If I was a very clever crafter, I would concentrate on just one thing. You would say – Emma Varnam – the crochet toy designer… or Emma – she designs lovely blankets…or Emma – she is the creator of crochet cacti. That would be my focus and it would make such brand sense. It would make better business sense.
But that isn’t what floats my boat. As a creative i enjoy dabbling in a range of crafting activity. Don’t get me wrong the crochet is always with me, but in the last month I have paddled in quite a few creative pursuits.
The garden as you know is a place that I love to be in. This year I have concentrated on growing more flowers to cut and have in our house. It has been great that I have drastically cut the number of cut flowers I buy. Most of the flowers we now have indoors come from the garden. I have also been able to grow plants that it is not easy to buy from the shops. We had a really really hot time a few weeks ago. Some of our plants look very crispy and they have suffered. Since then (even within the same week) the North West of England got quite bit of rain. I now have quite lush looking foliage and so few flowers. I keep going outside to will them on. But I am worried now that my dahlias and sweetpeas have suffered too much.
We have also had our main summer week away. I did take some crochet with me, but can you believe it was almost too hot to stitch! Outrageous. During the first lock-down I kept a little painting diary and decided it would be fun to take the paints away on our summer holiday.
Painting 3 or 4 sketches each day became my daily routine and I loved getting back to this fun. I’ll try and share a few more images with you, but I feel I need to finish off my little painting diary.
The Stargazer blanket is my current private ‘work-in-progress’. Thank you if you have enjoyed seeing it develop and once it is finished I am going to try and write up the pattern for you. I do need to finish it first as it will give me an idea of yarn quantities. If I could stretch time I would find a little space to make sewn quilts. I simply adore patchwork and it holds such a nostalgic place in my heart. I know I don’t have the sewing time, but the patterns and colour combinations do have a great influence on my blanket making.
All in the background is the ‘design-work’. The projects I am working on to bring you either a new design in my shop or a new book. I have just finished the first part of my next book, and at the same time I have received my very first copy of my new book; Crocheted Houseplants. I could never have guessed that so many of you have enjoyed making cacti and succulents from my first book. It is crazy to imagine. But as lots of us have found a new love of real houseplants in our life, it is also fun to recreate their beauty in yarn. In the next month I shall share more of the patterns with you. But for now, here is the front cover. I do hope you like it.
Now I am off back out into the garden and I am going to feed my pots to see if I can stimulate them into flower for August. Have a lovely week – Emma
Love the blanket – as a quilter and a relatively new to crochet – it is a pattern I would love to make!