Addicted to knitting

I volunteered at the shop Friday afternoon and Saturday afternoon.  We did the Created gift order, we drafted a press release and I drafted a communications plan for the shop launch and publicity.

One of the group members sent me a very rude email in response to an idea about shelf labels for the shop, in which I was pretty much compared to Ronald McDonald!  To say I wasn't impressed is an understatement. 

On Sunday morning we went to the flea market and the only thing I bought was a robin for 20p.

You win some, you lose some!  But I made up for it when I got home because I spotted a mint on the card Glo Friends Snugbug for only £12 plus postage from America.  This is the exact Glo Friend I used to have when I was little.  So I splashed out and ordered it.  At least it won't be scratched seeing as it's never been opened. 

Chris made a wood picture out of an old jenga game.

The first of the paperwhite narcissus have flowered - they were meant to be for Christmas!

I went to visit my Grandma with my Mum in the afternoon.

I saw a great 'folly' on Alan Titchmarsh's Garden Secrets TV programme - it was real wooden bed with wildflowers growing next to it.  It was at Ryewater Nurseries and it took me ages to find a photo!

I really don't like whiskey.  My Dad was a big fan of it, and I guess I put myself off it as a teenager, when I would steal bits of whiskey from my Dad's bottle and top it up with a bit of water so he wouldn't notice (sorry Dad).  The taste of it literally makes me wretch.  However, last New Year, at a friend's house I tried a Scotch whiskey called Bruichladdich from the Isle of Islay.  It tasted lovely, a really complex and different taste, and I'd like to buy some for Christmas, but it's £35 a bottle.  We've ordered in some whiskey toddy muslin bags at the shop.

Why am I so addicted to knitting?  When I'm at work I just wish I was at home knitting.  Ideally this would be next to an open fire, with a lovely casserole and dumplings cooking slowly in the oven and filling the house with a delicious smell.  I wonder if I'm genetically programmed to knit?  I guess my ancestors would have done it.  I found a lovely pattern for Scandinavian fishermans mittens on Ravelry.  I really fancy making them.  Knitting and the seaside seem to make sense to me.  I read that even when wool is wet it still keeps you warm, which explains why fishermen use wool mittens.  I'm not a big fan of synthetic yarns, such as nylon, but natural fibres like wool are soooo warm.  I do have concerns about animal welfare when obtaining the fleeces, which is why I prefer eco friendly wool.  I've just finished knitting the brown eco wool armwarmers for Leah's Christmas present. Chris wants me to make him a strip Freddy Kruger hat.  The only wool I could find in those colours was Debbie Bliss Fez, which is a mix of alpaca and camel, and it's apparently very warm.  I also ordered some of Freedom yarn's eco wool.