Ever wondered what 32 sheep's legs on a knitting needle look like...?

How do I get myself into these situations...?

I always seem to be rushing to finish something with barely enough time...

 

Ever wondered what 32 sheep's legs on a knitting needle look like...? Well, no, not many people have, and as it turned out this was only 28 legs - so one sheep would have still been legless without a bit more knitting... arhhh

 

But all is well - all the sheep have legs and will be heading out to fairs this week 

And what about that Christmas garment I hear you asking... come on work with me here. Well it's a Christmas poncho, and hopefully I'll add a few more festive bits to it as the season goes on - if I have a minute...

 

#Lostinabook #sheep #Christmas

Exclusive to book signings

Where did the busy books go...?

I've taken my busy books out of my website shop until after my run of Christmas craft fairs. This is to avoid the risk of one being ordered from the website that I've sold at a fair.

Because they are unique, I can't just get another one out of a stockroom. So for the time being they will be exclusive to my book signing events.

#LostinaBook

#Busybooks 

The calm before the storm - craft fairs and book signings

This month is the calm before the storm, no book signings this month, but plenty of planning and preparation going on for the months ahead...

Right now I'm procrastinating when I should be making a poster for one of my forthcoming events... Oh yes and there's that book to finish, sheep to knit, plums to harvest - yes I know plums have nothing to do with my books, but I can see the tree from the window - and they need picking... arghhh!

But meanwhile - here's a poster that I get a billing on...

I'm looking forward to this one, I might even start my Christmas shopping while I'm there...

Book signing - York

I've rounded up the sheep and counted out the books, all ready for the first book signing of the year at Clifton Library tomorrow - I'll be turning up in time for the 11 am coffee morning - now if I could just arrange all my book signings around coffee mornings, then that would be lovely...

...so how did that happen?

I started off lost in a book and rummaging for words, so how did that lead to rummaging in wool, and in danger pf getting lost under a pile of wool, fabrics and ingredients?

So - the wool started when I decided to merchandise my books, and make some characters from  the books to display on my table at book signings. The sheep were the first - people love sheep, and it's not just the children who want to take one home, I get adults who find them irresistible too...

 Then came  the cats - no not the real ones who became the stars of my latest book Outnumbered by Cats - and were the inspiration for Basil and The Flappy Thing came from - no, I mean the little knitted Basil's who are new to my stock this Christmas...

...and are now causing a wool crisis as I'm rapidly running out of ginger wool, and can't find any more.

Then there's fabrics for busy books

 - and as fast as I can use bits up, I seem to run out of something else...

As for the ingredients - well that's just a family Christmas sneaking up on me, and all the ingredients waiting in an overloaded pantry to be turned into a traditional Christmas.

So this afternoon I'm escaping the craziness and going to play with books - my stock of books is going down, last week I opened a new box of Doodle Mayhem, and this week I need to break open a new box of But I'm Not Sleepy - still my bestseller.

The real cats might just get a new box to play with...

New sheep - wool crisis averted

The emergency wool trip turned up a new wool  - and here is the resulting sheep, slightly different, but different is good in handcrafted...  

So here is the first of the new flock:

So now all I have to do is turn the rest of this ball of wool into a flock of sheep in time for Saturday when I'm booked in at the Guildhall in York's city centre for a Christmas craft and gift fair.

Christmas Book Signings start this weekend...

Lost in a Book is going mobile for the festive season. Out and about at Christmas fairs encouraging more and more people to get lost in a book.

It all kicks off this Saturday 1st November at Wetherby Town Hall with the first book signing of the season, so come along and pick up a book, or a sheep... or a book and a sheep...

And what's new from Lost in a Book...? 

Quiet / Busy Books

New from Lost in a Book - some very special 

books for babies. 

 

      

 

Christmas book signings 2014 

• Sat 1st Nov 10am - 3pm Wetherby Town Hall - Charity Christmas Craft and Gift Fair in aid of children's heart surgery fund.
• Thurs 27th Nov 7 - 9pm Knavesmire Primary School - Christmas Shopping Evening
• Sat 30th & Sun 31st Nov Haxby Memorial Hall - Christmas Fair
• Sat 6th Dec 10am - 4.30pm  Tithe Barn Nehter Poppleton Christmas Fair
• Sun 7th Dec 12 noon - 6pm Yorkshire Heart Vineyard Christmas Fair 

Where are the geese when I need them...?

Where are the geese when I need them, when I went into town to photograph them... ?

Granted I hadn't made an appointment with them, there was no commitment on their behalf to be there just because I needed them.

And why did I need them...? Well... I'm doing a piece about York, and I think there are quite enough pictures of York Minster and the city walls already circulating, so I wanted to illustrate my article with a peaceful scene of geese chilling out by the River Ouse. But I think they may just have got a bit too chilled, and gone to find somewhere warmer to hang out, last time I saw them they had their heads tucked under their wings against the cold.  ...or maybe they just went off to do some sightseeing.