Extreme Stash Enhancement

I have to say I love having a boy who says "as a birthday and thank you for helping me present, we can go to Hobbycraft, and you can pick out exactly what you want, and I will then pay for it!" Surprise, surprise I did some extreme shopping:

So that is 2 pattern books, some needles, a needle sizer, a ball of cotton, a cross stitch kit and a pyrography kit. I have never done pyrography before, which in case you didn't know, is burning pictures into wood. The kit comes with some wood and leather pieces as well as the pyrography tool, which looks a bit like a modified soldering iron with interchangeable ends. I think my plan for this weekend (as well as going to WWKIP day) is to give it a try, and I went to a DIY shop yesterday to get some scrap wood to practice on before I use the pieces in the kit. Now I will be honest, I'm not very good at drawing, so I will have to see how this turns out.

Also for birthday gifts I got *mumbles* a Hello Kitty colouring book and pencils *mumbles,* and a free birthday pattern from MinKnit designs! I picked the Poetry Anklets pattern, as I've wanted to make these for ages.

And finally, my present to myself is in the post. 5 balls of Sirdar Snuggly Crofter and a pattern book, so I can make my Goddaughter a jumper for her Christening on 7th August.

I promise there has actually been knitting occurring this past week, and there will be progress picture soon! And I got my first choice dissertation topic: "Human Placental Vascular Dysfunction in pregnancies complicated by maternal diabetes: Causes and Consequences"