A lady called Sue who won tickets to the ICHF show in Manchester last week wanted to share her experience of the day with everyone. It sounds like Sue had a fantastic day at the show and thank you for the biscuits I did manage to get one. They were soon gone though, lots of people with a sweet tooth here at the Black Sheep.
‘It’s not often that I’m lost for words, but I was totally ‘gobsmacked’ when I received an email on Monday 4 February which read, “Hi Sue! Congratulations, you have won tickets to the show! The tickets will be sent out to you today.
I had entered Black Sheep Wools competition, to try and win a FREE ticket for two to the ‘Creative Stitches & Hobbycrafts Show’ at the Trafford Centre’s Event City in Manchester, never giving my entry a second thought.
My first thoughts were, “What the heck… !”, followed by “Must phone Beka” (my daughter) and much chuckling to myself. Beka had prior commitments for the weekend, so she and I arranged to go to the event on Thursday 7 February.
I eagerly awaited the postie on Tuesday, but no tickets arrived. Same on Wednesday. So I phoned Amy at Black Sheep Wools. She couldn’t have been more helpful and arranged for us to collect the tickets from reception at the Event Centre.
Beka and I set off for Manchester (after I had been dropped off at Beka’s by my lovely hubbie) during the nine to ten o’clock rush on the motorway, but had a pleasant and uneventful journey to the venue, arriving there just after ten.
There was a very long queue waiting to enter the craft fair, the air was buzzing with anticipation…
We bought a programme (which contained a very clear floor plan) and decided to check out the various stalls before we purchased anything, marking on the plan the stalls of interest to us that we wanted to revisit.
The ‘Jane Austen’ – Fashion and Films Exhibition caught our eye, as we thought that the clothes were so elegant. It was lunchtime before Beka and I completed the circuit, so we had a spot of lunch (Mustard Mash & Sausage for Beka, Veg Lasagne for me) and chatted about the diversity of traders, and the inspiration their works had given us, before setting off again to peruse some more.
Beka tried her hand at lace making (and did a very good job of it too) and received a sticker for her efforts. We went back to the “Black Sheep Wools” stall and I presented Sara with a bag of my own homemade biscuits, as a ‘thank you’ for going to so much time and effort to ensure we could claim our prize. (Hope you got a biscuit, Amy)!
“Black Sheep Wools” have much variety of knitting yarn/patterns, needlework and such like. There’s so much choice… it’s impossible to choose!!
By the middle of the afternoon, Beka was beginning to feel weary, so she opted to have a massage (my treat to her, for ferrying me to the venue), which, she said, was marvellous!
There were many artworks/crafts on display; ‘Smocking through the Ages’ was one which caught our eye – such lovely embroidery. And we were also quite taken by the exhibition of quilted wall hangings.
Everyone was so friendly, willing to share their experience and knowledge of their craft, and it was an all-round inspirational day. All we have to do now is get our skates on and get going.
Once again, my many thanks to Sarah and Amy for a most enjoyable time – we’ve had a grand day out, and it was marvellous.’
Sue & Sara with the yummy biscuits
Sue looking at the Jane Austen exhibition
Black Sheep Wools stand
The Black Sheep yarn dive!
We are on stand F24!