I always put off writing my newsletters. Not because I don't enjoy doing them, but because I always have so many things to share that I don't know where to start. And so I put them off until the 'things' have multiplied to the point where most of them have been forgotten.
It has been three very busy and glorious months since I sent my last newsletter. So, I am taking the plunge and bullet-pointing all the things I can remember before I procrastinate again :)
1. Portraits
I commissioned these lovely portraits from Zoe Ford on Instagram. I have been following her for a few years now, and fell in love with her 2018 pocket journal pieces (you can find them HERE). When I saw that she had started doing portraits, I just couldn't resist.
2. Mary's Memory
You can now find all three parts of Mary's Memory, as well as instructions for growing it with the Ubuntu Border (pictured below), on my website:
3. Bournemouth
The weekend after my birthday, Mr LAWIM and I went to Bournemouth, where I strutted my crochet stuff as a guest speaker at Janie Crow's Inspired Minds workshop. It was a treat to spend the afternoon with all the ladies and see the beautiful things they have been making. It was also wonderful to catch up with Jane and Sarah Hazell.
Ooh, and a lovely lady called Jan gave me a painted Ubuntu rock for my birthday. Isn't it so pretty?
4. Devon Sun Yarns
That was followed by another wonderful yarn retreat with Devon Sun Yarns! And right about now I am viscerally reminded of how grateful I am for all the great things that happened this Summer!!
Good food (lots of it), good company, and gorgeous yarn... a match made in heaven :) My friend Emma of the Emma Square, couldn't come this time. Instead, she gave her place to her sister (you can see her in the bottom row of the collage) who is very new to crochet. It is not often that I get to meet a 'baby' crocheter, and I revel in these encounters. It was such a pleasure to meet her and to watch her determination and delight as she worked her way through the pattern. This simple joy was infectious, and I came home inspired and full of good intentions to finish ALL the things and write ALL the new things :) I haven't managed to do quite ALL the things just yet, but I am working my way through them :)
5. Baby Henry's Designer Heirloom CAL by Jessica Wifall
I have been waiting for the release of this CAL ever since I first saw a photo of it two-ish years ago. It is ongoing, so you can still join in in real-time. I wrote a post about it HERE.
6. Cornwall and the Sue Square (#notacal3)
Over the Summer holiday, we went camping with friends in Cornwall for a week. We had two super stormy days and 4 glorious sunny days. I was rained on (torrentially), blown away, woken by seagulls, and sunburnt on my tender legs. I also had amazing seafood, long walks, lazy naps, and waves-tumbling-uproarious-laughter swims with the boys. It was FANTASTIC! And through all of that, I managed to edit my pattern for Yarn 9, which you won't get to see for months yet, but boy oh boy!!! (More about Yarn 8 in a minute)
To celebrate the sunshine and the joy (and Granny square Day 2019), I shared my Sue Square pattern as a #notacal on Instagram (along with loads of memories from the trip). You can see the personal highlights HERE on my Instagram Stories. You can find the pattern for the Sue Square HERE on my blog. It is worth mentioning that Jenny is already working on a very exciting Sue's Dream. Don't you just wish you could see her pretty squares piling up?
Oh, alright then. I'll show you just a few of them from her Instagram Feed.
My friend Jane (who, quite conveniently, lives just up the road from me) has recently started a blog called Yarn By Hook. She featured my Sue Square as her first post. You can read her post about it HERE. I would be most grateful if you would take the time to welcome her to the LAWIM family by leaving a comment on her website or following her on Instagram or Facebook.
7. Scheepjes CAL 2019 - Rozeta
Scheepjes have announced their crochet-along for 2019, designed by the very talented and super sweet Tatsiana Kuprianczyk. It is absolutely stunning and comes in 4 colourways of both Our Tribe AND Colour Crafter yarn.
You can read more about it HERE on Tatsiana's website.
8. Rainbow Storage Doorstop
I have finally released the pattern for the Rainbow Storage Doorstop I designed for Inside Crochet as my very first contribution in 2017. It's a colourful, quick, useful make. You can find the pattern HERE.
9. Banksia Baby Blanket (and Swanage)
I will be releasing the pattern for my Banksia Baby Blanket next week Thursday. In the meantime, you can find the other posts here:
The WIP post contains a lot of chatter about the last two years of my life - things I have not felt comfortable mentioning before (like my heart issues) and more recent things like our bank-holiday-weekend trip to Swanage after the glory of Bournemouth, Lyme Regis, and Cornwall. England, your seaside has been SO GOOD to us these last two months. My sun-tanned legs and I thank you!
10. Yarn 8 Bookazine - Tea Room
I haven't designed something for this issue, and FOMO is rolling off of me in waves. It is absolutely gorgeous. This issue is full of glorious rich colours (how I love Mustard) and beautiful designs.
*I guess I can say that, and probably have, about every issue - but it's true!*
You can read more HERE on Miss Neriss' website. You can see all the included patterns HERE on Ravelry. Also, this issue's #SimysChallenge is felted mitts. You can find a tutorial for that HERE on Felted Button. I'm quite tempted to join in :) After all... winter is coming...
11. The Boys
If you read THIS newsletter at the start of June, you might remember that Boy 2 broke his arm rather badly. Revisiting it, you might also recognise the Banksia Blanket as the project I worked on at the hospital. His broken arm has healed well. He has a knobbly pink scar at his wrist and the broken arm (I call it his Man arm) is covered in coarse black hair - a stark contrast to his other (boy) arm.
School has started again and Boy 3 has now joined Junior School along with the other two (long hair and all - a story for another day).
We are also gearing up for the Rugby World Cup, with everyone except yours truly receiving a brand new rugby shirt. I am hoping this was an oversight on Mr LAWIM's part, not a deliberate decision.
Boy 3 and I have spent a lot of time bonding over yarn. To be fair, of the three, he has always featured most heavily in my posts because he was teeny tiny when I did the Block a Week CAL 2014 and Sophie's Universe 2015, while the other two were already old enough for nursery/school and thus weren't around while I was taking all the photos.
Having already taught the other two to crochet, though, it was finally his turn to learn. We spent some glorious hours in the garden, learning the intricacies of gauge and chains - and a few more learning how to 'cake' skeins.
Thank you for indulging my whimsy. Have a fabulous week x
Dedri
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