February end

Finally getting rid of a month long cold and this has been a much better weekend.  My lovely son and his girlfriend came home and that always makes things better.  We had a lovely walk ....

.... and Rosie a lovely run ...

Not a lot of sunshine or colour but I was very taken with some fungus which was actually the same lime green I'm crocheting with.

We have also had a film weekend with The Artist on Saturday (awarded 8s and 9s out of 10 by the panel - very entertaining and a really brave film) and The Woman in Black (average score of 7/10) which was a classic Victorian Gothic horror and at least 4 scary bits to get the adrenilin going, though not as scary as others had made me believe.  We all felt it was a a bit of a stretch though seeing Harry Potter as a father!

Also a finish ... my roses cushion and I'm very pleased.  Here it is in its new home on my bed.  Certainly did take the 100 hours World of Cross Stitching estimated.

I am adding this as my February make along with my machine embroidered picture to Annie The Felt Fairy's monthly make on Flicker! 

I've started a new smaller crossstitch of hyacinths so that when my lovely white plants fade in a few weeks I'll have a little hanging to remind me of the wonderful smell.  My ripple blanket is slowly growing and I'm making a bit of an effort at the moment.  Ran out of some wool though and apparently the lime green which I love is now discontinued.  Thank goodness for ebay.



Finally I've started a little quilt, which is the first time I've done any patchwork or quilting.  I got out all the material I've been hording (amazed how much there was) and there still weren't all the colours I wanted.  I've started piecing the squares together though this is not easy with a dog and 2 cats around as Rosie is demonstrating.  I've no idea how this will work out, but I guess that's the real challenge and enjoyment of producing something. 

 

With all this to do I wish it wasn't work tomorrow!

stitchy Saturday

A full week of a stinking cold but Saturday was still great.  Dosed up with Lemsip Max I attended a canvas and stitching workshop run by Priscilla Jones at the rather wonderful Martime Museum ....

Priscilla makes wonderful paint, collage and stitch canvases;

I had no idea what we would be doing ... but it was great.  The day started with painting fabric with white emulsion and cheap poster paint ... just like playing!  We then dried these pieces and ironed them and with a selection of fabrics

Then we started to build up a picture from these ....

Then came the stitching.  I'm a beginner on the sewing machine so this was a bit nerve-wracking to start with but then great fun.  Using free embroidery we attached the pieces together ... not being too precious!  I wasn't confident enough to embroider the text straight onto the piece (maybe next time) and I'd handstitched this previously.  When the whole piece is finished it is attached to a painted canvas with Pritstick!  I am delighted with the result for a first attempt and it certainly won't be my last go!  I'm going to select this for my February make.

Finally I bought a new cushion from BHS believe it or not which has certainly followed the handmade look.  Jessie likes it too!

it's snowtime

Set off on a walk with Rosie on Saturday and 15 minutes later the much threatened snow arrived!  It snowed and snowed ..... for about 7 hours here.  Rosie had never seen snow before .....

... but decided she loved it ....

Any resemblance to a Yeti is entirely co-incidential!

Meg decided she definitely didn't like the snow and was careful not to actually tread on it.



While Jess wouldn't leave the house, preferring to stay in a sunny spot inside!

I had a lovely Sunday planned visiting my lovely son (with maybe a quick visit to Manchester Cath Kidson shop) but unfortunately a bit of a bug has put paid to that.  So instead Sunday has been spent under a blanket, some stitching, some sleeping and lots of toast. 

A bit of an update on my wips ...

My ripple blanket continues to grow (but has been a bit negleted recently).  I think I'm about a third of the way through ... so I think it will take until at least April to finish.  Shame really as hopefully the weather will be warmer then.

I've been focussing more on my cross-stitch cushion.  I've almost finished 3 of the 4 panels.  It will be finished with spotty duck egg blue.  As you may notice this is my favourite colour at the moment and in every room of my house (although getting fabric in this colour is proving very difficult).

This was a pattern in World of CrossStitching which I liked but not the colour scheme.  So I've changed the orange and lilac flowers, so I'll see how it goes. 

Finally just to say how delighted I am to have 2 followers.  I never thought anyone else would read this.  I do feel the need to apologise for the design of my blog, I know it needs much improvement. 



January make

Another lovely sunny day yesterday - no photos because I didn't take my camera - though when I saw the snow on the fells in the sunshine I wished I had.

Have just come back from seeing the Decendants with gorgeus George!!  Enjoyed it, though it is definitely bitter sweet.

Anyway here it is my January make. It's a Debbie Bliss matinee jacket for a friend at work.  I enjoyed knititng in the baby cashmero and the lovely texture the wool made in garter stitch.  There were some problems though the neck seemed unfinished so I crochet a round to finish it off- and instead of having a ribbon which tied at the front - not great for a baby jacket - I added a popper fastening with a little crochet flower (the first I have made and I'm sure not the last).  Hope she likes it ....

A late weekend!!

Three posts in and I have already missed the day I wanted to post my next blog on .... however, that does reflect a rather good weekend, a bit of knitting  (apologies for shadows).....

This is a baby jacket knitted with Debbie Bliss baby cashmero - which hopefully will be finished by this weekend.


...a bit of cross-stitch ..

... this is my progress on my rose cushion, which I'm quite pleased with.  It's another big project so coming on quite slowly.

..  lots of baking ... with an apple cake and bakewell cake to give to friends (can't keep whole cakes when I'm on my own!).

Also enjoyed a bit more sunshine on my walks with Rosie.  I'm lucky to live in a beautiful part of this world.  This is a view just walking round my village.

..and the first crocuses

It definitely made me feel spring is in the air and that can only be good!

Sunny happiness

A much better week at work with all headaches gone and a much more positive mood .. and then the sun came, wonderful.  A lovely frosty walk on Saturday and the first snowdrops are blooming ...



Lots of frosty loveliness and sunshine on the berries. 

I wanted to keep a record of films seen and books read .....

So my first film of the year was the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.  Pretty good though it didn't really improve on the Swedish version (unless you hate subtitles).  Very dark subject matter and a couple of bits where I closed my eyes (I knew what was coming).  Daniel Craig looking very craggy, but still strangely attractive.

Not much to report on the crafting front as my projects (ripple blanket and roses cushion) are quite slow, but I have just started a baby matinee jacket and that should be my January finish.  I'm using Debbie Bliss baby cashmero which I absolutely love - its so soft and cuddly to knit - shame about the price!  Photos next weekend showing the progress on all 3.

Well a nice glass of wine with this weeks episode of Sherlock calling!

First make: 9th January, 2012

Not a great start to the year!  A five-day headache impossible to shft and 2 days off work (with associated guilt!), my lovely son gone back to University, leaving it very quiet at home and continuing rain every day!  Still feeling much better now and there was some lovely sunshine today.  I'm also very excited to have received my first comment from Anie The FeltFairy - I quite expect no-one else to read this so it's great to have a post!

I've finished my first make (though it was started at the end of December) - a Debbie Bliss scarf for Dan.  I wanted a chunky pattern which would look better for a man and this is a double stocking stitch which was easy to knit and cosy.  I used Rowan aran wool though as it was much cheaper.  (Does anyone else think when you have paid for a quality yarn there shouldn't be a join part-way through the ball - which was impossible to hide!).

My 2 wips are both quite big projects.  I am very excited to be producing a ripple blanket.  I was inspired to do this by Attic 24s lovely blanket, but have never crocheted anything before so wasn't sure I would be able to and .....

.. it's going great!  I've chosen quite subtle colours, mostly a duck egg blue with some stronger colours making 15 stripes.  I'm using Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmero and it is absolutely lovely! So soft and cuddly.  I expect it will take me until Easter to finish this, so more updates in future.

I'm also completing a cross-stich panel of roses for a cushion (World of Cross Stitching pattern - but I have changed the colours).  Again this will take ages, so I'm sure I'll be doing some quicker projects too!

Apologies for the creased appearance due to not using a hoop!

To finish off I can't resist including a photo of my little 7 month old puppy with her Xmas present (looks a bit like she is smoking a cigar) just because she is so cute, although also scruffy!