About Gaynor
Gaynor is a crochet-obsessed teacher and pattern designer from Wokingham in Berkshire.
She learned to knit and crochet as a child, trained and worked as a French teacher for over 10 years, and then picked up her hook again 10 years ago. Gaynor jokes that she is “lucky enough to call myself a full-time hooker…”
In 2012, Gaynor set up The Barkham Hookers crochet group with a few friends in her living room. They now run 4 group sessions a week as well as many regular private lessons with over 600 members on Facebook alone. You can find them on Facbook via The Barkham Hookers’ Charity Group, where many of their charity projects can be seen.
She is very proud of the fact that The Barkham Hookers raised over £60,000 for various national and international charities, £52,000 of that for the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal. Click here to watch Gaynor share a quick and easy method for crocheting a poppy.
Gaynor loves designing and making blankets, many of which can be found as free CALs (crochet-a-longs) on her blog: Confessions of a Barkham Hooker. During the pandemic, she designed the Coronavirus CAL, posting a new section daily then weekly with colourful pictures and detailed notes.
Signature Technique
Crochet Blankets incorporating a variety of patterns and colours
Top Tips
- Crochet is very forgiving. Don’t be afraid to adjust or change the pattern to suit your needs or likes. And remember, if in doubt pull it out!
- Use a larger hook to work a long foundation chain to avoid it curling up.
- If you work quite loosely choose a slightly smaller hook than advised and a larger hook if you work tightly.
- When working in rows do not forget to work into the last stitch – – which is probably the chain 2/3 made at the start of the previous row.
- Use military buttons as the centre in poppies to add something special.
- If you are working with several balls of yarn, chuck them on the floor and let gravity help you keep them untangled.
Videos
Patterns
Posts
Cathedral Windows
Susan dropped us a line recently with pictures of her latest project. It is cathedral windows using her husband's old trousers, her 'no longer fit' jeans, Suffolk puffs and lots of fabric left overs. A really great recycling quilt - we're sure you'll agree. If you fancy trying your hand at cathedral windows, check out Joanna Smith-Ryland's workshop, where she shares with us how to make a lovely folded patchwork cushion with her favourite fabrics - which are silk.
20 April 2018
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Fun at the Jane Austen House Museum, Chawton, Hants
Brilliant day filming - despite the damp English weather; we got to see the Jane Austen Coverlet which was sewn by Jane and her mother and sister and they used the EPP method; the Community sewing Project organised by Lucy Bailey, (that Valerie and she are standing in front of) reimagines the Jane Austen quilt and commemorates her life and legacy, and the Admiral's Quilt was created with the EPP blocks left over and is on the approppriate bed in the house, is quite stunning.