Having fun making pots!

Well I have now arrived back from a lovely holiday in Northumberland. We seemed to have had all the good weather! Managed to get quite a bit of knitting done - more about that when I have the photos to show what I have made.
Miranda was certainly busy - not only writing blogs and posting more in 2 weeks than we have done in a whole year but also in Create with all the summer courses. Anyway I am straight back to it and we have had a great day today with the pottery wheel out and 8 children (and 1 adult) having a go at throwing a pot! Pictures shows some of the items made today and the pottery wheel in action. Michele, a qualified teacher and expert potter takes the courses for us and they have been a great success. We still have another two sessions scheduled in the summer holidays so please check the courses page on our web site www.createcafe.co.uk if you fancy having a go!!
Also all our autumn Rowan stock arrived today and boy have we ordered a lot but will update you on all the details in the next blog. Have had to bring it all home to sort out and then hopefully it will go back to Create tomorrow for us to start loading the shelves!
Until next time .......

Emma

New Wool

We are now getting our deliveries of all the Autumn/Winter wool stock and books, I love it when these huge boxes arrive we unpack piles and piles of scrummy new yarns, new colours and new books full of things I NEED to knit right now!!! This week we got our delivery of new Debbie Bliss yarns and books, we have also added new colours to our existing ranges of Aran yarns and the ever popular Baby Cashmerino. We have 3 new books in, 9 To 5 which is a great book full of patterns for children up to age 10, Fez which has some great chunky knits in and The Big Easy which is full of lovely things to make using Aran weight yarn. We also got some new Noro yarns in, I particularly love the new Silk Garden Sock colours (guess what my Dad is getting for Christmas!!). Other new things have been the new range of Amy Butler Knitting Bags which are fab (I have my eye on a large rusty coloured one!), gorgeous fabrics and in a range of sizes, these are not going to be in stock for very long. Monday should see our delivery from Rowan arriving, I can't wait to see the new British Breeds DK range - the Chunky range last year was very popular and the designs were great, I think the new range should be even more successful. It is ages ago since Emma and I placed our order so it will be exciting to remind ourselves what we actually purchased!! It is just like Christmas!

Emma has been away for the last 2 weeks in Northumberland, but I did receive a text this week with a picture attached of her knitting on the beach!! Crazy! I am off to Scarborough with friends and family this week for a bit of camping, I hope the rain clouds have dispersed by the time we go, I don't fancy being like those unlucky campers in the Lake District who ended up with Swans and Ducks swimming round their tents!!

Not much other news, my husband has been in the wars yet again, this time a car crash!!! He was in a friends car and they ended up spinning on a wet road and hitting a tree! Luckily no major injuries or hospitalisation this time just cuts, bruises and a very sore leg for Simon where it got squashed in the foot well of the car. Everyone is joking that Simon must be a cat, he is rapidly running out of lives though!! He is very fed up though because it means more time off his bike whilst his injuries heal.

Reuben's Visit

We were delighted to welcome our newest recruit to Create this morning, Felicity brought Reuben in to meet us all, just 8 days old! We painted his foot and he cooperated beautifully and did a perfect print on a tile for his Grandad - what a superstar!

We had a great day here on Monday, normally we are shut on a Monday, but this week we had one of our Tutors in, Anne Makepeace, to teach a Parent and Child Knitting course all day. We had 6 Mums and 7 Children in of mixed abilities, some had done a bit of knitting before and others were complete beginners. Everyone had fun and lots of different projects were started - knitted pigs, elephants, wristbands, we even got on to learn how to knit with beads which look so pretty. Our youngest child was 6 and even she was able to cast on and knit by the end of the day. A great success all round.

Anne had been in London the day before, she had won a place on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square! She had an hour on the Plinth on Sunday afternoon, lots of people had sent in knitted and crocheted flowers to her which she used to decorate the top of the Plinth and she then spent her hour knitting and chatting. What a great experience.

The weather is still not very summery here in Ilkley so we are having a busy week with people of all ages coming in and painting pottery, we are also running some other craft over the next couple of weeks - Quilling, blackboard painting, Pin Felting and we will have the potters wheel running next week so you can actually make your own pottery aswell. Lots to keep the children busy.

Miranda

A New Arrival

Great news , Felicitys baby arrived last night - Reuben David Rundle Tomblin!!! I finished the rattle last night so I obviously knew he was due! Congratulations to all the Tomblin family and we are looking forward to meeting the little man very soon.

Well, it must be the start of the summer holidays because it has not stopped raining!! The shop has been busy this week with people already at a loss as to what to do with children on a wet day! We were running a Learn to Knit session this morning for children, we have 4 new recruits to the knitting cause! Tomorrow I am running the first of my Learn to sew sessions for children, I shall be showing them how to make a pair of slippers using felt and basic sewing stitches, should be fun, I will attempt to post the results on here tomorrow. Later in the week we have Sherry coming in to teach wet felting, the children will be able to make an I Pod or phone case. Lots of new skills being learnt, and old skills being revived.

Just a short blog tonight, I am in loading the kilns after a busy day of pottery painting. Chat soon.

Miranda

I have managed to get a photo (not very good admittedly!) of the lovely seat covers I mentioned in the last blog. Very comfy to sit on too!!

One of the ladies from our Thursday morning learn to knit group is expecting a baby next week so I have very quickly started knitting a new project, a little Rabbit Rattle from the new Erica Knight Baby book which is knitted in the lovely new(ish) yarn from Rowan called Milk Cotton - very soft and perfect for baby knits. I will hopefully have it finished over the weekend in plenty of time for the new arrival!! This morning my 7 year old daughter, 17 year old stepdaughter and I were all busy sat together knitting different things, we all chatted away and spent a lovely hour together - normally we are all heading off in different directions doing different things, it was really nice to just sit chatting about life with them both.

I am at Create now, the second of two hen parties has just arrived, they are all painting a dinner set for the bride to be, what a lovely gift for her to treasure.

Miranda

Oh dear, over a year since our last blog, not good, but we have been very busy! The big news is that our newly expanded wool shop is now open for business. Unfortunately we have had to get rid of our comfy sofas, but everyone agrees that the expanded range of yarns and colours is well worth the loss! Lyndy, Emma and I have also been busy knitting up some lovely chair cushions (The Knitter Issue 3) which we have backed with some fabulous Amy Butler fabric from Rowan. So you can still come in and enjoy a lovely cake and coffee whilst you browse. Our other exciting news is that if you cannot visit our lovely Wool shop you will very soon be able to go online and purchase from our online wool shop which we hope to be launching in 2 weeks - watch this space as they say!

We have been running lots of knitting workshops this year, Rowan Tutors Debbie Abrahams, Anne Makepeace and Emma King have been inspiring lots of our customers to experiment with beads, colour, fairisle, crochet and other exciting techniques. Lots more workshops are booked for September, October, November and December so take a look at our Diary of Events and Courses page on the website for more information.

If you and the children are at a loose end through the holidays why not give us a call and book a table to come in and paint some pottery? We are also running a very diverse selection of workshops through the holidays - learn to knit, learn to sew, felted jewellery making, pot making and many others. Check our Diary of Events and Courses page for more details and get booking early since places are very limited.

I cannot believe it is a year since my husband Simon got knocked off his bike. Unfortunately he recently had another bad accident on his bike - he came down a hill too fast and hit a dry stone wall at great speed! He suffered broken ribs, collarbone and a punctured lung so spent a few days in Airedale hospital and has been recuperating at home since. Luckily his helmet did it's job well and probably saved his life. The children and I have decided that he should not be allowed out in June anymore since that seems to be the month he injures himeself, alternatively we might just make him wear a padded suit so will just bounce if he comes off!!!

Miranda