A successful weekend!

I am pleased to be able to report that the crochet weekend went really well. In the end there were three participants. They all had very different skill levels so the number was probably about right. I certainly wouldn’t have any more than 6 and I think 4 or 5 would be plenty.

None of the participants knew each other before which I felt was quite a useful dynamic. They were all very open to getting to know new people as well as learning new skills. I felt that, that added to the success of the weekend. One participant was French, she speaks some English but not that much so I was developing my language skills too!

The meals went down well and there were few leftovers! On Saturday I served a vegetarian menu and on Sunday we went vegan. The gremolata, which went with Sunday’s lunch was a particular hit. It is a dressing or accompaniment that is made with parsley, olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper and a pinch of dried chillies. On Saturday evening when I made it, it didn’t seem very exciting. However sitting overnight it must have infused and the flavour was amazing. I did also add significantly more lemon than the recipe stated because I couldn’t taste it. Everyone raved over it. I shall be making that again.

Interestingly on one of the days, one of the women suddenly mentioned mindfulness and talked about how she could see that crochet could contribute to mindfulness. We had some interesting conversations about how with crochet you have to be absolutely in the moment, which of course is mindful behaviour.

On Sunday everyone started working on a hat. By the end of the day one woman went home with a completed hat, one who had chosen a more complex pattern was close to completing one and one who had never picked up a hook before was well on the way to completing one. One person had also specifically wanted to understand how to create granny squares and she had been able to do that. She has a pattern using 5 squares to make a bag. By the end of yesterday she was close to completing 2 squares.

The feedback was great. Even if at one point things became a little lost in translation! All three said that they had had a great experience. So all in all I couldn’t have asked for better. I just need to start planning the next one now!

Until tomorrow…