The week started well with a few nights at Mum's - always fun to have family dinner with my nieces! Matt then drove me over to Harrogate and was rewarded with lunch at Betty's - his first visit - probably not his last if the way he cleaned his plate is anything to judge by!
We then found the house, had just pulled up when Wye Sue drove up followed by Dye Sue a few minutes later - great sense of timing girls. We had fun plotting menus and shopping and then some hysterical evenings doing the cooking - why does this task always seem so much more fun when you are with friends - here's Sue doing her Nigella impersonation
This ice cream sparked off a number of discussions and led to ice cream parties being held! There were a few yummy dishes and a few difficult decisions - mouse bread anyone?
The KCG stand this year took the theme of Education, Innovation, Preservation and Wye Sue did a fantastic job check out her blog for an explanation of why I burst into giggles every time I hear the phrase "Knickers"
Sunday gave me a chance to visit with Chris and Libby and they were soon admiring one of John's beautiful shawls. One of my great joys about the Harrogate show is that we get a great group of volunteers and John with his lace knitting and Bob with the Tunisian crochet are real crowd pullers - one day I'll be able to get near enough to learn some new skills.
Sharing a house leads to seeing your friends in different ways, here's Wye Sue enjoying a spot of ironing
and Dye Sue intent on finishing a pice of work
There are rumours that we all indulged in too much alcohol on saturday night and came up with a mad idea - I have to tell you that we were all sober when this plot started and ended - I wonder what would have developed if booze was included!
It started with Elaine Jamieson giving Wye Sue a bag of Salmon coloured yarn with instructions to take it out of her sight and make some thing with it. We decided that Elaine and Mary needed a souvenir of the yarn and took our theme from the guild stand. Sunday morning saw two presents waiting for Elaine and Mary
This next photo shows Mary's reaction when she recognised the yarn - I only wish you could here the howls of laughter that followed
Finally - a close up of the "Shetland Scanties" suitably adorned with luxury ribbon and vintage suspenders
do you think we will be allowed back next year?
I'm back on-line again - a small hiccup as the battery in my laptop died and I had to wait until yesterday to visit the Apple store and buy a new one. Whilst I was there I played with all sorts of new gadgets and exerted great willpower to walk away without buying iPhone or a new laptop.
I'm off again on my travels - this time it's a few days at home in Yorkshire - a chance to see Mum, two sisters and my adorable nieces before heading over to Harrogate for the show.
It's always a dilemma what to pack - clothes are easy - it's Yorkshire in November = lots of layers! The problem is the knitting... I've just realised how near xmas is and that I haven't started anything yet. I've also just bought the yarn for a new cardigan which I'm wanting to start and at the same time I want to continue the addiction to Lascala.
The other problem is that whilst I can throw it all in the car for the journey up, I'm travelling back by train so need to be able to carry it plus any small purchases I happen to make!
One of our favourite places - The Mumbles was the ideal place to spend our wedding anniversary. A gentle stroll and an excellent lunch at Verdi's seemed to revitalise Matt
After celebrating he dutifully drove me to Cardiff and deposited me to work at the ICHF show. The company of good friends and new faces is always inspiring as was some of the work on show - my favourite was this
a small part of this wonderful blanket knitted out of scraps of yarn hoarded throughout WW2 and completed in 1949. The local branch of the Knitting & Crochet Guild produced an inspiring display of vintage knits and modern takes on vintage patterns
