Our Visit to Newark

I have always enjoyed Sundays apart from when I was a teenager that is.  Then Sundays were the day I had a major lie in coming downstairs just in time for a massive Sunday dinner followed by endless hours of nothingness.  Oh how I wish I had realised then how precious weekends were.
I only get Sundays off now and I guard them with my life.  As an added bonus I get the house to myself every other Sunday since my son has a new girlfriend and prefers to spend weekends with her and not me!
I always get permission from my hubby (not that it would make any difference) to take it easy and do absolutely nothing on my Sundays off but that is easier said than stuck to.  I have already done 2 loads of washing and the washing up left from last night so I have been quite busy actually.
As far as food is concerned I have just eaten a gorgeous plateful of easy prepare snackiness and have a coffee laced with Hazlenut syrup standing by so the day is looking good.

After blogging I intend learning how to use Netflix which is a new addition to our family, introduced by my son and not us you understand.
We do manage to get out and about occasionally when Steve gets a Sunday off work and last week we went to Newark.

What a surprise that was.  Although it isn't that far away for us we have never visited apart from when we went to the theatre there.  The problem was that we entered Newark from another road and I was under the illusion that it consisted of a couple of merky shops and a theatre and that was it.  No No No I tell you.

We entered the town this time and immediately found a Waitrose supermarket.  Now that in itself is quite amazing as neither Doncaster, Retford or Worksop have one of those so I was immediately impressed.
Further down the road we discovered the most amazing castle.

Now from the road this does look very imposing and beautiful.  We later found out that the castle had been dismantled/demolished by invaders at some time or another and as a result there isn't a lot to see from the other side, however this was still impressive.

Before reaching the castle we walked through a very pretty park and came to the river running between both.  There was a lovely big lock which was manned by the lock keeper and as the weather was so lovely we were able to watch several boats passing through.

We stopped at a little river side cafe for a light snack before discovering the town.  There were all the usual shops but also some wonderful little boutiques and gift type ones too.  There were also three vintage shops, unfortunately only one was open.  I must point out that Sunday is not the best day to visit should you wish to enjoy the full Newark shopping experience.
Back to the river to listen to a lovely chap singing his heart out by the floating barge bar and a good walk before returning to the car with our batteries fully charged.

We thoroughly enjoyed our visit and would recommend you all to go and have a look for yourself. We will definately be going back soon.

I'm back after being away for far too long.

Hello everyone and a big thank you to anyone who has visited over the last few months only to see that I had disappeared.
Life has and still is hectic and as I now work six days a week in my relatively new shop I unfortunately don't seem to find the time to blog.  However I intend that to change as there is so much I can now involve you all in.

Hayfield Bonus Buzz Double Knitting yarn - £2.79 per 100gr ball

I have had a great six months since the shop opened.  I know it doesn't seem that long but it is.  The shop has been very successful so far and the stock of wool, and now fabrics has increased immensely.

My new fabrics from £4.50 a metre

I have enjoyed choosing and re-choosing all the beautiful items to stock and hope that I have struck a good balance of quality goods which are reasonably priced.

Needlecraft Corner, 19 Ryton Street, Worksop, Notts, S80 2AY

It is a dream come true I can tell you.
Also what's great about owning my own wool and haberdashery shop is that I get to try out as many products as I want.  Well it would be rude not to wouldn't it?

Wendy Roam Sock Wool in Fosse - £5.99 per 100gr ball (75% Wool)

I have some gorgeous sock wools.  This one is a Wendy 4ply called Roam in Fosse which as you can see is a variegated yarn changing from green to blue with a number of other colours intermingled in it. It is fantastic to crochet with as it doesn't split.  It is quite firm and perfect for the lovely shawl I am making in a corner to corner stitch.  Each row increases from one original stitch which means that it immediately becomes a triangle which just gets bigger.  You are supposed to start decreasing when you get to the right size so as you progress the triangle then develops into a square but I wanted a shawl so will keep going until I reach the right size.  I thought it would be perfect for when I go out on a cool summer evening or alternately when I sit in bed knitting I can look like a granny!

James C Brett - Double Knitting with Merino - £2.75 per 100gr ball

Above is a cardigan I have started in James C Brett double knitting with merino which is the nicest wool ever. It feels so cosy and soft. I just love it.

Cross stitch in an embroidery hoop which has been crocheted round

Hand stitched heart of my own design

 As you can see, I have been busy making wall decorations.  I love just deciding what to make and then having all the equipment readily to hand.  I can then plod along and finish things in my own time and in between customers of course.
Below is a picture of our recently finished craft classroom.  It is so bright and fresh in there and painted in a vibrant sky blue which according to our research is the perfect colour for creativity. 

Our new craft classroom is available to hire.

Well I hope you have enjoyed my quick resume of what's been happening in my life.  Of course I will keep on blogging now I have finally broke my silence.  I have truly missed stopping by and it is lovely to get back on the horse as it were.
I hope to speak again soon.  Best regards, Paula x

Update

Hi everyone. Just a quick note to let you know that I am fine just extremely busy.  I will be back very shortly so please bear with me.  I am having a fantastic time working six days a week in the shop which is still extremely successful. 
We went to see the Sheffield leg of the tour de France at the weekend and will post the photos in the next few days.
I have missed you all very much and regret not having blogged for soo long.  Will be back soon I promise x

Clumber Park Yarn Bomb

There are draw backs to owning your own company one being the long hours.  This ultimately plays havoc with your social life and days out seem to be a thing of the distant past.
We did however manage a short run to Clumber Park, Nr Retford a couple of weeks ago.

A lovely lady at Clumber contacted me and many others with a view to contributing to a yarn bomb they were organising to celebrate the wassailing season.  This is when the apple trees are blessed in order to guarantee a good harvest in the months to come.

I put it to my knit and natter group and being a very enthusiastic crowd, they took up the challenge to knit rectangles to wrap around the trees and knitted apples to hang off them.
In total we produced and large carrier bag full of beautifully knitted bits and pieces which I then delivered the week before the festival.

Steve and I then went along to see the finished result.

There was lots for the kids to get involved in and also freshly squeezed apple juice for the adults to sample.  There was singing and dancing and much merriment.

We had a lovely time and it was great to pick out our knitting on the trees.  It certainly put us in the mood for further excursions should we have the time.

New for Old Chairs

We have now completed week three in the shop and it is still better beyond my imagination.  I love being there and I love everything about the whole working for myself thing.
My customers have been great and have welcomed the new shop with open arms.
There has been the odd quiet time and I have been filling the lull by reupholstering the old chairs which I inherited from one of Steve's friends.
This is what the first one looked like before its makeover.

And afterwards ...

I used some fabric that I bought on Worksop market and a mighty staple gun from Rymans and hey presto.  It took literally half an hour, maybe less and the chair has been transformed in to something I would be proud to have in my house let alone in my shop.  I popped a bit of wadding under the fabric just to give is a little bit more of a feel of newness.  I love it.
You probably noticed in the shop pictures that I have a very green table.  This originated as a £20 charity shop find and now takes pride of place in the central area of the shop.

It gets used everyday and is invaluable when we hold our knit and natter sessions.

The Grand Opening of Needlecraft Corner, Worksop

Well the day finally arrived and my lovely lovely shop opened at 9 o'clock on the 4th February 2014.

We had a very busy day which ended with our first Knit and Natter.

The shop has now been open six days and so far everyone has loved the place.
I can't believe that this is all mine.  I am so proud of what we have achieved and it can only get better.

Playing shops and making pretty things

Well hello to you all.  I thought it was a long time since last I wrote but it isn't as bad as I thought.  The days just blur in to each other at the moment and I am feeling slightly jaded.
The shop however is feeling like a proper shop at last. It looks quite trendy and my landlord says he has seen one on the television quite similar but that one was in London.

As you can see I couldn't resist playing around.  There are still things laid around like the great sheet of slat board on the floor but it is definitely looking very nice.  The walls are a very pale shade of grey and not beige and blue as in the picture.  That must have been a trick of the light.

I can't wait until all the wool is in and the heads are swathed in warm snoods and headbands.  I think it will look really smart and just like I hoped it would when I started dreaming about it many moons ago.  There is still lots to do and plenty of things to think about.  I keep waking up in the night and then can't get back to sleep.  I'm hoping that this is a temporary thing but I'm not counting on it.

I did manage to make a pretty little brooch amidst all the madness. This was an idea I came across whilst out at the weekend.  I saw something similar in a shop in Edwinstowe which I intended buying but unfortunately the shop didn't take debit cards and I didn't have any cash on me.  When I got home I had a look in my button stash and came up with this. It needs quite a substantial brooch pin on the back as it is surprisingly heavy.

This is a plant pot cover I have just finished knitting from a lovely book called Vintage Knit Knacks.  I have made several things from it as the projects are just so different.  I couldn't find any leaf buttons so I had a brain wave and made some using a cake decorating leaf shaped cutter and some coloured clay similar to Fimo. I think they did the job just right. All I need now is a plant pot to fit it which is proving more difficult than you would think.
I should have a few more makes to show you soon as I am frantically trying to do things to make the shop look a bit more crafty.
As ever thank you for taking the time to join me and please feel free to drop me a line or two.
Regards Paula x

Knitting Update

Before I started writing today I had to check to make sure I hadn't already posted about my recently completed knitting.  I seem to be playing catch up at the moment so please forgive me.
Christmas and the New Year flew by without much effort by me as my mind is firmly fixed on the future.  We did have a lovely long break and didn't do too much which was good.  We both realised that once the shop opens holidays will be a thing of the past for a while so we endeavoured to make the most of our time together.

I did manage to finish a few bits though.  The above, knitted in James Brett Flutterby Chunky is for my son's friend whose wife has recently had a baby girl.  This wool is lovely to knit with and is so soft it makes you must want to snuggle up to it.

These cardigans are bigger versions of the ones I knitted last year with extra buttons.  This was an order for the same little twins who have grown quite a lot since 12 months ago.  I had to add a few stitches on to make them big enough.  The wool is James Brett Marble Chunky.
In the pipeline is a knitted clock, (I am waiting for the working parts to arrive from Amazon) a plant pot cover and a jumper for myself. In between I am about to start to sew a sign for the door at the shop and would like to crochet a net for the front door so I'm going to be kept very busy.
The sign and window decoration are to be fitted in the next week or so so that will be exciting.  Watch this space for the photos.