February 2024
Hi there! Welcome to my blog
I’m Hayley and I like to make cool warm things!
I make crochet blanket patterns on hookedwithhayley.com, have a crochet course and sell blankets locally. I’m a mum of 5 (4 boys and 1 girl) and have been crocheting and knitting for years.
I usually break my blog up into 3 sections; Wips, finished items and new things, but this month I thought I’d do something a little bit different
I’ve been working a lot on other projects so haven’t had much crochet time. Plus if I’m being completely honest with you, I’ve rediscovered my love of playing Borderlands 2 (which is where I’ve been spending a lot of my downtime) Maybe a blanket design for the future?
Crochet Projects
The first project I’ve been working on this month has been the eleventy billion Octopus I’m trying to make. Ok, so that might’ve been a slight exaggeration there. I need 10 large ones (plus the original one so I get to keep him) plus some mini ones
One of the other non-crochet projects I’ve been working on needs some marketing and advertising stuff – octopus. So, I’m making some for that and hoping to get them finished in time
Aside from my (what feels like) mammoth octo project the only other crochet project I’ve been working on are the subscriber squares. I’ve finished them all and just need to join the squares to finish off the blanket. I didn’t want to spoil the surprise of what’s coming next, so I’ve added a photo of the squares I’ve already shared.
I’m considering making it into a CAL (crochet-a-long) in the future for people to sign up for whenever they want.
That’s all the crochet news for this month, so you can stop reading now if that’s all you came for, or find out about the other random things I’ve been working on
Building the Website
I’ve finally got the website finished (I think). I spent a day walking round town with Mimi taking photos to add to the home page and fancied up the background a little. I have some small links to fix but all in all it’s now finished and I can get to work on the next part in the plan.
Following the plan
I always work better with a plan but until this year my plans were always pretty vague. Late December I decided I was going to actually sit down and work out week-by-week exactly what I needed to get done. It’s been an absolute game changer for me and although everything doesn’t always follow the plan, I’m finding it great to have a guide in place.
Is this something you do? Or do you use something else? Do you just go with the flow? Let me know in the Facebook Group
Best Wife Ever!
I’ve also been helping my husband with his non-profit Shape Up Peterhead. As with everything there’s always a tonne of paperwork to get through so I’ve been doing my bit to get caught up with all that. If you’ve ever wondered why I have random Shape Up Peterhead t-shirts in my store, now you know! We don’t currently have a website for Shape Up so last year I added them on here to help out a little with the fundraising.
I don’t know if I told you this or not, but at the end of last year I did a Bookkeeping Course specifically so I could help out with all this sort of stuff.
Anyway, we run family fitness classes 3 times a week as well as other activities with our main focus being on having fun and getting healthier as a family. We try to keep everything as affordable as possible which is great for bigger families. As a mum of 5 I know how expensive it can be to pay for everything 5x so anything like this is a winner for me
Helping Rotary
On top of all that I’ve also been trying to help the local Rotary Club with some of their fundraising events, but I’m getting a bit frustrated with my progress because I’m so busy with everything else. I’m a great believer in everything happens when it’s supposed to so I know it’ll all come together in the end
Phew! Well, that was a lot!
If you’re still reading, well done!
I will try to fit more crochet in next month so I have a bit more of an exciting update for you
Until next time
Hayley