Checking in...

Wow - I cannot believe it's been 6 weeks since I last blogged!

Things have been pretty busy around here so here's a little update on everything we've been up to in October...

Happy Birthday Blacker Yarns!

picture courtesy of Blacker Yarns

Blacker Yarns are celebrating their tenth anniversary at their Cornish woollen mill in Launceston this month by releasing a limited edition yarn they have named Cornish Tin, spun from ten different fibres to create one gorgeous, soft and bouncy yarn that is a pleasure to knit with.

Book Review :: Sharpie Art Workshop

Sharpies at the ready...

Sharpie Art Workshop 

by Timothy Goodman 

£14.99

published by Rockport


Did you know that Sharpie markers were first invented in 1964 (as a refinement of the earlier Magic Marker felt tip pen) and were the first permanent marker pens?

GrannySquareDay2015

it's hip to be square...

Here's a little heads up for all you happy hookers out there!

Saturday August 15th 2015 is Instagram's #grannysquareday15 - hosted by Susan @suregal27 this is a little fun for the wonderful Instagram crochet community.

Rhubarb Crumble Tart Recipe

I love rhubarb - the tartness contrasts so wonderfully with all the sweetness that abounds in summer. Since planting my own rhubarb crown three years ago I have been blessed with an abundance of lovely pinky green rhubarb stems all through late spring and early summer. I love it served as a compote with yoghurt, whisked up with cream and yoghurt to make Rhubarb Fool and in my all time favourite pudding - crumble with custard. But as lovely as crumble and custard puddings are sometimes you want something a little more....well... refined. Try this lovely tart with a sweet pastry base (adapted from Jamie Oliver's wonderful Old Fashioned Sweet Pastry recipe), and a crispy crumble topping. Serve cooled slices with a little cream for a lovely summer dessert.

Summer Holidays - Seaside trips and summer knits

The summer holidays officially started here on Friday! We celebrated by heading over to my parent's place for a few days and taking a little day trip down to Barry Island (of Gavin and Stacey fame) to paddle in the sea, dig in the sand, explore rock pools and eat fish and chips and ice cream on the promenade...

A month of knitalongs...

Instagram has opened up a whole new knitty world to me - knitalongs!

I signed up to not one but two shawl knitalongs at the end of May - not that I don't have any other projects to be getting on with but you know how it goes...

First up was #greatdividekal2015 (I'm using the Instagram hashtags here so you can go check them out if you wish) which was hosted by the lovely Jessie @bigheart_smalltown.

This what a bit of an impromptu project - I was packing to take Roo to stay with my parents for a few days in the half term and looking for something small and simple to take with me when I spotted her post about a shawl knitalong using a pattern called The Great Divide Shawl by Michele Brown.  Rooting through my stash I found a couple of vintage cones of yarn I had been given a while ago that I thought would be just perfect.

WIPS Linky is back!!

Yay! It's back!! The monthly Works-in-progress post with linky is back!!

For new readers and those older ones who may have forgotten, the WIPSLinky was a monthly post where I showed you what various crafty projects I was working on and I invited you to show me yours via the little linky widget at the bottom of the post (here are a couple of earlier WIPSLinky posts to give you an idea - you may recognise a certain Butterick pattern that was featured on The Great British Sewing Bee this year! Way ahead of my time, me!!)

So what am I up to right now?

Crochet a Granny Cushion Workshop for Absolute Beginners!

Would you love to learn how to crochet but don't really know where to start?

Well if you live in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire/Herefordshire border country you may be interested to hear that I have been invited to teach a crochet course at the lovely Sew Sew Studio in Newent!!

Situated just 15 mins drive from the city of Gloucester, The Newent Shambles Retail Village is a quaint courtyard populated by local artisans and independent shop keepers and is a project I have been involved in since it's conception (you can see more about The Shambles here)

Nic opened Sew Sew Studio at the end of 2014 and it has gone from strength to strength as her sewing classes for adults and children have proved extremely popular. Now she is offering the chance for yarn lovers to extend their skills too!

I have put together a three day workshop (running one morning a week over three weeks) aimed at absolute beginners where you can learn all the basic crochet stitches you need to know to get you going.

Starting with a basic granny square, with colour changes and tips on weaving in the ends, moving on to joining the squares together then creating a beautiful granny stripe back, the course includes everything you need to complete a fabulous cushion - all yarns, pattern and tip sheets, cushion inner and even a crochet hook are provided (along with a cuppa or two and some homemade cakes and cookies!)

Course Details

When:   3 x 3 hour sessions 10am- 1pm on 29th April, 6 May and 13th May 2015
Where:  Sew Sew Studio, Unit 19 , Newent Shambles Retail Village, Newent, Glos

Cost :  £90 for the course

What's included:  Everything! Yarn, cushion inner, time spent one-to-one if needed, pattern, tip sheets to take home, and even your very own crochet hook!

 And refreshments too - Tea and coffee will be available plus I will be baking muffins and cookies especially for my students!

Week one - we will focus on the granny squares - including how to add in new colours and weave in the ends (please note you won't have time to complete ALL 9 granny squares in this session - unless you take to crochet like a duck to water! - so please be prepared to do a little homework!)
Week two - we will be joining the squares together and hooking up a little border and then making a start on our granny stripe cushion back!
Week three - Finishing off the granny stripe back and then joining the front and back together around the cushion inner before patting ourselves on the back for completing a fabulous Granny Cushion!

Spaces are very limited so if you are interested please don't hesitate to get in touch with either Nic at Sew Sew Studio or myself (you can email me at forestflower@hotmail.com )

For more information and to book please visit Sew Sew Studio's website   www.sewsewstudio.bigcartel.com


I am so excited to be given this opportunity and I cannot wait to introduce some new people to this highly addictive and bang on trend skill!

Upcycled Jeans Patchwork Quilt (part 1)

Debenhams are celebrating the launch of a brand new jeans page on their website by challenging crafty bloggers to come up with ideas for upcycling their old jeans.



Well as I have recently lost rather a lot of weight (hurrah, finally starting to shift the mumtum!) I have a pile of old, worn out jeans just ripe for upcycling so this challenge was perfectly timed.

All in a spin...

Last weekend we went on our annual outing to the Creative Crafts Show (herein referred to as CCS) at Malvern Three Counties Showground (you can read about previous years excursions here)

This year was a little different because (a) I had very little money to spend and (b) I had Roo with me.
I won't lie, I didn't enjoy the experience nearly as much having to keep a constant eye on a curious six year old rather than immersing myself in glorious crafty stuff - although the sheer joy on his face when he showed me the stamps and ink pads he had bought with his Christmas money kind of made up for that! - but I still managed to come away with a new nugget of knowledge, some beautiful yarn and lots of inspiration.

Crochet Pattern Testing...

I like to do a little pattern testing for others now and again and this month I have been helping out the lovely Marta (mrsdaftspaniel@blogspot.co.uk) with her fab new pattern for a Child's Crochet Cowl.

The Beekeepers Quilt 2015 Knitalong

Once upon a time (quite a while ago) I stumbled across the most wonderful knitted blanket pattern I had ever seen.