tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12884382446368016672024-03-08T12:04:48.461-08:00SallyStrawberrySallyStrawberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16252666754036687570noreply@blogger.comBlogger218125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1288438244636801667.post-77875516608470501402021-01-02T08:11:00.000-08:002021-01-02T08:11:19.979-08:00Advent Calendar Blanket<p> First off, hope 2021 brings better things. </p><p>This (or last I suppose) year I was finally able to afford one of these yarn advent calendars I'd seen Instagram awash with. However, come Dec 1st I could not muster the enthusiasm, let alone the Christmas spirit so left it on the top of the shelf in the spare room. At some point between Christmas and New Year I thought it would be nice to have something to look forward to in January, so I strung the little pouches onto some string ready for the 1st. </p><p><br /></p><p>My plan was always to make a patchwork corner to corner crocheted blanket, using the join as you go method. I also picked up a set of 10g mini skeins in the sale from The Knitting Goddess to supplement the speckles I was expecting from the Mothy and the Squid advent yarn. </p><p>The first two skeins definitely fit the 'speckled' genre of hand dyed yarn.....the first being a mixture of raspberry ripple and blue bubblegum ice-cream, and the second a mix of browns, greens and tiny flecks of blue, reminiscent of a mossy forrest floor.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaxfi4H7wa1kE9FprgMqTiNcXCQzEYQe8O_dLVURjog2KZADt7G3FbD_QTQxaaTaOOUyoRFbd4AeS8zw2k6lK_ra1pR_aTxtFs1_L57Mr8OCSP3TmjOVCBWYKCDYytFQsAKS0limF6I_0s/s4000/IMG_20210101_114715567.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaxfi4H7wa1kE9FprgMqTiNcXCQzEYQe8O_dLVURjog2KZADt7G3FbD_QTQxaaTaOOUyoRFbd4AeS8zw2k6lK_ra1pR_aTxtFs1_L57Mr8OCSP3TmjOVCBWYKCDYytFQsAKS0limF6I_0s/w240-h320/IMG_20210101_114715567.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC3AwdUWLzk2lSeqMEQVzL9qrHz1ABIWVCyeOUSb6ou9MTmbZzE3_tYLn_sl5ms67dqWErrwICsWII4dVFCJcxWeN4a_Wr4CUBSTLTe3gE3LDvEk4p31Xwjp1MS4eH7sGvEtDxL9IpFFs2/s4000/IMG_20210102_092706595.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC3AwdUWLzk2lSeqMEQVzL9qrHz1ABIWVCyeOUSb6ou9MTmbZzE3_tYLn_sl5ms67dqWErrwICsWII4dVFCJcxWeN4a_Wr4CUBSTLTe3gE3LDvEk4p31Xwjp1MS4eH7sGvEtDxL9IpFFs2/s320/IMG_20210102_092706595.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>SallyStrewberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09818430985001006485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1288438244636801667.post-68717835604772196712019-04-06T13:15:00.000-07:002019-04-06T13:15:17.509-07:00Gothenburg Botanical Gardens<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I feel so lucky that mini-breaks are now a thing in my life, and on a long weekend break in Gothenburg, Sweden, last weekend I finally got my spark for photography back. Amongst consuming pastries the size of a dinner plate, chugging back litres of (full caff) coffee and perusing the art galleries we visited the <a href="http://www.botaniska.se/en/" target="_blank">Gothenburg Botanical Gardens</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Whilst we were a bit too early in the year for the majority of the garden (the rose garden looks like it would be beautiful in the summer) the greenhouses were packed with rare orchids, alpine plants, succulents, and so many more I can't even remember. I got a bit too snap happy and regrettably didn't recall the names of some of the plants (it happens, right?). But, here are a selection of these snaps. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'm thinking of investing in a macro lens for even closer close ups- any recommendations for a canon camera would be great thanks. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimqeDF359mRr1vWDUUlGCQMcm9hyphenhyphen2cmmDaczyRIiMBedfDOlTfM4p-Ozu9oufeAT5GhqGQm6o75OqqrVbVfn4sKnuhJKURfqXCxuQ4_1Deopcn3L4weI891fTKarNC-USscDKxyDS3B3KL/s1600/IMG_9206.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img alt="SallyStrawberry" border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimqeDF359mRr1vWDUUlGCQMcm9hyphenhyphen2cmmDaczyRIiMBedfDOlTfM4p-Ozu9oufeAT5GhqGQm6o75OqqrVbVfn4sKnuhJKURfqXCxuQ4_1Deopcn3L4weI891fTKarNC-USscDKxyDS3B3KL/s640/IMG_9206.jpg" title="Gothenburg botanical gardens" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrqxOS2Se9-UFB0Xm7F7oLnk1o_y5D6_NRN3H8rC7Fj4feMWXuX-vA6YCQcpwt3q7FgYZHn7wz1kn146qAxI9RxeepKl7BhWM-CROrPsppwGdsVMHxX_1Iz2Kwj-b4DxKeQ28OlXpDKnCQ/s1600/IMG_9224.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img alt="SallyStrawberry" border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrqxOS2Se9-UFB0Xm7F7oLnk1o_y5D6_NRN3H8rC7Fj4feMWXuX-vA6YCQcpwt3q7FgYZHn7wz1kn146qAxI9RxeepKl7BhWM-CROrPsppwGdsVMHxX_1Iz2Kwj-b4DxKeQ28OlXpDKnCQ/s640/IMG_9224.jpg" title="Gothenburg botanical gardens" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtpQEAqltiVu6ULMLNG080aeoYYZLj_NTKtDjpooiohkjGlslTss5e5u2ZHKBlKU-q7KUfy2QfTPEcDO0jcq4Qhd1RwOHPX-1TrTCbq24be4E5D_K2oj3PLIJ_n4MCU1I-nL-9zN4Devvv/s1600/IMG_9239.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img alt="SallyStrawberry" border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtpQEAqltiVu6ULMLNG080aeoYYZLj_NTKtDjpooiohkjGlslTss5e5u2ZHKBlKU-q7KUfy2QfTPEcDO0jcq4Qhd1RwOHPX-1TrTCbq24be4E5D_K2oj3PLIJ_n4MCU1I-nL-9zN4Devvv/s640/IMG_9239.jpg" title="Gothenburg botanical gardens" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjva6slF25UjpOcDSs_BeIsAGr8hK69SrRCiqGk17g14h6zzA9hSf7recA50Uw9cHCcivF-TblRj-X8hiaX763qasSQwsP89lBkyoeHpWI1M5M4KX_Aore7ebIVwOHSKiQsiZ_PjEnwqfk-/s1600/IMG_9241.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img alt="SallyStrawberry" border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjva6slF25UjpOcDSs_BeIsAGr8hK69SrRCiqGk17g14h6zzA9hSf7recA50Uw9cHCcivF-TblRj-X8hiaX763qasSQwsP89lBkyoeHpWI1M5M4KX_Aore7ebIVwOHSKiQsiZ_PjEnwqfk-/s640/IMG_9241.jpg" title="Gothenburg botanical gardens" width="426" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnczNK2IKRLyBm3tG-qO7r_y8DwVfPLICzUtzS51I-3gNj_hp-jibEWt_1VfE8eYxzySAL7Zc_2lgGT_b9jN4j-Ys-_nQIIDF4mFEbNDD3Nnm_wdb98osd2wwJ4S6g5mdSvGwQoFphpXV9/s1600/IMG_9244.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img alt="SallyStrawberry" border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnczNK2IKRLyBm3tG-qO7r_y8DwVfPLICzUtzS51I-3gNj_hp-jibEWt_1VfE8eYxzySAL7Zc_2lgGT_b9jN4j-Ys-_nQIIDF4mFEbNDD3Nnm_wdb98osd2wwJ4S6g5mdSvGwQoFphpXV9/s640/IMG_9244.jpg" title="Gothenburg botanical gardens" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I would highly recommend a visit to this superb place. </span>SallyStrewberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09818430985001006485noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1288438244636801667.post-19875978092564907712019-04-06T10:08:00.001-07:002019-04-06T10:13:17.369-07:00Our garden in March<span style="color: #660000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In March we had rain......</span><br />
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">But our teeny raspberry bush has started to thrive.....</span><br />
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">As are the primulas we planted in the tree pit outside our house last spring.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd5RYNgll64v9tP-cHgt-ttSrCjxEECqwyg4YilVMJB_QoliAEhykzmy-FRAv4CbOAzYo6v-gEkpSbt7e9KUDxzDeFA3kMu9eJYXIK4-T6L7PSeAavKOKkqpVcklpPN25Itw1Hb28l542w/s1600/IMG_9080.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd5RYNgll64v9tP-cHgt-ttSrCjxEECqwyg4YilVMJB_QoliAEhykzmy-FRAv4CbOAzYo6v-gEkpSbt7e9KUDxzDeFA3kMu9eJYXIK4-T6L7PSeAavKOKkqpVcklpPN25Itw1Hb28l542w/s640/IMG_9080.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">and you know.....more rain....</span><br />
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I asked over on Instagram when people would recommend pruning back a hydrangea. The responses were really mixed, some had already done so, others recommended waiting until there is no further chance of frost. I decided to wait which I think was a good idea considering the 1 degree mornings we have had this week. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">OUr sweet peas have shot up.....I think we need to provide them with a cane soon as they have started to clutch onto the strawberry pot, and the strawberry plants look to be STRUGGLING. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Our tulips look like they are starting to bud and I cannot wait to see what colours we planted!</span><br />
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<br />SallyStrewberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09818430985001006485noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1288438244636801667.post-71654246342993481352019-02-17T09:45:00.000-08:002019-02-17T09:45:08.542-08:00Our garden in February<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'm starting a serious of photos "Our garden in...." with one post a month, documenting our garden over the seasons. I need a photography project to get me back into taking photos, a hobby that I used to love. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In February, as our garden comes back to life, I hope that my passion for photography does too. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In February, we are starting to see the appearance of daffodils....</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In February we are excited to see that our Hydrangea is showing signs of new life....</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> In February our raspberry bush that we thought was no more has these tiny new shoots.....</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In February the Primrose is in full flower again...</span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In February the 'Red Robin' is sporting these rather lovely looking buds....</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In February, our sweet pea that I planted far too late last summer has grown some new leaves and curly tendrils, maybe it will even flower this year?</span><br />
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<br />SallyStrewberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09818430985001006485noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1288438244636801667.post-7638521789846360742019-02-17T09:11:00.003-08:002019-02-17T09:11:54.491-08:00Professional Finishing Techniques- Black Sheep Wools<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLm7YYXVD-nCJnFzye38KbvqKBNp_eHp3w0jtGpeMwSPZCs9LyCu2_6E36fHK7YVepR7PWC3fyjxnrzKlW3YQsorpkjFkXzOrAxS2XRbQPd_BO5kGz-t24iCNL159AfttW3JRLnEFLVs3Z/s1600/SallyStrawberry+black+sheep+wools+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLm7YYXVD-nCJnFzye38KbvqKBNp_eHp3w0jtGpeMwSPZCs9LyCu2_6E36fHK7YVepR7PWC3fyjxnrzKlW3YQsorpkjFkXzOrAxS2XRbQPd_BO5kGz-t24iCNL159AfttW3JRLnEFLVs3Z/s640/SallyStrawberry+black+sheep+wools+%25282%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">We've all been there.....spent hours (and hours) (and hours and hours) knitting something and when we get to finishing it off, sewing it up, jigsawing all the pieces together it looks a bit, well bleugh, and not at all reflective of the knitting time and effort you put in. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">When I first started knitting I mostly knitted toys. Lots of tiny individual components knitted flat which the needed sewing up. My seaming was so bad I always thought that it completely ruined the finished project. I never even thought of trying to knit a garment for this exact reason.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Fastforward five or so years and I am now slowly starting to build myself a handmade wardrobe. I have knit a Flax by Tin Can Knits (more on this in a future post) and a <a href="http://www.sallystrawberrycreations.com/2018/11/finished-object-carbeth-cardigan-by.html" target="_blank">Carbeth Cardigan</a> by Kate Davies. Flax is a seamless, top down design, knitted completely in the round (ie no seams) but the Carbeth Cardigan, whilst essentially knitted in one piece required picking up stitches for the button band, and around the top of the button band for the neck. It took me almost as long to add the finishing touches as it did to knit the whole thing. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So far I have avoided garments requiring seams, garments requiring a provisional cast on, garments requiring proper button holes, as I thought my dodgy finishing techniques would not do the end product justice. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://www.blacksheepwools.com/" target="_blank">Black Sheep Wools</a> in Warrington run a course that covers all of the above and more. Perfect! Run by a knitting expert from Rowan, Nicole, we were guided through mattress stitch (mind-blowing) both for stitching side seams, and attaching sleeves, picking up around the neckline, button holes without any dodgy looking loopy bits, and shoulder shaping using short rows. We were taught how to make sure our decreased lean the right way, how to make an invisible increase (no more m1) and which cast on method is most suited to different types of project. I'm so glad to have mastered the provisional cast on for 1 x 1 rib. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What Nicole really emphasised was that you really need to take your time. A cardigan that takes you two months to knit should not be sewn up on a Saturday evening in front of the TV with only your evening mood lighting to see by. To do a good job of it set aside a weekend, or an afternoon. Make sure your pieces are blocked and dry first. This aint a rush job. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This course has not only given me the knowledge, but also the confidence to adapt techniques in patterns, change the cast on style, add some short rows for fit, change the shoulder shaping. I would definitely recommend to any frustrated knitters, like myself, where the end project never quite matches up to your expectations. There is another course soon- click <a href="https://www.blacksheepwools.com/workshops/professional-finishing-workshop-with-nicole-wilson-saturday-18th-may-2019.html" target="_blank">here</a> to have a look. </span><br />
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SallyStrewberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09818430985001006485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1288438244636801667.post-70786748703254724492018-11-13T12:12:00.000-08:002018-11-13T12:12:47.392-08:00Finished Object- The Carbeth Cardigan by Kate Davies<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">This weekend I got to wear my finished Carbeth Cardigan by <a href="https://katedaviesdesigns.com/2018/01/05/carbeth/" target="_blank">Kate Davies</a> on a whistle stop tour to Amsterdam. Kate released the Carbeth jumper <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/carbeth" target="_blank">pattern</a> in January, followed swiftly by the <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/carbeth-cardigan" target="_blank">cardigan</a> in February. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I started this in Sept, finishing by the end of October. For someone with limited knitting time, 2 months on a garment means that this is one speedy knit. The main body took me a couple of weeks and each sleeve took me a weekend. What did take me the time was the finishing. The picking up for the button bands took me multiple attempts and I'm so glad I took my time on it as I'm really pleased with the fit and the finish. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I used Kate's own yarn for this project, Buachaille, which is a 2-ply, worsted spun 100% Scottish yarn, the Squall (natural dark grey). I bought a Carbeth kit when Kate was running a newsletter subscriber discount offer. You can find the kit <a href="https://www.shopkdd.com/sweaters-and-cardigans/carbeth-cardigan" target="_blank">here. </a>Two strands are held together when knitting. I had to go down a needle size to a 6mm for the main body in order to obtain gauge, and 5mm needles for the ribbing. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Modifications:</b> I made 3 modifications to this pattern. The first was very simple; I added a couple of inches onto the body as I whilst it is a cropped cardigan I have quite a long body and I didn't want it to be too short. My second modification was the ncckline. The pattern does not have any neck shaping, and when I tried it on it was a bit gappy at the back of the neck so I adecided to add some shortrows at the back. Being my first cardigan, and only second garment and I've never done this before I thought I was pretty brave (or stupid) to attempt this. My knitting confidence has grown recently so I watched 30 seconds of a YouTube video on short rows and ploughed on.....till I realised that what I was doing was never going to work! Cue a confidence knockback and an almost-tantrum...... Knitting can be the best and the most frustrating thing ever! We've all been there.... I took a few deep breaths, did a little more research and got out a pen and paper. An hour, and lots of diagrams on the back of an envelope later, I'd only bloody done it! So pleased I didn't give up as it fits so well on the back now, who'd have thought 6 shortrows could have made such a difference!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The third and final modification was another altogether less stressful one. I cut out 10 rows out of the neck ribbing. The Buachaille yarn is gloriously rustic and I was a bit concerned about it rubbing round the neck. Had I not down this I probably would have run out of yarn. I also slightly changed the position of the button holes, choosing to put the top button just below the collarband. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The buttons are my absolute favourite. I bought these with the Carbeth in mind when I was at <a href="https://www.lucylocketland.co.uk/" target="_blank">Lucy Locket Land</a> in Sunderland in April.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">All in all I'm very glad to have joined the Carbeth Clan!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Oh yes, and whats a trip to Amsterdam without a trip to <a href="https://www.stephenandpenelope.com/en/" target="_blank">Stephen and Penelope</a>....eeeek!!!</span></div>
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<br />SallyStrewberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09818430985001006485noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1288438244636801667.post-21485835944733814012018-02-28T10:57:00.001-08:002018-02-28T10:57:20.161-08:00What I'm up to Wednesday<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I always used to post weekly under 'Work in Progress Wednesday' which followed my (mostly) crochet projects. For me personally everything falls by the wayside during the winter when I struggle to get the time to take photos in daylight. As the days lengthen I am starting to document my progress again. I thought I'd also share some of the things I've been making, any new yarn that I've acquired, my crafty plans and anything I've been listening to and reading that has resonated, or that I think that will be interesting to you. </span><br />
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Current works in progress:</span></b><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I've been making an effort to be more monogamous with my knitting and crochet as I found having too many projects on the go overwhelming and stressful- and who wants that from your favourite hobby. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Project number one</b> is a big one. I'm knitting a jumper for myself!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The pattern: F<a href="https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/flax" target="_blank">lax by Tincan Knits</a>. This pattern is available for free on <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/flax" target="_blank">Ravelry</a> and is sized from baby to 4XL. This jumper is knitted top down in the round, alleviating the need for any seams.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Yarn: Artesano Aran from stash (discontinued)</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'm loving this knit, and got to the body in a week which I was really pleased about, and didn't think it was something I was capable of.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I just love all the different colours in this yarn. Unicorn stitch marker is from <a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/Fortheloveofyarnuk" target="_blank">For The Love of Yarn</a></span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Project number two </b>is my first foray into Brioche Knitting. Brioche is a technique where in simple terms you are knitting everything twice, which results in a very squishy (double thickness) rib stitch. Brioche can be knit in one or two colours, the latter resulting in a reversibly pattern with one colour being more prominent on each side. I started this cowl in January as it was a New Year challenge to learn brioche. I cast on in the round for a cowl, knit an inch of 1x1 rib, and then followed <a href="https://www.woolandthegang.com/how-to/knit/two-colour-brioche-stitch" target="_blank">this tutorial</a> by Wool and the Gang for two colour brioche.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Yarn: <a href="http://www.westwightalpacas.co.uk/shop/yarn-michelle-to-edit" target="_blank">West Wight Alpaca </a>Double Knit, which I bought from the West Wight Alpaca farm when we visited summer before last. This is an undyed yarn and is so nice to knit with. It has really softened up in my hands as I've knit. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This project has been neglected of late, but I really want to knit on it, least so I don't forget how to do the stitch. There are loads of mistakes in this project, so don't look too closely! You can see the double-sided brioche pattern appear though.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsV3Ko655eBhYgirtu5zJjkqU0AqCvl2xn_-FoMC-fWG0bQ4SG4PPtN5tS0p0rcZBHzqZk5WmPPzVAcR0o1-U-ur3RhUxjl-SlicIMyEnCF7PJHdwWOZrf7ZxrZnaFUjB9hL0dO5WqHsM1/s1600/IMG_8606.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsV3Ko655eBhYgirtu5zJjkqU0AqCvl2xn_-FoMC-fWG0bQ4SG4PPtN5tS0p0rcZBHzqZk5WmPPzVAcR0o1-U-ur3RhUxjl-SlicIMyEnCF7PJHdwWOZrf7ZxrZnaFUjB9hL0dO5WqHsM1/s640/IMG_8606.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Project number three </span></b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">is a new cast on, and will be a gift for my friends' 30th Birthday. I was so lucky to get a subscription to Pompom Quarterly for my birthday. My first copy arrived last week and its amazing! Thanks to good old insomnia I chose this pattern and ordered the yarn at six thirty on a Sunday morning. I thought the yarn looked more of cream colour but actually its more of a pale mint green. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I've just started this project and am still on the rib, but I can't wait to get on to the cable pattern!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Pattern: <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/cablegram-2" target="_blank">Cablegram by Jessie Roselyn</a></span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Yarn: Schoppel, Cashmere Queen in Helio. This is 45% wool, 35% cashmere and 20% silk</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This yarn is unlike anything I've knit with before, the fibre structure is completely unique, and almost has a cotton-wool like feel to it. I think it will give great stitch definition in the cables, though I'm a bit worried it won't have much stretch to it. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My lovely bee stitch marker is from <a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/CraftHouseMagic" target="_blank">Craft House Magic</a></span><br />
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Finished objects: </span></b><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I knit my friend Hannah a mustard 2x2 rib hat and I loved it so much I decided to knit one myself.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Sadly I ran out of yarn, but I found some grey aran in my stash and finished it with that. It's been keeping me warm on my walks to and from work, and I hear Hannah's hat is keeping her warm too. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Yellow yarn: Cascade 220</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Grey yarn: no idea! Could be Artesano British Aran (long discontinued)</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBKfmdDl3BQzp3I5psnpRKXK8CfY4B_1OAblGcK2w0wKxe83XLGiBNa2jvqQMTqAQV_14d-Q0oXq0aN6ZicJRP5epeCZectLDEcOwAXi3tJjPyhTwlfvYzl93hoe0fA-GBEnm_5m4rES2z/s1600/IMG_20180224_111902601.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBKfmdDl3BQzp3I5psnpRKXK8CfY4B_1OAblGcK2w0wKxe83XLGiBNa2jvqQMTqAQV_14d-Q0oXq0aN6ZicJRP5epeCZectLDEcOwAXi3tJjPyhTwlfvYzl93hoe0fA-GBEnm_5m4rES2z/s320/IMG_20180224_111902601.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Yarn acquisition: </b>I'm trying really really hard to only buy yarn for a specific project. The only yarn I have bought recently, bar my <a href="http://www.sallystrawberrycreations.com/2018/02/hitting-30.html" target="_blank">purchases in Copenhagen</a>, is the yarn I've bought is the Schoppel Cashmere Queen for my Cablegram shown above. </span><br />
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Reading: </span></b><br />
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<li><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">THIS- Kate at A Playful Day talks about <a href="http://www.aplayfulday.com/blog/2018/2/24/creating-a-safe-space-for-conversation" target="_blank">creating safe spaces for conversations. </a></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://www.thesaltedtail.com/2018/02/inner-stregth-is-quiet.html" target="_blank">This</a> made my cry over my porridge this morning. So beautifully written.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'm guessing you have heard about Vevo, the 'new' social media app. Sara Tasker has written about it <a href="https://meandorla.co.uk/whats-the-deal-with-vero-and-is-it-worth-the-hype/" target="_blank">here</a></span></li>
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Listening: </span></b><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Due to the snow I've been walking to work rather than riding my bike. The downside is I have to get up earlier. The upside is that I get almost an hour and a half of podcast-listening time. I've been binge-listening (is that even a thing) the <a href="http://sweetgeorgiayarns.com/podcast/" target="_blank">Sweet Georgia Yarns podcast</a> recently. Felicia interviews a really great selection of guests on a range of fibre crafts. One that I thought I should bring to you attention is very pertinent to me, and that it Felicia's interview with Melissa Kwan (misocraftyknits) where they discuss Carpel Tunnel Syndrome from knitting for extended lengths of time. You can find this episode <a href="http://here./">here.</a><a href="http://sweetgeorgiayarns.com/podcast/episode-022-melissa-kwan-colour-carpal-tunnel-syndrome/" target="_blank">http://sweetgeorgiayarns.com/podcast/episode-022-melissa-kwan-colour-carpal-tunnel-syndrome</a>. I've <a href="http://www.sallystrawberrycreations.com/2014/03/crochet-rsi-and-me.html" target="_blank">written about this</a> in the past, but more from a crochet perspective. If you are having issues with your hands and wrists from knitting I recommend giving this podcast a listen .</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Other episodes I've found really interesting include Felicia's <a href="http://sweetgeorgiayarns.com/podcast/episode-057-conversation-colour-kaffe-fassett/" target="_blank">interview with Kaffe Fasset</a>, and <a href="http://sweetgeorgiayarns.com/podcast/072/" target="_blank">Exploring Sustainable Fibre Farming with Anna Hunter</a>. Anna talks about some really interesting ideas surrounding farming for yarn in a sustainable way. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'm also really enjoying the new podcast series from <a href="http://www.aplayfulday.com/podcast/" target="_blank">A Playful Day</a></span><br />
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Food:</span></b><br />
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I've had a sourdough starter going for a couple of weeks. This may be my best loaf yet!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Planning: </b>some much neglected crochet.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This photo.....</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7kYX_4IlC53K5Rb-3Yruafwx1Cvsh7oW-TiUuqYnkwNSh_v6mcrzsQhEDkW53yf4asTw74txO_PnDPacXzrEWwRuMQ_zk-TLbYKtlHUDkMl2_n5TjzDW4IwIuDN7PRD1ESRYMMwlP1Wjh/s1600/IMG_8599.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7kYX_4IlC53K5Rb-3Yruafwx1Cvsh7oW-TiUuqYnkwNSh_v6mcrzsQhEDkW53yf4asTw74txO_PnDPacXzrEWwRuMQ_zk-TLbYKtlHUDkMl2_n5TjzDW4IwIuDN7PRD1ESRYMMwlP1Wjh/s640/IMG_8599.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">.......reminded me I needed to crochet with this yarn......</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkXQgWPiyHt1jcWpRXgTpEVC4kRT07EJCaAjYR0Jnfh30ejC7f_6eYxvRrSOa03G8ttdtf3yq8G_ozVsHCNr9e6YT_tRi7FzbE1eKe1tu3QfGD0MfMj2s1FtO6SozyW4Sfqaw1ZV5aQEAC/s1600/IMG_8612.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkXQgWPiyHt1jcWpRXgTpEVC4kRT07EJCaAjYR0Jnfh30ejC7f_6eYxvRrSOa03G8ttdtf3yq8G_ozVsHCNr9e6YT_tRi7FzbE1eKe1tu3QfGD0MfMj2s1FtO6SozyW4Sfqaw1ZV5aQEAC/s640/IMG_8612.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Watch this space!</span>SallyStrewberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09818430985001006485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1288438244636801667.post-117020353465200672018-02-24T04:50:00.003-08:002018-02-25T07:38:56.948-08:00NEW PATTERN!! Ballyvaughan Cowl<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil7DX9w1_s6IiTL_5pdAMthrz222Y1xTReEHUJxkVlB-e_MZt_yHrs7l9p9-LrQ_d703l0V67sEMSnowbWpzG9QyoYCnSAAmIQw1SyiYKvJWXUlzyU_vJ6tyvTLZNSFlWAYKeLMfPEcIrn/s1600/IMG_8573.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil7DX9w1_s6IiTL_5pdAMthrz222Y1xTReEHUJxkVlB-e_MZt_yHrs7l9p9-LrQ_d703l0V67sEMSnowbWpzG9QyoYCnSAAmIQw1SyiYKvJWXUlzyU_vJ6tyvTLZNSFlWAYKeLMfPEcIrn/s640/IMG_8573.jpg" width="426" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'm excited to introduce you to the Ballyvaughan Cowl. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Ballyvaughan is a small harbour village in County Clare, Ireland. Inspired by the gorgeous landscapes surrounding the village I designed this quick, easy cowl pattern. A mix of double and treble stitches creates texture, and gently blends the colours, mimicking those that I saw in the surrounding countryside. This cowl is perfect for those 'in-between' seasons where you don't necessarily want a full scarf, but need something to protect you from those northerly winds. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Like all my crochet patterns this is a really easy, fast, satisfying project. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Now for the details:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Measurements:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">One size: 18 cm wide, 60cm long before
joining into a round. Measurements made after blocking</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This garment will benefit from wet
blocking to relax the stitches.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Materials:</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">100g </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Siabod</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> Slate (05)- A, 50g </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Gwyngregin</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">
Damson (06)- B and 25g </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Idwal</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">
Lichen (09)- C in Ada from Find Me
Knitting.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">6.0</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">mm hook. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Gauge:</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Gauge is not strictly important </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">fo</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">r</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">this </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">project</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Construction:</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This cowl is constructed in rows. The
short ends are sewn together using mattress stitch to join into a circle</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqHPJ2mz6zklRsB4QnlwwVcrEzxpfXOoXBbOADlRsCxM8pT-ESRPM76IgW_HvJKhUZrMQIgSgIoKR_ytgTctqpselX9hpBahABkA6e4dPeR4LQlY3Ji2Ql8N5sNBk5mqsLT02qtbPeb65c/s1600/IMG_8579.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqHPJ2mz6zklRsB4QnlwwVcrEzxpfXOoXBbOADlRsCxM8pT-ESRPM76IgW_HvJKhUZrMQIgSgIoKR_ytgTctqpselX9hpBahABkA6e4dPeR4LQlY3Ji2Ql8N5sNBk5mqsLT02qtbPeb65c/s640/IMG_8579.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This pattern is available for <b>free</b> on my <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/ballyvaughan-cowl" target="_blank">Ravelry Store</a> until the end of March. I would love to hear if you make this project, you can let me know by commenting here, or via Instagram (@sal_strawbs).</span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Here are some snaps of the stunning scenery that inspired this pattern. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwuUQ58OCwG_ndlEUp16j536S_zEQTl1ZPLo_Y6Mw4nq9vdkSW7uPzxT-wEHd7FnSwJLFxZWdOLKaBWnGAglDIukuSSi6M25jm3Zk-Ea1aLYtI_5BwzvUotyrYrkXl0s3o5Zyk5Xh0-EX_/s1600/IMG_5836.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwuUQ58OCwG_ndlEUp16j536S_zEQTl1ZPLo_Y6Mw4nq9vdkSW7uPzxT-wEHd7FnSwJLFxZWdOLKaBWnGAglDIukuSSi6M25jm3Zk-Ea1aLYtI_5BwzvUotyrYrkXl0s3o5Zyk5Xh0-EX_/s640/IMG_5836.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMZM5lxtTjYDbPae6JWeGYYfPhTlqi_iDsJhasoBwQi1vVhtjBZ3Vqt2dCcUNi3cdsS4kP2UHm25PbYuuykV57mudQ55S5K88xMNEjiotHML_QzgUzfJHvcuZoOBAArbn9P3cx-mMYtwy-/s1600/IMG_5838.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMZM5lxtTjYDbPae6JWeGYYfPhTlqi_iDsJhasoBwQi1vVhtjBZ3Vqt2dCcUNi3cdsS4kP2UHm25PbYuuykV57mudQ55S5K88xMNEjiotHML_QzgUzfJHvcuZoOBAArbn9P3cx-mMYtwy-/s320/IMG_5838.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOzjX44m0S2gEfqSLMhZyruJRyzkSlwTY-_2vSKgZPwXFkK8WdqJabPdcJEY9Qx3ERhOYiZ_S6zLbKYQZESF3-JPsEGaIO5xXc8Q1QLzpfj8zO7oI3JZLh-ifobf8apwweyQgy_5Ni3W_8/s1600/IMG_5851.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOzjX44m0S2gEfqSLMhZyruJRyzkSlwTY-_2vSKgZPwXFkK8WdqJabPdcJEY9Qx3ERhOYiZ_S6zLbKYQZESF3-JPsEGaIO5xXc8Q1QLzpfj8zO7oI3JZLh-ifobf8apwweyQgy_5Ni3W_8/s640/IMG_5851.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlvH0CHWP7iD712KKxRryjjqM0M-dfKbBNpp3Vko-Aj4dH7HWQogyIHG-g4NCJ4D0nWxJ1aPOJA0r-Hli2tg21MttAZubGNYMSq7DjZBDcw-cRgdGhbi4RAYUtI-XxaY4wwU3SchbkvcxR/s1600/IMG_5859.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlvH0CHWP7iD712KKxRryjjqM0M-dfKbBNpp3Vko-Aj4dH7HWQogyIHG-g4NCJ4D0nWxJ1aPOJA0r-Hli2tg21MttAZubGNYMSq7DjZBDcw-cRgdGhbi4RAYUtI-XxaY4wwU3SchbkvcxR/s640/IMG_5859.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />SallyStrewberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09818430985001006485noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1288438244636801667.post-88897215207026781702018-02-11T11:54:00.001-08:002018-02-11T11:54:35.203-08:00Hitting 30<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Two weeks ago I hit the big 30. My 30th was spent drinking coffee and people watching in first Copenhagen, then Malmo, followed by a massive curry in Manchester in the evening. Just ever so slightly different from my 21st!<br />
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Have I grown up? slightly, or maybe my body just can't take it anymore!<br />
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Where I have felt real, unexpected changes is in my crafting. I have frequently discussed my dislike of long projects. Blankets- nah, waaaay too dull and repetative. Garments- an even stronger nah......so much stocking stitch........<br />
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I had always favoured small, fast projects offering instant gratification. These projects were mostly crochet (because its faster than knitting obviously), with my favourite things to make including bunting and coasters. I even enjoyed amigurumi, crocheting a few of Kerry Lord's fabulous creations from <a href="http://www.sallystrawberrycreations.com/2015/09/edwards-menagerie-birds-by-kerry-lord.html" target="_blank">Edwards Menagerie</a>.<br />
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I'm not sure when things changed, and maybe it was gradual, but last year I crocheted 3 blankets. (there's another in the WIP pile but lets not dwell on that) Yes, at times I found them pretty slow going and tedious, and at times I really had to force myself to push on and keep crocheting, the majority of the time I enjoyed the process. I even published one as a f<a href="https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/the-rainbow-disco-blanket" target="_blank">ree patter</a>n.<br />
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At the beginning of 2017 I knitted 2 cabled bobble hats as gifts, and last April I knitted my partner a pair of socks using the magic loop technique (a revelation I tell you!) and slowly I began to fall back in love with knitting. I was a very basic knitter before I learned to crochet, which soon dominated my life and the poor old pairs of sticks got left by the wayside. However, after joining the Everyday Knitter group on Facebook I realised that I still had so much more to learn in knitting. With my crochet I got stuck in a rut, but with knitting I have been learning something new with every project.<br />
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Because of neglecting this blog over the winter months, and because most of my recent projects have been gifts I don't have a whole host of photos of finished items, but will show you what I can.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG-gQLpCPyviKMDjrss4krejJ2JzX2hxK8exvhk9KFtFvkL4J7rdgi4BoMsT9yvnX-pqXOZ3JuehIOFNMNMfWnc_Cy2l2kS1thkL7XdojPpVQoC2W3U06pmS2K5gQWk56Loy5xFEqhtBro/s1600/IMG_7756.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG-gQLpCPyviKMDjrss4krejJ2JzX2hxK8exvhk9KFtFvkL4J7rdgi4BoMsT9yvnX-pqXOZ3JuehIOFNMNMfWnc_Cy2l2kS1thkL7XdojPpVQoC2W3U06pmS2K5gQWk56Loy5xFEqhtBro/s640/IMG_7756.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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A finished pair of socks for my boyfriend. Unfortunately I now have no idea which pattern I used, but they used a Slip Stitch (reinforced) Heel, and the yarn was by Opal. I knitted a lot of these whilst on holiday in Iceland last year. We hired a car, exploring the south coast. Knitting to scenery like this was just magical.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsqZVn12_PjD58LpjeaA8qPiL092E3zfy_-UbRthS2iVx2TsTnT4JqSOAR_lhM0LQu0FUhtwjlKpsxYkSPu6NkR2rl0A5yAogrUnmxcZMgUdIA-XGRKkWkvuV0CPdJ0pOYOzMkKa6Vhvnh/s1600/IMG_7457.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1004" data-original-width="1600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsqZVn12_PjD58LpjeaA8qPiL092E3zfy_-UbRthS2iVx2TsTnT4JqSOAR_lhM0LQu0FUhtwjlKpsxYkSPu6NkR2rl0A5yAogrUnmxcZMgUdIA-XGRKkWkvuV0CPdJ0pOYOzMkKa6Vhvnh/s640/IMG_7457.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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(I wanna go back now!)<br />
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I also knitted a pair of socks for myself using the pattern by <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/fish-lips-kiss-heel" target="_blank">Sox Therapist for the Fish Lips Kiss Heel</a> in some gorgeous yarn in Madame Rosmerta by <a href="https://norahgeorgeyarns.co.uk/" target="_blank">Norah George Yarns</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyqRfMvV7i9XK4W0hftXO9_I6x73Kh6i1HoSFEtsx7zhnPBkTjaw6hPwpLwBPBqSd-FQwxwybdi8YZcNKUygoWhtFgXY_3i3FznQ3tVBdRgHH-4HEFL7I4I5OMAWl9SNoREjr49SKPqFOk/s1600/IMG_8394+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyqRfMvV7i9XK4W0hftXO9_I6x73Kh6i1HoSFEtsx7zhnPBkTjaw6hPwpLwBPBqSd-FQwxwybdi8YZcNKUygoWhtFgXY_3i3FznQ3tVBdRgHH-4HEFL7I4I5OMAWl9SNoREjr49SKPqFOk/s640/IMG_8394+%25282%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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As often happens I then got somewhat addicted to sock knitting and knit a pair of <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/spellbound-socks" target="_blank">Spellbound Socks by Naomi Buchanan</a>. I knit these for my sister for Christmas, and the moment I posted a progress shot on Instagram she only went and joined herself! These were definitely my best socks yet, not least due to the yarn. I totally love this yarn,<a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/VickiBrownDesigns" target="_blank"> Vintage Christmas by Vikki Brow</a>n, and am hoping to get another sock out of the leftover skein.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOag1A6Uf815yZTpbSuyJglVslGMFV4HdlmMs576sF3X7ompNXAY_aVrZKSjEwAIF3v9GyPqjLjNhf-G_mkMbr0ZqjqVYgiib9xRdKeKCsCjrH1HycWgG5556xco-sVrQ-iRD_t0gQQ2RS/s1600/spellbound+socks+sallystrawberry.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOag1A6Uf815yZTpbSuyJglVslGMFV4HdlmMs576sF3X7ompNXAY_aVrZKSjEwAIF3v9GyPqjLjNhf-G_mkMbr0ZqjqVYgiib9xRdKeKCsCjrH1HycWgG5556xco-sVrQ-iRD_t0gQQ2RS/s640/spellbound+socks+sallystrawberry.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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Some BIG news happened in August last year. I became an Auntie to a gorgeous squidgy ball of fun. When I saw this pattern in Cutest Ever Baby Knits I just couldn't resist! I have lots of plans to knit and crochet him jumpers and cardigans as soon as he slows down with his growing!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcRe9cXlFrhkxv_dBP9fh2bzFrTvvLQpdQV9EOMIon-LK_Ea06x70cl1Ue-jxolHQ2VXTrtqiltVb4vr4mJ2c41bbR0HuIhrL3EIeWvfiImd2OjID6RIjR6zZ6pkqcj8XwfqUf796jfaxX/s1600/bee+hat+sallystrawberry.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1280" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcRe9cXlFrhkxv_dBP9fh2bzFrTvvLQpdQV9EOMIon-LK_Ea06x70cl1Ue-jxolHQ2VXTrtqiltVb4vr4mJ2c41bbR0HuIhrL3EIeWvfiImd2OjID6RIjR6zZ6pkqcj8XwfqUf796jfaxX/s640/bee+hat+sallystrawberry.jpg" width="512" /></a></div>
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As you can see I have really embraced the knitting!<br />
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So I turned 30 in Copenhagen, which happens to have a great independent yarn store, <a href="https://www.sommerfuglen.dk/shop/frontpage.html" target="_blank">Sommerfuglen</a> (butterfly in Danish). I wanted to get myself a keepsake from the trip, and yarn seemed the obvious choice! I've got to the point in my life (maybe its a sign of getting older!) that I don't want to be consuming for the sake of it. If I buy a skein or yarn it needs to be lined up for a pattern (maybe there is another blog post in this somewhere). I wanted to get something Danish, something that I hadn't seen elsewhere. Hidden in the corner was a plastic box of random skeins of sock yarn, perhaps yarn that they were no longer stocking. In this box I found this beauty, which is destined to be another <a href="http://www.sallystrawberrycreations.com/2016/10/" target="_blank">Sockhead Hat</a> (click the link and scroll to the bottom for pictures), though less baggy and minus the bobble.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk59T1VoGLcMNrJe-PVo0Voh97RaH3IfzxgomoYwkbTVu9LChnRE9mX0B74nHp5N3o3iGTjJelYqnSue-CO_bMiuSQynP3ZfzshzLudjwpu-FFrAYzW_jb-WCqRn-26Ayse4oij2Z5EUMG/s1600/IMG_8498.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk59T1VoGLcMNrJe-PVo0Voh97RaH3IfzxgomoYwkbTVu9LChnRE9mX0B74nHp5N3o3iGTjJelYqnSue-CO_bMiuSQynP3ZfzshzLudjwpu-FFrAYzW_jb-WCqRn-26Ayse4oij2Z5EUMG/s640/IMG_8498.jpg" width="426" /></a></div>
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Have you seen the new pattern, George Street by <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/george-street" target="_blank">Maddie Harvey</a>? It's absolutely gorgeous and I so wanted to make it. This pattern is a 2 skein shawl in fingering weight wool. One colour is a solid, the other variegated. As soon as I saw the bright pink/orange yarn by <a href="http://www.madelinetosh.com/" target="_blank">Madeline Tosh</a>I knew that it had be be part of the shawl. I chose to pair it with a solid blue/grey. I think you would have to be a very experienced photographer to do this yarn justice, but I've tried! This yarn really is something special and I can't wait to get knitting!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg97eT8tzTDHBOliEP_SxGx4q0nMTskom-pexADnviY22DX-Nq9H_beybp6awP9-_WQFbx4oLKMSsunPvpw9SoSUD9cHwh4JvlCeIMyV72v11_MCIUJ8MvScBEOkKN7kDb1Vh_r84tkMmFW/s1600/IMG_8500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg97eT8tzTDHBOliEP_SxGx4q0nMTskom-pexADnviY22DX-Nq9H_beybp6awP9-_WQFbx4oLKMSsunPvpw9SoSUD9cHwh4JvlCeIMyV72v11_MCIUJ8MvScBEOkKN7kDb1Vh_r84tkMmFW/s640/IMG_8500.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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I've been lost in writing this post, time has passed and I've barely realised. I've also realised that so much has happened in my life, and not just with my crafting, since I was last blogging consistently. As I was writing I found myself saying to myself, "well how about the time when....?", "what about.....". I'll save this for another post, as I feel it will be a long one. Just one photo of beautiful Copenhagen to finish, Nyhavn at night. Here's to the next decade of creative living. I wonder where it will lead?<br />
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<br />SallyStrewberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09818430985001006485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1288438244636801667.post-41245141549473113642017-09-25T08:06:00.001-07:002017-09-25T08:06:40.593-07:00Yarndale!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcXOTPapYGFnMAUXaWQJXy6u4KBac08MuHmUM1ltHc36WB_tUWlCIhoOeHfDMf3WL1BZ9GULiXNM7N3OOwmd_W8zxGLg04v0W1vVB1K3Pibp5Pa24FvsGomdNi-tSwwPGm21ixukf5uASB/s1600/SallyStrawberry+Yarndale+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1280" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcXOTPapYGFnMAUXaWQJXy6u4KBac08MuHmUM1ltHc36WB_tUWlCIhoOeHfDMf3WL1BZ9GULiXNM7N3OOwmd_W8zxGLg04v0W1vVB1K3Pibp5Pa24FvsGomdNi-tSwwPGm21ixukf5uASB/s400/SallyStrawberry+Yarndale+5.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Following my <a href="http://www.sallystrawberrycreations.com/2017/06/hello-sunshine.html" target="_blank">massive hiatus </a>I feel that a few snaps from my trip to <a href="http://yarndale.co.uk/" target="_blank">Yarndale</a> this weekend would be the perfect way to get back into this weird and wonderful world of blogging. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Before I go blundering straight in I will talk little about <a href="http://yarndale.co.uk/" target="_blank">Yarndale</a> itself. Now in its 5th year, Yarndale is a fibre festival held in Skipton Auction Market. It is a festival celebrating yarn, celebrating fibre arts, and celebrating community. I have never seen so much gorgeous yarn under one roof! Skipton is a beautiful market town in the North of England, and one that is definitely worth a visit. It would be a perfect destination for a weekend getaway. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Myself and a group of 12 family members and family friends decided to make a weekend of it, and booked a ridiculously amazing cottage just outside of Skipton. There were 3 living rooms (three?!), one with panoramic views across the Yorkshire Moors, which was perfect for some early morning crochet. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://yarndale.co.uk/" target="_blank">Yarndale </a>is spread over both the Saturday and Sunday, though we chose to go on the Saturday. Sunday was spent cooing over our purchases, drinking copious amounts of tea and coffee, and crafting. I was working on my crochet, and worked with a friend on our first attempts at the crocheted sock the yarn for which we purchases on Saturday (check back for details of my purchases later as they deserve a post of their own!). </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I didn't take my camera. I'm so glad of this is it was so busy, I bought a lot, and a big camera would have been a complete pain to carry around. Therefore, I was only able to take photos on my phone. The outside area had been yarn bombed and these photos didn't come out too badly on my phone. I have taken 'proper' photos of my purchases, including the sock yarn I wound Sunday, to share in a later post. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I won't hold back any longer- here are a few pictures from the day.........</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Amazing mandalas hanging from the trees:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjcMEEjFcNkj5C8nTmkfONszd5G2kE3x1rS5V94OpjNLU6mY3E0_goBKn5bYY_V2a2ATE3kjU8YHxOp4qYiICV_snebtZCT2f2J0X_tz0eYTg62NHzET8azzIjR-sfzvC9gAg2MIbLPrUe/s1600/SallyStrawberry+Yarndale+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1280" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjcMEEjFcNkj5C8nTmkfONszd5G2kE3x1rS5V94OpjNLU6mY3E0_goBKn5bYY_V2a2ATE3kjU8YHxOp4qYiICV_snebtZCT2f2J0X_tz0eYTg62NHzET8azzIjR-sfzvC9gAg2MIbLPrUe/s400/SallyStrawberry+Yarndale+1.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I absolutely loved this snail as part of this collaborative project:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitvf6JvfNFQLfG2gKkat3loUw0a-PDDu0b66VmjNfiCwsVDAe7lKNIHvLmaOTNoFtuTzVthZbPCTdswEmBHr4t91gBo9q62fjJBL8EqXze0FsQp5zzt47-9cT5-L8eYrG7bqkOt7JCteW3/s1600/SallyStrawberry+Yarndale+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitvf6JvfNFQLfG2gKkat3loUw0a-PDDu0b66VmjNfiCwsVDAe7lKNIHvLmaOTNoFtuTzVthZbPCTdswEmBHr4t91gBo9q62fjJBL8EqXze0FsQp5zzt47-9cT5-L8eYrG7bqkOt7JCteW3/s400/SallyStrawberry+Yarndale+2.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This is a great idea.... crochet spirals spinning in the trees:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXnw887U6jB6djTSdQKhKv7yyil_IfqKigNdIha8Ba7wk8U7rv4H6Z1R80Re_Wfz5WQx_aFdICKgdBLxb5MH_uOfTKONf8MFhWbboJY7GkdU-GZgOyVqV5QN7KzmP-RutqYwZ4guEX_Qpz/s1600/SallyStrawberry+Yarndale+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXnw887U6jB6djTSdQKhKv7yyil_IfqKigNdIha8Ba7wk8U7rv4H6Z1R80Re_Wfz5WQx_aFdICKgdBLxb5MH_uOfTKONf8MFhWbboJY7GkdU-GZgOyVqV5QN7KzmP-RutqYwZ4guEX_Qpz/s400/SallyStrawberry+Yarndale+3.jpg" width="225" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A little glimpse at my latest finished project, a crocheted rucksack designed by <a href="http://justpootling.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Kate of Just Pootling</a> which was a supplement with <a href="http://www.insidecrochet.co.uk/magazine/issue/92/" target="_blank">Inside Crochet Issue 92</a>. There is also a rather embarrassing photo of myself at the Inside Crochet stand on my<a href="https://www.instagram.com/sal_strawbs/" target="_blank"> Instagram feed</a>.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglmkQgiGgA5WBM_9A4t0xWprGZvAwQRQ-sO9DtYkmQz24xPPOOea6R_nQcqx09pUyR9F6QdaI0iG6Zf7tfDtzNK1UmamJUBjzj09pF8YOy-K10gDb6ESoeKhAPDQgJPLRn9qFpqEG93FWs/s1600/SallyStrawberry+Yarndale+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglmkQgiGgA5WBM_9A4t0xWprGZvAwQRQ-sO9DtYkmQz24xPPOOea6R_nQcqx09pUyR9F6QdaI0iG6Zf7tfDtzNK1UmamJUBjzj09pF8YOy-K10gDb6ESoeKhAPDQgJPLRn9qFpqEG93FWs/s400/SallyStrawberry+Yarndale+4.jpg" width="225" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Did you go to Yarndale? Would love to hear how you enjoyed it :-)</span><br />
<br />SallyStrewberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09818430985001006485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1288438244636801667.post-64926939929610353252017-06-18T13:06:00.000-07:002017-06-18T13:06:14.273-07:00Hello Sunshine!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUKBlHnBN___iCsAnnCX1DMHmyNkv8VVyxkFpZLgjlBtNVdgO5J97wLoa9b-aXIRAr7-nPLN9XlvDCzcjQbpqywxxsMlOOswbMyFk0ZMtF7TDOaFLczxx9p0ColqhjOt-kjrV97ffg5aev/s1600/IMG_7821.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUKBlHnBN___iCsAnnCX1DMHmyNkv8VVyxkFpZLgjlBtNVdgO5J97wLoa9b-aXIRAr7-nPLN9XlvDCzcjQbpqywxxsMlOOswbMyFk0ZMtF7TDOaFLczxx9p0ColqhjOt-kjrV97ffg5aev/s640/IMG_7821.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I don't think I have seen such a persistently blue sky in a long while. I don't think I've spent a whole day lounging outside on a day where not a single cloud obscures the sun from waking to sundown. Today was such a luxury as it was the first summer Sunday for almost three years where I didn't have to bundle myself in the car and spend the afternoon on the motorways back to South Wales. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I finished one book, started another. I ate healthy food, drank gallons of water and and finished the day with a beer, a pot of plump green olives followed swiftly by a sherry. It was bliss. Who needs the Med when you can have a beautiful, scorching corner of Manchester, ey?</span><br />
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SallyStrewberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09818430985001006485noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1288438244636801667.post-32142693650499473482017-06-05T10:10:00.001-07:002017-06-05T10:44:18.738-07:00A project to be proud of (and a cock-up!)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJSTLxPWtnRDOu5d80k0lhPzlv29zH_S_ijCF0oR4HILjJxEKj0WB6NZAGHg-3wgdezkf_tH0fJnSQQrVvqU2kH453PDU5Kbpm_FESvFmDm8uxC2f72-OYARxHnSWptk9R63oz0-zKJqo-/s1600/IMG_7728.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJSTLxPWtnRDOu5d80k0lhPzlv29zH_S_ijCF0oR4HILjJxEKj0WB6NZAGHg-3wgdezkf_tH0fJnSQQrVvqU2kH453PDU5Kbpm_FESvFmDm8uxC2f72-OYARxHnSWptk9R63oz0-zKJqo-/s640/IMG_7728.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I have an amazing friend who has been pushing through some incredibly harsh treatment for breast cancer. I wanted to make her something whilst she was going through the treatment process. I chose the colours (Stylecraft Life DK, 25% wool, 75% acrylic) Fuchsia, Rose, Teal and Pebble Nepp (grey with multi-colourd flecks) and made 6 large granny squares which I then joined and bordered. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I love the way it turned out, and my friend did too. I crocheted all 6 squares at the same time which I think made the project feel a lot quicker. I then bordered it in trebles. This took a lot longer! I love the way the colours just pop!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoH9uHDb8tRr9dg46qj2npCX6_4HLSYpUTyIiFHLrD1OmrSRzniY6HGjoCbCN3rNdCMPQ9Ov3q1q7VMHUusVOhtpgwQzI18HHsjKiWVxvIcoUX48pDPRsw1PFvZMYaLIyo4y-DhoUh6mK4/s1600/IMG_7387.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoH9uHDb8tRr9dg46qj2npCX6_4HLSYpUTyIiFHLrD1OmrSRzniY6HGjoCbCN3rNdCMPQ9Ov3q1q7VMHUusVOhtpgwQzI18HHsjKiWVxvIcoUX48pDPRsw1PFvZMYaLIyo4y-DhoUh6mK4/s640/IMG_7387.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib817Itgg8Fqfj5ti6zveJbukxRVha2aLgmWcIJ7-LBISzuPsn4RRbWaEc0O6u1TU8jwSXlfXrHskMWKFjTePK3-FIowDf565ny1kbTV-9CjOMeO6CsNI_8HN7RMyQCRHp8mfBXZdKIFpN/s1600/IMG_7380+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib817Itgg8Fqfj5ti6zveJbukxRVha2aLgmWcIJ7-LBISzuPsn4RRbWaEc0O6u1TU8jwSXlfXrHskMWKFjTePK3-FIowDf565ny1kbTV-9CjOMeO6CsNI_8HN7RMyQCRHp8mfBXZdKIFpN/s640/IMG_7380+%25282%2529.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">This photo is terrible, and I have made it horizontal to fit the page which makes it look really weird but its the only full blanket shot I could get! I think it looks pretty amazing in picture...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6Dxi191Oxn41-CGmS4aqSEQyR3iyhFr6lXXeP7AEZi_mZHSS25galJw5jJnAy3AQF1BnXiiQYmeL_3ZKY9_W2beMSytTmxdE9VzRf6hEvRE8x8D5CHqaomGrFaorMj2LfV2dmpdGOgde1/s1600/IMG_7373+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6Dxi191Oxn41-CGmS4aqSEQyR3iyhFr6lXXeP7AEZi_mZHSS25galJw5jJnAy3AQF1BnXiiQYmeL_3ZKY9_W2beMSytTmxdE9VzRf6hEvRE8x8D5CHqaomGrFaorMj2LfV2dmpdGOgde1/s640/IMG_7373+%25282%2529.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I have to say I'm pretty proud of the blanket, and incredibly proud of my friend.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Ever taken on a project too 'big' for your skills? I think I did just that with the <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/snowmelt-shawl-mkal" target="_blank">Snowmelt Mystery Knit-a-Long (KAL) with Curious Handmade.</a> A KAL is a project where people all over the world work on a project simultaneously, sharing their progress via social media if they wish. This was a KAL with a differene, it was a mystery KAL, with a section of the pattern being released once a week for 5 weeks. The complete pattern is only revealed at the end! I have been trying to improve my knitting so thought it would be a great project, and the mystery element would keep me motivated til the end. This KAL actually started in February and I was hot off the mark. I had my yarn (<a href="https://www.loveknitting.com/coop-knits-socks-yeah?gclid=CjwKEAjwgtTJBRDRmd6ZtLrGyxwSJAA7Fy-hn0JpOw46AwjcOKx2nL_BxNuWF8PeD56t9U-vZByUCxoC02Pw_wcB&currency=GBP&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=629553109&utm_term=coop%20knits%20socks%20yeah" target="_blank">Coop Knits Socks Yeah</a> in shades that I loved, I had the needles and I was geared up to learn some new skills. Thanks to a long train journey I made a great start. It took me two weeks to knit to the end of the first clue and I was really enjoying seeing the pattern emerge. It kept my attention but wasn't too challenging. The second pattern section to be released was the start of the lace pattern, and by row 3 I was out of sync with the pattern. The lace was a mess. Before I started the second section I thought about setting a lifeline (a thread through all the stitches so you can easily pick back up if you need to rip back), but I thought it wasn't necessary. Hereby I had made my cock-up ! It took my almost an hour to knit back half a row. I think I will have to start over.......</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggbYEbgnFgUmmNRcqX5UI4IHQ0HcbhpVzmQS77NaW4HwFU9F3nXMCcMQ5ampiqRwtg02bBxw8OKcTviU0ThVnRPUPKfosWhFslmu1NJLUikvGFFSC6Au_9x7FHyNfWXPT9qFO7fuPvw1IW/s1600/IMG_7385.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggbYEbgnFgUmmNRcqX5UI4IHQ0HcbhpVzmQS77NaW4HwFU9F3nXMCcMQ5ampiqRwtg02bBxw8OKcTviU0ThVnRPUPKfosWhFslmu1NJLUikvGFFSC6Au_9x7FHyNfWXPT9qFO7fuPvw1IW/s640/IMG_7385.JPG" width="640" /></a></span></div>
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SallyStrewberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09818430985001006485noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1288438244636801667.post-68519672716504542562017-04-26T13:46:00.000-07:002017-04-26T13:52:28.928-07:00Back to Basics<br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">It feels massively overdue, and having been blogging on and off for almost 4 years now, I want to go back to why I started this blog in the first place. I had recently moved to a new city, I had part time jobs which allowed me lots of free time during the day and flexibility that I had never had before. I was at the point in my life where the possibilities were limitless, if only I could settle upon what I wanted to do. </span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I had just completed a PhD in breast cancer research and whilst I struggled to decide what I wanted to do long-term I knew that I had to give myself a chance at a career in science and healthcare. It was a difficult time as the lack of routine, and finding myself in a new city knowing very few people was challenging. Three months of this time was spent with no TV or internet connection (I know!). During these 3 months I took crochet and knitting to the extreme and I can honestly say it was the main factor in maintaining my sanity. It gave me a way of occupying my time, it really opened up a deep-seated creativity within me and I created fun, quirky, individual pieces that made me smile. The creativity was flowing so freely at this time that I started designing my own projects which I loved. Starting this blog was a natural progression. It was intended as a way of sharing my work in progress, finished items and also charting my foray into designing. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNUjLNzsmOhzX1jZidUtrh5zevXv3DEXWBLaVFwo4TuggatE7gmuD6xbts560D47QJpDhL16ViH6eGPeSoix6DVQfHuTuP28qAadRtvBCt7WdRFBiEipKmmqazOvue1YhDzYd1mohIECP4/s1600/Crochet+flower+bunting_yello_white_red_2_sallystrawberry.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNUjLNzsmOhzX1jZidUtrh5zevXv3DEXWBLaVFwo4TuggatE7gmuD6xbts560D47QJpDhL16ViH6eGPeSoix6DVQfHuTuP28qAadRtvBCt7WdRFBiEipKmmqazOvue1YhDzYd1mohIECP4/s640/Crochet+flower+bunting_yello_white_red_2_sallystrawberry.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">These days I find that this creativity has been suppressed. I wouldn't say lost, as I know that it will re-emerge in time, and I think I now know why. Two and a half years ago, after nearly two years of casual part time restaurant work I got a great job. A job that would use my skills learned in my PhD, a job that had clear career progression, and mostly importantly to me a job that would make a direct impact on others. I got a job to train to become a Clinical Biochemist with the National Health Service. The training consists of three years of on-the-job training, with a teaching component (a masters degree in Clinical Science). The first major knock to my creativity came from where I would be working. I got allocated a hospital in The Valleys in South Wales. Great stuff, but my partner was tied to his job in Manchester, and I had made loads of friends there. For the last two and a half years I have been making the 4 hour drive to Manchester on a Friday after work and the same 4 hour journey back on a Sunday afternoon. Whilst I'm used to the drive now it cuts out so much weekend time when I would have been making, or cooking or just putting my feet up. Plus, its exhausting. Getting all the 'weekend stuff' done on a Saturday means that we don't stop all day. The second, and more major kick in the proverbial teeth to the old creativity was that as my job is a training job I'm constantly learning new things that were once very alien to me and recently my brain has felt full to capacity since the beginning of the year. Its leaving little space for much else. My Instagram followers lived it with me this last week but I had my final masters degree exams and I can't me more relieved! "hello creativity please come back!"</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-a6ItbNGNXC3C9XffX3_friqIKZnGuKTGo5ptBYBEqWpEPpXlsuWTOATtNupdWCc0g1mNAp_Qsskx6IRugH46MacRnY6LDubJeLQ57AIm6ei1Nm4wI1yAFXXVAr_mkirdoRi9E2-9mLAs/s1600/IMG_7684.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-a6ItbNGNXC3C9XffX3_friqIKZnGuKTGo5ptBYBEqWpEPpXlsuWTOATtNupdWCc0g1mNAp_Qsskx6IRugH46MacRnY6LDubJeLQ57AIm6ei1Nm4wI1yAFXXVAr_mkirdoRi9E2-9mLAs/s640/IMG_7684.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">During this time I have still been making, quite a lot really. Plus I've been really good at finishing the projects I start. However, rather that whipping up new designs, and taking time to just play with yarn, I have been making a lot from other peoples' patterns. It has felt like a lot of the pressure has been lifted and I can still be creative, and produce something beautiful out of a ball or yarn and my own two hands. However I really miss that buzzing creativity I used to surround myself in. As a result I'm going back to basics, in the hope that it will come back to me soon. I'm going to be sharing my work in progress (hands up who else is relieved that its light enough to take decent photos early evening?!), I'm going to share other work that inspires me, and I'm going to keep writing. The only way creativity will find me again is if I keep on going, and you know, I've had a few ideas recently so it may be working....writing this today has already given me some ideas for future posts. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">As I eluded to in my <a href="http://www.sallystrawberrycreations.com/2017/03/brain-overload.html" target="_blank">previous post</a> (reading that back I'm not sure what planet I was on at the time....it was the week before my masters thesis was due in so I think I have an excuse) I have some exciting news, which I think will have a great impact on welcoming creativity back into my life. I have a permanent job in Manchester starting next month and I couldn't be more excited! Whilst it will still be pretty taxing mentally, especially in the first few months, I will have so much more free time. Just think how many more socks I could have knitted with an extra 8 hours every weekend over 2 years......</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0xVanCjJjJF9HK2ZnEL7ufn1YMWSFU-7q9XeT2FhcdEiQsDnjYeUMBYlD9CDEQUR0RLMeDfe13wsEXWWECbDkUwjGhrBMLxij6LTvymlLEMLr_sVvpjq8vFFDvKnUqkWFD1rMdC3UBlV2/s1600/IMG_7731.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0xVanCjJjJF9HK2ZnEL7ufn1YMWSFU-7q9XeT2FhcdEiQsDnjYeUMBYlD9CDEQUR0RLMeDfe13wsEXWWECbDkUwjGhrBMLxij6LTvymlLEMLr_sVvpjq8vFFDvKnUqkWFD1rMdC3UBlV2/s640/IMG_7731.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">These socks, my current work in progress are shared over on the lovely <a href="https://thelittleroomofrachell.com/2017/04/26/yarning-%EF%BB%BFalong/" target="_blank">Rachell's blog</a></span>
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SallyStrewberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09818430985001006485noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1288438244636801667.post-39123000632582441582017-03-12T14:50:00.000-07:002017-03-12T14:50:17.887-07:00Brain overload<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I started writing a post about how overloaded my brain is at the moment, both creatively and with life in general, but getting my thoughts into words proved too much for my already overworked, under-rested, incredibly scatty brain. I think the post I started will be a bit of time in the making whilst I gather my thoughts. I have had big (exciting) news this week that I will share once its all settled which has also contibuted to the mind blowing. This morning I spent a quiet 15 minutes in the garden and it was a welcome relief</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">When we moved into our flat four years ago we started growing herbs from seed. Some are doing amazingly well, whilst others faded after a couple of years. Over the last few weeks we have started planting some vegetables using the principles outlined in this book- <a href="https://www.dk.com/uk/9780241180013-grow-all-you-can-eat-in-three-square-feet/" target="_blank">Grow All You Can Eat in Three Square Feet. </a></span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Nothing relaxes me more than pottering about with my camera, so here are a couple of shots from our garden.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">These mushrooms are quite possibly the weirdest mushrooms I've ever seen....does anyone know what they are? </span><br />
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<br />SallyStrewberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09818430985001006485noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1288438244636801667.post-64292036803895657432017-02-20T12:15:00.000-08:002017-02-20T12:15:28.390-08:00everyone has to start somewhere- my top resources for learning to crochet<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Further to my post on <a href="http://www.sallystrawberrycreations.com/2017/01/dipping-my-toes-in-water.html" target="_blank">dipping my toes in the water</a> and going back to swimming lessons I thought I'd share some of my earliest crochet, along with my top books for beginners. A few months back whilst sorting out some old boxes I found these flowers I crocheted back when I was just starting out. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I was so pleased with these early efforts, and proudly sewed them to a garter stitch panel as part of a campaign for gardening in our local area. After crocheting these first few flowers I was hooked, and after hours and hours of practice I was able to crochet neat little flowers without space in the centre to house a 50 pence piece, or a walnut, or a golf ball....... Whilst these were great I got a whole lot better with practice. Quite a lot of practice mind, but as I said I was a bit addicted. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">If you were thinking of having a go at crochet, and I would highly recommend it (though I am biased), I have two top suggestions for books to help.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The first is <a href="http://lucindaguy.com/kids-learn-to-crochet/" target="_blank">'Kids Learn to Crochet' by Lucinda Guy</a>. Right so it's for children but the pictures and explanations are sooooo clear and easy to understand. I would recommend it to any beginner whatever the age.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My second is <a href="http://nickitrench.com/books/" target="_blank">'Cute and Easy Crochet' by Nicki Trenc</a>h. I'm positive I have mentioned this book on here at least once, but it was my go-to book for achievable, yet gorgeous projects when I first started. I think I made half of the projects in the book. What to see a few more photos? I had to go to Ravelry for these as I don't even have the photos any more......</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Looking at these photos reminds me of another great book I would highly recommend <a href="http://heidiadnum.com/books.html" target="_blank">'The Crafters Guide to Taking Great Photos' by Heidi Adnum</a>. With practice, my photos improved drastically and I would recommend it to anyone taking photos of their craft for their blogs, Instagram feeds, Ravelry or your own personal records. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I have a series of beginner crochet post, and I would recommend starting <a href="http://www.sallystrawberrycreations.com/2014/07/learn-to-crochet-kit-you-will-be.html" target="_blank">HERE</a>, which goes through the basic tools you will need to get going. The 'tutorials' tab of this site lists the complete beginner crochet series. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Do you have any books or other sources you would recommend to beginners? I would also love to hear about your first crochet projects :-)</span>SallyStrewberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09818430985001006485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1288438244636801667.post-11216483147201426952017-01-29T12:05:00.001-08:002017-01-29T12:06:32.638-08:00Dipping my toes in the water<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">On Wednesday I did just that. I took an adult swimming class. Terrified is a bit of an understatement as the thought of putting on swimwear is enough to bring me out in a cold sweat and get my heart going like the clappers. However, I really wanted to be able to swim properly again. For years as I child I grudging (though secretly I'm grateful Mum) went to swimming lessons every Sunday morning. I wasn't the greatest swimmer (I never made it onto the club swimming team!) but I was pretty competent. Fast-forward almost 20 years and I cannot for the life of me swim a length front crawl. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">On New Years Day a group of us friends have a tradition of writing down a resolution, or something we want to achieve that year and pop it in the fire (with another group of friends we used to do a 'secret santa' kind of resolutions thing, making resolutions for each other- this ended badly one year so hasn't been done since!). I love that idea, thinking of the year ahead as your resolution singes, catches and goes up in smoke. My resolution <i>last year, </i>made on the 1st January 2016, sitting on massive cosy sofas , post walk around an open fire, was to swim with my face in the water. This Wednesday I did just that. Only a year late, but if I'm honest its taken me that long to work my way up to it. Putting on a swimming costume in front of others is my top most scariest thing (even more than my irrational fear of stairs and escalators). </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Yep, it was scary. Yep, I was pretty terrible, but yes, I also managed a couple of lengths <i>with my face in the water. </i>I went again yesterday and managed six, good lengths without choking and messing up my breathing. Everyone has to start somewhere and I feel that I'm making progress. When I get in the pool again tomorrow I will be feeling that tiny bit more confident. Maybe by the end of the year I will have completed that triathlon I have always wanted to do? I'll keep you posted :-)</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">What I'm trying to say is that if there is something you would like to do but are worried, scared or anxious about it, just give it a go. You may surprise yourself, and even if you try it once and never want to again, then you can put it to the back of your mind without thinking 'what if'. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">PS. The photo is of the gorgeous Three Cliffs Bay on the South Wales coast. Not quite warm enough for swimming!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">PPS. I turned 29 on Monday. I'm vaguely thinking of a 30 things to do before I'm 30 challenge. Have any of you got any suggestions to get me started? :-)</span>SallyStrewberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09818430985001006485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1288438244636801667.post-5614577925810897702017-01-16T12:15:00.002-08:002017-01-16T12:15:26.162-08:00Unicorn Monday<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This week I have been using my new-found focus to write 3000 words of my Masters dissertation, finish a book, finish a hat and make significant progress on a blanket with not an ounce of stress (yet). So far so good.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Have you ever been reading a book and not wanted it to end? I was like that with <a href="http://claraparkes.com/books/" target="_blank">Knitlandia</a> by Clara Parks. Each chapter is an essay on a yarn-based trip, show or holiday Clara has been on. It has made me want to go to Iceland, and it has made me want to explore and expand my horizons with the yarn I use. It has also made me want to push on with my knitting, where my skills are pretty limited compared to my crochet. I loved it so much I used a Christmas voucher to purchase The Yarn Whisperer, also by Clara. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Recently I have been dipping my toes into the world of hand-dyed yarn. This yarn is dyed in small batches by small, independents. Instagram is an absolute hive of hand-dyed, small batch yarns, and I'm discovering new dyers by the day. My sister moved from the south of England to Leeds for university and is really really suffering with the cold. She asked me for a handknitted hat for her Birthday the end of January. I already had the pattern, a cable favourite I have knitted for a friend before, and scrolling through Instagram I saw that <a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/Thewoolkitchen" target="_blank">Helen from The Wool Kitchen</a> had a new upload of her beautiful hand-dyed yarns to <a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/Thewoolkitchen" target="_blank">Etsy,</a> including a few skeins of <a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/494223235/hand-dyed-aran-champagne-supernova-yarn?ref=shop_home_feat_2" target="_blank">Champagne Supernova</a>, cream with multi-coloured neon spots. Instantly grabbed by this yarn (perhaps also helped by my love of the band Oasis) I thought it would make a perfect pairing for the hat pattern I had in mind. It took me a while to get past the ribbing, and despite suggestions it was due to the whisky nightcap, I soldered on until my fifth attempt before giving up.....funnily enough it worked perfectly the next morning!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Once I got going though I flew through it. I'm so glad I went with the yarn, as being a blue faced leicester/alpaca mix it is lovely and soft but also so squidgy and warm, perfect for my sisters chilblain-ed ears. And its in unicorn colours!! EEEK! I've been sharing a few progress shots on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/sal_strawbs/" target="_blank">Instagram</a>, but here it is finished!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'm still making really good progress on a secret blanket project, so much so I'm surprising myself a bit. I'll try and take some photos next weekend when I see some daylight and post them next week. I definitely need some accountability when it comes to blankets!</span><br />
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<br />SallyStrewberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09818430985001006485noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1288438244636801667.post-64012115806975328242017-01-08T10:23:00.001-08:002017-01-08T10:23:59.774-08:00Focus in 2017<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">So I'm thinking you can guess what my resolution will be then? Not so much a resolution, but a mantra that I think will be necessary for me to get through the next 8 months. You see I'm now in my final year of my training programme to become a qualified Clinical Biochemist. If you would like to read more about this </span><a href="https://targetjobs.co.uk/careers-advice/job-descriptions/278965-clinical-biochemist-job-description" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> would be a good place to start.</span><br />
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<a name='more'></a><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Its a bit dry but will give you an idea. I am now two years and three months into my training which all needs to be finished by August. Whilst the majority of the training is on-the-job I also have to do a Masters degree, the dissertation for which needs writing up ASAP (in actual fact it should already be finished...), followed by more exams in April. As you can guess then I have a lot to get done. Likely more than I actually have time for.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Pre-Christmas was very stressful. I was doing a lot of travelling (including for three interviews at which I was unsuccessful), I got ill for 2 weeks and to top it off had to get a new car on the 23rd of December to drive the 300 miles to be with my family for Christmas. I am now finally feeling more calm, but know that now is the time when I really have to knuckle down and focus. Focus on completing my work-based competency assessments, focus on finishing my dissertation this month, and focus on finding a job for when I qualify in August. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Whilst I know that I work best when I have a little bit of stress on me, I know that this makes me unhappy, so I would like to start 2017 focused on getting the work done, without getting stressed and in a muddle such as at the end of 2016. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'll let you know how I get on but I aim to designate 'work times', an hour here or there where I will just work, and get a job completed. No chat, no checking of my phone, no getting up to make endless cuppas. My main problem is that my brain will not focus for any length of time. Whenever I am carrying out one task I am always thinking of another, and another, and end up flitting between them all, leaving three, or often more, tasks unfinished. This brain clutter is driving me mad and its something I really want to focus (ha!) on this year. My boyfriend is even hoping I will be able to watch a film that is longer than an hour and a half with him! I can't even do that currently. Even as I write this I am resisting the urge to edit a couple of photos to add to this post (isn't Marina the tabby cute?). So far so good......</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I also want to apply more focus to my crafting. To this end I am trying to only have two projects on the go at any one time. One a shorter, more satisfying project, and another, slower paced project. One for when I'm tired and need something simple to work on. As well as the mental clutter the physical clutter is getting me down too. I have been limiting my projects for a month or so now and its definitely helped. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Over Christmas I got my first Etsy sale. Whooop! After I have finished this post I will be having a little rejig of my Etsy store, getting rid of the Christmas stock for more designs. Please do let me know what you think. I would like to focus a little more on this in 2017, but know that ultimately my day job must come first this year.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Have you made any resolutions? Or have you, like me, chosen a word for 2017? If so I would love to hear what you have chosen. Happy 2017!</span><br />
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<br />SallyStrewberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09818430985001006485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1288438244636801667.post-73296365007177098002016-12-12T10:39:00.002-08:002016-12-12T10:39:14.062-08:00SallyStrawberryShop is open on Etsy!<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">You might remember that at the beginning of the year when I posted my goals I mentioned setting up an Etsy shop selling my retro crochet coasters. I only went and did it :-)</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">You can find my shop by clicking <a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/your/shops/SallyStrawberryShop" target="_blank">here</a>. Do let me know what you think! For now here are a few sneak peaks....</span><br />
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<br />SallyStrewberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09818430985001006485noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1288438244636801667.post-4729344919744170142016-11-28T12:24:00.001-08:002016-11-28T12:24:41.236-08:00Shop small this Christmas- a gift guide (i.e where I have bought my presents this year)<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As I write this I am tucking into a massive bowl of apple crumble, from the last of my friend's apples. This weekend I mostly spent time cooking with said apples and crocheting. I also had a bit of a podcast binge (I do love a good podcast), including the latest, and last in the series of <a href="http://www.aplayfulday.com/blog/2016/11/24/the-apd-podcast-season-3-a-shop-small-christmas" target="_blank">Kate's lovely podcast</a>, <a href="http://www.aplayfulday.com/" target="_blank">A Playful Day</a>. Kate talked about where she would be spending her money this Christmas, with small businesses and those with an ethical, sustainable and charitable ethos. This made me think about where I have spent my money this Christmas and I believe this may be the first year I have purchased gifts almost entirely from small businesses, some of which are local to me. This made me very happy, and I would like to share with you some of the businesses I have purchased gifts from. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/pixiecrafthandmade/?fref=ts" target="_blank">Pixiecraft</a>- Katy's brilliant embroidery makes for great gifts. I have bought gifts from Katy before, and even went to one of her embroidery classes which taught me loads. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://www.pactcoffee.com/" target="_blank">PACT Coffee</a>- the coffee subscription service with a difference. PACT source directly from farmers, who receive a fair price for their coffee, enabling them to gain the financial resources required to maintain and improve production. In addition, the coffee is absolutely delicious owing to it being roasted and packaged within 7 days of landing on your doorstep. They are also currently supporting the charity Shelter. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://shop.hedgehogfibres.com/" target="_blank">Hedgehog Fibres</a>- if you are a yarny Hedgehog Fibres will not be new to you, if not take a look and get ready to be amazed by all the pretty colours</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/VickiBrownDesigns?ref=l2-shopheader-name" target="_blank">Vicki Brown Designs</a>- on the subject of yarn Vicki Brown has started dyeing her own yarns and they are FANTASTIC! She has also started her <a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/477235992/the-crochet-shawl-club-january-box?ref=shop_home_feat_3" target="_blank">Shawl Club</a> where she releases a shawl pattern and a skein of her own yarn starting in January bimonthly throughout 2017. Check out her <a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/477235992/the-crochet-shawl-club-january-box?ref=shop_home_feat_3" target="_blank">Etsy shop</a> as they have been very popular. My mum has bought one for herself, and I have one on my Birthday list. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/CAMhubshop/?fref=ts" target="_blank">Chorlton Art Market</a> Hub- a treasure trove of vintage clothing, original artwork, home accessories and so much more! This shop supports over 60 local artists. Do visit if you are in the area!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/nicolafernandes?ref=search_shop_redirect" target="_blank">Nicola Fernandes</a>- Nicola is a fantastic artist, inspired by nature, her love of cats, Beyonce and her distaste of the current political situation in the UK and US. Check out Nicola's <a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/nicolafernandes?ref=search_shop_redirect" target="_blank">Etsy shop</a> for quirky and original pet portraits, Donald Trump catnip toys and hilarious puns! </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">You can hear Kate's podcast, which inspired this post, <a href="http://www.aplayfulday.com/blog/2016/11/24/the-apd-podcast-season-3-a-shop-small-christmas" target="_blank">here, </a>along with Kate's own gift guide.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Keep it small, keep in local, spread the love. </span><br />
<br />SallyStrewberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09818430985001006485noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1288438244636801667.post-40488069573525431722016-11-14T10:41:00.002-08:002016-11-14T10:41:52.665-08:00A proper good Sunday<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Y</span><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">ou know how it is sometimes when there is always something going on. A gig. Birthday drinks. Halloween get-togethers. Though I love all of the above I haven't had a day to just sit down and create for what feels like months. I always optimistically pack up my crochet on a Friday and before I know it I'm back on the motorways Sunday afternoon and it hasn't even been unpacked.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This Sunday however I was in the house for the whole day by myself. Thanks to a visit from family Saturday I'd had to do a bit of clean prior to their visitation so the flat was clean, tidy and I had nothing I *had* to do. Two guesses to what I did do......</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Yep, you got it. I made a start on a new crochet project, which just happened to be my first piece of Christmas crochet. Another first, its my first attempt at a crochet garment. I thought I'd start small making a cardigan for a colleagues little baby who will be 6 months by Christmas. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The pattern is 'Striped Baby Cardigan' by Annelies Baes in Inside Crochet issue 81. I was drawn to the simple shape and the stripes. I also liked that it is a gender neutral pattern so may make it for a couple of other friends' babies. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I am using the recommended yarn, Scheepjes Merino Soft in 617, 603 and 636. It is ridiculously squishy and bouncy, and I noticed it actually kept my hands warm as I worked. Perfect with the current plummet in temperature. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I did have to rip back once as I may have misinterpreted the pattern but by the afternoon I'd worked the neck and shoulders. As I have never crocheted a garment before I was unsure of how it would be constructed. Its really clever. The long side is the back, the short edges either side of the gap become the front and the slightly longer sides are where the sleeves are added later. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I actually managed to get to the main body but the light disappeared.....</span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'm looking forward to making some more progress this evening so keep an eye on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/sal_strawbs/" target="_blank">Instagram</a> in the morning! </span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The day could only have been better if a roast lunch and a glass of red were involved. Instead I had toast and a 4 hour drive at the end of the day. You can't have it all!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">p.s my Christmas cactus flowered!</span></div>
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SallyStrewberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09818430985001006485noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1288438244636801667.post-58808528716818288172016-11-07T09:48:00.000-08:002016-11-07T09:48:10.341-08:00Casting Off by P.I Paris <br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I've never read a novel on knitting, so when this was brought to my attention by Sarah of <a href="http://www.craftsfromthecwtch.co.uk/" target="_blank">Crafts from the Cwtch</a> I thought I'd give it a try. As I read this on my e-reader I hadn't read the blurb, but I had preconceptions this book would be about a 'knit and natter' group using knitting to escape the day to day realities of life. However, this book was nothing like this at all and as I read on I was surprised over and over again. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">One of the first surprises for me was that it was set in a care home in the Scottish Highlands. My experience of care homes is very limited so I did initially feel that I would find it difficult to relate to this book, but the huge variety of topics covered in this book are very applicable to modern society, and would strike a chord with anyone. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The crux of the story is a private company taking over of the care home, resulting in a rise in fees that the residents would not be able to meet. As the key characters in the book were perpetual knitters initial indications suggested that they would try to make up their fee shortfall through their knitting (there was a great reference to knitted egg cosies here......). What actually happens couldn't be more different and I'm not going to spoil anything, but what I will say is that it was at times heartwarming, hilarious, and seriously dark in parts. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">P.I Paris has done a great job of developing the personalities of many of the residents of the care home and has cleverly used the huge wealth of life experiences of the elderly characters in this book to bring to light very serious issues present within current society. In parts this novel is very poignant and thought provoking, especially where themes of the bonds that form between residents are explored. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">If you are looking for a novel focused solely on knitting then you may be disappointed, as knitting does not end up being the main focus of the book, though it makes an appearance in ever chapter, and is at one point used as a clever cover-up for a covert operation! However it is a really good read and I'd highly recommend it. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This book will shock, make you laugh and make you cry. If you read it I would love to hear your thoughts.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">You can find the book <a href="http://blackandwhitepublishing.com/casting-off.html" target="_blank">here</a>. </span><br />
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SallyStrewberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09818430985001006485noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1288438244636801667.post-69348893453530755012016-10-30T13:23:00.002-07:002016-10-30T13:23:17.053-07:00Why I love Autumn<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">You can't disagree, Autumn is beautiful. The trees start to turn and the landscape becomes a sea of yellows, reds, oranges and browns. Mushrooms pop up everywhere, I've never seen so many mushrooms as I have this year. I took these photos on a walk with friends (and their lively pups) this morning. We walked for about two hours on trails, tracks, alongside the rivers and waterfalls just north of Merthyr Tydfil. This area gets such a bad press but its outstandingly beautiful. We even came across a group of walkers who had come miles to walk along this specific route. They had come to see some interesting geology on the route, which we would have never had known about. An area of completely unspoiled natural beauty right on my doorstep. A-amazing. </span><div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This entire tree trunk was covered in mushrooms, I've never seen anything like it before!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Not only do I love Autumn for the changes in our surroundings, but also for the way it seems to spur me on in my creative pursuits. I always feel very inspired in Autumn to both create new things and try out new crafts, but also to finish up long-neglected projects. In January I often start new things, but Autumn is usually the time that I finish them. This Autumn I've felt a need to declutter, to work my way through the bags of yarn shoved under my desk, on top of my wardrobe, on my shelves (you name a place and I'll have a bag of yarn or a half-finished project there). I've also been making the most of the abundant berries, picking sloes in the Isle of Wight last month (which swiftly went into gin!) and blackberries which have made their way into a bottle of vodka! Last weekend I picked some crab apples from a tree at the end of my street (I got up super early on the Saturday morning so that no one would see me- its a busy street) which are also submerged in vodka to make Crab Apple Schnapps, a Danish delicacy. I also made jam for the first time. My friend has a glut of apples and I made some apple and chilli jelly using this recipe (<a href="http://www.greatbritishchefs.com/recipes/festive-apple-jellies-recipe" target="_blank">here</a>) and it worked! It was amazing, I was worried that it wouldn't set but it set really quickly. I think it would be great with cheese and its so easy I would definitely recommend giving it a go.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Getting back to my need to declutter I've been working through some longstanding projects, knuckled down and got them done. Do you remember by sock yarn hat that I started last summer (yep, I am that bad at finishing things)? Well I only finished it!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'm so pleased with the way it turned out, and its lovely and warm too. The pattern is "sockhead slouch hat" by <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/sockhead-slouch-hat" target="_blank">Kelly McClure</a> and the yarn I used is Lana Grossa Meilenweit in India. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I also finished my Worcester Scarf by <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/worcester-scarf" target="_blank">Kat Goldin </a>for The Crochet Project. I just love those little puff stitches! I used the suggested yarn for the pattern,<a href="http://www.ravelry.com/yarns/library/coopknits-socks-yeah" target="_blank"> Socks Yeah by Coop Knits</a></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Two completed projects is enough for one post, more to follow :-)</span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Time for a bowl of crumble, my friends' apple trees giving again......</span></div>
SallyStrewberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09818430985001006485noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1288438244636801667.post-74853055401233961812016-10-17T13:48:00.003-07:002016-10-17T13:48:51.715-07:00YARN The Movie<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I'd seen this film 'YARN' across social media for the last couple of months, and was hankering to see it as soon as it was out. It was first officially screened in the UK Sunday 11th October and was thrilled to hear that Joeli of <a href="http://www.joelicreates.com/" target="_blank">Joeli Creates</a> had kindly organised a screening in Manchester! Before I go into more detail about the film I would like to briefly pause and tell you a bit more about the venue the film was shown at, as it is definitely a place I will be frequenting much more in the future.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The venue was Ziferblat, in Manchester's Northern Quarter. The name Ziferblat is derived from Zifferblatt, meaning 'clock-face' in Russian and German. This is apt because everything in the venue is free, except from your time. Yep, you can make yourself tea, coffee ('proper' coffee too for those coffee snobs out there, and yes, I'm one), toast and help yourself to cake and biscuits (the downside is you have to do your own washing up!) all for free. All you pay for is the amount of time you spend there. 6p per minute to be precise. I found it a really interesting venue, its set up as a huge lounge with massive sofas, smaller tables, space to do some quite, a definite haven for creatives, with none of the pretence you feel in these trendy coffee places. Its a real gem. I can definitely envisage a day sitting about, crocheting, chatting and over-caffeinating. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">After I'd drunk far too much coffee we settled into the back room for the film. YARN is a documentary-film directed by Montreal-based Icelandic film maker Una Lorenzen. It follows the stories of four female artists who use yarn as their creative medium. To make <i>Art. </i>Not craft, but A<i>rt. </i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The film begins with the work of Icelandic crochet graffiti artist, Tinna Thorudottir Thorvalder, who uses her crochet and yarn bombs as an expression of political protest. We then entered the neon world of Olek, a Brooklyn-based Polish crochet artist whose crochet is a protest against the chauvinistic, male dominated art world. She was amazing, and her projects were at times hilarious! Next we meet Canada-based Japanese artist Toshiko Horiuchi MacAdams who crochets huge crochet installations for children to play on (think a crochet jungle gym) in response to the tech-based world we live in, where children are less likely to get outside and play, and less likely to have gardens to play in. Interspersed throughout the film we are treated to exerts from the Swedish circus company, Cirkus Cirkar, a circus where the entire set is made from yarn. Take a look at the trailer to find out more.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">For me this brought up a few really interesting points. Toshiko talks about the way a woman can do the same thing, over and over again, making them suited to the fiber-arts. The question for me is, is this innate behaviour or learned behaviours over 100s of years? I could also admire the quiet courage of Tinna, who moved to Cuba during the course of the film, making her gentle political mark with crochet in a country where expressing your beliefs can be dangerous. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The film was also downright funny in parts. At one point Tinna released crochet decorated buoys into the sea off the coast of Spain, and a lady rushed in to save them as she thought Tinna had lost them! The reactions to Olek's crochet encased people was hilarious, and her canvas installation in Poland.....well I'll leave that one up to you to watch!!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">All in all I'd definitely recommend giving it a watch. There are some things that would have been nice, such as making more of a connection between the four stories which would drawn everything together into a more cohesive piece of work. But whatever I say, its a film about yarn, and yarn (and yarn artists!) deserves to be celebrated! </span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">To find out more, and to organise a screening check out their <a href="http://www.yarnfilm.com/#synopsis" target="_blank">website</a>. </span></div>
SallyStrewberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09818430985001006485noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1288438244636801667.post-11464668808134968822016-10-03T12:25:00.003-07:002016-10-03T12:25:50.981-07:00Hello creativity<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPHSQINcvrX435i4Tqz5goafhIXG_R9TYdtKqzr4KPDZp3WMqKapj2AJomDxkIiBNpXLllaftOzBpJHJ7v0kW5v8QiOnLBK95DcmcoQCreY1KiwzH46jQiRzSaRF5d84KrAg6uk9KalVcO/s1600/File_000.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img alt="Alien hat by SallyStrawberry" border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPHSQINcvrX435i4Tqz5goafhIXG_R9TYdtKqzr4KPDZp3WMqKapj2AJomDxkIiBNpXLllaftOzBpJHJ7v0kW5v8QiOnLBK95DcmcoQCreY1KiwzH46jQiRzSaRF5d84KrAg6uk9KalVcO/s400/File_000.jpeg" title="Alien hat by SallyStrawberry" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Over the last few weeks I've felt my creativity coming back. Slowly but surely and I have to say its been great. My Nanny has next door neighbours with two young children, a 4 and a 2 year old, with Autumn birthdays and I usually try and crochet something for them. The brief this year, winter hats! </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This was the perfect excuse to get back into designing. First off I wasn't sure if I even had any suitable yarn, but was thrilled to discover two balls of soft, squishy Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran (55% wool, 33% acrylic, 12% cashmere) in an orange/red and a green in my stash. Kinda boy colours yeah? As per usual all good ideas come to me in the shower, so by 9am last Saturday I knew it was going to be a monster/alien hat, and by 10 I had hooked up the hat.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I was originally going to crochet flat applique circles and sew them on afterwards but settled on some stalk eyes.....hello!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOKWqe88_b9q_AQe35SKAZuJAs8RC3omtmF4oXKrY_h6QJ_Qe0V-8TSFjqxxbbZk66P16WGfnMz3c-U_mIO-kEoYE9S_injRzew-iP3hnqPMbYNsnP0_38Gu3uSn4PyhEGZ8qWDE9mXCwo/s1600/File_001.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Alien hat by SallyStrawberry" border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOKWqe88_b9q_AQe35SKAZuJAs8RC3omtmF4oXKrY_h6QJ_Qe0V-8TSFjqxxbbZk66P16WGfnMz3c-U_mIO-kEoYE9S_injRzew-iP3hnqPMbYNsnP0_38Gu3uSn4PyhEGZ8qWDE9mXCwo/s400/File_001.jpeg" title="Alien hat by SallyStrawberry" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It was so much fun to be free to play around with yarn, and let the ideas develop as I worked, and I'm really pleased with the finished hat. What do you think?</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb5CdgVExnMEw7NWqhc2Ku8xRP49Rc4NlTMA7xAraPa3VN6YU4hkDCXoy_IvxNhgp8mkezjbu_gp1d3qQ_n2aT_3Z7h1hxUYBgcNFaI6ssNs71cv8hObgzZlkjIZRKToDwPAdj_rHZ8tnw/s1600/File_002.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img alt="Alien hat by SallyStrawberry" border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb5CdgVExnMEw7NWqhc2Ku8xRP49Rc4NlTMA7xAraPa3VN6YU4hkDCXoy_IvxNhgp8mkezjbu_gp1d3qQ_n2aT_3Z7h1hxUYBgcNFaI6ssNs71cv8hObgzZlkjIZRKToDwPAdj_rHZ8tnw/s400/File_002.jpeg" title="Alien hat by SallyStrawberry" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'm in the process of grading and writing up this pattern so give me a poke if you don't hear anything by the end of next week :-)</span>SallyStrewberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09818430985001006485noreply@blogger.com0