Hello again! I’m back from a wonderful couple of weeks teaching at the Marlborough College Summer School – exhausting, but great fun!

Week one was

Beginners Crochet

The ladies were complete beginners, but picked it up so quickly – I was very impressed! We started with a basic chain, then moved on to double crochet (making phone covers), working up to trebles where we made bunting, flower pot covers and a bag. The course gave all students the skills needed to be able to read patterns so that they can crochet at home with confidence.

They produced a lot of finished pieces!

I was amazed at the distance some of the ladies had travelled to take the course – I had ladies from Greece, Hong Kong and France! They all enjoyed themselves and presented me with a card and voucher for a local yarn shop on the final day.

They were truly a joy to teach.

Week Two was

Tunisian Crochet

Most of the ladies on this course were completely new to crochet, but were keen knitters. This meant ‘retraining’ them to hold the yarn and hook in a different way. Not an easy thing to grasp when the hook you are holding feels just like a knitting needle! They picked it up very quickly, and we were soon moving from Tunisian Simple Stitch (TSS) to colour work, wrapping the yarn and working with floats. A couple of Intrepid Beginners were eager to work different stitches, so we also covered Tunisian Knit Stitch, Tunisian Purl and Entrelac.

So much work was created in the week that I almost ran out of blocking boards for the Exhibition at the end of the course!

It was fantastic to see the experimentation and imagination of the students take flight. Again, the students enjoyed the course – I was presented with a lovely card and a box of choccies. With all the amazing food at the College though it will be a while before I can enjoy them!

I was delighted to meet one of the Week One students (a big shout out to Dorothy!) at the end of Week Two – she had continued to crochet and was well underway with a blanket she was making, having found a pattern on line and had the confidence and ability to follow it.

I was so proud!

I love to see the lightbulb moment with students.
I love to watch them fall in love with the craft.
I love to see them go from struggling with the initial chain to working stitches with ease. 

I love to teach.

I really hope I can offer more courses at Marlborough next year. It is an amazing venue to teach at. The atmosphere is amazing, the hospitality is second to none. The food (ohmythefood!) and entertainment are fantastic. 

And I’d love to see you there too. 

p.s. I’ve had some lovely feedback from the students and thought I’d share it with you!

“Very well taught – kept my imagination going and
the troubleshooting from Zoe was fab!”

“Excellent value – tutor worked very hard and
was very encouraging”

“Tutor excellent”

Order your brochure for 2016 courses here.