Yyyyyyarndale!

This is most certainly going to be a big one and I just can't put it off any longer (I'm desperately still crocheting the cream sweater for dying tomorrow, it might be done, something has happened that's made my plan even more possible, I'll explain later). 

WHAT AM I TALKING ABOUT?!!?!? I'm talking about YARNDALE! OH ME OH MY WHAT A DAY! I was determined to take more photos than last year when I had a phone that would hold a charge for about three hours and no longer. And I did. But it's still not enough! There's not enough photos in the world that can capture the pure JOY that is Yarndale!!!! Let me start from the beginning. Kinda. 

We set up a coach trip. We did the same thing last year and it was a huge stress but I knew I couldn't miss this year so stress it was. Only it was less stress because we didn't do the deposit scheme which probably was a bad thing for some but it meant that once it was paid it was paid and I knew who was coming on. I also kept very up to date (like by the minute) with who was coming whereas last year I made notes and updated at the end of the day. Only, you lot know what my note taking is like - it didn't work, it led to more stress. So that was a good thing even though it fell apart at the last hurdle... more about that in a mo. We had a slightly bigger coach than last year, 53 as opposed to 48 and we could have gone bigger but I'm an anxious businesser and I didn't want to book a big coach and not fill it and by the time I knew we could have filled it it was gone. I've been told about a VIP coach for next year, which is a distinct possibility but that takes 80 people - can I find 80 mad knitters!?!?!? I DON'T KNOW! And I also don't know how much it cost. Oh god. We'll see. Anyway. There's a 60 knitter coach too. Maybe that's more feasible. I don't know. And I don't have to worry about it until at least May. Ahhh. Anyway, we took a coach: 

This was actually on the way back. Look at those beautiful women! Clever and talented and a bit mental. Every single one. :) It was such a lovely combo of people and it was so great when people made friends and connections that I hadn't even thought of! Lots of people cancelled because of dogs and work and life which meant that lots of people that missed out at first got a chance to come on but it did mean that I got into a bit of a pickle when Helen and her Mum weren't on the list - it was okay in the end, I'd just not swapped Iris and Sarah over but my heart sank and I honestly thought I might cry. Too early for that sort of mistake. Ugh. Anyway. We got on the coach. I had a fag before we set off - sorry ladies - but after that I deffo needed one. We picked up lovely Krissy and Kate from Meadowhall and we were off! 

We had to divert through Bradford because apparently that is just the way to Skipton but we didn't have to go through the centre this time so it didn't take as long and I think we got in at about 11? It was all such a blur that I can't work it out. This time the team were much more organised, so we all had a sticker which meant that we could get out hand stamped without me being here. It was great! And then everybody else was off! I had to stay back and speak to the coach driver who had a slight anger management problem. By the time I got to the entrance most people were off and giggling. :)

Me and Vezza decided to stick together and that meant I had to do a few bits with her. Truly Hooked yarn was on the Samantha Grig stand so we spent a few lovely minutes having a rootle through that. 

Samantha was absolutely lovely. In fact everybody was lovely.

Then we had a date with a lot of talented dyers and their fave customers. The only one I can remember is Jodi from Pollyorange because she sat next to me, had ridiculously good hair and had a drink of my water. Everybody else - sorry! They were lovely ladies but I must admit me and Vezza were pleased to get going back into the hall.

It was a really weird experience because we just knew where to go and where not to go. Last year, I think I was overwhelmed by all of the pens. I'd go in and get chatting to a lady about weaving or a bloke about dying when actually I am there purely and solely about the wool. You can take your alpacas and shove 'em where the sun don't shine I'm after neon 4ply wool/wool blends. That's it. Ha. AND I FOUND IT!

BEHOLD!

Right at the top. Green, yellow, green, yellow, green, yellow. Nobody knows! Isn't it divine?! It's from the Easyknits stall (I bought some more yellow/green neon deliciousness last year that I still haven't done anything with). What happened was I saw this colour in a rainbow of beautiful yarn at the back of the till, I was looking a little lost and a little hopeful and the bloke (who everybody fancies btw) asked me if I was okay. I asked him where this colour was on his stall and it wasn't anywhere! It was specially dyed to make his stall look pretty and he simply grabbed it and let me have it even though he ruined his rainbow. I ADORE THIS SHOP AND I ADORE THIS MAN AND I ADORE THIS YARN! So much so that I feel sick. I've sorted out my pattern:

It's the Komet sock from Stephanie Van Der Linden but I'm going to make them into hand warmers. I'm going to start them tomorrow. Maybe. If I can find the right needles. I can't wait. But I'm still doing the cream thing and that needs finishing.

Anyway, once that was bought I was sure that I'd finished purchasing and the rest of the day was just going to be loving and touching and appreciating but as you can see from the pile above I bought quite a bit more. Once more?

The red stuff is a merino, cashmere and nylon sock and the colour does not show on there like it should. It's almost like old fashioned cough sweets which is like my favourite combo of colours ever. Apart from neon green and yellow. 

Oh god. I've just made myself hungry for cough sweets now. 

The rainbow stuff underneath that is a pure wool that's PROPER scratchy. I cannot wait to get that soaked in some hair conditioner, it's gonna soften up like a dream and everybody that passed it by because it wasn't merino or bfl or cashmere or angora is gonna regret their lack of foresight. I started a jumper in it on the bus and nearly finished but decided I didn't like it at the last minute. It's now going to be a hooded scarf but I can't quite work out how to do it, I'm considering like a hat with a scarf-y bit? Anyway, I can do that tomorrow because it's best on a biggish hook like a 6mm or 7mm even though it's aran and I've got to go to Lincoln Crown Court to be a witness which I was looking forward to when it was Nottingham Crown Court but now I'm being given a police escort there in the morning because I spent all of my money on Yarndale and nobody can tell me what time they're picking me up so I've just got to wake up early and hope that's early enough. And look presentable. Anyway, the biggish hooks mean that they're both plastic so I should be able to use those as I'm waiting to be called. I feel a bit sick. 

And more. Can you see right at the bottom left there's a yellow yarn? Well, that's exactly the same yarn as I bought when I was on holiday in Weston and I started a beautiful shawl but lost the ball. So I bought more. It's gorge. And I also bought this pattern: 

Which is Lush from Tin Can Knits from Baa Ram Ewe who deserve some love because they're the ones who put Amy Singer in touch with us. :) Lovely ladies. One day I will get to their shop!

And finally I bought this beaut: 

Which is a brooch from the Tudor stall (Vezza's got the details - I'll get them from her later). And then I lost it so I bought another (they were only £3 and I fell. in. love.) which leads me nicely onto the next competition prize; 

Seeing as I had two of them it seemed rude to keep them both to myself. :) The plan was to spend £20 on the competition - picking what I thought was the best of the show. I'll be honest, I'm not sure I got it - there was just. so. much. But I think you'll love what I do have. First, the yarn: 

It's Artemis 4ply from fivemoons. 75% superwash merino, 20% nylon and 5% stellina (SPARKLES!). It's the same thing I made my Fantasm shawl out of so I know it's a gorgeous base at with 100g/400m you've got well enough for a pair of socks, mitts, gloves, shawl, scarf, hat. Loads of stuff! I chose the colours because it was either that or something that looked like a macaw and I had to think about what would be more popular - mermaid colours are always popular. :)

Next is the cup: 

Which Versace is skillfully modelling. You could only get these on the day because the team at Yarndale were worried about how they would post - I'm not worried! I'll wrap it up good and proper and hope for the best and if not you can make a mosaic out of it. haha. We're crafty people ey! :)

Next are these beautiful buttons; 

From skybluepink-designs. I couldn't resist a little bit of rainbow. They're gorgeous, printed on wood and a proper soft, smooth finish. :) Dead good. 

And finally, the piece de resistance (is that how you spell that!??!!?):

Beautiful brooch/shawl pin from the Tudor stall which was literally my favourite stall of the entire day. I LOVED THEM! But I know no more about them.

Anyway, these things are all available in our current competition, so you know the rules by now (and if you don't then they're here), get tagging and retweeting! Only, I've had a slight stress over this, so bear with me. There are a LOT of entries. 1241 for the last one and counting. At 531 for the last one it took me just over an hour to process so.... I'm going to do this differently so I still have time to eat and sleep... I'm going to enter 1 to whatever the total comments per post come to in a random number generator and generate 20 numbers, then I'll copy the people and their taggees that correlate with that number to a spreadsheet - so 40 entries. I'm going to do that for each post relating to that prize for facebook and twitter. So that should give me 160 random entries and then I'll randomly generate a number from that. Does that sound fair? I don't mean to change the goal posts but I'm on my own and it's starting to drive me bonkers. Hahahaha.

Aaaaaaanyway, back to Yarndale. I've told you about the coach and what I bought so now for some random photos: 

The view as you drive up is actually stunning.

Me and Vezza only swept through here on our way to meet people and I didn't think I'd seen Lucy - I was just trying to get a photo of the mandalas and then when I looked through my photos there she was!!! But I didn't speak to her. I'd have been too shy. I saw Little Tin Bird there too and didn't speak to her either. Me?!? Shy!?!? I know... 

For some reason the alpacas weren't there, but some toys were. Can you see them?

The brass band played ALLLLLLLL day!

The police turned up. Seriously, it was like Harlem out there. ;)

MANDALAS!

Bunting. :)

This lady had knit print nail stickers! We met her as we were waiting to go in, she was wearing a beautiful shawl. Good woman. 

Easyknits. Can you see the green/yellow by Vezza's hand? That's what I got last year. Still divine. ahhhh. 

And that's it for my photos (and one or two of Vezza's) I've been inundated with photos from other travellers so I'm going to do a separate blog for them - not least because it's 10 to 8 and I told my mum I'd be back for 7. Haha. But we can prolong the joy over a few blogs can't we?!

Thanks to everybody that came on the coach - you were all great. Made my life as stress free as possible and with the amount of stress I put myself under, can you imagine if you'd have made it actually stressful? Haha. Next year?

Love Eleanor. xxxxx

MASHAM MASHAM MASHAM MASHAM YARNDALE MASHAM MASHAM MASHAM

Well, I was just going to do an updatey post today but it's going to turn into a bit of a love affair to the Masham I think. I am now on my fourth (you read that right, it's been in less than three weeks and I'm on my fourth) project. And this one's a good'un. 

Can you guess what it is???? Hmmm. I'm not sure I could either. It's this!

Which is pattern 3899. Isn't it gorgeous? I'm making the jumper version. I love the neck and the sleeves. Can you see though that there are granny square type things in there? You might be able to see that better on the short sleeve version. Well, essentially you make granny squares, then make a whole jumper with granny square shaped holes and then you sew them in. Madness! Actual madness! But thinking about it, I'm not sure how else you'd do it. I've not come across the technique before though but I like it! Means you get through the front pretty swiftly. With massive fackin' holes full of nothing. MWHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA!

The squares are pretty cute too:

And I've got the pattern memorised pretty much now. King Cole tell you to do all the squares and then do the body but I'm doing a bit of both because the squares are fun but the body's a bit easier to do, back and forth, and also, I'm sure flitty crocheter that I need a few different things on the go. They might as well be different things from the same project. AND really, this needs to be done by this weekend so that it can be TIE BLOODY DYED! And I need to give Vezza a square when I next meet her so that she can have a play with how well it takes up dye. I have a feel that this will suck it up like me with red wine. And I've crocheted it with a 4.5mm hook because it's all that was to hand.

Actually, I need to talk about this. Starting with a confession - I didn't do a gauge swatch. There you have it. I just started. Can you see the first 'rib' bit? Well, you do that across, so it's like 12 sts back and forth until the length that they say, then you pick up stitches and work normally upwards. Well, I knew I'd be going down a size anyway because of the big hook, then when I finished the 'rib' it just looked HUGE! So I took off 10 rows to make it the next size down which means I'm working the second size which means I'm officially a 32-34" bust. Ha! THAT'S HOW TO DIET LADIES! Just keep eating tasty cakes and chocolate but use a bigger hook! DELICIOUS! 

Anyway, I'm trying not to go mad on it but I'd really like to have it done by the time we get back from Yarndale... Speaking of Yarndale: 

WE HAVE STICKERS! HA!

Back to the jumper - do you think I should block before sewing? That makes sense doesn't it but what about time?!!?!? AHHH! The plan yesterday and today was to sit and knit - although that's not really happened because yesterday was incredibly busy and we had a massive order in and today's been busy and I've had to sort some stuff out like insurance and window decals and ugh. real. shop. business. stuff. So, once this has been published, e-mails answered and the Bamboo Cotton that's all over the floor is sorted then I can get on with doing it. I really should be doing this: 

Which is much further on that it was due to a very late doctor's appointment the other day. It does need to be done but I have a timeline for my selfish one so I think I might get on with that. If it needs to be done by Saturday then I need to get the front done today,the back done tomorrow and the sleeves done over Friday and Saturday. HMMMMMM.

And with that, I'm off because I want this to be a competition post and the competition closes at 6pm today so you lot have to have a chance of actually doing the tagging that you need to do. I might do an actual updatey thing tomorrow if I can get over the Masham enough not to wax lyrical about it...

Need to know the rules? Click here.

Need to know what you're winning? Look here: 

GORGEOUS! YEAH! :)

Love Eleanor. xxxxx

Winner Announcement and a New Competition!

Oh Me Oh My! I've been astounded by the success of the #winner giveaway. Astounded! Welcome to all the new likers and followers. We hope you stick around to become part of the gang and if you're close enough pop in and meet us too - we're a bloody great bunch. Even if I say so myself. :)

So the first giveaway winner is Marlene Hardy!

She wins this marvelous sock blank from Verity at Truly Hooked. I can't resist putting this photo up because it's so blooming cute!

We had an incredible 427 entries for this round. Let's hope we can beat it in the next! 

What have I got for you? AHHHHHHHHHH ONLY MY FAVOURITE THING EVER! 

AMAZING! You guessed it! It's the Masham. And there's a FULL PACK up for grabs. Twelve beautiful balls. Ahhhh. Now it's up to you whether you take all one colour or all different colours or a few of each. It also applies over the full Masham range so that's the gorgeous and washable Masham DK or the sturdy and feltable Masham Misty DK. We've sold a fair bit of this stuff now so I can't wait for finished object photos to start tumbling in. In the meantime I've been knitting:

This beautiful cardi from the King Cole 4014 pattern in the Bracken colourway of the Masham DK. These oddly shaped socks from the same pattern: 

 Which look a lot less odd when they're on feet. And finally, today I finished these glorious slippers in the Masham Misty DK:

And they're due for a good old felting (I know, I know, it's fulling.... pedants) tonight when I finally find out how to work Boyf's washing machine (can you tell I'm excited about that....?).

Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that it's gorgeous yarn and it's not cheap so I'm hoping somebody who is as in love with it as I am and skint as I am wins. Failing that, just somebody that will give it a good home. :)

How to you win? Same way as last time so I'm going to copy and paste from this blog:

"So, I want to thank you! I'm going to do a big series of giveaways. I've been thinking long and hard about what to offer and I've got all sorts to give away which is really exciting and I think I'm going to spread it out over a few weeks culminating on the 9th of October or thereabouts which is when me and Vezza are going to London to collect the award. 

Now, I ain't stupid, I'm an award winning business woman (mwhahahahaha), so I'm not doing this for free. I'd like more followers onFacebook and Twitter so that more people know about how fabulous we all are. So I'm going to be putting some posts on Facebook andTwitter in order to win you need to either comment linking somebody you think would like to win on Facebook (you do that by typing '@' and then straight after the name of one of your friends with no spaces) - you get one entry per post and each person that you link gets one entry per post even if you comment more than once or the friend gets linked more than once. I'll be putting up more than one post per item though, so you do have a chance of multiple entries. If you're on Twitter, simply retweet. "
And just in case you missed why we're doing this - especially to the newbies that have joined us - well, we only went and WON Best Yarn Shop In The Midlands! Which is AMAZING for a tiny and disorganised shop liked ours but hopefully you'll stick around to join the madness that our loyal regulars have enjoyed for the last four years.

This competition closes on Wednesday the 24th when the next prize is announced and that is ALSO A GOODUN! I can't wait. :)

Love Eleanor. xxxxxx

In Amongst the Brilliant Stuff...

...is always going to be some shit stuff, isn't there? This isn't about me or the shop. It's about women and children living in a refuge to escape domestic abuse. One of my fantastic customers is a manager at the Nottingham Community Housing Association and she's asked for some help to set up a knitting circle for the women and their families living in a refuge in the city area. The refuge and it's position needs to stay secret for safety reasons so I won't mention anything here - it's on a need to know basis.

The refuge houses 12 women and their families (up to 5 or 6 children) who've had to flee domestic abuse. The women can stay there for up to 12 months and while they're there they get both practical support and emotional support. Stuff like applying for benefits, how to resettle, budgeting, getting jobs, getting onto college courses and other life skills. They want to set up a knitting circle in the refuge to promote self esteem and social skills and calm and all the other reasons that we do it. Think about why you knit, crochet, sew, bead, cross stitch - and imagine the intense help that could be to a woman in need. We have to help don't we! So, what do they want?

Firstly, they'd like a female volunteer who would spend some time teaching and coaching and befriending the women. The volunteer will need to be a fairly good knitter or crocheter (and other yarn/fabric skills like sewing or embroidery would be great!) and be confident enough to teach it - but it won't be like a lesson, it'll be more like one on one friendly teaching, the sort you might do with your mate. The volunteer won't need to be DBS or CRB checked because they won't be alone with the women at all. The ideal volunteer would come weekly but the time/day doesn't matter a great deal - I guess as long as it's a regular thing. They'd like somebody that can commit for the long term. Could it be you??? The details of the place are secret like I say so if you are interested and you think you fit the bill, just pop me an e-mail or a Facebook message through and I'll pass on the manager's number for you to work out the details.

Secondly, they'd like any wool and needles and hooks that can be spared. I've got some that I'm going to put together but I'm sure if this takes off they'll need a lot more! Anything will do including any 'interesting' textured yarn which is the stuff that tends to appeal to kids. I'm sure patterns and books and sewing up needles and tape measures and cable needles and anything will come in handy too. I happen to know that they'd like to encourage other crafts so although it feels a bit weird to ask if you have any materials, beads, sewing cotton, aida, embroidery silks, embroidery hoops that are going spare? Yep, we'll have them! I'll make sure these are passed straight through to the manager who'll get them to the women that need them.

I am so pleased we can be a part of this. It means a lot doesn't it?

Love Eleanor. xxx

#WINNING

WE DID IT! WE BLOODY WON! WE DID IT!

WELL DONE US! WELL DONE US!

WE ARE THE BEST YARN SHOP IN THE MIDLANDS!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

 

Now, gloating over (though I reserve the right to start again if the urge takes me, much like I've been dancing around the shop every now and again...). 

We are SUPER mega pleased. Well, I say 'we' as if there is a 'we', there's just me and this bloody brill shop so it feels like a 'we' but in reality the 'we' is 'you' and 'me'. Haha. As in me, the building, the contents and the absolutely bloody magnificent customers that come through the doors. Seriously. We literally can't be here without you but also every single personality and history and character that takes part in the stuff that we do - whether that's buying, or partying, or commenting, knitting for our charity drives, coming to Yarndale, inviting me to judge stuff or talk at you for an hour - makes this shop. Amazing. Every single one of you. Ahhhhhh. 

Soppiness over.

So, I want to thank you! I'm going to do a big series of giveaways. I've been thinking long and hard about what to offer and I've got all sorts to give away which is really exciting and I think I'm going to spread it out over a few weeks culminating on the 9th of October or thereabouts which is when me and Vezza are going to London to collect the award.

Now, I ain't stupid, I'm an award winning business woman (mwhahahahaha), so I'm not doing this for free. I'd like more followers on Facebook and Twitter so that more people know about how fabulous we all are. So I'm going to be putting some posts on Facebook and Twitter in order to win you need to either comment linking somebody you think would like to win on Facebook (you do that by typing '@' and then straight after the name of one of your friends with no spaces) - you get one entry per post and each person that you link gets one entry per post even if you comment more than once or the friend gets linked more than once. I'll be putting up more than one post per item though, so you do have a chance of multiple entries. If you're on Twitter, simply retweet.

Got it!? GOOD!

So, what's the first thing we're giving away? Well, it's something very special that I know you're all going to love because people go mad about them when we do the £2 draws on our special events. I've got our very own Vezza from Truly Hooked to knock up this beaut!

 

OH YEAH! It's one of her famed sock blanks - 100g of superwash wool/nylon mix to make whatever you like!!! You can get a pair of socks, a pair of gloves, looooooong leg warmers, the yoke of a cardi, hat and fingerless mitts, a scarf, a shawl. ALL SORTS! And look at those colours! We thought about it carefully and this is a combination of the most popular colourways that we've done in the raffles so hopefully you'll love it too.

The posts will begin tonight and I'll make it clear which ones you need to be promoting so you won't be in the dark, don't worry. Remember, all you need to do is comment linking somebody that you think would like to win or retweet and you might just be the lucky winner!

Love Eleanor. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

P.s. I've been going a bit mad with banners over the last couple of days. Look:

They're good aren't they!? Even if I do say so myself. :)

P.p.s. THANK YOU!!!

Radcliffe-On-Trent Village Show

The day after the party me and Boyf went to Radcliffe-on-Trent so that I could judge the knitting bit of their village show. Now, I've never done anything like that before and it sounded a bit of WI good fun and a bit Bake Off so I said yes pretty much straight away and we turned up on the day with no idea what we were doing. Luckily the trusty satnav sorted us out and we were there in no time. In the middle of a few grey days there was glorious sunshine and the whole thing was just bloody great.

The ladies that invited me are part of the knitting group that meets in the Grange Hall every Wednesday from 1.30 to three for knitting, crochet, chatter and delicious cakes. They are an absolutely great bunch - really good fun with wicked sense of humour and perfect talent. I was told all of their names but you know I'm no good so I won't even try.

Anyway, firstly we were ushered into a big hall to look at the entries - there were nine altogether (a bit better than the four that we had originally, bearing in mind I had to choose a first, second and third). I was a bit overwhelmed. How do you make a decision when everybody's tried so very hard and come out with beautiful, wearable scarves that show so much talent? Maybe I'm not cut out to be a judge.

I started by feeling each one individually - trying some of them on, rubbing some on my cheek. I put down the ones that I didn't feel like rubbing anywhere, a scarf needs to be touchable. Then I thought about the design - did the colour/variegation match the design? There was one gorgeous cowl, really well knitted with a big chunky yarn, it passed the touch test but it lost some of the detail because the yarn was horizontally striping. So that had to go. :( I looked at other things like, how well the colours were put together, the size and shape of accompaniments like buttons, ribbons. I was down to about four then. And the final judgement was made on the finishing. It makes such a difference in a scarf because at some point you'll see both sides just because of how they hang. So every stitch needs to be in place every end needs to be woven in the right place. That narrowed it down to three. And then I made a personal choice about where to put them in order.

 This one came first:

 

Not a flattering photo... It felt lovely - very crisp. The pattern was really simple but because it was lace on a garter stitch border it looked really unusual, the yo's made a kind of 'cage'. You probably know that I have a real fondness for garter stitch - the first stitch that we ever learn and the most overlooked. It doesn't curl, it's thick and cushy, it feels good to knit, and it looks cobbled and old fashioned. I love it. On top of the old-fashionedness though was not only the unusual lace but the most delightful combination of deep charcoal grey, silver sparkles and a tiny tiny bouclé thread in a salmon-y beige colour. I've no idea if the lady (assuming it was a lady...) put it together herself or if it was all in the yarn but the pattern was a great match for the yarn. And oh my goodness I would wear this. If nobody had have been looking it would have been in my bag straight away.

Turns out though that the winner, and she won the princely sum of £1.50, was a stranger to the knit group! I had no idea obviously, having never met any of them. Happily though the second and third prizes went to regulars. Here they are: 

 

Second place. :) Now this was GORGEOUS. Much better in real life than my photos. And most certainly the best finished piece. The colour combo was beautiful. But the scarf-y bit was only a couple of inches wide so it wasn't scarf-y enough for me. The lady who knitted it spent the day spinning in the knitter's corner (more on that later) so we had a good chat and luckily she agreed with me. But it was beautiful. 

Third place went to: 

This one. Which is another one I would have worn myself. I like the reversible cable design. It's clever and still a bit unusual even though it's all over rav. The blues were gorgeous, subtle and that mixed with the organic looking cable gave a stunning watery feel. I learned later that the yarn was a leftover from a lovely jumper which makes me love it even more. Waste not want not. Also, the lady was so thrilled she got third that she gave me a hug. Haha. I liked her. :)

Other notable scarves that I would have walked off with were this one:

Which Boyf and I nicknamed the Mermaid Scarf. I adore the pattern and it was beautifully finished but it wasn't a reversible stitch and the edge curled a little. I adore the ribbon though, you can't see here but it was really subtly coloured and a perfect match for the yarn. Gorgeous.

And this one:

 

Which would have totes won were it not for a couple of split stitches. I must admit, I'd kind of forgotten a little about the Riot striped scarf thing but this one, in the Neon colourway, reignited my passion for this gorgeous and simple design. I ADORE the pompoms - a proper size for the scarf. And I very definitely need my own with, no doubt, the same amount of split stitches... :) I was about to say 'no judging here' but of course, there had to be. Haha. Sorry Ali - it was beauts!

This is the table as a whole. I was so impressed by the standard, especially the under 13's entry, that I felt I had to write a comment on every single one which meant there wasn't time to photograph them all. But each and every one was lovely and I'm sure they'll look great worn.

 Well done ladies!

When we were done we headed over to the knitting corner where people were hanging about, having a chat, eating a bit of cake, carding a little and spinning. Lovely. A few people had their knitting out too, so I got mine out. :)

We had cake and tea.

 

Which was well needed because despite barely drinking anything at the party, I was hungover... I'm getting old now. 

 

We admired the display. Really well put together with lots of interesting pieces including a Baby Surprise Jacket and some gremlin mask thing that was terrifying! Can you see it?

 

Then at 11 o'clock the whole thing opened and we went out in the sun to watch the opening speech given by a very important lady and some bloke that knows the queen... I'm not very good am I??

 

We went back in to do a bit more chatting and I had to design this beautiful poster because I'd forgotten my business cards because I. Am. That. Professional. I don't think I've ever remembered business cards before in my life. It's a wonder I even still own a shop isn't it!?

Then we had a wander around the place and it was jam bloody packed! AMAZING! I've never seen a village show so packed before. Not that I've ever been to one but in my head it's all bedraggled. This was a sight to behold. 

 

I'm sure the weather helped a bit. And the amazing dog show. :)

So we wandered around. There were plant stalls, and craft doll stalls and FUDGE stalls (Amy Singer, this fudge was divine but just in case we only spent £2 and now I wish we'd spent £8!) and pie stalls and then at the very end there was this.

Prize Marrows. I'm deffo taking my marrows next year. I'm sure they would have won. Sure. Look at this beauty:

 Which weight just over an actual stone. A stone. That's more than a baby. That's two good sized babies in fact. A stone. I made it into this:

Which is marrow rum. Although Chris has now told me that distilling is both hard and illegal so I won't be doing that and I guess I'll end up with something that's more like marrow wine or beer. I don't mind which. Anyway, it's bubbling away in an old broken fridge which is keeping it safe, warm and dark. And I won't know what it tastes like until this time next year when I'll either be drunk as a skunk or blind as a bat. It's like the prohibition in here, seriously.

Anyway, we bought fudge and pork pies at the fair and headed off home after a couple of hours. I wanted to go for a walk but Chris wanted to get home to Versace - saddact that he is. We gardened for a couple of hours, watched Call the Midwife and then went to bed. Gorgeous day. Happy times. And I got this photo:

Which is our wild flower front garden. I got a shaker thing one day when I nipped into Beeston whilst Chris was still in bed worse for wear. Dug every thing I could out of the garden which was just horrendous weeds that will never die and they stink and carried 16 buckets of pebbles through to the back garden and then shook it about. It took months to come through and there's a little tuft of horrid yellow flowers that must have clumped together on the other side but I am so pleased with this side. It was the set that specifically attracts bees and butterflies and I do see them about a lot so I'm doing my bit.

Ahhh. And that's that!

Love Eleanor. xxx