Fifth Stallaversary...

Today marks the huge milestone of five years in my little stall. From humble beginnings with a little bit of stock in a tiny corner of my counter, to the point now where I have very little room for anything new, this stall has been my world for the last five years. I have made friends, had more neighbours than I can remember, and lost and found my creativity more times than I can count. I've seen so much change, both inside and outside my stall. I've had so many good times, and some pretty rough ones too, but this little place will always be in my heart. 

I will be closing my stall doors (ok, putting up wooden shutters)for the last time on Christmas Eve. The decision has not been an easy one, in fact there have been sleepless nights and moments of terrible uncertainty, but the time has come to think about the future, where I want to be in another five years, and to be honest, I don't see myself making progress if I stay here. I need flexibility to take my work out into the world, and structured opening hours just won't allow that. And I need new eyes to see my work, because I just can't keep waiting. 

There are people I will miss. I will miss my little stall and all of it's quirks. I will miss the familiar faces that pass by every single market day, hearing about their families, the relief when I see them again after unusual absences. I will miss the stories. I will miss the gossip. I will miss visitors - the dear sweet lady that brings me a mice pie every Christmas, the Christmas cards and well-wishes. So much to miss. 

I make it sound like it's perfect. It's not. But the things I will miss will outweigh the bad stuff. I hope I will always think fondly of this place - the first home of gemmipop designs, my first toe in the pond of self-employment and the place that has given me the confidence to try. 

Brooch Workshop

An evening of crafting is not really unusual for me, but last night I opened up my studio for a crafty brooch making evening. 

I was joined by two lovely ladies, and we had a jolly productive evening making fabric puff brooches. We had a lovely time picking fabrics, drinking tea and admiring our finished brooches - we each finished three! 

I'm so excited to be able to offer these evenings, I genuinely enjoy sharing skills and ideas and I am always so happy to know that my visitors enjoy it as much as I do. My next evening session is a second Crochet Christmas evening, I'm already looking forward to it!

Crochet Cowl... or The Tale of the Rescue from the "Never Going to Happen" pile...

These lovely granny squares were made in a fit of enthusiastic crocheting, and sadly ended up moving from the "work in progress" pile to the "I'll come back to it" pile and eventually landed in the "never going to happen" pile... me being me, I never made a note of hook size, and the yarn I used ended up sucked into another project, so all I had left was a sad looking bundle of unused squares, waiting patiently for re-discovery.

 Ten little squares were never really going to be very useful, and so they were picked up and put back in the "never going to happen" pile repeatedly, until a couple of weeks ago when I looked at them with fresh eyes and inspiration struck - cowl...

And so, I began stitching them together, a nice little invisible join, and when they were all joined to each other in a nice long strip, I put the ends together and they became A THING. I worked around it with a nice simple double crochet edge, and now it is ready to begin it's life as a cosy winter-woollen, just at the right time of year. And so I have hope again for the "never going to happen" pile, because it would seem that it has treasure lurking below the surface, waiting for a good idea to come along...

Christmas Crochet Evening

Last night I hosted a Christmas Crochet evening up at my lovely new studio. We made tree and star decorations, using patterns that I've adapted from the Royal Sisters blog. I really love teaching crochet, this was the first time that I've had such a large group, and they all did wonderfully. 

 I picked out my best Christmassy coloured yarns, including some rather splendid sparkly stuff, and unpacked my loveliest tea cups and saucers, and we had a fabulous crafty time!

I have a head full of ideas for seasonal makes for next year, I'm hoping that these little group sessions can be a regular thing. 

A Crocheted October...

In October I joined in with the Lazy Daisy Jones Crochet Hook Up on instagram, a daily photo to go alongside the theme for each day. I am proud to have managed to actually post something every day, and thought I would share the month here...

Day One - Hello - me, obviously...
Day Two - Work In Progress - my 2015 blanket
Day three - Colour combination - several of my favourites
Day four - Blanket - my first ever blanket
Day five - Chunky or lace - brooch with tiny doilies
Day six - favourite hook - my 'go-to' hooks
Day seven - square or circle - squares, always!
Day eight - future project - Sarah London pattern
Day nine - Fave Stitch - puffs and popcorns
Day ten - cushion - sunburst with Brian modelling
Day eleven - border - I like a scallop
Day twelve - fave book - 200 crochet blocks by Jan Eaton
Day thirteen - scarf - chevron scarf from last winter
Day fourteen - fave make - bundles of blankets
Day fifteen - storage - cupboard in my studio 

Day sixteen - where? - my cosy spot on the sofa
Day Seventeen - Fave yarn - cotton in lovely colours
Day Eighteen - Christmas Crochet - glass baubles made last year
Day Nineteen - Who taught you? - my first ever square, made with the help of a fellow student at uni
Day twenty - Vintage pattern - my great grandmother's crochet book
Day twenty one - pastel or bright? - always bright
Day twenty two - amigurumi - unicorn from Simply Crochet
Day twenty three - crochet blog - Meet Me At Mike's, Emma Lamb, Twinkie Chan and Dottie Angel
Day twenty four - Flowers - my rosebud brooches
Day twenty five - yarn stash - my sock yarn, the neatest of my stashes...
Day twenty six - gift - teacosy from the pattern on the Crochet With Raymond blog
Day twenty seven - stitch markers - Yummy Doughnuts 
Day twenty eight - inspiration - galleries
Day twenty nine - local yarn shop - RKM in Oswestry
Day thirty - crochet toy - Groot from Twinkie Chan's pattern
Day thirty one - Halloween Crochet - my 2015 blanket square

Month in Makes - October

October has been such a busy month, full of hat making and pompoms for the Big Knit, as well as a bit of Christmas Robin making, but I've managed to find some time to experiment with some cross-stitch jewellery, first playing with some Cath Kidston patterns, and progressing onto my own little bee design! I like the frame brooch, but I think the necklace maybe needs a little more work... 

Of course I have continued with my Granny a Day blanket squares,  I've just passed the 300 mark, and my favourite make of the month - my special Halloween Pumpkin Brooch!

Hat Delivery Day

On Monday, we woke up early and packed up 5830 little tiny hats and went on an Adventure to the big city! 

 We were made to feel so welcome at Fruit Towers, and I was so pleased to be able to take my lovely mum along! We were shown the pen where all the hats will be kept, and had photos taken, and we were loaded down with lovely juice for the journey home. 

 (The hat pen - Before and after our hats were added...)

We also had a little mooch around London. It was just a lovely day.

Little Lessons

My favourite part of being a full-time crafter is sharing skills with lovely people. I know I've said it before, but I get so much from seeing people start their crochet adventure. 

I had a visit from Sharon on Wednesday, she came along to try out some new stitches, we had a go at crocheting rows, and varying with front and back loops, and we did a mitred square. 

Rita came popped up with her lovely daughter Jess, and we went over granny squares, then onto Sunburst squares. They are both naturals!

I was thrilled to hear that they'd spent the afternoon practising...

And on Saturday Tarloke visited for a beginner lesson, and made his very first square. 

 The days fly by when I have such lovely company. 

Oswestry Makes 2015

Oswestry Makes is a crafty festival that has been held for the last three years in our little town. I help where I can in the organisational stages, and as always offer crochet lessons over the weekend up in my little stall. This year it ran from Friday to Sunday, culminating in the Wonderful Wool Day. 

Friday was pretty quiet, but I had a visit from lovely Kitty, who is new to crochet and wanted to give crocheting in the round a try. 

I think she did rather well...

Saturday was very busy, starting with a visit from Rita, Jodie, Natalie and Kathryn. Rita and Jodie could already crochet so I only really helped them out with some pointers, but mum and daughter Kathryn and Natalie were completely new to it, so we started at basic chains and then moved on to granny squares. Everyone did really well and left with a little square and a smile! 

Then I was joined by Hannah and Freya, who is ten years old - she was an absolute natural, and was working on the second round of her granny square by the time she left. So proud! I'm hoping we have some new crochet addicts in the making!

Sunday was Wonderful Wool Day,  where there were stalls, things to learn and try out, lots and lots of tea and cake, and a Back-to-Back, where a fleece went through all of the various processes and stages to make it in to yarn, which was then knitted into a hat and a child's cardigan. It was amazing to see a row of spinning wheels all lined up and and everyone working away! 

I had a little stall selling a some of my jewellery and handmade bits and bobs, as well as kits, hooks and needles and supplies for people to take away. I think it went pretty well, I met so many lovely people, all so excited to be there and enjoying bonding over mutual interests. 

I even managed to find a moment to have a little look at the Orphan Lamb table, where I found some mermaid coloured Shetland wool, and also some cream Aran weight wool, a 15mm crochet hook (I met the man who made them - he finds bits of branches in the woods to make them from) and some vintage metal sock needles. A Wonderful Wool Day indeed.

My Week

Wowee, this week has passed in a blur! I've had lots of work things on - teaching crochet, visiting the Loudwater Studio in Ludlow, Make on Monday in a lovely cafe with fabulous cake, a day in my studio making everything pretty, and my usual days in my little stall. This time of year is always so busy, but I managed to have a little bit of time off too - we had a night out in Manchester, at an Anti-Austerity gig and saw Public Service Broadcasting, who were ace. Their new song "Go!" is just amazing. The highlight of the week was that we had a little visitor, a little hedgehog, he was so cute. 

Crochet

One of my favourite things about knowing how to crochet is helping other people learn. I love seeing people go from the first tentative swoop-through-the-loop, the first saggy-looking chain, the first treble, to the first finished round, the next round, the quiet concentration as they slowly start doing it all by themselves, the moment where this odd jumble of knots begins to look like SOMETHING. I always begin with Granny Squares - my all-time favourite thing to make and, in my humble opinion, the best place to start. They are perfect for beginners for lots of reasons - they have the basic stitches, which you repeat over and over again so it stays put in the grey matter, and they grow ever so quickly so there is a tangible *thing* to take away at the end of the session. It's a proud moment when there is an exclamation of "it looks like a square" or "I did it!" or "I'm going to the wool shop RIGHT NOW to get more colours". I love the 'ping' on my phone when an email full of photos arrives, so much pride and hard work. It is a joy. This was a square from a session yesterday - when I left it was only three rounds, so it was pure happiness to see the forth!

I have so enjoyed starting people on their crochet adventure - this is my lovely friend with her very first bit of crochet... 

which looked like this less than a week later...

 So proud!
This is Gemma with her first square...

And lots of lovely folks with their squares at the Wonderful Wool day last November...

And lovely Louise at her first lesson.

I really hope that at least some of the people that I have taught will continue, and will remember me fondly as the person that got them started. I so worry that these amazing skills will be lost, and I hope my enthusiasm will be contagious and help in some small way to encourage people to give it a go! 

My Pretty Studio

I've been busy working away on my pretty studio, and it is starting to feel like home. I've added some vintage embroidery in hoops, and a happy string of pompoms, I've filled my vintage cabinet with crochet cotton, and added some chintzy floral curtains. It is so cosy, I think I could happily be there every single day, making pretty things and enjoying the cosiness. 

My Week...

This week has been full of jolly adventures. We spent Sunday at a vintage fair, with rides on the Merry-Go-Round (my pony was called Tulip) and mermaid spotting, wandering around the shiny vintage cars and mooching around stalls full of curious things. We had a picnic and rubbed the noses of Shire Horses and chatted with a lovely lady spinning beautiful yarn. It was a splendid day. 

The other highlights of the week were pretty spotty cake (thanks to my lovely mother-in-law, it was delicious!), knitting a tiny gnome, making many, many badges for a fair I went along to, and cuddling up to a certain Norman who sneaked his fluffy way into bed to read some Harry Potter with me. The fair was lovely, there were lots of other stalls with pretty things, and lots of tasty vegetarian and vegan food which we've enjoyed all weekend, and there were owls. They were the best.

My Month in Makes - August

I seem to have re-located my making-inspiration this month, and have been ever-so busy with lots of different things. I've made a few new pieces of jewellery, as well as working on a couple of designs that aren't quite ready to go out into the world just yet. I also acquired a new toy that I had been coveting for some time - a badge maker. I am utterly smitten and have been making lots of tiny badges. 

My crochet blankets are coming along well - I am working on my fifth large square for my cosy big-square blanket, and I'm up to row fifteen of my 2015 blanket, although I'm falling behind a smidge with my joining. 

I've been making teeny three-round granny squares and pompoms which are for something new - I will be getting the keys to my very own studio soon! So it will need prettifying with yarny goodness. It's a little bit scary (terrifying) but very exciting too. I'm going to be painting the place soon, looking forward to moving in. 

My Month in Makes - July

Unusually I have had a fairly quite making-month, and I haven't knitted a stitch of either pair of socks. I've made a whole bunch of little hats for the Big Knit, and about one-hundred and forty pompoms to finish off hats. The rest of my time has been taken up by crochet, I've added two rows to my 2015 blanket, and joined up my nine big squares to make a cosy blanket, I'm just working on the edges now. 

I've started my forth big granny square for my newest blanket, and I love the squares so far. I'm using a 4mm hook and using white for every other row. It's been a handy stash buster, and I'm so pleased with it so far. 

My Week...

Goodness, how the time flies and I am here sharing my week again. I had little taste if life as a nomadic-crafter at the weekend, selling my wares outdoors for the Oswestry Food and Drink Festival, where I chatted to lots of lovely folks and enjoyed breathing in some fresh air. 

My crafty week has involved talking my mum through Kitchener Stitch to finish a pair of cosy chunky socks, and a lot of crochet on my part, working on a blanket that will be made of very big squares. The plan was to use a white round between colours to help break them up and attempt to stifle my OCD about blending colours. So far it has worked well and helped my unsettled mood by giving me something to work on - I like that about craftiness, the duel purpose of distraction and productiveness. The highlights of my week were the purchase of a clear vinyl Kenickie 7" single, and going along to Manchester to see Korn, one of my teenage obsessions. They were pretty good I would say. 

The week ahead will be a long one, but the summer holidays bring the opportunity for adventure, and as always I will grab that opportunity with both hands. 

Thoughts On Creativity...

I woke up in the wee small hours of this morning, wide awake with little chance of nodding-off again. I pondered on different things - my future, relationships, people that have been in my life and in some cases, why they aren't any more. Times of unrest often leave me pondersome, I question my own place in the world, what I want to achieve and how to do it. 

I have had a particular aspiration for a while now, a small one really, to fill a sketchbook page every day. It's been something I have tried over and over, but the pressure to be creative so often leads to resentment and a lack of enthusiasm - it becomes a chore. In my drowsy, sleep deprived state I had a revelation. Silly really, but I realised that I am already creative every single day. Be it by hook or needles, pliers or scissors, I am creative EVERY DAY. I have things to show for my hard work, the time that I spend being creative. I make things that make me happy, and in my day-job as a full time crafter I hope that they make other people happy too. 

The standards we set for ourselves can be so destructive. Isn't it funny how self-imposed ideas of "creativity" leave you unable to see the wood for the trees? But how can these habits be broken? I know that some of this comes from my university experience - the decision on what was valid was made by other people, a full sketchbook for example was a tangible show of effort and thought process, a finished product in itself. But I don't have to seek approval any more, I want to keep a sketchbook because I love the act of keeping records of thoughts, of documenting my creative process. I'll keep trying, but I must learn to be less hard on myself. After all, these things are meant to be for my benefit, and for my own enjoyment. 

I don't have the answers just yet, but I feel like this realisation is a good start. 

A Cosy Nook to Call My Own...

Today I am sitting in my little stall, with my shoes off and a crochet project at my side. I am having a bit of a tough time at the moment. Things are worrisome and sad and I am having to try extra hard to stay positive and keep my chin up. Ideally I just want to hibernate and hide myself away but sadly that isn't really an option, so I have been looking for inspiration for the den that I would like to build, the cosy nook that I would create to help me shut out the world. I thought I might share my findings...

from this article - "5 Steps to Building Your Own Epic Blanket Fort"

from this article - "14 Bohemian Style Gardens"

From Flickr

From the Article - "16 Grownup Blanket Forts that will make you feel like a kid again"

From Pinterest

from Vinstage on Tumblr

From Ffffound