Thursday, July 24, 2014

Return to Blighty

Just back from two weeks in Florida.  We had a wonderful time. Can't tell you the difference it has made. Before the holiday it was getting difficult to get myself motivated to anything. I found myself spending far too much time cooking and reading endless books . I am happy to report I have got my mojo back , might have something to do with the mojitos in my Jacuzzi , I had one every evening. I felt like a film star.
 
 
 I have always wanted to visit Joann a great craft store. It is like Hobbycraft on steroids. I had an wonderful time in there. There are aisles after aisles of crafty goodness .It was such a pleasure to be surrounded with by crafts old and new.



                                           Obviously, I hot footed it to the crochet section. They have a tremendous range .Hooks I have heard about but never seen , Susan bates, Deborah Norville, Knitters pride ,Lion brand,  crochet amour ,  ChiaoGoo, wooden, metal , plastic you name the hook they have it. Gosh , I was in crochet heaven.
                                                           This is some of my haul
These hooks are Called Crochet lite. As the name suggests they light up allowing you to crochet in the dark. They have a switch so they can be used without the light. You might think this is a silly idea but if you  enjoy watching movies in the dark as I do, they are an absolute must. I also like to use them as the evening draws in and you aren't ready to  draw the curtains, it just allows you to do a few more rows before the light must go on. They are battery operated, they didn't have any replacement batteries but I managed to get hold on some from this seller when I got home.
I have heard such good things about the crochet amour .My most used hook size is 4mm so this fella came home with me.
                                    My new Tunisian crochet hooks by knitters pride they are wooden and such a beautiful range of colours I simply had to have them.
I love pompons and I have a few of these pompom makers except this size it makes tiny ones so cute and a perfect way to use my odd and ends of yarn.
                                                      the ever useful stitch markers
Oh and this little gadget I simply had to have, it calculates the amount of yarn you have used on a project. This will be  invaluable for me and all my design work. You place the yarn in the slit. the counter has a  suction thing that you stick to a surface and crochet away.The counter  does the rest.
As you can see I had a great day. Whilst walking down an aisle a lady came up to me and asked me where I got my crochet lites from and we started chatting. She told me she loved to crochet and she loved the uk magazine Inside crochet she then showed me patterns she had made from the mag and what do you know she had made two of my designs. It is such a great feeling to have someone make stuff you have designed its great to see their yarn choice and interpretation. She then very kindly gave me a voucher for 20% off . What a wonderful random act of kindness. I am very embarrased to say I cant remember her name but she knows who I am and if you are reading this thank you very much and could you please leave me a contact

I had such a great day and just writing this post has put a smile on my face. I have not unpacked but as soon as I do you all know how I will have  hours of fun. It is great to be back and I can't wait to catch up on your news.


11 comments:

  1. I am so glad you had a great holiday, I am a great fan of Joann, I also like Micheals. How wonderful to be given a coupon, the American certainly know how to make you feel welcome. How's the jet lag?

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  2. Welcome home again. The Joann shop looks amazing. I wouldn't know where to stop if I was able to shop there.

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  3. I am so glad that you had such a good time and that you have got your mojo back! How lovely to meet that lady and then to be able to tell her that you designed the patterns! What are the chances hey. I hope that she gets in touch so that you can stay in contact. It definitely looks as though you have lots of different hooks to try out! xx

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  4. Oh lovely stuff, I saw those light up crochet hooks and they made me smile. I'm going to have another big proper block of my Diana Shawl because I just made a gorgeous Joanne Scrace pattern and she says to block the heck out of it to get the lace to look, well, lacier....so I dunked it in water and really stretched it out and it worked fab....I think my lovely Diana would benefit from that kind of treatment...is that what you do???

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  5. What a wonderful store. I'd have no money left if it was in my home town. How fantastic meeting someone who has used your designs. No surprise that your mojo has returned, sounds like you had a great battery recharge time.
    S xx

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  6. I am so glad you had a wonderful trip and I hope we Floridian's treated you and your family well. Sorry you had to come over when it was so hot and humid here. And I am so glad you had a nice visit to Joann's. They do have some fun hooks and needles to buy. Thank you so much for telling me the story about your daughter and her throat, you must have been so scared fro her. Bless her heart.
    Hugs,
    Meredith

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  7. Wow, Joann's looks brilliant. You've found some useful things, I'm glad you had a good time. And I'm really glad you've got your mojo back, it's so horrible when you hit a flat period. At least next time you know, all you need is a couple of weeks in Florida. Glad you're home safely. CJ xx

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  8. What a wonderful, wonderful holiday!!! I head straight for JoAnn's every time I visit family in the States, and believe me I am capable of stuffing *tons* of goodies from there in my suitcase, much like you have here! So fun, so fab...I've just ordered some Tunisian hooks and a book, it's time I give it a go! The best part of this post, aside from the mojito/jacuzzi combo, is the meeting of the woman in the aisle. How incredible that she's made your designs, and you just happen upon each other in JoAnn's? Life is grand that way...Chrissie xxx

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  9. What a great time you had and I'm surprised you had any space left in your suitcase after being in that shop.
    I love the idea of the crochet hooks that light up, I wonder if they make them the same for knitting needles. My knitting is currently going at snails pace as we tend to leave the windows open and the curtains open, as its been so warm, sitting in the virtual dark, to stop the gnats coming in for a bite. I can't see a blessed thing!

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  10. Sounds like crochet heaven in Jo-Ann's! I'll bet the lady in aisle was just as happy to have met you too. You've got lots of fun things to try out now. Thank you for your kind comment on my blog recently. Wendy x

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  11. Looks like you found a new kind of paradise! Happy to read that your time away was so restorative x

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