March Wipocalypse update and a beautiful RAK!

Wow hasn't the time just flown? Perhaps because February is a shorter month? I'm not sure but time does seem to be flying by at the moment. Life has passed me quite a few downs this year already but now and again I get a few ups. This was one of them:

The cutest little RAK ever arrived in my post last week and I have only just got around to posting about it. This was so unexpected and it is so nice to get this in the post instead of the usual bills. This little beauty was gifted to me by Cath at The Stitchin' Chicken. Thank you so much Cath, it made my week!!!

Okay, so March Wipocalpse time is here already and I am actually ready to post on time! I have been keeping very very busy on my Sampler au Bouquets and well into the third and final part of this stunning sampler. I even resisted the urge to start a new Sampler Girl one - Tina!!!! - bad influence that girl - oh I wish she had a blog and then we could all harass her!! Just kidding my sweet friend and I will start that new one soon I promise but I really want to get this one finished this month if possible. So, here's my progress....

Please 'scuse the crumples!

And a close up of the progression. 

So that is all I have for you at the minute. My hyacinths have started blooming. I have been doing a little more knitting on my waistcoat - slowly, surely. I have also been inspired to knit a skirt by the lovely Staci so that might be another project in the bag. Thanks for all your wonderful  comments and emails. They make my days easier. 

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Overwhelmed..

I have been truly overwhelmed by the generosity of bloggers this past week. Not only did I get a cosy cowl from Heidi and a beautiful red exchange from Cathy but this week, Louise sent me one of her walnut shell stuffed hearts and some chocolate!!! Isn't it beautiful??? The chocs have long gone I am afraid! 

Also this week, Lynda returned the "Dandy Dreams" chart I loaned her and added a couple of charts for me from my wishlist!! Now, the thing is, this was just a loan as I have other people that wish to borrow the chart from me and in no way did I expect anything in return but Lynda had already given me two LHN ornament charts so these two beauties were a real surprise! Thank you so much Lynda. I am quite overwhelmed at your generosity! 

Melissa also emailed me to let me know she had received my redwork exchange. I showed you a little snippet of it a couple of posts down. Pleased to say that she liked what I made her. Phew! It is always a relief when an exchange arrives safely at its destination. Here is what I made her. 

AMAP alphabet

28 count over 1

Threadworx Wine Castle thread. 

I have been trying to cheer myself up a wee bit with some colourful blooms as hubby has left for a long work trip. Just as we are starting to get back to normal, he has to go back to work which means going away again. So I bought the lovely tulips at the top of this post and also these two tubs of hyacinths. I love hyacinths and adore their smell once they start to bloom. Looking forward to these bursting forth!

Thanks for coming to visit me. The Dandy Dreams chart (click on link to see my finish) will be being posted off to Tina (no blog) but if you would like to stitch it after her then let me know and I will start up a sisterhood or something. 

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A Cowl, a Snood, an Exchange, some Knitting, getting away and IHSW update!

Well the title says it all really. Lots to share but I will try to be brief. About a week ago I got a wonderful surprise through the mail. 

This beautiful crocheted cowl was made for me by my dear blogging friend Heidi. I was not expecting it and it was wonderful to receive it. It is so thick and snuggly and warm. Just to show you how it looks on....

Not a great pic of me but you get the idea.

I finally finished my own snood from the Deramore's freebie pattern they offered on their last newsletter. I changed the pattern slightly and just did  knit two together at the front instead of knitting at the back. Again, here is a pic of how it looks on.

 

Sticking with the knitting theme, I have knitted the back of the waistcoat pattern I bought but it looks a little short to me. I know I will have to pick up at the top at some point so will just carry on till it is done and then maybe reassess for length. 

Yesterday, I got the most gorgeous redwork exchange through the post from Cathy B. It is an exchange on the FTT exchange board which is a small group of stitchers. I just love this piece and it made me cry when I read Cathy's card attached. It was very touching and I will treasure it always. Thanks Cathy. The pattern is from Heartstrings Samplery. 

Now, I did hermit a little over the weekend. I did go away on the Saturday to Bala in Wales. We stayed in a guest house on the edge of the lake and it was beautiful. These were our views from our window. 

It was so relaxing and the breakfast in the morning was lovely; pancakes for the kids and a locally produced full Welsh for us. Yumm. We met up with some of my husband's friends that he works for on the Saturday evening and had a really great evening. They have three boys and the kids had a brilliant time playing with each other and jamming together in the studio. I definitely need more weekends like that. On the way home we went through Llangollen and this shop had the longest place name I have ever seen!!

But, I did hermit before and afterwards and have made some lovely progress on my Sampler Aux Bouquets. Here is where it is up to now. I am determined to get this finished up soon. Please excuse the wrinkles. 

So I am a bit worse for wear today after going out last night so I am going to take it easy today and be kind to myself. Thanks for stopping by and letting me share a little piece of my life with you all. 

Oh I notice I have made 302 posts and have just over 500 followers now! That deserves a giveaway so I will get my thinking cap on and get busy. Watch this space. 

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IHSW

It's the International Hermit and Stitch Weekend this weekend and I am intending to join in the fun. I am enjoying meeting new stitching bloggers and have been working my way through the list. I am intending to stitch on Sampler Au Bouquets by Jardin de Prive. I might be going away for one night but I might not either so will take it with me if I do go. 

Won't you join in?

WIPocalypse February update

Finally, I have something to share for the WIPocalypse for this month. I am so pleased that I have actually managed to finish something! As you know from my last post, I have been very busy with my exchange piece I have been working on and this got sent out today so I will be able to reveal that once the recipient gets it. I didn't think I would have any time left to stitch on anything else but I got busy with the Here We Come Wassailing by Shakespeare's Peddler and now it is finished! I think this is my first finish of this year - not counting the exchange piece. So here it is:

Such a pleasure to stitch on. I have decided to sell the pattern and threads - limited edition Sampler Threads from The Gentle Art which came with the kit. There is ample thread to do this chart several times over. Lots and lots of thread! If anyone is interested please email me at hazelhenry @ hotmail . com (omit spaces) - first come first served. I am selling it for $18 + $1 towards pnp. I take Paypal.

Thanks for looking in on me. 

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Back at it!

Thank you all so much for your kind, kind words in my last post. Each comment really helped me and I feel a lot better and getting stronger each day. I don't want to dwell on the negatives though. I saw a great quote today on Pinterest that said:

Every day may not be good

But there is something good in every day.

I like that. For a while now I have been trying to pick out the positives in each and every day. Here's one from today:

Yes the snow finally hit Great Britain. How long it will last is anyone's guess. So we had a bit of fun with it and got the sledge out and then little man brought out the buckets and spades and wanted to make snow castles.

I have slowly been getting back into crafting mood although I have had an exchange to stitch for this month so most of my time has been dedicated to that. Although I don't want to spoil the surprise for my exchange partner, I thought I would show you a glimpse of it.

Yes, it is as intricate as it looks and is taking me forever but in a good way, it has kept my mind from wandering during the last few weeks.

I have picked up the knitting as well. An online shop I use for most of my yarn - Deramores - had a free pattern on its newsletter for a cowl or snood. A knit along they are doing. You can find all the details on Ravelry here. Instead of knitting two together through the back, I am just doing a normal knit two together. I am using King Cole Riot which is wonderfully soft to work with and is working up a treat. Here's my progress so far. It is still in its unfinished and unblocked state.

I have also been inspired to try and make myself a garment - again!! I decided I would use super chunky wool and something small so hopefully it will be fairly quick and easy. Here is the pattern I am doing and the yarn I am knitting it in. I just hope it is as simple as it looks as I am not great at following patterns. I know a few people on hand though who hopefully might be able to help me if I get stuck. Yes Liz, if you're reading - I am talking to you!!

Lastly, before Christmas I ordered something rather special which I forgot to mention. My dd used her spare Euros to buy if for me so I had to wait till Christmas day to open it. Karen from My 4 Lil Girls blog made this gorgeous bag to order. She even crocheted the flower brooch on it as well which can be removed. Karen makes some amazing things including cushions so please pop by her blog and take a peek. She has recently opened an Etsy shop too. This bag is my favourite bag ever. It is so well made with lining and everything. 

I have been busy working on my zigzag blanket as well but I will take some snaps for another post. I need to get on with this exchange or it will be late!

Thanks for taking the time to visit and comment. I really appreciate it. xxxxxx

Really rubbish time..

This is not going to be a long post but I do feel all my loyal readers and friends deserve an explanation of why I have been awol from the blogs.

Just a little over two weeks ago, my husband left me. Zip. Gone. And yet was still in the background as we have two young children. It has been the two worst weeks in my entire life. I felt like I had been ripped in two and was missing my other half. I got really ill and lost ten pounds in those two weeks through not eating. Devastated is not the word. Friends rallied round me and helped to scrape me off the floor and pick me up, literally. My body went into shock and shook and shook till I could barely stand up. Yet, I had those two young children to care for. So I had to. Each day, I had to keep accepting that he wasn't coming back, that it was over and every day, I cried and cried. Twenty years of loving gone in a moment.

Yesterday, he came back. It is very early days and of course, there's a lot to work through but for the first day in weeks, I have not cried once. I have been at peace. Sort of.

So, you will be able to understand why I have not been around much. I couldn't face the thought of crafting. I couldn't face the thought of all those cosy, "family" orientated blogs out there. Couldn't stand that others were so warm and happy and together when I was so miserable and alone. Just couldn't face it. I apologise. Hopefully, things will get better from here on in but please keep us in your thoughts and prayers. Thanks to those who have mailed me. Sorry I couldn't respond. Thank you so much to all my close friends who have rallied round me and been my support. I don't know where I would be right now if you hadn't.

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Gifts, an exchange, Tracy's and a bit of crochet

I am a bit behind in goings on around here so I need to do a catch up post and try and cram everything in that I can.

Several lovely people have gifted me with gifts recently. Please please - if you have sent me something and I have accidentally missed it out - please forgive me and let me know!

First up is the lovely chart Tina sent me with the ornie she stitched. Love this one.

Karan sent me this lovely chart for Christmas. Another off my wishlist.

Claire sent me these lovely threads that match. Lollipop is long gone.

Gillie sent me this little beauty and it has a beautiful beaded edge. What a lovely surprise. Thanks so much Gillie. I have this one in my stash waiting to be stitched.

Tracy got me lots of lovely goodies when we exchanged presents on my recent trip to see her. Love them all. So gorgeous. Oh and she got me a lovely candle holder too. I forgot to take a pic!

This has felt on the back to keep my needles in.

Finally, my Stitcher's choice ornament arrived this morning from USA from the lovely Diana O. We were all getting a little bit worried as it seemed to take a very long time for it to arrive. It is perfect and beautiful and very very me so I thank you Diana for a lovely ornament.

I have also been doing a little bit of crochet too. I wanted something that would be fairly easy to do and comforting and not stressful so I decided to learn how to do the Granny ripple or Zig zag as I call it. I learned how to do it from here and it fits the bill perfectly. Very soft, drapey, comforting and super easy and quick to do. Lovely colours - I am using Stylecraft Special and just using up the odd balls I have left over. It is supposed to be a stash busting blanket but..... I may need to order some more!!!!! I love it. It doesn't quite fit on my bed - I made it slightly too small but it will be great to snuggle up to in the cold evenings.

I mentioned I have recently been on a trip to Tracy's. I managed to get two nights away and a bit of peace and quiet. Lots of stitching was done - you can see most of mine in my Wipocalypse post below and Tracy's you can see on her blog here. We spent some of the time at the beach near where she lives. I really felt I needed to see the sea to help me get things into perspective. It was a quiet break. I really needed it.

Cheers!

Well, that's all from me in a very large nutshell. I'll be back soon with more progress I hope.

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