Having had a very challenging career that I absolutely loved and being a single Mum bringing up two teenage boys, which I also loved (well, most of the time!), retirement has meant more time for other things that I love, like crafts.
I love knitting, crochet and cross stitch, often creating my own designs. Making things for Little People is my absolute favourite things to do and I especially love making really colourful baby blankets and little hooded coats. I started just making them for family and friends but over time word spread and I was asked to make more and more. For a while I even sold them online, sending them as far afield as Spain, Portugal, USA, Norway etc. I don't sell them anymore but still make them just for the love of it either for people I know or for charities.
I thought I'd share some of my favourite projects with you. This one began as a few individual hexagon shapes which I decided looked like flowers......
and so I decided to put them together........
and they began to look a bit like a garden.......
So, then I decided to edge my 'flower bed' with a green scalloped edge, which represents grass.......
A few green 'tufts' and small dangling flowers for little hands to play with.......
and the garden is complete!
Another of my favourites, because I love bright colours, are my rainbow blankets - and I've made quite a few different ones over the years!
Just love these colours...........
And here it is when it was almost finished.......
Crafting is a great way to spend time, especially as the nights draw in and there's less opportunity to be doing things outside. Crafting really is my Autumn/Winter joy! I get totally absorbed in what I'm doing and the time just flies by - great if you're on your own. But crafting is also a great thing to share with others and there are loads of crafty groups around, from Knit 'n Natter groups, Crochet clubs and Cross Stitch Circles etc.
When I first moved here I joined a fantastic group based in a local cafe. It was set up by Lucy, who has become a bit of a crafting celebrity in recent years! You can see her very popular blog, Attic 24 by clicking its title. It's full of interesting stuff, loads of photos, her own crochet projects, patterns and yarn packs etc. The craft group she set up with a friend, Tracey, was hugely popular, attracting all kinds of women from near and far, in Yorkshire and over the border in Lancashire - and much further afield too! I have found myself on several occasions sitting round a table, crafting and chatting over coffee and cake, with women from Germany, France etc and even from Australia!!! And things have gone from strength to strength, culminating in a craft festival called Yarndale which happens every September and is hugely busy! This year's Yarndale is coming up very soon - find out more here.
The women I met through a shared love of crafting were really friendly and welcoming and I really enjoyed the times I spent with them. Other things have taken over now and I haven't been to the cafe for some time but those women will never know how much they helped and supported me through a very difficult time in my life. With them I was able to forget the hurts, to have fun, to feel connected and a lot less lonely, all of which was enormously important in helping me to build a new and happy life here. I will be forever grateful to them all.
So, do you have an interest that you would like to share with others? Can you find a group near you to go to? Libraries are often useful for finding out what's happening in your area. Or you could do an internet search. Or do you feel like starting up a group of your own? It doesn't have to be a big deal - Lucy's group began with two or three friends meeting up once a week in a local cafe for coffee, cake and a bit of crochet time together - and it GREW!
So, whatever you do, do it with joy in your heart (that's what enjoy means!) and a lightness in your step...........
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