A Glimpse of My Week

Well, what a busy week we are having. It is so good to have mum and dad here and to spend some time with them. It has been a bit hectic here, and I sometimes think life in Newcastle may be a bit too busy for them!
However, here are a few photos of what has been happening in the last week.

Saturday Morning Knitting Group @ The Knit Studio 22nd January.

Mum's Christmas Present Scarf

Coffee and Cake at Debenhams

Cute card received from a dear friend

New yarn arrives at The Knit Studio

100% Silk                                                       100% Linen

'Magic' Range of superwash 4ply 

And, there has actually been some knitting going on!

I have been knitting this all week in the evenings, and I love it!

I also 'christened' my Christmas present mug! How cool is this?

There seems to be a bit of colour co-ordination going on, doesn't there? It is quite unintentional!

And finally, a word about our belated christmas Dinner. Even the cats are beginning to wonder - Mittens is offering himself up to be the table centre piece! Look how worried Pebbles looks - it's a kind of 'Ooo you are going to get into such trouble!' look, isn't it?

The poor turkey has been squashed in the freezer since December, and today finally he will be revealed! You know what it's like in a busy household - you think you have a day sorted when everyone is free - then, something unexpected but important crops up. Today was to be our Christmas day - but is now postponed til tomorrow evening. As I type, Sarah is heading towards Stockport, in Cheshire to play in a Basketball match and will not get home until 9.00pm this evening. (Good luck Sarah).

This does mean that now, mum and I are free to partake in a little retail therapy - Royal Quays beckons..... Enjoy the rest of your weekend - and thanks for all your lovely comments!



What Does It Mean?

Yes! It means that tomorrow my parents are travelling from Bexhill to Newcastle! Hooray! We can have our 'real' Christmas Dinner! They can open their presents! They can even open their suitcases and be re-united with their 'best' clothes!
I am so looking forward to seeing them, Christmas just was not the same without them.
So, there has been a lot of activity chez moi, tidying, hoovering and even ironing in readiness for the grand arrival. Even the weather seems to be on its' best behaviour with the forecast promising much milder weather for their stay.

Last week was a bit frantic too - a trip to the passport office in Durham to get Sarah's passport processed for a school trip next month. Her current one doesn't expire until end of March but suddenly it 'needed' to have 6 months validity after the date of departure! Anyway, cue panic photography, finding an available 'professional' person to validate the application form, and queing for what seemed like hours in the Post office to be told it may not be back in time and that I would have to 'Fast Track' the application (also known as let's make your stressful time worse by charging you an extra £40 for the priviledge) Anyway, it's all sorted now and we received the new one within 3 days! Pretty impressive.

Meanwhile, some brand new to the North East yarns arrived at The Knit Studio which meant a bit of shuffling around of stock and of course photographs being taken.(Show and tell to follow).

I have also joined a brilliant group on Ravelry called #11in11. You pledge to knit 11 neck adornments (scarves, wraps, shawls etc) in the 11 months to November, 2011. The only problem with joining the group has been that it has highlighted some fabulous patterns that I would have otherwise not seen and now feel the NEED to knit, crochet and add to my list. My 11in11 looks like it could become 111inwhenever!

TTFN

Happy Christmas!

How times change! It is 9.15 am on Christmas Day and I am the only person awake in the house! I may have to let the cats into the house to wake everyone up!
In the meantime, I shall take advantage of the peace and quiet to wish you all a very Happy Christmas and a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year. Thank you to everyone for all your love, support, encouragement, humour, patience and for just being there! I couldn't have achieved all I have this year, without you!
Off to wake up the house now, I want to open my presents!!!

Christmas Plans Thwarted

Yes, I know, it has been a while since my last Blog post! Things have been quite hectic here, and things are NOT going according to plan!
I spent a fab day in Edinburgh last Tuesday and met up with Lindsay, who lives there, and Janice from Aberdeen. We had a great time catching up and had a little 'show and tell' with our current knitting projects.
And after that, well it all starts to go downhill I'm afraid. We have all caught this awful flu' that is doing the rounds, and quite frankly I have felt terrible. One night I did not even knit! so bad did I feel!
We have had incredibly cold temperatures and more snow and it certainly has not put us in the Christmas mood!
BUT
The biggest disappointment has been that because of the weather and Rail problems we have been unable to get my parents to Newcastle for the Christmas festivities! Sarah and I left on Tuesday morning and the plan was to meet mum and dad in London then travel back with them later in the evening. However, electric cables across the railway tracks put paid to that. With all trains out of Kings Cross getting cancelled and hundreds of people getiing stranded at Peterborough, who were heading South. Fortunately, I managed to stop my mum and dad making a useless journey to London but we are all, as you can imagine very sad and disappointed. Christmas will not be the same at all, without them.
I know I should think positive, and think well, at least we all all safe in our own homes, and warm and dry and yes, they can still come up early in the New Year but it's not the same is it? Really?
Mum and dad if you are reading this - We miss you already!!
I have more to post, but will do that later when I may feel a) warmer b) more positive  c) find the photos I want to upload.

Normal Service Resumes!

After quite a gap in Blogging, I am pleased to say that, as life is now a little less chaotic, I shall have time to Blog again! Hooray!
It has been a busy few weeks, both personally and with The Knit Studio, so over the next few days I will try and get everyone up to date with all the news.

In the meantime, I leave you with Sam the Snowman!
One of my Workshops - A Knitted Christmas, has, as the star of the show Robbie the Robin.

However, as this is the 2nd year of Christmas Workshops I needed to design something for the people who had already added Robbie to their Christmas Decorations - and Sam was born.
You have to admit, he is very cute, and with his quirky smile guaranteed to to brighten your day!