EMMA FRIED LAND ER COLLINS
Emma Friedlander-Collins has made herself a nest in the garden and is all set up for a summer of crochet from the comfort of home…
Summer and crochet is one of those slightly odd combinations. The hands are itching to make, but the idea of being covered in a layer of yarn under the blazing sun is just too much. Last year, we headed off to Berlin and I took a little design I was working on for Simply Crochet with me. It was 35 degrees, muggy as anything, and my fingers were so sweaty that the yarn on the loop stitch scarf I was making was sticking to me with every stitch. Oh goodness, I also remember trying to film the Crochet Girl Gang CAL tutorials in the middle of summer, and the yarn was squeaking through the whole video because it was so hot!
A CATCH UP SUMMER
This year I’m trying a new approach. This summer is going to be the summer of the WIPs (or UFOs ,if you prefer!). No blankets to make in a week, no scarves and hats with a three-day deadline, no tricky shawls for next Thursday – this year I am going to aim for little and often. I don’t know how you manage your own WIPs, but I have a big wicker basket that sits by my favourite chair in the living room, and anything that I’m currently working on goes in it, to be picked up at a later date. This summer, it has reached the point where nothing else will fit in it, so clearly it’s time for a sort out.
FIND A SHADY SPOT
We have a tiny little garden, and a couple of years ago, we planted a tiny little almond tree, and now we have a tiny little shady spot at the end of our garden. As a creative sort, I have built a day bed from pallets and crochet blankets and that is where I intend to stay, with my big basket of WIPs, and a cold glass of something, for the entire summer. It is in fact, exactly where I am writing this now. I can smell the honeysuckle, hear the leaves in the almond tree rustling, the birds in the woods by our house, and the gentle sound of people enjoying the sun in their gardens. It’s lovely.
BASKET OF IDEAS
“But who cares about the honeysuckle?” I hear you say, “what are the WIPs?!” OK, so there’s a simple shawl using Scheepjes
Whirl which is lovely and light, and perfect for just picking up and pottering through a few rows. There’s a sparkly cardi with rainbow edges which I really want to finish, but will take more brain power than I currently want to spend, working out how much to reduce the sleeves by per row. There’s an awesome, super-bright, granny square collection made with Paintbox Aran that I had originally intended to turn into a top, but am mostly just enjoying the easygoing nature of picking colours and making squares, so who knows where that will go? There’s a scarf and hat combo for the autumn, inspired by watching way too much Miss Marple, a chevron cushion, a floral headpiece AND a solar system pillow to get on with.
INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY
It looks like a lot, as it very nearly spills out of the basket, but I have a whole summer to get on top of it all. This year, for me then, it’s going to be a woolly staycation. The big paddling pool is up to entertain the boys (although my day bed is alarmingly close to it), and this year, maybe they can learn what it’s like to actually get bored for a while and come up with new ways to spend their time. I am going to get comfy, pop my floppy sun hat on and enjoy the satisfaction of some gentle crochet while clearing out the big basket. Who knows, maybe I’ll get through enough to start fitting the next batch of Christmas WIPs in there! Keep up with Emma via her blog at https://blog.lovecrochet. com/author/emmafcollins where you’ll also find free tutorials and yarn reviews. Look out for her on Instagram too, under the name @steelandstitch.