Mud and vintage

Are you enjoying the artic blast? - definitely much colder but the sunshine is just so lovely.  It is one of my favourite feelings to be on a walk and turn home into a cool wind which blows the hair from your face and at the same time be feeling the sun!

So of course there were some lovely walks, with lots of kicking through the leaves.  There is still a lot of mud around, though, and the dogs "boots" need a lot more attention post walk than mine.  This is two-at-a-time washing.

The dogs did try to  be helpful though - Tess tried to smooth down the pile of ironing

and Rosie was so exhausted by everything she thought it would help to fall asleep in the washing basket.

I treated myself to Tilda's Christmas Gifts, although I'm not usually into too much Xmas crafting, espeically the magazines being full of Xmas from September!

.... but there a a few projects I would like to make but particularly the snowmen in pyjamas!

... or maybe a reindeer.

My knitted jacket now has 2 fronts and 1 sleeve so about half-way there.  But I have now finished my farmer's wife wall-hanging  (it's so dull here that I haven't been able to get a decent photo).  It isn't perfect by any means and I went off the ditch quite a lot during the quilting, but I love it.  I love the colours and now I just have to work out how to hang it on my bedroom wall.  I would really recommend this as a project .. and as a quilting beginner it is possible to achieve!  I've learnt how important the cutting is, and I still found this really boring and I should have used a better quality cream for the joining pieces as you can see through a bit.  I'm going to start on a much easier lap-quilt in the same colours now for snuggling up on the sofa.

Another vintage sale on Saturday with some lovely displays of vintage crockery.

I managed to find a few bargains - some beautiful embroidered tray-cloths for £5

And  a table cloth for £8 - this would look lovely at Xmas.

And a sweet little vintage broach - don't know how it has survived unbroken.

Couldn't go without seeing if you have come across   Lucy Jackson who     has just finished making 365 embroidieries in 365 days!  What an amazing project and Lucy is incredibly talented! (This is obviously her work below - not a sudden increase in ability from me).

The project  reminded me of the Jules and Julia film and I was prompted to put the DVD on to accompany some knitting.  If you like cooking and blogging and haven't seen this film its definitely worth a watch.  For now I think I'll stick to my monthly make pledge ...

My next blog will be my fiftieth and I will be having a give-away.  So make sure you tune.  Have a great week and thanks for the lovely comments.

Memories ......

One of the treats I love at the weekend is a lie-in with a cup of tea and a new magazine to read.  I think I might have mentioned before that I'm a bit of a crafting magazine addict - I was wondering whether this might have its roots in my childhood, where my pocket money would buy a comic and a bag of sweets.  First it was Look and Learn (approved by parents) ...

Then Bunty with its cut out dressing doll on the back!

Then Jackie ...  with the gorgeous David Essex on the cover!

Then there were grown-up magazines, reflecting the interests of the time; fashion, health, travel, photography etc. etc.  Now its knitting, cross-stitch, baking and sewing.

I have a file of projects saved I want to do .... 3 files so far!  Anyway excuse the trip down memory lane ... and now to some current crafting.

Thanks Gillian  and Jilly  for the knititng encouragement, much apprectiated.  I thought I would pop-in an honest photo to show the problem, and this is a bit I took back twice.  I think I've worked out that part of the problem is the way I've been passing the wool at the back so that it's shown some colour on the right side

 
I think with some blocking and some more stitches I can improve it a bit.  But as I've continued I've liked it much better  ... glad I didn't give up.

Now I'm up to the stripey collar, which is really big! 

My Farmer's wife topper is finished

And now I'm on to the quilting.  I'm just doing a simple in-the-ditch quilt, which means just going down the seams.  However, it's not quite so simple where you haven't got completely straight seams!  Just be complete for next weekend.

What a wondeful day it has been today - glorious sunshine and one of those walks where I can't quite believe how lucky I am to live with these views all around me.

Not much going on in my garden except that my acer is at its best at the moment ... beautiful.

Bye from a sunny Cumbria for another week.  Hope you have a great week with lots to smile about.

Where did the weekend go ...?

Well I'm out of kilter with my blogs.  Last week I just couldn't post my whole blog for days and Dan finally sorted it out for me, so this seems to have made me a bit late this week, espeically as getting any decent light for photos has been difficult.

The weekend was one of those which didn't quite go as planned .... first of all I accidentally put the alarm on, not once but twice and so my planned lie-ins were both cut-short by a 7 a.m. alarm. 

There were some good bits though.  We visited the Wildlife photographer of the Year exhibition at Kendal Museum which was great.  So many lovely photos - especially from the young photographers ... the dedication they have shown for days and months to get the shot!  This was one of our favourites

I started my new Rowan jacket with the wool I showed last week.  I enjoy the fair isle bits but must say that I do find it quite hard to get the intarsia bits looking good; getting the tension right just isn't easy.. and tonight I have had to pull a section back twice, which means I'm really not enjoying it at the moment.   Funny how you just can't tell what you are going to love making.  I was really looking forward to this knit.  I bought the wool over a couple of months and loved the colours, but actually I just haven't flown with it and I hate not finishing something.  Still hopefully it will look OK when it's fully blocked.

I'm still working on my quilt and here is a sneak preview (found it hard to get enough light to do it justice).  I thought I would have finished the topper this weekend, but as I already mentioned the weekend didn't go according to plan.  I am loving how it looks though!  And this is a project I have enjoyed more than I expected to, because I thought it would be too difficult for me!

There was a bit of late sun on Saturday and I love the beautiful reds against the blue sky. 

I started watching the first series of Downton Abbey so that was some enjoyable viewing to knit by.  I'm really sorry the Great British Bake Off has finished - I really enjoyed that (sorry James didn't win though - even if his cakes were a mess).  And that was about it really - the week and the weekend particularly shot by and actually I'm nearly at the next one now!   

Weekend Smiles

Well I've had a lovely weekend, with lots to make me smile ....

Gemma and Dan came home, an unexpected treat and they are coming home next weekend too.

There were sunshiny walks by the sea ...

Some beautiful bird sightings, herons, 3 cormorants (too far away to photograph) - one of my favourite birds, ever since I was 4 and used to watch Noggin the Nog on tele (not many of you will know what I am talking about here) and the closest view of a kestral I have ever had!  A bit of rockpooling



Well I've had a lovely weekend, with lots to make me smile ....

Gemma and Dan came home, an unexpected treat and they are coming home next weekend too.

There were sunshiny walks by the sea ...

Some beautiful bird sightings, herons, 3 cormorants (too far away to photograph) - one of my favourite birds, ever since I was 4 and used to watch Noggin the Nog on tele (not many of you will know what I am talking about here) and the closest view of a kestral I have ever had! A bit of rockpooling

 

There were plenty of cakes. A lovely new baking book

From which I made sticky toffee slices ... yummy!

A great film at the cinema, Looper, which was really different and unpredictable.

And finally a trip to a vintage fair at manchester's victorian baths to a vintage fair.

 

Just a little time left for crafting. I have been knitting some handwarmers. It's the first time I've knitted using dpns and I really enjoy a new challenge. It's been fiddly but fun with an interesting butterfly cable pattern.

The pattern is by Tiny Owls who designs some very quirky knits; you can find her pattern here on ravelry. I'm also fancying knitting her thick jumper with a bear face, though not with the hood and bear ears included in the pattern!

I'l be starting a new knit this week which is considerably bigger, a jacket for autumn and here's a sneak preview of the wool; Rowan Felted Tweed.

And I've been piecing my farmer's wife wall hanging. It's quite slow going but I am really happy with the result so far. Couldn't get a decent photo though because of poor light, so next weekend will give an update then. Enjoy your week and hope you have some sunshine too. Just in case I'll share some of mine!

A great film at the cinema, Looper, which was really different and unpredictable.

And finally a trip to a vintage fair at manchester's victorian baths to a vintage fair.

Just a little time left for crafting.  I have been knitting some handwarmers.  It's the first time I've knitted using dpns and I really enjoy a new challenge.  It's been fiddly but fun with an interesting butterfly cable pattern.