There are so many aspects to being a crafter, it’s learning a new skill, it’s the enjoyment of choosing, it’s the pleasure of making, it’s having the finished item, it’s what you do with it, maybe it’s a gift, maybe it’s to wear or maybe it’s for the home.  Virtually all crafts can be done on your own when you need some head space or can be carried out in a group, I love going to a knitting group (although I usually crochet when I am there), it’s so lovely to spend time chatting while enjoying my crochet, and seeing what everyone else is making.  The social side of crafting is brilliant, when we visited Shetland in the Summer, a school friend invited me to come to the knit and natter she goes to.  Everyone was so welcoming and the skill there was amazing.  Virtually everyone was Fair Isle knitting and their work was stunning.  It was lovely to be able to just pop in to a group and feel so very welcome.

I don’t really have a favourite craft, although I do tend to turn to crochet as it is very rare I am following a pattern, so it’s easy to just pick up and put down.  I always have a ball of wool and a crochet hook in the car as I spend a lot of time waiting for the children at various clubs.  I think my first love was sewing.  My sister and I had an old treadle sewing machine in our bedroom which was ours to use.  I used to make all sorts, and at that age I wasn’t scared to experiment or worried if something didn’t quite work out the way I had in my mind. Over the years I moved away from making clothes and into quilt making.   Although, in the last few years I have started using my overlocker a lot and I am really loving making clothes again.  I discovered https://www.ellieandmac.com recently, I love their patterns.  It’s great as you can buy the pattern, download and print it and then you are practically ready to go.  I have some lovely red fabric with reindeers on it, I think I am going to make their Adult High Hopes Dolman Pattern with it for Christmas.

I don’t know what it is about quilt making, but I love it. I love choosing the pattern, there are some absolutely stunning patterns which are way beyond my skill levels, and there are others which come together very quickly.  I use the moda bake shop a lot for inspiration https://modafabrics.com/categories/moda-bake-shop and the patterns are Tilda are stunning https://www.tildasworld.com/free-patterns/ 

Sometimes choosing the right fabric is really easy, I made a sampler quilt a few years ago, I just knew exactly what I wanted to achieve and I found the fabrics almost immediately. Other times it feels almost impossible to choose fabrics that will work together.  I have started to worry less about this, I think quilts do just work.  A few suggestions for making it easier are to buy a layer cake or a fat quarter pack, or stick with one designer or range from a designer or choose a fabric you absolutely love and use this as the basis to choose the other fabrics.

Every quilt is unique and personal and very special.  I love that the quilts I have made are used all the time, we watch films together snuggled up under them.  All the Christmas quilts I have made seem to disappear to Leon’s bedroom and never get packed away again after Christmas.  He has quite a stash of quilts on his bed!

Somehow I never seem to have as much time as I would like for knitting, I really enjoy knitting.  I think it is because I usually need to follow a pattern so it’s not as easy to just pick up and put down.  Maybe as the children get older, this is something which will change. In the meantime my plan is to do some smaller projects. In the Summer I bought myself two kits from the Shetland Wool Week (https://www.shetlandwoolweek.com/) hat. Each kit is a different colourway.  Every year a designer designs a hat especially for Wool Week.  The official 2022 Shetland Wool Week knitting pattern the ‘Bonnie Isle Hat’ has been designed Linda Shearer. If you fancy having a go the pattern is at https://www.shetlandwoolweek.com/free-knitting-pattern/  I am going to finish a crochet blanket I am making for my Mum and then start on one of the hats.

I would love to know what makes crafting special to you, what works for you and hints tips or patterns/designers you love.