There is a saying in East Anglia: ‘slow you down’. Every day is apparently like a holiday in our editor's new home county of Norfolk, with ever-longer daylight hours spent crocheting on the beach, boating on the Broads or walking the cobbled streets of market towns, and she wants you to feel those slow staycation vibes with this beautifully relaxed issue of Inside Crochet.
Every project is perfect for summer days spent by the riverside, in a beer garden or on a campsite – and we don’t know where to start! We might begin by hooking up Cassie Ward’s gorgeous Riverside Tunic; we love its simplicity and elegance. Likewise, we're loving Eleonora Tully’s Relax Vest with its blooming pocketful of posies! Speaking of flowers, we're also really excited to make Lindsay Weston’s Canal Boat Bottle Holder – great for carrying along the towpaths of Britain while admiring the prettily painted barges.
As well as fun things to hook, wear and use right now, this issue also includes ideas for long-term projects. We might spend the season making motifs for Kimberley Bate’s colourful and cosy Wildside Hoodie – a perfect stashbuster – or Jane Czaja’s Log Cabin Blanket – a crochet riff on a classic patchwork motif.
If you’re heading to the sunshine further afield this summer, you can’t go wrong with Millie Masterton’s pretty sarong – the ombré yarn could match any swimsuit on a Caribbean beach or draped across your shoulders while sitting at a seafood restaurant by the Med. Can you tell we have wanderlust? For now, we'll don our Dainty Headscarves, pick up an Alber’s Picnic Blanket and 'slow us down' on the way to the park!