Catching Up with Friends

Thank you to any followers who have popped in whilst I have been absent - apologies for the length of my break, I hope you will enjoy a little catch up today.
I have recently had chance to chat in person with a few of my faithful readers which was very inspiring and encouraged me to get going again - so here goes....

This weekend I have been at K Fest which is an annual event that was started by my hubby Mr Keith at a place called Smallwood Manor. My role in the proceedings is to provide some creative inspiration in the form of a little class for some of the lovely ladies whilst the men indulge in a game of football. Last year I taught a few people the basics of  flat wet felting.

Everyone was extremely creative considering the fact that I was using left over wool tops to keep down the cost! They made some wonderfully different pieces.

As you can see from the header photo, this year the class was focused on learning to knit. I was asked by two of my lovely friends to show them the basics of knitting and was eventually able to teach seven people to knit in an hour and a half. The class started with casting on and basic knit stitch, then those who wanted to, moved on to purling and everyone learnt to cast off. I realised that to be a good knitting teacher you need to know how to recognise and fix mistakes - something I am still only just learning myself, but we got managed in the end to make sure everyone had a little sample to take home with them.

It was really fun to do and I loved being part of such a great group of ladies all chatting and learning together. I cant wait till next year now!

The Start of Something New

Homely Matters

Like everyone else in the UK I have been enjoying the unusually warm weather lately and haven't felt like doing much baking. So instead I have battled through my crochet frustration and today I managed a granny square at long last. In no small part, this is thanks to Kandi of kandipandi encouraging me along the way. Once again I am soooo pleased to have finally mastered this. I have to admit that this granny is humungus in size as I crochetted it on a massive hook so I could see properly where the holes are to crochet into!! But as you can see it is a distinct improvement on previous efforts. It needs a little neatening and some down sizing but I think I've cracked it. Onwards and upwards - now I can try all sorts of yummy colour combinations.

My wool and my 5 double pointed needles arrived ready for me to attempt some sock knitting. It's lovely wool - it looks pinkish on the photo but is actually lilac and really soft. I think this project will be taking a back seat to my crochet for a while though as I don't feel quite so much like knitting snuggly socks in this weather. The five needles are a little daunting too!

I've also just recieved a lovely parcel of Merino wool tops from Wingham Wool which has inspired me to make some pre-felts ready for a new project. I have been in love with felting for about a year and a half now and it still amazes me how it felts with just water, soap and elbow grease. I'll be talking more about felting in my 'talking textiles' post next Monday if you're interested. Don't you just love getting new goodies? Even if you've had to part with hard earned cash to get them, they still feel like presents!! There is nothing quite like the start of a new project.