Good evening you beautiful creative bunch!
Tonight, I present three things, and some other stuff, and quite possibly some digressions (you must know, by now, how my mind wanders). Reading back through the newsletter, I can tell you right off the bat that Yarndale alone took me down a pretty massive rabbit hole of distraction :)
1. Yarndale (and Ally Pally)
I spent last weekend working on the Scheepjes/Black Sheep Wools stand at Yarndale. I have to thank Lucy (from Attic24) and her team for another fantastic show. I didn't take many photos this year, but if you would like to see some from previous years, I have written posts about Yarndale 2016 and Yarndale 2018 that are full of photos!
As an aside, I am planning to revisit Yarndale next year. And here is why: Tammy Canavan-Soldaat and I will be teaching crochet and knitting workshops on board the Spain/Portugal cruise departing Southampton on the 28th of September 2020, with an optional visit to Yarndale beforehand. If you would like to join us, you can find all the details HERE on the Crafty Adventures website.
Tammy is best known for her Read Between the Lines (knitting) and Crochet Between the Lines (crochet) shawls. If you haven't seen these designs yet, please go and have a look (especially at the projects pages). The shawls are stunning in both techniques!
Back to Yarndale and last weekend...
Not only did I get to spend two days surrounded by yarn...
... I also got to see the gorgeous Scheepjes 2019 Rozeta CAL up close. Designed by Tatsiana from LillaBjorn, it is a masterpiece of tapestry/mosaic crochet. I cannot decide which one I like most. I can't decide between Midnight and Dawn. Although... Twilight is so colourful, and Dawn is so soothing...
I also had the great fortune of meeting Helda Panagary, who has been designing for Inside Crochet for a very long time. I especially love her Molokini Shawl and her new Flutter Shawl (currently available in Issue 116 of Inside Crochet).
Here you can see a photo of Helda with Amanda from Little Box of Crochet. Amanda has just opened her new yarn shop, Craftopia, and it looks idyllic! You might remember that I designed a Floral Tea Cosy for her quite a while ago. I'm super chuffed that she has a Sophie on display in her shop window :)
I had THE MOST FUN!!!
If you haven't met Sara from Black Sheep Wools yet (and most of you across the pond won't have), I have to tell you that she is a rare gem of a person, and always makes me laugh.
As I was typing that, I thought: "How can I show people what Sara is like?", and I realised that, duh!, you can watch her on YouTube. I'm linking one of her recent videos HERE. The video features Jem Weston (knitting designer), whom I had the privilege of meeting last year at Ally Pally when I bought one of her books. To my utter shame, I could not for the life of me place her when I saw her again at Yarndale this weekend. Do you ever have those moments? The face is familiar, but the name and the context!!!
Anyway, I got quite distracted by watching said video. I can knit, but I am not 'a knitter' if that makes sense. But I LOVE Jem's patterns, and on the video, I saw one design that I think I would be able to manage. It is called Hottie Cushion. It made me think about my Rainbow Storage Doorstop and the heatable bag I keep in the bottom of it (both so that I always know where to find it and so that it gives the doorstop weight). I reckon I can manage to knit one of those up? It would fill me with more joy than the one I bought, at any rate.
Where was I? Oh, next weekend!
Next weekend, I will be spending my Saturday hanging about on the Black Sheep Wools stand at Alexandra Palace's Knitting and Stitching Show, stroking all the yarn and helping people choose Whirls for their various projects (man, I LOVE talking about Scheepjes Whirls!).
If you come to the show, please come and say hi to me and let me show you the gorgeous Sophie's Dream in person. I want to promise that I won't drape it around myself as I did at Yarndale, but if it gets cold, I just might.
Remember when I draped myself in Joy's Journey on that SUPER cold Sunday watching Rugby? I might have shared that only on Instagram, so here is a photo:
Well, maybe I can become 'the blanket-wearing-lady'?
See, my mind goes to weird and wonderful places!
2. Sophie Pincushion
I'm making my way through all the patterns I designed for Inside Crochet when I was writing columns for them. This week, I shared the pattern for my Sophie Pincushion, made using scraps of yarn leftover from making the Sophie Stool. It is a cute, small project that uses very little yarn, and would make the perfect companion for the A Touch of Colour Clutch I shared with you in my last newsletter.
3. Lynda Blanket Yarn Arrival
I am also gearing up to share a new blanket pattern. This one is called Lynda and uses seven glorious shades of Scheepjes Secret Garden. I will be posting work-in-progress photos next week, followed by a Reveal the week after, and the pattern the week after that.
I hope you like it as much as I do. For now, you can read all about the yarn HERE.
If you would like to read my previous newsletters, you can find them all HERE.
More Things
At Yarndale, I bought only one thing (a surprise fabric purchase): the pattern and fabric to make a Sapporo coat. I cannot wait to start making it. It is so stylish!!
I've also seen a gorgeous cardigan that I would like to crochet for myself. It is called Rosewood Cardigan, and it is a free pattern designed by All About Ami. You can find the pattern HERE.
I think that is more than enough rambling and inspiration for one newsletter.
Have a great weekend xx
Dedri
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