I’m thrilled to share Lizzy Bolan’s inspiring journey—from learning to knit at her mother’s knee to discovering a passion for crochet amid the turquoise waters of the Mediterranean. In this new blog post, you’ll join Lizzy as she navigates channels and sea lanes, finds camaraderie in marina “Knit and Natter” circles, and transforms simple skeins of yarn into whimsical mermaids, ballerinas, and festive amigurumi.
I invite you to dive into her story of creativity, adventure, and community on the open sea—grab a cup of tea (or hook and yarn) and come along for the ride!
"My mum taught me to knit when I was a young child, but she did not crochet. I have knitted many jumpers, cardigans, baby clothes and toys over the years, but only attempted to crochet a couple of small items. Later, I became interested in cross stitch and this hobby replaced knitting for a while.
I met my future husband, Rob in 2014, when we were both in our 40’s. Rob owned a sailboat, and despite living all my life close to the sea, on the south coast of England, I had never been sailing before. I discovered that I loved it. We enjoyed many fantastic sailing holidays, and weekends away, and so our dream began...one day, we would quit our jobs and sail to the Mediterranean. This dream became a reality in June 2019, when we left Portsmouth, England and set sail for the Mediterranean on our 36-foot yacht.
We sailed across the English Channel, then navigated through the French Inland Waterways, to the south of France. From France, we sailed to Spain, the Balearic Islands, Sardinia, Sicily, Italy and arrived on the Greek island of Corfu in August 2020, travelling a distance of 3,000 nautical miles since leaving Portsmouth.
Since then, we have been cruising around the Greek Islands. We spent our third winter aboard in Lefkas Marina, Greece. There was a great liveaboard community in Lefkas, with lots of activities and events taking place. One of these activity groups was called “Knit and Natter”. Several ladies would meet for coffee one afternoon a week, in the marina café, and bring along their current project if they wished. I joined them during the first week, and had a lovely afternoon, despite not having a project or even any wool or needles aboard. The beautiful work these ladies were producing, and their friendly, welcoming company inspired me to attempt to make something myself.
I decided to try my hand at crochet. A friend directed me to the local wool shop, where I bought yarn and a crochet hook to make a shawl. From that moment on, I was hooked (pardon the pun) and couldn’t wait to start a new project. I also tried my hand at amigurumi, and had great fun making some delightful little Christmas reindeer and Santa’s.
Whilst scrolling Facebook one day, a Crochetree advert appeared in my newsfeed. These were the most beautiful crochet dolls that I had ever seen. I eagerly visited their website, and was overwhelmed at the selection of patterns available to purchase. I was unsure if I would be able to make such a wonderful doll, as I was still a beginner at crochet, but decided to give it a try, and bought my first pattern, Louise.
Louise was a joy to make. The pattern was easy to follow, and the accompanying photos were also helpful. I was delighted at how she turned out, and all the other ladies in the “Knit and Natter” group loved her. Some even said she looked a bit like me! I showed them the Crochetree website, and two friends, who do not crochet, asked if I would make them a mermaid…and so my Crochetree journey began.
To date, I have made six mermaids, a ballerina, Valentina, the Nutcracker, Naomi and Louise. I think Naomi is my favourite so far, but I love them all. I have given them as gifts to family and friends, but kept Louise, the Nutcracker and one mermaid for myself. Embroidering the eyes felt a bit daunting at first, but I try to take my time and redo them as I go, if I am not happy. I love it when I have finished embroidering the features, and the doll’s little character seems to come to life.
One lovely memory that sticks in my mind is when I made a mermaid as a surprise for a friend to give to her granddaughter, who she was travelling to see in America. She burst into tears when I gave it to her - it was a very emotional moment. Another friend loved my Louise so much, that she decided to crochet one herself. She is now on her own Crochetree journey and has made many beautiful dolls.
I usually attempt to make the eyes and hair a similar colour to the person the doll is for, so each one is slightly different. I added a bead necklace to Naomi and found some lovely, multicoloured beads, in the shape of seahorses, shells and fish which I put around the mermaid’s waist.
I have had so much fun making these dolls, and my only dilemma is deciding which one to make next. They are very addictive.
I don’t have much spare time to crochet during the summer, whilst we are sailing, but I still usually have a project on the go, to take up when I can. We spend five months in a marina every winter, which gives me more opportunities to crochet, especially during the long dark evenings. We spent last winter in Messolonghi marina, Greece, which also had a great liveaboard community, and the ladies would meet every Tuesday for coffee and craft activities, and to show our latest projects.
If you are interested in reading more about our life living on a small sailboat, I have written two books about our adventures sailing around the south coast of England, the Channel Islands and France, and our journey navigating the French Inland Waterways, to the Mediterranean. Both books can be purchased from Amazon, in all countries, in paperback, e-book and Kindle Unlimited formats. Please see links below."
Lizzy Bolan
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sailing-Adventures-Aboard-The-Mighty-Zircon-2-book-series/dp/B09QJBDDJQ
http://www.amazon.com/author/lizzy-bolan
