Episode 10

We're nearing the end of 2016... With my November and December designs up in my etsy shop, I'm now enjoying some slow-paced crochet, including my current stripy, beaded design-in-progress as well as a lovely wip by a fellow designer, inspired by bees!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMudb7CxJXM&t=46s

I am on Instagram @lorrainepughdesigns
You can find me on ravelry as lorrainepugh
There is also a group on ravelry, linked here:
http://www.ravelry.com/groups/lorrainepughdesigns
And a Facebook Page:
https://www.facebook.com/lorrainepughdesigns/
Plus, a Facebook Group where you can share your makes and chatter with like-minded makers:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1707181802870447/

Episode 10 Show Notes

Ann's Lovely Shawl
Pattern is called 'Aranuir' by Morben Designs, link here: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/aranuir
FYI the designer's name is Jasmin Räsänen
Worked in a very fine natural cotton

'Festive Jester' designed by me!
Pattern link here: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/festive-jester
Yarns used are 'Colour Theory' Yak Sock, by Hand Dyed by Kate, link here: http://www.handdyedbykate.com/
'Overripe Raspberry' by Dye For Wool in their Merino/Silk Base, shop link here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/Dyeforwool
Beads used are 'Golden' from 'Maya Honey' on etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/MayaHoney

Blackcurrant-style Stitch Markers in notions pouch by Debs of Crafty Cat Knitty Bits on etsy, linked here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/CraftyCatKnittyBits

'Big Eye Needle' that I cut in half is by Trimits

Current Design-In-Progress
Yarns used:
Red: 'Overripe Raspberry' by Dye For Wool in their Merino/Silk Base, shop linked above
Brown: Dyed by myself, on a gold stellina sock base
Green: Araucania Botany Lace, colourway PT1794. You'll need to do a google search to find your local stockists
Teal: 'Dragonfly Flying Too High' by Dye For Wool in their Merino/Silk Base, shop linked above
Navy: 'Deep In The Cold Night' by Dye For Wool in their Merino/Silk Base, shop linked above
Purple: 'Blackberry' by Lanitium Ex Machina on their glitter sock base (gold stellina), shop link here: www.etsy.com/shop/lanitiumexmachina
Blackcurrant-style Stitch Markers by Debs of Crafty Cat Knitty Bits on etsy, linked here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/CraftyCatKnittyBits
Beads used are 'Golden' from 'Maya Honey' on etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/MayaHoney

Crochet WIP
'Hotel Of Bees' Crochet Shawl Pattern by Christia Hadderingh aka 'A Spoonful Of Yarn' pattern linked here: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/hotel-of-bees-shawl
Yarns purchased for this project are Dye For Wool's Merino Sport Weight in the following colour ways:
'Too Hard Butter Cookie', 'Burnt Cinnamon Roll' and 'Boiling Cacao Beans'


Get Your Yarn Wishes Granted:
The lovely Madeleine granted my wish and sent me a skein of eco-friendly, traditional Romanian wool, by 'moeke yarns' www.moeke-yarn.com

Other Mentions:
Lisa of Lisa's Pine Notes, she has a blog and a podcast, as well as an Instagram account - well worth the follow!
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_AGhDDT1tEJqa6uzSaVqkQ
Instagram: @lisapinenotes

Amy of Stranded Dyeworks shop on etsy: www.etsy.com/shop/StrandedDyeworks
She is an indie dyer who also has a podcast: https://www.youtube.com/user/amyflorence14
Instagram: @amyflorence

Freedom In The Air

Thursday 8^th December 2016  21:30

I had an amazing day yesterday…

It was Wednesday, 7^th December 2017. It started after a night of stormy winds and heavy rain. From my apartment balcony I could see the coastline. It was clearing, so I decided that I would take my 2-year-old to the beach. I invited my Mum and after a 5 minute drive, by 10am we were beneath a beaming sun on the damp sands of Coral Bay beach. 

This all sounds beautiful enough as it is, but there was also a huge sense of ‘freedom’ in the air.

Let me take it back a bit…

I am daughter to a nature-loving Dad and a very creative Mum… a combination which I must say I am very proud to have inherited. So naturally, I grew up with a passion for all things outdoorsy, wild but also from the comfort of a very ‘arts & crafts’ home, as well as a good-time spent in my mother’s craft & embroidery shop in the beautiful county of Sussex, England.

In my late teens, my parents emigrated to retire in Cyprus, a beautiful island in the Mediterranean Sea. Initially I stayed in England, intending to secure a future there, however I had a bit of a realisation one day at my job at a security company. In a nutshell, money overruled the security of the public. As I walked home from work that day, I looked around me. Emotionless faces hurriedly getting from A to B. The same posh cars parked in the same reserved spots at the office building. Somehow I’d got lost; not literally, but I had a deep, plummeting feeling of ‘I don’t belong here’.

I sent this message to my Mum:

“What do I need to do in order to live in Cyprus?”

Within a few months, I was calling Cyprus my home.

That was 11 years ago.

Although my Mum hadn’t intended to work after relocating, it only seemed natural for her to reopen a shop. That shop grew from a tiny unit filled with cross-stitch kits, silks and petite glass beads, to a large double-unit with haberdashery, sewing equipment, but mostly dedicated to knitting and crochet yarn and notions. It got so busy, I was lucky enough to work there with Mum and some other lovely ladies. It was there I learned to crochet. We ran clubs, workshops and helped whoever we could, if we had a spare moment between serving people at the till. Really busy…

It sounds like I’m approaching the peak of the story doesn’t it? But the truth of it is, we had become so engrossed in supplying the demand, focusing on ‘business’, that we had lost sight of the real reason for opening the shop in the first place. As we started to become aware of this, it seemed to point towards Mum turning over a new leaf and retiring… and I had a choice to make…

*stay tuned*

Lorraine xXx