A plan... finally

Apologies for the long, wordy post. I promise I'll be back to normal for the next one.

When I was 10 I decided I wanted to be a structural engineer (this might seem young but I grew up with A LOT of Lego). This past year I was attempting my final year of an Engineering degree at Durham University but, unfortunately, I was unable to sit my final exams in May due to a recurring health problem. At the end of June I found out that I would not be able to resit my exams and so would have to leave without a complete degree.

Two days after I got this news, my partner of 9 years left me because he saw no future in our relationship without my degree. Having lost the two defining things in my life I have, probably understandably, been feeling a little adrift. To top it all off, the last two months of job hunting have resulted in many replies of either "I'm sorry you're not qualified to be an engineer" or "I'm sorry you're over qualified to be a receptionist/administrator/shop assistant/client services person/data inputter/call centre phone answerer".... Poop.

Kym and Lucy to the rescue! Kym is the owner of my LQS, The Fat Quarters, and Lucy is the owner of Woolaballoo, a local knitting and yarn shop. Woolaballoo used to be situated in Crawcrook, just along the road from where I live, and my sister and mother used to go there regularly on a Thursday evening for "Stitch and Bitch" (knitting and gossip) session.

Inside The Fat Quarters

The shop in Crawcrook closed down a year ago because the rent was too high but it is reopening right, slap bang, next door to The Fat Quarters in Blackhall Mill. Kym and Lucy have made me an offer I can't refuse; from next week I will be working 2 days a week in Woolaballoo, while Lucy is away doing trade shows, and 3 or 4 days in The Fat Quarters, learning and operating the Gammill long-arm quilt machine. How exciting is that!

Inside the new Woolablloo - click on the picture to go to Lucy's facebook page and see more pictures of the new shop

The best thing about the arrangement is that neither shop is open on a Monday so, after I save up some money, I may be able to squeeze in some modules and finish my degree via The Open University. The scariest thing is that I have never knitted in my life! I'm going along to "Stitch and Bitch" tonight with a ball of wool so hopefully I'll be a fast learner.

If you are around in the Newcastle/County Durham area this weekend, pop into Woolaballoo for the grand opening on Saturday. There's 10% off everything all day and if you bring a friend you'll be entered in a prize draw.