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
More sewing dates for Finding Ruby
We are having another sewing day Sunday 1 July 11am - 3pm - sewing - we can
start some machine sewing if anyone wants to bring their machine - we'll
have hand sewing as well. It would be a good time to look at the design for
the Rose quilt and plot the colours from the recent fabric dye session and
see how they work?
Winning fabric
Maureen shares a pic of this lovely bag that she made when she was a lucky winner of the prize draw of London fabrics - by Makower and donated by Creative Quiting - really lovely Maureen:
More sewing and filming for Justhands-on.tv
Just checked the weather report and its going to be a great sewing weekend! Am off this evening for a 24hour sewing marathon organised by Creative Quilting (down at Hampton Court) and really looking forward to it – 5pm Fri-5pm Sat with supper and lunch organised too; sew for as long as you like – I suspect I shall give up around 10pm but we will see – 16 of us so should be fun.