Sconch MAL - Spring 2025 - Top Down Sweaters!!
Hellooooooo. Is anyone there?!
It's been a while since I blogged. 5 years in fact. Life got a bit much for a while there. We battled through the pandemic (which in fairness, was some of our most joyful Yarny times, despite the isolation, despite the 12 hour days trying to get your yarny orders out to you. But joyful because they were so very full of yarn, and full of zoom Craft'n'Cake sessions - remember those?! - and full of messages back and forth of joyful crafting to get us through the dark times and the isolation).
And then we came out of a pandemic and Sconch grew, and moved into a new shop with a tea rooms! And that came with it's own trials. But also it's own amazing highs, and wonderful friendships, and lessons learned about business, but also, you know, I learned a lot about myself. About what I can achieve. But also, about family, and how important family time is to me - which we lost along the way, because there are only so many hours in the day. And so we sold the Tea Rooms, and again we looked to move...
...which leads us onto now, with a brand new shop (again!), no longer running a tea rooms, and a new yarny community to build and grow. And most importantly, more time for my small people. Who are already enjoying the benefits of more time with us. So we know we made the right decision.
But despite this, there is a grief with letting go of the Tea Rooms, and also a massive feeling of sadness at how neglected some aspects of the yarn shop have become. Not the day to day running, because we've still continued to send post daily, and continued being generally amazeballs, and we have been on hand to offer advice, and be a safe space for our community.
But Make-a-Longs (which we used to do several times a year!) have all but stopped, the Facebook group has been massively neglected, and all those 'extras' that made our shop an extension of my slightly insane life have drifted away...
Our last MAL was 2023, where we all made the Spring Love shawl, and was so much fun (see the pictures below!), and reminded me how much I love the community of a MAL, but we haven't managed another since. But before the Spring Love MAL, the last one had been a pandemic MAL...! 2 in 5 years seems a little lax!
And so now it is time to build again. Time to breathe life back in. Bring back my rambling videos, bring back Make-a-Longs, and get our amazing community talking about craft, and being inspired to try new things!
All of that sounds a bit cheesy, I know. It was cooler in my head. But I'm not really cool, am I?!
So here is our new Make-a-Long - Top Down Sweaters! - which I'm a little bit giddy about starting!! We'll be launching it with a cast on on 5th April (which happens to coincide with our Better-Late-Than-Never Grand Opening!) but of course if you miss the cast on, you can join in later - no doubt lots of us will be making these for a while haha!!
We'll be posting updates in the Facebook Group - so make sure you join the group so you're ready to start. And of course in the meantime time, share with us what you're making (and desperately trying to finish before the Make-a-Long starts!)
We've picked 6 designs for you to choose from, 3 knit and 3 crochet. We've gone with varying levels of difficulty, but all 6 designs can be tackled by all levels, with some perseverance! There's also really helpful tutorials and videos for most of the techniques too.
You'll also notice that we've specifically picked knit and crochet designs that compliment each other (ie both are available in short/long sleeves and/or the same weight yarns).
Hopefully you'll see what I mean! I've linked all the patterns below, just click on the titles and it will take you through to Ravelry so you can have a proper mooch, and buy any that you choose!
Here are your choices:
Crochet 3 - No Sew Top Down Crochet Jumper
I've already started swatching with various yarns, and experimenting with different fibres, and I'll post about that shortly - to give you lots of ideas for yarn to use!
You're welcome to use stash for this project - but of course I'll be on hand to provide yarn if you need it! The only stipulation is you show us your gorgeous progress pics in the group!!
I really hope you will join us for this MAL - just head over to the Facebook Group, pick your pattern, and then buy whichever one you choose, ready to start on 5th April!
And here's to a few more blogs and a bit more of 'me' in the shop, eh?
Sam xx
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