No this isn’t secret code – it is the postcode for the venue for Cheshire Fibre Festival!

I don’t use satnav, I prefer to use the good old map and my nose!    But I know lots of people use satnav, so if you are driving (or even just using your phone to guide you) then this is an important ‘code’.  So remember Marthall Village Hall, the Cheshire Fibre Festival venue, is at WA16 7SB

See you there!

 

 

This week has been all about the final preparations for Cheshire Fibre Festival.

On Monday Nic and I met up at the venue and had the final tour of facilities.  It is the loveliest village hall I have ever been to, beautifully laid out with great facilities.   Find out more information about the venue here.

Don’t forget  it’s on Saturday 1st October, open from 10am til 4pm.

What can you expect when you arrive?   Well first there will be someone at the door to greet you and hand you a raffle ticket – yes we have raffle prizes!  So, unless you arrive in the last half hour, you must ensure you take a raffle ticket.  We have some splendid prizes donated by the exhibitors and our supporters – Mollie Makes, LoveKnitting, Stylecraft and Crochet Now to name a few. Raffle draws will take place during the day at regular intervals, and winning tickets will be displayed near the kitchen servery.

Once you are in the hall you have a very short corridor to walk to where the action is!   In the main hall you will immediately see yarn – Yarns from the Plain and Eco-Stitch will be straight in front of you and as you turn to the left you will see Jenny Barnett and Crafts from the Dungeon.  But please do not pass me by – I am in the meeting room on the right, holding a couple of workshops but also with a stand full of all sorts of goodies.  As well as workshops (crochet and felting) there will be ongoing demonstrations by Yarns from the Plain and Crafts from the Dungeon – a good opportunity to see spinning and weaving in action.

In the centre of the main hall is the knit and natter area. If the weather is good on Saturday, we will open the doors to the patio and lawn – a perfect place to knit and natter in the sun!

There is also a kitchen servery, manned by volunteers, where you can grab a tea or coffee and a slice of cake.  All proceeds from this will go to Bloodwise.

You can pop in for a short while or you can linger all day if you like, crafting with likeminded friends and making new ones. If you do want to come for the day, please bring a packed lunch, or alternatively there are some lovely local eateries you can nip to.

Are you a Cheshire Fibre Artist or fibre supplier? If so there will be an area where you can leave some leaflets or business cards for visitors to see/take – so please do bring some and drop them off.

Further information, including travel, can be found on the Cheshire Fibre Festival page. But please leave a comment if you have any questions – and we’ll answer as quickly as we can.

We all look forward to seeing you on Saturday.

Valerie, Nic, Jenny, Bee and Diane

Yesterday was the first day of Yarndale 2016, the 4th year of this fabulous yarny festival.

I joined the local coach trip, as travelling by coach is so much more relaxing than driving and getting stuck in traffic, as well as being very green!   There was traffic – this year seemed to be more busy than ever and although the coach made good time it was very slow as we got close to the venue and by the time we arrived the venue was already busy:

But this did not deter me.   I had a plan of action.  The first part of the plan is to go around alone; whilst it’s great to share with friends it’s a lot more efficient on your own as you can go at your own pace and get in and out of exhibits easier.   You can even get to take some good photos by squeezing in just the right spot – so I managed to get some lovely photos of the main producers of natural fibres:

The second part was to buy what I wanted when I saw it (which I failed in, and ended up a tad disappointed!).  The third part was to meet up with friends at lunchtime and take the trip on the Red Yarndale Bus into Skipton, this is a great chance to escape the busiest time at the show and to swap notes about what others have seen and bought.  The fourth part was to try and go around the show twice so that I had the opportunity to see things I may have missed first time.   And the last part was to have a coffee break mid afternoon, which I succeeded in by finding two of my friends who had the same idea at exactly the same time!  So I stuck to the plan and it worked well.   I visited all my favourite exhibitors and caught up with several yarny friends.  And I spent way too much

Two of the exhibitors from Cheshire Fibre Festival were there – Yarns from the Plain and Jenny Barnett, and their stands looked splendid – you are in for a treat next week !

Happy knitting and crocheting xxx

Last month I received this lovely package of yarn from LoveCrochet/Loveknitting:

It is MillaMia Naturally Soft Cotton, a sport weight cotton.  And yes, it is soft!   My first instinct when I see cotton yarn is to make something for the home or a sturdy bag, but this yarn is so soft it warrants much more delicate work as well.   The colours lead me – I thought peach melba, peppermint creams and sundaes!    So the Summer Sundae Scarves were born.   The first one was in peach melba colours, made lengthways in a filet-style mesh pattern.  But I know some people hate the long starting chain on lengthways scarves, so I made a sideways version as well – in peppermint cream colours.

How do you like your Sundaes?  Lengthways or sideways?  Well you can choose – each design uses 2 balls of contrasting colours and uses just 2 stitches – chain and treble (US double crochet).

The pattern is written in English Crochet terms only, and is charted.   Normally costing £3 but as I am feeling very happy (if not a little stressed!) ahead of Cheshire Fibre Festival on 1st October, the pattern is free until then.  You can find it on LoveCrochet here.

Happy crocheting xxx

Cheshire Fibre Festival is just over 2 weeks away and we are in the final stages of preparation.  So today is the last blog where I will share my own designs for the festival, the next couple of blog posts will cover the whole Festival!

Here is the Ollerton Bag.  It is available in a kit containing the pattern, 4 balls of Stylecraft Classique dk yarn (100% cotton), a handmade stitch marker and a ‘handmade with love’ label.   All packed in a lovely red tote bag, which will double up as a project bag – cost £13.

It comes in a variety of colours; this one is in soft pink, lavender, wisteria and dove (you may have noticed that I like these colours!), other colour combinations include soft greens/yellow, red/pinks, blues/lavenders.  You can choose which colour is your centre and joining/edging colour – so you can make you bag as individual as you like!

Happy crocheting xx

Today is International Crochet Day.  There is no doubt that colourful crochet is very therapeutic, it is soothing and brings  brightness into your life.

So today is a good day to remind you of a mandala I designed last year, I call it the Soothing Mandala and I used it in a crochet-a-long last year.

Until the end of 2016, the proceeds from the sale of this mandala will be donated to The Christie, a remarkable hospital in Manchester, UK which treats cancer patients and provides them with the most amazing support through what can be a very traumatic period of their lives.

The design has 2 different final rounds, so you can choose which you like.

The pattern can be found here, and your support is very much appreciated as every sale has the potential to make a huge difference to someone.  I know from personal experience that colourful crochet things can make a huge difference to your inner strength through difficult periods in your life.

Thank you.  xxx

I have some exciting news on the Mandala Workshop at the Cheshire Fibre Festival, and there are still a few places left if you want to book!

First, I am supporting The Big Mandala Swap by Crochet Now.  I will be providing information to all workshop attendees and 2 lucky people will get a copy of Crochet Now magazine, together with their book of mandala patterns by some lovely designers (including another local fibre artist Lynne Rowe ).

I will have leaflets available on the stand as well, for anyone interested in The Big Mandala Swap and I encourage you all to join in, crocheting with colour is well known to help those with any illness, it is soothing and inspiring, so the opportunity to make new friends whilst raising awareness of mental health issues is one not to miss. You can read all about the big swap here.

Also, as well as the yarns, notes, patterns etc I told you about in the previous post, LoveCrochet have supplied me with some more yarn for the workshop!!   I have 12 balls of the brand new Paintbox dk cotton, doesn’t it look gorgeous?

 

Each attendee will get the equivalent of 2 balls, in 4 different colours. This yarn comes in 55 different colours from their broad colour range shown below.

It’s just like a paintbox isn’t it? This range makes it perfect for colourwork and therefore the mandala workshop!  Thank you LoveCrochet!

The mandala workshop runs from 2pm to 4pm on 1st October, more details here.

A big thank you to Ella at LoveCrochet and Hugh at Crochet Now for all the support (and watch out soon for some other news on how LoveCrochet and Crochet Now are supporting Cheshire Fibre Festival!).

Happy crocheting xxx

 

 

Oh my, I’ve been holding this one back, but I thought maybe the time is right to share it.  I have a crochet cowl kit for Cheshire Fibre Festival.    It’s a lovely soft one.

It is in Stylecraft Malabar, the lovely cotton/silk blend  (this yarn is so soft and squishy!), and will be available in five different colours – Buttermilk, Pink, Pale Blue, Lavender and deep deep Amethyst.   You could have one in each colour!

The kit comes with yarn, pattern, a handmade stitch marker and ‘handmade with love’ label, all packaged in a pretty organza bag (which can be used as your project bag). Price £8.

I hope you like it!

Happy crocheting xxxxx