ICHF Christmas craft show 2019

A few weeks ago my Mum came up under the guise of visiting her favourite daughter (so I keep telling myself), but really to go to the ICHF Christmas Craft Show at the SECC. Of course she bought a ticket for me as well, because she is the best Mum in the world.

I did try to get some photos as we went around, but my camera + the odd lighting in the SECC means that none of them are worth using up my WordPress media allowance for. So, you’ll have to use your imagination for a few minutes.

The Craft Show is an annual event, but Mum and I don’t make it every year. I remember last time being very heavily geared toward papercraft, so much so that I was getting rather bored by the time we reached the other side of the exhibition hall, as it was all the same kind of thing.

But this year was so varied, I wish I’d started saving a little earlier so I could have splashed out on more of my hobbies! Especially patchwork; there were so many fabric stands this time, with huge rolls of beautiful fabrics, fat quarters, jelly rolls, cut-offs, and soooo much more I wish I could have bought!

There were also a few different yarn vendors, a couple of diamond art stands, and lots of beautiful pre-made jewellery to buy.

But enough typing – let’s get on to the goodies!

I knew going in that I wanted a jumper-quantity of some special yarn, anything DK or thicker because I’m not going through the Flax Light experience again any time soon. The first couple of yarn stands had pretties (obviously) but nothing that really jumped out at me. Then I spotted this pack of loveliness:

This is Yaya 100% superwash merino wool. Super chunky, loosely spun, plain purple from a distance but close up you can see the tiny flecks of pink, blue, and red.

Then I lifted that pack up and underneath it was another one almost the same colour as my Flax Light but a touch more toward the blue end of the spectrum. I wanted them both. I could not afford them both. I dithered for so long that the stall owner offered me a discount, and I looked so pleadingly at Mum that she bought one pack for my Christmas present. That was the greeny-blue pack so I don’t have photos, as I’m not allowed it until Christmas.

It’s quite a while since I made any cards, but I was still unable to resist a pack of pretty toppers.

And this red card literally drew me across the aisle towards it.

Then Mum bought some papercraft grab bags and we divvied them up between us over a latte.

We also ordered a Stampin’ Up set, but we have to wait for that to be posted out. It’s a magical set that stamps a tartan Christmas tree! Plus the punch to go with it so you don’t have to sit and cut out however many fiddly Christmas trees. I’m super excited to try them out.

I also got some pretty ribbon, because I have an addiction.

A little chocolate pack for my friend’s baby, who will have to get used to hardly ever receiving presents with her name on.

And there was also an unnecessarily large bag of honey and cinnamon cashews, but they didn’t last long enough to make it into a photograph.

I had such a fun day and I love everything I bought. I can’t wait to get making with all my new supplies!

Hannah

xXx

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I Sew 2

I was doing some research on West Yorkshire Spinners yarn for a blog post, and found myself accidentally clicking on the ‘Stockists’ link and searching for Scotland. Completely by accident, you understand.

And it just so happens that there’s a stockist a mere 5-minute walk from my work! That’s close enough even for my measly 30 minutes of lunch break (yes I am still a bit miffed that I don’t get an hour any more), so that very day I paid them a visit.

I Sew 2 is a cute little shop on Townhead in Kirkintilloch. With a real bell on the door! I love those.

The light would NOT let me get a good photo

There’s not masses of stock, as about a third of the space is set up for workshops and socials, but they’ve still managed to cram yarn, fabric, ribbons, buttons, and notions in there; enough to fill up my lunch break no problem.

The owner is super friendly and chatted the whole time I was there, but not in a sales-y way.

We talked about knitting and crochet (obviously), setting craft budgets and sometimes sticking to them, the pros and cons of knit/crochet groups, patchworking, sewing machine techniques, and all the events that run in the shop.

I will definitely be going along to the Crochet Chaos social at some point, and I’m all booked in for a 3D needle felting workshop this week.

Something I learned from the leaflet the owner gave me is that they also work in conjunction with SiMBA, a charity that creates memory boxes for parents who have lost a baby, either pre- or post-natal. The boxes contain a knitted or crochet blanket, butterfly, and stuffed toy – all made by volunteers. There are monthly sessions in the shop to create these donations, which were during the day but after I asked about it they started an evening session as well.

Back to my visit – I naively planned to just have a look around, see what was on offer in case I ever needed some yarn faster than Love Crochet could deliver it.

Silly me! 20 minutes is clearly beyond my limit for being around crafting goodies without buying some, especially when there’s a bargain bucket and the words “of course we take card” are involved.

One gorgeous skein was very clearly calling my name and I was powerless to resist as it jumped into my hands. It’s like fuzzy Autumn.

And then I just had to have this bundle of fat quarters.

Luckily for my bank balance I stopped with those two, but oh I could have spent so much money in there. If I ever get a working sewing machine again I’ll definitely be back for some of the beautiful fabrics, and in the meantime I get the feeling I’m going to become a regular at the Crochet Chaos socials.

Hannah

xXx

New hobbies

My name’s Hannah and I’m addicted to new hobbies.

Last week I tried archery, and I’m so in love that I went for an extra session on Monday.

During the week my winnings arrived from Julia’s giveaway.

There are several super cute things I want to make (mainly the cat on the cover!), but I decided to start with a pretty patchwork star because it looked relatively simple. So I headed to Hobbycraft to pick up some fat quarters and had my first go at patchwork sewing

Of course I was hooked, and just had to try another one

Front

and back

The second definitely turned out better. There’s still room for improvement though!

While shopping for fabric, I found a tatting shuttle for £1 in the clearance section. This one is going to take a loooooot of practice, but I’m still loving it. I know how beautiful tatted pieces can be and I’m determined to reach that level one day.

The problem is I don’t stop my old hobbies to make room for the new ones; my long bank holiday weekend was a cycle of sewing, crochet, Tunisian, knitting, and tatting on repeat. With one break for archery and another for running. If I were paid for my hobbies they could be a full time job!

I clearly need to win the lottery I never play, so there’s time enough for all these pastimes. Plus the new ones I know I’m going to pick up in the future.

Does anyone have any tips on juggling all these different crafts? Or maybe new ones I could add to my repertoire (there’s no such thing as too many)? Let me know in the comments!

Hannah

xXx