Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner..............another SLYMI winner.

Hello, did you all have a good weekend? I'm popping in today to let you know, we have another winner for the Swatch Like You Mean It Class. After I let Mel know that I had picked the winner last week, I unexpectedly got an email back telling me to pick one more place. I still had all the names in my teacup, so over the weekend I pulled out another lucky person, who was Denise. I want to say a big thank you to the very generous, kind hearted Mel for donating these prizes to my blog. There are just a few places left, so if you are interested in learning how to make swatching more fun plus two get exclusive patterns, you can find the details, here.

On Saturday, the weather was kind to us and we went to Stratford Upon Avon for the day, the beautiful, historical town, where William Shakespeare was born and laid to rest. It's a 40 minute drive from where we live so I took some knitting to pass the time, I don't like to miss a chance to knit, whenever I can!!!!!

When we arrived, we parked near the river and the first thing I saw was this enormous tree, that had been Yarn Bombed. My jaw dropped when I saw it, I've seen lots of yarn bombing over the last couple of years but not on this scale, it was amazing and look at the gorgeous blue skies, it was a beautiful winter's day.

It's called The Remembering Tree, a place to remember, reflect and celebrate all the colours of life, each square was made by women in South Africa to supplement their income. When it's taken down, it's going to be washed and recycled for blankets for homeless charities in the local area and also Sierra Leone. It was awe inspiring to see and I'm so glad I got the chance.

My friend Gilly, recommended I visit Sew Me Something, next time I was in Stratford, it's a gorgeous little fabric shop but they also sell a small selection of yarn.They have MillaMia in stock, which I have wanted to try for ages, I had some Christmas money left so I bought a couple of balls to use for the SLYMI class.

I also spotted this book in Waterstones, which is a selection of stories written by writers who knit and how knitting has inspired them. I spent the last of my money on this book and I can't wait to start reading it, it also has 5 original patterns by Helen Bingham.

After a lovely day spent wandering around the town and a spot of lunch, we headed back to the car, just as the sun was setting over the river.

One last thing, I would like to share with you. My sister bought me this book for Christmas, it's Topsy-Turvy, Inside-Out by Susan B. Anderson, do you remember the fabric dolls that you turn inside out and it turned into something else. I had Little Red Riding Hood that turned into the Big Bad Wolf, well this book is to knit these toys. There are some really cute projects, one of my favourites, is the dinosaur that pops out of an egg, if anyone is interested, it is only £2.16 for the Kindle Edition, I've also bought this, as I've always have my phone with me which has the Kindle App so if I forget my book, I've always got it on my phone. It's also on offer in the U.S. when I looked this afternoon, it does change day to day though so just check.

Thanks for stopping by and congratulations to the two winners of the SLYMI class.

xxxxDebxxxx