A Bunch of Sweet Peas

What a happy bunch we were!

The picture is missing Jenny, who joined us later.

Sladers Yard (in West Bay, Dorset, UK) were very accommodating and welcoming. We had a board of yummy cakes garnished with strawberries and cherries – I wish I had taken a photo! And they had set aside two tables at the back of the room for us.

There were nine adult crocheters altogether and a delightful junior knitter.

There is something so deeply comforting about being with a group of women coming together and making things together – it is timeless – a connection with our ancestors reaching back over the centuries.

It is great to share ideas and talk about our current a future projects, equipment and how we store our stash.

And don’t you just LOVE Helen’s craft bag!

I admit to a bit of Craft Bag envy!

We felt we had to get at least some pictures on the beach, to show us firmly placed in West Bay, especially to send to Lucy, the designer of the blanket that had brought us all together. Lucy comes from these parts and often returns here for holidays and family visits.

Some of our group had other places they had to be for lunch, so there were fond farewells and talks of meeting again, before a few of us went to the beach where as you can see – it was a bit windy.

I’m hopeless at selfies!

Just right for paragliders

And then there were 3, we had a wander around the harbour

Time for a few more photos

I love this one of Kay and Sandra

And then back to Sladers Yard for a lunch.

A huge thank you to everyone who came and made our Gathering such an enjoyable one – and thank you to all those who have said they would like to come to another one – yes there will be another meeting, not sure when yet.

Any one of the group might arrange a meeting in their area and I will do my best to get there. I will be arranging one in early Summer and will give plenty of notice here on my blog and on Facebook and Instagram.

Thanks also to Stylecraft Yarns for sending such amazing goody bags – everyone was thrilled! We all have plans for our Batik Elements Yarn. The colours on the website do not do it justice, they are much lighter and lovelier! The youngest member of our group used hers as a friendship bracelet for her cuddly toy – just the right fit!

And I have some goody bags left for anyone new who comes to the next meeting.

Thank you to Sladers Yard for their wonderful hospitality, and to some of the other customers who came to chat about crochet.

One guy told me that he had learnt to knit when he was 8 and loved it but his Grandad had ridiculed him for ‘being a girl’ and he’d stopped. I told him about all the many examples of men knititng and crocheting online and he said he might take it up again in his impending retirement. He said we should exhibit our work in a gallery as it was so good! Now there’s a thought …….. !

Of course the biggest thank you has to go to Lucy for creating such a friendly and fabulous crochet community with her heart-warming blog posts and wonderfully colourful designs. This is the fourth Lucy Crochet Along I have done and each one has brought a wonderful sense of community but there seems to be something about these colours that have inspired many of us to gathering in groups all over the world, to share the Sweet Pea journey.

A picture of the Sweet Pea set in the snow.

Pattern for the jacket is in this post.