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After what has felt like a very cold, damp and dreary week, the sun has finally appeared here and the weather looks promising for the next few days. Thank goodness for that! It's a Bank Holiday weekend here in the UK, so the sunshine and warmer weather will be very welcome. I'm planning a weekend of selfish knitting as a break from all the secret projects I'm currently working on, as well as time to read.

This week's prize is a sock knitter's dream! The prize includes a cute sheep print project bag with lampwork glass bead stitched by my friend Michele who owns Three Bags Full in the USA. There is a sock set from Giddy Yarns which was donated by Sharon on Instagram. I bought some yarn she was destashing and she very kindly included a couple of extra skeins to use as prizes. This sock set is called 'Earl Grey and Lemon Cupcake' and it is as delicious as it sounds! There is a set of 5 miniskeins dyed in delicate pastel colours which has been donated by Shannon who runs Blue Fern Yarns and two balls of Drops Fabel sock yarn which has been donated by Sally and colleagues. To go with all this yarn, there is a Knit Pro Symfonie 2.5mm circular needle which has been donated by Suffolk Socks, a yarny notepad, pen and pin badge which are all from Lana Bou and 5 pretty stitch markers. Thank you so much to everyone who has donated a prize.

I'm sure that you know the score by now, but I'll tell you how to enter anyway! You have a chance to win all these gorgeous prizes for a minimum donation of £2! Are you tempted to try your luck? Here's everything you need to know. This giveaway will run this coming Sunday 30th May, closing at 23:55. To enter, go to my JustGiving page here and buy your virtual raffle tickets by donating £2 or more. £2 gets you 2 tickets, £3 gets you 3 tickets, £5 gets you 5 tickets and so on. The more you donate, the greater your chance of winning. You will need to leave your Instagram or Ravelry name, or tick the box to share your email address with me when you make your donation, so that I can contact you if you are the winner. This is really important as I have no way of knowing who you are otherwise. Each week, I still get donations where no name or email is left, so if that person's number comes up in the random number generator, I have no idea who it is! All your donations go the Myositis UK to help fund research into this incurable muscle disease, so thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your support. Every single donation is important. Our next milestone to pass is £17,000 and I have everything crossed that we do that on Sunday! Thank you and stay safe! xxx

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It's not that long until midsummer and it's so cold! I'm sat here in woolly socks and a cardigan, and I've relented and put the heating on too! Crazy weather indeed. So this week's prize is hopefully going to encourage the warmer, sunny days to come nice and soon!

The prize includes a gorgeous, roomy French-style market basket with pink leather handles which has been donated by Basket Basket. Elephyn Rose on Instagram has donated 10 balls of Debbie Bliss 'Juliet' yarn (52% cotton and 48% acrylic) which is a summer tweed, perfect for a summery top. Jess from Hook and Cwtch has donated two skeins of gorgeous Pima cotton DK yarn. There are two skeins of Wendy Happy 4ply yarn which is a 75/25 bamboo and acrylic yarn. It has beautiful drape and would make a lovely shawl or scarf. The team over at Yarndale have donated a limited edition stainless steel drinking bottle, just right for keeping your drink nice and chilled (or lovely and hot if today's weather is anything to go by!) There are some pretty iridescent stitch markers which have been donated by Scarlet Stitchcraft and last but not least, there are a couple of postcards and a sticker! Thank you so much to everyone who has donated a prize.

I'm sure that you know the score by now, but I'll tell you how to enter anyway! You have a chance to win all these gorgeous prizes for a minimum donation of £2! Are you tempted to try your luck? Here's everything you need to know. This giveaway will run this coming Sunday 23rd May, closing at 23:55. To enter, go to my JustGiving page here and buy your virtual raffle tickets by donating £2 or more. £2 gets you 2 tickets, £3 gets you 3 tickets, £5 gets you 5 tickets and so on. The more you donate, the greater your chance of winning. You will need to leave your Instagram or Ravelry name, or tick the box to share your email address with me when you make your donation, so that I can contact you if you are the winner. This is really important as I have no way of knowing who you are otherwise. Each week, I still get donations where no name or email is left, so if that person's number comes up in the random number generator, I have no idea who it is! All your donations go the Myositis UK to help fund research into this incurable muscle disease, so thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your support. Every single donation is important. Our next milestone to pass is £17,000. Thank you and stay safe! xxx

Six Happy Things

*** A proper cuppa ***

I'm loving my new teapot and mug from Cornishware. I bought them as seconds, but can't see anything wrong with either of them! Perfect for my breakfast cuppa made with Yorkshire Tea (of course!) The coaster is from Poppy Treffry, another Cornish gem!

*** Scented candles ***

I've discovered a new, local company who make the most deliciously scented candles. I chose a mixed  box of four candles and picked 'fruity' as my scent. They arrived really promptly and were beautifully packaged with a personalised note. They all smell lovely and I will definitely be ordering more of them. The company is called Wells Huts Soap & Candle Co.

*** International Nurses Day ***

I was delighted to be contacted by my local hospital to see if I could sew some more flags for them to use in a display to celebrate World Nurses Day this week. I made a couple last year and they were still a few flags missing to represent all of the countries that their nurses come from. I ended up making another four and think that the display looks amazing! Thank you so much to all the nurses for the amazing job that they do.

*** Wild garden ***

My garden is in desperate need of a bit of a tidy up but in the meantime, I am embracing the wild look and know that it's providing the wildlife with a lovely home!

*** Puppy ***

My friend has got a new puppy so I bought him a little welcome gift. It's a henhouse with three chicks inside it that the dog can remove. My friend sent me some photos of Rufus having fun with it! 

*** New stripy yarn ***

I could  not resist ordering a skein of this amazing sock yarn from Stripey Cat Yarns. Sarah has the most clever ideas for her self-striping yarns and I absolutely love this one! Now I need a box of Liquorice Allsorts to munch on! 

What's made you happy this week? Leave me a comment to let me know what's made you smile. Stay safe. xxx
 

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Hello! Thanks so much for stopping by. I have an absolute treat for you with this week's prize and I'm very excited to share it with you! 

The prize includes an exquisitely stitched and embroidered bunny, which has been made by Mika over at Stitches and Thyme. It was donated by an Instagram friend Rosie who also has myositis, and I really appreciate her generosity. Mika's bunnies usually retail for between £70 and £100. This would make the perfect heirloom gift for a very special little person, or it would equally look gorgeous sat in your own home. This particular bunny is called Victoria and she comes with beautifully stitched and embroidered clothes and her own little handbag! To go with this, there are three skeins of West Yorkshire Spinners Bo Peep Pure yarn which is 100% Falkland Islands wool and a pattern book, two balls of Yarn Stories 100% merino DK yarn and four balls of Rowan Milk Cotton DK yarn. Sue from Diss Wool Shop has donated three balls of My First Regia yarn. There is a pretty beaded stitch marker which has been donated by Betty Arthur Creations, a set of cute ceramic duck buttons which have been donated by Sally and her colleagues and a hand poured soy wax candle from Wells Huts Soap & Candles Co. which has been donated by my friend Karen. I've just received my first order of these candles having loved the fragrance of this candle and |I am loving them! Thank you so much to everyone who has donated a prize this week. 

I'm sure that you know the score by now, but I'll tell you how to enter anyway! You have a chance to win all these gorgeous prizes for a minimum donation of £2! Are you tempted to try your luck? Here's everything you need to know. This giveaway will run this coming Sunday 16th May, closing at 23:55. To enter, go to my JustGiving page here and buy your virtual raffle tickets by donating £2 or more. £2 gets you 2 tickets, £3 gets you 3 tickets, £5 gets you 5 tickets and so on. The more you donate, the greater your chance of winning. You will need to leave your Instagram or Ravelry name, or tick the box to share your email address with me when you make your donation, so that I can contact you if you are the winner. This is really important as I have no way of knowing who you are otherwise. Each week, I still get donations where no name or email is left, so if that person's number comes up in the random number generator, I have no idea who it is! All your donations go the Myositis UK to help fund research into this incurable muscle disease, so thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your support. Every single donation is important. Thank you and stay safe! xxx

 

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It's Friday again! This last week has just whooshed by in a blur. It's been pretty chilly here so I've needed to cosy myself up in alllll the knitwear! And that of course means woolly socks. This week's prize is full to bursting with sock yarn so you can knit yourself a pair or three to ease into the warmer weather (when it finally comes) or get your sock drawer nice and full for the autumn!

The prize includes a pretty sock set, pattern and seashell stitch marker which have all been donated by Lucy Locket Land. There are four 25g balls of a new to me sock yarn from Katia, called United Socks which have been donated, along with a pattern book, by Sue who owns Diss Wool Shop. There's a 50g skein of merino nylon yarn which has been donated by Ellie from Craft House Magic and I've added in a peach mini skein to go with it. Ellie has also donated a pair of Hiya Hiya Sharps 2.5mm circular needles. Julie from Suffolk Socks has donated a ball of Austermann Step sock yarn. There's a cute sheep notions case from Three Bags Full and lastly a Clover sock knitter's kit full of essentials and a sachet of Euclan wool wash, both of which have been donated by an anonymous donor. Thank you all so much for your generous donations.

I'm sure that you know the score by now, but I'll tell you how to enter anyway! You have a chance to win all these gorgeous prizes for a minimum donation of £2! Are you tempted to try your luck? Here's everything you need to know. This giveaway will run this coming Sunday 9th May, closing at 23:55. To enter, go to my JustGiving page here and buy your virtual raffle tickets by donating £2 or more. £2 gets you 2 tickets, £3 gets you 3 tickets, £5 gets you 5 tickets and so on. The more you donate, the greater your chance of winning. You will need to leave your Instagram or Ravelry name, or tick the box to share your email address with me when you make your donation, so that I can contact you if you are the winner. This is really important as I have no way of knowing who you are otherwise. Each week, I still get donations where no name or email is left, so if that person's number comes up in the random number generator, I have no idea who it is! All your donations go the Myositis UK to help fund research into this incurable muscle disease, so thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your support. Every single donation is important. Thank you and stay safe! xxx

 

Musings from a kitty

Greetings friends. Flo here. It's been a while since we last chatted so I thought it was about time that I popped in for a few words. I hope that you're keeping well. I'm doing my best to take care of mum and I make sure that she gets plenty of rest each day. I take my Nurse Flo duties very seriously. My favourite trick is to pin her to the sofa by stretching myself out and taking a little nap myself! Cunning plan, eh?!

Now that it's starting to get a bit warmer, I'm back into my routine of daily grooming and sunbathing on the table in the garden. It's the perfect vantage point for me to keep an eye on exactly what's going on in MY garden. The next door cat seems to think that it's perfectly acceptable for him to saunter around and use one of the posts as his own private scratching post. I don't think so! So I lay on the table, nice and quiet, just waiting for him to appear and then POW! I'm down off the table in a flash and although he's much bigger than me, he's a bit of a scaredy cat and off he goes! I can also watch the comings and goings of my little feathered friends. I do believe that there may soon be babies appearing - robins and blue tits. I love to take care of the little fledglings by bringing them inside into the warm, but mum doesn't agree with me and has already warned me to keep my paws off. Spoilsport! 

I've also been working on my kitty yoga poses - it's perfect for keeping me flexible and in tip top condition. My favourite pose is 'downward cat' ...

I take my yarn quality control testing very seriously too. I'm always ready and willing to check out any knitted or crocheted item for comfort and squishiness. In the experiment below, I was contemplating the merits of a double blanket layer over a single one. I think that a double squish is infinitely preferable, but I wouldn't reject a single squish if that was all that was available!

I'm pleased to see that there's another blanket on the way - of course I've done a secret bit of testing, just my paws, when mum wasn't looking! I think it will do very nicely.

I have had to had serious words with mum though. She has been playing the piano A LOT and let's just say that it's not music to my ears! I have to put on my cross kitty face to show my displeasure! (Don't get me wrong, it's not that she can't play - it's just that I am not appreciative of some of the more cultured things in life. And don't get me started on her singing! I have to actually attack her to make her stop!)

Well, the sun's out here, so I'm going to bid you farewell for now, and go and get me some rays. Meow meow meow everyone and stay safe! xxx