My First Shawl Anniversary

Around this time five years ago I knitted my first shawl.  I could knit but had started again in order to re-balance my mind.

I was due to go home to London and thought I would search out a yarn shop.  So I found online that Loop was moving and having a party.  Off I went to Islington and found the most delightful shop full of yarn and people.  As I made my way through the shop not knowing what to buy  I came across a friend of a friend.  She was very helpful in me choosing my purchase.  I think the free Pimms helped too.  I purchased Malabrigio lace  in the Bobby blue colourway. 

I couldn't wait to cast on so I got my mum to hold the yarn  whilst I wound it into a ball.

I worked away at this shawl until I kept ending up with the wrong amount of stitches. I also found out this lace weight yarn was difficult to unpick.

This was when I decided to make stitch markers.

Then in between my games at the World  Wheelchair Basketball Championships, I would work away at the shawl.  I learnt to challenge myself as I started to knit, lace work and kitchener stitch.

Five years later the shawl is still going strong and if successful I am looking to knit another shawl at another Championships, keep your fingers crossed for me. 

Review of 2013

With regards to Poppybead it has been a quiet year.  Mainly down to health reasons and not being able to stand up or walk for too long.  I injured my medial collateral ligament in my knee and this has caused some tissue called the plica to flare and cause pain.

I have been doing other things that don't require my legs as much.  Firstly my website is live again and I am hosting it on a site that is easier to use, manage and adapt.  I am happy with the look of the website items can be bought through my Etsy shop.

98% of the photography is my own and I am learning all the time.  With that in mind I got involved with a photography project called Lost Stories which is part of a larger project called INSIDE OUT. Being involved with this project has been a steep learning curve when it comes to taking photos.  However I am very proud of my photos and hope my photography will lead to other things.  In the meantime you can see some of my shots on Flickr and Instagram.

I have been sewing a fair bit and this has given me a chance to create for myself and frequent a lovely new haberdashery in Birmingham.  Guthrie and Ghani is a family run business which brings something new to crafting in the West Midlands.  I have also found a wonderful yarn shop in North Birmingham called Sitting Knitting.  SK is a friendly environment for yarn lovers and they also have some great workshops lined up for 2014.  There are some other small businesses Stitch Solihull like I hope to visit in 2014.

I have also got presence on Pinterest and Tumblr, these have more personal aspects but Poppybead is part of me so I hope the creativity shine through.

A Good Friday

Happy holidays everyone.


I arranged to meet up with a crafting friend and go to a little knitting shop in North London called Nest.

My friend had told me about this shop before Christmas and fell in love with it instantly.  The shop stocks lots of beautiful yarns like Malabrigo, Rico, Drops, and Natural Dye Studio.  They stock many other brands with something to suit everyone's pocket.


I didn't realise it was a knitting group day so we decided we would gatecrash or attend.  I've had my heart set on some Drops Alpaca Silk for a project I want to start and got the colour I wanted, hooray.  I also got some red bias binding and Eucalan.

Then some of the regulars started arrive and everyone was nice.  I even got some compliments about my Holden Shawlette. I have been very good and only took my socks to knit. Again people liked the yarn I used for my socks.

Sometimes you can forget there are nice people and retailers in the world but Amy and her husband are lovely, friendly people.  They also serve lovely tea and cake.  I would recommend this shop to any discerning yarn buyers to visit.