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.

Quick crafting

I was quite glad to have a quiet weekend after another eventful week at work - although it was the first weekend back on my own after Dan and Gemma have returned to Uni and it does seem lonely!  As you know I had planned to make a Paris pinnie this weekend... but the best laid plans ... Having cut everything out, I sat down to make a start at 4.00 p.m. on Saturday to find I didn't have any blue thread and the dogs had chewed the white spool!  So the pinnie was out of the question  I had a yearn for a make which was quick to finish so I turned to knitting instead. 

You may remember I knitted a  Isis & Giotto shawl a couple of months ago,

and when I recently visited the  White Rabbit wool shop  in Arnside, I thought I would treat myself to some wool to knit another one.  As I knew it didn't use much of the ribbon yarn I decided to get a couple of colours which would go with the ribbon yarn to knit two.

 ... and here they are.  This one reminds me of the seaside with sand and sea

... and this one has a touch of purple.

As I can't get Dan to take the photos they are now being modelled by my new dressmaking dummy - so no more saggy neck photos for a while!  They were such a pleasure to knit and no worrying about whether they will fit you.   Now a girl only needs so many shawls and I certainly don't need 3, so I am planning to use the second one as part of a give-a-way on my fiftieth blog (just 2  to go).  So if you fancy it make sure you don't miss that one.

Even though I have now completed a full crochet blanket I still need to learn a lot about good tension and neat edges, so I bought the first episode of Learn to Crochet (yes, I know they become a rip-off but the first issue is always a bargain) and used their DVD and basics to practice a square which worked reasonably well. and the tension looks much better  There is a nice pattern for a scarf which would be good for males as well as females.  I'm definitely buying the second one too as there is are instructions for a rag rug and a bag which I would like to try.

The rain made me feel like a bit of baking and so I tried a recipe for gingerbread from the lovely Sweet mag mentioned last week.  Don't know whether I got the ingredients wrong, or whether its just my taste, but there definitely seems to be too much treacle for me.  Nice, sticky texture though.  In case you are thinking I'm going to eat all this myself I will be taking most of it to a friends and to work.  (Sorry about the dark photo - best I could manage!)

And that was pretty much the weekend filled and now it's back to work   Thanks so much for any comments it's lovely to feel there is a community to be part of - still if you are reading blogs you'll already know that!  Have a great week

raspberry roses

A busy week at work, Dan and Gemma moving back to Manchester,  the most awful rain every day, and Dan's 21st birthday present a new bike bought last Thursday and stolen from outside his Uni on Monday meant it wasn't the best of weeks.  However, I have had some nice crafty moments with another completed jumper.  You've seen this before.  This is a jumper from Knit Red, a book of patterns to support women's heart health  - one of Debbie Bliss' patterns.  It hasn't turned out quite as expected but it's OK.   The pattern has an added bow, but I decided to try a different decoration.  This is my first attempt at intarsia and it went quite well (except lots of ends to sew in).

This jumper is knitted in 2 pieces a front and back and you join the shoulder seams by a 3 needle cast off.  Here it is being blocked.  Only 2 seams to stitch up.  (Sorry about how dark the photos are - absolutely no light at the moment).

And finally finished.

Hoping to make some wide leg vintage trousers which I think will go well with it.  I have so many ideas about things I want to make that I think I'm sorted for the next 12 months, so thought I might share a few plans with you.

I get Mollie Makes every month and love the fantastic photos but, as yet, I haven't made a single thing from it.  In a recent edition I was very taken with some Michael Miller Paris Ville fabric made into a retro pinny and I managed to find the fabric (with some difficulty - mostly available in the USA) and I'm planning to make it this weekend.

In the background you can also see a new magazine I picked up called Sweet which I'm absolutely loving.  The photos are beautiful (a la Mollie Makes) and some very enticing recipes.  I caught by accident an ITV programme on Sunday afternoon at 3.40 called The Home of Fabuous Cakes which actually demnstrated some of the recipes from Sweet.    Better get on with the pinny and a bit of baking!

I'm also planning another 2 small quilts for on the settee.  I've been collecting some lilac fabrics for one

And I've also managed to get a pack of Tlda Flower Garden remnants to go with my Modo Papillon fabrics for a duck egg blue one.

Very disappointed with the light in all the photos above - so I thought I'd finish with just a spot of sunshine on the ripening blackberries.  Till next week and just a bit of notice that I'm planning a giveaway on my 50th blog.  Thanks for your lovely comments.