It’s April Fool’s Day today, which was a bit of a blight on my childhood as it also happens to be my birthday. My Oma (gran), a remarkable woman who was very important to me and whom I loved to bits, unfortunately also possessed a sense of humour. One year when I was about 11 I’d been suffering from headaches and colds quite a lot, and so on my birthday she gave me an old-fashioned metal tube of aspirine. That was it. I thanked her politely and put it with the rest of my birthday presents, a bit disappointed and trying not to show it. “Aren’t you going to open it?” she asked. When I did, the tube turned out to be full of dubbeltjes, 10 cent coins – a very nice treat!

April, and more specifically Easter Monday, is also when Mabel Figworthy’s Fancies started. Two years ago now – doesn’t time fly when you’re having fun! Since then there have been lots of new designs, several classes and of course the Song of the Weather Hardanger SAL. It’s been an exciting and rewarding time.

And so I thought it should be a rewarding time for you too, with some Birthday & Anniversary Special Offers to celebrate and thank you for your support. There is Spice of Life, a Pick & Mix consisting of designs in three different sizes; Coasters Plus, a chart pack of suitably-sized designs free with any order of coasters; and New Projects for Old, which gives you 30% off a chart pack of your choice if you send us a picture of your finished Mabel’s Fancies project for the Stitchers’ Gallery. Enjoy – as they say, a little of what you Fancy does you good .