It has been a very challenging spring/early summer weather wise. I follow quite a few gardeners and flower growers on social media and they are all despairing of the damp dark days and the marauding slugs. How disheartening it must be to see whole crops disappear to a silvery mush. Then there must be the worry of how you can sustain a living if this is your livelihood. I say this, in sympathy and as a prompt to see the flower losses in our garden in proportion.
In the last few years I have enjoyed my adventures growing dahlias. This year I don’t think we will get much joy. I have used Strulch. I have used crushed shell and I am now onto woolly pellets. I am trying valiantly to stay away from the neon blue slug pellets, but I do wish the blackbirds and the hedgehogs would eat out at our snail buffet more often.
Recently for Inside Crochet Magazine I wrote about how much the garden inspires my crochet design. In previous years it has been the colours from plants in our pots which have got my little creative juices going. But this year the flowers that have survived are slow growing and they have missed the heat.
I now realise that it is also the physical act of crocheting outside which connects me to the colour combination. Last week we took a few day out to enjoy having a little time off. We returned to our beloved Lakes District. The first few days were wonderfully hot, and honestly it feels like the ultimate luxury to crochet outside. Because it was local holiday I was able to take two sizeable projects. A two blanket destination. I was able to work on my joyful Stashheap Challenge. Have a look at previous posts to see why I have chosen this simple design. You can also pop over to YouTube to see how I have been building the project. I have also started a simple cotton blanket design which was very relaxing.
But when the sunshine disappeared I was lucky to be able to transfer my activity inside. Thank goodness.
For me there is a definite ‘work’ aspect to crochet – and yet it remains a relaxing hobby too. If you are interested in hearing me chat about how I began my crochet journey and why I design patterns, then it is worth listening to the new Making Stitches Podcast. Lindsay who launched the podcast is a very professional host. I have listened to a number of episodes before. I am also an avid podcast consumer, so it was very flattering to be interviewed. I could have spoken with Lindsay for hours. It is also very useful to reflect on why we do some things. I think by answering the questions it made me reflect on how important sharing our craft is – how it is a lifeline of tranquillity. I am very grateful that both in the busy times and the holiday times – crochet is a companion.