Sunny Buxton!

Last week I was away for 4 days with 10 of my knitgroup friends on our annual knitting retreat to Buxton.   It is now almost guaranteed to be glorious sunny weather each time we retreat to Buxton – this was our third retreat and we had wall to wall sunshine again.

Buxton is beautiful in the sunshine (and not too bad when it rains either!) and it feels like a home-from-home.  The hotel we stay at looks after us very well, their hospitality is wonderful and they cater perfectly for a group of knitters.   In fact we have already pencilled in next year’s retreat at the same venue!

We have some favourite shops and cafes that we visit, and always discover something new.  This year 2 of us (Julie and I) took the train to Whaley Bridge to locate a yarn shop – it is Yarnbirds and is situated just a stone’s throw from the station within a lovely café.  The yarn selection is excellent, I came away with a skein each from Peak District Yarns (a sock yarn – merino/nylon/sparkle in ‘Brilliant Boots’) and The Little Grey Sheep (British Stein Fine Wool in ‘My Girl Lollypop’).

We always hold our own workshops at the hotel – this year Sue did an excellent workshop on sock knitting, Margaret and Lorraine did a weaving demonstration (I am holding back the urge to buy my own loom…but it is so hard….) and I had a ‘crochet corner’ for anyone wanting crochet help or wanting to make the Buxton Satchel.

The 4 days flew by, and I can’t wait til next year 🙂

Meanwhile here’s the Buxton Satchel – I have a ‘recipe’ for this (not a full blown pattern) and will share it on this blog next week.

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Happy crocheting xxxx

 

 

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Old news!?

I’m sorry I’ve been quiet for  while, I was laid up with a bad cold last weekend and early last week.  Of course, being me I thought I could just carry on as normal but I felt so lousy that I was forced to stop all plans and just recuperate.  So I lost 4 days, I even missed going to Knitgroup, which is RARE.

So it is old news, and I am sure many of you have bought the magazine, but I am itching to tell you about the lovely feature I had in Inside Crochet.  It is called ‘Motifs 3 ways’ and is all about how motifs change as they evolve –  the same motif in 3 evolutions was used in 3 items: cowl, coaster and tablecloth.   The feature was presented very well (not a surprise since Inside Crochet style things beautifully all the time) and I felt very  proud.  It’s a great issue with other gorgeous lovelies, so do buy a copy.

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Later in the week I had a meeting with my friend Nic (Yarns from the Plain).  Our meeting was all about the Cheshire Fibre Festival, for which preparation is going well and I’ll have plenty to tell you about in due course.   Nic also has a podcast and you must have a listen, in her latest one she even mentions me!

Tomorrow is my monthly crochet club:  Cheshire Crochet Club, which I hold at the local village community hall.  It is all about mandalas and I love preparing for this particular one, it’s all about colour!  A sneak peek for those who will be attending:

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Until next week

Happy crocheting xx

 

Pixie Squares

Pixie Squares Blanket has just been published on Ravelry here.

It is a perfect stashbuster, and those little squares are so addictive !

And to celebrate publication the first 20 people to purchase on Ravelry will receive a discount of £2 from the price, just use the coupon code PIXIEDUST

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Happy crocheting xxx