Crochet bringing people together (amidst tears, swearing and wine)...

So nearly a year ago I wrote about a lovely lady. It's a tricky one this, because she passed away, very suddenly and left a lot of folk stunned, shocked and empty. It hurt.

I didn't know her all that well, only from playgroup and singing group, but what I did know was the great stuff. The laughter, the smiles, the mummy hugs and the boundless enthusiasm for it all. The week it happened, she collared me in the car park at school and asked me to teach a 'Learn to Crochet' session for her and her best mate. Super I thought. More people to buy countless amounts of wool (I should be sponsored by the British Wool Board).

Well, this happened. Not in the way that we'd planned, and not in the circumstances we wanted, but it happened. I taught her best mate to crochet (and probably ruined her bank account in the process) and a group of mums also got together last winter to learn to hook. You can read about those adventures here....

And this is the result. The Balsham Muvverhookers (yep, Tarantino reaches these parts) made tons of granny squares, and I've spent a couple of months putting them together. Sometimes 'square' had to be in the loosest sense of the word, but I'm proud to say that everyone who started a 'square' was included in the finished blanket.

It wasn't really about what we made (although that looks pretty cool). It was about the talking. The 'getting through winter' thing. The remembering and trying to make sense of it all, when it really doesn't. But you have to have a way of reaching that conclusion, and if there is wine and wool and friends, then maybe that process is a little less terrifying.

So I hope that's ok. The blanket is off to the two little munchkins who are being raised by a village in the truest sense of the word, and might need something toasty on the sofa now and again. xx

Dad Made It: Crochet Tools for Muvverhookers...

So the last time Dad and I worked on something it was my GCSE maths coursework. There were tears, it didn't end well and I wasn't (quite) old enough to hit the Merlot to take the pain away.

Fast forward 20years and due to a Grandparent-down-size-garage-clearance situation, Dad has taken up wood turning...Like a tired mum to Friday night gin, he's got bloody addicted. I like the fact an ancient skill is being passed on from one generation to the next. My mum likes the fact that Dad lives in the garage.

He's made a lovely couple of yarn bowls, pincushion-cups and most lushly, crochet hook stems. This is the pretty bit that makes me feel like Hermione Grainger (slightly more than usual). And a big plus is the fact that they stop my hand gripping the hook so hard -you sort of roll the hook in your fingers rather than my usual vice-like claw hand. Anything that reduces the RSI pain and awful tension problems is fine by me.

So where can you get them? Initially from some of the Autumn & Christmas Fairs I've got coming up. Come and see the hooks in action and have a go yourself. Then, on my etsy shop. Dad's always up for a challenge and a commission, so drop me a message and we'll see what we can do. After all, it make's Mum's life quieter! xx