THE CHRISTMAS PIE FRIDAY GUEST BLOGGER

Hello everyone

I am very pleased to introduce my Friday Guest Blog Spot, Karen of Casalana -The Woolhouse:

Hello and thanks for inviting me to be a guest on your blog.  My name is Karen and I am a mother to 4 children and a proud grandmother to 3 boys and 2 girls, the youngest born just 8 weeks ago and this is where it really all began.

My mum taught me to knit when I was very young and that was when my love affair with all things woolly began.  I used to knit for my children and more recently my grandchildren and friends and family have been telling me for years that I ought to sell my makes.  So, in January of this year I finally bit the bullet and launched my Facebook page: Casalana-thewoolhouse.

The name Casalana comes from the Spanish words for house (case) and wool (lana) and I chose this because I am fortunate enough to own a lovely country property in Southern Spain and my time is divided between there and the UK.  I am here in Spain at the time of writing this blog and it seems crazy as we are in the height of summer here and I am sat knitting my range of winter wear and Christmas items.

I try to make my items interesting and unique and I always use the best quality wools I can find.  I love to buy from small independent crafters who spin and dye their own wools and I have a couple of favourites that produce some beautiful yarns.  I also like to use recycled materials and have made some lovely crochet baskets from recycled sari silk which is collected by a group of ladies in India from sari factories and then spun into yarn.  These have proved very popular.

I love to make baby items and like to design my own range of cot and pram blankets like this cot blanket which I call the Jester because of its bright colours and pom-poms.

I have recently expanded my baby makes range to include gifts for Baby Shower parties and the new baby, the most popular of which is the Hickory Dickery Dock Nursery Basket.  This is a crochet basket with a clock face and pendulums and even has a cute little mouse running up the clock like in the nursery rhyme.  It is filled with all the lovely goodies that a new mummy will need and even a little pamper gift for her too.

When I am not knitting and I am here in Spain I love to make jams and chutneys from the many beautiful fruits and vegetables available here and from my own fruit trees and veg patch.  I go to my local street market every Friday to stock up on all the lovely fruit and veggies as well as olives, meats and cheeses all produced or grown locally.

I hope you have enjoyed reading a little about me and my life and if you would like to see more of my work please visit my Facebook page and you can follow me on my Blog. 

Karen