Jumbo Crochet Workshop

Well, it's been another busy week, but if you ask me what I've done I couldn't really tell you! All I know is I had no spare time!  Thank you for taking time to leave your comments on my previous post.  They made me smile.  It appears most of you would be happy to sleep in a four poster bed, although there are just a few of us odd bods out there!!

I suppose I did fit in rather a lot really when I think about it.  I went swimming nearly everyday as I'm trying to build my fitness up after being ill last year and it helps to retain the range of movement in my surgery side.  Of course we have my youngest daughter's wedding in October so I want to keep in trim and look my best for that too!  I had a couple of 'coffees' with friends, went to my patchwork and quilting workshop and met up with my SIL to get organised for our Textile play day next week (more on that next week)

and finally 

last Wednesday I tutored a 

Jumbo Crochet Basket Workshop 

at a wonderful local yarn shop called Spin A Yarn.

It is always a pleasure to do a workshop at Spin A Yarn.  People are so friendly and the lunches are just gorgeous.  We had four ladies this time, who kindly gave me permission to post a photo of them and their creations.  And wonderful they were too!

This lady was having a whale of a time.  She wanted to make a roll over top but loved the shape so much, just decided to carry on going!  We suggested she make a snake to poke out of the top as it looked very much like a snake charmers basket :)

Time for a nibble.  Not only were we supplied with lunch we also had a tea time treat :)

Nothing like a good cuppa to keep you on track!

This lovely lady is lucky enough to run Strawberry Fayre Fabrics and Quilt Supplies on line. She was able to bring with her many strips of  brightly coloured waste fabric which she incorporated with yarn to make this fantastically fun basket.

Below are the finished baskets

The snake charmers basket!

A slip stitched edge on this one to create a solid rim.

It isn't too obvious in this picture, but you may just be able to pick out some handles!

And finally a perfect place to keep all those balls of yarn you have in your stash.

We all had such fun and all the ladies were so pleased with what they had achieved - rightly so I may add!  It is very rewarding from a tutors point of view when participants leave having got so much enjoyment out of their accomplishment.

This is a great way to use up your stash of yarns.  How do you use up your left over yarn?

I'm linking up with Handmade Monday over at Lucy Blossom Crafts and am wondering what everyone else has been up to this week?  I'm very much looking forward to finding out :)

I will also be linking up with Happy Friday over at Planet Penny.  This workshop made me very happy and I think you can tell from the pictures that it made the ladies who took part very happy too. So, double whammy this week I think:)

Spin A Yarn

Have you ever used a hook the size of a broom pole?  

Have you ever crocheted with multiple strands of yarn?

 I didn't think so! That was the same for the ladies who came on the Jumbo Crochet Basket Workshop at Spin A Yarn in Bovey Tracey on Friday 8th February.

We began the workshop like 'children in a sweetshop', choosing from all the gorgeous yarns you can find in Spin A Yarn, to make our baskets!  This helped us get to know each other a little and soon the room (and therefore the whole shop!) was filled with cheerful banter and plenty of giggles.

I had made a few samples so the ladies could decide what size baskets they would like to make.

They got off to a flying start.

After lots of counting stitches, a bit of cursing (well perhaps a little more than 'a bit'!),  more counting stitches, a bit of unpicking and more counting ...

.......... the bases of the baskets were complete.  

Time for a bit of relaxation!

We all sat down to a wonderful lunch of Joyce's home cooked quiches and salad followed by homemade cake for desert.  Scrummy :)

After lunch, everyone was eager to get started again!

Feeling rather relaxed now, we all seemed to slip into a jovial, playful mood!  We decided it may be fun to use our partially made baskets as berets!!!

Don't you just love the results?

My apologies to Chrissy as I don't seem to have a photo of your 'beret'! Sorry :(

Following our jovial interlude, the crochet hooks were operating swiftly again and with a little blood (2 blisters acutally!), sweat (we had to turn the heater off, we were working so hard!) and tears (well not strictly true, we didn't have any of these, but it wouldn't sound right without this on the end!) we finally finished our baskets!  

Take a look! What do you think!

I know for sure, from the positive feedback I received from the ladies, how pleased they all were with the baskets they produced.  The colours and textures chosen were stunning, and, I also know for a fact, that at least two of them have started on basket number 2!

I think you will all agree, the ladies produced a wonderful selection of unique colourful baskets.  Well done to all of them! 

And a big thank you to all of them too, for making my day so special :)

I'm off over to Handmade Monday now!  

Why don't you join me and see what other crafters have been up to?

Thanks for reading :)

Extreme Crochet Fruity Basket

Hello Everyone

No post last week I'm afraid as we were away for the weekend up in North Devon.  No photos either this time as it is somewhere we have been before and I forgot to take the camera on the walk we did! But you'll be glad to know we had a lovely time and were quite lucky with the weather.

We did however pop into Ilfracombe, on our way up, to have a look at their new sculpture, Verity by Damien Hirst. Just click on this link to find out more about her.

What do you think?  I absolutely love it!  In my mind it sparks conversation and discussion.

Are you all enjoying the sunshine this weekend? There are some wonderful Autumn colours around as I'm sure you will all have noticed.

I have had a couple of interesting 'meetings' this week, one with a local yarn shop Spin A Yarn in the lovely village (or maybe small town!) of Bovey Tracey.  It is a gorgeous shop with every possible type of yarn you can imagine, so inspirational and extremely difficult to walk out of there without buying anything.

I am very pleased to say I will be tutoring a Jumbo Crochet Basket Workshop here after Christmas.  More details will follow when they are released.  In the meantime I am experimenting with just one or two of the yarns in the shop.

A ball of King Cole Gypsy, a skein of Colinette Zero and some Big Fab in black that I had in my stash.

And here is the finished article, complete with bananas to give it some scale.

4 strands of super chunky yarns and a 20mm hook.  Not quite as large scale as my usual but I am pleased with the way it has turned out, not to mention how quickly it crochets up!

I shall try another one with more muted tones next time.

My other meeting was with the organiser of the Contemporary Craft Festival  held annually at Bovey Tracey.  We discussed a large crochet/knitted creation for a display to herald their 10th Anniversary.  Watch this space for more details!  As soon as I know more I will let you know :)

Well, that's all for this week folks, I will try and visit as many of you as I can over at Handmade Monday on Handmade Harbour.  My apologies for not having done so for a couple of weeks, life just got in the way, you know what it's like, although I will try and remedy this over the next couple of days.

Have a good week! 

Bye for now 

x