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
Take 9 variation from Tina
Tina came to our weekend retreat with some wonderful turquoise fabrics AND a fabric with the pink ribbon logo of Cancer Rearch and wanted to make her dear friend a quilt; not only did we redesign the front blocks - a version of the Take 9 that others were working on - but we worked on the back too and while the quilt wasn't finished in the weekend - it is now!
Dresden Plate from Joyce
I would like to show you my Dresden Plate lap quilt which I have just finished. It is such a delightful pattern and I might try something with the tucks in as Jenny demonstrates. May I say how much I enjoyed today's workshop of Jenny's Origami Hexagon. we could not have a - it was just lovely. Many thanks.
Crazy Patchwork options
Question from Anna: Can one use an oblong or has it got to be a square? (You made yours 9 3/4 inches, I, on the other hand, could make mine 9" X 11.5")
I am aware that this then would limit the way one could put them together. With a square one can rotate 4 times, with an oblong it works only two ways.) Answer:
You can of course tinker with this as you wish but the 5 sided figure in the middle gives the more traditional look; sewing is much easier with a 4 sided centre but then you run the risk of it looking a little like log cabin - which again may be your choice.
As you say with a rectangular finish then you can only turn the blocks in the opposite direction rather than rotating them in your finished design.