Crochet Swaps

The squares I made for my friend

At the end of last year my friend joined me up to a crochet granny square swap group on facebook. I thought it sounded like an interesting idea and so decided to roll with it. The basic idea is that every month you get a different swap partner and you make each other four 6 x 6 inch granny squares which you swap by post. Over time you will build up a collection of squares to do with as you will, I'm planning to go all out and make a blanket.

The squares my friend made for me

As luck would have it my friend ended up being my swap partner and so we decided it was a good excuse to meet up to swap our squares, which tied in nicely with my New Year's resolution which is to spend more time having tea and cake with my friends. I'm really pleased with the squares made for me, if all my swaps are this lovely my blanket will be very beautiful indeed.

Owl square detail

Circle square detail

Circle square detail

Talking to people about this group has been interesting; one person asked why do it and what do you get out of it which got me thinking about the value we place on certain goods and skills and the way we feel about sharing, both goods and knowledge. When I signed up for the swap it never really occurred to me to think of it in terms of how I would benefit, I just liked the idea of sharing something using a craft I love and I also saw it as a good way of getting me to do a bit of crochet each month. I think that there is something very powerful in sharing something hand made; it takes time, thought and skill to create something by hand and sharing that with someone else creates a very personal connection. I'd be very interested to hear what other people think, do you agree or not?

BOB!

Watch Key-rings. Hand stitched felt and fabric.

Coming up this weekend is BOB, the underground craft festival down in Bakewell. I am now entering full panic mode getting everything organised/made/packed and so on. One of the little things I've been making is watch key-rings. I made some for my summer craft fairs and they all sold so I bought some more watch faces and have made some more. I'm not sure I like these watch faces as much as the previous lot but we shall see how they go. They are all different, all hand stitched and I think they'd make really sweet little presents.

Stitch detail

Detail

Detail

Flyer for BOB (the buttons are mine!)

The owls of Heathlands

My owl pincushion

At Heathlands (a social enterprise project supporting adults with learning disabilities, please see previous posts for more details!) I run a textile group and one of the projects I designed for the group was these owl pincushions. I wanted to give them a project that would let them try basic sewing skills (cutting, pinning, tacking, machine stitching and hand stitching) but that would be easy enough for a beginner and quick to complete so they'd get a sense of satisfaction and achievement. I think they've created some great little pieces and I love that each owl has it's own character.

Owls made by the group

In their natural environment

The Owls of Heathlandia

Knitting a rainbow

I love to knit. I learnt when I was 19 and needed a piece of knitting to destroy for a piece of work I was doing at art college so I got my mum to teach me and I really took to it. Since then I've knitted a lot; sometimes for my art but more often for pleasure. I find it very therapeutic. I go into a kind of zen state when I knit and I find I often have my best ideas when I'm knitting away and often an issue I've been struggling with in a piece of work will suddenly resolve itself as I knit and purl. I find that knitting occupies my mind just enough to keep worries and thoughts of daily life at bay whilst leaving it free enough to explore the creative pathways of my mind . Plus, I like making stuff and I love that with two sticks and a bit of string you can create pretty much anything.

Beautiful colours!

Detail of the lace pattern

My current project is from Knit Magazine (issue 36) and is called the kaleidoscope vest, it's a simple sleeveless cardigan type thing. It's a really simple pattern so is great just to pick up and put down. I'm using Rico Poems sock yarn which is a beautiful self striping yarn in gorgeous colours and I'm working it on circular needles (but not in the round). I'm just over halfway through the vest and am looking forward to completing it. Unlike in my art work I often like to use very bright colours or bold combinations.