Onwards...

It seems strange to not have to dash off in a rush after last week's hectic schedule. Although it is nice to relax, I am missing the buzz that always accompanies such events. I really enjoy chatting with everyone who stops at my table.

Most of the conversations centre around the following statements too:

• I have so many unfinished or yet-to-start projects that I resolved not to buy anything new this time. But I saw this wonderful new pattern that I simply couldn't resist...
• I have stitched so many patterns now that I have run out of space to hang them.
• You should see the drawers full of projects that I have yet to start!
• I have so many yet-to-start projects that I've had to hide them away so my husband won't question me when I bring home even more!

If I had a pound for every time I heard one of them, I'd be rich!

But I have to admit to being exactly the same way. Perhaps worse though... After all, I'm adding to the pile by designing my own!

Speaking of designing, I must crack on with another one I'm doing with the Morpeth Gathering in mind. So, I shall end with my thanks to all of you for making my time at the Pins & Needles show such a delight.

Pins and Needles Show 2011 is underway

Goodness gracious... one day at the Pins & Needles Show is finished already! I've had some lovely chats with everyone who stopped at my stand (C6 on the floor plan) so the day completely evaporated. I also enjoyed doing the blackwork workshop although it is really difficult to make a lot of headway in an hour. Anyone who attends my workshops is welcome to stop by my stand for further guidance afterwards. There's no charge for the additional pointers. I am really looking forward to another day there.

Time is marching onwards so I'd best finish for now. Hope to see some more of you there today and tomorrow.

Pins & Needles Show 2011

I'm in the final countdown now for the Pins & Needles Show at Newcastle Arena. Still loads to do before they open the doors on Thursday, but it will all come together in time. Feel free to stop by my stand (C6 on the floor plan) for a chat, or for some guidance with a cross stitching/blackwork conundrum. There may even still be some space left in my workshops if you would like a taster session in blackwork. Workshop bookings are taken at the ticket office, at the entrance to the show, so you will need to check there for spaces. Must run as time is at a premium and I did not allow for the spring time change on the weekend! An hour can make a lot of difference when you are getting ready for a trade show. ;-)

In search of fabric...

I know I've been pretty quiet on the blogging front. However, that means that I've been pretty busy with other aspects of my business.

I am getting ready for the Pins & Needles Show at Newcastle Arena at the end of the month. I am offering some taster blackwork workshops there. As they last only an hour, I thought it made sense to design a small project. After some thought, I settled on a bookmark for stitching on Aida band so there would be a minimum of raw edges to finish off. It's also small enough to hold without needing hoops or other equipment, the idea being to keep it as simple as possible. An hour is no where long enough to actually finish even the simplest of blackwork projects so I didn't want to complicate the finishing process. Especially since most of us have more than enough unfinished projects lying around our homes as it is!

Despite having started sourcing Aida band over 2 months ago, I have had incredible difficulty laying my hands on the quantity and colour that I need. I am being told that suppliers have none on hand, and that the manufacturers are no longer making it! Who would have thought that white Aida band with white scalloped edges would ever go out of fashion? Aida band with coloured edges would clash too much with the blackwork unless I matched threads to it. I'm not even sure there would have been enough of any one colour either so I was probably looking at a variety. This in turn would mean spending more money on threads because of the smaller quantities involved. The knock on effect is incredible and that's before accounting for the extra workload it would put on me besides to sort it all out.

A lot of grey hair later, I am being told that I will receive the required amount of Aida band in time for my workshops after all. However, I've ordered some Aida cloth as a backup plan to be on the safe side. Note to self... find a different project for future workshops once the Aida band runs out!

So, with any luck, I should be ready in time for the show. Must go for now as I really ought to crack on with the endless list of tasks that will make things run more smoothly at the show. Hope to see you there!

How time flies

The past month has certainly flown by!

Not least of the events to occupy my time has been the return of the mouse. It managed to access the linen supply so I've been doing a lot of laundry. I imagine our neighbours must be thinking that we've gone 10 rounds with Norovirus... However, the mouse has been dealt with once and for all, and there are no signs of any 'family' or 'friends' so, I'm hoping that that particular pantomime can now be put to rest.

A more worrying event though was the disappearance of a pattern that I posted to a customer at the end of December. To date, it has still not arrived so my faith in the postal system has been thoroughly shaken. Surely there must be a contingency plan for snow, Christmas rush and wild cat strikes? Other countries around the world cope with such events so I really don't understand how it all went so terribly wrong in the UK. At the end of January, I was still receiving post that was dated from the middle of November so I'm not convinced that it is safe yet to send anything else through the post.

I feel as though my business is being held to ransom because the only financially reasonable options offered by Royal Mail do not guarantee on time delivery. Even recorded signed for delivery gives no guarantee. Special delivery gives a guarantee but is priced well beyond what most people would be willing to pay. Are there any other viable solutions out there? If you think so, please e-mail me so I can check them out!

Another event of note has been the recent down time of our ISP service. Gales in the region, over the last several days, played havoc with local exchanges. We were off-line from Friday afternoon until yesterday afternoon - the longest time ever with this particular ISP. There has been the odd occasion when our service has vanished into the ether for several hours, usually attributable to scheduled maintenance, but it has never been down for this long. The timing was absolutely classic... my husband was finishing off his dissertation over the weekend and needed the internet for literature searches. I have aged about 20 years as a result!

My exhibition at Gibside has now finished so I am looking for other venues at which to show my work. My income tax return has been submitted so I can now concentrate on getting ready for the Pins and Needles show at the end of March. I will be attending the Morpeth Gathering as well at the end of April so there is much to be done. Must crack on here but I will post again as newsworthy events take place.

Pantomime season

Happy New Year everyone! I do hope the Christmas holiday season has been a good one for you. Hopefully, 2011 will have plenty of joy to bring as well.

We had an ongoing pantomime with a mouse that decided it didn't think very much of the British winter in this part of the country. It had moved in lock, stock and barrel by Christmas day, and led us on a merry old chase throughout the holiday season. I did everything I could think of to eliminate food and water supplies in hopes of forcing it to pack its bags and leave under its own steam. They are not supposed to like mint so I even applied peppermint oil to all the radiators and along the bottom of a door that it had tried to chew. The chewing stopped, but it was busy making nesting material out of some minted cotton balls I had left in a strategic place last evening so I'm not as convinced now. That was the final straw for me so I spent most of last night lying in wait for it. In the end, I successfully convinced it to enter a shoe box long enough for me to slam the lid shut. My Hubby wasn't keen to drive it at least a mile away at 3:30 a.m., so we released it on the grass expanse across the street. A car came past as we were deciding how best to lift the lid without scaring the mouse up one of our legs. My Hubby reckons the driver probably thought we were up to no good, but driver, if you are reading this, we were simply letting the mouse go. Honest! Last we saw, the mouse was speeding off down the hill so with any luck, it won't be putting in a reappearance. I'm now busy disinfecting the places it accessed, and stuffing lots of steel wool into potential entry points. We are also remaining vigilant in case it invited some friends along for company but the amount of mess it left behind suggests that it was a one off. And, no, I won't be making a cross stitch pattern to commemorate the event!

Speaking of patterns, I have designed a bookmark pattern that I will be using to facilitate the blackwork workshops I will be conducting at the Pins & Needles 2011 show at the end of March. These tutorial sessions are only one hour in length so I'm keeping it pretty basic. I'm preparing instructions to accompany it for finishing at home as most visitors will want to spend more time checking out the show than stitching.

My exhibition at Saltwell Towers has now ended so I'm setting my sights next on the Pins & Needles show. I also have something in mind for the Morpeth Gathering, and there is still the Hoopoe to complete. So, it looks as though I'm going to have a reasonably busy start to the New Year. I would like to go back to Seaton Delaval Hall through the summer but that has yet to be arranged. I'll keep you posted of events as usual here.

Must go for now as I need to complete the steel wool task before night sets in. But I'll be back in the not too distant future.