More Things

I wouldn't normally do two of these sorts of posts in a row but when we were chatting the other day there was a little something I forgot to mention and then some rather splendid goodies came through my door which I couldn't wait to share, so here I am.

Also slightly unexpected might be the colours in that first photo up there.  A little departure from the normal Cherry Heart palette wouldn't you say?  Let me tell you how it came about...

Black Sheep Wools

I got an email recently from the lovely people at Black Sheep Wools.  A delightful online (and real life) shop, you probably know it?  Well, surprisingly, I didn't.  I'd heard their name, was sure I must have frequented there often, but when I popped over to their site to visit I discovered it was all new to me.  Still, that just meant I had the fun of looking around and taking a long browse of their wares, which was great fun.

Anyway, the reason for the email was that they wanted to make me their 'Blogger of the Month' and wanted to know if I'd be able to answer some interview questions.  Rather fabulously there was a little prize too.  A free gift card for me to make use of as I wished.

It's a rare treat to browse around a place knowing that you can pick and choose a little something for yourself and I ummed and ahhhed over what to go for.  I was seriously tempted by the fabric section.  Yes, fabric and yarn are both available in this shop, a dangerous combination for me!  Then my thoughts turned to pattern ideas and yarny colour combinations.  There are a good range of yarn brands, some more typical, but a good selection of more unusual ones too.

But in the end I decided that my treat should be something I wouldn't normally buy myself.  Something a little more decadent and so I opted for some Noro Yarn and some absolutely silky Lantern Moon needles.  And as there were a few pounds to use up I snapped up a couple of balls of the gorgeous Rowan Handknit Cotton while I was at it.

I must admit that the Noro, when it arrived was a little darker overall than I expected.  There is quite a lot of black and surprisingly (to me at least) some quite vibrant green!  Of course, that's my own silly fault for making my first ever foray into Noro without knowing my stuff, so I'm not entirely sure what this will become yet, I'm mulling over pattern ideas at the moment.  164 yards of DK, I can't help but think mitts (just for a change!)  Any suggestions most gratefully received.

I also thought it was a rather splendid idea that they do gift cards.  A bit of a genius present idea for us yarny types really.  Because we like to receive yarn but I'll bet you'll be like me and would prefer to pick it out yourself.

If you'd like to find out a little bit more about me and my yarny habits, you can read my Black Sheep Wools Blogger of the Month interview here.

Homespun

Then there's the thing I forgot to tell you about, another little mention for my Blossoming Bag in what is fast becoming my favourite crafty magazine, Homespun.

They gave me a lovely little write up, I was most chuffed by it and best of all, they sent me a copy of the magazine too, which I've been pouring over ever since.  It's an Australian magazine, so there is not an abundance of them over here in the UK but I'm told it is possible to get hold of copies so I'm going to have to look into that.

I'm not much of a one for magazines lately but this one I really like.  Of course, I could be biased (hee hee!) but it's full of lovely things, things I want to make myself and also things that get the old creative brain ticking over too.

Update:  It turns out you can get Homespun via iTunes for Newstand (for iPad and iPhone) and on Zinio (for Apple, Windows and Android) - yay!

S x

♥