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
Subscriber Giveaway for Dec 2018 – Deborah Kemball Charmpack from Oakshott Fabrics (competition closed)
Sorry, the competition is now closed . The fabrics are available through the shop.
Quilting Retreat weekend Nov 2018 at the Warbrook Hotel, Eversley
A really fun time was had by these lovely ladies working with Jennie Rayment and Paula Doyle - Some of Jennie's class projects can be seen in the foreground fiddled and twiddled - and Paula's group worked on Easy Stack. If you give it a go, we promise the results will be amazing!
Woodland from Makower
This range of 16 fabrics shows charming woodland creatures tiptoeing silently through the forest and meadows. There are rabbits, deer and hedgehogs, plus co-ordinates with leave,s seed heads and floral prints. Valerie took the fabrics and to create this charming quilt using a pattern from Makower, designed by Lynne Goldsworthy a while ago. There is another free download pattern from Makower also designed by Lynne Goldsworthy to go with this range - here is the link to the free page which shows lots of patterns.