Dragonfly River MAL

Summer Craft Challenge 2023 : Weeks 2 & 3

~ Making Stitches ~ 6 Comments

Hello there, this time last week I was driving north to Scotland so didn’t get round to posting before now… so here’s a look back at my last 2 weeks of crafting.

Day 8 : Saturday 29th July

It was Black Sheep Wools’ 40th birthday party yesterday & today, so I popped along to join the celebration.

Eek, there I am… I may have made one or two purchases while I was there…

It didn’t leave much time for making though…

Day 9 : Sunday 30th July

I just felt inspired to make a daisy, can’t say why – it just leapt off my hook!

Day 10 : Monday 31st July

I ended the month on a high, almost exactly a year after I started it, I finished my Dragonfly River MAL shawl by Heather at Keep Calm & Crochet On and Kitey The Yarn Whisperer. Isn’t it lovely? I have no idea why I left it almost finished for so long!

Day 11 : Tuesday 1st August

Sticking with the circular theme…

Day 12 : Wednesday 2nd August

A very uninspiring circle was all I managed today…

Day 13 : Thursday 3rd August

A very busy day today, work, housework and preparations for a family holiday (yay!) meant not much crochet time…

Day 14 : Friday 4th August

I’m trying and trying to square my circle but my brain won’t work and I’m not giving in and looking up a pattern. That’s enough for today.

Day 15 : Saturday 5th August

I didn’t manage much ‘craft’ today it was a long day of driving from Manchester to the west coast of Scotland. It was a day of firsts as I drove onto a car ferry for the first time!

Day 16 : Sunday 6th August

My crochet corner for the afternoon

I felt inspired by the Scottish sunshine in the garden of our holiday let to make a sunflower. What a fabulous spot! There’s a very good chance I won’t want to leave…

Day 17 : Monday 7th August

Sock knitting with a view today… our holiday let had the most amazing views.

Day 18 : Tuesday 8th August

It was such a beautiful day, I felt inspired by my surroundings and wanted to create a little crochet square to celebrate it. It also gave me the perfect excuse to visit a lovely yarn shop called Jinty & Baa in the village of Kirn near Dunoon to buy some yarn to make the water/loch section of my square.

If you ever find yourself in the area, I would highly recommend a visit. It’s really well stocked with yarn, fabric and other needlecraft supplies.

Day 19 : Wednesday 9th August

Sock knitting at Tarbet Castle

Nothing to see here… just an embarrassing mother sitting on a historical monument knitting socks 😂. A cruise on the Waverley Paddle Steamer brought us to Tarbet, and we climbed up to see the castle.

Tarbet Castle

Day 20 : Thursday 10th August

Sock knitting on the beach at Ostel Bay

Beach day meant sock knitting on the beach – ignore the grey sky – it was deceptively warm even the water was! It was beautiful.

Day 21 : Friday 11th August

Sock knitting at the Shinty pitch!

Our last full day in the Kyles of Bute before heading onwards to Glasgow. The boys decided to have a kick around on the neighbouring shinty pitch near to where we were staying (I managed a few rows before being roped in as goal keeper). I imagine this will be last of my spectacular backdrops for a while!

That’s it for this week, I look forward to sharing more summer craft adventures with you soon.

Lindsay x

Summer Craft Challenge 2022 : Weeks 5 & 6

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It would appear that I have let things slide somewhat with this blogging lark! Here we are in October and I’ve just realised I never actually officially ended my Summer Craft Challenge 2022 – that will never do!

So here, an awful lot later than previously intended, is the final installment of my Summer Craft Challenge….

Day 30 : Saturday 20th August 2022

First half of my main summer project completed – the beginning of the Dragonfly River MAL by Keep Calm and Carry on Crocheting & The Yarn Whisperer. I found the slub yarn really quite tricky to get to grips with to start with, but once I got into a rhythm with it, it was fine. Although, that said I am really looking forward to the next section as it is all in the gorgeous aqua blues of the accent yarn used in the accents of this section I’ve just completed.

Day 31 : Sunday 21st August 2022

Sewing in ends is right up there in my least favourite jobs alongside ironing I’m afraid, but I embraced it and felt very virtuous once all the loose ends were tidied away today. This means I can now continue with the rest of my cowl without a guilty conscience. What’s more I even got so into it that I actually revisited an old project (my Crochet Sanctuary Christmas 2020 blanket CAL) and finished off all the loose ends on that too!

Before…
And after!
Now both sides are respectable 😂

Day 32 : Monday 22nd August 2022

Back on the Granny Square bandwagon!

Day 33 : Tuesday 23rd August 2022

The Granny Square grows…

Day 34 : Wednesday 24th August 2022

No crochet as such for me, just some tech editing for my Oakley and Agatha patterns I launched earlier this week.

Day 35 : Thursday 25th August 2022

It may have still been the summer holidays but some things continue – like music lessons. So while number 2 son made music, I sat in the car and made amigurumi!

Day 36 : Friday 26th August 2022

Sadly there was no craft today – I was too busy packing the two youngest of the family off on a trip and packing for myself and Eldest to go on holiday too….

Week 6

Day 37 : Saturday 27th August 2022

Three train journeys gave me loads of time to get hooking. Lots of progress was made on my Dragonfly River MAL en route between Manchester and……. Paris!!!!!!

Day 38 : Sunday 28th August 2022

Too much sightseeing for me today to manage any more than a quick row before collapsing into bed!

Day 39 : Monday 29th August 2022

My last evening crocheting dragonflies in Paris.

Day 40 : Tuesday 30th August 2022

Crochet, orangina & a Brie baguette on the EuroStar très French!

Four train journeys today… 1 Paris Metro, 1 Eurostar, 1 Intercity between London and Sheffield and finally 1 Trans-Pennine Express from Sheffield to Manchester and home = lots of hooky time.

Day 41 : Wednesday 31st August 2022

No exotic location for my crochet today, just back on my sofa at home!

Day 42 : Thursday 1st September 2022

Back to in-car crochet during music lessons again.

Day 43 : Friday 2nd September 2022

Whoops I may have accidentally started a new project….

Day 44 : Saturday 3rd September 2022

Can you guess the theme of my newest creation?

Day 45 : Sunday 4th September 2022

More pumpkin crochet for me – this time alfresco at a football match. It was a pre-season friendly which ‘we’ won 3-0!

And that brings my Summer Craft Challenge to an end for another year. Thank you for joining me on another yarny summer adventure. I may not have managed a 100% record for doing something crafty every day this time, but I gave it a decent try.

Are you up for joining me next year?

Lindsay x

Summer Craft Challenge 2022 : Week Two

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I can’t believe that week two of the school summer holidays is over already… where has the time gone?!

Here’s a little crafty recap of what I got up to this week – and despite having no plans to have a traditional summer holiday this year I even managed some beach crochet!!!

Day 8 : Saturday 30th July

Day 8 of my challenge was also day 1 of the Dragonfly River MAL from Heather from Keep Calm and Crochet On UK (@kcaco.uk) and Kitey from The Yarn Whisperer (@the_yarnwhisperer).

No dragonfly crochet for me yet, but a pleasant time winding my skeins into yarn cakes – aren’t they just gorgeous colours?! 💙💚🤍. I can’t wait to get started….

Day 9 : Sunday 31st July

Due to the hectic nature of things, I only had a few snippets of time to get crochet done. I’m being firm with myself and won’t let myself begin the #dragonflyrivermal until I’ve finished my current little person from my latest Up The Garden Path School Days pattern – once he’s off my hook I’ll be diving straight into dragonfly river believe you me!

In the meantime, here’s my dragonfly river yarn from @the_yarnwhisperer in all it’s beautiful glory (above)! Oh and a teeny tiny tank top too (below)!

Day 10 : Monday 1st August

Day 10 of my challengeand he’s finished! I had to somehow give him glasses and the only way I could think of doing it was by chaining embroidery cotton then sewing it into place. I’m reliably told by Youngest he looks nothing like his human counterpart. There’s nothing like kids to completely deflate your pride 😂.

Aside from that – it means that I’m free to get started on my Dragonfly River MAL!!! Rather conveniently I have two longish train journeys to make tomorrow so my MAL will be keeping me company!!!

Day 11 : Tuesday 2nd August

Manchester Piccadilly

Day 11 of my challenge and it was my first day on the #dragonflyriverMAL by Heather Keep Calm and Crochet On UK & Kitey from The Yarn Whisperer.

Coming into Birmingham New Street

Well I had 6 hours to kill on trains, so what better pass-time than this? Started at Manchester Piccadilly, frogged at Stockport, started again, then frogged at Macclesfield, started again and it was 3rd time lucky! Progress shots at Birmingham New Street & almost at Oxford!

Just outside Oxford

Final picture on my return trip – and I’m loving it! Not sure I’ll have as long to dedicate to it every day though!

Homeward bound

Day 12 : Wednesday 3rd August

Day 12 of my challenge didn’t see quite as much crochet as yesterday – just time for one row of the #dragonflyrivermal in the afternoon sun! ☀️

Day 13 : Thursday 4th August

Beautiful Lytham St Annes

Day 13 of my has been a beach day! I made crochet waves on the beach at Lytham St Annes in the sunshine!

Crochet on the beach

It was a super day organised by one of the mums at Youngest’s old school. There were loads of families there, lots of digging in the sand, football, games, hotdogs, amusements and summertime fun…. And a teeny tiny bit of crochet too!

Day 14 : Friday 5th August

Day 14 of my challenge was so busy I didn’t have time for any crochet sadly. But I did have time to drop this little chap off to his new home, so hopefully this counts. (Well I make the rules so l’ll say yes – but must do better tomorrow!)

The recipient was thrilled to bits with him despite the damning review from Littlest that he looked nothing like his human counterpart! So that was a job well done.

That’s all for this week’s installment of crafty shenanigans. Let’s hope the coming week is full of crafty fun too!

Thanks for stopping by!

Lindsay x