Janet's Had a Crafty Lockdown

One of our clients, Janet, tells us of her experience of the pandemic, how it changed her plans and how she made the most out of her time in lockdown through knitting and crochet.

In late 2019, the craft group leader of our local U3A group coordinated a quilt to be exhibited at the Welsh National Conference in summer 2020. The topic of the Conference was to be castles; my choice was Powis castle. The quilt was completed in March and we were all really pleased with the result. Sadly the conference was not to be. 2021? I don't think so. 2022? Hopefully.

My hobbies include knitting, crochet and embroidery so I found plenty to fill the hours during lockdown. I didn't really find the inspiration for any embroidery projects but knitting and crochet fulfilled the need to be 'doing something'. My first major project, along with many other crafters, was to complete all the unfinished projects that were hiding in cupboards. That done, my thoughts turned to the future, which was, at the time, summer 2020!

Tea Cosies

My church, St Michael's, Troedyraur, hosts an annual Open Weekend and for 2020 the topic was to be Kitchenalia. My contribution was a display of tea cosies. I had already completed several but I then tackled the challenge with gusto and produced a baker's dozen. (The cosies will keep until 2022 when we hope to hold the next Open Weekend.)

Our church also has a WNWN group, where we produce goods made from spare materials - hence the Waste Not Want Not title. The goods are sold in aid of church upkeep and other charities we select each year. Using the yarn that I already had, I have produced a set of stripy child's jumpers and several other children's garments. I have also made some stuffed amigurumi toys.

My sister in law's sister (!) asked me to complete an unfinished crochet quilt for her and she gave me the leftover wool. There was so much that I was able to make a blanket and two cushion covers. Given that we live in a very rural area, I hope that I, and the others of our group, will be able to sell all that we have made!

An Autumn Jacket

By this time autumn was approaching. Although we weren't actually locked down again, I still had a lot of extra spare time as we usually spend most of the period from September to March abroad and none of this was possible. The colours of the autumn leaves, seen on our numerous walks, inspired me to make a crochet jacket for myself. This was quite a challenge as I designed the pattern myself and I have never done that before but (after several unpickings and adjustments) I was pleased with the result.

This spring, 2021, I have made a collection of Easter creme egg people, for my great niece (aged 6) to give to her class mates and family. (This is a Jane Greenhow free pattern - find it here). She was thrilled with the eggs, but due to Covid, they could not be distributed at school (even if the eggs had been quarantined). So instead, she did a sort of 'Trick and Treat' with her mum, going round with a basket of eggs and delivering them to her friends. In fact, it proved to be a great success, with two of her friends and their mum going too (allowed in England but not here in Wales at the time).

New Challenge

I now feel I need a bit more of a challenge, so I am about to start a crochet quilt for myself, based on an Islamic design, which looks quite complicated and will keep me busy for a long time. Here's hoping by the time I have finished, we may be able to holiday again. Fiji in autumn is almost certainly off but we are hoping for the States in September or October. Our annual trip to St Vincent in January is also in doubt, not only because of Covid but also because of the volcano! We are so lucky that we live in such a beautiful area of South West Wales - perhaps you read my husband's article about walking here?

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