Katielee.co.uk

Journalist, editor, publisher, professional quote giver

I’m Alpaca Girl’s Fiber Arts Friday featured blogger!

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The lovely Katy from Alpaca Farm Girl contacted me to ask if I’d talk about the fine art of crochet for her Fiber Arts Friday feature. How could I refuse? I am but flesh and blood.

You can read my hilarious insights and homespun wisdom right here.

Also, I know it’s shameful of me, but I gave Katy the scoop on two things I finished making recently: my crochet blanket (well I say “finished” – I’ve still got a row of edging to do) and my amigurumi Milo, which I made for my Milo-mad niece over in Australia. She’s already picked a hole in the back of his neck, which I think speaks volumes about the ingratitude of 2 year olds.

Cafetiere Cosy and a spot of DIY decor

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Yes, I really am living the dream. Not content with a black and gold tea cosy, I made myself a matching cosy for the cafetière, so now I have TWO tastefully crocheted items in my flat. Crazy, I know.

Seriously, who doesn't need one?
While I’m at at it, let’s talk about the furnishings. You can just see the white bamboo table which I painted. It was given to us when we moved into our last flat and we had always assumed we would get rid of it when we finally moved into our own place. But in the spirit of trying to recycle and re-use, I decided to paint it.

Alex Milway at leisure
I made those cushions for the sofa as well. Previously, it was a very tired and old chesterfield, and a lot of the leather had begun flaking off. I bought some duck feather cushions and covered them with material that I bought on eBay. They’re not only helping to increase the life of the sofa, they’re also making it a lot comfier to sit on!

The room is actually tidy for usThe cream scatter cushion cover is made from the bags that our organic bed linen came in. I didn’t want to waste them and they were exactly the right size for the cushions. Al thinks they’re silly, but I like them! This is what they look like on the other side.


Waste not want not!

And finally, we have the lampshade. Al’s been promising to paint bright flowers on the lampshade for ages, but after about 3 years of waiting, I finally just decided to sort it out myself. Here you can see what it looked like, and how it looks now.after

The paper is from an Arts & Crafts wrapping paper book – Victorian paper for a Victorian house!

New crochet blanket

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Those squares I started making a while back are finally being put to good use. I’ve begun composing them into some semblance of order, adding some in to the mix and sewing them together into – almost – coherent patterns. It’s almost as though I planned it that way!

Anyway, here’s what we’ve got so far:

The latest square to be finished.


Here it is next to the first one I made (still my favourite so far).


And this is the new one I’m working on. Still not sure how it will all come together (I might swap the corner pieces for something else), but it’s looking ok so far, I think!

International Crochet Day at Shiny Towers

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It’s amazing what I’ll do to try to win one of Jimbo’s beautiful handmade crochet hooks. Quite how I found myself trundling into work with a bag full of wool and an almighty hangover the other Friday is a mystery to me – but I’d made a promise to teach anyone in the office who wanted to learn how to crochet, and my word is my bond.

All this was in honour of World Crochet Day, something that I read about on Jimbo’s Front Porch, and which inspired me to have a crafty day in the office, much like they do over at Fruit Towers in the Innocent offices.

But while I was having these romantic thoughts of a bonding, crafting session with my staff, at the back of my mind was the knowledge that not all Shiny people are given to folksy crafting experiences, and – as expected – many of them scoffed at the very notion of spending a lunch break learning to crochet.

Luckily, I know how to win them round, and once I’d bribed them all with pizzas (bit of free advice: carrying 10 boxes of steaming pizzas is not easy), six of them stayed seated (presumably, the carb coma kept them grounded) in order to learn crochet skills.

Susi, Gemma, (who is already a wonder-knitter), Abi, Kelly, Lucy and Duncan all sat and listened patiently while I tried to talk through the hangover. Gemma proved (unsurprisingly) to be teacher’s pet, and was soon helping the others. Lucy and Kelly eventually got fed up after about half an hour of valiant persistence (they were just getting the hang of it as well!), Abi finally got the hang of it (she’s tried to learn before), Duncan was a natural, and Susi surprised me (and possibly herself) by not only having the patience to sit there and learn, but also by quite enjoying herself.

In the end, my initial promise to teach them to make Innocent Smoothie hats proved a bit ambitious, but the rows of trebles (US DC) they produced were still pretty impressive! In fact, there was enough enthusiasm for people to get Gemma promising to do a knitting session, so maybe this is the start of something beautiful at Shiny Towers.

You can read Abi’s piece about the day over on Crafty Crafty.

Teaching people to crochet in Crystal Palace

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The lovely Noisy Pitta and I had a great day back in June teaching the good people of Crystal Palace how to crochet. Here’s Noisy Pitta Alison herself sitting at our stall, surrounded by brightly crocheted objects after driving 2 hours just to come and sit next to a person she met on the internet. Surely she deserves some sort of medal or award?!

The day, aimed at promoting the local shops in the area, was organised by the It’s A Green Thing people, who confused me recently when they decided to move their shop to the other side of the Triangle. Lots of people stopped by to learn, which was a pleasant surprise – I had visions of us spending a day sitting on our own while people gave us a wide berth.

Teaching is tiring business (as Vanessa will attest), so thank goodness for whoever brought over the Eton Mess for us to devour, and for fellow professional blog botherer and Crystal Palace dweller, Rob, who bought me a pork butty from the food market. Otherwise I may well have *died*.

All in all a good time was had by all, and hopefully a few people will have found the lessons helpful!

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About

Hello! I'm a screenwriter and speechwriter. journalist, blogger, geek and recovering web entrepreneur. I run Miramus, a digital media company that helps brands to win at the internet. I've got two children, and a very nice husband who writes and illustrates children's books. I'm a weekend hippy and … Read

LEAP Podcast. Episode One

Podcast by Katie Lee