Posted on June 4, 2017 June 25, 2017

The Real Life Daisy Wrap Crochet-Along

On line CALs (that’s crochet-alongs FYO) are a fabulous way to create something beautiful and feel part of a community. We live in amazing times where we can work on a project and share our progress with people on the other side of the planet.

If the person sitting on the sofa next to you doesn’t appreciate your skill, tenacity and sheer hard work, you know there will always be someone online who will offer you support, advise and a virtual pat on the back for your efforts.

I have run 2 online CALs, and they have been such great fun, and I’ve just loved seeing so many different versions of the Folklore Shawl and the Daisy Wrap. I’ve enjoyed them so much that I’m running a new one this Autumn – and I’m so excited about it.

However, you simply can’t beat meeting up in real life with like minded crafters and I want to share with you some of the amazing results of the ‘real life’ Daisy Wrap crochet-along I ran at Norfolk Yarn, in Norwich last year.

The course ran over 3 months and we met once a month. The first class is the one where you get to choose your colours (we used Debbie Bliss DK Rialto) and this is always such a pleasure for me. There’s nothing I enjoy better than playing with colours and helping people find their perfect ‘combo’. There really were some absolutely stunning colourways; so feast your eyes on these beauties. I wonder what colours you would have choosen.

I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing these amazing shawls. The pattern will be available here soon and it is also available, now, in my Ravelry store.

If you’re feeling inspired to take on a new project you might like to join in with my next CAL which will start this September. I’ll be running an online and a Real Life crochet along and we’ll be making something gorgeous in Rowan Felted Tweed.

I hope you’ll be able to join us!

with love

Sue x

Posted on April 29, 2016

Floral Crowns and May Day Protests

So it’s nearly May Day.

Another mixed up, modern day excuse for a knees up.

May Day, like most festivals in 21^st century Britain, has a bit of an identity crisis. It’s not quite sure what it is anymore and doesn’t really know what to do with itself.

It wants to put on a pretty frock, wear a floral crown and frolic around a maypole on the village green performing a ritualistic dance of summer, fertility and joy.

On the other hand – it is also an anarchist bent on overthrowing the canons of capitalism; a proletarian revolt against exploitation of ‘the workers’ and a rampage through the streets in an uproarious celebration of temporary mayhem.

It seems that in the 21^st century we have to choose which side we’re on. Floral dress and crown- or hoody and bandana?

Shall I frolic – or rampage?

Am I joyful or angry?

And why can’t I be both?

In the past ordinary folk, like me, were allowed to do both. To be both. May Day, and similar festivities were all about breaking the rules, fools were crowned, and the authorities were mocked as the world was turned upside down for a day.

At what point in the civilising process did we lose our identity? When did we lose our sense of humour – and the strength to uphold our traditions?

At the turn of the 21^st century when an ex soldier was jailed for decorating Churchill’s statue with a green turf Mohican it signalled how insecure as a nation we have become. We take ourselves so seriously now we deny all our weaknesses. We are so self-conscious, and self-policing, we don’t allow ourselves to make mistakes, say the wrong thing occasionally, get drunk and cavort outrageously. It can’t be healthy to be so civilised.

So this May Day I’ll put on the crown….then I’ll open a can of larger and swear at the 10 o’clock news.

If you’d like to join in my armchair revelry, here’s how to make the pretty floral crown.

You will need:

A few lengths of natural raffia. (around 12)
Some freshly cut flowers. (nothing too ostentatious….just a few sprigs of whatever you can find growing nearby)

You’ll need to secure your work – I’m quite happy to stick pins in my furniture – you might not be.

Gather your raffia and begin by tying a loop at one end – leave the ends nice and long.

Start to plait the raffia – and works the short ends into the beginning of the plait.

Check the length of the plait and when it’s long enough to go around your head thread the ends through the loop and secure in a knot. If you knot it fairly loosely you’ll be able to undo it if you need to adjust the size.

Trim your flowers and poke the stems through the plait. Use additional lengths of raffia to

bind the stems so they dont poke out.

Continue to add the flowers until you are happy with your crown. Now try it on.

I wanted to photograph the crown on my resident 10 year old May Queen ………but…..

“I’m not wearing THAT.” Stomp stomp stomp. SLAM.

Hoorah! The spirit of protest is alive and kicking in our house.

Posted on April 22, 2016 April 22, 2016

Crochet Shawls: Connected with Hugs and CALs

For several weeks now I’ve been thinking rather a lot about shawls; their history, their function and their design potential

I’ve written before about The Norwich Shawl and it’s glorious history. Queen Victoria commissioned two Norwich shawls after admiring them at the 1851 Great Exhibition and for much of the 19^th century decorative woven shawls were the ‘on trend’ accessory for women of all social classes.

It’s also fascinating to track the demise of this once ‘must have’ wardrobe staple as fashions evolved and the shawl became almost obsolete in fashionable society. For the last few years of the 19^th century, and for most of the 20th century, shawls became a rather self-effacing accessory, associated with the elderly, the frail and the ubiquitous huddled masses en route to an unknown future.

In the 21^st century, it is still a brave designer that sends models swathed in shawls down the runways of London Fashion week; and I love Burberry Prorsum for having the courage to do this two years running.

A shawl presents infinite possibilities. It is a conceptual blank canvas that can be any shape, size, colour or gender. It can be functional or decorative; high fashion or utility. A shawl has the power to comfort and make the wearer feel warm, safe and protected. Like a shell, but soft and forgiving. Being wrapped in a fabulous shawl is a gentle and tender embrace.

Fringed prayer shawls feature in Judaism and there is now, particularly in the USA, a movement for knitting or crocheting a more generic ‘prayer shawl’ which is blessed and given to someone in need of comfort. I was reminded of this recently when I was contacted by Anne McCrudden about the Shawl Hugs project she has started. Shawl Hugs is a project for anyone to make shawls for people who are going through a tough time “ they may be experiencing physical or mental health problems, going through bereavement or struggling in some way.”

“Shawls can be tangible symbols of love and support. They can be warm hugs of happiness and empathy; a place of escape to relax, rest and renew; something to hold on to when all else is slipping away. Wrapping another in a shawl made of your loving thoughts is a gift not only for the person who receives it, but for yourself as well.”

The project includes live workshop events where anyone can drop buy, learn to knit or crochet, pick up a pattern and get started on their own, unique, shawl. The next event is on Thursday 12th May and you can find out more about it here.

This is such a great way to connect with others, and in my own work at The Mercerie I also used a shawl, earlier this year, as a way to connect with people all over the world.

In February I launched my first on line CROCHET-ALONG which ran over 6 weeks and I was amazed and delighted by what happened. I loved watching the progress of so many variations of the Folklore Shawl. I was stunned by how fast some of you work (yes, that’s you Lee!) and thrilled to see so many different colour variations – take a look at some of the projects…..they are so beautiful.

I adore this blue version by Lee.

Marion’s multicoloured version is just fabulous – I’m going to try this….

Lee managed to make TWO!!!

Heather was the first to finish…..

Aimi hooked up her black and red version pretty quickly too.

Oh – and here’s mine. Shamefully still unfinished!

If you made a shawl as part of this CAL; wrap yourself up in it……and that’s a big hug from me to say THANK YOU!

Ps. I’m running a ‘Joining Motifs’ crochet workshop on May 14^th if you’d like to give this pattern a go – but need a little help getting started.

Posted on October 26, 2015 October 27, 2015

Art, Entropy and a Bobble Knit Bangle

I may have mentioned this before…but I really don’t look forward to winter.

I turn the clocks back with a heavy hand, and heart, making mental calculations of how many weeks until spring.

Yes, I know that Autumn can be a beautiful season, and there is much to celebrate with Michaelmas and Harvest Festivals, Halloween and Bonfire Night. But for me, especially this year, I inch towards November with a swarm of red admirals avoiding hibernation in the pit of my stomach as I watch Mother Nature slowly decay.

Melancholia, however, is not something I revel in and so today I am reminding myself that the darker months bring with them their own unique gifts.

During a recent walk around the Ted Ellis Nature Reserve at Wheatfen, on the Norfolk Broads I was greeted by thousands of bright and cheery little beacons of colour in the hedgerows, undergrowth and trees. Nature was bedecked in her most brilliant, yet transient, jewellery and her ebony and ruby red beads shone in the October sun.

Her seasonal decorations will leave no trace; they are biodegradable, environmentally friendly and carry the seeds of a new generation. They cost nothing, are labour free and won’t be exhumed from a landfill site in 1000 years from now.

I love my craft and the community of makers I feel a part of – but I make no apologies for not feeling the urge to yarn bomb a tree, or decorate a hedgerow with knit graffiti.

I can’t help it – I am hot-wired with the Modernist Manifesto. Beauty in Function and Ornament is Crime are carved into my heart and, for me, the natural process of entropy, brings with it its own poetic, unadorned, beauty.

I know a place where nature and art encounter each other perfectly, and it’s in the work of Anja Gallaccio.

A carpet of 10,000 decaying roses; 2,000 gerberas gradually decomposing and trees strung with apples shamelessly performing their entropic autobiographies.

Image credit Image credit
Image credit

This is the work that stops me in my tracks. This is what reminds me that life is short, time is precious, nature is beautiful…..and art is profound.

So I’m going to stop looking at the clock, drag my eyes away from my naval, and look again at the big picture……

I’m feeling inspired. Now where’s that lovely red wool?

I’m going to make a bobble knit bangle just as soon as I’ve climbed off my soap box.

Look out for Issue 25 of The Mercerie Post – I’ll include the pattern for the bangle…..it’s super simple!

Posted on September 8, 2015 October 27, 2015

The Folklore Shawl CAL

I’m so excited!!

I’m going to be running The Mercerie’s very first CAL project in 2016 – and it’s going to be our gorgeous Folklore Shawl. WAHAY!!

It will be launching in the new year as a series of 4 crochet patterns that I will email directly to you over a period of 6 weeks.

Worked in our own gorgeous DK merino yarn this shawl has two very different colour ways to choose from and we will be selling yarn bundles for each colour option in our online shop very soon.

I’ll be posting further details on how you can sign up, so come back soon or sign up to our newsletter and I’ll tell you all about it…..

BLACK COLOUR OPTION

WHITE COLOUR OPTION

Posted on September 2, 2015 June 5, 2017

Crochet, Penelope and the Art of Unmaking

Close your eyes and imagine the joy of seeing a new design emerge, and that buzz of excitement when it’s finally complete, and it is more beautiful than the picture you’ve held in your mind for so long.

This is what drives me to start a new project; this is my addiction. I am a #crochetaddict.

But recently I’ve been struggling with conclusions. I’ve been working on a new crochet project, and I’m very excited about it; except I’ve been working on it since January and it’s very resistant to completion.

I must have made, and unmade, this design half a dozen times now. Each time there’s something not quite right. The flowers don’t lay as they should, the shape is all wrong, and that shape’s wrong too. It’s not big enough, it’s too big, it’s too dense, it’s too lacy……

With each design scenario I find a reason to undo it. I spend hours taking back days of work. Evenings are spent undoing and redoing; unmaking and remaking; destroying and mending; brutalising and healing.

I feel like Penelope, the archetypal dutiful wife who for 3 years spent her days weaving and her nights un-weaving in a cycle of procrastination. My own making and unmaking has also suspended time by a thread and it is still resisting conclusion.

Penelope image credit

What is this cycle of making and unmaking? Where is the truth and meaning in this process?

I don’t know.

Perhaps there isn’t one.

Perhaps this period of unmaking has been about a conversation with my work. And it was a difficult subject to discuss.

I’d better get on with it. #crochetinglikeamadwoman

Posted on August 27, 2015

Crochet Flowers for Memories

I am getting increasingly excited about Yarndale this year, and one of the things I am most looking forward to is seeing the display of knitted and crocheted Flowers for Memories. Just as the mandalas did last year, these flowers are going to be breath taking, and given their significance – extremely moving.

The crafting community need little excuse to pull together and charities can be a powerful mobilising force. I was reminded of this last year when I saw The Knitted Flower Pergola and more recently the Craftivist Collective have introduced a #wellMaking Craftivists Garden.

It seems that the convention of floral tributes has been embraced by crafters and makers all over the world; those generous people who give their time, skills and resources to all kinds of good causes.

I wanted to contribute to the Yarndale project again this year, but also wanted to draw people together to work collectively on this. Making is always more fun with other people – and cake!

Rebecca at Norfolk Yarn very kindly offered to host a workshop, so yesterday I met with some lovely, generous women and we worked together on our collection of crochet Flowers for Memories.

We were gathered for all kinds of reasons and we all managed to finish at least one or two flowers. As we worked our conversation ebbed and flowed as some of us remembered our own family members who had lived with dementia

How many of the flowers made for this community project represent real people loved and lost? Perhaps they are all ‘forget-me-nots’ in their own way.

Thank you to everyone that came to the workshop, I loved meeting you all and I will be forwarding your work to Lucy at Yarndale – perhaps if you visit you’ll be able to spot your work…….

If you’d like to brush up on your crochet skills or simply learn the basics, we’ve got a whole programme of classes at Norfolk Yarn this Autumn, and we’d love you to join us!

Posted on July 20, 2015 July 21, 2015

Crochet Shawls, Strangers and other Norwich Stuff

If you head north east out of London for about a hundred miles, just before you get to the North Sea, you’ll find Norwich; a fine city. Once an impenetrable gated community, Norwich is now circumnavigated by the ring road and the crumbling remains of a city wall.

Like many people, my historical knowledge of the place where I live is sketchy, anecdotal and riddled with holes and questionable facts. 365 pubs (one for every day of the year) 52 churches (one for every week) rivers running red like blood (the madder dyes) and a cockerel as big as a donkey (on the top of the cathedral spire – according to my grandmother)

In geographical terms, Norwich is rather off the beaten track but it is possible to trace a route through history to a time when it was a city second only to London and a thriving textile hub.

Knowledge and evidence of our grand textile history has become rather threadbare over the years but I’ve been thinking about it a lot recently and I wonder how many of my ancestors might have spent long hours weaving in their dimly lit garrets, or suffered the dire consequences of working with toxic mordants in the dye houses of sixteenth century Norwich.

I wonder how they might have viewed the new community of ‘strangers’ – the highly skilled Dutch and Flemish weavers invited into the city to mobilise and modernise the city’s ailing textile industry, and to escape religious persecution.

Like all new immigrant communities The Strangers brought with them many things that impacted on the City. The Flemish brought with them their pet canaries (canary breeding became so popular in Norwich we named our football team after them) and even the Norwich dialect is said to have been influenced by this community, who at one time made up almost one third of the city.

The greatest impact, perhaps, was made on our textile output. They introduced revolutionary technical changes, mixed fibres and improved finishing processes.

The Norwich dyers were also prized for the quality of their bright, clean, colourfast dyes. Red dyes were particularly prized and one red dye became known as ‘Norwich red’ produced from the madder plant which was grown locally and later important from Turkey.

The new fabrics were lighter, silkier and had strange names like camblet, Say,Tammy, Callimanco, mockadoes, Fustian of Naples, Bombasine, stamin, serg, and dornix. Collectively they became known as Norwich Stuffs.

As the fabrics became more delicate, like the fashionable ones on the Continent, the need for a big warm shawl increased and Norwich was to become hugely important in the production of the very fashionable ‘Norwich Shawl’. Not to be confused with the Paisley Shawl – no really – don’t EVER make that mistake. I did once – and was told off very severely by a textile historian. Paisley is in Scotland. Norwich is in England. You see – they are different!!

Shawls were manufactured in Norwich from the 1780’s but by the mid 19^th century Norwich was producing some of the most exquisite, and expensive shawls in the world – inspired by the beautiful textiles imported from Kashmir

Image: http://locutus.ucr.edu/

Much of the history of Norwich is wrapped up in a beautiful wool shawl and I’m very pleased to see shawls, wraps and oversized scarves return to the contemporary fashion scene.

Shawls make the perfect knitting or crochet project if you’re one of those people who can never quite get the fit of a jumper right, or if you’re rather too impatient to work a third tension square….shawls always fit!

I recently added The Bohemian Shawl to my collection of crochet patterns and it takes more than a hint of inspiration from the textile history of Norwich.

I may wear it one evening soon and take a walk through the city, past Strangers Hall, the Maddermarket Theatre, The Woolpack, The Dyers Arms, Canary Way, and, finally, down Weavers Lane, and think about the rich history of this very fine city.

I shall also be running a three part crochet masterclass in Norwich this Autumn where you can make your own version of this gorgeous shawl. We will cover a huge range of stitches and techniques and you can choose your own colours from a range of Debbie Bliss yarns at Norfolk Yarn wool shop.

Full details can be found here

Oh – and I’m going to include the instructions on how to work the lovely pom pom trim in the next issue of The Mercerie Post!

You can register here.

Posted on May 27, 2015 August 27, 2015

Colour Stories and Chromatophobia

Do you suffer with Chromatophobia?

What’s your relationship with colour like?

Are you slightly afraid of it; not really sure how to approach it in case you do, or say, the wrong thing?

Or are you living a comfortably safe existence? Is it habitual, something that you don’t really think about until you realise that almost everything you own or wear is grey? maybe you’re worried you’re just a little bit too passionate; a ‘more is more’ approach, hiding your true colours under a layer of rainbow brights and deafening your friends with your extremely loud colours.

Perhaps your love of colour just needs rekindling; a little poke here and there to check that it’s still alight.

Colour is a subject/concept that fascinates me on every level. It’s a triple science subject; biology, chemistry, and physics. It’s metaphysics. It’s natural, manufactured and available in every shape and form. It’s animal, vegetable, mineral and every conceivable hybrid in between.

It’s a reflection, a memory and a trace with the power to ignite associations and flash backs.

It’s on trend, off colour, retro and ‘the new black’. It’s classified, organised, registered and theorised.

It’s all an illusion, it’s smoke and mirrors playing with our perceptions and confusing our senses.

Joseph Albers spent a lifetime exploring the Interaction of Colour and his work is a visual reminder that nothing is fixed; perception is all about context. Just like people, colours adjust their behaviour according to who they are sitting next to, or talking to.

Consider #thedress and the media facination with how and why its colour apparantly appears different to different people and in different environments.

This is all beginning to feel like a heavy load, there are rules, authorities, the fashion police and queues of ‘other people’ just waiting for us to make a ‘colour faux pas’ so it’s easier just to stick to a nice pink and purple combination because that always works – doesn’t it???

Well maybe it’s time to lighten up a little and see colour as an exciting new plaything. It’s there to be enjoyed, not feared.

So let’s play a game…it’s called Colour Associations and anyone can join in – in fact the more the merrier. It works better with friends. And wine.

Think of a colour then simply list everything you associate with that colour. It might be food, an emotion, a landscape, a smell, a piece of clothing, a favourite auntie…..that’s it. You could also say wherther you like a particular shade of that colour –.

I’ll get the ball rolling…..(it’s a big red bouncy ball BTW)

RED

Lipstick, blood, apples, tomatoes, anger, passion, bull fighters, nail varnish, Red Army, Red Cross, Red Tent, red shoes, red knickers, FIRE! STOP!

Phodophobia; is a fear of the colour red.

ORANGE

Get ready to go; marmalade, ginger hair, life bouys, ginger toms, guantanamo detainees, Tango (drink not the dance) sunsets, fake tan, nicotine stained fingers…..not sure I like the way this one’s going…..

Chrysophobia is a fear of the colour orange.

YELLOW

Sunshine, yellow ribbons, submarines, *smiley face, smiley face, sad face*, custard, egg yokes, baby chicks, scaredy cat…. jaundice…er, lets stop there.

Xanthophobia is a fear of the colour yellow.

GREEN

GO! My favourite colour (as everyone under the age of 10 knows – you MUST have a favourite colour by which you will be judged) chlorophyll, new shoots, eco warriors, naive, green tea, jealousy, sea sick, green cross code, my favourite charity shop cardigan that I literally loved to pieces and couldn’t bear to get rid of, pool tables, the green green grass of home, Greensleeves, the dress they always put the red head in…..

Chlorophobia is a fear of the colour green

BLUE

Steady now… loyalty, precaution, my horrible school uniform, any uniform, big sky, oceans, blue moon, blue movies, big blue eyes, forget-me-nots, the blues, baby blues, black and blue, flashing lights and sirens, another uniform….ello, ello, ello….what’s gong on here then??

Cyanophobia is a fear of the colour blue

PURPLE

The Colour Purple, velvet Jackets from the 1960’s and 70’s, purple hearts, parma violets, purple haze, purple rain, the Biba lipstick I bought in Top Shop in 1979, my childhood bedroom, royalty, Victoriana, mystics, lavender, residential homes for elderly people.

Porphyrophobia is a fear of the colour purple. (I think I may be borderline)

PINK

Sherbet, Brighton rock, fluffy mohair jumper (mine in 1982) ballerina’s, pink ribbons, in the pink…..OK. I’m bored with pink.

And I can’t find a word for the fear of pink. Does that mean it’s the least scary colour??

You get the picture?

The next part of the game is to get your paints out and paint as many different variations as you can of each colour – that’s possibly a step too far for most of you, but I thoroughly recommend a ‘hands on’ appraoch when it comes to playing with colour.

If you’d like to have a go at mixing colours, and creating beautiful and inspiring colour combinations I’m running a 2 part Master Class in Norwich starting on June 3^rd. You can find all the details here.

But if you can’t join us, just gather a few friends round, open a bottle of wine (after arguing about what colour it should be) and share your colour stories.

I’m sure you’ll all enjoy hearing each others personal anecdotes about why they can’t stand bottle green, lemon yellow or candy pink.

Such fun!

Posted on May 20, 2015

The Journey of Creation

Today I’m delighted to host a guest blog post by The Mercerie’s brilliant lifestyle photographer Boo Marshall;

I’ve watched the creation of The Mercerie grow from the seed of an idea to a successful and vibrant creative company. As someone who has been lucky enough to be asked to photograph the major seasonal collections, I’ve been there, witnessing the birth of a design idea – something simple like colour choices wound round card, or some crochet motifs still on the hook, or a half knitted bag. Then later, much later, I see the finished samples, and I gasp – every time – with delight.

For those of us who love wool, who adore colour and whose fingers have a physical yearning to make, The Mercerie’s designer, Sue, has managed to meet and satisfy our creative needs. The need within us to create is almost as strong as the need to breathe. Who has not whipped open their new package to reveal their choice of wools and colour palatte and not sighed with happiness? Although the process of creation can be fraught with anxiety, or frustration, the satisfaction of completion makes us forgot those moments of frogging or the doubt that appeared in the night over our choice of colour. Rather like the birth of a new baby, the arrival of our completed project is worth every day of angst, sickness or even pain.

But the final result doesn’t just delight because it is complete; rather, it invites you to continue your journey – because during this one, you may have learnt a new technique, or perfected an old one, or because you want to try it again with different colours. And that I think is the key to successful design – that it pushes you on, again, into a new part of a continuing journey.

Last year, engrossed with the art of creating, I set up a new business with a fellow photographer, Jo. Both of us had experienced purposeful creation of aspects of ourselves, our personal and our business lives – and decided to share our experiences in Create The Moment. We recognised that within a vast majority of women, we shared a feeling that we’d lost control of aspects of our lives, even of our characters – in our ability to make choices and to decide what we wanted and how we wanted to live in our futures.

After running workshops, we adapted our ideas into an online 6 week course, showing how it is possible to return to your past to choose what you want to stay, and how to use the amazing strength we all have, to choose our future.

Having spent weeks writing and editing the course documents, I suddenly saw how the process it invites you to go through, is similar to the process of creating. It has all the initial excitement that is familiar in the new start of any creative project. There are many, many moments in it that will bring you close to tears – but throughout it, there is always hope – and finally, the end promises not just completion – but a brand new start. And therein lies the real comparison to creating – that an end is just another start, to a phase in another journey.

Readers and newsletter subscribers of The Mercerie have a special code allowing them 20% off the full price of the Create Your Vision online course. Use code Mercerie20 when you book using this link. Next course starts 1st June 2016.

Boo Marshall is a photographer and film maker. (Eliza Boo Photography and Dynamic Dog Productions). She is also co founder of Create The Moment with Johanna Garlike, photographer at Summer Love Photography.

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