Jo Jo Twinkletoes

The good ol' days Growing up, we didn't have a lot of money.  I remember me and my sister huddled around a Calor Gas fire in the living room, getting dressed in the winter months; my dad walking me to nursery in a pushchair because we didn't have enough money to put petrol in the car.  We did however, have knitted bed socks and Granny Square blankets for our beds - love was in abundance and we always had everything that we needed. How much! Coming from a frugal family means that I have carried this way of thinking with me into adulthood. In past years, I would look at the cost of yarn and think "I'm not paying that - you could buy a whole jumper for less than it would cost to make it". Sound familiar? Change your way of thinking There are ways around this and here are my top 5 tips for saving money when things are tight:- Birthday/Christmas money - save it up and put it towards that yarn that you have been hankering after; take it to a spec

The back story 8 years ago, my family stayed at a cottage in Dorset.  It was the last day of the holiday and we had spent the day in Lyme Regis (the pint of prawns was not a good idea 😶).  My husband had bought me a gorgeous diamond encrusted, gold, heart-shaped locket around 3 months earlier and I wore it everyday.  Stay with me... Oh locket where art thou? When it was time to leave, I sat in the back of the car and I realised that my locket was missing. My own heart sank and I began frantically searching for it.  We all retraced our steps and drove back to the cottage to search every room and the shingled driveway.  It was gone - I cried. New tricks I was around 8 or 9 when my Nana's taught me how to knit and crochet.  Crochet was a skill that I picked up quite quickly.  Whenever they came to visit, I would sit with them and make small blankets for Sindy or Christmas candles modelled over toilet role inserts.  As the years went by and both Nana's passed away, I didn

The morning mile I walk about a mile and a half to work.  Everyday, come rain or shine, I drop my daughter to school and carry on walking until I get to work.  Exciting so far isn't it?! Shady happenings? One morning, I traced my usual steps along my well walked route, when a silver Mercedes van pulled up in front of me and  wound down the window...inevitably  Kidnapping flashed across my mind....,   The gift of kindness I was actually greeted with a kindly lady simply offering me a lift.   She said she had seen me walking every day and wondered whether I hadn't a car; she told me she would drop me to "where I needed". I warmly thanked the lady but said I enjoyed my walk. As I moved on, it reminded me... Crocheted Insta warmth It reminded me of the "friends" that I have met on Instagram.  Women (and men) from all over the world who share a common interest - crochet.  I have received help, encouragement and even patterns from people who are ju

Hello from the other side I thought that I would give blogging a go. It's not that I haven't thought about it before, it's just that I didn't know if I would have anything to blog about. Well, you don't know until you try. This blog will be short bursts into my day which may consist of crochet and funny or thoughtful events.   A little bit about me My name is Jo, I live in the South West of England with my husband and 10 year old daughter.  I have a pet tortoise called Flash and he is 3.  I am a crocheter in my spare time and I can knit - although not as fast as I can crochet.  I learnt both skills from my Nana’s and I am so glad that I did.   Current projects Tote bag  C2C Blanket