Many former school teachers will tell you that the start of September has a funny effect on them. For some it is a sense of renewal and possibility, for others a sense of dread! I have to admit that I have been awake since 4.30 this morning, but not because I have been thinking about my former classroom Septembers.
This September is quite possibly the busiest one I have had since I left the classroom in 2018. I have two yarn shows: Yarn Gathering which I am organising, and Yarndale where I am teaching two sold out workshops as well as having a double stand for the first time.
There are three design deadlines coming up (which is why I haven’t been able to show you much knitting for a while!), a presentation to give on Stitchmastery next week, a yarn shop birthday party to attend which will be lots of fun and my car’s MOT is due. Fortunately that is booked in already. I was also due to be teaching on September 5th, but the shop where the workshops were happening is having a few week’s break so that is cancelled. My next date at Ewe Felty Thing is 5th December where I am due to be teaching Stranded Knitting and Introduction to Two-Colour Brioche Knitting. You’ll be able to book a place on those once the shop is back up and running again.
Before that I will be teaching my brioche workshop at Stafford Wool Gathering in October and there is just one place left on that workshop. It’s £30 and the workshop is being held on Saturday 17th October, 1-3pm. If you want it – be quick! This is a new event for us and we’re really looking forward to it.
I have been aware of needing a bit more time and space in my week for a while. Earlier in the year I let the local community choir that I have been leading for the past three years know that I would be stepping down, and tomorrow is my final rehearsal with them. They have formed a committee to take over and I know they will do well. It will be the end of an era in a way for me, as agreeing to run this choir (which started off as half a dozen young children and now numbers about 30 on the register, most of whom are adults) is what got me back into making music regularly. I will still be singing in my church choir, so I won’t be losing touch with music again, but it will be without the planning and admin!
Sue and I have been listening to quite a bit of Dolly Parton this past week following the sad announcement of her death. She was an incredible person and getting to meet her, although very briefly, was a joy.
My replacement roller banner is due this morning and I am looking forward to seeing it. The staff at InstantPrint have been so helpful throughout the process, from my first disappointed email when the banner I ordered after breaking my original one arrived all pixellated around the edges of my logo (as shown in the main pic of today’s post), to helping me get artwork to them that was of the correct resolution for a replacement that I didn’t have to pay any extra for. I still don’t quite understand how the original banner I bought last year looked so good when apparently the resolution on that was not correct either, but I am just glad that they wanted to get it right and get a good quality banner to me.
If you live in the North East Wales/North West England area do consider visiting Yarn Gathering on Sunday 20th September. We will have 13 fabulous vendors, most of whom live within an hour of Mold, showcasing their talents and fibre-based goodies. Parking in Mold is free on a Sunday, entry to the event is free, and you can combine your visit with a trip to the Mold Food and Drink Festival which is also happening that weekend (entry to that is £7 on the Sunday for over 16s).
if you are a monthly newsletter subscriber, keep an eye on your inbox tomorrow. I am launching Spring Breeze Hat as an individual pattern and there will a subscriber only time-limited discount code you can use! This hat pattern was originally published in Knit Now in April. Since then I have added an extra size to the pattern and knitted a sample in each of the four sizes. My samples are knitted in KnitPro’s Symfonie Terra 4-ply yarn, which is a standard 400m/100g 4-ply/sock weight yarn. Here are the extra-large (in Autumn Rose) and large sizes (in Mint Sky). I prefer the extra-large size on me.
Right, that’s all from me for today. I’m off to tackle the rest of my to-do list! Take care and I hope you get to do some things you enjoy this week. K x