Last stitching meet-up of 2024

 Saturday was our last Birmingham Stitchers meet up of the year, the cafe had honored the booking that Hilary and Sue made a while ago and reserved a table for us, so we were all able to sit together this last time.  We stayed longer than usual, 10 -4pm rather than our usual 12 - 3pm.  I took Mary Margaret along again and managed to get her skirt finished and her legs stitched.  You would have thought in that time I would have got more stitching done, what can I say, I'm a slow stitcher.

No photos because I've shared photos of the inside of the cafe we meet up in recently, (I will say though that on Saturday it was bloomin freezing in there!)  Here how Mary Margaret Is looking now.

I'm not enjoying this on the scroll frame, next time I pick her up I might take it off and use a nurge frame.

This weekend there was a Christmas Wool Show held at the International Conference Centre in Birmingham, I didn't buy an advance ticket as I was undecided until this morning.  So glad I made the effort, it was a lovely show, not too busy and lots of people that I hadn't heard of before.  This is the first time this year at a wool show and of course I didn't really need anything but you never come away empty handed from these events do you?

I don't think I went overboard.  The Moonlight Fibre Christmas yarn and the WYS Christmas yarn will be wrapped up and put away to open when I start knitting Christmas socks in 2025.  The same with the snowman project bag, isn't he cute?  I don't usually buy project bags, some of them can be quite expensive but this one from Jibbyroosews was a good buy at £9.50, and It's a decent size.  I've been thinking of keeping a record of my knitting for future reference so picked up a Knitters Journal from Under The Olive Tree, again a good price.  The Christmas cracker is from Pickle-Lily, I believe there is a mini skein inside, plus It can be re-used another year.  All in all a good day out, I will definitely go to this one again next year If they do it.

So a busy but lovely weekend, and I needed it, I didn't go out of the house for four days last week after last Saturday's outing, my hip and butt cheek was painful and I just felt meh, but then by Thursday I forced myself to go to the shopping centre as there were some things I needed to get, thankfully it was much quieter and I managed to get everything I needed to.  While I was there I called into the pharmacist to ask if there was anything else I could throw at this pain, I'm just sick of taking co-codamol, and surely long term that's not good anyway.  She recommended a diclofenac gel and touch wood, (tapping my head here), that, along with some lavender essential oil in the bath water, the purchase of a knee pillow, for spine support and some exercises I found online, I am finally in less pain, yayyyy.  I might even be able to go for a decent walk this week.

I've got a couple of things to get done this week and then I'll be all sorted for Christmas except for the wrapping.

Hope your Christmas preparations are going well, are you all organised or do you still have things to do?

-X-