Kas and I had a long conversation about the why's and wherefores of this item as I questioned her on it, eager to understand more. It seems like a genius peice of clothing that we could all benefit from. Something to keep your lower back warm, keep you covered when you bend over (exposed bum in jeans anyone?), keep your tummy warm (cramping, ladies?) and just generally be a useful item for your wardrobe. Kas was so inspiring as she talked of the history of this garment. How had this not already caught on in the western world, I found myself asking? 

This fascination with Kas' design comes from a fascination of other cultures, and a lifetime of fusing other's knowledge with my own. My childhood was a mix of culture with family weekends and parties full of fusion as standard. Most of my family are Irish, but my uncle is from Trinidad. Food served was always a mix of west Indian curry and roast potatoes (no self respecting Irish woman can leave off potatoes, no matter how good that curry is) with a good helping of Baklava for pudding because their beloved neighbours were Greek. This fusion has stayed with me (attendees of the girls' christening recently were served my own version of this family curry, albeit now with my own twist - much more mango featured if you must know, it goes surprisingly well - with the obligatory roasties on the side, and one of my favourite breakfast remains to be egg and onion with hot pepper sauce).

When we lived in Glasgow I revelled in the ability to be able to get hold of plantain with no struggle, the shops surrounding me being a mix of cultures screaming at each other in glorious technicolour. We lived in what was considered the 'poor quarter' but will forever remain in my heart as one of the most beloved places I've lived, and if it weren't for my aversion to cold weather, I'd move back in a heartbeat.

So living in North Essex has been a big culture change. Mr Sconch and I have often discussed how our children see so little POC (people of colour) - we are in the heart of the rural Essex/Suffolk border and my customers are for that reason, largely white.

In addition to geographic impact, there is the double whammy of representation within the world I've chosen to work. The subject of the yarn industry's use of white, stick thin models is one that has been raised within our group of LYS owners many times before. Inclusion is obviously not the industry's strong point. From my point of view, I've always viewed this as a practical problem. Styles designed for white size 8 models are not going to fit or suit other shapes and sizes. Not everyone can take a garment and upsize it confidently from a maximum given size of 48 inches onto their own 54 inches, meaning their body shape is being discounted. Styles to suit different skin colours and bone structures are also being ignored. The size issue is being addressed more and more I feel, with both larger (and smaller) sizes being provided in mainstream patterns (although this in itself is not enough, up sizing a pattern isn't always the answer, as a top designed for a size 8 won't necessarily be the right style for a size 22 lady. We need actual designs that have been made for the larger lady (and man!) in the first place - but that is a conversation for another time, I've digressed as usual). But the representation of BIPOC is most definitely not being addressed. When was the last time you saw a model of colour being used in a commercial knitting pattern? With the exception of Erika Knight (who uses both designers and models of colour in her patterns as standard), I am hard pressed to think of any.

Despite this though, I think I hadn't consciously realised how under represented BIPOC (Black and Indigenous People of Colour) were. My Insta feed was already full of culture so why wasn't everyone else's...? For me, a customer is a customer. When you walk in my door, it doesn't matter if you are white, black, male, female, gay, straight, in a wheelchair, or have an invisible disability.  You are a customer. (In fact, reading that back, that doesn't sit comfortably with me. I'm a shit business woman in reality, and I don't tend to view you as customers, you're fellow yarn addicts I can squeal about fibre with). And in fact, I think all of these categories are covered as people who enter my shop or feature in my online space of the Sconch community already. But it has been brought to my attention that for the majority of people, their Insta feeds (for example) are white. No culture or colour being gifted on them (and it is a gift. I come back to Kas' Haramaki design, it is a gift from another culture into mine that I now know of this) through posts about their daily lives. And this is a HUGE shame. Living your life with only your own cultures' lens and not being able to see life through others' experiences makes for a very limited existence. Not only that, but BIPOC are finding that their Insta feeds are not friendly places, with racial hatred rearing its ugly head regularly. They are also finding that their LYS is not a place of welcoming happiness for them, and they are being sidelined and are made to feel the very opposite of welcome.

So let me make it clear, my shop is welcome to all. Race, disability, size; none of that matters. Bring your stories and your culture* and enrich our lives. Tell us what you need from us to be included. And we will continue to hunt down patterns that include you, and make you feel welcome. My shop is a safe place. And it always will be.

*especially if it involves food. You just cannot get decent plantain or Greek bread here. Bring it in basketfuls. As long as it's dairy free of course. My allergy ridden baby will not forgive my inability to not resist the food.

The world has gone a bit Mandala mad, and we've been inundated with requests for mandala hoops...so like a dedicated dealer yarn shop owner, I have gone out into the wild and hunted some down. Which then of course meant I started playing around with ideas for a mandala display in the shop, because who doesn't need a whole window of mandalas?

So this then led onto (of course it did, I mean, it's not like I have a newborn baby to look after alongside a 5 year old and also 2 businesses to run...) writing my own mandala pattern... and here it is in all its glory. I've even done photos for you, cos I is nice like that.

I used Stylecraft Classique Cotton, but you could use the equally lovely Rico Design Ricorumi, or for a bit of extra yummy sheen, Rico Design Essentials Cotton or Rowan Summerlite DK.

We've put a handy kit together for you as well, which contains 6 shades of Cotton Classique, a 30cm hoop, and a printed copy of this pattern.

You can also buy a pretty glossy printed version of this pattern if your heart desires. You can find it here.

The hoops are also available here.

Over in the Facebook Group we have been running a sock challenge (which there is still time to enter, the socks just have to be completed in June or July - so go find those half finished socks!) and I've decided to run an overlapping challenge for July and August to make a mandala. It doesn't have to be my pattern, just find any jolly mandala, and away you go. And if you want to loan your mandala to us for our shop window, even better!

So, go and be creative. Grab your colours, and go wild.

(and if you're wondering about the name...it felt apt after staying up past midnight doing adjustments to the pattern...!!)

Using a 3.5mm hook

Round 1: Magic ring to start. ch2, 15tr into centre. Fasten off (16)

Round 2: Change colour. *ch3, miss stitch, sl st, repeat from * 7 times, sl st to close (24)

Round 3: sl st into chain space. ch2 (counts as first htr), htr, dc into chain space. * dc, htr, dc into next chain space. Repeat from * 6 times, sl st to top of ch2 to close. Fasten off (24)

Round 4: Change colour. Join to top of htr. ch2 (counts as treble), tr into same stitch, htr into next stitch. *htr, 2tr into next stitch, htr. Repeat from * 6 times. htr into next stitch, sl st to top of chain 2. Fasten off. (32)

Round 5: Change colour. Join at any of the second trebles. *ch7, miss 3 stitches, sl st into next stitch. Repeat from * 7 times, sl st to close. (56)

Round 6: sl st into chain space. ch2 (counts as first dc), dc, 2htr, 1tr, 2htr, 2dc all into chain space. *2dc, 2htr, 1tr, 2htr, 2dc all into next chain space. Repeat from * 6 times. sl st to top of chain 2 to close. Fasten off (72)

Round 7: Change colour. Join to top of any treble. *ch9, miss 8 stitches, sl st. Repeat from * 7 times. sl st to close. (72)

Round 8: sl st to chain space. ch2 (counts as first htr), htr, 5dc, 2htr into chain space. tr into top of treble of round 6 * 2htr, 5dc, 2htr into next chain space. tr into top of treble of round 6. Repeat from * 6 times. sl st to top of chain 2 to close. Fasten off. (80)

Round 9: Change colour. Join at top of 3rd dc of any set. ch 2 (counts as 3rd dc in 5dc group), 2dc, 2htr, 1tr, *2htr, 5dc, 2htr, 1tr. Repeat from * 7 times. 2htr, 2dc, sl st to top of chain 2 to close. Fasten off (80)

Round 10: Change colour. Join to last htr of any set. ch2, *2dc in next stitch, dc in next stitch. Repeat from * 38 times, 2dc in next stitch, sl st to top of chain 2 to close (120)

Round 11: Change colour. Join on top of any single dc, ch2 (counts as first dc), dc in next 2 stitches. *ch4, miss 3 stitches, dc in next 3 stitches. Repeat from * 18 times, ch4 and sl st to top of chain 2 to close. (140)

Round 12: Change colour. Join on any chain space, ch2 (counts as first dc). 3dc in same chain space. *ch3, 4dc in next chain space. Repeat from * 18 times, ch3, sl st to top of chain 2 to close. (140)

Round 13: Change colour. Join in any chain space, ch2 (counts as first htr), 2htr in same chain space. *htr in each of next 4 stitches, 3htr in next chain space. Repeat from * 18 times, htr in next 4 stitches, sl st to top of ch2 to close (140)

Round 14: Change colour. Join to top of any middle stitch of 3htr group. *ch8, miss 6 stitches, sl st to next stitch. Repeat from * 18 times. ch8, miss 6 stitches, sl st to join. (160)

Round 15: Change colour. Join in any chain space, (ch2 (counts as first dc), dc, 2htr, 2tr, 2htr, 2dc) into chain space. *(2dc, 2htr, 2tr, 2htr, 2dc) into next chain space, repeat from * 18 times, sl st to top of first chain 2 to close. (200)

Round 16: Change colour. Join to top of first tr in any group. ch2 (counts as first htr), htr in next stitch. *ch2, miss 3 stitches, tr in next 2 stitches, ch2, miss 3 stitches, htr in next 2 stitches. Repeat from * 18 times. ch2, tr in next 2 stitches, ch2, sl st to top of chain 2 to close. (160)

Round 17: ch2 (counts as htr), htr in next stitch, *3htr into chain space, htr into top of two tr of previous round, 3htr into chain space, htr into 2 htr of previous round. Repeat from * 18 times, 3htr into chain space, sl st to top of chain 2 to close (200)

Round 18: Pin your mandala to the hoop with stitch markers.

Change colour. Join to any stitch, *With yarn in front of hoop, ch8.

Miss 7 stitches. Pass yarn over hoop, and sl st into next stitch. Remove hook and bring chain under hoop and in front.

Repeat from * 24 times. Fasten off.

Ta dah!!

I can't wait to see all of your amazing colour combinations! Make sure you pop them in the Facebook Group to join in our challenge :)

Sam x

Being pregnant and running your own business has many pros and cons. For example, today is Mothers' Day. I am waddling slowly everywhere, I am in pain, my ankles are already starting to swell, and I'd quite like to be at home. But I am here in the shop, writing a blog in between serving customers, missing the Sconchlet who is at home. But that is the way it is. A sacrifice that is made so that on the flip side, I am relatively in charge of my own working life.

But being pregnant is especially full of pros and cons in a business where you are so in the public's view the whole time. Being pregnant in any situation is an odd one in terms of your own body and other people's reactions. For some reason, you immediately become public property. People touch your bump, when normally it wouldn't be socially acceptable to go up to a random stranger and start caressing their body. People comment on your weight, quite casually. People open up to you about their horror stories of their own birth experiences.

None of these are particularly wonderful things. And when you serve customers all day long, and it can be really tough. I've had days where there hasn't been one person who hasn't made a comment on my weight, which by the end of the day can make you feel a little fragile. Especially when many of these comments are perhaps not very polite! I got to the stage a couple of months ago where I almost put up a life size picture of me from the last pregnancy when I really did balloon (unlike this time, where I am actually roughly the same dress size, and am 'all bump' out the front, rather than a beached whale). Commenting on how bloated you feel a woman's face has begun to look is never acceptable!

And of course, everyone wants to know all of the details. Which is lovely. But when you have to tell every one who you serve how long you have to go and how you are feeling, and you are serving someone every few minutes, again, it can be hard. Not least when you are in agony and want nothing more than to crawl into bed (this has been a hard pregnancy, much like last time, and every baby's kick is excrutiating, and my hips aren't holding me very well, and I've spent most of the time feeling very sick), it can be hard to put on the smiley retail face. All of this is from a place of kindness on the customers' part, I know, and that makes it even worse, because you want to look pleased that they care!

And don't get me started on the horror birth stories! Whether you are talking to a first time mum, or a mum who has had 8 children already, recapping your terrifying account of how you ripped apart in 3 directions, isn't helpful to that poor woman who is trying to stay calm about pushing a giant head through a very tiny hole.

And of course, this all makes me sound like a grumpy, ungrateful cow. And I'm not. Because hand in hand with all of this, is of course, the positive sides of being pregnant so publicly. The love.

I have been genuinely overwhelmed by the support and love I have been shown by customers yet again.

We don't live particularly near to either side of our families, and that can be tough, particularly when expanding your family. My parents for example, are here this weekend, helping move the house round and fix things up that we have just not had time to get round to do, but with a looming birth, really need doing, but it isn't a case of just popping round the corner to help us. And neither of us (anymore!) are party animals, so making new friends is harder when you aren't out clubbing at the uni students' union of an evening. But this job (as I have mentioned many times before) has really made me aware that a whole heap of my customers and my amazing staff, are more than just that. They are friends. Knowing that if I really needed it (and there have been lots of times during this pregnancy, whether I am just too poorly to pick up the Sconchlet from school, or I am once again back in hospital unexpectedly) there is a whole army of people ready to pick up the pieces and make sure everything carries on smoothly is amazing.

And this was made abundently clear last Sunday, when I was told to arrive at the shop for 1pm on a day I had booked off... when I arrived, this was the first thing I saw!

Look at all that food! I'm not good with surprises, what with being a bit of a control freak (I know, I know, you'd never guess, would you?!) but this was so amazing!

And all my lovely Craft'n'Cake ladies, both regulars and ones I don't often see anymore, came to show their love! And all of my lovely staff were there too, and it was just amazing. Baby Bingo was in full swing here and it got surprisingly heated when there were about 4 of us all with only 2 squares to fill...

And the gifts! I have been so spoilt. Things for me, things for the baby, things for the Sconchlet...

I was one very happy mummy-to-be with a very excited Sconchlet!

Isn't it amazing, that my job has become somewhere where I both love to come, and where we are loved in return?

Sam x

...anyway, where was I? Ah yes, we opened our doors to the new shop! I can't quite believe a whole year has passed. Not least because everyday we get people coming into the shop exclaiming with delight that a new yarn shop has opened at Blake House. People who visit Blake House regularly. So sometimes I do feel that maybe we only opened a few months ago and I'm going crazy. But Facebook told me so, so it must be true...

It's been a crazy year. But a wonderful one. We've had Yarn Shop Day (which was just the busiest day EVER), a Rowan launch, we were nominated for Best Yarn Shop in the South East of England in the Let's Knit British Knitting Awards, we have had a shop birthday party to celebrate 4 whole years as a bricks and mortar shop (having been an online only shop previously), we had a special shop birthday party for the Sconchlet, we've had a Craft'n'Cake social...

And once again I have been blown away by support from customers and friends, who constantly amaze me with offers of help. Whether it's massive offers of help like staying until 2 in the morning to paint furniture and put yarn on shelves so that we can open on time, having only done the same thing a matter of months before, or to watch the shop whilst I run for a wee for the 200th time that day (my bladder isn't suited to retail with an ever growing small thing pushing on it every 2 minutes!!).  Or to sit and take photos of letter boards for me so social media posts are ready to go, or just to sit and listen to the Sconchlet read, as quite frankly, I'm exhausted. Or lovely customers who turn up with a box of chocolates for me because they felt I sounded down in recent posts. It's just a never ending stream of happy support. Well, apart from the odd low-life who steals from the shop. But even then it always brings to light a huge amount of support, so you know, swings and roundabouts.

And oh how the shop has grown! We were looking at some photos taken way back last year of the shop and couldn't believe how empty it looked! We are already back at the point of regularly commenting on how we need a bigger shop (don't panic, we are making do...). We've taken on embroidery ranges, felting ranges, and our yarn has exploded into a riotous wall-to-wall extravaganza of colour.

Of course I couldn't do it without the amazing crazy team I have behind me. This photo from the Rowan event sums us up nicely...we tried to do a serious picture as well as a crazy faces picture, but couldn't quite manage to get one where we all had the same face at the same time...

And now we have Jenni as well...we managed to grab a photo with her at our Christmas social (she is apparently very camera shy), and most of you will recognise her from being in the shop and at Craft'n'Cake if you're local... best get used to photos Jenni!

It's a been a difficult second half to the year with my health in particular. Never one who has been particularly healthy, I've always had the support of my staff. But most of you will know how difficult I've been finding growing a human, and it is such a relief knowing I have amazing staff who can just get on and run the shop without me there, and who will go out of their way to cover my shifts when I'm back in hospital whether for routine appointments, or because I've been admitted and hooked up to drips...

So, what have we got planned for the next year of Sconch? Well obviously more yarn. Because, well. I'm an addict. I just do yarn shopping on a bigger scale. And as I've finally got round to starting to add bits to Ravelry (you can find my tiny selection of patterns here), I am going to start getting my other patterns on there too. Which means more blog posts with tutorials (there is already one on the way!) and patterns. And more vlogs. Because everyone loves to watch me in my pyjamas sleepily rant about stuff, right?

And of course a new little addition to the Sconch team, which may take up rather a lot of my time!

All in all, it should be quite an exciting next year too...

So, let me know what you want to see more of on the blog, and what you would like me to vlog about - otherwise I'm simply ranting to myself...

Sam x

Look at them. They are so sad, they are curling up on themselves.

Or the headless hippo I was making for the Sconchlet when she was 2. She's 5 in January.

Or the quite large list of shop samples I enthusiastically started, like this little crochet top. I got this far and realised I should have tweaked something slightly, and it annoyed me so much it has just sat there, also in the forgotten pile, for over a year...

And let's not talk about how many blankets I have on the go. Like the CAL we started in our Facebook group, based on the amazing Sophie's Universe Blanket on the Look What I Made blog, but then we moved shop, I got crazy busy, then a bit poorly, then we moved again... then I decided to resurrect it but then got poorly again...

As I sat there totting up my crochet and knit casualties, a sudden thought hit me. This list didn't include the non yarny ones. The cross stitches half finished (like the lovely Winnie the Pooh cushion cover I was making for Mr Sconch for our first Christmas together. 11 years ago). Or the half finished patchwork projects. Or the weaving I started. The half finished needle felted bird. Or the bumblebee.

I might have a problem.

Now obviously a big part of the problem for me is time. I know lots of people who visit our lovely haven of a shop think I spend all day knitting and crocheting - but if you follow me on social media I like to think I give a slightly more realistic viewpoint of what running a yarn shop entails. In a nutshell; no time for crafting. Or rather, time to start a project and no time to finish it.

And obviously my health doesn't help. Rather unrelated to all the standard being poorly, I've not been able to crochet or knit for about 12 weeks as it was giving me horrific headaches and making me sick.

I am, thankfully feeling slightly less sick some of the time now. I still have a constant headache. And I've got a racking cough left over from a stinking head cold on top of everything at the moment. The eagle eyed social media followers of you will have noticed a few pics of crochet sneaking back in on my timeline. Namely a new blanket. *cough*. I mean, feeling a bit better deserves a celebration of starting a new project, right?!

And then the other day in the shop, it was a fairly quiet afternoon, I felt rubbish, and frankly didn't want to do the accounts that were calling me, so I decided to get this blanket out and do a few squares. Except said blanket was in my knitting bag. Which was in my porch at home. So I started knitting some socks instead!

And then I got so excited with working with non-acrylic yarn (I know, yarn snob, sorry), combined with the fact that knitting and crochet isn't making me so sick now, that last night on the way to Cambridge I started ANOTHER project, using the fab Cuddlebums yarn I got in a yarn club 2 years ago and has sat there looking very sad indeed...

The only problem with this great plan of starting this new blanket, is that the nausea keeps coming and going, and that I am getting increasingly tired, which means I have a feeling this blanket, sock and wrap, will no doubt eventually be cast onto the unfinished pile as with all the others.

Which is of course entirely the fault of the other WIP I have on the go at the moment. A rather special WIP that is due early April...

Tehe!

Sam x

Apart from the anxiety that is. The crippling anxiety that leaves me unable to move, or breathe, or complete sentences. I started a blog post about 2 years ago, after a customer (not in a mean way at all) laughed when I mentioned I suffer from anxiety. Because she thought I was joking, or being melodramatic. I am not sure which. I'm known for both, so I am not surprised. But I felt that it was something that needed to be addressed. I have a couple of friends who suffer from anxiety. Some that are on medication, some not. And most people don't know. It isn't something we talk about.

I didn't post this particular blog post at the time because I wasn't sure it was the thing to post. People want to read about squishy yarny things, not about my issues with breathing when in a supermarket.

Initially I'd started writing the post because that old feeling of not being able to walk into a room on my own was rearing its ugly head. Even if I know that the people inside are people that I know, going in by myself has always been difficult. And when I say difficult, I mean sweating, dizziness, nausea...

The thing is, I'm that one at the party. The loud one who is happy to dance on a table, even without a drink. The one alone on the dance floor because everyone else hasn't had enough drinks to dance like a loon as soon as the music comes on.

I'm the one who wears slightly odd clothing, and always has done. Baby pink bellbottoms were my favourite item of clothing in sixth form. And my Mr Bean Teddy rucksack was my favourite bag. Nowadays you can find me in comfy jeans and a jumper one day, and then green checked leggings with a clashing orange dress the next.

I'm the one who dyes her hair crazy colours, wears wigs and has wacky nails.

 See? Blue hair!

So I can't also be the one who has a panic attack about walking into a room?

Just like I can't be the one who watches everything start to spin round her as the ground begins to move because she has to choose what to have for lunch in the supermarket, because the idea of making even a simple decision is so overwhelming because the idea that it might be the wrong decision is so consuming.

I can't be the one who struggles to breath when walking towards the nursery to do the school run because I don't really know the other mums. And even the ones who do know me probably hate me, so I avoid playdates at all costs, because they probably talk about me behind my back, and probably think I'm a loser.

So I can't be that person. After all, I am the loud, brash, confident one, the one who wears blue wigs.

Except I am the one that overthinks everything. Unable to make decisions which makes the most mundane tasks seem insummountable. 

Decisions stump me. And I mean every decision. What to eat, what to wear, which school for the Sconchlet to apply for. Big or small, they end up with me in a complete mess. And over the years it has got worse and worse. I compensate to cope. So if I go to the supermarket to buy lunch, I will come back with most of the options. Better to buy everything than end up unable to breath in front of the salamis.

But I decided to not post any of this, because it wasn't a big deal.

I revisited the idea of doing a blog post on this last year, right smack in the middle of moving into our shiny new shop, and I started writing this blog post in the middle of the night...

It's 2am. I'm clinging on to the edge of the bed unable to sleep so I thought I'd write an update. We only got in half an hour ago. If somehow you've been living on the moon you might have missed that we are moving. Tonight was an epic push to get all the units built...

Once again we had our support team there - I'm totally blown away by the help I've had to turn this unit round. The hours put in to rip carpets up, paint walls, paint furniture, build furniture, sort stock... and not just my regulars, but customers who've only been in once or twice before.

Anyway I digress. I'm clinging onto the edge of the bed because I have a Sconchlet in with me. And she does rather favour clinging to me. Which made me wonder am I a terrible mother for the fact we only got in at 1:30am. Not that she has been up the whole night. As you can see, around 12:30 we gave up...

But the poor thing has been with us every day, having late nights, helping build the furniture...

Everyone has commented on how good she has been. She's just got on with it. After all, this is all she has ever known. Sometimes her bed time is 6:30 like a 'normal' 3 year old. Sometimes it is 9pm because she has had to stay at work with me on a Craft'n'Cake night.

On the whole it doesn't seem to affect her. She's a bright, confident little thing, but I can't help but wonder am I doing the right thing. We don't go in for strict routine and I honestly don't think even if I was a stay at home mam that would be different. But I wonder if she would have a happier time if I didn't have to drag her to work with me all the time.

Obviously the past two weeks are an anomaly. I don't *normally* have her at work until crazy o'clock. But the principle still stands.

Sometimes it's super hard being a parent. Working or stay at home. We second guess everything. We have such an impact on our little people by our actions. Even when we are doing the best we can it isn't always enough.

What the above extract doesn't convey, is the level of overthinking in this situation. Everyone worries about their kids. But I am often to be found rocking backwards and forwards, sobbing my heart out over it. And I wonder how many other parents out there feel like this? How many other parents feel like complete and utter failures, and feel like they can't go on, leave the house, do the most mundane task, because the anxiety is so overwhelming. And how many of these parents are we totally unaware that this is how they feel? And how many of these parents do we judge for their decisions, without stopping to think what they are going through and what they are doing might just be a way to get through that day?

So I got to thinking, what is it that makes me so anxious? I've always been an anxious person. I remember really vividly before dance classes as a child, when my teacher would pick me up, that I would feel faint and so sick, and get myself into an almost state of crying at the thought of leaving the house, which seemed crazy to everyone because I LOVED dance classes, everything about it. 

Sometimes I think it is worse than it was then, sometimes I think I am dealing with it all much better. But then I think about it and realise actually, I'm not. Take the supermarkets example. I rarely have panic attacks in supermarkets anymore. But really, it isn't being better, I am just diverting the panic.

But either way, I suppose the point I am trying to make, is that most people wouldn't know any of this about me. Just like most people wouldn't have the foggiest idea about how much pain I am in on a daily basis. I know this, because when I am in a wheelchair if we go somewhere that needs a lot of walking, the levels of questions it raises is phenomenal. And I honestly don't mind the questions, it is good to talk about it, and it gets people thinking. But if people don't know I'm in pain, they also don't know I'm fighting the anxiety.

Which means that I don't know about the person standing next to me at the supermarket, and how they might also be having their own personal battles right at that moment.

So let's not judge people. And I know that is easier said than done. I'm guilty of that. It is human nature. But let's try. Before you make a snap decision about the way someone is acting, stop and think about what they might be going through today.

And if you know someone is struggling, maybe ask them if you can help. Ask them if they want to go for a walk. Ask them if they'd like a cup of tea. Talk to them. Let them know they aren't alone.

Sam x

If you aren't familiar with a temperature blanket, the basic principle is to track the temperature of each day by crocheting or knitting a row of a blanket in a colour that represents that temperature. The end result being a beautiful blanket with a gradiated colour scheme (with no doubt some random shades in there - especially if you live in the UK haha!)

Charlie (from Crochet and Fairylights) has been working her magic again with colour packs, and we have come up with two colourways for your temperature blanket. One in a vintage themed muted colourway, with the shades drifting from a cold Silver through to a warm Plum; and one in a brighter mirrored colourway, which moves from pastel through to bold shades in a mirrored around the White. She didn't want a traditional rainbow pack, nor did she really want the traditional blue being cold and red being hot, so after a lot of playing round (including quite a few votes from the Craft'n'Cake ladies in the shop!), the two packs were created...

So, this is Charlie...

I asked her about her reasons for wanting to create a temperature blanket...

I was looking back on my memories on my phone not so long ago and it reminded me that I’d wanted to make a temperature blanket this time last year, but due to having a lot of projects already on the go (you know what we’re all like with our wips!) I never got the time to make one, so I decided that this year it’d not only be nice to make one but to choose the colours, make a pack and hope that you guys all love them as much as I do!

How do you choose your colours for blankets?

I’ve been told I have a natural flair for colour matching & choosing and I’m often asked how I choose the colours. That’s such a difficult question to answer as it’s never the same for any 2 projects! My first question is who the blanket is for, how old are they, what’s the purpose of the blanket, where will the finished project live (bedroom/lounge/nursery etc)? Then I tend to find out about their current interior design so I get an idea of their taste and style, and what they’ve pictured the project to look like and see if I’m able to match their vision. After that I’ll put some colours together, photograph them, sometimes make sample pieces, send them over and see what if anything needs tweaking, and eventually get hooking!

What is the best thing about creating?

I love the start of a new project, making something out of nothing, and creating an heirloom; a loved blanket to be passed down from generation to generation. I have quite a stressful job, and I work 24/7 with a variety of shifts; crochet is my little sanctuary, where I can step away from reality into a bubble and de-stress, relax and create something beautiful.

To help you with your temperature blanket, Charlie has already devised the temperature ranges for each shade, so that you have a handy guide to get you started...

The Vintage Temperature Blanket Pack

Mirrored Temperature Blanket

Both Charlie and I are going to do this CAL/KAL (you can choose whether you knit or crochet your blanket!), each with a different pack. Charlie is going to use the Vintage pack, and I'll use the mirrored pack.

Charlie has decided to do squares for her blanket - the inner ring being the coldest temperature of the day, and the outer 2 rounds being the warmest temperature of the day.Charlie has worked out that she will do 360 squares (18 x 20 in the layout) leaving 5 days for a border and sewing in of ends!

I on the other hand, know exactly how bad I am at keeping up with CALs... so I've decided to make mine a little easier. I am going to do a ripple blanket, but instead of the daily temperature, I am going to track the average weekly temperature! Not least because if I recorded the highest and lowest, I'd have over 700 rows...and I really wanted to do more than one row a colour...so you can imagine the size of the blanket with 1400 rows!  This way, I can do 2 rows per temperature, with the highest and lowest temperature recorded for each week. I just need to decide whether to make it a single bed or double bed size blanket...

You can follow both our blankets on our Facebook pages (Crochet and Fairylights and Sconch), as well as on here, as I will keep you up to date with a few blog posts!

We hope you like the two new packs, and we can't wait to see what you make!  Make sure you post photos with #sconchandfairylightstempblanket so we can see your temperature blankets! 

Sam x

Silver Linings. Apparently every cloud has one. My problem is that I'm a tad rubbish at finding them. I tend to only see the rain approaching.

You see, I'm actually really bad at dealing with change. And things not in my control. In fact, if I'm totally honest, at the moment, I'm just really bad at dealing with everything. I mentioned a while ago (I think) about how there would be a blog post later on about some slightly not so cheery stuff to do with stuff. This is not going to be that blog post but, to sum it up, I'm a pretty anxious person, with a fairly hot head, and a knack for crying a lot.

So yesterday (after I had planned a whole week of staff shifts to work round the shop move, plus friends and family cover to look after the Sconchlet during this crazy moving period) when we all rocked up to collect the shop keys and all piled in to my lovely new shop to begin decorating and we found it actually not even remotely ready to move in because, well, I won't go in to details, but let's just say the builders have had to be called in, it wasn't really a great time for me.

We will gloss over how I coped (both outwardly and, even worse, what was happening inside my brain) as that is for another time, but to say it was a bit beyond my capability coping with the change of plans would be an understatement.

However, as I said at the start, every cloud and all that...

For a start, yesterday evening I took down our Christmas decorations. And whilst I was doing this with the Sconchlet it occured to me that if I hadn't have done it yesterday they would probably have been up until February! And we did it in our pyjamas. Whilst dancing around to music (Britney Spears to be precise).

I then sat and slobbed out on the sofa with Mr Sconch and we watched Nativity! which was actually it turned out, a rest I really needed. I then went to bed fairly early (rather than 1am after having done admin) and slept for most of the night (child and dogs breaking sleep excluded).

And today we went to the zoo. If you've read my blog before, you'll probably know this is a favourite place of ours to go, but we don't often get time to go (or else if we do go, I spend the whole time watching the clock as I've got to shortly run off to work). We got to mooch around and look at all of the animals, have some lunch, watch and panic wildly as the Sconchlet got wedged half way down the tubular slide with no seemingly easy way of getting her out...*

Don't get me wrong, this delay is pretty bad! It means we no longer have 'day hours' to do the move (as Mr Sconch will be back at work on Thursday), and we will be fitting everything into evenings, which will be exhausting for everyone involved not to mention a much slower process. It means stock deliveries all need to be changed as I don't have room to store it all as it was planned for arrival at the new shop. It also potentially means problems for classes already organised as they were also all planned for the new shop.

But yesterday and today we got to have some family time with our precious little girl, who turns 4 in a week. Which, in itself, is terrifying as her childhood seems to be slipping away from me. I got to dance with her, sing with her, sit and make Lego with her, and hold her hand as we watched, in wonder, the animals at the zoo. I got to be a mammy for two days I had expected to be covered in paint. Two days of her precious school holidays with her that otherwise I would have lost.

So yesterday and today I got to see the silver linings. And that, especially for me, is a pretty amazing thing.

Sam x

*she did make it out eventually. after flipping herself onto her tummy and yelling all the way down, 'I'm on my belly, I'm on my belly!'

You see, it's been 4 months in our new little-but-bigger shop at Blake House Craft Centre. It's been the most crazy 4 months, with a huge amount of adjustment needed. It's been so busy I haven't even shared with you the pics from our grand opening! It was such a laugh (and obviously there was a lot of prosecco flowing...). We had an actual riboon cutting ceremony!

And we ate loads of cake and (did I mention?) we drank prosecco. We even had a workshop making bunnies...not everybody loved this as quite as much as others, and it got a little competitive with some giant bunnies being made and people losing the will to live after much cake and drink...

But it was such a fun day. And has really set the tone for every day since. There are sooooo many more customers (gone are the days of me doing all my admin in the day as I didn't see a soul all day!) and just generally a much busier time. It's been amazing. Completely exhausting but fab. I'm not sure any of us have quite recovered from the move (Mr Sconch, Darren and myself in particular) nor have we settled into a routine quite just yet. Although I'm not sure we will ever get into a routine now I think about it...my life is a little too hectic for that kind of thing. This term has seen me do a dance show, a play, a choir concert and of course continue to be a mother...

But we love it. We love Blake house Craft Centre. We love craft and fibre crafts in particular. We love our craft and cake groups, which have grown since we moved and are the heart and soul of our shop. Just look at the pictures from our Christmas social!

And so it is for all of these reasons, we are moving.

[Insert loud exclamations/stunned silence/stuttering]

An opportunity to have a bigger shop at Blake House came up last month and I just couldn't turn it down. We are already out of room with the huge uplift in customers, and I have all these plans in my head for growth and none of this can be done in our shop. There are no bigger shops at the centre other than And Sew On and the one we are moving to, so it was sort of a now-or-never situation. It is obviously bad timing, what with having just moved, but sometimes in life you just have to close your eyes and jump, as not everything works out at a perfect and convenient time for your schedule.

So we are jumping. In about 2 weeks. Maybe before. Maybe just after. It sort of depends on how quickly we can get everything ready. As soon as I have a time frame I will let you all know. We are hoping to only shut for 2 days to transfer the stock over, as everything will be done in the new shop whilst we keep the old shop going.

And I'm terrified. Terrified about the uplift in costs, terrified about the sheer amount of work ahead of us, and terrified it's the wrong decision. But sometimes you have to be a little terrified because that is just how life is. Terrifying but wonderful.

So. Um. Here we go again?!

Sam x

We also caused much mayhem with our cackling, which could be heard several aisles away from wherever we were standing. We had several stall holders comment on how it was lovely to see people actually enjoying themselves (I am always amazed at how miserable people look at these things myself...) but I think that may have been code for 'wow, you are wierd, don't make eye contact with the crazy ladies'.

At one point, whilst we were sitting at the cash machines (there was no where else to sit and we had cookies and coffee...) with some other ladies, we managed to scare a poor gentleman by implying (ok, actually saying) we were going to knock him over, and steal his money as we were depserate for more yarn...

Anyway, I digress. This was not just a little jolly to Ally Pally. Oh no, we were going to an AWARDS CEREMONY. That's right, because...

That's right, we won!!! Third place in the Best Independent Yarn Shop in the South East of England Category! I am totally blown away by this still, so THANK YOU so much for all voting for me. I really need to mention the other two shops who came first and second, because they are run by the two loveliest ladies. If you are in the area, you MUST go and visit them. Second place went to The Sheep Shop in Cambridge, run by Sarah, and First place went to Jenny Wrens in Ipswich, run by Lois. 

The day did start in quite a civilised manner...

And this theme of serious business owners continued when we met up with the other Local Yarn Shop Owners during the ceremony...

But by the end of day the sensible businesswoman facade had vanished and we were purloining posters...

I also sort of took over the awards photo booth bit, getting as many group photos done as possible...

 Official photo with Let's Knit Editor Sarah...

 Sarah from The Sheep Shop in Cambridge, Lois from Jenny Wrens in Ipswich and Me! South East England Winners...

 Local Yarn Shop Owners Unite!

And I got a goody bag!!! With some rather lovely but random things in there...all of which implied as a yarn shop owner I am ageing badly and have terrible skin, but let's not read in to that too much...

So once again, a HUGE thank you to everyone who voted. It was an amazing day, and an amazing honour to be voted for by you guys. I know I say it all the time, but you are all the reason I do this job :)

 Cheers!

Sam x

Blog posts. One of those things that can so easily come to a grinding halt. Either from writers' block, or because you are simply too busy.

For the past two months, it has been a real mix of both. Crazy busy with moving in, settling in, awards ceremonies (more on that to come), opening parties (again, later...), new term for the Sconchlet with new days at nursery, a new job for Mr Sconch, me signing up to be in more shows (no really, I thought 2 at once would be a great idea...). But also, just an amazing amount of emotion; emotion that has been so overwhelming I have been struggling to get anything down into words that are coherent.

So the next few blog posts will be a bit backwards and forwards in time. I write my blog, not only for you, but for me. So I have a record of what I've been doing. It's always lovely when I look back at old blog posts and see how far we have come. Only recently a Facebook Timehop thing came up to show me pictures of our first little rented space. And for the Sconchlet, I want to her to understand why I have chosen the path I have, and why sacrificed playdates and endless days stuck in the shop at the moment are so necessary.

So for now, where we are today...

We are in!!

Well that much was probably obvious. It has been sooo busy since we moved, with footfall in the shop at least quadrupling. We could go a couple of days without seeing any customers in the old shop, and now I quite often don't even get to put the 'Back in 5 minutes' sign on the door in order to go for a wee... Online orders are also up, which is proving quite a juggling act, with keeping them going out same day with a packed shop. We have an extra Craft'n'Cake session a week, on a Sunday afternoon, which is proving popular, and we have taken on another member of staff (more of that to come in a later blog post...)

So it is all good on the shop front. More than good really, it is pretty darn amazing...

On a personal front, things aren't quite as cheerful. I know they should be. The shop is going from strength to strength, and I might even be able to take a wage at some point in the near future (hahaha, oh how I laugh when people say this must be the best job EVER, making money from yarn...). But I'm not quite, um, settled?

I like routine, and I can't seem to settle into one. We are now almost at half term, and I don't feel I am at all any more with it than at the beginning... We are so often late for nursery (the Sconchlet and the dogs are keeping us up all night, so clearly the whole household is unsettled. Even the bearded dragon and turtles seem to be out of sync with sleep!) and I seem to spend my whole time rushing from one place to another.

There is increased admin with the move (much more stock in the shop, with more frequent deliveries), but less time to fit it in as there are more customers...so we have had lots of stay-at-the-shop-until-midnight days catching up with photography, adding things to the website etc. 

Do you think routine will just come in time, or am I going to be permanently stuck in this crazy place of not knowing what I am doing?!

The Sconchlet calls me 'big-brother-rush-about' after one of the characters in one of ther favourite books (Bella Gets Her Skates On if you are interested) except, I think it should 'big-mummy-always-late'. So at least she find some amusement in all of this I suppose...

I think it doesn't help that I then feel guilty for feeling not-perfectly-happy. People keep asking me how it is going, and my stock answer is 'oh yes, really well' and then they ask am I glad I have moved, and I say 'oh yes, definitely', all with a big smile on my face, but all whilst actually wanting to sit and have a little cry because I am really quite tired and overwhelmed by it all. 

This will pass, won't it?

Because look at how lovely my shop looks.

It really is very wonderful. 

Sam x

But as I sit here on the train (we've moved and have now snuck on an early train) I'm feeling a little fretful. I've felt like it all day really. I'm not good with last day of holidays. They always feel a bit odd. You're not home but you know you are leaving so you're not quite on holiday either? And I'm acutely aware of how much work I've got to do when I get back.

And how much money I've still got to raise. With online crowdfunding plus donations in the shop, we are at about  £1000. Which is a quarter of the way there. Which is amazing, but I'm not really sure how to get the last three quarters raised.

It would be remiss of me to not give you the link at this point, even if does seem a little like begging*. So here it is: www.sconch.com/move

And then there's the new shop. I've got to get it all ready. Plus roughly halve the amount of stuff in my office if I'm to fit it all in the new shop as I only get a desk and that's it...

But this is normal, right? Pre moving nerves?

I've got 2 weeks before we shut (24th August is our last day at the current shop - online orders will continue to be sent out) and then we reopen on 1st September. Which isn't very long. Eeeeek.

So if I disappear off social media, it's probably not because I'm really busy, it's probably because I'm buried under boxes and can't get out. Or I've decided to hide somewhere in the hope Angela and Lorraine will just do the move by themselves. So send a search party, preferably with chocolate. And maybe prosecco.

Actually, definitely prosecco.

*who am I kidding? I am begging! Pleeeeeeease give me money!

Sam x

Jackie is an antiques dealer by trade, and collects the most adorable little dolls. When she said she would bring them in to show me, I was excited (because what girly girl doesn't get excited about dolls?) but I may have squealed just a little bit when I saw them. Because LOOK AT THE OUTFITS!

Jackie has knitted and crocheted each and every one of these little outfits. From sailor outfits, to dresses, to rompers, to matching tops and trousers. AND WITH LITTLE TINY HATS!

And look at the size of this crochet hook and the thread thickness!

It put me in mind of the mini mandalas that I saw people making last year, using gutermann sewing thread. My hands cramp using 4 ply, let alone anything finer. Can you imagine the patience needed?! It says 4.5 on the hook, which I think is around a 0.75mm in terms of old money sizes, but to be honest, having put it up against our hooks here, it looks finer!

Some of these dolls only measure 7cm WHEN STANDING. I mean, that is TINY! They are just so adorable...

How cute is this little dress and bonnet?!

Maybe I need to be a bit more adventurous than 4 ply...

Sam x

I had a massage last week. It is my second in a few weeks. I have vouchers left over from birthdays and Christmas, and I've been on a bit of a mission to get them used before they expire.

On both occasions, the therapists were lovely. The rooms were lovely. The oils were scented. But I think I did it wrong.

Is that possible?!

I think I over think these things (as with most things in my life). I spent the whole time *trying* to switch off. But my brain kept running through plans for the shop, and things I forgot to do before I left the shop at 11pm the previous night having given up from exhaustion, and things I have to do for the Sconchlet, and what housework needs doing when I get back...

And the minute I do stop thinking about work I get the urge to giggle. Because that lovely soothing music has gone a bit odd and actually reminds me of a a band of gnome like creatures charging over a hill ready to kill the next army.

Or I start thinking about how my bra is digging into my chest in an unpleasant way, the cotton pad has slipped slightly off my left eye and is bothering me as it's no longer symmetrical, how my right middle toe is a bit itchy...

Or I start thinking about how actually, I really hate body massages as they hurt like hell (yes, even the gentle ones, I'm a bit broken remember), and this is starting to border on some kind of torture regime, and that surely the hour and a half must be nearing the end soon...

And then it is over all too soon and I realise I do feel bizarrely refreshed. Despite the crazy in my head. My eyes are more open, I feel tingly, I am awake.

And I make my way back home in a state of bliss.

And then I look at myself in the mirror and realise my hair is now a grease ball and I have to wash all the lovely oils out that I've been advised to leave in as I'm going straight back out and I don't want people to think I've avoided showering for a month. And the Sconchlet is screaming in an overexcited frenzy and is pulling on my legs. And then I have to rush round and frantically get ready. And the calm and serene feeling of peace has left. Just like that.

Eugh.

Best get myself booked back in to hunt for the zen again then.

Am I alone in this?!

Sam x

*photo credit - found via Pinterest, image uncredited - if it is yours, please get in touch for crediting!*

You see, in case you missed it, knitting is not my strongest point. I understand the mechanics of knitting. I can do the basic stitches. I know all about how stuff works up so I can competently answer customers questions (mostly now those customers get handed to Angela as she is a bit of a knitting guru - but for 2 years it was just me answering all the questions and I managed fine). But as for actually sitting down and knitting an actual 'thing'. Well. I stuck to my crochet. It's quicker. Mistakes are fixed easier. I'm really very good at crochet. Why bother knitting?!

But secretly this shawl has made me fall in love with knitting. Don't get me wrong, it's almost gone out of the window more times than I can count. Regulars in the shop have had to sit and fix things for me when I could no longer cope with redoing the same row. You see I picked a 4 ply pattern with lacy drop stitch sections to get me into this knitting lark. Which has been a steep learning curve to say the least.

Which is more than can be said for the shape of my shawl. The steep curve that is. As I now have this:

I've clearly done the same thing as I did at the start. I couldn't get it to show very clearly in the picture, but the shawl is now working up on the opposite direction, so both sides leaning ot the right instead of the left. So now my shawl is going to be a sort of zig zag...

But I think I might just keep it like that. I know it happened when I was fixing the row just before the drop stitches for the 13th time. I'm not entirely sure how it happened. I've obviously increased and decreased on the wrong sides and ended up working on the working side?! I have the correct number of stitches still...

I feel like I should undo it. I feel like I should fix the mistake and learn from it. But look. It's a whole section of drop stitches I'd need to frog back. That's a days' work.

Mr Sconch pointed out when it's wrapped round my neck it's not going to have a big neon sign attached to it saying 'I'm slightly the wrong shape, come and judge my creators' knitting abilities'. And he's right.

And I think I might even like the fact mine will be a slightly quirky shape. After all if it works and I like how it sits it might be the beginning of a new funky zig zag design in my head. (For a crochet pattern not a knitting one obviously. One step at a time here...)

But somehow I feel like I'll have failed with this project if I leave it wonky?

What do you think?!

Sam x

PS you can download the pattern and read all about the lovely Couthie Shawl by the Winwick Mum (Christine!) here: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/couthie - the link will take you to ravelry, which will link to her blog :)

And then the heavens opened and we traipsed back to Halstead for our choir gig. We put up the gazebos (which were hastily borrowed) in the rain and crossed our fingers for a break in the wetness. Luckily it all cleared up before we were due to go on.

And they were fab. Mr Sconch and I were so immensely proud of how far the choir have come since January when we started!

But it turns out all that adrenaline was quite exhausting and I spent the next week in a bit of a tired slump. By Friday we also had a poorly dog and a poorly Sconchlet to contend with, meaning sleep left the Sconch household totally.

Saturday however, was a little bit super. It was World Knit in Public Day which normally we hold a big knees up for. In a similar vein to Yarn Shop Day, we have crowds, we have offers, workshops, fizz... but I decided to not hold a day for it this year as Angela couldn't work (these staff that swan off to the Good Food Show...), and I quite frankly didn't have the energy.

Saturday morning came and I was really looking forward to Craft'n'Cake as I was starting to feel a little bit sad that I hadn't organised a big party...

10:15 came and Bev turned up early with coffee (I'd ran out!), then Gillian arrived at half past. And that was it. Just the three of us sitting there looking a bit like loners. Which was lovely, and actually very peaceful, but I couldn't help but feel a little sad at the fact my normally packed group was empty.

But then it was like the yarny gods shone their beaming faces down on my little shop and an odd thing started to happen. At way past 11, people started to dribble in, and people were still arriving at 12. Bearing in mind Craft'n'Cake ends at 12:30, this was a little strange. And we sat, and knitted and crocheted and drank tea and ate cake. And we laughed. Oh we laughed so much. Big belly laughs that cure the soul. And we carried on laughing and knitting (well, except Miss Kathryn who I'm not sure picked up a hook or needle the whole time) until long past 3. And it was perfect.


And then I got changed and went for a training run and just kept going until I'd run 4km which is far further than I've been managing recently.

And I went home happy. And relaxed. (Albeit exhausted after the run). But happy. Because crafting with friends does that. And that's what it was. Because my ladies (and men!) Aren't just customers. They're friends.

So although we didn't knit in public in quite the big way we normally do, we all had a really rather lovely day. And that is all that matters really :)

So expect me to be back hounding you on social media as normal in a day or so!

Sam x

We are very lucky to have lovely neighbours who are happy to dog sit meaning we can pop out for day trips to the beach (for those that aren't local, we are only about 45 minutes from the beautiful Mersea Island). Last year was full of happy memories of pottering around on the beach, and we have already started our trips for this year...

But what I really love is not having to come home again!

Last year we camped in a tent quite a bit. But this year we decided to go a bit crazy and buy a folding camper. It's basically a caravan with a soft canvas top that all folds down into a trailer. This was mainly prompted by the fact camping in a tent kills me, and despite loving camping, I was fairly miserable with pain for most of it...

This weekend we took a trip to Shropshire for a family wedding and took the trailer (dogs as well!) to test it all out in Mr Sconch's grandparent's front garden. It was awesome. If you follow me on social media, you'll have probably seen this photo of me knitting in my little bed pod...

Aside from my the sleep deprivation (Friday was a little crazy and rather than leaving at 1, we left at 7pm. Which with a 3 year old, 3 dogs and a trailer, you can imagine took several hours...) and my crazy nightmares on Saturday night about killer badgers with long claws trying to get in under the awning, it was just wonderful.

The Sconchlet pottered around playing shopkeeper and cafe owner (you'll be unsurprised to hear this is her favourite game with how she spends most of her week), Mr Sconch read and I knitted. Bliss.

Don't get me wrong, there were definite moments of 'reality' (I don't want you to suddenly start thinking I've turned into one of those bloggers whose life is full of flowery fields and idyllic family moments...)

So I thought you might benefit from some things I've learned this weekend:

* Nails are a terrible idea when camping. Cut them. Forget nail varnish too. It doesn't stand a chance.
* When your finger gets trapped in a pole clip, yell for help. Don't give up trying to pull said clip off with left hand and rip finger out in a moment of bravery
* Don't fall back to sleep asleep again when your 3 year old calls and wakes you in the night to tell you she needs a wee
* When you've sent your overtired husband to deal with said 3 year old, make sure you check he is awake enough to know what he is doing so you avoid finding him instead sleepwalking the 3 dogs round the vicinity
* When letting your 3 year old climb into your bunk (and husband is left to sleep in now stripped and slightly damp other bed) remember that that will include being accompanied by 13 teddies who must have space to rest their heads on your pillow.

We are yet to name our little folding camper, but no doubt it will soon be sporting a cute moniker and will be adorned with handmade bunting, Crochet cushions, blankets and generally personalised into our own little spot of heaven.

Summer memory making, here we come...

Sam x

...firstly, the brilliant. YARN SHOP DAY. Oh my gosh what an amazing day. I didn't think anything could top last years crazy day, but this was amazing. So many people, and oh the weather! We were sunning ourselves out in the car park (yes, we are that glamourous), and we even sunned ourselves WHILST IT SNOWED. Crazy weather.

Here were the first arrivals firmly camped out...clearly something was hilarious if the look on Jenny's face is anything to go by...

 We ran out of room so started spilling sideways out of the gazebo...

Friends old and new came, including those we don't often get to see...

There was a LOT of prosecco flowing. And so much food. Let's not forget the cheesy roast potatoes provided by Mick at the Springwood Grill. They were EPIC. And amazing cakes brought by Jen again!

And so much knitting and crocheting! Michelle crocheted for the whole day without stopping!

And look at the yarn bombing!

 Steph even started yarn bombing herself!

 It really brightened up the railings!

We all became quite tipsy, and *some* of us became quite mischevious whenever any men turned up, chanting 'man, man, man'...and then when Miss Kathryn's son (so called, as she is the Sconchlet's keyworker, and the name has sort of stuck) turned up, who turns out to be rather tall, well, I may have asked for a photo to mark how much of midget I am...

The poor boy...

Not everyone became a loon when tipsy. Some ladies had more decorum, and we rely on those to keep the shop from disintegrating into chaos...Pauline for example, who oozed class...

Some were less well behaved. Like Bev...

Team Sconch were having a ball, if not feeling quite exhausted...

No idea where Mr Sconch was at this point. He secretly enjoys himself far too much at these things, and we kept finding him surrounded by women, selling like a trooper...!

And we even managed a workshop *cough*. Even if it ws slightly, shall we say, lacking in planning...! But it was great fun. We made Fimo stitch markers. I seem to have lost the photo of them all lined up (they were amazing), but you can see us busy making...

And a few of the finished ones...

We didn't have the Sconchlet with us, as she had Chicken Pox (or so we thought). She was at home with the inlaws which was such a shame as she had been looking forward to the shop party all week.

I also had a monumental sore throat. We had been in a bit of a panic Friday night about this, and had spent an hour on the phone to the 111 service, as if I had such a bad sore throat, maybe the Sconchlet didn't have Chicken Pox after all, as I certainly didn't... and I needed to know, as if it was something contagious, I obviously needed to know straight away, because I couldn't go infecting everyone. However, 2 million questions later, and she definitely had Chicken Pox, and I probably just had a virus. I was told not to share any cups with people, and I'd be fine.

So I made sure I didn't have anything to do with food prep or drinks, and warned people I had a bit of a lurgy. But the throat pain continued to get worse. And by lunchtime I had what felt like extreme pins and needles in my feet.

By the time I got home and had a bath, I ended up on the bathroom floor screaming in pain and sobbing my heart out on the bed after Mr Sconch literally carried me into the bedroom.

Turns out it wasn't pins and needles as such, but an extreme reaction to what is in fact Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease. My feet are coated in tiny blisters. All ready to pop. Ouch doesn't cover it. I can't walk. I can now hardly hold anything as by lunchtime today it had spread to my hands. The rash is now everywhere. Sores, blisters and pins and needles. So no, the Sconchlet didn't have Chicken Pox, but Hand, Foot and Mouth. Which was what I had already suggested to the doctors on Friday but had been dismissed...

She is fine. Recovering nicely having had a mild dose. Me on the other hand... no work for a week. And Sconchlet is still contagous so no nursery for a week. So that'll be fun.

So if you came to Yarn Shop Day, and suddenly get a sore throat, or start to look a bit manky, go see your GP... In the meantime, I'll be on my sofa crying in pain. And feeling quite guilty for potentially being responsible for a Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease outbreak in Braintree.

At least Yarn Shop Day was a success...

Sam x

However, despite all of that stuff, life continues. It was a crazy weekend here at Sconch HQ (what's new?). We had a right old proper knees up on Saturday at the Bocking Village Club with the Bocking Theatre Club for their St George's Day Cockney Night. It was a fun singalong night with much merriment  (probably something to do with the speciality gins on offer - new favourite, grapefruit slice in Tanqueray)

Here I am with my spiffing red braces and flat cap (courtesy of Chameleon Costumes - although now wondering why I don't have braces as part of my standard wardrobe).

In addition to this, there has been much preparation  going on for Yarn Shop Day this coming Saturday. Goody bags starting to be compiled, display garments arriving in the post...

And I've almost finished another WIP! This has caused much hilarity in the Craft'n'Cake group as I don't get much time to crochet at the moment and I started this Granny Cocoon Shrug quite a while ago... then the week before last one of our favourite regulars, Mandy, thought she'd have a go. Of course less than a week later in she strolls with a more or less finished garment asking me for some advice. I didn't sulk at all*. AND she changed the design and went for a larger 'housecoat' style (so more work) and still finished it. There's been quite a lot of mocking the yarn shop owner this week whenever I get my not-finished-shrug out...

*might have refused to help her til I'd finished sulking

I'm hoping to have the finished article to show you this coming week, with a blog post with my tips...

We also went to the zoo on Sunday with the parentals. A full day of traipsing round, much to the delight of the Sconchlet. It was FREEZING. Snow blizzards, then blazing sunshine, then rain, then hailstorms. We had it all. But it was awesome. I even swallowed my pride and went in the wheelchair like a good girl, as Saturday had sort of finished me off, and Mr Sconch pointed out how he would rather push me, than have to carry me up that gigantic hill at Colchester Zoo...

Isn't it awesome when weekends are full of fun?

Hope you had a super weekend too :)

Sam x

Yesterday I went to the CFS clinic. I've had joint problems since I was about 12. I was finally diagnosed with M.E. when I was 19. Bouts of exhaustion and pretty much constant pain has been my life. It's not *that* much of a big deal in the grand scheme of things for me. For some people, M.E. is so life limiting it is the stuff of nightmares. One of my friends has a teenage daughter who is so crippled with it, she is tube fed and barely wakes for an hour a day.

For me it has always been about the pain. Most people wouldn't know. I'm quite a loud person. I prance around. I dance whenever I can. I do too much. I don't *look* like someone who is in pain. But that's the thing about invisible conditions. You quite often can't tell. Which makes it hard for people to understand.

I'm lucky. Most of my friends are really understanding that sometimes I just can't do stuff. That one day I'll be the loon jumping round the place, and the next I'm not making plans to go out in the evening because I'll be too tired. Especially as in my mid twenties I learnt the valuable lesson that unless you tell those closest to you how it affects you, they won't understand. Everything became easier from that point.

Anyway, I digress from the point of this blog post. 12 years of a diagnosis. Which for those not familar with M.E., in reality means 12 years of going to the doctors with things that cause problems, to be dismissed immediately, because they spot 'CFS' on your notes. Most doctors still don't understand it. Most doctors think it is made up. Most doctors find it easier to brush you aside by using the 'it's probably just part of your M.E.' argument. 12 years of doctors treating you like you are crazy.

Don't get me wrong, it isn't all doctors. Some are amazing. Like my GP at the moment. Who when my physio wrote to her, actually took the time to read the letter and talk to me. Who decided enough was enough. Who decided to start testing again.

You see, when I was diagnosed, it was at the end of 7 years of regular hospital appointments and test results that didn't quite come back as they were expecting. Of not quite ever getting to the bottom of it. Needles, scans, bigger needles, prodding... So it was a bit of a 'there's nothing else so let's call it M.E.' scenario.

I was sent off into the world (well, university) with this diagnosis with no real support. Nobody to check how things were progressing.

Along the way there were moments of concern. Like when I ripped my kneecap out of it's place and had to see the physio, and they raised their eyebrows at how my body behaved with treatment. Or when we had a car crash and I had awful whiplash and had to have physio and they raised their eyebrows at how my body behaved with treatment. Or when I had the Sconchlet and my hips gave up, and didn't get better afterwards and had to have physio and they raised their eyebrows at how my body behaved with treatment. See a pattern?

Eventually one of these physios wrote to my GP.

Yesterday I went to the CFS clinic. Yesterday they told me I don't have M.E. That I probably never did.

Yesterday I went to the CFS clinic. Yesterday I didn't get told I was better. I didn't get told I was crazy. Yesterday I was told the tests have to start all over again. From the start.

They have theories as to what might be causing the pain. Some less terrifying than others. Some really quite manageable.

Yesterday I went to the CFS clinic and had the outcome I desperately wanted, because I knew my diagnosis didn't fit. I knew things didn't add up. And until the diagnosis was rescinded there wasn't a doctor out there who would bother looking at my case.

But yesterday, I lost a part of my identity. Yesterday I lost the ability to be able to give people an easy answer when they ask why I am limping today but wasn't yesterday, why I just fell over for no reason, why I can't pick my daughter up even though she is begging for me to carry her.

And today I feel lost.

So that is why for Yarn Shop Day this year, one of our knit-a-longs will be for AYME. A national association that helps young people with M.E. I didn't know about this group until recently. Nobody told me about it, and I didn't get the support I should have done. Maybe with some specialist support I wouldn't be 12 years down the line before a doctor looked at my notes again.

We will be making tulips for their Knit a Tulip campaign. You can read more about it here:

AYME Website

Knit a Tulip Facebook page

They want to make 25000 tulips to raise awareness for the estimated 25000 children in the UK who are suffering with it. They also hope that if everyone who knows a child with M.E. pledged £1, they could raise at the very least, £25,000 to help support young people with M.E. and their carers.

Sam x

But as those of you who have witnessed what happens when you give a small creature a phone or ipad, they soon come out of whatever app they were in and start to have a good mooch around. Because technology is for them a doddle. Well, unsurprisingly (it is her current obsession) she went straight to the camera. For the whole day.

And so I present to you, Sconch the yarn shop. As seen through a 3 year old's eyes...

Mammy was busy aaaaaall day serving customers...	That bargain bin is popular...
Customers seem so smiley!	Angelique came in...and didn't leave (see below)
Sheep!	Shiny jewellery...
Doesn't Elsa look good in her socks?	These ladies are crazy, best keep my doctors' kit on standby...
Nicky!	Just over there is a crowd...only I'm not tall enough to see them...
Love a bit of Wendy Aran...	Pretty cushions. Good for lying on when I want a nap...
Daddy! Busy, busy, busy...	Angelique. Still here.
Found Maud! She's always hiding...	Photographing EVERYTHING is so much more fun than Playdoh...

Time for the other customers to take some photos. Hello!

Sam x

To be honest, life has been a little crazy since September. For those that missed the news, Mr Sconch had a change of career. He was made redundant from his job in finance in the city, and decided to use the opportunity to begin teacher training. He started the course in September, after a summer course to top up his knowledge in his chosen field, Physics. In addition to this, he began music tuition in the evenings. For those of you that are not familiar with teacher training, it means NO SALARY. And to burst the bubble that is the fantasy that many of you have of running a wool shop, it pays a pittance, and as I am still in the first few years, I don't actually take a wage, as we reinvest back into the business. So in order for us to eat, he's working in the evenings.

In addition to this, we were both appointed directors of the new Halstead Community Choir. Crazy idea, with our lack of time, but a paying job nonetheless.

I also took on Panto. I'm the lead, the choreographer, and in charge of pubicity for the club. That was actually a crazy decision. But fun, and a distraction which has actually been good for me, despite how it has caused a slight strain to my face. And my mind. And my body (turns out I can't lunge in quite the same way as I could when I was 21...)

So on top of running the shop, it was always going to be a bit crazy.

But of course the biggest change was with the Sconchlet. Not only was she starting nursery 2 days a week, but she was now to be with me all hours she was not at nursery - a big change from largley being with Mr Sconch, who often worked from home. A big change for all of us.

My hours at the shop had to change, as I can't keep the little one at the shop for the sort of hours I used to pull in order to keep the online business running smoothly. So basically I've slashed my hours. Which means things have fallen over. Jobs have been left to slide. Luckily, Angela has picked up the reigns in the shop, and I couldn't have done it without her. But largely, I have been barely keeping my head above the water's surface.

The flip side, and it is a big flip side, is this face:

I spend more time looking at these cute cheeks than I ever have, and it is awesome. I feel like I am a mammy again.

But with that comes all of the strains of being a mammy. The anguish, the anxiety (more on that in another post coming soon. One I keep starting but never quite finishing. It's a tough one to write), and for me, the never-quite-being-on-time-to-anything-and-always-having-to-apologise-for-missing-play-dates-and-not-calling-back scenarios.

We took our first longer-than-a-weekend holiday with the Sconchlet over Christmas. And this happened:

Oh, and we had another epic and rowdy Christmas social for the evening Craft'n'Cake ladies...

And in early January, the Sconchlet turned three. THREE. It only seems like a few months ago I wrote this blog post.

And before September? Well I am pretty sure stuff happened. There was a Yarn Shop day in there. A World Wide Knit in Public Day. A trip to Olympia and the Handmade Fair (ok so that last one might have been September). An ever growing Craft'n'Cake population. But as I sit here writing this, I can't think of a time before the running back and forth to nursery constantly, and the going to bed at 1am every morning, combined with the Sconchlet waking up at roughly 2am every night as that apparently is her new wake up time... And I am not sure if that is terribly sad or a sign that life has just got very exciting since September.

So let's go with the second. And raise a glass to the next exciting year, and to thank all of you for keeping us here.

And also an advanced letter of apology for all the things I will fail at, and all the deadlines I will continue to miss, and all the people I will inevitably let down.

And finally a white flag. To surrender to it all, and to try and accept that it is what it is, and to remember that I am doing the best that I can.

Sam x

Chocolate Orange covers - they are everywhere at this time of year. But do you think I could find a pattern I was happy with?! Every time I started one, I decided I didn't quite like how it sat, or where it finished, or how it was done up at the bottom (sewing in elastic? If you read my last post, you'll see why that is a no-no). I just wanted to crochet and be done with it.

After all, I was making 8 of them - nursery teacher presents. And I'd (as usual) left it really late, and the last day of term was looming. So it needed to be right, but it also needed to be quick, and I'd run out of time to keep searching for the perfect pattern!

One of the best patterns I could find was Jane Brooker's pattern, but despite how cute they looked, it wasn't *quite* what I wanted (not that I am fussy or anything).  So I began to fiddle and change things, undoing and redoing a million times (and driving poor Mr Sconch mad as I huffed and puffed on the sofa next to him).  One of the main changes I made was with the wings. I wanted him to look like he could fly...

Once I had done the robin, and made 4 of them, I decided I had had quite enough of that, and had a root round in my big box of yarn (ahem. *one* of my big boxes of yarn) for some inspiration. I found a ball of Mocha in Stylecraft Special DK which was just screaming to be made into a reindeer...

I've put my pattern below. I am not in any way claiming that this is a wholly original pattern (I certainly haven't stolen it!) but this is the pattern I ended up using...

I used acrylic DK and a 4mm hook (I hooked quite tightly for this, so you may find you need to go down to a 3.5mm depending on your tension.  When it is finished, it should be quite a struggle to get it over the top of the chocolate orange - but it will go! And then it will sit nice and snug at the bottom)

Robin

Body:

With brown yarn:

Round 1: 6 dc into Magic Circle

Round 2: 2dc into each stitch (12 stitches)

Round 3: 1dc into first stitch, 2dc into next stitch, repeat to end (18 stitches)

Round 4: 1dc, into first two stitches, 2dc into next stitch, repeat to end (24 stitches)

Round 5: 1dc into first three stitches, 2dc into next stitch, repeat to end (30 stitches)

Round 6: 1dc into first four stitches, 2dc into next stitch, repeat to end (36 stitches)

Round 7-11: 1dc into each stitch (36 stitches)

Change to Red

Round 12-17: 1dc into each stitch (36 stitches)

Round 18: 1dc into first four stitches, dc2tog, repeat to end (30 stitches)

Round 19: 1dc into first three stitches, dc2tog, repeat to end (24 stitches)

Round 20: 1dc into each stitch (24 stitches)

Fasten off

The wings:

6dc into magic circle do no join together! Turn your work.

2 dc in each stitch (12 stitches). Turn

2 dc into each stitch, but missing last stitch (22 stitches). Turn

1dc into each stitch, but missing last stitch (21 stitches)

Fasten off

To attach the wings, spread the wing out so the 'V' lies flat along the join of the red and brown on the body. Whip stitch along with brown yarn and secure on the inside of the body. It will be a bit fiddly, but once you've sewn it on, the wing will then ruffle up nicely.

The beak:

Chain 6

Dc into each stitch (6 stitches). Turn

Dc, dc2tog, dc2tog, dc (4 stitches). Turn

Dc, dc2tog, dc.

Turn. Dc into final stitch

Reindeer

Body:

Round 1: 6 dc into Magic Circle

Round 2: 2dc into each stitch (12 stitches)

Round 3: 1dc into first stitch, 2dc into next stitch, repeat to end (18 stitches)

Round 4: 1dc, into first two stitches, 2dc into next stitch, repeat to end (24 stitches)

Round 5: 1dc into first three stitches, 2dc into next stitch, repeat to end (30 stitches)

Round 6: 1dc into first four stitches, 2dc into next stitch, repeat to end (36 stitches)

Round 7-17: 1dc into each stitch (36 stitches)

Round 18: 1dc into first four stitches, dc2tog, repeat to end (30 stitches)

Round 19: 1dc into first three stitches, dc2tog, repeat to end (24 stitches)

Round 20: 1dc into each stitch (24 stitches)

Fasten off.

Antler 1:

Chain 16

Dc into each stitch. Turn

Slip stitch in 2nd chain from hook, and then sl st into next 8 stitches

Chain 5, dc in 2nd ch from hook. Dc in next 3 st

sl st into next stitch on main branch of antler, then sl st to end.

Fasten off.

Antler 2:

Chain 16

Dc into each stitch. Turn

Slip stitch in 2nd chain from hook, and then sl st into next 4 stitches

Chain 5, dc in 2nd ch from hook. Dc in next 3 st

sl st into next stitch on main branch of antler, then sl st to end.

Fasten off.

Of course you can then change up the colours and make whatever figures you want...

If I can bear to look at another chocolate orange, I'll have a go and show you ;)

Sam x

Even when I fell in love with the Pineapple top (see left hand side bar!) I got one of my lovely ladies to make it for me:

But then we started stocking King Cole crochet patterns. And I started to get tempted. Beautiful adult tops, cute little kiddies clothing and the MOST adorable baby wear. But still I resisted. And then one of my friends told me they were having a baby. And I kept picking up the King Cole Cottonsoft and flocking through the baby patterns, and somehow, I came home with 3 balls of Sage and a pattern for a little hoody. With pockets. And turn back sleeves. Because obviously starting with a plain cardi was out of the question.

And I flew through the pattern. King Cole patterns are written quite straight forwardly, and it was quite a simple pattern. Within a couple of evenings I had crocheted most of it up. Plenty of time to spare. Until that is, I had to sew it up. And suddenly I remembered why I don’t make clothes. Because, like I said, I am lazy. I was so put off, it just sat there for two evenings in my bag, looking all sad. But then Karen went and gave birth… which was a bit rude really, when I hadn’t finished making it! So back out of the bag it came. Time to conquer my fears…

I learnt a lot making this hoody. Firstly, if it says place a stitch marker in at the end of a section, then you know what? PLACE A STITCH MARKER IN AT THE END OF A SECTION. Because once you’ve sewn the hood on, well, good luck trying to count the stitches at the top of the back.

Secondly, mattress stitch. Genius. Janet and Karen, two of our regular Craft’n’Cake ladies revealed that to me. I had been pondering the best way to sew it up, but mattress stitch gives you a flat seam, which is really what you want when sewing pieces of hood together.

And measuring. Don’t flip between using inches and cm! I had started measuring using my cute little HiyaHiya tape measure. But I had brought it on a car journey and left my tape measure behind, so had to grab what I could of my bag. I just so happened to have my Crossstitcher magazine freebie in it from years ago (don’t ask me what it was doing in my knitting bag, probably something to do with the Sconchlet). But it only has cm on – no problem I thought. WRONG. Turns out 6cm is very different to 8inch. So it is really important to stick to one or the other. Luckily I questioned this BEFORE crocheting the next section…

In the end, I was looking up the inch conversion on my phone so I could use the cm gauge. I also used just about every measuring tool possible, as I kept forgetting to bring my tape measure with me…including Mr Sconch's tape measures and a Winnie the Pooh ruler...

Going back to stitch markers - mark the right side with a stitch marker. I can easily tell front from back, and if it was unclear, am able to work it out from looking back at the pattern. But even I was losing the plot when doing this and sewing it together. I am not the most spatially aware of people (to say the least – you should see my parking), and I just kept doubting myself. If I had just stuck a stitch marker in, I’d have saved myself literally hours of double checking. It was getting a little obsessive towards the end…

But LOOK. Isn’t it cute?!

I didn’t want to give it over when I had finished. I was so proud. Apologies to every customer that came in that I forced it on, to show it off to. I was so overexcited when it was done, I just HAD to show everyone.

Look at the cute little pockets!

And don't get me started on the little toggles I chose...

And you know what? I secretly loved doing it. Even the sewing up. In fact, I would go so far as to say the sewing up was the best bit (I know!). 

And doesn’t Charlie look adorable?

The question is, do I make something for the Sconchlet next, or do I just jump straight to adult clothing?!

Sam x

One of the Sconchlet's nursery teachers, Miss Helen, (those with children will know how hard it is to drop the 'miss' here...) had come into the shop a little while ago with her daughter, Sarah. They were after some gorgeously soft yarn for a baby blanket and chose Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino, which is always a favourite for baby items. These are the colours they decided on:

However, this was not to knit or crochet with - they were going to weave with it! Helen's mum, Jill, is a weaver and lives over in France. Helen explained how one of Sarah's teachers had gone on maternity leave and that Sarah had wanted to give her a special gift - and what better gift than handmade? So Granny had been enlisted to help weave a blanket.

Helen explained to me how Sarah designed the blanket pattern herself - her teacher is a maths teacher, and as Sarah also loves maths, she decided to use the Fibonacci sequence!

Sarah had never done any weaving before, but as it was to be a gift from her, Granny made sure that Sarah was well involved! So they went over to visit Granny and began the blanket.

Helen said: 'the process turned out to be a lot more complicated than Sarah and I had thought! More calculations followed, then the process of warping the loom with one of our chosen colours began - a fiddly job which Sarah took on with moderate enthusiasm and surprising patience - for a teenager who has not inherited the 'craft gene'!'

You can see the two of them here getting the loom ready:

Once it was all set up, the weaving began.

It soon began to take shape:

Sarah was able to complete the first few stripes whilst they were there, but Granny finished it off when Sarah had to return to school.

The blanket was then fiished with a simple satin ribbon around the edge. I think you will agree, it really is beautiful:

The thing that really struck me with this blanket was how soft it was. When I think about weaving, I think of something quite stiff and unflexible in my hands. But this was so soft. I would say softer than had it been knitted or crocheted even. And you can see the warp thread through it, which I think is a really nice effect. I didn't want to hand it back once I had felt it!

Thank you to Helen for sharing this process with us, and well done to Sarah and Jill!  I am sure your teacher will love it!

Don't forget that you can share your makes on any of the Sconch social media accounts (there are links at the top of the page!) and you can also join our Facebook group to see what other people are making and get advice, share crafty news and generally have a giggle...

Sam x

But I do love being busy. Things are even more busy than they used to be. With the Sconchlet at nursery now, my whole life feels like it is driving back and forth to drop her off and pick her up - and she only goes 2 days a week!

And then there are rehearsals. I'm in the local panto, and not just happy with being in it (principle girl), I volunteered to be the choreographer. Oh and be on the committee. Because I don't have a busy job to do, do I?

And then there is Mr Sconch and his teacher training. And the tech rehearsals for the theatre club which I roped him into. And the governor meetings.

So I don't think it will come as much of a surprise that housework and cooking aren't *that* high on the list of priorities whilst we try and settle into a routine. I'm not fitting any decent crochet time in, so I am CERTAINLY not going to put housework above that now, am I?

To ease the straing (BEFORE we took on all the crazy extra things...) earlier this year, we started getting Hello Fresh boxes. They are amazing. Basically, a company comes up with recipes for your dinner for a week, puts all of the ingredients into a box, in just the right quantities, and then posts it to you. Genius. I was pretty happy with them, but then I was tempted over to Gousto, a similar (but slightly cheaper) company in September, and I just love them.

Not that I do the cooking. Mr Sconch has taken over, which is partly because I am never at home at the right time, but also because he has suddenly decided he loves cooking. He doesn't like having to plan a meal, but the actual cooking he loves. So this is perfect.

But tonight he is out. And to be honest, I've not cooked properly for so long (aside from the odd pasta and roast dinner), I just couldn't bring myself to do all the veg prepping. But I had this in the cupboard!

They were about £2, and we got them ages ago as a back up option. It was so easy to do!

And luckily I had some yummy oil to use in it, that we had got free with one of our Hello Fresh boxes...

 Look! A proper meal! In about 15 minutes!

And actually enough for both myself and Mr Sconch and the Sconchlet. Which for those of you who see the three of us eat, will know this is quite impressive... I used chopped chicken breast instead of prawns, but it was fine.

I've got a Thai Green curry kit in the cupboard too...

There is a chance I may trying to fit a little *too* much in at once. My brain isn't quite keeping up with myself. Or maybe it is my body that is not keeping up with my brain. Either way, I'm losing the plot. I'd cooked enough chicken to take some aside for tomorrow night's dinner. I was thinking a quick pasta, nice and easy as tomorrow is a bit crazy with the theatre group's Children in Need night. Except somewhere in between mentally calculating margins on a new product, and blocking out an intro to the opening number of the panto, I poured the egg onto all of the chicken before separating it out. Ooops.

So after proof reading Mr Sconch's latest essay, unpacking a box or two (we've been redecorating) and putting a load of washing on, I'm going to sit and do nothing for what is left of the night. Maybe with a glass of gin. In my special gin glass. (Ok, so maybe I've already poured it.)

And hope I don't look hungover tomorrow too.

Sam x

Anyway, aside from us all going a bit loopy here trying to fit yarn into spaces we don't really have in the shop (no really, THERE IS NO MORE SPACE. Who wants to buy me a new shop?), my blanket is coming along nicely... it doesn't look any different to last time, so I don't have any new pictures of it, as it is the same stripey progression (and, if I am honest, it is at home, and if I don't do this blog post today, it will be another month). However, I'm having trouble deciding what to do with it. It was going to be one big stripey blanket, but then I thought it might look good if I made it a square, then edged two sides with stripes going the opposite way, and then two final sides of edging going the other way - so a bit like a log cabin pattern, but on a larger scale.

What do you think? Do you ever just change your mind halfway through a project? I was so determined to make a stripey throw, that it has come as a real suprise to suddenly have the urge to change the plan. But then I remembered my lack of time and my ever growing list of WIPs, and think maybe I should just stick to the original plan for this one? How is is possible to be this indecisive?!

Anyway, lots of ladies who come into the shop and see my blanket lying around (either because I have been grabbing some quick hooky time, or because the Sconchlet has grabbed it out of my bag to wrap around her for an impromptu nap in the middle of the shop floor surrounded by buttons), have been asking about the colours. So I decided to put the pack together and pop it up for sale now...

I think they look so pretty together, really rich...

(there, see, same picture as last time)

You can find it here:

Super Duper Autumn Daze Blanket Pack

I do love having a blanket project on the go - something I can pick up and just do without having to engage my brain. And now it is starting to get a bit colder, it is nice having the weight of it to sit under. And it is nice that we are so busy that I don't have time to work on it consistently, but OH how I wish I could finish it quicker so I could start on my next 18 blankets...

Sam x

This is a bit of a flashback post, as all the photos were actually taken a few months ago...but they were too good to not share. Before the summer hols, I went to a wedding up in the Lake District and the day after, we decided to go on a drive. Do you ever take those crazy drives? The ones where everytime you get to a junction one of you yells left or right? Or is that just us?

Anyway, as we were trundling down some frankly scary country lanes, I noticed on the good ole sat nav that there was a name pinpointed. The name of one of my independent suppliers. Well, I screeched a little, and smiled nicely, and Mr Sconch turned that way. And right enough, as we pulled up outside this farm house, I saw the name 'Town End Alpacas' on the gate. How wierd is that?

So we drove back and forth along the country lane, so I could peek at the alpacas (seriously, we must have looked like we were casing the place) and then Mr Sconch abruptly stopped back outside their gate and told me to go and knock. How crazy is that?! I couldn't just knock! What was even wierder, was that I had actually been emailing the lovely Kim that morning, which Mr Sconch pointed out was, if he had been one to belive in that kind of thing, surely a sign? Anyway, as we were sitting outside, I spotted a man walk towards the gate. Turns out it was Brian, the other half of Town End Alpacas, and LUCKILY, he turned out to be lovely, and not at all put off by my excited ramblings about being one of Kim's shops, and before I knew it, we were driving in and getting our own little private tour...

Brian told us all about the alpacas, and let the Sconchlet go in and see them (she LOVED them), and told us a bit about the business.

Though it was a bit hard to get her to actually smile at the camera...there were too many exciting things in the field behind us!

It turns out we were really lucky to see the alpacas, as Kim and Brian had made the decision to stop farming alpacas, and were selling them off at auction. Kim is continuing to dye her yarns, but is using fleece from other farmers in the area. So we really did time it right!

All of the alpacas in their herd are named after cars... there was Mungo, Austin, Morris and Sprite. I think from memory this was Mungo at the front!

They were fascinating to watch - they are much more wild in comparison to sheep, and still move very instinctively; one moves, and they all move almost instantly as one.

Brian was a font of knowledge - did you know for example that they are actually related to camels, not sheep?! And that their knees and ankles are not where you would think - so what looks like their ankle is in fact their knee?!

Alpacas have only been bred in the UK for around 30 years, so it is a relatively new breed. There is no meat industry from alpacas currently which makes them a bit of an oddity.

Brian explained that with alpaca shearing, it isn't done in one complete piece like with sheep (which is always something which fascinates me) and that the different parts are separated out. And if you have always thought that alpacas faces were really cute, this seems to be down to the way they are sheared! They have to have their face hair trimmed so that they can see!

All of the alpacas you can see here are really young, and are all between 7 and 11 months old. Alpacas can live to 20 years old, and once they reach adolescence the males have to be separated from the females (no surprise there!)

Apparently, alpacas tend to spit less than llamas, but if you do get spat on, and it goes in your eye, it really stings haha!

It was such a lovely, random stop off on our little holiday, and I got to learn lots more about alpaca yarn, which is always useful. For example, did you know that alpacas vary with how 'hairy' they are? And that the fleece gets de-haired to separate the coarse hair from the finer hair? And if alpaca yarn is irritating skin, then it is likely to be because it hasn't been de-haired?

Obviously all of the lovely Town End Alpacas yarns are super soft...and squishable, and in fact, I often find myself in that corner of the shop stroking them...

My two favourites are the Pure Alpaca Chunky Undyed, which is just screaming to be made into snuggly wrist warmers and a slouchy beanie...

And the Alpaca/Silk/Merino, which is super soft, as well as having quite a lot of 'body' to it. It is quite satisfying to squish when in its skein!

Gorgeous, aren't they?

I am so grateful to Brian for letting us have such an amazing tour, and allowing us to have such an insight into alpaca farming. And even though they are no longer farming alpacas, it is so great to know that Kim is still dyeing yarn, as her beautifully soft colourways are simply amazing.

Town End Aplaca yarns are available to buy through us on our website, and of course in the shop :) And if you have already bought some, I would LOVE to see what you have made with it! Show me a picture on here, by email, or on any of our social media accounts :)

Sam x

Elaine is the vice president of the Dolphin WI, and was inspired to start making a knitted version of Braintree after her sister had come up with the idea of celebrating 900 years of her own village in Hertfordhsire with a knitted replica of the main buildings. As the WI were celebrating its centenary, she felt it was good timing to steal the idea for Braintree!

Like so many project beginnings, Elaine said she found herself saying out loud that she 'would have a go'. It began with St Michael's Church, which she felt was a good central point of the town, but soon moved on to making the Library (as a good modern contrast) and then the Town Hall and the Swan Pub. What started off as a small project soon grew and became a much bigger project than she had envisaged.

Elaine said that making the buildings meant that they really started looking at the architecture in the town, and noticing things they normally wouldn't. Like the amazing windows in George Yard - things that you walk past everyday without noticing. Braintree is actually a really beautiful town, with some gorgeous buldings. But like anywhere, once you live in a place, it is easy to become blind to the amazing sights on your doorstep.

The basic structure for each building is made from polystyrene. Elaine said she was surprised that by showing the laides some polystyrene lumps, it was able to spark so much creativity! Ladies would take roof sections away with them to work on, and many of them researched new stitches to learn to replicate the tiling patterns. 

Once the town was complete, Elaine gave each lady the challenge of making a market stall. It was their 'signature dish' as Elaine puts it. They had free reign to do what they wanted.

Going forward, there is plan to add The White Hart, the old water tower, and the Citizens Advice Bureau. There is even talk of completing the public gardens as a winter project!

Elaine's aim was 'to bring a group of mixed ability ladies together to show them what they could acheive', and it is clear that that is exactly what Elain has managed. She is clearly immensiely proud of each of the ladies who have taken part in the project. I asked her if it had been what she had hoped it would be. Her whole face lit up, and she replied 'Oh yes, definitely. More'.

The knitted town is currently on display in one of the shop windows in George Yard, opposite Greggs the Bakers. It will be moving to the museum in September. There will also be a calander and postcards featuring the knitting later in the year, which will be available to buy and raise funds for the WI.

Do you have a project like this in your town? I'd love to see pictures! You can email them to me at blog@sconch.com if you would like them to be featured in a later blog :)

Sam x

You'd be forgiven for thinking I'd run away over the past month. I haven't posted much on Social Media in general, and I haven't blogged at all. But between drowning under work, being poorly, a teeny sneaky holiday, and a lack of staff due to holidays, I keep getting to the end of the day having not made a dent in my to do list.

Or rather I get to the morning on my drive in to the shop and my brain is bombarded with all of the things I was supposed to do the day before. And then I get in to the shop and promptly forget them all.

I'm beginning to feel a little bit like this headless Happypotamus...

I have lists, don't get me wrong. I have sooo many lists. I think most people that step foot in to the office at the shop would think that I am hugely disorganised. There is rarely space on the desks. But I know where everything is, and I have lists. There are just not enough hours in the day is the problem, and, as any parent will know, entertaining a 2 year old at the same time means I sometimes drop one (or most) of the balls I am juggling.

However, despite this, I have been quietly crocheting for an hour each evening. Mr Sconch and I love box sets, and we have been catching up on some TV in the evenings, to try and switch off a bit. Life is a bit crazy for us both at the moment (more on that another time!), and so that hour is our time to just sit.

Except I can't just sit. I have to crochet at the same time. Because I am an addict. You know that feeling, not being able to keep your hands still whilst watching something. I think my addiction is reaching new levels, as this morning at the gym I was serously wondering if it would be wierd to have crochet in my hands whilst on the bike...

Anyway, I thought you might like to see what I have been working on...

First up is my Heidi Bears Happypotamus you can see above. We have a Facebook group (Craft'n'Cake with Sconch if you would like to join!) where we have challenges. Mini challenges (across 2 months) and year long challenges (funnily enough, that last a year...). We have these for both crochet and knit, and they are great. I do them to encourage people to try things they normally wouldn't. And it works! They have helped improve skills and get people out of their comfort zone.

Anyway, our first mini challenge (for May-June) was any creature from the Heidi Bears range. Obviously I try and join in with these challenges (although I can't enter or win the prizes!), because then I can offer advice and help people. However, it turns out I am just a bit short of time. Poor Mr Happy is still headless.

And then there is the year long blanket challenge. I am not joining in with the knit challenge, because at the time I launched that one I had come to the realisation I would be crazy to add another project. We are currently on week 8. This is week 1, with about 5 rounds to go:

And my stripey blanket. You can read about this blanket here, where I wrote about choosing the colours. I am actually really loving making this, and I find myself picking it up to give me some 'me' time. Although trying to keep the striping size as random is proving more difficult than I thought - I don't really do 'random' so well.

Plus the granny squares for the Hello Happy Mail Swap I am involved with... and the other 6 or so projects I have on the go. Hmmm. that's normal though, right?

So if you notice I have been quiet for a while, drop me a message to check I haven't got stuck under a pile of crochet, or fallen over in the stock room and suffocated under the latest delivery, or you know, that I am not rocking uncontrollably in the corner of the shop. It's nice to know you notice :)

Sam x

So I thought I would do a quick tutorial for you... if you have any questions, or would like me to clarify anything further, let me know! And remember, this is your blog, so if there is something you want me to write about or show you how to do, leave me a comment!

 Please note - I've used UK terminology for this tutorial...

First, take your yarn and lay it over your hand.  This is the bit that tends to throw people!

 Wrap the working yarn behind...

And back over to make a cross on your finger.

Insert your hook underneath the loop you have made.  You will be grabbing the working yarn...

Use your hook to pull the working yarn through the loop...

Then chain 1 to anchor it in place.  This does not count as your first stitch!

At this point, I pull it off my finger, as I think it is easier to continue this way...

You want to make sure you have a good hold of the loop and the tail end with your free hand, so that it doesn't move about. Then whilst holding on, double crochet in to the centre of the ring (as you would do normally)...

Continue to double crochet in to the ring for how ever many stitches are required.  Remember, the first chain you did, does not count as one of your stitches.

Whilst holding on to your stitches, take hold of the tail end.

Pull gently until the hole you have been crocheting in to starts to close...

Pull it nice and tight, and the hole should be gone.

Then slip stitch to the top of the first double crochet to close the ring.  Done!

The important thing to remember is to work in your tail end really securely.  Otherwise, your magic ring will come undone, as there will be nothing holding it closed...

I hope this helps, let me know if anything is unclear!

Sam x

 ...now, whilst for most people, the British Knitting Awards 2015 aren't on *quite* the same level as the general election, for others, they have quite an impact. Yes, that would be the likes of little old me.

 We've been lucky enough to be nominated for Best Independent Yarn Store in the South East of England for the second year running (nope, we didn't win last year *sob*). Nominated by you. And to be honest, that alone is a little overwhelming. But I'd be a bit silly if I let the overwhelming emotions take over so much that I didn't urge you all to go and actually vote for us as well...

You can also vote for us in the 'Best Website' category, the 'Best Online Store' category, and most excitingly, 'Best Yarn Shop Day Experience' category. For all of these, you need to choose 'other' and then pop us in the box.

So, why should you vote for us Sconches? Well, for a start, because you love us. But apart from the obvious, to help raise awareness of us. We are a bit in the middle of nowhere here, as Local Yarn Stores go, and 90% of Braintree still don't know we are here. Which is a tragedy. Not least because without sales, we shut. By us winning, we get more publicity and help raise our profile. It also raises awareness of the online store, which lots of people have never heard of.

We battle daily with crazy price wars, but think that on the whole, we are fairly competitive. But it is tough. Big yarn shops offer crazy deals like 30% off, because they can, and our sales shrivel. And then on the other end of the sale, small sellers pop up and also offer crazy prices - either because they don't actually understand that making 10p on a ball of yarn isn't sustainable, or because they don't have any overheads. (That's a rant for another day though). It is just the way it is. But if more people know about us, this has less impact as we have a bigger loyal customer base.

And also, and perhaps most importantly, because (if i do say so myself), we offer amazing customer service. We always have done. I'm online practically all the time to answer questions, put colour packs together, and help you with your technical questions. And I do all of this with a family to look after.

I think because we have a fairly swanky website, and because you always get your orders next day, and because generally we are always about, it can mean that people forget that it is mainly just me. With a 2 year old in tow. And a lot of duplo. And a doting husband who helps where he can. Yes, I have 2 amazing members of staff, but they work a handful of hours a week, and they deal with the shop side of things, helping with the Craft'n'Cake sessions, packing orders 1 or 2 days a week. The rest of the time, all of the website stuff, the marketing stuff, the finance, the classes, and the 'all-of-the-other-bits' stuff is just me. And that is a lot for one person to do. 

This past year has been a bit of a rollercoaster year for us, both from a personal and a business point of view, for reasons I won't go in to. There have been several times when we thought we would be closing. But we are still here, still battling, because I love my job. I love craft, I love yarn, and I love my customers (yes, even the slightly oddball ones). I love teaching, and I love helping people. 

So I am asking you to vote. To vote for me. The person who would answer all of your endless questions whilst doing the night feeds at 3am (yes, that is right, for those that can't quite believe it, lots of yarny people have babies too - it was a bit like a night feeding yarnaholics group...), who works 7 days a week to make sure things work (reasonably) smoothly, who has packed orders with a baby strapped to her chest, then later, strapped to her ankle (not literally for that bit of course...I don't actually shackle the Sconchlet) and who devotes her whole life to yarn. We might be bigger, but I am still the same mammy who you all started shopping with 2 and a half years ago.

So go and vote, and make your vote count. (vote for me!)

 http://www.letsknit.co.uk/britishknittingawards/

Sam x 

...and the cake!  Oh so much cake...

Look at those adorable button cakes made by Jen!

And beautiful freshly cut flowers by Simone... (from her garden. She didn't just steal them. Well, I don't think so anyway...)

...and we even managed to do some knitting!

 At times it even looked like those who were knitting and crocheting were taking it quite seriously...

We even had people learning to knit and crochet...

And despite the fact that the weather was simply gross (you know that awful fine drizzle that makes you wetter than if you had been out in a torrential downpour? Well that, but with a sideways wind...) we even managed some yarnboming...

It was really cold... but we soldiered on, for all of about half an hour...

And the knit-a-longs and crochet-a-longs were really popular. We were continuing with our making of hats and blankets for local hospitals for the NICU wards, as well as starting on making Twiddlemuffs - a really great idea, where you make a sleeve to fit over the patients arm. They are designed for patients with Dementia, as it stops them fiddling with their canulas - and instead they fiddle with whatever you have attached to the Twiddlemuff.

We used the following pattern, but there are now loads out there if you have a google:

Knitting Pattern

and I found this crochet pattern here:

Crochet Pattern

They grow really quickly!

And then, well... it just started to go downhill really...

Mass hysteria set in!  I blame Simone and Bev personally. Pauline tried to take control, and Angela just abandoned us. But the more we tried to stop laughing, the worse it got. And then I got stuck in that gap. Brilliant. It took 3 ladies to haul me out...

Bring on next years' Worldwide Knit in Public Day I say!

Sam x

Last week I decided to start making a blanket, as it has been sooooo long since I have done one.  I ummed and aaahed about which stitch, which colours, what size (no really? I hear you ask - but you are always so decisive? *snort*)

I have a giant bag of Stylecraft Special DK colours all left over from when we used to sell shade cards and I thought I should really do something with them.  So out they all came for some inspiration. I had an idea in my head of roughly what I wanted it to look like - autumn!

We already have the Leafy Walks pack which we put together to celebrate the new Special DK colours from last year...

But for what I wanted to do, this wasn't *quite* right. So using that pack as a starting point, I (as well as a whole heap of lovely customers) started adding and taking away shades. 2 hours later, and I had a colour scheme. I even had an order.

But by the following day, when I started crocheting up iddy biddy samples, I didn't like it.  It didn't work, and I was grumpy. So all of the shades came out again, and I once again (and again, with lots of customers!) moved them all around. We went from a mixed up funky order, to a movement of tone from one end to the other, which made it 'gel' more. It was going to be interspersed with 'Stone', just like with the original layout.

However, by the time I had got home, I had changed my mind again! Mr Sconch had a look at it. He is one of those annoying people who can put a pack together in seconds. He looked a bit puzzled, then rearranged the colours to the original layout, then took out Stone. Funky, young, and autumnal. Apparently. It was all Stone's fault...coming into my blanket pack making it all wrong...

So now just to decide on the stitch. I briefly considered V stitch, but the colours are too bold for such a delicate stitch. Ripple or Chevron maybe? I kept coming back to stripes though. Stripes are so comforting in a blanket, especially with heavy and bold colours. So a new iddy biddy sample was made and I was off... and actually, I was also a little bit in love...

Will keep you updated!

Sam x

Well on Sunday, I dragged us all along to the Ickworth Wool festival.  It is only about 45 mintues from us, held at the beautiful Ickworth Hall.  It is a National Trust property, and is set in pretty grounds.  The fair itself was held outside in the grounds under a marquee and various free standing tents.

It wasn't as big as I had hoped it would be, but we did have a rather lovely day.  I started off taking lots of photos for you, including of the amazing sheep show.  

I have seen these guys at other events (they quite often go to the big shows like the Norfolk Show etc) and I can highly recommend a viewing if you get the chance... 

We were introduced to each of the sheep in turn. There was Dougal...

The adorably dopey Sam, a Suffolk Sheep...

And then Nobby, and of course the reggae loving Lenny...

The whole show is a really good mix of education about the history and use of sheep over the ages, as well as a cute little sheep dancing show (yes, you did read tha right!), which means it is great entertainment for adults and kids. You can find out more about them here.

There were alpacas (freshly shorn) which were drawing a bit of a crowd, as they were pretty adorable...

They were so cute and strokeable, as demonstrated by the little Sconchlet hand peeking through the bars...

And there was LOTS of food to be had.  Including an amazing popcorn seller, who was mixing the popcorn in a giant vat, whilst wearing an industrial blowtorch-user style helmet (technical term) and industrial rubber gloves.  Unfortunately I didn't get a photo of this spectacle, as it had started to rain...

A lot.

By the end of the day we were like three drowned rats, and the poor little Sconchlet was very miserable - so miserable she didn't even want to see the Elsa impersonator perform (and those that visit the shop will know that Frozen is a big theme in our lives right now)...

I did, however, get a good look around all of the yarny stalls, and did see quite a few possible new suppliers (so keep your eyes peeled for that!).  And more excitingly, I did buy yarn.  All from one seller in fact.

Hand spun yumminess by Hook, Line and Stitches...

And some more...

And a gratuitous group photo...

We ended the day with a hot bath and warm drinks, which cheered the Sconchlet up no end (although she was already fairly cheerful as apparently stripping her off in the car out of her soggy clothes and wrapping her in a blanket was highly amusing)...

Bliss :)

Sam x

I have been making granny style bunting, but there are loads of patterns out there for different types, both knitted and crocheted. I have a whole pinterest board dedicated to yarny bunting...

Click here to see my Pinterest Bunting Board :)

Bunting, whether knitted or crocheted, is a great way to use up your scraps of yarn you might have lying around (although obviously I am not going to discourage you from coming for a visit and buying some new yarn…) as you only need small amounts for each bunting flag. Try mixing colours – experiment with colourways to really brighten up the place. Then either crochet a chain to hang them on, or attach them to some pretty twine – or some rustic string if that takes your fancy!

A really simple pattern is to use the granny square method – it is really effective, and if you can make a granny square, you can make this!

Here is the basic pattern for you to have a go:

UK Terms. Using DK and a 4mm hook (although you could use whichever weight you have and substitute the correct hook size – why not mix and match your scraps?)

I have used Rico Design Essentials Cotton DK, in Aquamarine (31) and Candy Pink (12).

To start: Chain 4, slip stitch to close.

Round 1: Chain 3, 2 trebles in to ring. Chain 2, three trebles into ring, Chain 2, three trebles into ring, Chain 2. 

Slip stitch to top of first Chain 3 to close.

Turn your work.

Round 2: Chain 3, 2 trebles into space, chain 2, 3 trebles into same space. *Chain 1, 3 trebles into next space, chain 2, 3 trebles into same space. Repeat from * and then chain 1 and slip stitch to top of first Chain 3 to close.

Turn your work.

I added a new colour here.  You can either tie off and slip stitch to add the new colour on (as I have here) or use a no-knot method, it is up to you!

Round 3: Chain 3, 2 trebles into space. *Chain 1, 3 trebles into next space, Chain 2, 3 trebles into same space. Repeat from * 2 times. Chain 1 and slip stitch to top of first Chain 3 to close.

Repeat using the method of Round 3, adding in extra treble clusters on each round, until triangle is the desired size.

You can change colour on each round, or use 1 colour per triangle – it is up to you!

If you block your bunting, it will give them amazing definition.  You can either steam block (for acrylic) or wet block and pin if using a different fibre.  I've stretched mine out so you can see the difference it makes:

Don’t forget, if you need any help with your bunting, you can come in and visit us and we can sort out any problems you might have :)

If you want to make sure you keep up to date with blog posts, you can now Follow my blog with Bloglovin :)

Sam x

Oh my, it was so exciting, and overwhelming, and just so BUSY! We had advertised in the local papers, and on Facebook, so had hoped for a good turn out, but hadn't quite expected the turn out we got... Who knew 10% off and goody bags could be so exciting?!

Angela, Jo and I spent the week getting things ready, making goody bags and prettying up the shop...

When we opened at 10, there was a bit of a queue, which quickly escalated into a bigger queue as more people arrived (and a few technical glitches with the till, ssssshhh!) and the shop was buzzing! When it died down enough for us to breathe a bit, Mr Sconch went round with his camera...

And was a bit of a pest...

We had workshops running all day, including pom pom making and french knitting for the kids, and polymer clay crochet hook handles for adults (and some adventurous kids!). Nicky did a great job running these, and everyone was really pleased with their creations...

The Sconchlet had loads of fun, joining in with all of the workshops, and eating copious amounts of cake. Even a quick hair tidy up was fun apparently...

And we did some yarnbombing! Simone froze whilst painstakingly crocheting up the bark of our little tree...

All in all, it was AMAZING. A huge thank you to everyone who came along. Some people stayed all day, which was amazing, as everyone was sitting around crocheting and knitting and nattering, and generally having a lovely time, which ultimately is what I want this shop to be about... Everyone loved it so much, we have another event coming up in June, so keep your eyes peeled!

Sam x

I am a bit rubbish at posting, so I thought this would be a great way to get some thoughts down and begin blogging again...

Making: samples up for the new colourways for the crocheted blanket kit that we sell... not going to lie, bit sick of this pattern, what with this being about my 2 millionth square I have made. Still marvelling at how pretty it looks though, the new colours make it look like a completely new design! (If I do say so myself haha!)

Cooking: not a lot really...been a crazy few months, and have sort of being living off junk...

Drinking: wine. And champers. We got a lot for our party (mine and Mr Sconch's joint 30th)

Reading: The Little Village School by Gervais Phinn, Anna Karenina by Fyodor Dostoyevsky plus many crochet magazines...

Wanting: a *bit* more sleep

Looking: a bit different to last week, as I have changed my hair (again) and it is something I seem to need to forewarn people of, as nearly everybody has been visibly startled by the change. Good sign or no?

Playing: catch up. Continuously.

Deciding: on what to bring to the big local market this Sunday. And what to wear. As apparently it is Victorian themed... a fact I did not know when signing up...

Wishing: I had worn more clothes today as I am a bit chilly.

Enjoying: watching the Sconchlet get excited about the Christmas lights in the shop. Not sure she quite gets why there are sparkles everywhere, but it is adorable watching her shout 'baumbaum' (her word for pompom - you can tell she has been raised in a yarn shop when that is one of her only words, right?!) everytime she walks past the tree and sees the baubles! Anything round and dangly is a pompom to her!

Waiting: for my sales rep to arrive, as I am pretty sure he was meant to be here over an hour ago. Still, means I am getting this written, right?

Liking: most of the songs in the chart at the moment. A lot. Much dancing can be seen in the shop office if you peer through the door. Mostly inappropriate dancing, but sometimes a girl just has to shake her thang, you know?! It is a great stress buster, you should try it.

Wondering: if the office at the shop will ever stay tidy for longer than an hour. A Sconchlet and a busy me is not a great combinations for tidy...

Loving: our new website that went live yesterday at 3am...but...

Pondering: whether you all like it?! It has been a year in the making, so slightly terrified. Feedback gratefully received.

Considering: what to write for my next article due for our local magazine - I write the craft column each month, and I'm a bit stumped this month (I did Christmas crafts last month - this one is Dec/Jan)

Watching: Gilmore Girls on Netflix every night. Love those ladies!

Hoping: that the Sconchlet feels a bit better after her nap. It is so hard saying goodbye to your baby girl in the morning when she is feeling poorly. It will be harder for her tomorrow though as she will be at the shop with me (like she so often is), and being a poorly bubba at work with mammy is tough. Not sure whether it is more tough for her or me though?

Marvelling: at how much I have learned in Photoshop and Lightroom, yet somehow how little I know...Needing: chocolate.

Smelling: a mixture of the toffee latte sat next to me on the desk and my perfume. Interesting combination!

Wearing: winter boots that apparently leak. I now have wet socks. New winter boots needed I think...

Following: the trail of destruction that is the Sconchlet, round the shop almost every day. Those tubes of buttons are just *too* much fun...

Noticing: that wishing appears twice in this list. On purpose do you think?

Knowing:that sometimes there isn't a right answer, so you just have to go with it.

Thinking: about the amazing friends I have made thanks to Sconch...

Admiring: so many yarny makes by all my lovely customers. I get sent photos every day, and lots of you bring your creations in to the shop to show me. One of the only downsides of running a yarn shop is the lack of time to actually make anything myself.

Sorting: through patterns to be loaded on the the new shiny (did I mention it is new and shiny and has just relaunched?) website.

Buying:not enough Christmas presents. Never going to be ready. Maybe I could just get next year's presents instead?!Getting: excited about a family trip to London to do lots of Christmassy things in a couple of weeks. Planning on actually taking at *least* half a day off haha!

Bookmarking: too many patterns on Ravelry. It is starting to get silly. Can you have too many projects in your library?

Disliking: the big cut on the end of my finger where I sliced it open cutting garlic (ok, so maybe that means I cook more than I thought...)

Opening: a chocolate bar. Ssssssssshhhhhhh.

Giggling: with happiness when I remember that one of my customers brought me chocolate yesterday after seeing a Facebook post asking for people to send chocolate supplies as my admin list was rather long...

Feeling: slightly nauseous after my McDonalds breakfast...(obviously not because of the chocolate.)

Snacking: on Crispbread from Lidl. Seriously addictive. Like tasty Ryveta, and probably horrifically bad for me if the taste is anything to go by.

Coveting: so many pretty things on my Pinterest boards. Worried that during a late night of working I might be consumed with a combination of sleep deprivation and lust for pretty items and suddenly buy them all, leaving us bankrupt and homeless. But homeless with pretty satchels and boots and dresses and storage baskets. So it wouldn't be all bad, right?

Wishing: I could spend more time with the Sconchlet, but knowing that building this business is going to be worth it in the long run, as I am building it for her.

Helping: lots of ladies create their Christmas gifts, by teaching them new skills and helping them with colour choices. I have the BEST job.

Hearing: the shop door go, so off to serve a customer...Sam xPS I would love to see if you have a go!

We ran the race and we got to our target! What a day it was, we had so much fun. Unfortunately our team, which started out as 7 ladies, had dwindled to just 3 by the time the day had come, with ladies dropping out for various reasons, so we had decided to take the Sconchlet round with us too, just for a bit of extra fun...

Karen, Trudy (my mum!) and I were geared up and ready for a run/walk/crawl in the lovely sun...

...Except the sun decided to disappear, and instead we left the house in the pouring rain!

Karen was less than impressed with the weather...

...and the rain had started to make Trudy a little crazy...

But dressed in our bunny ears and tutus, we got to the field, and with the support of Mr Sconch and my dad, we headed straight for the burger van to fill up on food! Well, the weather was miserable, so what else were we to do?!

It was at this point that the idea of bringing the Sconchlet round with us began to look like a really bad one. The realisation that the terrain was quite rough was unappealing enough, but to add to it, we had an overtired and VERY grumpy baby on our hands. Not even a pretty flower was cheering her up...

So at the last minute, we decided to leave her with her daddy and granddaddy, and hope that she stopped screaming her head off for them!

At the start line, the sun came out, and everyone started to cheer up (except the Sconchlet, she still had tears rolling down her face) and we did a quick team pose, in the most serious of fashions...

We don't look at all nervous, do we?

And then we were off...

Walking over the grounds of Hylands was far tougher than on the treadmill at the gym, and we felt the burn farily early on, making us all worry that we weren't going to make it round! However, we giggled our way through groups of pink clad ladies and every so often, even broke into a little jog! We even got so excited that somewhere at the 2km mark we all decided we could run the 10k next year...

We stayed together as a group until the 4km marker, then all made a break for it to try and run the last 1km. I had to keep stopping as waves of pain and nausea swept over me (obviously nothing to do with the sausage smothered in ketchup I had consumed just before starting), but as I ran down the home straight and saw dad, Mr Sconch and the Sconchlet waving at me, it made the pain momentarily disappear!

Obligatory unflattering 'action shot' of me running down the home straight...

We couldn't stop grinning as we reunited at the end to pose for a 'post run' shot...

We did it. And we have just gone past our £300 target! There is still time to sponsor us, you can follow this link here:

https://www.justgiving.com/ignite-ladies/

A big thank you to everyone who has sponsored us so far, and given us words of encouragement.

Back to the gym on Wednesday... twice as far to run next year!

Sam x

Despite this, in 2008 I ran Race for Life with my friend Claire, and it was so much fun, not to mention having the benefit of raising money for a great cause...

Claire and I took it all very seriously...

...but then once it was over, I stopped exercising again, my health went up and down, and then I fell pregnant and, well, regular readers of this blog will know how poorly I got and how much I struggled with that...

I am still at physio every few weeks (16 months after Sconchlet was born) and my health is still very much up and down. My body is broken. And yet, well, I am once again running Race for Life. And not just me, but a group of us. Some lovely ladies made up of other business owners on this little estate, as well as some of my lovely customers, are all running together! On the 6th July we shall be running round Hylands Park in Chelsmord - hopefully in the sunshine!

I have been told I am being stupid, and that I am being stubborn. But stubborness has got me through a lot of things. Stubborness gets me through the tough times with this company, when everyone has said to give up and told me I would fail, and I am still going with that...

So this morning at 7am I went swimming! Only 6 lengths mind, and they were tough. But next week will see me stepping into a gym for the first time since 2008... and in less than 2 months I WILL be doing the 5k, whether that is me walking, jogging, running or dare I say it...crawling.

I am not just doing this for the great cause, but for myself. My body needs to be healthier to improve. And whilst it will be a careful juggling act, I want to try. I think it will also be good for me mentally.

And maybe this time, I won't go back to the comfy couch as soon as it is over!

Imagine if every one of my Facebook likers sponsored us £1 - that would be over £3000!!

If you would like to sponsor us, we have a Just Giving page which you can seeHERE.

You can also text the amount you want to donate, along with the code GTON55 to 70070. So for example:

GTON55 £5 and send that to 70070.

So now I have a goal of mastering knitting (more on that next time!) AND getting fit. This will be a doddle, right?!

Sam x

And I managed ONE WHOLE DAY without checking emails ;)

After several false starts (bike carriers falling off the back of the car after the chain snapped, a Sconchlet needing dinner because everything was running late etc) we didn't actually leave until 8:30pm, around the time we had actually planned to arrive...

But we arrived nevertheless, and we were greeted by the lovely Rachael (you know, the loony one over at Foxglove and Gingersnap) as we were staying nearby (yes that is right, she met us even though it was midnight) and so began our holiday!

The weekend was spent mooching around Winterton, this adorable village we were staying in, trundling along the beach and a shopping trip to Norwich.

We spent a lovely first morning with Rachael's family who have a boat and tractor up on the beach...

Not sure about this tractor mummy... it is awfully high up!

All was going well until Nip had shut the tractor door and the Sconchlet had a bit of a meltdown!

We then went for a trundle along the beach... and when I say trundle, I mean we acted like loons...

And then we decided to have a piggy back... and you just know that that was going to end well...

Starting well...

Yes, that's right. She fell over backwards.

But the Sconchlet thought it was funny...

On the Saturday, the three of us went to Norwich for a day trip to look around the shops (yes, I went to a yarn shop!) and then on Sunday we had a bit of a drive around (mainly to get the Sconchlet to sleep, which was totally unsuccessful). We stumbled across this lovely little Craft Centre, which you can read all abouthere.

Alby Crafts and Gardens is a lovely collection of workshop spaces and mini galleries all set in lovely grounds with a cute tea room. They advertise that they have the award winning 'Norfolk Breakfast Egg', which of course we had to sample... basically a scotch egg, but instead of pork meat, it was surrounded by mashed potato with bacon bits, and coated in breadcrumbs and cornflakes! It was actually really nice...

The grounds were very pretty...

And the Sconchlet enjoyed looking around...

We then went on to the beach at Cromer, which wasn't a long stop on our travels, not least because we were FREEZING!

You can see what the weather was like here...a bit choppy!

But we still had a lovely time :) And I cannot wait to go back for some more 'down time'. It was just what we needed.

Sam x

It's getting easier, but is slow going!

So, just before I sign off, I want to introduce to you the newest member of the Sconch team... 

Jo - the newest member of our team!

Jo will be working at the shop part time, and is already very much part of the family here.  Jo has also started to learn to knit at the same time as me, so you'll no doubt see some of her work too :) Jo's main job is to help keep the last remaining bits of my sanity intact, whether that be with glasses of wine (after closing hours, obviously, unless it's a really bad day...) or with restocking shelves...  We are really excited to have her on board.


Sconch Textiles is a yarn shop based around my family.  I am known to lots as Sconchy Mama, Sconch, Wooley Woman, Mrs Sconch... hubby is Mr Sconch to you all, and of course where would we be without the perfect little Sconchlet?!  So it's time to get this blog back to its roots :)

Sam x

There was really only one thing I could blog about this week... and that is Dr Who!

Yes, that is right, Dr Who. A few weeks ago, we started selling a Dr Who Scarf Pack, made up of 7 balls of Stylecraft Special DK.

I decided to offer this as a value pack as so many people were wanting to make the legendary scarf from the series. I ummed and aahed about which colours to use for it, as Dr Who aficionados will know, the scarves differed from season to season. Eventually I decided on a combination based on this rather wonderful pattern by Witty Little Knitter, who has scoured the world for Dr Who Scarf patterns as well as creating her own. She has then compiled them, along with lots of information on the scarf, on her website. She is a true Dr Who Scarf fan! You can visit her website here:

http://wittylittleknitter.com/

The specific pattern I used is here:

Well, suffice to say you all went a little mad when it went on sale! It has been flying out of the door, and I have really enjoyed receiving pictures of your creations!

First to finish in an amazingly quick time was Bianca:

Then another scarf was finished by Liz (being modelled by her adorable daughter - apparently it is wrapped around 4 times and is very cosy!):

Liz had some yarn left over so made a coordinating cushion!

And Nichola is half way through hers (it is huge!):

And then I received a rather wonderful email from a lovely customer who had been so excited by her pack, she had written her own pattern! It has gone up on Ravelry and is proving very popular! I was so chuffed, as she had very kindly linked through to my pack, which has obviously helped sales just a little bit ;) Oona made the scarf for her son, who is a HUGE Dr Who fan.

We had received a teaser of the scarf when she posted a picture of herself busily making it on the Facebook page:

So I was very excited to see the finished item! It measures 10' 8" - which I am sure you will agree is quite something! Here are some rather brilliant pictures to show it off:

But my favourite, is DEFINITELY the picture of her son wearing it!

You can find Oona's pattern here: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/oonas-crocheted-doctor-who-scarf

It is a free Ravelry download, so get on over there now!And don't forget, you can get your Dr Who Pack here: https://www.sconch.com/stylecraft-special-dk-dr-who-scarf-pack

Send me your pictures when you've made a scarf!

Sam x

She was very excited and a little overwhelmed by all the piles of wrapping paper we ended up with! I was so impressed with how well she got to grips with opening her presents :)

Those of you that have been following the blog for a little while will remember that this time last year I was about to pop! Sconchlet was due on 28th December, but despite many attempts at natural induction from the beginning of December, she didn't come along until the 9th January... So that of course means that we are fast approaching her 1st birthday!  Where has the time gone?!

Or so they say.

Well, sometimes I agree. Sometimes you have to do things which other people think are crazy. Jump right in with both hands. Seize the day and all that jazz.

Which is why this weekend we did something here at Sconch HQ that some people will consider crazy.

We moved.

That's right, - we moved! Again!

It's not that crazy though. We had wanted a bigger unit from the start, but none were available. And then one came up. Out of the blue, a week after our grand opening. It was what we really needed. A storeroom upstairs (rather than a separate unit). An office space that had a kitchen unit, plus enough space to have a safe area for the Sconchlet to play in. A small room for photography and for the Sconchlet's cot. And a bigger shop space.

And all for a better price.

So we jumped in. Head first. In a way it was heartbreaking. All that effort that had gone in to the shop. Luckily most of it wasn't permanent - much of the prettiness came from the furniture we had put in there, and that could all be taken out. But boy was it a big job moving out of both units. And all of it had to be done in 4 days to be able to be open again for Tuesday!

Luckily help was once again on hand. People from the surrounding businesses helped (with special thanks to Jack, Danny and Darren) and Mr Sconch's brother came along, plus my parents. All hands on deck to get things shifted around, things cleaned, walls made pretty...

But look at it!

Lots of pretty yarn...

Pretty display cabinets...

More pretty yarn - and can you see the amazing pink staircase?!

Pretty bunting made by one of my lovely customers, Cheryl :)

Ok, so it's not quite finished. We think we are going to put a carpet down in the main shop, and the office out the back is a complete mess. But I'm really glad we moved. So if you come along to our little shop, please excuse the slight air of chaos that still reigns, and try not to stare too much at the horrific bags under my eyes...!

Sam x

...What a week and a half! I had planned to write this post the day after the opening, and in fact had written half of it, but it has been such a whirlwind since then I never managed to finish it! And I am still feeling slightly overwhelmed by it all!

I absolutely could not have done any of it without Mr Sconch, my little work experience helpers who helped leading up to the day, Liz and Karen at the Ignite Enterprise Centre, the team at Merry's, my lovely neighbour Sharon who came to help at the last minute, and the amazing Rachael from Foxglove and Gingersnap...I don't think I have forgotten anyone...

So here is my round up!

I had been getting increasingly nervous as the days went on that nobody would turn up. Was this going to work? What if I didn't get enough drinks and nibbles? Even worse, what if I was catering for too many and in fact nobody turned up?!

If you follow the Facebook page, you will know that it got a little stressful as it got closer, with more and more late nights, involving the Sconchlet sleeping in the warehouse in her cot!

Thursday morning was no exception, with it being all hands on deck - including neighbours and staff at the Enterprise Centre, and lots of running round trying to fix things - a back end computer system that had gone down, price labels not done, a broken printer...

But we got there in there in the end! (well, 15 minutes later than planned, but fashionably late is the expected thing, right?!)

The display stands were ready...

The shelves were full...

We even had a big pink ribbon that some crazy woman had to cut... (oh dear!)

There were crowds!

There was happiness and relief...

There was yarn bombing!

There was gossiping with 'Facebook Friends'...

And posing...

There were amazing cakes and nibbles (the cakes had my logo on!)!

There was a very tired me...

And so, there was a Sconch Textiles shop :)

Sam x

It has a been a busy, busy few weeks, and this week is looking to be slightly manic to say the least. As you will know, the grand opening of the shop is this Thursday.

There has been much putting together of units, some wallpapering, some emergency plastering and much panicking. But the shop is finally coming together. There is still an awful lot to be done before Thursday's big opening, but as so many of you have been nagging me, I thought I would give you a few sneak peeks - a few glimpses of the giddy excitements over at Sconch HQ!

That's all you are getting for now!

Hopefully you can come along and see it in person on Thursday!

Look out for an exciting blog post coming up all about a new yarn range we have in :) You're going to LOVE it!

Sam x

...and once again Sconch is on the move - both physically and metaphorically!

Since moving in to my new unit at the beginning of June, there has been so much happening - sales have thankfully been on the up, which was a relief, as it is always good to be able to pay your rent. So at the beginning of July, when another adjoining unit became available at the Enterprise Centre, we decided to take it and move in. The unit had already become a little, shall we say cramped (although what better way to feel cramped than surrounded by squishy wool, I hear you ask?). We moved the majority of the stock into the second unit and decided to jump head first into the GRAND PLAN.

Secretly, it has always been my ambition to run a craft-and-wool-shop-with-a-tea-room-and-bed-and-breakfast-for-craft-class-attendees-with-a-greyhound-kennels-at-the-back-all-sitting-on-our-lovely-small-holding. (We can all dream, right?!) Now whilst this dream is a long way off still (and in fact, when I think about it logically, pretty impossible unless I clone myself a few times), Mr Sconch and I realised this was the perfect opportunity to at least realise a portion of this dream...

After a rather loooooooong trip to Ikea a few weeks ago - which if you follow the Facebook page you might have seen, as the mammoth number of things we bought caused much hilarity as I documented the struggle we had to get it in the car at 10:30 at night... - we started to make the first unit a bit more pretty and bit less 'wall-to-wall-with-racking'

3 trolley loads apparently do not fit in a Citroen C4 Grand Picasso

After much faffing and indecision, we have decided to set a date... yes that is right - a date for our grand opening of our YARN SHOP! A real life spangly yarn shop. I am so excited. I keep doing little dances around the room (much to Sconchlet's amusement. She clearly has already sussed that mummy is a loon.) We won't be open every day (not to start with at least), maybe a few hours a day - I will finalise all this within the next week and then let you all know. Of course if you are desperate for some yarn and want to come along outside of the opening times, I may well be there, packing orders and sitting squishing yarn, but I will only guarantee to be there for the opening times :)

So I would like to cordially invite you to the grand opening. If you are local to Braintree in Essex (and by local I mean within a 3 hour drive, because clearly it is going to be the hottest ticket this year) then please come along.

I am going to set up a little event thing on the Facebook page, but thought I would give you the details on here as well, just in case you are not a Facebook fan (if not, then why the devil not?!). There will be cake and nibbles and drinks... and of course lots of lovely yarn. And no doubt a few special offers running on the day...

Be there or be square... (and without yarn)

Sam x

Well this month I have moved again!

It's been a crazy month, with sales on the up and new stock arriving. This meant that rather quicker than we had anticipated, the loft space became a little cramped. Add this together with the fact that the Sconchlet is doing things much earlier than expected, and is trying to crawl already, Mr Sconch and I made the decision to move to a bigger premises. One where the Sconchlet could have more freedom to move around, and one where we could continue to expand. It was a hard decision, because the loft was lovely for every other reason, and I am really going to miss the people (And the food from the cafe below!). Although my waistline might be a bit happier ;)

So after not very much research at all, an excellent opportunity arose - a unit became available on the Enterprise Centre in Braintree. It is a small unit, but there is room to expand upwards into the loft space.

So last weekend, we moved!

Lots of yummy wool being stacked up!

More space for the Zpagetti!

Mr Sconch wasn't very pleased that I was taking photos instead of helping unpacking!

All of this is made even more exciting by the fact that soon - once we are all settled and have moved upwards to give us more space - the public can come and see us!

I am so excited by all of this, I keep doing little happy dances on the spot!

But all of this will be a little way off yet...so I must compose myself...

...*runs off and does a jig*

Sam x

First there was this...

Then there was this...

Of course, by the time I put the second photo up, you all started to guess correctly!

I have business premises! Only small ones, but they are a start. It is just a place to store the yarn, in a loft above a lovely little cafe, as Mr Sconch was getting fed up of fighting to get into the conservatory with all the boxes and bags... and to be honest, I was going a bit mad too. The week before we moved, there were boxes in the hall as well...it was a crazy mess. My regular delivery drivers would chuckle as they arrived at the door and I would ask him to put the boxes 'where he could'.

So you can see, I have literally been 'moving on up'...!

So here are some (fairly) recent images - I actually took them 2 weeks ago but got waylaid with getting a blog post written as usual...:

Storage bins in place, starting to fill up with yarn. Mr Sconch has been building little storage holes above the bins as well :)

Racking for the Zpagetti yarn - this is now overflowing!

Back wall with more storage bins - this is now completely covered with storage bins :) You can see my desk and packing table as well!

As you can see, it is very 'cosy' in there - but for now it is the perfect space whilst Sconch continues to grow. I particularly like the pink carpet - I'd been joking about how I would love a pink carpet, a lovely girly space for me and the Sconchlet to chill out. So you can imagine how much Isquealedwhen I got to the carpet showroom and the cheapest off-cut was pink!! I'd already been to Ikea and bought tables with pink legs, so it was perfect!

I am going for bright colours to keep it jolly - the new picking bins are bright green and bright blue - and my chair is bright green. So it all clashes superbly, and with all the colourful yarn, it is like a rainbow crashed through the loft space ;)

Watch this space for the next round of pictures with the finished Sconch HQ!

Sam x

Well, 2013 so far has been a rollercoaster of emotions...

The biggest event by far being...

Little Sconchlet, born on 9th January, 2013 weighing in at 8lb 9oz.

How amazing is that? I am a MAMMY! Can't quite believe it really. She's amazing, and so much fun, despite the fact she NEVER sleeps...

Of course, not liking to do things the easy way, whilst this was all happening, Mr Sconch and I had a long talk about the future of Sconch Textiles and where we wanted to take it in the future.

As you know, Sconch Supplies was started at the end of last year, supplying yarn to lovely crafty people. It started to become apparent fairly quickly that running a yarn business, however small, with a handcrafting business AND a teaching business just wasn't going to work. Add a little bubba into the mix, and you have one very exhausted me.

So we took the decision to push forward with the supplies side of the business. From a practical point of view, it is easier to run with a bubba. I think I also didn't realise just how much fun it would be. I spend my days answering people's questions about yarn, taking photos of their colour choices and sending it to them so they feel like they are shopping in a real life shop, and the best bit? I get to buy LOADS of yarn without any guilt!

The hand crafting side of the business will continue, albeit on a smaller scale. It will be more seasonal - I am already booked onto some lovely Christmas fairs for this year! However, we have had to make the sad decision to pull back from the teaching side of the business, at least for now. The company is a full time job as it is, and I don't want to miss out on my little Sconchlet 's first steps, first words and first tantrum. Most of my classes are spread all round Essex and Suffolk, so the travelling time alone saps my day.

With that in mind, we merged the two sides of the business together and formulated a plan. The yarn shop has already grown far quicker than either of us could have imagined... and we have had to redesign the website with this in mind. Mr Sconch worked so hard getting it all up and running, and thanks to some lovely ladies on a crochet forum (which is an offshoot from the Crafty Bums site), we had it tested and it is now live!

Swanky and Shiny New Website!

Going forward, all sales will be made through the website only, rather than on Facebook. But the Facebook page will still be open to have a chat about yarns and and cushions and hats, as well as browse through all the items I sell.

There is also some other VERY EXCITING NEWS. But for that you'll have to wait until the next blog. I don't want to blow your mind all in one go now, do I?

I hope you will all still stick with me as I go on this new adventure - I am so excited and can't wait to bring you all with me :)

Sam x