Episode 99 : Happy Stitchmas! The Making Stitches 2025 Christmas Special

Hello there and Happy Stitchmas!

It’s that time of year again when I take a look back at the past 12 months and choose some of the highlights of my podcasting year.

2025 has been a big year for me, I celebrated 10 years of blogging (Postcard from Gibraltar and then Making Stitches Blog) and 5 years of Making Stitches Podcast.

In this episode I share some of the chats I have had this year and you may have heard before as well as some new chats too.

Included in this episode are:

Christine Perry from Winwick Mum speaking about 10 years of the Winwick Mum sock along.
Eleonora Tully from Coastal Crochet talking about 10 years of her blog and our celebration of a decade online with our Let’s Celebrate Wreath collaborative crochet pattern.
Sara & Sean MacLeod from Crochet in the Glen chatting about the fun they have together and how they love to share their silliness online.
Kirstie MacLeod, the artist behind The Red Dress, who I met at Woven in Kirklees on World Stitch Day.
Becky Davies-Downes from William & Tilda who appeared a couple of times on the podcast last year. I interviewed her again at Yarndale this September, and this is the first time I’ve shared our chat.
Also at Yarndale, I spoke to Julie Park, a close friend of Amanda Bloom, who sadly died this year. Julie has taken on Amanda’s social media accounts after her death and has raised funds to support the Yarndale Start-Up Bursary for fledgling creative businesses at the festival in memory of Amanda and her daughter Jenny.
More recently, I was at the Christmas edition of the Crochet Sanctuary Crochet Days just last weekend. While I was there I spoke to Lisa and Lynda-Rose who run the Crochet Sanctuary and, who were my guests on the first ever edition of Making Stitches back in the spring of 2020.
I also caught a quick few minutes with Heather from Keep Calm & Crochet On and Jess from Hook & Cwtch.

I hope you enjoy listening, and that you have a great Christmas. I’ll be back again soon, with the last episode of the current series – and my 100th episode!

Thank you for listening to Making Stitches Podcast!

To join the mailing list for the Making Stitches Newsletter, please click onto this link

The theme music is Make You Smile by RGMusic from Melody Loops.

The Making Stitches logo was designed by Neil Warburton at iamunknown.

You can support Making Stitches Podcast with running costs through Ko-fi.
Making Stitches Podcast is supported by the Making Stitches Shop which offers Making Stitches Podcast merchandise for sale as well as Up the Garden Path crochet patterns created by me & illustrated by Emma Jackson.

Making Stitches Podcast is presented, recorded and edited by Lindsay Weston.

Episode 98 : From an Amigurumi Pig to Crocheted Patchwork with Anita Gibney from Made by Anita

In this episode of Making Stitches Podcast I chat to Anita Gibney — the designer behind Made by Anita and the author of the brand-new book; Patchwork Granny Square Blankets. Known for her beautiful crochet blanket deisgns, Anita has become an ambassador for Stylecraft Yarns and has just published her first book.

We chat about how her love of crochet began, the inspiration behind her quilt-inspired granny-square blankets, and what it was like to turn years of designing into her first published book. Anita also shares insights into her creative process, how she approaches colour schemes, and why it’s important to share skills to inspire makers of all skill levels.

Whether you’re a crochet beginner, a seasoned maker, or simply someone who loves hearing from a fellow creative, I’m sure you’ll enjoy listening to Anita’s story.

You can find Anita’s website here: madebyanita.co.uk

Find out about Anita’s new book: Patchwork Granny Square Blankets

Here is the yarn company which Anita made reference to during our chat: The Grey Sheep.

Exploration Sampler Blanket

Anita’s Modern Medallion Blanket

Thank you for listening to Making Stitches Podcast!

To join the mailing list for the Making Stitches Newsletter, please click onto this link

The theme music is Make You Smile by RGMusic from Melody Loops.

The Making Stitches logo was designed by Neil Warburton at iamunknown.

Making Stitches Podcast is presented, recorded and edited by Lindsay Weston.

Merry Crochet Makes with Justine Robson & Nicky Ward – BONUS EPISODE

December starts next week which means we are officially on the countdown to Christmas, but there’s still time to make a few Christmas gifts for special people or some decorations for your home.

In this special ‘Bonus Episode’ I’m sharing a chat I had with Justine from Little Box of Crochet and Nicky Ward from A Heart Shaped Cherry. Followers of Little Box of Crochet will know that 2025 has been a difficult year for Justine. One of the things she has had to deal with involved being badly let down on a yarn order for her Summer Box of Crochet, which left her severely out of pocket and struggling through no fault of her own.

In an attempt to help Justine recoup some of her financial losses, a group of crochet designers have donated Christmas themed crochet patterns to be included in a special E-Book called Merry Crochet Makes, which was curated and edited by Nicky.

Last weekend, I spoke to Justine and Nicky about this special collaboration and how it all came together, including chatting about how difficult things have been for Justine this year. (During our chat, Justine became quite upset – for obvious reasons – however, she has listened back to this episode before being released, and it is being published with her blessing).

You can buy the Merry Crochet Makes E-Book here, and you can find Little Box of Crochet on Instagram here, also this is Nicky’s website and Instagram page – @aheartshapedcherry – please give her a follow!

To join the mailing list for the Making Stitches Newsletter, please click onto this link

The theme music is Make You Smile by RGMusic from Melody Loops.

The Making Stitches logo was designed by Neil Warburton at iamunknown.

Making Stitches Podcast is presented, recorded and edited by Lindsay Weston.

Episode 95 : All things Amigurumi with Amy Ting

My guest for this episode of Making Stitches Podcast is Amy Ting, a crochet designer from the US who specialises in amigurumi. Amy is a passionate advocate for the Japanese technique of crocheting in the round to create soft toys. She has been crocheting amigurumi creatures for 7 years and shares her work online on her website: https://curiouspapaya.com/ and on social media too https://www.instagram.com/curiouspapaya/

This summer, Amy released her first book of crochet patterns called Amigurumi Critters which contains 25 patterns to make cute crocheted animal soft toys. In this chat we spoke about how crochet came into her life and led her to publish her first book.

To join the mailing list for the Making Stitches Newsletter, please click onto this link

The theme music is Make You Smile by RGMusic from Melody Loops.

The Making Stitches logo was designed by Neil Warburton at iamunknown.

Making Stitches Podcast is presented, recorded and edited by Lindsay Weston.

Episode 91 : Let’s Celebrate with Eleonora Tully from Coastal Crochet

Image shows a Let's Celebrate Wreath held up in front of a view of the sea on a sunny day

Hello and welcome to the first episode in this new series of podcasts from Making Stitches.

This time, I’m sharing a chat with my crochet friend Eleonora Tully from Coastal Crochet. Eleonora and I have both celebrated a special blog birthday this year. It’s 10 years since we both began our blogging adventure.

While there’s no doubt that Eleonora’s blogging and designing has taken her to extraordinary places compared to my own experience, it’s been so lovely for me to follow her success and share my own journey with her over the years. Our blogging platform connected us in our early days of blogging, and for the past decade we have regularly communicated both through blog comments and through social media.

Image shows Lindsay from Making Stitches and Eleonora Tully from Coastal Crochet smiling at the camera

We were lucky enough to be able to meet in person at Yarndale in 2022, then again last year. It was at Yarndale 2024 that we decided to work on a collaboration to mark our blog birthdays.

Today, we are launching our collaborative crochet pattern, the Let’s Celebrate wreath. You can find the patterns for the wreath cover and the bunting over on Eleonora’s blog at coastalcrochet.com and the patterns for the amigurumi balloons & birthday cake on my blog at makingstitches.co.uk

Image shows the Let's Celebrate wreath a crochet collaboration between Lindsay Weston from Making Stitches & Eleonora Tully from Coastal Crochet

Also in this episode, you will hear a few teasers of what to look forward to in upcoming episodes of Making Stitches including World Stitch Day at the start of Woven in Kirklees, a chat I had with Kirstie Macleod, the artist behind The Red Dress, and Amy Ting, the amigurumi designer behind Curious Papaya and the author of Amigurumi Critters.

To join the mailing list for the Making Stitches Newsletter, please click onto this link

The theme music is Make You Smile by RGMusic from Melody Loops.

The Making Stitches logo was designed by Neil Warburton at iamunknown.

Making Stitches Podcast is presented, recorded and edited by Lindsay Weston.

Episode 88 : From Sewing Wedding Dresses to Crocheting a Turner Prize Winning Doily with Rachael Mills

When Rachael Mills took up crochet as a means to giving up smoking, little did she realise that it would one day lead to her making a Turner Prize winning doily! Last year, when the Glaswegian artist Jasleen Kaur was named the winner of the Turner Prize, crocheter Racheal was celebrating at home in Blackburn. I was thrilled when she agreed to come onto the podcast to share her side of this amazing story.

Rachael’s first creative job was piece work sewing at a bridal gown factory, she then went on to set up her own sewing business when she was made redundant and later on took up crochet as a hobby to keep her hands busy when she gave up smoking. She now spends her mornings on her sewing business and her afternoons crocheting commissions and teaching up to 50 people each week in her crochet classes.

You can find Rachael’s creative business Facebook pages here: REM Designs for sewing and Crazy Crochet Creations.

Some of Rachael’s creations including her Memory Bears & Lapel bags

To join the mailing list for the Making Stitches Newsletter, please click onto this link

The theme music is Make You Smile by RGMusic from Melody Loops.

The Making Stitches logo was designed by Neil Warburton at iamunknown.

Making Stitches Podcast is presented, recorded and edited by Lindsay Weston

Episode 86 : Spreading Joy Online with Sara & Sean from Crochet in the Glen

When I first approached Sara from Crochet in the Glen and asked if she would like to be a guest on Making Stitches Podcast, she couldn’t understand why I’d want to speak to her. Like many (thousands) of other people who follow her Instagram account I’d enjoyed seeing her posts from her home on the picturesque Cowal Peninsula on the West Coast of Scotland – not just for the scenery, or her beautiful crochet creations, but because of her “crochet supermodel” husband Sean!

Sean and Sara are collectively a hilarious team. Their posts are colourful and very, very funny. Sean can often be spotted strutting down an imaginary catwalk in their home wearing some of Sara’s crochet creations – often wearing several different items at the same time.

I am so glad that Sara said yes to an interview and as a bonus, Sean was able to join us too. I hope you enjoy listening to them share their story as much as I did when I recorded it!

You can find Sara and Sean at the Crochet in the Glen Instagram account.

Since the last episode of Making Stitches Podcast was published, Making Stitches has celebrated a birthday – it’s now 5 years old! Thank you to everyone who has come onto the podcast over the past 5 years, everyone who has listened and supported me along the way!

Lindsay x

To join the mailing list for the Making Stitches Newsletter, please click onto this link.

The theme music for Making Stitches Podcast is Make You Smile by RGMusic from Melody Loops .

The Making Stitches logo was designed by Neil Warburton at iamunknown.

Making Stitches Podcast is presented, recorded and edited by Lindsay Weston.

Episode 85 : The Gift of Crochet with Marianne Rawlins of Maz Crochets

Image shows Marianne Rawlins the guest of this episode standing in the foreground of the photo smiling at the camera

The image shows Marianne Rawlins, the guest on this episode standing in the foreground of the photo smiling at the camera. — Marianne Rawlins

For so many of us, crochet (or any craft) is as gift which offers mental release, a chance to focus on something away from the day-to-day worries of life and that creative spark so many of us need. When Marianne Rawlins was working part-time whilst raising her very small children, crochet arrived in her life. It gave her a creative outlet and ultimately an additional career, as her hobby developed into writing and designing for Simply Crochet magazine.

Our paths crossed through her work for Simply Crochet and I asked her to come onto the podcast to talk about how her hobby had opened up new doors for her. Whilst crochet is not Marianne’s ‘day job’ it does play a very important role in her life and she takes great pleasure in not only designing and making crochet items herself but writing articles for the magazine about other makers and testing new yarns which have come onto the market for practical features.

You can find Marianne on Instagram as @mazcrochets and on Ravelry too, where she sells her crochet patterns.

Image shows a large crocheted dice which is the size of a stool or foot rest.

To join the mailing list for the Making Stitches Newsletter, please click onto this link.

The theme music is Make You Smile by RGMusic from Melody Loops .

The Making Stitches logo was designed by Neil Warburton at iamunknown.

Making Stitches Podcast is presented, recorded and edited by Lindsay Weston.

Episode 81 : Making Stitches 2024 Christmas Special

Hello and welcome to the Making Stitches 2024 Christmas Special! As always at this time of year, I’m taking a look back at some of the year’s highlights for Making Stitches.

Included in this year’s extravaganza is Tansy Forster from The Longest Yarn, author and academic Barbara Burman, crochet designer Emma Varnam, Dr Gemma McKenzie from Threads of Protest, Heather Gibbs from Keep Calm And Crochet On, Lisa & Lynda-Rose from The Crochet Sanctuary. Thank you to everyone who has spoken to me for Making Stitches Podcast this year!

I’d also like to thank Jackie, Rachel, Nick, Nickie, Jen, Penny & Steph my fellow Crochet Sanctuary attendees who gave me their 2024 highlights for this episode.

Thank you to you too for listening and following my podcast adventures for the past few years – I’ve loved being able to bring these creative chats to you for you to enjoy!

I hope you have a happy and peaceful Christmas and that 2025 is good to you!

Lindsay x

If you would like to support my fundraising effort for FareShare Greater Manchester, you can buy the FareShare Festive Feast Wreath crochet pattern here.

To join the mailing list for the Making Stitches Newsletter, please click onto this link.

The theme music is Make You Smile by RGMusic from Melody Loops .

The Making Stitches logo was designed by Neil Warburton at iamunknown.

Making Stitches Podcast is presented, recorded and edited by Lindsay Weston

Episode 79 : A FareShare Festive Feast

This time on Making Stitches, I’m doing something a little bit different. I want to speak to you about food poverty, especially in my home city of Manchester and how I need your help to try to making things a bit easier for those who are finding it tough.

As the weather gets colder and we head towards winter, the terrible decision between heating and eating affects many people. FareShare Greater Manchester is a charity which rescues good-to-eat surplus food from the food industry and redistributes it to charities and community groups across the region.

I started working for FareShare Greater Manchester earlier this year and since then, I’ve been wanting to do something with crochet to help spread the word about what we do and to raise much needed funds to support this organisation.

I have designed a crochet pattern for a Christmas wreath based on a Christmas dinner, complete with sprouts and pigs in blankets. All the profits raised from the sale of the wreath will go to FareShare Greater Manchester.

In this episode, I take you to work with me and introduce you to three of the women I work with, to share what they do to help those in our community who need help.

You can find more information about FareShare Greater Manchester here.

You can buy the crochet pattern for the FareShare Festive Feast Wreath here.

I would like to thank Jane Czaja for her help in tech editing this pattern.

My thanks also go to Ruth Downes, Sally Lamb & Kala Mandviwala for speaking to me for this episode.