Crochet Days in Dorset #2 - Beginners

Keep Calm and Crochet On

The classroom was prepared

The Fairy Lights were turned on

Chocolates were put out (in a Crochet Bowl of course, that sat on a Crochet Blanket & a Granny Square WIP !!)

Supplies were arranged on the table

And the scene was set!

The girls arrived!  The came from all over, including Ireland, Swindon, Wiltshire, Leicester, The Isle of Wight & of course Dorset!

We got going with the basics

Slip knots to start

which then turned into chains

Which were used to decorate the name badges!

More serious stitching took place

And as you can see, with the help of stitch markers (A hookers best friend), straight edges were soon achieved!

Then it was working in the round

Again using stitch markers

So that essential stitch joins were not missed

Working in the round soon turned into making Granny Squares

Which burst a bubble of excitement in the room

by B who had always wanted to make granny squares

And S who had been on a crochet course before, said that she'd learnt new, and better techniques than she had before, which she really loved

We also covered finishing off techniques, colour changes & fake finishes, as well as a little JayGo & magic knots!

Goody bags, made up of magazines, yarn packs & hooks etc. supplied by Lets Get Crafting Knitting & Crochet, Inside Crochet, Purple Linda Crafts & more, where received with huge beaming smiles.

We had some lovely lunches and a GREAT meal on the Saturday night at The Willows in the village, where the chat flowed well into the night.

The feedback forms that the girls completed made me glow with pride.  I don't think that I can change anything that I am doing to improve this course from what they have told me.

This crochet retreat, plus the Improvers one a month ago, have both gone extremely well.

The girls set up a Facebook Page!

I was able to post a little pattern on there for them to try at home and here's the results so far.....

Daisy Flowers!

Don't they look amazing.

If you would like to come to my next Crochet retreat in May then there are still 2 places left, so do get in touch.

The cost of this Crochet retreat is £150 for the two days with ALL materials supplied.

There is more information on my website

IF YOU WANT TO LEARN TO CROCHET IN 12 HOURS THEN MY CROCHET RETREAT IN DORSET IS THE PLACE TO COME IN MAY!

Crochet Days in Dorset #1 - Improvers

Crochet Days in Dorset

Part 1

Improvers

http://www.gethookedoncrochet.co.uk/crochet-days-in-dorset-2016/

We all had a lovely, hooky weekend.

I am thrilled with how the weekend went and my pupils were too!
 

Here is the goody bag that all the girls got, thanks to Inside Crochet, Purplelinda Crafts, Lets Get Crafting Knitting & Crochet, Jane Crowfoot, Toft Alpaca, KnitWits Blandford & Quarto Publishing.

They were very happy to get all these little goodies, including a crochet hook, a lovely embroidered crochet card, free patterns & some wool wash too!

Here are some of my improvers, hooking away, using the window seat area & sofa's.

Others sat at the big table

 & others at the little table (the one closest to the heater!! LOL)

They were all given WiFi access so that they could share internet crochet on their ipads and phones.

Pinterest was used a lot!

I designed a market bag to be made over the two days, from T Shirt Yarn.  I bought them all a ball of Tek-Tek online & they all had fun choosing the colours they would use, as I got a good selection.

Can you seem the amount of tea and coffee on the coffee table??  We needed lots of refreshment to get us through the day.

I told them to bring along their slippers, so that they would be comfy during the weekend.

These pom pom ones were my favourite.

Their bags are getting larger!

And handles were added

They were encouraged to deviate from the original design, and some did just that!

This bag was made with 1 strand of T Shirt Yarn and a strand of cotton in a contrasting colour.  The effect was brilliant.

It's a shame that you can't see the true colours of the T Shirt yarn from the photo's

As they were all so lovely, especially this one.

 This lady popped down to KnitWits in Blandford after the first day, to buy these amazing handles, which were sewn on using the same dk cotton as the added strand used in the making of her bag.

Here we are on another project of the weekend.  All my pupils brought along something that they were making - their WIPs - something that they hadn't started or needed to start, makes that they had got stuck on e.g. one started to make a baby cardigan, another a jumper, and there was also a shark sleeping snuggler being made too!

Here we all are making T Shirt Yarn. 
In the feedback form that they all filled out, making T Shirt Yarn was the most popular activity!

Wow what a fab market bag!

A lovely lunch was provided on both days.
Home made vegetable soup and warm bread rolls on day 1 & Aga baked Jacket Potatoes with cheese & coleslaw on day 2, followed by cake

Most went up for seconds!!

One pupil learnt Basket Weave Stitch, using 3 strands of DK and a 9mm hook.  It's comes out really effective as you can change just one colour at any time you like, so great for using up scrap ends from your yarn stash

We also made handles for our crochet hooks

Don't they look fab?

I have to confess that the AGA let us all down.  One lady was timing the length of time that they had to be in the oven, but, I think the oven was too hot.  I should have put them in the baking oven and not the roasting oven as they came out very sadly cremated.

 Some buttons were made out of the spare clay - aren't they fab?

 We also had a go at Wire Crochet.   We all made bracelets with beads that the lady's brought in with them.  One lady had a huge amount of beads, which she very generously let us all delve into.

So there you have it, a weekend of crochet fun.

We went to the local restaurant on the Saturday night and had a lovely 3 course meal with a bottle or 2 of wine.

They all want to come back for more, so I am looking into another weekend in September!!

The next 2 weekends are for Beginners - April is now fully booked, but there are still 2 places available in May
See  http://www.gethookedoncrochet.co.uk/crochet-days-in-dorset-2016/  for more information & to book your place!

So much YARN and so many HOOKS!!

Look at what my pupil turned up at class in!!

Isn't it super fab?

And

Then she produced this little dinosaur

from a pattern by DMC but made in Chunky for a first attempt at amigurumi

Amazing!

Here are my Sherborne Ladies at The Slipped Stitch learning the basics

And here are the mobile phone cases they made after lesson 1 - wow, didn't they do well!

In an Improvers course taken at my home classroom in Shillingstone, EB made this wonderful blanket

And here's JG learning how to wind a skien of cotton tape yarn

From a wool swift (top photo of these 3) to a wool winder

We made Forget Me Nots for Demetia Friends Charity

And Bear Fever is catching on!

Another Improver made this jumper from a recent issue of Inside Crochet Magazine.  I just love the moss stitch.

It's been a busy few weeks here at Crochet Central !