A spot of dressing up...

We have Victorian weekend coming up at the Piece Hall and the traders will be dressing up. Have never known a group of people embrace the idea of fancy dress with quite so much enthusiasm...

And be honest, will they be dressing up at Meadowhall? The Trafford Centre? or even at Junction 32? No, they won't. So come along and have a laugh at...I mean, enjoy a unique shopping experience.

(Plus, y'know I'm pretty certain there's no one selling gorgeous Fyberspates Scrumptious at Meadowhall. Or sock yarn enhanced by aloe vera and jojoba oil. Or beautiful Blue Faced Leicester in gentle pinks and blues. Or...well, you get the picture. Those big shopping centres so don't cut the yarn lover's mustard.)

Brrr...Christmas opening hours

How pretty is this? What with the tree and the lights and the snow, The Piece Hall's looking pretty good these wintery days. And there were a fair few intrepid souls who braved the conditions yesterday to come down and support the Christmas market. I love the Sunday afternoon markets in the run up to Christmas and those muffins I bought were delicious... Wonder where the brass band is this year tho' and the carol singers? Nothing like live music for a bit of festive atmosphere.



Anyway, not having taken my coat off in Three Bags Full for several days (and wearing handwarmers and a scarf to boot most days - I wonder if Father Christmas will bring me a more powerful heater for Christmas?) and looking forward to getting cosy at home for a few days, it seems a good time to let you know the opening hours over Christmas.

Okay: we'll be open till 7.30 on the 23rd December (last of the late night Thursdays), then closed from 24th Dec till 30th December inclusive. I don't know about you but Christmas Eve's my favourite day of the whole holiday and we always try to have all our shopping done before then, so I've awarded myself the day off and will be sitting at home with hot chocolate or red wine, depending on the temperature. I'll be back in the shop from 10am till 4pm on the 31st Dec 2010 and 1st Jan 2011, then we'll be closed the 2nd and 3rd, and back to normal on the 4th.

Just a reminder: we have Three Bags Full gift vouchers available at £5 each. They make a great present for knitting/crocheting friends or a great suggestion to your nearest and dearest if you'd like to receive a knittery present but can't trust them to choose on your behalf!

What is it about counting up to seven that I'm finding so difficult?

There were only three of us at knitting group this afternoon so I thought I'd be safe attempting part of the aran jumper I'm knitting a friend. I like aran, but what with conversations to keep up with and the dark grey wool camouflaging the pattern, I made a couple of daft mistakes and decided it'd be better kept for when I'm in the shop alone and would find concentrating easier.

So then I moved on to a simple little cardigan for another friend's granddaughter. I have higher standards for knitting I do for other people than for knitting I do for myself, so I wanted it right. But can I count completed rows in garter stitch? - nope! So I was counting as I went along. In retrospect, I should've written each row down as I completed it, but they were just knit rows - surely I could remember how many of those I'd done...

I pulled it back towards the end of knitting group as I couldn't be sure whether I'd done seven, six, five or, indeed, four rows. Then I started again, on my own, concentrating and counting ALOUD. I got up to...ooh, was it six or seven? can't remember, but Mike and Maddie came in to give me a lift home, started talking and once again, I was lost...

I'm going to find a Very Quiet Place, preferably with a lockable door, and I'm going to start again. I may just do one row a day. I may even use an abacus. Because I'm going to get it right if it kills me.

Bad taste jumpers

At Three Bags Full we responded to a plea by two local women for bad taste jumpers and other items to send to soldiers in Afghanistan for Christmas. (Well, I did anyway - Mike's not hot on the knitting front.) In the three or four weeks available, I managed a less than spectacular jumper and an elegant posing pouch:





I think the posing pouch in particular amply satisfies the bad taste critera...

Open All Hours

(Photo courtesy telegraph.co.uk)

Okay, a little note to say that in a couple of weeks time, Three Bags Full be open Sundays till Christmas. That's from the 28th Nov onwards; hours will be 11am till 3pm. We'll be opening Thursday evenings too, along with several of the other Piece Hall traders, till 7.30pm throughout December.

And don't forget you can get loads of lovely stuff in the various shops. Why not see how many of your presents you can buy from the Piece Hall traders this year? If it snows, you'll be under cover on the colonnades, you can take time out for a coffee and cake, and the Piece Hall has a much better variety of individual shops than your average town centre or mall. Quirky and quality are what we specialise in!

Remember to get all your knitting needs provided for tho' before Christmas Eve as Three Bags Full will then be shut for the whole of Christmas week. I know, I'm sorry.

Will you be entering the competition? Just guess or count the number of lines we have on sale for a fiver or under and you could win two hanks of Noro Yuzen. I think I'll extend the duration of this so we encompass some of the new opening times. So, we'll make the new closing date mid-December - the 15th - then the prize will be like an early Christmas present for the lucky winner...

It's only November...

...and yet the icy temperatures of the Piece Hall are making my toes tingle even tho' I'm wearing three layers and I've had two heaters on at full this morning. Wonder what it'll be like in January?? Will have to knit lots of heavy duty fingerless gloves - might look a bit Bob Cratchetty but probably preferable to frostbite.(I know, do I never stop bleating about the cold??)

So, the luceting workshop - it's dawning on me that I really should've waited till after Christmas, but of course I wanted to do it NOW. Not that I'm usually all about instant gratification... Are you sure you don't want to come along? It'll be fun, honest!

BOOKS FOR LOAN! When TBF started up I bought a fair few knitting books and brought a selection down to the shop. These are for loan. The problem is that there's no sign up and I've never told anyone. This demonstrates perfectly the level of my marketing skills. Anyway, if you can't otherwise find a pattern you like and would like to borrow a book, just say.

Learn to lucet...

Well, there's a hot Halloween meal bubbling away on the cooker and just enough time for a quick update on a few things. Excuse the messy miscellany, but here goes:

The Lucet Workshop is organised for November 15th at the library in Halifax. I'm so looking forward to this and I'm sure you'll enjoy it too if you're a crafty sort, which I'm sure you are. Just give me a ring on 07941133155 or leave a comment on here if you'd like a place saving. Just £22.50 for the whole day.

We're handing over the prem baby clothes to the hospital tomorrow - we reached the grand total of 70 hats plus 4 blankets and lots more cardiagns, mittens and bootees. So proud of everyone for doing all this work - those things are so cute and they'll be really appreciated by the parents and hospital staff. Thanks!

Not sure if you'll all have seen the recent, local appeal for 'bad taste' Christmas jumpers for soldiers? Four weeks might be a bit of a push for some people to make a mansize, patterned jumper but the women requesting the jumpers have said they'll also be grateful for hats, scarves, etc with a Christmas theme. Details are posted on Lucy Lamb at present but if you're not calling in the shop for a while just email me and I'll give you the lowdown.

Okay, finally, it's Halloween! Anyone else left cold by it? No? Just me then? I'm such a Halloween party pooper! But I must say the other Piece Hall traders looked fantastic dressed up yesterday. So much so that I wasn't always sure who was really who...

Have a good week. And don't forget the Lucet Workshop would be a great you-time day before the madness of Christmas begins for real.