Archway Market

Now that I have come to grips with my crochet addiction, I decided to actually make a profit out of it... How? By selling my stuff at Archway Market!


Less than 2 weeks ago I brought into work the crochet hair clips, bobbles, etc. I had made as presents for my nieces. Amazed - in an almost Stendhal syndrome kind of way, no kidding - my colleagues asked me if I had considered selling my creations. We considered the possibility of selling them to shops but quickly decided they'd pay me peanuts so the idea of having my own stand at a market seemed like the best idea. Archway Market is a very new market in North London selling great organic products, but also furniture, books, and now... handmade-with-love (and lots of it) crafts! After sending through my application and being accepted, I got to work and spent days crocheting like mad. I also asked my lovely and talented sisters Reyes and Rocio to send me the stuff that they make so I'd sell it in the stall as well - Reyes makes absolutely beautiful jewellery and Rocio is a seamstress goddess, and her waterproof washbags are brilliantly versatile. Then, a friend from work was so excited about the stand that she made gorgeous cards, purses and brooches (it can also be spelt broaches, we checked) and helped me on the day! The final product is a lovely stall called "Mamás & Bebés" which will be at Archway Market every 2 Saturdays (next one is 1st May) from10am until 5pm.

Playing with food

Finally a post which isn't about cooking! Just about food...

In early January, just as my addiction to crochet was begining to develop, I decided to buy my first ever crochet book: Tasty Crochet. It's a truly excellent book, with the easiest instructions to follow and the final product just couldn't be any more awesome. It's one of my neice's birthday's next week - she's turning 4 - and I thought it would be a cool present to send her some play food for her pretend picnics.


Ice-cream sandwich mmm! And the piece of cake is an exact replica of the one my mother makes, with pastry and a delicious yolk and sugar topping with strawberries and kiwis.

I never in my life thought I'd make a crochet burger... and chips!

Or a drumstick?! The book is just priceless!

Mmmm fried up breakfast! I literally just had a real version of the below, minus the bagel.

Crochet Anonymous

Hello, I'm Araceli and I'm addicted to crochet.

There, I've said it. Simple, and to the point. One thing about crochet is that no one tells you how addictive it is, or how, suddenly, your right hand index finger swells up and looks like the Hulk's index.

I learnt how to do crochet years ago, my mother taught me, but there was no scope to make interesting stuff, just useless round basket-like woolly things - my crochet abilities were very limited. So it wasn't until I went to Birmingham to a friend's house last September that the crochet beast inside me was awakened. My friend taught me how to make these awesome twirly scarves. I didn't buy the yarn and crochet hooks until December, but so far I have completed two of them! (the purple one was completed only last night, and it's owner and I proudly stood for the photo below with our awesome scarves)

The trick is to make a very long chain, then do simple crochet over it and when you complete the line, repeat the simple crochet, but this time making one chain between the crochet stitches, that's how you get the twirl. The rest is easy, just double crochet lines until you reach the thickness you want. The purple scarf took up to 6 yarns, and the green around 5.