Sunday 26 February 2012

Austermann Step sock yarn on special


Okay, well, I tried to think of all sorts of punny titles involving being out of step or whatever but, y'know, they just didn't work. So, I'll give it to you straight: Step is a neglected yarn. And why, I wonder? It's beautiful; it's soft; it's a dream to knit with. I've recently also found out that I can knit a pair of socks and have enough left over for a pair of fingerless gloves. Can you ask for more from a ball of sock yarn? In case you can, it's also infused with aloe vera and jojoba oil and it's in a series of beautiful, clever colourways that make you look like you've put way more effort in introducing pattern to your socks than you actually have.

So, because I want as many of you as possible to fully appreciate the beauty that is Austermann Step, I'm offering it at the low price of £7.80 till the end of March.

Saturday 25 February 2012

Hanging fire in Halifax

Everything shopwise is still in that in-between stage at the moment. No definite news we can pass on - it'd be embarrassing to say stuff and then have to re-visit later because it turned out to be wrong... So in the meantime, a couple of dates for your diary.

First, there's going to be another Rag Market held at Bradshaw Church, Halifax, on 25th March. Anyone who came last time will know that there were some real bargains to be had, a wonderful atmosphere and some very nice cakes indeed. And we'll be there with some bargains of our own!


(Copyright: Stephen Craven)
Then, for your delectation and delight, as the guy on the Good Old Days used to say, there's an Easter Craft Market being held in the Piece Hall courtyard from Good Friday to Easter Sunday. If you're a bit crafty you might like to book a stall - dip your toe in the water with a one-day booking, or go the whole hog over the full three days. Three Bags Full is opening extra on Easter Sunday and also hoping to have a stall that day too. We're looking forward to it!

I'd love to offer you a link to more info but Blogger's up to its tricks so I'll just suggest you look at the Piece Hall website. The Craft Market's being organised jointly by Isobel in Creative Crystals and Christine in Sweet Memories, and either of them will be able to give you lots more info.

PS The photograph above was taken in the mid-eighties - it would be great to see the Piece Hall looking like this again!

Sunday 12 February 2012

As Noddy would say...It's Christmas!

Loads of stuff going on in the background at the moment without anything that I can report on for definite - stuff about the competition, the shop, the website - everything needs firming up tho' before I can divulge.

(credit bbc.co.uk)
So, in the meantime - with the Age UK Bobble Day knitting out of the way - a nice lady from Overgate Hospice called in recently to ask if we'd be interested in helping them knit a Christmas tree. The picture on the left's a bit misleading (you try googling for just the right kind of knitted Christmas tree before you're even out of your jammies on a Sunday morning!) but what's planned is a ten foot high green tree-shaped extravanganza, featuring 10" square leaves in various shades of green and soft toys to hang on the branches. And, when the festivities are over, the leaves - sewn into blankets - and the soft toys are all sold to raise further funds. So, that's one focus for our charity knitting sessions this year. If you fancy helping out, come along to the first Thursday afternoon group of every month, 2pmish.
The other thing we want to do is knit some squares for baby elephants to stop them getting sunstroke. Altogether now: aw!! Details of this one later.

Sunday 5 February 2012

Yarns of a different kind

Okay, advance warning of an exciting new project...a short story competition! Not so entirely out of left field as you might imagine - I've always written and have had dozens of stories and articles published in magazines and newspapers from Woman's Weekly through The Yorkshire Post to Writers' Forum.

Anyway, watch out for more details in the near future - we'll be going live just as soon as I've remembered the password for the new email address I've set up to receive entries... Some things never change.

We hope you'll enjoy taking part, as well as helping raise some funds for The Knock On Effect which was my niece, Rosie's, fundraising project. Sadly Rosie died last September but the fundraising, for charities supporting those affected by cancer, goes on. See www.theknockonffect.co.uk if you'd like to see where money raised so far has been donated.