Faversham Pilgramage

Last weekend, three of my crocheting friends and I ventured out of South East London and into the wilds of Kent in search of fresh yarn foraging ground.

Faversham Market Hall by Sarflondondunc on Flickr

Alighting at the lovely ancient town of Faversham on a sunny summer market day, the first thing we did, of course, was make our way through the craft stalls and congenial hustle and bustle to get lunch. Then, more than satisfactorily fed and watered in the fittingly eclectic cafe The Yard, we set forth to The Yarn Dispensary in the quaint market square.


We sat at this very round table for lunch! Photo from Faversham Life website

A yarn shop most aptly named - I gather because the tudor building was once, indeed, a pharmacy or apothecary, but now in our eyes, just as health giving.

Despite their evident knitting bias, we nevertheless quickly settled in to the intense and therapeutic business of familiarising ourselves with the stock. We found linens, silks, cottons and wools, as well as alpacas and even yak.


Inside the Yarn Dispensary - c/o www.bestofengland.com

We picked up on yarns from Sirdar Sublime, Yorkshire Spinners, Debbie Bliss, Baa Ram Ewe, Fyberspates, Juniper Moon, Louisa Harding and Erika Knight, to name just a few, as well indulging in decorative hooks and other notions, some patterns and even cheeky, yarn-based car stickers (to add to the existing collection).

We conversed at length to the delightful owner, Gillian Ely, and exchanged business cards on behalf of the Knitting and Crochet Guild.

We were afforded a peak at their workshop space and regaled with the tales of a yarn shop keeper. Eventually, weighed down with brown paper bags, we tripped back out into the sunshine and made the only sensible next step - tea and cakes of course! It had been a perfect afternoon and the journey back to the big smoke was smooth and crochet-filled.

Mandy Mellican and Gill Gardiner - very happy and 

about to get off the train back at Bromley South Station.

Crochet Society

Anyone who crafts will know about the little problem of storage. Tools and machines, materials, samples, paperwork, books and magazines - they all take up so much space! But it's not only that, it's also about being able to lay your hands on a specific item when you need it, too. So every crafter of every denomination dreams of owning a room, dedicated to this cause.

My own spare room, once the mini domain of a mini Zubairy, - and still bearing the stars - had, in more recent times, been in active service hosting lodgers. But now, new year, new beginnings an’ all that, I'm biting the bullet, accepting the income drop, and spreading my stash!

Only a crafter understands the deep pleasure of creating a well ordered work and storeroom. Where to put the UFOs? How to categorise the yarns? Are we going for plastic boxes or something more decorative, natural? And as for all those tiny notions...The needles and stitch markers, cable holders and row counters, the tape measures and hook size gauges, spare project bags, pattern leaflets, business cards, buttons and snap fasteners, hooks and eyes, elastic, twine, labels both fabric and card….
It's a big job, and it will never be finished!


When I'm not in Spare Oom, it seems I'm in a cafe! This Saturday my relationship with cafe society reached a new intensity...I had to get an MOT, so while waiting, I took advantage of the time away from washing and cleaning and ordering the clutter, just to crochet. Two and a half hours on a Saturday morning drinking coffee and properly finishing a project. Bliss! Result - this hot water bottle cover.

Two balls of expensive Japanese yarn, (Genmou) picked up on last year's Great London Yarn Crawl, from Loop in Islington. I even sewed on one of my recently acquired Designer Labels.

 The pattern is from a newly published ‘bookazine’ for Beginners.

The car passed its MOT

and I motored on to my next cafe to meet family for lunch. Without a break thereafter, I joined crocheting pals in Beckenham for an afternoon out of the rain, talking yarns and projects and deciding how to finish Bridget the Elephant's yummy jummy.

From a pattern by Kerry Lord, in her book 'Edward's Menagerie'