Episode 15 - Old dog, new tricks

Hello folks,

come on into The Crochet Circle Podcast. Here are the show notes from Episode Fifteen - Old dog, new tricks.

In this episode, I cover: Old dog, new tricks; Tunisian CAL; FOs; WIPs; Feeding the Habit; Big Up and What's Good?

This podcast is sponsored by my online crafting company, Provenance Craft Co. 

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1 - Old dog, new tricks

I have changed the name of this feature because it is now more about what I have learned in the last month and whether I can offer those learnings as something useful to listeners and viewers.

This month I have been learning how to do continental knitting (holding the yarn in your left hand which means a different way of scooping the yarn up for a knit stitch and a completely different way to purl).  I was eager to do this one day workshop so that I had the technique under my belt and also to train my left hand to accept yarn and regulate the tension of the yarn.

Up until now, I have always crocheted with both the hook and yarn in my right hand but it is a slower process.  I can now do both, which is proving to be very helpful!

2 - Tunisian CAL update

This CAL started on the 3rd March and runs until the 16th April.  Check out the CAL thread on Ravelry (under The Crochet Circle Podcast Group) or on Instagram you can see posts under #tccTunisianCAL.

The projects so far are fantastic and a lot of amazing progress has been made in understanding Tunisian crochet techniques.  Well done everyone!

3 - WIPs

I only have a couple to show this month because of my mammoth pile of FOs!!!  

The first is my Ocaso shawl for the Tunisian CAL.  Unsurprisingly I did change my mind on the colours and decided to go bright or go home:

The yarns are a sock club skein from Life in the Long Grass and Aurancania Botany Lace.  I have to say that I rather love this colour combination and I have to remember that what you see in a skein looks completely different caked up and crocheted/knitted.

My second WIP is a bag that I am designing with John Arbon's Devonia.  I will post a picture when I have completed more of the bag, as there really isn't much to see yet!

4 - FOs

I hope you have a cuppa in front of you because I have ten FOs to show you!  I am a crafting ninja.

This rug was my own simple design, using a massive stash (1.8kg) of British wool that I had.  I have written up the pattern and it is available free of charge on my blog.

This is the Marshmallow Hot Chocolate Shawl which I did as part of a KAL with Lora and Deirdre from Olann and Magazine and podcast (links are below in Big Up).  The KAL is running until the 14th of May 2017 so there is still plenty of time to join in and try this extremely quick knit. 

If you look at my projects on Ravelry you will see all of my notes for this pattern (I am MaDashper on Ravelry).  I used a dark purple Donegal Tweed in an aran weight and the lighter yarn is a Debbie Bliss Donegal Tweed in Aran (shade 281117).

The first pair of socks use Socks Yeah! in shade Sphene as the main colour, Lang Jawoll for the cream and Life in the Long Grass for the speckled yarn which was another sock club colourway.   The second pair uses the beautiful, naturally dyed yarn given to me by Clarisbeth of the Crochetcakes podcast.  She dyed it using avocado stones.  To make sure I could get a pair of socks from the 50g skein, I paired it with some West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4 ply in shade Poppyseed.

This is a new design that I have been working on, based on the stained glass windows in the churches on Iona.  It takes less than 50g of each colour, so is a great stash buster. I will remake this again with other yarns and also creat