Finally…. I’m back and Episode 60 is live on my YouTube channel:

Timestamps for Episode 60 of the Crafternoon Treats podcast

0 – 13.54

Introduction

A bit about my extended visit to the Land of Overwhelm, which has involved more (and unexpected) work on a major publishing commission and preparing and packing up all my mini skein Advent Calendars. The result was a collision of deadlines and a very hectic few weeks when I had to drop lots of balls, including podcasting, blogging and social media.

13.54 to 23.34

Blasts from the past

It seems like an age ago now but I had a lovely weekend at Yarndale at the end of September, a lovely oasis in the middle of all the overwhelm.You can find a short series of photographs and videos at the end of the podcast with a narration from me about the whole experience.

The Crochet Sockalong 2018 was a great success despite me not being able to play much of a part in it. My blog post on Customising crochet socks contains lots of hints and tips and was published at the end of the sockalong blog hop on October 31st.

The Stylecraft Blogtour was also a lovely online event with many beautiful patterns released to showcase the new Bellissima acrylic yarn. My blog tour post and the pattern for the Winter is Coming shawl was published in mid October. The full list of everyone who took part is in this blog post published on the Stylecraft blog.

The pattern for the Winter is coming shawl is available on Ravelry and as a podcast viewer you can use the discount code Winter30 until January 1 2019 to get 30% off.

I’ve also made a second version of the shawl using Stylecraft Life and plan to update the pattern at some point before Christmas with the colour table showing the yarns used in the stripes. The overall stitch pattern is identical.

23.34 to 39.12

Crafting and relaxation

I’ve been interested in the concept of using crochet and knitting as an age to relaxation and well being but haven’t really gone into it as much as I would like to. The Winter is Coming shawl is a really good project for mindful crocheting and I’m planning more relaxing makes and patterns in the future.

No crochet but some knitting

As a little bit of mindless relaxation and crafty therapy during the last few weeks I have turned to knitting. Yes, I know, that’s very weird for me. But I have needed projects that are clearly and obviously not part of work. And it gives me an opportunity to work on two patterns from fellow podcasters and to improve my basic knitting skills, so why not?

The Falls scarf by Emma of Potter and Bloom; available on Ravelry as part of a 3-pattern ebook.

The Rubia Cowl by Maria of the Ninja Chickens podcast

Both are prizes in the Big Thank You giveaway and can be won by commenting on the video on YouTube for this episode. Let me know how crochet or knitting helps you relax and how it makes a difference to your life. And please remember to include your Ravelry name so I can get in touch.

39.12 to 51.31

The Big Thankyou Giveaway

In this section I reveal the prize winner for the Stationary Geek Stash book and WIP cards and let you know about some more of the prizes available for the 8000 subscriber giveaway. As we are on the way to 9000, I’ve called this the Big Thankyou Giveaway and I’ll be announcing various prizes in each podcast between now and Christmas.

The two prizes up for grabs by commenting on this podcast are books.

The first is the Delicious Shawls book by Lisa Cook that I reviewed in early September.

The Spring Collection is a new book by Wendy Van Delden of Wendy’s Home Collection. This is a wonderful book, full of pastel colours and beautifully simple crochet designs that are done really well and photographed beautifully.

Its not currently available on Amazon but it is for sale at Deramores and is priced at £13.47.

51.31 to 57.18

Patreon news and a few closing bits

I’ve been trying to work out a better way to announce giveaways for my Patrons and have decided that the best way is to post them on Instagram. I’ll be doing that on the 25th of each month, then announcing the prize winners on the 1st of the following month.

I’m also rethinking the way that we organise CALs in the Ravelry group. I’m going to give that more thought but I need to reduce the admin time involved. Procuring prizes, organising their shipping or sending to winners and generally keeping tabs on everything takes quite a few hours for each CAL. Maybe it would be better to have year-long CALS with interim prizes every three months or so, or every six months.

57.18 to end

A short look back at Yarndale 2018

Just a bit of the footage that I took with a narration to give you a flavour of the festival.

Thanks for watching and I will see you again soon xxxx Kathryn

The post Back from the land of overwhelm: Episode 60 appeared first on Crafternoon Treats.