The coronavirus pandemic has affected all of us in many different ways and has had an affect on mental health. Hence why with this crafting in covid situation and lockdown i picked up my cross stitching, beading knitting and occupying time especially when crafting is theraputic. I feel like crafting can be helpful in any situation even when you are in hospital for an operation for example it can help to keep you occupied while waiting. I am hoping that with covid and things people will find that crafting or finding a hobby or taking up a new hobby will help in any situation even if the lock ..read more

In this current world we are in and with so many people affected by covid -19 as more commonly known as coronavirus i have been crafting while the uk was in lockdown. In the pandemic i found supplies for me to do cross stich knitting in my stash at home and completed lots of what i was doing had to go on hold especially as i am being tutored on a project so with on project on hold i found that i could do other projects too so out came the cross stitch and the knitting needles and so far in lockdown i have completed two out of 3 cross stitch projects got 2 out of 5 knitting projects and still h ..read more

With the recent events on single use plastic being a ‘climate emergency’ we at the craftybeadblog turned our attention to this and we have some ideas with more to follow. Instead of using single use plastic bathroom flannels which we mean plastic bath puffs which get thrown away after their useable life, we started thinking about what we as crafters could do to help save the planet.    One thing as a knitter I thought about knitting a washcloth to use when washing my face or in the shower rather than the horrid single use plastic ones that end up in the bin so i would rather knit one ..read more

In the last few weeks of 2018 a knitted project took me on a bit of a journey. The hat was knitted using 6mm interchangeable needles on a 60cm cable with 90 stitches to cast on and was going alright until disaster cable undone itself lost all knitting and oh dear what to do? I went to the knitting expert Julie Cowan at truro wool a tutor extrondinare as she expertly sorted it out and recast on and did the first two rows and then let me continue. A few weeks later more technical help needed so Julie and i sat down and got to work on increase and decrease and then began sewing up and after some ..read more

Well here at crafty bead blog hq we have been thinking of projects to do when snow (yes we do tend to get a bit in cornwall) rain storms etc come in. We think that knitting beading cross stitch and painting can be done whilst huddled up at home and there are alot of other crafts that can be done whilst at home. Our tips are if your are looking for that something new project to do check out the following few suggestions Loveknitting.com Ravelry.com Hobbycraft.co.uk Gjbeads.co.uk Dmc.com   There is plenty of crafts out there to try and as Liz the boss here says “There are plenty of crafts t ..read more

Lemon stress ball- the first of many I know the tittle to this may seem rather curious but there is a good reason. In april loveknitting.com ran stress awareneess month and yes i knit and i have never knitted anything on double pointed needles and i along with my friend and knitting coach Julie Cowan owner at Truro wool has helped me and the pattern on love knitting took both of us a while to understand but we now have the second lemon stress ball almost complete. I admit i am a beginner knitter and in a year i have improved massively but i admit i still have alot to learn and there is a lon ..read more

If you are wondering where did my love of craft come from, well let me take you on a little journey, I was in Tremough convent school and was in year six after starting at the school in 1991, and I had Mrs. Furze for history so did the other girls in my year and a project we had was cross stitch, and had to create  a Victorian-themed cross  stitch and ever since then I have been doing cross stitch. More recently I have started knitting properly as in knit one purl one and many other stitches and also projects. I am really grateful for the help I have from Julie Cowan at Truro wo ..read more

With the supermarkets, literally overloading us with Easter Eggs, just after we get over the festive season the supermarkets have put out the Easter eggs.  I as a keen crafter have started to make Christmas decorations and I am making a beaded Easter egg as a decoration for the easter day table at lunchtime. I am also making Christmas stars, and again I am using beads for these and it is interesting to make things, as there is something that allows you to have some creative freedom and to also make something that is original and also entirely handmade and also something bespoke.  ..read more

I recently got hold of a book entitled ‘Knit yourself calm,’ which was written by Lynne Rowe and Betsan Corkhill.  As I travel a lot going to hospital appointments in Exeter, and also when I am in hospital for a short stay.  I went to the knitting shop, Truro Wool, in which Julie Cowan, owns and also runs, I went in to sort out another project I am knitting so with the help from Julie, I went out with three balls of wool and also set up my portable knitting project the colour block cowl. I was also introduced to a knitting app called ‘Knit Tink’ an application, in which it enables yo ..read more

I started knitting some six months ago,  and  I had not learned how to knit one and purl one before and had only done garter stitch at school, and with the positive health effects on how to be mindful and also allowing the mind to wander, I have got the amazing help and tutelage from Julie who owns and runs Truro Wool, which is tucked away in the corner of Truro, in St. Mary’s street mews, Julie has taught me how to knit and purl and with winter approaching, and yes it does pay to plan your winter projects well in advance.   I use the loveknitting.com website as it has lots of f ..read more