Greetings fellow crafters,
Spring has sprung! The weather has become warmer and the gardens are full of birds, buds and flowers. Oh, how I love this time of year. I’m excited that there is so much to share with you; many students have finished off projects and so have I.
Waheeda Patel did not start embroidery lessons very long ago, and yet she has produced two beautiful cushions. They are both Rosework’s Garland of Flowers designs and Waheeda has embroidered them beautifully. Thank you to Delene Wolfe Coote for sewing up the cushions so well too. It really finishes them off so professionally.
Conor Hughes never ceases to amaze me with her artistic ability. Not only is her embroidery absolutely magnificent, but the concepts that she thinks up are also incredible. I share with you her Black Bird. It is a work of art.
Judy Benjamin, decided to knit a bomber-jacket type jersey for her grandson and I guided her in sewing all the pieces together. It turned out wonderfully.
Eleanor Peake continued with her quest to make temperature blankets and completed her second one. This time, she did a double border around it; which neatened the edge off beautifully. This done, she chose to knit a jersey for her niece. It turns out this was the first garment, other than beanies and scarves, that Eleanor has ever knitted. I am so proud of her.
Masego Ngwenya has improved in leaps and bounds with her crocheting, and after the last school holidays, she came to a lesson wearing a hat that she’d designed and produced all by herself. What a star!
Kirsten van der Riet was inspired to crochet the Hooked-on-Sunshine (designed by Vanessa Smith) blanket as a gift for her dad, for his 90th birthday. The pattern is really lovely, but the colours she chose gave the blanket that extra-special look. Kirsten also learned how to do a double border for this blanket. It worked really well. I’m sure her dad is going to be delighted with his gift.
My projects have also been coming to an end. I am so pleased with my Greensleeves embroidery. It took me two years; albeit that I did other projects during this time too, but it is finally done! The design is by Brenda Sortwell. I did it in DMC threads, rather than wool and to a large extend I used my own colour palette, but I am happy with the end result. The cushion is lovey and Delene’s touch in sewing it together finished it off to perfection.
During the last month, I also crocheted a blanket for an 80th birthday present. I followed CJ Design’s Not-your-Abuelita’s- Blanket pattern which requires very thick yarn and a size 8mm crochet hook. Needless to say, that blanket only took three weeks to complete.
I give lessons in knitting, crocheting and hand embroidery at Kyalami on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday mornings and Tuesday afternoons. Lessons run every alternate week, except for the Thursday mornings; they are weekly. I’d love you to join me so I can share my passion for crafts with you.
The stock at Threads of Joy is building up. If you are needing items, especially for your embroidery projects – from DMC, Chameleon and House of embroidery threads, to Roseworks Embroidery kits, to sewing needles, to embroidery hoops or scissors please give me a call. Just call me before hand to arrange a suitable time to do your shopping.
Join me if you want to learn a new skill and meet some like-minded friends! Be inspired. Begin a new project. Bring a friend along too. Contact me if you are interested in crocheting, knitting or doing some hand embroidery. Remember, you are never too old or too young to learn something new!
Yours in craft, Lindsey
