Episode 18 - Shear Joy

Hola Crochet Circlers!
 
Welcome to The Crochet Circle Podcast and the show notes from Episode Eighteen - Shear Joy.
 
In this episode I cover: Old dog, new tricks; FOs; WIPs; Festival of Finishing CrAL; Feeding the habit; Big up and What's good?
 
This podcast is sponsored by my online crafting company, Provenance Craft Co. 


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1 - Old dog, new tricks
I have spent the last two and a half years winding cakes of yarn wrongly because I didn't read the instructions or the wording on my ball winder. That would be nearly three years of rubbish yarns cakes giving me yarn barf.  Well, no longer.  I now wind my yarn anti-clockwise and get beautiful cakes to make up for my inability to read instructions!
Try it - you may also have been winding yarn the wrong way...
 

Loose is clockwise and actually gives a tight cake of yarn(!).

Fasten is anti-clockwise and gives a squidgy but structured cake of yarn.
 
2 - Finished Objects 
I have a few finished objects this month, even though the squares below don't look like FOs, they definitely are. 
 

These squares and rectangles are heading off to Yael for the Blanket of Love and Hope

It was a very cactus based episode!  Cynthia was a free kit in Simply Crochet Issue 59.

Kipper socks from Pom Pom Quarterly Issue 1 re-release using Life in the Long Grass sock yarn in club colourway Chlorophyl.


Hove Purse by me (Fay Dashper-Hughes Designs) which is a free pattern to help you test out your intarsia crochet skills, crocheted in Erika Knight Gossypium Cotton (Mouse, Iced Gem and Pretty) & Netherton Pullover also from Pom Pom Quarterly Issue 1 re-release using Artesano SW Merino DK (no longer available).
 
The Hove Beach Bag will be released on the 10th July and available as free of charge pattern from the 10th - 31st July to celebrate my 40th birthday!  Just search for Hove Beach Bag on Ravelry. 
 
3 - Works in progress
I have a few WIPs on the go but am mainly concentrating on my Festival of Finishing cross stitch and starting off some easy 'in the car' type crochet projects for our epic road trip to the Outer Hebrides. 
 

 
 
The TARDIS cross stitch is by StellarSpaceCraft on Etsy and I used DMC thread 311 & Evesham Socks by Joanne Scrace using Regia 4 Colour.
 

 
Fronds Shawl by Joanne Scrace using Touch Yarns Possum/ Silk / Merino and the wet felting that Jenny and I did at the Fleece to Felt Day by Good Day Out.
 
4 - Festival of Finishing CrAL
The response to this CrAL has been fantastic!  I love that so many of you have been ruthlessly going through your crafting cupboards and using this as an opportunity to frog, donate, salvage and finish. Some of you didn't think you had any long-term WIPs and still found projects to finish off! 
 
 

 
 If you are just hearing about #FestivalOfFinishing for the first time I suggest that you start by taking a look at this blog post 'Why you don't finish projects and what you can do about it'.
 
I would love you to get involved with the CrAL and share what you are up to within the Ravelry thread in The Crochet Circle Podcast Group or by using #FestivalOfFinishing on Instagram.
A pile each for: finish, frog, salvage or donate will really help you to work out what you could do with each project.  
 
As an additional element, via my company Provenance Craft Co, Claudia at Crochet Luna podcast and Caroline (also fo the Fibre Friends Podcast) and Kathy at Evertote, each FO you have under the Festival Of Finishing is now worth about £2.37. The charity that will benefit from the money is Knit for Peace.  
 
5 - Feeding the habit
See the sewing bobbins bag with Fronds shawl photo in WIPs.  This is by Sarah Hazell - she is also an amazing crochet designer.
 
 
1 - Various woven fabrics from Jan Beadle at The Wool Clip
2 - Lovely prints of textile pictures from Bright Seed Textiles
3 - Procion Dyes and a sock blank from DT Crafts
4 - Second-hand book called Finishing Techniques for Crochet by Pauline Turner
5 - My gorgeous silver crochet hook by Lyn Roberts Designs with its leather case
6 - Vintage glass and plastic pineapple buttons bought from Brimstone Buttons and Buckles (no website, you just need to try to find them at a wool festival).
 
 
 
I was the very lucky recipient of this gorgeous haul thanks to Claudia from Crochet Luna podcast!  Needless to say, the socks went on straight away, I have picked out the first pair of socks that I am going to crochet and the amazing American yarn is going to become something very special.  The soap bar has a goats milk base which helps to repel midges, so that has already been packed for our holiday in Scotland!
The yarns are from Anzula Luxury Fibres and Trendsetter Yarns - I am a very lucky lady.
 
6 - Big up
Rosina has the Zeens and Roger podcast on YouTube and also a blog.  She has a lovely relaxed style and is good fun!
Two of my favourite ladies, Helen from Making at Number 14 Blog and Tamara from Craftyescapism blog have come together to create the Back to School Sweater CAL.  Here is what Helen and Tamara are up to:
A blog hop and CAL to celebrate crochet garment making and encourage lots of people to get making their own garments.
We will be launching details on our blogs and in a thread on the Crochet Circle Podcast Rav group on 29 July.
The blog hop will start on 26th August featuring posts from a range of bloggers looking at different elements of crochet garment construction.
The CAL will run from 16th Sept to 17th Nov 2017.
There will be prizes and discounts. If anyone wants to offer prizes please can they get in touch!
Tamara is planning a physical CAL at her local yarn store in Houston, Texas!

It would be great to have you all join in.  The blog hop has lots of great contributors in it and I may have already chosen my garment  - I like to get ahead of the game and be well prepared! ;-)
 
7 - What's Good
I seem to have been here, there and everywhere since I last recorded.  I love being busy and learning new things.  In the last five weeks, I have been to the John Arbon Mill Open Weekend, helped out at Winkie's school fete in Lancing, visited Woolfest in Cumbria, done a raku ceramics day at my pottery (amazing fun), seen Elbow (one of my all-time favourite bands) play at Delamere Forest in Cheshire (I have never seen so many pots of hummus and camping chairs at a gig) and learned how to shear sheep.  
 
That is quite a diverse collection of things to do and long may it continue! 
 
 
The Good Day Out Fleece to Fibre experience of shearing Welsh Mountain ewes was fantastic.
 
See you all in August.
 
Fay x
 
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