Have you been crafting during Covid? I don’t know about you, but I’ve been crafting a lot more during the Covid lockdown. I work from home most days on either my designs, volunteering in my community and dealing with orders as they come in. But, for me, crafting is my joy.
My first project was my go-to when I’m stressed and that’s to crochet a blanket. I had some of Lucy at Attic 24’s colour packs in the house, which I have gathered over several years with a few projects in mind. I love Autumn colours and was immediately drawn to the Woodland Blanket Pack. I didn’t want to crochet the ripple blanket, but I did love the Granny Stripe Blanket. I find it relaxing to crochet stripes, it’s easy, it’s repetitive and it kept my brain calm during the stressful days immediately following our lockdown.
Woodland Granny Stripe Blanket
The first full day of lockdown here was my birthday and my son and I were both ill with suspected Covid19 and felt dreadful. It was a good two to three weeks before either of us felt well again and probably another month after that before we got back our sense of taste and smell. We both feel very lucky to have recovered but he bounced back a lot faster than I did being young and fit.
Knitting and Crafting Along Through Covid
At the time, Emma Sadler and I had just launched our first Cowlabunga KAL event and I had to tidy myself up for the launch live on Facebook on 19th March. I felt like death warmed up, but plenty of painkillers and hot tea did help, even if I couldn’t taste any of it. We made the choice that week to try and get online and chat live on most days during the first month of lockdown.
We missed one day out of 30 but kept going most days per week and gradually tapered off to the Thursday night and Sunday afternoon we are doing now. From 14th February, our first live on FB, we’re completed our 72nd live/session on Sunday 28th June. Our videos are loaded onto our YouTube Channel and you can see them here.
Yarndale, Woolfest and my Lady Mary Hat
Emma, our friend Helen and I were due to meet last Friday/Saturday for Woolfest. We had cleared the two days and booked our accommodation etc. I was upset to see it was cancelled due to Covid19 but completely understood it was the right decision to make. The last time we met up was at Yarndale where I bought this amazing hat from Felt By Bridget.
My gorgeous hat by Felt By Bridget, I absolutely love it and it reminds me so much of the amazing day we spent together at Yarndale in 2019.
Crafting for me
I wanted to knit myself some Summer tops and love Jutta Hinterm Stein’s patterns. She released a new one for testing last week called Hot in the City and I’m helping to test the pattern. I’m using some Drops Belle in the Moss Green colourway. It’s a fabulous yarn, softens with washing and wears really well.
I am about a third of the way through knitting Tidewater by Laura Aylor, this is in 4ply using some Bamboo Cotton 4ply in the Verde colourway, a zingy, green. I added sleeves but they’re not in the pattern, but I do prefer to keep my upper arms under wraps.
Tidewater using Bamboo Cotton 4ply in a bright, zingy green, it’s a bit grey in this photo though.
Last week I finished knitting my Edie top, by Isabell Kraemer, it’s my go-to knit for Summer and I’ve made one with Drops Belle, one with some Wendy Cotton/Silk dk and now this one with the Bamboo Cotton 4ply in Coral. I will get a photo of me wearing it, I promise but I do wear it in our Live on FB and YouTube on 25th June.
Edie by Isabelle Kraemer
Crafting for Carers
I did crochet about 50 of the mask/ear savers using some Rowan All Season’s Cotton in a light green. I used up all my 1/2inch and 1inch button stash on them but hopefully they made life a bit more comfortable for the Doctors and Nurses at local surgeries.
What did you make during lockdown? Did it help you to relax and feel better during all the upheaval?
Say Hi on Facebook and let me know, I’d love to see your craft projects.
Knitting Across The Pennines Ep 38 18th April 2020
We recorded our first video podcast on Valentine’s Day 2020, We’re learning all the time and getting better with the tech, but at heart we are knitters and crocheters, that’s what we do best. Today’s chat and checking in with everyone to see how we are all doing with our social distancing or quarantine.
We had a longer chat and Virtual Knit Night to keep one another company and our spirits high. As we both work from our homes for our knitwear designs we’re calling our drinks/beverages a Quarantini while we socially isolate ourselves to stay safe. We show off some recently finished knitting objects (FOs) and we also link to the patterns mentioned below the video.
Our Cowlabunga KAL starts mid March with the hashtags #knittingacrossthepennines and #cowlabunga There will be prizes for the best FO’s made during the KAL and spot prizes of pattern codes for FO and WIP photos shared on social media with the two hashtags.
Emma Sadler of Emma Sadler Designs and Loraine Birchall of Woolly Madly Deeply. We design knitwear and some crochet items. Emma is based in Yorkshire, East of the Pennines and Loraine is based in Cumbria, West of the Pennines.
Lionbrand Vanna’s Choice® Vanna White, America’s favorite crocheter and Lion Brand’s spokesperson for over 14 years, introduces Vanna’s Choice®, an easy-care, silky-soft premium basic available in a range of beautiful, expertly-coordinated shades.
Knitting Across The Pennines Ep 37 17th April 2020
We recorded our first video podcast on Valentine’s Day 2020, We’re learning all the time and getting better with the tech, but at heart we are knitters and crocheters, that’s what we do best. Today’s chat and checking in with everyone to see how we are all doing with our social distancing or quarantine.
We had a longer chat and Virtual Knit Night to keep one another company and our spirits high. As we both work from our homes for our knitwear designs we’re calling our drinks/beverages a Quarantini while we socially isolate ourselves to stay safe. We show off some recently finished knitting objects (FOs) and we also link to the patterns mentioned below the video.
Our Cowlabunga KAL starts mid March with the hashtags #knittingacrossthepennines and #cowlabunga There will be prizes for the best FO’s made during the KAL and spot prizes of pattern codes for FO and WIP photos shared on social media with the two hashtags.
Emma Sadler of Emma Sadler Designs and Loraine Birchall of Woolly Madly Deeply. We design knitwear and some crochet items. Emma is based in Yorkshire, East of the Pennines and Loraine is based in Cumbria, West of the Pennines.
Lionbrand Vanna’s Choice® Vanna White, America’s favorite crocheter and Lion Brand’s spokesperson for over 14 years, introduces Vanna’s Choice®, an easy-care, silky-soft premium basic available in a range of beautiful, expertly-coordinated shades.
Knitting Across The Pennines Ep 36 16th April 2020
We recorded our first video podcast on Valentine’s Day 2020, We’re learning all the time and getting better with the tech, but at heart we are knitters and crocheters, that’s what we do best. Today’s chat and checking in with everyone to see how we are all doing with our social distancing or quarantine.
We had a longer chat and Virtual Knit Night to keep one another company and our spirits high. As we both work from our homes for our knitwear designs we’re calling our drinks/beverages a Quarantini while we socially isolate ourselves to stay safe. We show off some recently finished knitting objects (FOs) and we also link to the patterns mentioned below the video.
Our Cowlabunga KAL starts mid March with the hashtags #knittingacrossthepennines and #cowlabunga There will be prizes for the best FO’s made during the KAL and spot prizes of pattern codes for FO and WIP photos shared on social media with the two hashtags.
Emma Sadler of Emma Sadler Designs and Loraine Birchall of Woolly Madly Deeply. We design knitwear and some crochet items. Emma is based in Yorkshire, East of the Pennines and Loraine is based in Cumbria, West of the Pennines.
Lionbrand Vanna’s Choice® Vanna White, America’s favorite crocheter and Lion Brand’s spokesperson for over 14 years, introduces Vanna’s Choice®, an easy-care, silky-soft premium basic available in a range of beautiful, expertly-coordinated shades.
Knitting Across The Pennines Ep 35 15th April 2020
We recorded our first video podcast on Valentine’s Day 2020, We’re learning all the time and getting better with the tech, but at heart we are knitters and crocheters, that’s what we do best. Today’s chat and checking in with everyone to see how we are all doing with our social distancing or quarantine.
We had a longer chat and Virtual Knit Night to keep one another company and our spirits high. As we both work from our homes for our knitwear designs we’re calling our drinks/beverages a Quarantini while we socially isolate ourselves to stay safe. We show off some recently finished knitting objects (FOs) and we also link to the patterns mentioned below the video.
Our Cowlabunga KAL starts mid March with the hashtags #knittingacrossthepennines and #cowlabunga There will be prizes for the best FO’s made during the KAL and spot prizes of pattern codes for FO and WIP photos shared on social media with the two hashtags.
Emma Sadler of Emma Sadler Designs and Loraine Birchall of Woolly Madly Deeply. We design knitwear and some crochet items. Emma is based in Yorkshire, East of the Pennines and Loraine is based in Cumbria, West of the Pennines.
Lionbrand Vanna’s Choice® Vanna White, America’s favorite crocheter and Lion Brand’s spokesperson for over 14 years, introduces Vanna’s Choice®, an easy-care, silky-soft premium basic available in a range of beautiful, expertly-coordinated shades.
Knitting Across The Pennines Ep 34 14th April 2020
We recorded our first video podcast on Valentine’s Day 2020, We’re learning all the time and getting better with the tech, but at heart we are knitters and crocheters, that’s what we do best. Today’s chat and checking in with everyone to see how we are all doing with our social distancing or quarantine.
We had a longer chat and Virtual Knit Night to keep one another company and our spirits high. As we both work from our homes for our knitwear designs we’re calling our drinks/beverages a Quarantini while we socially isolate ourselves to stay safe. We show off some recently finished knitting objects (FOs) and we also link to the patterns mentioned below the video.
Our Cowlabunga KAL starts mid March with the hashtags #knittingacrossthepennines and #cowlabunga There will be prizes for the best FO’s made during the KAL and spot prizes of pattern codes for FO and WIP photos shared on social media with the two hashtags.
Emma Sadler of Emma Sadler Designs and Loraine Birchall of Woolly Madly Deeply. We design knitwear and some crochet items. Emma is based in Yorkshire, East of the Pennines and Loraine is based in Cumbria, West of the Pennines.
Lionbrand Vanna’s Choice® Vanna White, America’s favorite crocheter and Lion Brand’s spokesperson for over 14 years, introduces Vanna’s Choice®, an easy-care, silky-soft premium basic available in a range of beautiful, expertly-coordinated shades.
