Sconch Blog

Life. It gets in the way sometimes, doesn't it?

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...

One of the things I get asked to explain the most in the shop is the elusive magic circle. The title of this blog post is because it really is not that magic... once you get it, you realise how amazingly simple is. In fact, the hardest thing about it is holding the yarn straight at the very beginning - but a bit of a fiddly stitch never stopped any of us, did it?

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!

People always get a bit het up (and rightly so) around election time, telling you to 'use your vote'. People sacrificed huge amounts so that we all had the right to vote, so we shouldn't waste our opportunities to get our voice heard...

...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...

The prosecco was flowing and the pimms was circulating...

...and the cake!  Oh so much cake...

Blankets. Huge big projects that lots of people find intimidating.  To others, blankets are addictions. I have customers who have 4 or 5 blankets on the go at once! For me, they are oh so therapeutic. That final stretch when you are sewing in your ends and you can see the end in sight... bliss.

I have decided to start making blankets again, as it has been so long since I have done one.  I ummed and aaahed about what stitch, what 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!

Yarn shops.  Yarn festivals.  Craft fairs.  They are a bit of a busman's holiday for us, but I love them.  Mr Sconch despairs that everytime we go somewhere new the first thing I do is look for a wool shop.  'But why?' he always asks.  Cos I love yarn?  Isn't it obvious?!

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.