For the love of Granny

Some time away as I lost my camera charger but now I'm now back.

 And with some WIP to show, these are 4 of the Granny Square Blankets I'm working on, and they're growing well.  When I first started to crochet as a child my Nana had blankets like these, she'd start you crocheting round and after a while she'd start on the next colour and chase your loops as you went.

 

 As I crochet these and feel the yarn through my fingers I'm reminded of my Nana, her smell (Lavender perfume and Parma violets) and watching her hands wrinkled and soft working their way round behind me.

 I've used arcylic yarn to make these, which some people will barf at I know, there's a few reasons behind this decision. 

First is I'm not made of money or sponsored by a yarn company, to get the huge array of colours I like I need a reasonable priced yarn. 

Second is I'd been approached by vegans about things I make, and was told there was not alot of vegan friendly items made from lovely colourful materials.

Third is washability, I hopeing that people will buy these to be used not just for decoration, so it helps to have an easily washable yarn. 

 I love the colours of the top 3 blankets, but I'm not sure of this one, I wanted it to be bolder than usual blankets but I think I like the effect of single lines of colour.

Which colour do you like best?

Have a lovely Friday,

Amanda.x.

RE inspired

Something I discovered recently is that I want to make pieces I'll love making & selling them would just be a way of sharing those finished items with others; rather than making things that I think people would like and would need to buy.

This came to me at the Love Christmas Farye I did just before Christmas, I'd worked my socks off making stock which I thought would sell great on the night, rushing designs(especially jewellery) and producing high street style pieces, which I sell at a low price.

Wow, did I get a kick in the butt, did I sell any of those? Err, no I sold the items I'd made unhurried and uncaring of what I thought people would want but where I found joy the process of making them.

Hmm, having a major rethink 6 months into starting in business is maybe not the best idea but better now than later.

So re-evaluation over I needed inspiration for a new collection of country cottage/nanna inspired homeware I'm developing, which just happens to coincide with me doing up my entire house.

See number 9 in my goals for the year.

Previously I'd discounted ideas thinking people won't pay what it would take to make that, blah blah, now I don't care, I'll make it & if it sells it sells, but at least I won't feel like a sell out.

As a crafter my problem is never coming up with something to make but what will I really enjoy making, you have so many fragments of ideas floating around in your head but if you pick the wrong one then you'll lose momentum and never finish. Lucky for me I was invited on a girls road trip to Corbridge about an hour away, this small beautiful village boast an amazing array of boutique and antique shops but we'd drove all this way for one shop I've wanted to visit since looking it up in an article from Red magazine.

The shop is called RE. And boy it did not disappoint.

An amazing place the staff/makers even let me take photos for this blog, so look in on them either in person or through cyberspace they're worth the look.

Below are just some of the beautiful items on display.

RE guys your products are beautiful, staff friendly, shop inspiring, and didn't put a major dent in my purse. Thanks for a lovely visit.

Thanks Amanda.x.