Hello there! I hope you’re doing ok.
I know lots of people complain that January is a month that lasts forever, but I can’t believe how fast it’s whizzed by in my world. It doesn’t seem 5 minutes since we were celebrating Christmas & New Year and yet here we are on the cusp of a new month.
I’m afraid that although it’s been very busy for me, with work and non-photogenic things, it’s been rather uneventful in bloggable tit-bits, but here goes…
Feeling the cold
We started the month (and year) with a rather cold spell of weather. After a very damp and grey December it was to change. Although it was cold, the bright blue skies one the days we had them were very welcome!
Some local schools were closed due to snow and ice (for those who are used to heavy snow, I’m sure this will sound rather pathetic – but it was quite a big deal for us!).
One day, I was forced to work from home as heavy snow on the morning commute caused such chaos, I ended up turning round and going back home after taking 45 minutes to drive less than a mile!
The snow wasn’t that deep for us, it just fell at the busiest time of the day and caused gridlock! I was grateful to be in a position to work from home next to a toasty warm radiator that day!
Birthday fun
I celebrated my birthday this month, which was rather nice. I took the day off work (I received these lovely flowers from my colleagues too). On the day itself, I had a really nice lunch out at a pub in Cheshire with my Mum & Dad. It was a real treat!
I am also just about to enjoy a very special birthday/Christmas present from Eldest this weekend – I can’t wait. It involves a trip down to London to see him too. You’ll have to wait for the Postcard from February to see that one!
Making Stitches 2025 CAL
On a bit of a whim, towards the end of December I decided to take the plunge and start hosting a CAL or crochet-along.
I have taken part in CALs in the past – particularly when I was a full-time stay-at-home Mum. The little bit of crochet time carved out every now and again around Mum duties worked wonders for my sanity back then. There was the thrill of waiting for the next section of a pattern to be released, the fun of being part of a community of other crocheters working on the same thing at the same time AND the pride at the end of it all of competing a project – usually a blanket, which, if I’d been working on it alone would probably have ended up in the eternal WIP pile!
A year or so ago, I fancied the idea of trying to host a CAL myself. By then, I had designed patterns for my own online shop and for a couple of magazines, so I knew I ‘could’ write a pattern, but could I manage a CAL?
In the intervening years since my first participation in CALs, my life has become somewhat busier than before. There are less disturbed nights and needing to be in three places at once, but that’s been replaced by parenting teenagers and a young adult and a paid job. My days of being able to keep up with a weekly CAL are gone (temporarily I hope).
So, hosting a weekly CAL was off the cards for the time being and that dream was parked until my next holiday when I forget how busy life is and start thinking about all the things I could be doing! But what about a monthly CAL instead? If I could come up with a pattern on a monthly basis, that wouldn’t be so hard would it?!
There’s only one way to find out – just do it!
I felt a bit silly launching my January snowflake square on New Year’s Day when the weather was warmer than you might expect – it felt more like March than January. But lo and behold, just a few days later, snow began to fall in Manchester and I was able to dash out into the back garden and take some photos of my January square in the snow – vindication for opting for a snowflake as my motif for January!
Also, when I first said I was doing this CAL, I really didn’t know whether I was just throwing it out into the ether and no one would be interested. I was really pleasantly surprised to hear back from people who said they wanted to join along too. In some cases they told me they were pleased it was a monthly CAL rather than a weekly one because, like me, they struggle to keep up with a weekly one. What good luck that turned out to be!
Slowly throughout January, I began to see January snowflake squares popping up on Instagram! I can’t tell you how happy that made me feel! Friends of mine who have been crocheting for years, people I only know online and even some people I had previously never heard of said they were joining in! What fun!
You can see above (in the flurry of snowflake squares) that a small collection of beautiful January snowflake squares have, to date, been shared with me online. I know that there are others out there which haven’t been shared with the world yet.
This photo here, posted by @crochet_at_holme on Instagram, was the first one that I saw. Just check out the date it was posted – 4th January! It made its appearance just 3 days after I published the pattern!!
Thank you to everyone who has, so far, joined in with my CAL. Thank you too to everyone who has cheered me on from the sidelines with lovely comments and words of encouragement, you’re all lovely!
I can’t wait to share the February square with you tomorrow….. I LOVE it (hint, hint)!
That’s just about it for my Postcard from January. Thank you very much for stopping by and having a read of my ramblings, it’s lovely to have you in my little crocheted corner of the internet.
Until next time, take care!
Lindsay x
