies to be made and that they all bring that same sense of fun with them out into the world. If you fancy capturing a bit of summer meadow or lawn which will last all year long you know what to do.

She’s a perfect project for stash busting – just four colours are required and she’s made using simple stitches which would be great for beginners.

You can find the pattern for sale in my Etsy shop which you can get to via this link.

Thank you so much for stopping by, and if you do make a Daisy of your own, please do let me know by either tagging me in on social media, use the hashtags #upthegardenpathdaisy or #upthegardenpathcrochet , or just send me a message to tell me – I would love to see where any Daisies start springing up!

Have a lovely day!

Lindsay x