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
Festival of Quilts 2010 – day 3
Val: Wow another busy day and that glass of wine is really very appealing. It is really so exciting to be surrounded by so much inspiration and that obviously shows in the spending; I do hope that all that good intention doesn't fade on the way home. Those who come by coach must have a great time comparing shopping notes!
Festival of Quilts 2010 – day 2
Val: Well my day to wander round, organised the filming for Sunday, do some shopping and see the quilts - a treat I've not had in years. Still very busy and still lots of overseas visitors. Got chatting over coffee (as you do when every seat counts) to a couple of ladies who had picked up Karin Hellaby's new Pinapple book. I'd also been accosted - always in the nicest possible way - on the shuttle bus from the hotel by a lady who was volunteering on the Roses from the Heart exhibition - an exhibition not to be missed she said and she was right. Definitely one for the cameras on Sunday. (Nothing to do with roses and everything to do with creating a bonnet memorial for convinct women and their babies that were shipped off to Tasmania). More information can be found at www.christinahenri.com.au.