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
Do you struggle to log in to the site?
Do you struggle to log in? Does the computer just say ‘NO’? Does your password still have a small j at the beginning of it? Well it may be that your device (computer, tablet, whatever) is thinking for you and changing this to an upper case – thesite is now very case sensitive So don’t struggle - just contact us and we can change this for something easier.
Kaffe Fasset Lecture and Workshop
We had a great time filming the exhibition and discovered that there are a couple of last minute places still available this week for the Lecture and the workshop: Glorious Colour Lecture and Booksigning - Wed August 14th 7pm, at the Arts Hall, Lampeter University. £16 - tickets through the Welsh Quilt Centre -01570 422 088 This lecture is designed to inspire and motivate!
How do you cut the strips for Log Cabin?
This is the question from Janice: like you I just love the look of the log cabin and am about tho venture down this road. Can you tell me - is the strips cut on the bias or just straight across? Here is our answer:
ALWAYS assume that strips are cut ACROSS your fabric unless you are told otherwise - when you cut down the grain is very unforgiving and when you cut on the bias your quilt will wave!!!