Help Harry Help Others Fundraising

This is a little different to my other blog posts so far and I hope you will all help me in any way you can.  I met a very dear friend quite a long time ago on twitter called May.  She is the kindest lovely lady and I am so lucky to have her as a friend.  She is a very talented poet and you can find her website here http://www.survivorsburg2006.com/

We have recently got together and she has wrote a poem about knitting as she has picked up her knitting needles again, this gave her inspiration to write a great poem.

We have decided to let my blog readers think up a title for this poem and all you have to do is donate £2 or more if you can afford it to a just giving page I have set up for Help Harry Help Others http://www.justgiving.com/peggyscollection

Clickety Clackety the needles do go,

Row by row,

Watch it grow,

Is it a cardigan, jumper, or blanket? No

Once sewn it’s a little jacket,

Many garment’s you can knit,

When knitting needles part of a crafting kit,

Knit one, purl one, passes slip stitch over,

What’s next? A Gent’s pullover,

Family, Friends and Pets for all you can knit,

Also helps keep your brain fit,

Patterns concentration they do need,

Keeping it right for you to succeed,

Give yourself a challenge,

Knitting needles a pair,

Then knit something for yourself,

Or for others whom you do care.

© May Thomson 2013

All you have to do is leave a comment below and let me know you have donated however big or small and you will be in with a chance of winning the poem with your title on it and it will come as a scroll in a little knitted stocking.

So please try and help even if it is just £2 it all really will make a difference to this charity

Christmas wreath and birthday gifts

Christmas orders are coming in thick and fast and amongst all this I am finishing off Christmas gifts and birthday gifts I am making for my own family and friends

One of the most popular designs so far this season has to be the hand knitted cable wreath made in any colour with pine cones and organza to decorate them.

My mum's birthday is next Tuesday so I recently made her a cabled hot water bottle cover and bought her some other gifts. I also want to try and make her some special candles before next week. I also had a beautiful card made by My wonderful little designs who is on twitter @mwldesigns

I have lots of plans for the new year to start posting a lot more tutorials on my blog of how to make some items such as the wreaths, candles etc. I also would like to start a vlog for Christmas on youtube. This would obviously include a lot of my crafting too. If you would be interested in seeing any of this please let me know.

http://www.mwldesigns.co.uk MWL Designs

Feeling a lot like winter

Yes the weather is changing and it feels a lot like winter. Now we have a new gas boiler fitted we are nice and warm when the dark nights draw in. So lots of evenings with my knitting,crochet and spinning on the sofa. I'm afraid since my last blog post I did catch the dreaded sickness bug. But I am all better now which is a good thing as I think everyone is ordering for Christmas now :-)

I have been finishing off lots of designs and had lots of orders to complete too. Since I updated the blog last we also had halloween.  My youngest son had great fun helping me carve a pumpkin and we went trick or treating down our road where we knew people didn't mind us knocking. Then we came home with my eldest son and niece and had a little party.

We have also been making candles. These look just like cupcakes and they seem to be really popular and my son had great fun learning how to make them and decorate them. They make great xmas presents. I am thinking of doing a tutorial on how to make them as they are very easy, just a little messy.

I have also finished two pairs of socks this week. They were toe up, after thought heel socks I have had so many people ask how to do these. So this is another tutorial that I must write up for you all.

Busy Busy

Yes the title of the blog post should tell you alot Ive been very busy busy over the last week in all areas of my life.  Firstly we went to the Norwich Castle Museum which my youngest son has never been to before and I had not been for quite a number of years.  I think thats the way the things you live closest to you dont always visit, something we will be changing.  We had a great time and will be returning.  We are learning about the romans so there was a great display on this and we bought some roman coins too.  There are loads of interactive puzzles and things to do too which my son loved.

Work wise I have been working on some new designs which are all including cables, which I love at the moment.  I have a hat design on the needles right now and a few christmas presents too. I have also been dyeing yarn and making butterfly stitch markers where all proceeds are going to pancreatic cancer UK so if you would like to help in any way please head over to my Peggys Yarns website to see more.

I have been thinking about filming some tutorials for knitting and putting on youtube if anyone would like to see any of these would you please comment as I think I need some encouragement to actually do it! 

Today is sickness day in my household as the children are unwell :( I have not got it YET so I am nursing them back to health and hoping that I do not catch it. But I am still determined to make this happen today 

Welcome to my world

Welcome to my blog! Some of you may know me from Peggy's Collection and Peggy's Yarns.  These are still very much there but this is an extra blog that will show more of the running of the businesses and a little more about myself and my home life.  This will include knitting, dyeing of yarns, spinning, cooking, beauty and children.  So yes a real mixture! Thanks to @norfolkhorns on twitter for helping me decide on a name for the blog.

Firstly a little about myself.  I am Diana and Peggy was my dear grandmother who taught me to knit. I live in bootiful Norfolk where I grew up with my family.  I am very close to my family who mean a lot to me which I am hoping you will also see from this blog.  I have 3 children and I home educate my youngest little boy who is 7 years old.  I am hoping to include some of that in this blog too.

This is me!

I am very proud of Peggy's Collection and have won many awards and had many photo shoots and fashion shows.

One of my many designs being modelled by my niece Heidi Jackson

I also hand dye yarns which I love as it re kindled my love for knitting and not just knitting for a job. As much as that sounds like an ideal job to many knitters it can also be very stressful and demanding.  I love the flexibility I have with my work.

Sparkly yarn I dyed for Peggy's Yarns 

A special design I am making 

I have worked with many charities and that is a very positive way to use my skills too and I am also very happy to help as much as I can.  I am very fortunate to do a job that I love.

Well I hope you have all had a little insight to the life of Diana and I will be updating this blog a lot with day to day things I do that I think will interest you all.