Episode 45 - None (Yarn) Shall Pass

Crochet Circle Podcast

Hello there and welcome to The Crochet Circle Podcast and the show notes for Episode 45 – None (Yarn) Shall Pass.

My name is Fay and this is my audio and video podcast for those that love fibre crafts, particularly crochet. It’s a community for people that like to support their fellow humans regardless of race, gender, sexuality, ability, size or age. I hope you feel the welcome embrace and love of the Crochet Clan. Come on in and stay awhile.

In this episode, I cover Old Dog new tricks; Perth Project Runway update; Final Destination; En Route; Feeding the habit; Quick News Beats and J’adore.

This podcast is sponsored by my online crafting company, Provenance Craft Co.

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1 – Old Dog New Tricks

I have a quick top on how to satiate that thirst to start a new project when you still have a bit to go on an existing project. Before you have finished the existing project, do the swatching and wet blocking for your new project. That way, if you have to play about with gauge, you have time to do that and hopefully, be ready to start your new project the moment you have finished the other one.

2 – Perth Project Runway update

Progress is going really well on my Blurred Lines by Deanne at Addydae Designs. This is one of the best patterns I have ever worked from and the fit is really good, even though I came down to a 3mm hook.

I have been keeping my project notes up to date on Ravelry, so you can see any changes I have made.

I am currently working on the sleeves even though I haven’t yet finished the main body. I have chosen to do this because I have now finished using the contrast colour on the main body, which freed up the yarn to do the sleeves. I find it bulky and cumbersome to add sleeves when you have the near full weight of a jumper and you are constantly moving it about to complete the short rounds of the sleeves. So, I am doing the sleeves before I finish the rest of the body. This also means that I won’t be stranded on sleeve island!

The other thing I would like to highlight and encourage you to do is swatch with your different cakes of the same yarn. Even is the same colourway is from the same batch, there can still be differences. By swatching with all of them, you will quickly see if there is a difference and whether you need to alternate skeins in your project. This is particularly applicable to garment making.

As I mentioned in the podcast. there is a slight but noticeable difference between two of my contrast colour skeins and it seems very likely I will have to rip back about 350m of crochet.

Will this be finished for Perth Festival of Yarn? Hell yeah!

ALT TEXT: Blurred Lines jumper progress is shown on an old mannequin Semi tonal blue yarn with a real halo to it and it’s called ‘Sprucey Bonus’ because it is the colour of the underside of a Spruce Tree. It is paired with a yarn called ‘Sulk’ and is on an ecru pink base with small patches of teal blue, acid yellow, sea green and plummy purples. You can see the difference betweek the two variegated skeins.

Remember that there is a very informal MAL. You have from now until 7th September to make or finish off a garment. WIPs are allowed, it can be in any craft and any garment pattern, you just need to use the #crochetcirclemal and I have also opened a Ravelry thread for you to add to.

3 – Final Destination

I only have one FO to show you. By the time you hear and see this podcast, I will be busy setting up my stand ay Yarnfolk festival in Northern Ireland. I was fortunate enough to be asked to create a crochet design for the festival and came up with Kinbaine. I talked about it in Episode 43 and showed off the saturated colour version.

I wanted to make a second version using just two colours and used a collaboration yarn between John Arbon Textiles and RiverKnits. This yarn has now sold out and the shawl is with Becci and Markus at RiverKnits, but I can at least show you the shawl and the yarn colours caked up.

ALT TEXT: White background with a vintage mannequin covered in the Kinbaine shawl. The shawl is thick stripes, using two different semi-variegated colours. The main colour is copper and the contrast is green with hints of teal and brown.

Kinbaine is now live on Ravelry and up on my website. It’s the standard price on Ravelry and I have the pay what you can option on my website.

4 – En Route

Monogamous me means that I am just working on the Blurred Lines jumper at the moment as a personal project, but taking my own words of advice, I have swatched for a new crocheted garment – the Bark Sweater by Sidsel Sangild.

I tested out the John Arbon Textiles British Breeds 80% Romney/20% Corriedale blend on a 6mm and a 5mm hook to see which gave the best stitch definition and gauge for the project. I definitely preferred the 5mm hook stitch definition and also as a size of hook I my hand. The 6mm just felt a bit cumbersome and slow.

The swatch is now dry and now I can work out what size of Bark Sweater I need to make and whether I want to make any alterations.

ALT TEXT: Black background with a ball of wool top right in a mushroom brown colour. In the foreground is a crocheted swatch showing lines of front post treble crochet and chains that make up a bark pattern. This is the swatch for my Bark Sweater.

5 – Feeding the Habit

My Solstice to Solstice yarn ban is going well. I have been tempted by things but have given myself a good talking to and remembered why I am doing this! I have enough yarn! I actually feel a little overwhelmed by how much yarn I have and all the things I want to make with it.

So, there have been no stash additions this month and I am clearly working my way through some of the garment quantities that I have bought recently, which is great.

Whenever I see something that I *must have, I pop it into a list and if I still feel that way about it on 21st December 2019, then it may be a contender for my first skein after six months of no yarn.

So whilst I haven’t bought anything, I did receive a lovely print through the post from Lorna (@neveratalooseend). It was done by her daughter Eilidh (@by.eilidh on Instagram) and I love her style. I suggest checking out both of their accounts. Lorna also has a blog which is jam-packed, full of the many, many crafts she does. I am hoping to see Lorna when I am at Perth Festival of Yarn.

ALT TEXT: Black background with a pink, coral and purple print featuring goats, sheep, alpacas and rabbits. Text is placed over the animals saying “all wool is yarn but not all yarn is wool”.

I was also given a lovely watercolour painting by Charlie (@love.charlie) for my birthday present. It's a particular view that I love - Glencoe.

ALT TEXT: Framed painting in soft greens and blues. Deep sides of a grassy glen with a road and a small cottage. Clouds in a blue sky.

6 – Quick News Beats

1 - Global Hook Up – I have set the dates for the next six months and will stick to the 8 pm GMT/BST on a Saturday night and 9 am GMT/BST on a Sunday morning.

The details for the next sessions are already up in the Ravelry thread, can also be found below and will be put out on Instagram in advance.

The meeting ID number is 475-047-5819 and you will need to join via Zoom which you can do here: https://www.zoom.us/join

If you are joining on your phone or tablet you will likely need to download the software in advance. If you are joining from a PC or Mac, you can join via the link above. Everyone needs to use the same ID number to get into the session.

August - Saturday 17th and Sunday 18th

September - Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd

October - Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th

November - Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th

December - Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th

2 – The ‘Healthy Crochet’ interview with Lyndsey from Phoenix Occupational Health is now live. I have been getting great feedback from people on it – so thank you for that. Video version is here and the audio version is here.

3 – I have a giveaway for two tickets for the Southern Wool Show on the 31st August and the 1st September at Newbury Raceground. If you want to be in with a chance of winning, leave me a comment in the show notes or on YouTube starting with the words Southern Wool Show. I will pick a random winner on the 9th August. I will also be vending at the show, so do come and see me for a hug if you are coming.

7 – Big UP

There is an amazing collaboration between Lady Dye Yarns (Diane will be vending at Perth Festival of Yarn) and Jasmin from the Knitmore Girls. To create some proper inclusion at Rhinebeck (New York Sheep and Wool Festival) they have devised the #RhineBIPOCsweater CAL/KAL. There is a massive bundle of designs to choose from in a Ravelry bundle. You can filter that bundle to show just crocheted designs and every single design has been created by a BIPOC designer. You use or buy yarn from a BIPOC dyer/ producer and ideally in the following colours: purple, green, blue, golden yellow, and black.

Use the #RhineBIPOCSweater and show off your make and support for inclusivity with pride!

I will be crocheting up some form of garment and looking to my stash to promote BIPOC/BAME dyers that I have already purchased from. The festival is on the 19th and 20th October, so although the dates of the CAL/KAL haven’t been nailed down yet, but working towards the 19th of October is a good call.

Our friend Claudia from the Crochet Luna podcast has started a twitch channel. Twitch is an interactive platform and you can interact with Claudia when she is on her twitch channel doing crochet. You can send her messages and links and she can respond live. The sessions stay online, so if you wanted to join her or go back to old videos and have somebody crochet alongside you, then it’s perfect.

I didn’t have to set up an account, I could just go straight into twitch and search for Crochet Luna. It’s never a bad thing to sit and spend time with Claudia!

I will be back on Friday the 6th of September.

Fay x

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