Cupcake Surprise!

Last time I promised you a peek at our own projects and this morning Maxine thrilled me with a surprise project she had been working on overnight from 'Knittoday'. I now have a beautiful new keyring on my shop keys.You might already know that we have a few patterns written by Maxine for the shop which include tea cosies, bunting and the very popular cotton peg bag. The latest additions are this cute baby hot water bottle and decorative heart. These were knitted in King Cole 'Splash' which is lovely for household items as well as baby knits. The decoration reminds us of small rosies.Here is my work in progress! It is a cardigan and I am very excited about finishing it, I have been knitting it for about 4 months and it only needs sewn up. However if I stopped photographing it and picked it up off the floor, I might get on better. I will let you see the finished article, soon I hope.

Next to the retro crochet tea cosy are a plate of petit fours kindly donated for display by a very talented customer. They have been in the window and drawn a lot of attention. Another very talented customer brought in this beautiful baby hat knitted in baby cashmerino from 'Baby Bloom' by Erika Knight. You can just make out the gorgeous tiny heart button in the centre of the ribbon.

I was so in love with this that I have bought the book which includes beautiful maternity patterns. Now, the last thing I need is another baby so lets hope I become an aunty again soon.

The Knit Nurse.

After all the sick kids had been and gone, Maxine decided to knit us a Barbie nurse to be on duty. We have been advised by 2 real nurses that she should be wearing a navy cape lined with red so it can be turned inside out on Christmas day when they drink sherry on the ward! Guess when you should avoid ill health. Instead of the cape I suspect Maxine should be knitting a uniform in the colours of a psychiatric nurse, as that is probably the next type of nursing we'll need.

If you are passing the window look out for our very own knit nurse, she will be there for a few weeks and hopefully make you smile.

Another piece of progress; we now have the couch in the cubby hole. All ready for pattern browsers or husbands in waiting.

Remember I mentioned my feelings of jealousy as everyone leaves with their new wool? Well this is one of the most jealous inducing items I have been forced to part with this week. Two customers have taken it home to make hats and I can't wait to see the finished items. The colours are beautiful and it is soooo soft.

Another soft yarn, which has had rave reviews, is the Sirdar baby bamboo. Neither Maxine or I have ever knitted with it but now are itching to give it a go however we need to plough through our WIP's. Next time I will treat you to a selection of our projects. Unfortunately one of the effects of working in a wool shop is your 'Project Wish List' increases in direct inverse proportion to the 'Amount of Time Available to Knit'. I knew there would be a down side.

Open for business...

Well, how niave I was 2 weeks ago when I thought I would update this blog a couple of days after we opened! We hung up our sign and opened the door and thankfully, customers started to visit.

We had browsers and buyers and friends popping in to wish us luck. We were both trying to get used to working every day and fitting in the rest of our family life around it.

I had a trip booked to Jersey and had to abandon Maxine on our first weekend. She coped and secretly loved it. I took bad photos of bronze Jersey cows, relaxed, drank wine and crocheted in the sun, it was a chore.Back to Frome with a bump, well a bang really as our plane was struck by lightning on the descent! I rushed back to the shop and as you can see by the squashed crocheted cushions, the chair was being well used and appreciated by tired knitters who climbed the hill to pay us a visit.

We have plans for further seating in the form of a sofa in a cubby hole and we are also carpeting the back of the shop in preparation for our 'learn to...' classes and knitting groups.

We were very excited on Friday when the first phase of 'marmalade' carpet was laid. Let me tell you, it is freezing in the back of the shop and bare concrete didn't help. I might have been lucky enough to be living every knitters dream but I was in danger of freezing to death or at least losing a couple of essential for knitting fingers to frost bite. You get the picture so admire the carpet and feel the orangey warmth..........

Phase 2 of mission carpet is scheduled for next week but first we have to clear this room :

The week took a turn for the worse when I had to keep a child with stomach cramps home and bring him to the shop, then got called by the school when another of my children vomited in the playground. My husband, crippled from a cricketing injury, helped out by limping to the school and picking up the sick child. After nursing children overnight it was slightly depressing to find this on Saturday morning....

Despite these hiccups, Maxine and I have had the best 2 weeks and are thoroughly enjoying it. The customers are uplifting as every one has different projects and ideas and we love to see their work. I am surprised to find I feel slightly jealous of them all as they leave with their new wool and patterns. Luckily I managed to find the time to make an organic cotton chicken who is now sitting on the shelf and he has told me that everything will be fine.

Tomorrow, the Artisan street market; see you there.........