The Big Knit - the results are in!!!

Morning everyone, just a quick post to let you know how it went last night at the Big Knit......
I had about 20 people planned to come but unfortunately a few people cancelled at the last minute & a lot of people just didn't turn up!!!
In total there was about 12 of us on & off, some people had other plans so only stayed for an hour, but I do think that was a good turn out. The pub wasn't happy with us as we didn't spend very much money..... £2 for a glass of coke, £3.10 for a pint of cider!!!!.... so most of us only had 1 drink! We were hoping to make it a regular event but I think we need to look for another venue!

So here are a few snaps.....

Look at the concentration on Erica's (with the blond hair) face!!!....she'd only ever practiced before, she was over joyed with the fact she made a little hat..... bless her it did take her 3 hours!!!

The good thing about last night was the fact I didn't know many people, they found the group on Facebook or Ravelry & decided to just come along. It was great to meet new people.

And the results.......

Fantastic...... we managed 25..... ok so I did 12 of them but it was great to see people learning. There was a large cheer for every hat we finished & all the ladies took their own photo's as the were so proud of what they had made.

I also learnt I'm quite a good teacher as I had a few people who hadn't knitted for 20 years plus or had never tried it before! We had experience knitters that now teach people but to be honest I felt I had more knowledge then them so this has given me the confidence to set up the group I've been thinking about for 5 years!!!

At the end of the evening everyone agreed we must do it again.

I'm looking forward to receiving all your postal ones by 10th October?
How are you getting on???
I hope we can reach our target of 50!
Have a good day.

One for all you crochet ladies..

Ok so I know lots of you don't knit so couldn't take part in The Big Knit but I know loads of you crochet. Last night I sat down & worked out how to crochet the hat but still keeping the size & shape. I then set about writing out the pattern, sorry the lighting is poor, this was taken very early this morning when it was still dark!

However I was checking out the hat of the week this morning when I found this crochet pattern (on the bottom row in the middle)....... gggrrrr I spend a long time writing it up last night!

So now all you crochet ladies can get involved too...... just think of the old folks shivering this winter......

Feeling guilty yet??? lol!!!
Even if you only manage 1 or 2 they all help. I wanted to make about 100 but at this rate I'll be happy with 50. I spotted a group on Flickr that have made over 1,000!!!

Best head off to work ....... 11 hour shift today ....yippee!!!

Happy Birthday to me!!!!

Yes it's 1 year since I joined the land of blog!!!!!
I thought I'd have nothing to write about & most of my friends & family thought it wouldn't last....how wrong were they!!!

And I've just got my 50th follower..... I did say I would do another giveaway but I still haven't found the time to do the last one so I think I'll wait a while.

Back soon with some CS bargains.

Lovely day out & a first......

Hello,
Hope you're all having a nice weekend.
I had to make another plead for The Big Knit...... I thought with all you talented people out there in blogland I would have a flood of people wanting to help.... it's for the old folks you know.... but no.... hardly anyone has signed up!!
I was really disappointed :(
I think I might have worded it wrong in the last post & on Facebook because I'm not asking you to travel to Exeter...... all I want is for you or someone you know to knit at least 1 hat to be posted to me. I'll deal with all the forms to sent to Innocent.
I'm being sent an event pack as I sent an email saying I was setting up a virtual knitting group through Blogging/Facebook/Twitter..... please don't let me down!!!
I promise they're really easy.... I made 2 while watching Strictly on Friday night, I will be putting pictures on soon.
Anyway begging over!!!

So today I had a lovely day, I'm not sure if I told you that a friend of mine passed away 10th September.... she was a very close friend of a lady (Liz) I worked with years ago, we used to go out for meals etc.... lovely girl & only 33... very sad :)
So I vowed I was going to be a good friend & spend more time with Liz. She's not one for going out & getting drunk so today we went to Topsham with my friend Claire to do the Treasure hunt.... remember I got a map for my birthday???

You can see the map here with my lovely new handbag that I brought in Camden....

What do you think???
It's made from recycled leather which is as soft as puppy dog ears!! It's lined with vintage floral fabric........... it was more then I normally spend on a bag but because it's a one off I thought I go for it but only after having a pint of cider & OH telling me to just buy it!

So back to Topsham.... it was a beautiful day here.... the first clues where on the quay...

Lovely isn't it??? We didn't know it was going to be so hot so at this point the cardies came off!

We had to walk along the river which had benches so we though we'd rest & take in the view...

Like 3 old ladies we sat & talked about our vegetable gardens!People were walking by with their dogs all saying 'morning'..... how nice is that???

The hunt is 2 miles & took about 2 hours so we were more then ready for a spot of lunch.
So we headed here...

It was the custom house so it's very old, we decided to sit inside because it was so hot. We all had fish.... well you just had to being that close to the water!!!
The hunt was great, really good fun. Take alook at the web site, they have loads all around the country.

Right opposite is the Topsham antique centre which has 3 floors of just about everything..... we had such fun walking around as we all had very different taste so we enjoyed laughing at each other! My goodies....

Claire has a lucky pair of football socks...sad I know!!.... they're really old & need darning so I brought this so I could do it for her.

Ok so now for the first.......

Are you ready for this......

I've been looking at everyone's blogs & you all have pictures of yourselves & I thought no one knows what I look like! At first I thought this was nice but now I feel you're more like friends I felt a bit mean not sharing it with you. I hate having my photo taken as I'm sooooooo tubby but I didn't think this one was that bad.... believe me there are worse ones!!!

So this is me on the left........ (Liz on the right)

Hope I haven't scared you all off!!!!

The Big Knit

Hello, It's that time of year again!

Has anyone got involved in The Big Knit before??
For the last 4 years I've been saying I was going to do something but never got around to it. Oh know not this year I just went for it! I've book a pub & invited lots of people via Facebook, I just have to wait for my pack to come through from Innocent then I can contact local companies, shops, schools etc! Fingers crossed they'll be a good turn out.

So how can you help?
Well I know that most of you aren't going to be able to travel to Exeter to join in but how about making them at home on your own???
Wouldn't it be great if we could sort out a virtual knitting group??
All you need to do is check out the patterns here or make up something fantastic like this.....

This is the 1st hat of the week. Great isn't it?
Now I not sure I could make something like this but I guess they all help.

What do you say?? Can we do it??

I'm happy to sort everything out, all I ask is that they're posted to my home address by Saturday 10th October.
Let me know if you want to be part of this & I'll email you my address. Some of you have been invited to the group via Facebook, please join if you can.

Don't forget to get friends & family involved, the more the merrier!

Back soon with photo's of my handbag, busy day today but I needed to get this sorted.

A weekend in the big smoke.....

Well another week is over & I still haven't told you about my weekend away...
Firstly thanks for all your comments on my last post about Charlie, it was a difficult day but it's over now. I was glad it was sunny so I could hide behind my sunglasses.... I needed them after reading your comments!

So a week ago we headed off to Sutton to see the fantastic Amsterdam...... spin off from Pele (remember I told you about them before).... it was a free festival which sounded fantastic! After nearly 4 hours on the train we arrived in London.... we got the slow train because it was 1/2 the price....never again!! So after yet another train journey we arrived at Sutton, the stage was very small & there was only a few people there!!!
We set up camp in the nearest pub & had a drink with the band ..... when they went on there was about 10 people watching them....whoops!!! fantastic for us but I did free sorry for them after travelling all the way from Liverpool!
It was a great gig but Sutton was an eye opener.... I never seen so many girls with hardly any clothes on! Think OH might like to go back...lol!

Feeling very rough the next day.... maybe too much cider!.... we headed back to London & had a lovely bus journey from Victoria to..........

Yes we headed to Camden town.
It's been years since I've been & I'd forgotten how great it is. We got off the bus & walked from the end all the way to the Round house to our hotel. It's like a riot on your sense's..... lovely food smells, lots of noise, lots of people, music ...... I felt out of breath from it all by the time we got to the hotel!!!
The reason we went is because we're going to see The Men They Couldn't Hang in Camden in October & we wanted to check out the cheap hotel.... I say cheap but I don't think £75 a night is that cheap!! But it's very close to the gig so that's all that matters.... it certainly isn't the Hilton!
These picture were taken on Sunday morning, too busy on Saturday..

There's something about London on a quite Sunday morning..... we had to head off very early as OH had a flight to get.

Don't you just love this lion.......

mmmmm.... lots of rubbish from a busy Saturday night!!

I brought a fantastic bag but I'll have to show you next time because I've forgotten to take a photo & to be honest I'm too lazy to get up now to do it!!! Me & my cat are very settled in our armchair thank you!

I had a lovely surprise this week, do you remember my post about Jennifer Worth's books?
Well I received a message from Kate (Facebook) asking if I would like this one.....

I jumped at the chance... thank you Kate. It arrived on Thursday & now I can't wait to read it. Ahh bloggers are so kind, I was trying to explain to my friend but she couldn't understand why someone would send something to someone they've never met!!

So it was back to work on Monday.... rubbish!!!...... I've really gone off the idea of late, I tend to be in store alone alot which is not good & very hard work.
On Wednesday we had a shoplifter which saw me running down the road shouting into my radio to call the police.....ooohhhh it was just like the bill & we caught him!

I've just worked all weekend so I've missed the lovely sunshine, don't think it'll last until Tuesday :(
Hope you've all had a good week. I'll be back soon to show you my handbag but I haven't done much crafting of late.... I'm really hoping to get back into it but sometimes you just have to wait til the mood takes you.

Our beloved Charlie

Just a short post today.
A year ago today our beautiful Charlie passed away.
Seen here with silly Nanny hiding under the netting!

I can't believe the year has gone so quickly...... at the time I was so upset that I had to take 5 days off from work, something the company had never heard of. I only took a day when my nan died & 2 days when my nephew died. Charlie was 16 years old, that's a grand old age.

Everyone said it would get better with time but I must confess I still cry most days..... today will be hard, this is one of the first times I've even looked at a photo of him. I brought a box frame to go beside his ashes but I can't face sorting it just yet....maybe another year!

I know some of you will think this is a bit odd because it's just a cat but I wanted to share this with you as this was the reason I started blogging. At the time I felt so alone..... OH couldn't really cope with me & I couldn't speak to anyone without crying so blogging seemed the best idea...... thanks to Mel Mel for telling me to do it.

So this means it will be my anniversary very soon, I may do another giveaway but I must say I haven't finished the last one....sorry!!! I'm trying..... honest!
I really don't feel creative at the moment & even knitting or crocheting is hard...can't get it right! I'm sure this is just a blip...fingers crossed!

Have a good day, beautiful day here in Devon..... I'm off to the pub!!!!

Happy holiday & a great birthday

Hello again everyone, well as promised I'm back to tell you all about my birthday.

I finished work at 12pm on Saturday the 29th & travelled to Watchet.....my that's a pain to get to if you don't drive!!!
OH was flying back into Exeter from Majorca so I left work & dashed home to get changed, pack & feed the cats before being collected by OH in a taxi..... of course the flight was late so I was hanging around not sure what to do! Finally we got to St Davids station & headed off to Taunton.
Once at Taunton we then needed to get the bus to Minehead as this was the only place we could get a hotel. On the busy hot bus we got & just sat....... it wouldn't start!!! We then had to wait for a replacement bus to arrive....luckily this was a double decker so not so busy.
This bus takes an hour.....it goes all around the houses.... we went to the steam train station, we went to little hamlets that had flower shows etc. Then we came to Watchet.... we could see where the festival was but just couldn't work out which stop to get off & how far we would need to walk.
Once in Minehead we went to the hotel..... it was the first time we've stayed in a Wetherspoons hotel & I was looking forward to it, it's cheap & cheerful but I always think it clean.
So we arrive only to be told that the company we had used to book the room didn't work for them so our money was lost!!!! Not a problem, OH knows this company well so couldn't see why we wouldn't get the money back.
However they didn't have any rooms......aaarrgggg!!! It was now about 6.30 so we were really pushed for time. It turned out they did have a room that wasn't in use during the weekend as it was over the nightclub & the smoking terrace was right outside the bedroom window..... oh well better make sure we have a few drinks then to help us sleep!!!

Apart from that everything turned out really well, after a well earned pint we headed off to the bus stop.... it turned out it stopped right outside the gate & it was about 10 mins walk to the main stage. I'm not a fan of festivals but I must say this was great, only 2 stages not that busy & everyone having a good time. Cider was only £2 for a can so nice & cheep!!!

We timed it just right & after 30mins of walking around we got to the front to see these......

The Men They Couldn't Hang.
I've mentioned them before..... they're great!
I saw them for the first time around my 18th birthday..... so I was celebrating my 20th anniversary while they were celebrating their 25th!!! I must say it was one of the best times, although seeing them playing in the centre of Berlin was pretty good. We got back to the hotel 11.30 ish & the noise was really bad so we sat in the bar til 1am..... we closed all the windows in the room only to wake in the early hours boiling....yes they had the heating on full!!!! Heating on in August???? My goodness what will they do in winter.

So Sunday saw us repeat the journey which seemed to go on forever.... we had planned to go out for lunch & come back slowly but we both just wanted to come home!
I had a lovely nap...... had roast chicken then went back to bed to watch The Walton's..... perfect birthday!!! I didn't even open my presents..lol!!

I managed to drag my birthday out til Tuesday when I found the time to sit down & open them slowly.....

First up a lovely new clock.......

I love gnomes, sorry the pictures bad...... I had a problem taking this because the light kept shinning on the glass!

I wanted to do a fancy mosaic picture with all my presents but it wasn't working tonight..... or if it was I was too impatient to wait for it!!!

I finally got my wii fit..... I had some birthday money & I went to Sainsburys on Tuesday & it was really cheep...... better then spending it in CK!
The other wii game is really hard..... it's suppose to be for 3 years plus so I thought I'd be ok, I just can't work it out!!!
Lots of books..... I'm just finishing the ones from last year! Thank goodness for my Amazon wish list!

Some CK goodies & a lovely silk scarf.....

A treasure hunt map of Topsham...look forward to doing that.
Some book marks...need those... the one with dogs on moves...how cool is that???!!!

A lovely hand knitted scarf, my crochet buddy made this..... even nicer because it was me who taught her to knit all those years ago. She was also the naughty one who gave me the CK goodies.

And some magazines......

Now on to garden gifts.....

Liv's dad made the planter for me... great isn't it??? My brother gave me the bulbs etc...

Didn't I do well???

Sorry there's so many pictures..... just one more...

My goodies I brought when I went to the zoo...... I really needed another hankie!!!

Well my holiday is nearly over, I've cleaned the house from top to bottom over the last 2 days ready for my trip away. This will be the first time I've left the cats for more then 1 night in nearly 3 years.... I hope they'll be ok.... my friend will pop over on Saturday to feed them but she can't stay... I'm hoping the wii fit will change her mind!

I'm off to Sutton on Friday to another festival then back to Camden on Saturday before OH heads back to Majorca on Sunday & I head home back to work :(
It's been a great holiday......... & it's not over yet!

Back on Sunday to tell you all about it.

Award....

Sorry I've been away for so long, just not in the mood for blogging at the moment.... in fact not in the mood for most things!!

Just thought I'd pop in to say thanks to Rose for this award.........

And the lovely words that go with it.........

"This award is bestowed on to blogs that are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. deliver this award to six bloggers who must choose six more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."

Now I'm suppose to pass this on to 6 other people but I always find it so hard to choose, I've made some lovely friend through blogging so all those people who leave a comment everytime the award is yours.

As some of you know it was my birthday on Sunday & I had a fantastic time..... I'll be back to show you all my lovely gifts & tell you all about it. Thanks so much for all the birthday wishes via facebook...... never knew I had so many friends!!

I'm off from work until 7th September but I will be heading up to London on Friday & returning on Sunday pm..... anyone know if you can buy fabric at Camden Market?? I haven't been for years, I was hoping to go to John Lewis but I'm not sure if I'll fit it in. I did have some money which I was hoping to spend in CK but I fancy a change......and anyway I spent it today.....any guesses???

I'll be back soon.