Stylecraft Blogstar Meetup 2018

Hi everyone!

Hard to believe it is February already! Didn't 2018 just begin yesterday?! Sometimes I wish time was flying by less fast and unless someone invents the time turner Hermione used in Harry Potter, we will just have to make most of the moments we have and actually notice them!

Something very notice-worthy was the first Stylecraft Blogstar meet up of the year last weekend! Stylecraft invited its blogstars to a meet up twice a year and while we couldn't attend in person (again, no one has invented apparition for us muggles yet...), we joined the others via Skype on Saturday! The lovely people from Stylecraft installed a table microphone this time and thus is was so much easier to hear everyone at the table! 

Over the course of the morning we got plenty of exciting news and background information, talked about social media annnddd got to see the new yarns which will be released this spring! A big box with samples of all these new yarns arrived in Germany and Australia weeks back and after days of just looking at the box, we were finally allowed to dive into it! You see, there was a big sign on it, telling us not to open it before the meeting! Oh the anticipation! Some of the new yarns are released already (have a look here), some others aren't yet and thus we can't tell you about them (except that is is worth waiting for them!). Michelle really loved the new Bambino yarn, while Anne is rather excited about one of the still super-secret yarns. 

(The picture above is from Stylecraft because ... well obviously we weren't there to take the picture ourselves).

There are some really exciting projects coming up over the next year which we Blogstars plan to do together but... it is all a secret for now! Cross your fingers that everything will work up as dreamt up. :) We certainly can't wait for the next meet up in July!

On a side note: Helen from Josiekitten has a bit of fundraising going on at the moment. She is raising funds for the British Heart Foundation in memory of her late husband. When you donate just two pounds, you will get the change to win amazing yarn-y prizes! Have a look at her page, drool about the prizes (there are over 70!) and donate to this worthy cause! 

We can't wait for the next meet up and really hope we can join the others in person one day...

Take care

Michelle & Anne

July Stylecraft Blogstars Meetup!

Hey everyone!

It was a freezing cold July evening for me, and a lovely sunny Saturday morning for Anne, when we skyped in to our very first Stylecraft Blogstars meeting!! Some of the photos in this post were taken by us, and some by Stylecraft :)

I live just down the road from another Blogstar, Angela from Get Knotted Yarn Craft, so we decided this was too good an opportunity to miss - hanging out together squishing wool, crocheting and chattering! The Captain even came along for the fun; he just can't miss a party, even if it's just two of us drinking tea in the kitchen :P 

There were 5 bloggers joining in from outside the UK - us and Angela (of course), plus Polly Plum from Every Trick on the Hook, and Zelna from Zooty Owl. After the usual technical difficulties (fortunately there was a handsome young man available to assist at Stylecraft!) we got underway! 

It was incredibly awesome to put voices to faces to names of some bloggers that we really love reading! Plus, who can have too many crochet friends? Attending the meetup in person were Lucia from Lucia's Fig Tree, Sandra from Cherry Heart, Julia from Hand Knitted Things, Helen from Josiekitten, Phil from The Twisted Yarn, Sarah from Annaboo's House, Catherine from Catherine's Crochet Corner, Kathryn from Crafternoon Treats, Heather from The Patchwork Heart and Emma Varnam. Sadly Lucy from Attic24 and Jane Crowfoot weren't able to come along - next time, ladies!

Next was what we were waiting for - a preview of the next season's yarn releases, both new yarns and new colours of existing yarns! There's not a lot we can talk about yet, but watch this space.

Annabelle and Emma took us around on the laptop to tour the room that was set up as the showroom for the day - so many pretties!!! Lucia brought a whole bunch of her blankets which were just glorious to see "in person" (rather than still photos) and there are some amazing upcoming designs to look forward to!

The last part (for us overseas people) was an awesome opportunity to play in piles of yarn. We were so glad to have all the little squares of Special DK colours as this made it so much easier to come up with colour combinations for a super secret upcoming thing! Even the Captain got in on the action :P

Overall we had a good time, mostly meeting the other wonderful Blogstars, and after disconnecting from Stylecraft (it was lunchtime in the UK, and the none of us felt up to learning tatting by teleconference!) we overseas bunch decided we would get together on Skype more regularly, as it was just so lovely to catch up, chat and crochet together! 

I think I've used up my entire monthly allowance of exclamation marks (!!) in this post!! :D 

Next Week - we're publishing our first pattern designed with our Blogstars yarn from Stylecraft, the intriguing Mystique yarn!