Quietly Stitching

WIPocalypse February update

2012-02-14T17:26:00.004Z

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!

2012-02-05T15:23:00.001Z

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..

2012-01-30T22:29:00.002Z

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

2012-01-10T12:13:00.003Z

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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WIPocalpyse January posting and Crazy 7!

2012-01-09T12:28:00.002Z

Well New year came and went and it was not a good one for me. Hopefully the rest of the year will get better and not worse from here on in. Now, I did have two new starts before the new year and due to the craziness of the week - it was ds' birthday yesterday - I only managed 5 new starts so I will add on the 2 I started before the new year as my crazy 7 and they will all go towards my WIPocalpyse post. So without further ado, here is my progress on my 7 new starts:

DAY 1

Lizzie Kate ABC's of Christmas

Silkweaver 32 count Lugana and Crescent Colours threads

Really pleased with progress on this one as I have completed a full row already. The fabric is greener than in the picture and the colours really pop on it. Love it.

Day 2

Yiota's Cross stitch kit Poppies and Daisies

14 count black aida and madiera threads

You have seen this one in my previous post and so I am counting it towards my Crazy 7

Day 3 (truthfully - the first new start of the year!)

Here we come Wassailing by Shakespeare's Peddler

40 count linen and Gentle Art threads

I think this will be one of the first ones to get finished as I am working quite quickly on it and it is not so very big.

Day 4

Bygone Stitches - A Quaker Christmas

36 count vintage light exemplar Lakeside linens and Threadworx thread

I am stitching this 2x2 and really love the vibrancy of the red on the fabric. Nice choice I think.

Day 5

Mckintosh samplers - The Elisabeth Lillie sampler

34 count Legacy Linen in Oaten Scone and DMC threads

The fabric is a joy to stitch on. Really pretty colours too. I am going to enjoy this one.

Day 6

Carriage House Samplers - Helen Bell's multiplication sampler

32ct dark tan fabric from silkweaver and Victorian Motto threads in Heather B shades

I like this although it seems to take forever. Just hope I can make more progress on it.

Day 7

Just Nan's Nan's Garden

28 count Lambwool linen and DMC threads

Unfortunately I took this away to start at Tracy's - another post- but I had previously dipped into the thread bag and pinched some of the colours for another project and never replaced them (a very bad habit of mine!) so I have a few threads missing so didn't get as much done on this as I would have liked. I am intending to stitch this for my mum who is also called Nan and who enjoys her garden very much.

So that's my first posting for the WIPocalypse post and you have my 7 new starts too.

I have received lots of nice gifts but I will do a separate post soon for those.

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Yiota's cross stitch kit review

2012-01-03T09:18:00.006Z

A few weeks ago, I was asked by Yiota from Yiota's Cross Stitch to do a review of one of her cross stitch kits. Of course I said "yes" without hesitation. Not long after, I received this beautifully packaged kit in the post so this is my attempt at a review of it.

The design I chose was "Poppies and Daisies by Van Gogh" as the colours really appealed to me and I thought it would look nice in my red walled living room.

Having already stitched on artwork conversions by another well known company, I was worried about the size of this project. How many pages would it be? How many colours would be used? Would there be a lot of confetti? etc etc... I am pleased to say that the design consists of 2 pages of A3 and the print is comparatively large so I think it is definitely one that is doable and is likely to get finished. In this respect, I think that anyone who has fancied attempting a piece of converted artwork but was scared to do so due to the size, I would say this project is perfect.

The kit contains everything you need to start stitching right away. 38 pre-wound Madiera threads (a DMC conversion is also given), black 14 ct aida, chart and needle. I was a little put off by the black aida at first but you could easily substitute it for white and then fill in all the blanks with black thread. I went ahead and started it on the black and actually, it is not as bad as I initially thought it would be.

There is a comprehensive page of tips and instructions which show you very clearly how and where to start which is suitable for both beginners and more experienced stitchers alike. I especially like the way they describe how to begin by using the loop method.

Here is an example of a corner of the chart and as you can see, the symbols are very clear and quite large. This is so important in a design like this where there is a lot of block stitching. It also uses full stitches only - bonus!

I began in the center of the chart as suggested and stitched a little bit to show you all. Having never worked with Madiera threads, I was unsure how they would be but I was pleasantly surprised with how smooth they were and they do not knot very much either. The colours are vibrant too.

So there you have it. I would highly recommend Yiota's kits if you want a project that is going to be quicker to do than other company's artwork conversions. I will add this to my WIPocalypse list and will show you how I get on with it as it grows.

If you wish to purchase this kit or look at other kits they provide then click on the link below:

Yiota's Cross Stitch

A little catch up

2011-12-23T12:18:00.004Z

Hello dears. What an emotional week it has been and very overwhelming in more ways than one. I can hardly think straight and I know that as I attempt to write this post, there will probably be loads of things I miss out and forget so please forgive me if I sound a bit scatty.

First of all, let me say a huge Thank you to everyone who left me and my family condolences on the loss of my dear brother. I, and my parents, were deeply moved by them and the heartwarming prayers and thoughts that have been going out to us this past week. The funeral was on Wednesday and, as well as being very moving and upsetting in itself, it was also very overwhelming as relatives whom I had not seen in about 25 years were there as well. I had really missed them and it was good to see them again and make contact.

Unfortunately, issues at home raised their ugly heads again I found myself between a rock and a hard place. All way too distressing and I found myself back on panic attack pills. An enforced visit to the doc ensued for the other half and now, I hope, we have turned the last corner and things will be on the mend. Time will tell.

So, understandably, my stitching mojo hid in a corner and refused to come out and play this week. I did manage to make some knitted dishcloths to add to my sisters' Christmas packages but I didn't take any pics. Suffice to say, they are a lot like Staci's - here - all in bright cotton colours. I used the remains of the Rico cotton from my bag. I also used a ball of Peaches and creme and I did get a shot of those:

The pattern is super easy and can be found here.

Knitting definitely was on the agenda and I finished up two pairs of wristwarmers - one for my neice and one for Lily's teacher who loved them - phew.

My other neice wanted a Slytherin scarf made for her as well so I got looking on the internet - not being a Potter fan - for a pattern and found one in crochet. This is the result. It is very long so hope she likes it. Pattern found here.

I recently wrote to Karen asking her to do a wee bit of finishing for me as I had this Mirabilia Angel waiting to be finished since ages ago but I had a real problem with knowing what to do with it. Karen thought a flatfold would be a good idea and she did a beautiful job. Here it is now:

Absolutely stunning. I love it Karen. Thank you so very much for doing this finishing job for me.

I also got my exchange ornie from Tina (no blog) through the post this week too. Look at this:

I love it and the tinkling bells are a fantastic touch. See - hung on my tree already. Tina also spoilt me by getting me a PS chart from off my wishlist too. Love love love.

Now, I can't remember if I showed a pic of my HOE exchange ornie or not so I'll show you that too. I stitched this for Marie and it is from one of the Just cross ornie mags. Marie has got nicer pics of it.

Well, that's me spent. I am exhausted. I have one last present to wrap and that is it. So I will leave you of some pics of my decorated home.

Wishing you all a very peaceful and stress free Christmas.

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PS Next post i will be doing a kit review so look out for that. x

Goodbye my dear brother..

2011-12-15T11:29:00.002Z

It is with much grief and sadness that I announce the sad passing of my brother. After being in hospital for six weeks and battling pneumonia amongst other things, Kenneth finally passed away and left his world and body of suffering to run straight into green meadows of freedom. I love you Kenneth and will never forget you.

Kenneth Clark

Forever loved.

Forever in our hearts.

Born 21st August 1959

Died 12th December 2011

Next year... or... I am a realist...

2011-12-06T22:30:00.001Z

I had such high stitching expectations for this year. At the start of the year, I had made a resolution to finish several wips by stitching on them one page a month. These included,

A Most Noble Pursuit

Shores of Hawk Run Hollow

Mary Wigham

HAEDs (3 of them actually with a 4th to start)

Marie Rose

Did I? Not a jot! I didn't even start Shores - shame on me! I got a bit panicked at the thought of working on that 40 count fabric - gorgeous as it is. I have worked on 40 count before but in small doses. And the HAEDS have gone belly up since my new skein of thread didn't quite match tone wise on the face of one of them!! Eeeek!

So, next year, I have plans yet again. Well, if you don't make any plans then nothing will get done at all, will it? So best to make lots of plans and even if only one of them gets accomplished then that is success!! I have signed up for the WIPocalypse 2012 next year which will totally help to inspire me to make some progress on my wips so here are my wips for next year:

Patchwork - Jan Houtman

Polar Santa - Dimensions

Tranquility - Loopy Lou

A Most Noble Pursuit

Ann Taylor Heartstring Samplery

Mary Wigham

Marie Rose sampler

Sampler au Bouquets

I really want to put the HAEDs away next year and really want to work on samplers. I really do want a "sampler wall" and I am partly there to getting my "The Sampler Girl" wall. So Next Year is going to be the year of SAMPLERS. I have several kitted up ready to go and plenty of charts needing a few threads adding to them so here is my list so far:

A Quaker Christmas - Bygone stitches - kitted up ready

Shores of Hawk Run Hollow - CHS - kitted up ready

Helen Bell's Multiplication Sampler - CHS - kitted up ready

Christmas Window - Brightneedle - kitted up ready

Nan's Garden - Just Nan - kitted up ready

My Home is Built in Glory - Heartstring Samplery - kitted up ready

The Elisabeth Lillie sampler - McIntosh Samplers - kitted up ready

Quackworth - Ink Circles - kitted up ready

All Things Counted pocket book - Kirsten Edwards - kitted up ready

Now as you can see, a lot of these are new starts so I got to thinking about that Crazy January challenge that is going on. But wait a minute... 15 is far too many for me to get my head around - let alone expect me to finish them all in that year. So what if I just did 7 new starts? 7 new starts in the first week of January - get this... - with no pressure to finish any of them within the year??? I like it. I like it a LOT!! So that way, I can combine the new 7 starts into the WIPocalypse (allowed). What do you think? Well I have 9 so far that are kitted up ready to choose from so I might just go ahead and do this.

The Sampler Girl charts I have and would like to kit up and do next year are:

Sense and Sensibility - The Sampler Girl

Return to the Sea - Sampler Girl

In the Meadow - Sampler Girl

In the Garden - Sampler Girl

Elizabeth B sampler - Sampler Girl

I also want to get a Scarlet Letter reproduction sampler. I have been drooling after one of these for years and got very close to hitting the buy button but it just never seemed to materialise. I reckon this year is the year. I WILL get one and stitch it.

Basically, if I want to stitch something then I will stitch it. I have seen a number of LHN designs that I adore as well. CCN and Lizzie*Kate are also calling to me. I think I might have to start a new Webshots album for Sampler Progress 2012 so I can keep track of them all.

Apart from samplers, I will be stitching an ornie a month with Tina again. That will be the only "pressure" stitching I am having next year. No pressure. Just fun. And a bit of crochet too!

Happy stitching day

2011-12-03T20:10:00.004Z

Today I had a special visit from two lovely stitching friends who travelled far - all the way from Birmingham - to spend the day with ME!!! Lovely! Tina (NO BLOG!!) and Lesley came up from the sunshine into the rain with their gorgeous projects and we had a great time chatting and stitching and eating too.

Here's Lesley with her gorgeous HAED!

and lovely Tina (Happy Eyes!) with her By the Bay wip!

I had put up my ornie tree early especially for them! I haven't got any of the other decs up yet but this little tree does warm my heart. Oooooeeeeeeee Christmas!!!!! This little tree really is overloaded this year and I am expecting another three to go on it as well!!! I promise more pics in another post sooooooooon.

Speaking of ornies, I gave my exchange ornie to Tina so I can show you it now! It is a La D Da one from one of the ornie mags. I loved stitching this one. Sooo pretty.

Designer - La D Da

Fabric - Belfast vintage mocha linen

Threads - DMC and a hand dyed - just raided my stash

We listened to Vintage oldy Christmas music and had Baileys and home made coffee and walnut cake - recipe from here. Yumm yumm. Oh it was such a lovely day!!! Please let's do it again sometime. Pretty please!!!

We had a lovely lunch of fresh bread, salami, cheese, olives, sundried toms and other bits and bobs I had spread out. Nom nom nom. Diet is on hold for now!

I even got out an old wip - in preparation for the forthcoming WIPocalypse. Go and sign up - what are you waiting for??? I am dedicating another post especially to this with a loooong list of wips and up and coming new starts. Now, why did I ever put this pretty down? I love working on this!

Design - Ann Taylor

Designer - Heartstring Samplery

Fabric - my own hand dyed 28 count something - possibly Brittney

Threads - DMC

So now, I am dreamily milking the last cosiness of the day whilst the children are sat watching the semi finals of X factor - grrrrr.. I wouldn't mind but they haven't even watched it this season at all. But I am staying in my cosy world with my stitching and another glass of Baileys while the rain continues to drip down. Hope you enjoyed a peek into my day! We will have to do this more often girlies.

Cheers everyone.

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Happy Birthday Lily

2011-11-28T14:14:00.002Z

My darling daughter is 9 today! Wowza! How did that happen? Where did the last 9 years go. I don't feel I have very much to show for them except the sweet addition of a darling son! She celebrated it at the weekend and had her bff come stay over which turned out to be a lot of fun and no bother at all. She is growing up so fast. Lily had said she wanted a dolphin notebook for her birthday and seeing as dolphins are her new obsession, I decided to make her birthday dolphin themed. Dolphin earrings, a book on dolphins, a personalised dolphin pencil case and a dolphin cake! I hunted around everywhere for a dolphin notebook but could only find a small one and she had specifically asked for a large one to write all her stories in. So... you remember the secret "aida" stitching I was doing a few weeks ago?? Well this was it! Did anyone guess??

Stitching on aida is not my cup of tea but I needed a quick result and fast! I found an old dolphin design in one of my old Cross Stitcher magazines and changed all the background to half stitches and Voila! A quick fray of the edges and some glue to stick it down and there you have it - a large, dolphin notebook! Not my colours, or my kind of design but is just perfect for my dolphin loving girl. It just goes to show, you never know when those old magazines will come in handy. I don't think I am quite ready to throw them out just yet.

A dolphin cake was in order so I asked my good friend if she would make one for me and she did a grand job!

Nine candles to blow out....

...and got them all in one blow!

Happy birthday sweetie. I love you lots and lots.

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Helloooo....

2011-11-21T17:50:00.002Z

Hello everyone. How are you all? I am doing just fine. I think I always fare better in the winter time than in the sweating heat of summer. Loving the cosying up and staying in weather and that fog we had yesterday - wow!

I made a good effort at the weekend for IHSW. I firstly finished off the istitch mystery which has been a pleasure to stitch up. Now I want to find a small box for it to finish it off.

Designer: Istitch

Fabric: 25 count Lugana

Threads: DMC variations - not sure which one 41something

I also stitched this up for my DD's yearly Christmas ornie. I have yet to turn it into an ornie but I will find some suitable fabric this week at some point and do that. Excuse the creases!

Designer: The Sampler Girl

Fabric: Kiwi Illusions 28 lugana "woodland glow"

Threads: DMC 718 3818 304

I adore Tanya's charts and have several of them stitched up waiting to be framed. They are all on different shades of linen - quite pastel colours actually and I am unsure of whether to get them framed in the same style of frames or do each one differently. Any clues?

I have also started a Blooming Flower cushion in the remnants of the autumnal wool I had left over from the Autumn Blanket and it is looking quite good I think. It sticks out a little in the middle but apart from that I think it looks good. Problem is, I am running out of wool and don't really want to have to go buy extra so not quite sure of what to do. It may end up beign a small cushion! Anyway, that said, it is a darling pattern and works up a treat. I may well find myself doing another one soon.

Blooming Flower cushion. Pattern from here.

I have finished my secret stitching but can't show you untill after next weekend then all will be revealed!

We have had some bad news in our family. Do you remember in July/August time when I made the blanket for my brother who is severely handicapped/disabled? Well, due to a heck of a lot of neglect at his care home, he has been rushed into hospital with severe dehydration and a chest infection. He had MRSA before he went to the hospital and also a throat full of thrush. Poor boy. They said he may not survive so we all rushed up to see him - it is a bit of a way and he seemed improved. He has been a bit up and down since then but seems on the mend but my mum and dad have decided they want him back at home and do not trust to put him in a care home again. It has been a long and agonising time for my mum who never wanted him to go in in the first place but I do worry about how they will cope as they are both in their 70s now. They have been promised lots of help and support so hopefully it will all turn out okay.

Well, I wish you a good week with lots of stitching and crocheting or whatever you like to do. It's going to get verrrryyyy busy for me now as I have birthdays and Christmas and then more birthdays but I will try and get on as much as I can.

Lots of love,

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International hermit stitch weekend

2011-11-18T12:17:00.003Z

I'll be cosying up with my stitching this weekend before the hustle and bustle starts next month. I'll be hoping to work on ornies - I have several to do. Some I may be able to show but some are for exchanges so you'll have to wait to see those. So no matter what the weather this weekend, I'll be indoors with my fire on and maybe with a little cakey treat and a cuppa and stitching to hand. It'll be dvds and colouring in for the kiddos. Have a nice weekend whatever you decide to do.

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A scramble of bits and bobs..

2011-11-10T14:00:00.002Z

I haven't that much to show by way of handiwork but I do have some bits and pieces that I want to blog about so there might be a few pictures in this post but bear with me. I seem to have sooo much to do with dd's birthday coming up and Christmas and then my ds' birthday too and lots and lots of ornies to do in between. I just haven't had time to sit down and blog about the good things that have been happening in my life and I do want to blog about the good bits. I do I do. Things have been lots and lots better in regarding my home situation. There has been a definite turn around and things are on the up. So I want to make a bt of space in blogland for some good stuff - even if it's mediocre.

First up is this gorgeous parcel that fell through my door today and look at how beautifully wrapped it is. Now I knew who had sent this as I recently won one of Andrea's yearly ornaments on her giveaway on her blog and I knew this was it. I ummed and ahhed about waiting till Christmas day to tear the wrapping off but no I couldn't bear it. I had to see which one she had sent me and woweeee look at this:

It is so exquisitely finished. Perfect in every way. I will treasure it always. I have tried for the past couple of years to win one of Andrea's ornies and I am so happy to finally be the proud owner of one. Love, love, love it. Thank you so much Andrea.

I am stitching a secret project for somebody very special but I cannot reveal it yet so here's a sneak peak.

Yes, it is on aida!!! All will be revealed soon.

The weather is getting cooler and it is definitely time to snuggle up and light the candles and have some woolly projects on the needles I think.

I made a quick scarf for my little man. Just knitted in plain garter stitch with a blanket stitch border. I wasn't sure about it after I made it but it looks okay on ds and he loves it! So I am happy.

I also had a go at doing my own candle votives after seeing them on Anaboo's blog. Here are the results. They look really pretty and I am just rubbish at taking good pictures! They were much more "glowy" in real life.

It was bonfire night at the weekend here in the UK and as is our usual custom we traipsed off to the local bonfire and firework display. I didn't get any good pictures but I think my husband did so I need to pester him a bit to send me some of the pictures. I decided to try my hand at making cinder toffee and after dipping it in chocolate it turned out fab. I piled it into little sweet bags and we took it with us to the bonfire. It was really easy to make and you can find many recipes online. Mine was just a simple recipe with only a couple of ingredients - butter, golden syrup and sugar and then added a splash of vinegar and bicarb of soda.

From this:

To this:

And staying on the food that is bad for you theme, I couldn't resist making this:

Chocolate Nutella mug cake:

Nom nom. You can find the recipe here

What else???..... Oh yes! My neighbour has started stitching! She came round for a look at my stash haul and ordered a few bits and pieces for herself and then came round for a stitchy night! Boy, I think she has it bad. Look how much she has done already and this only in a few days!

I have another friend who has also started stitching and she is going to come along to join us too. Woot! Our own little stitchy group. It's going to be fun fun fun.

Well, I told you it would be a bit of a mish mash of stuff and there is probably more to add but that is enough for now and I feel a little more on top of things. Hope you all have a cosy week if you are feeling the cold. Things are going to get a little hectic for me now for the next few weeks but I will try to keep things updated. Hugs to all.

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Things I will do today...

2011-10-31T09:55:00.003Z

Today I will...

Pray for my husband, marriage and kids.

Go and do the weekly food shop.

Tidy round the house and then again and again.

Take ds to play park.

Walk to pick up dd from school.

Finish Blue Ribbon freebie Noel ornie.

Read Of Mice and Men in prep for tutoring on Wednesday.

Read some of my Outlander book.

Knit a few more rows on ds' scarf.

Make tea.

Put a wash on.

Limit my time on Pinterest.

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Thanks so much guys..

2011-10-24T14:10:00.002Z

Thank you so much for all the kind comments and emails you have sent me during this last week. They have been very much appreciated. There has been a little breakthrough this week although I don't feel we are quite out of the woods yet. Faith and patience is the key. And lots and lots of prayer. Thank you to those who are agreeing with me in prayer for this situation to turn around. I really trust and believe it will.

Anyway. Onto a more cheery post of some productive finishes I have this week.

First up is part 7 of the istitch mystery. I can't believe I have kept up with this one. I really do think I am better with a bit of a push and a shove and a kick up the behind in order to get me to do things. It appears the whole, "finish the part then you will get the next part" appears to have worked for me. Only one more part to go and then I will be looking into finishing it into something.

I also made The Sampler Girl ornie into an ornie today. Just another simple cushion finish backed by red fabric with holly on it. I'll have a few of these to go on my tree this year. I think I may need to get a bigger stitching tree.

I took a break from crochet and knitted up some wrist warmers for DD which I had had the wool for for quite some time. I used Sirdar Crofter which knits up like Fair Isle but without all the hassle. I am quite pleased with them although I did make a mistake but made the other one the same so it matched. It is all that business about ending on a right side row stuff. Pah! I am sure it must have been a man that made these patterns.

Finally, I have made a bit more progress on Part 2 of Sampler Aux Bouquets. I am really loving this but dreading when I get to the end of this piece as I have not yet ordered part 3 as I have no printer at the moment and I have been getting them in PDF format. Anyway, here she is..

And lastly, browsing Tabiboo's blog, I came across this post on scent and I have been wanting to get one of these tart burners for some time now. I have bought them as gifts for friends and sisters but never one for myself. I think I was secretly hoping someone would buy me one but no luck so I finally ordered one for myself and it is lovely! I bought this Autumn hand painted one to go in my red autumnal room. It matches perfectly and lets out the sweetest smell. I bought a pack of Christmas scents but want to get a set of the kitchen ones now. A lot of money but I am so happy with it and I felt I did really deserve a treat, you know.

So that's all from me for a while. My hand really hurts. I think I have torn a ligament in it and find it hard to pick anything up - even light things. It even hurts to type! So I am off to rest it. See you in a little while.

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Crochet comfort..

2011-10-18T11:11:00.002Z

I am in definite need of some TLC and the crochet has been a comfort to me in these last few weeks. I do want to share my heart and what is going on with here with you all as a number of you have been following my little blog for some time now. You have seen me from the start and saw my second child being born. I have shared many memories and many finishes with you. You have seen me at my best and at my lowest. I do want to share but I feel there is only so much I can say online. There are people in real life who read my blog and there are certain things that I could not possibly share as it would cause great upset and distress. So suffice to say that things have not been exactly heavenly round here and being on my own a lot with two young peeps has indeed been a struggle.

So, I have thrown myself into my crochet this last couple of weeks in an attempt to take my mind off things. Remember the Autumn blanket I was so excited about that I started last year? I took a special trip to Rowan in Holmfirth and met the lovely Lisa from blogland there. I was sooo excited about it and made an initial good start. Then I got way laid by all the ends and also realised I needed more wool. Several balls were by this time discontinued and it took me a while to find suppliers on the net. Anyway, to cut it short, I finally got going with it again and here it is - almost - all finished. I still need to do the border and for this I will need more wool so it looks like another trip to Holmfirth might be in order. I have seen a border I want to do in the book Crochet Borders and Corners. Here it is for you all to see. How comforting and warm this blanket is. It isn't massive by any means but it is a good snuggle size.

I also finally got round to making a back panel for this cushion front and have finished the Tiny Squares cushion. I need to get 6 buttons for this just to fasten it but couldn't resist showing you it. Another snuggly!

And just before I rush off, let's not forget the istitch mystery I have been keeping up with. Here's part 6:

Well, I hope that is enough of a colour explosion for you all today. Wrap up warm if you're in the UK as it is mighty cold here today.

Chat soon.

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How time flies...

2011-10-04T12:45:00.002Z

Well it is definitely autumnal out there and I love it. I really couldn't take the heatwave we had this last weekend but things are considerably cooler now which is just perfect for me. Instead of going out and basking in the rays, I shut myself in for the weekend. I was truly miserable and kept on snapping at everyone. I really don't like the heat.

Found this mushroom at a local park and thought it was totally cool as I don't think I have ever see a red mushroom before - only in fairy tale books etc.

So, it has been over two weeks since my last post - eeekkk!! Figured I had better get a post up before I let things get out of control. In my last post I said I would have Dandy Dreams finished within a week or two but actually it only took a few days. The chart is now on it's way to the USA to Lynda who will stitch it and then send it back as I have others waiting to borrow it as well. Here's my happy finish:

I also finished stitching the September ornie that me and Tina (no blog) are doing. I was a bit late as I started it on the last day of September! Oh well. I still need to finish it off but it was a lovely one to do. This is a freebie from the Sampler Girl and you can find it on her blog if you scroll through the archives.

I have also been beavering away on Sampler au Bouquet and just loving this design! Here is where I am up to right now.

I am using the Vintage Country mocha belfast linen and the called for DMCs and love the way it is turning out. The fabric looks even better in real life and I can't stop looking at the way it all mottles and blends. Lovely.

Okay, next up is part 5 of the Istitch mystery sampler. I am keeping up with this and doing the parts as they come out but I have been glad of the break so I can stitch on other things as well. Here's my part:

Sorry the picture is so small. It is at Carol's request that we keep them small for the time being.

Well, I got a lovely gift in the post today from Lynda at A Cosy Little Place for Stitching. She sent me two LHN All Dolled Up charts from my wishlist so I am super pleased with them and will be definitely stitching them along with the couple of others I have. Brilliant and a super surprise so THANK you Lynda. Love them.

Well. I think that is me all done. Unless that is you want to see pictures of my lentil meals I have been making? No I thought not so I will save them for my food forum lol. I have done a bit of crochet but it is for a charity blanket and I am not sure that the square is good enough to get used so I am waiting to find out on that one. It's that darn Jan Eaton book - I need a tutorial in how to follow her charts! Anyway, that's another story. Have a good week everyone. Hopefully it will be cool enough to get out my Autumn blankie and start working on her again soon.

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IHSW update

2011-09-19T20:54:00.002Z

Well, so much for squirreling myself away for the weekend with my stitching. The weekend proved a fairly busy one with taking the kiddies to the cinema - it was the boy's first time. He seemed to enjoy it for the most part and didn't bother the audience too much. We also went to a small craft fair so by the time we got back that was the best part of the day gone. Sunday proved just as difficult as I started with the cold/flu symptoms that seem to be doing the rounds at the moment.

However, all that said, I did manage to get some stitching done. I worked on the Istitch mystery and the Dandy Dreams chart in the evenings. I only had to frog the Istitch part twice this time!! I seriously think it is because I am feeling so tired and run down. Anyway, here are my progress pics:

Istitch part 4

Dandy Dreams

I mainly focused on the green at the bottom and there was a heck of a lot of counting in it. I am so close to finishing this. I reckon I should aim to finish it in about 2 weeks.

That's all from me for know folks. I did start some knitting but my DS took it all off the needles and then proceeded to hide the needles!!! I am still one missing!! Grrrrrrr...... I hate knitting.

Have a good week folks.

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Wiggly Jiggly

2011-09-16T11:12:00.002Z

Happy Friday everyone! I am looking forward to having a hermit weekend this weekend and have joined the IHSW today.

Click on the above for more details. Staying home and curling up with a hot drink and stitching sounds like an ideal remedy for chilly blues! Actually, as I have said in my last post or previous, I love this season and this time of year. I actually like staying in and cuddling and snuggling up so this is perfect for me. Why don't you join in?? Not sure what I will be stitching yet but the next part of the istitch mystery is out and shouldn't take long to do so long as there are no hidden frogs. I might do a bit more on my HAED and also Dandy Dreams as well.

Well, this week I have been trying my hand at Wiggly crochet and have been experimenting with different hook sizes. The first one I began is the smallest one and I used a 1.5mm hook to make the netting.

It seemed to curl a bit at the back though - can you see??

So I went out and bought some different hooks - I got a 2.5 and a 3. These are the results.

3mm hook:

2.5 mm hook:

I noticed that these too curled a little at the back so i am thinking that perhaps that is a natural occurrence of this technique. The two larger ones are a bit gappy in my opinion and show the net too much so I am thinking of continuing on with my original one - the smallest one in bright colours and making either a cushion or a seat cover.

Here they are together to show the size difference. Maybe I should try a 2mm hook bit I can't be bothered making the trip to buy the hook:

The tutorial link is in my sidebar if anyone wants to try it out. It's a lot of fun.

Here is a bit more progress on Fragile Heart. There is a fair bit of block stitching on this page but also quite a bit of confetti so it is taking ages and driving me mad right now. But here she is as promised and I so need to get another progress pic up on the HAED bb.

Next weekend, my sweet friend Tracy from Mad stitching is coming to stay over. Woot!!! I have invited another friend over to so we are going to have a girly, crafty night with drinks and nibbles - can't wait!!! Adult company at long last! I will be busy this coming week, tidying dd's bedroom into a fit enough state to be used as a guest room. Eeek. Might just take me all week too.

Okay all, have a lovely weekend and will be back next week with my IHSW update.

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istitch mystery update

2011-09-14T17:52:00.002Z

Just a quickie to keep on top of things.

Here is my update of part 3 of the istitch mystery:

It was a bit of a pain this bit as when I started to do it, I realised I had made a mistake in part 2 and had to frog!! Just goes to show you should never try and copy from someone's wip as you never know if there are mistakes!!!

I have had a go at the Wiggly crochet I linked to in my last post and I have got it but I need a bigger hook to make the initial chains as it is just a wee bit too tight. Once I work out the right tension, I will do it again and post a pic.

So many new crochet patterns out right now. Suz has got quite a few new ones which I want to try out. I am thinking "bathmat" and "chair cushions". Too many nice things to do.

I went to help out in a Primary School on Tuesday just to get a feel of the classroom environment again. I am secondary trained so Primary was a very different experience. It went well and I am intending on going weekly to read a story to the children. I need to start making some "baby" steps to get back to work as I don't know what the future holds for me just now. All WILL be well though.

I am still plugging away on my HAED Fragile Heart and will have another go at her tonight. I really want to get a decent progress picture up. Next post, promise. xxxxxx

Park walks

2011-09-10T11:56:00.003Z

It has been a beautiful autumnal day. The wind has been blowing and the trees are starting to turn. I LOVE this time of year. My favourite season. We have had a few stormy days and they thrill me. I have seen the devastation done by Irene in the US and that is bad bad bad. No I don't mean those kind of storms but gentler ones where the wind and rain lashes down on your window and ALLOWS you to stay cozied up inside with the heating on and a hot drink. Today though, there is no rain. Just scuddering clouds across the skies and a whooshing wind that refreshes you. Summer for me is too hot - even in this country. I never do go abroad on HOT holidays. It just isn't me. No I like the Autumn with the wind and the cooler weather and the changing leaves. So Boy and I took a little stroll in the park while Lily was swimming. I have been playing around with the Hipstamatic on my ipod touch and I am not great with the camera but I like the effects. Here are a few pics.

This week I learned to do a new crochet square and sent three of them off to SIBOL. Sue is needing more of these squares and they are not difficult to do. If you want to help then please email Sue - you will find details on her blog. Sue makes up the squares into blankets for the elderly and has made 80 odd of them now. She has been written about in magazines. A very worthy cause. Even if you just made one then that would help.

I have been browsing the blogs and have been inspired by so much recently. A couple of crochet projects have really stood out to me and I would like to have a go at them. Here for example and here.

Well, the next part of the Istitch mystery is out today so I will be getting on with that - oh and I have done a little on my Fragile Heart HAED too so will post updates of those soon. Next week will see me going into a primary school to help out with the kids' reading. It's been about 7 years since I have been in the classroom and I am a little nervous but excited as well. I need to make small steps to get back to work so hopefully this will help.

Thanks for reading and commenting. You are all so lovely and positive and I appreciate them very very much.

Back to school..

2011-09-06T10:33:00.005Z

Well the summer is over and gone and DD has gone back to school today - year 4! Wowza. She is looking so grown up, so old. DS has also returned to nursery and as he walked in, he told his dad, "I want to go home now". It breaks your heart but I know he will be fine and will be loving it in there, back with all his friends and doing lots and lots of exciting crafty things.

But, before they went off on their merry way, we decided to make some friendship braids. DD was our teacher and she enjoyed the process of showing us how to make these easy peasy sweet bracelets. She made some for her friends at school and for each other too. Even little man made one for Dad as well.

I have been doing a little bit of this and that and made a flower square for - well, I am not sure if it is secret or not - I don't think it is but it is to go towards a blanket for a lady who is suffering at the moment. That is all I will say. I really love this flower square and you can find the pattern here.

I have finished my little red bird as well. Been very hard at it trying to get a few finishes in but I am so slow. I now need to make this into a little door hanger cushion thing. I think it will look rather nice in my red, living room.

Bird in Hand Blackbird Designs

Also been working a little bit on Dandelion Dreams. Such a sweet design. I should have this finished soon I hope.

You will have to excuse the folded and creased look of my wips. You know I don't iron till I am ready to do the finishing on them. I am enjoying working on some slightly smaller projects at the minute. My head can't cope with big wips or BAPS at the moment. There is still a lot going on at home and I have spent too many days in floods of tears. Every day is a day where I am not sure of the outcome and just glad and relieved if that day has gone okay.

I have also been doing a little tidying - well, when I say tidying I really do mean shoving things out of sight and out of the way so don't look too closely. But do you remember my messy table here:

Here it is today:

How long it will stay like this for is anyone's guess. It has made me realise that this table really could do with a lick of paint. Tidy table - tidy mind??? We'll see.

Hope you are all having a marvelous week. Off to catch up with you all now. xx

Oh my - just had to edit this as I have just had a marvelous gift through the post from Amanda who I made the square for for her friendship blanket. Ooooohhhh sooo excited and they have really cheered up my day honey. I told you not to!!! Tut tut. But I really love it. Thanks so much.

istitch mystery

2011-08-29T13:47:00.002Z

Hellooooo!! Nice to be here on this rather dull, moody Bank Holiday Monday!

I recently stumbled across the istitch mystery SAL and was very disappointed that I was too late to join as I am a fan of Carol's charts. They are simple to stitch and very pretty in sampler style and also the charts are very clear to read. I think it must have been when I was away on holiday and didn't have any internet access for a week. Anyway, to cut a long story short, Carol agreed to put me on the waiting list and a couple of days ago, I received an email asking if I would still like to join.

They were already up to part 2 so I had to hurry to catch up. Carol sends out the next part as soon as she has had a picture of each previous part stitched. So, into the early hours I sat and stitched and now I am up to date with everybody else. I decided to go small with this one and am stitching on 25 count lugana and using a very pretty DMC 4190. I am either going to make into a pinkeep or a small box top - if I can find a box of the right dimensions.

So here is my wip so far. You will have to forgive the bad photo as I have lost my battery charger for my camera - or should I ask whose tiny fingers have been playing and misplaced it??? So that is on order but until it arrives I am having to use the camera on my ipod touch which isn't great.

I have to say, and I may very well be in the minority here, but I love the cold weather and the rain and the nights starting to draw in. I feel very Autumny! I think it is about time to bring out those blankets and get cracking on them. Back soon folks.

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Some stitching to report!

2011-08-24T17:42:00.003Z

Hello everyone. It's nice to finally be here and be able to do a blog post. My, how the Summer keeps us busy! I have been keeping the children busy too as much as I can. We have spent most of the time having long, lazy lie ins and going out to see a museum or two once or twice a week. DD has been busy with her craft group once a week and also some workshops.

She made a sock puppet:

and some pots and Hama coasters:

I have felt much better this summer than any other I think and I believe it is because I have stopped putting pressure on myself to do so much and to not compare myself with other people. It has been nice to just chill and wander down to the local park and playground when the weather has been kind. I'll miss them when term starts... and I'll miss the lie ins too!

So here's a few snaps of what we've been up to.

We recently went to the Hatworks Museum in Stockport. A little gem of a place and it's free too. Nice little cafe that is reasonably priced as well.

I loved this felted den that was there. Fantastic!

So, onto some stitching news. It seems a while since I did a decent stitchy post so here's what I have been up to stitch wise.

Here's a little project that I have recently started. It is A Bird in Hand by Blackbird Designs. My online friend Karan gifted me this chart last Christmas and I love it! It took a while to get the thread ordered from Sewandso but finally the arrived. The thread is WDW Baked Apple. Doesn't that sound lovely?? Mmmmm Baked Apple. I could just picture the colour before it came.

See I have nearly finished it and then I will probably turn it into a cushion.

I received my ornament from the HOE Lizzie Kate ornie exchange through from Kathy and Rory the dog! I really love this and love how Kathy has stitched two designs back to back. Looks fantastic and really well finished too. Thanks Kathy!

I, also, have finished some more ornies to go on my stitching tree this year. These are both taken from the 2007 Just Cross Stitch ornament magazine.

This is also from the same magazine but it has gone to Cath as a piece of angel stitching as the chart went missing in our last round of Stitch and Pass it on. I added a few extras for her too:

So that's all the stitching news. I managed to get a picture of my brother with his crochet blanket on his birthday. I think he likes it although it is very hard to tell as he is severely disabled and doesn't show much emotion. The picture is not of great quality as I took it with my ipod whilst at my mum's.

So there you go peeps. That's me for now. Hope you enjoy the rest of your summer!

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HOE ornie

2011-08-11T09:20:00.002Z

Just a quickie as Becky received my ornie in the HOE exchange and I have pinched her pic to show you all. Hope you don't mind Becky!!! I completely forgot to take a picture before I sent it off. Anyway, here is Becky's lovely pic showing the front and back.

Lizzie Kate Juingle ornie from Tidy Tidings chartpack.

A little update

2011-08-05T19:37:00.002Z

Well hello peeps! It has been a while and I am okayish. Thank you for all your kind words of support. Things have not been great around here and the problems have been of the marital type. Stress and anxiety takes its toll on people and can make them behave in less desirable ways - not me by the way. So times are a little rough at the moment but it is good to keep positive and blogs are always a breath of fresh air to read and ponder.

I have been away. We took a little holiday to try and spend some time as a family during the first week of the UK summer hols. We went to one of our favourite places - a town called Abersoch in North Wales. It has some lovely beaches - a sort of mixture between sandy and pebbly.

We stayed in this beautiful place which was a converted stable and it was pure luxury. Just a five minute walk to the beach. Perfect.

The views were magnificent and Abersoch is famous for its sailboats.

We managed to get away on a few daytrips. One was to the Welsh Highland Heritage Railway.

Little lad appeared not to like all the noise coming from the noisy engines and whistle and had his fingers in his ears the whole way through.

He did manage to get one hand free though to do the signal change. Very important job that.

and doing this... both hands free by then!

So onto some finishes. I have finally a big Ta Daaa on my brother's blanket. Goodness it seemed to take forever to go round this rectangle. Fortunately, my mum had said she didn't want it as big as a bed size so I did it a bit smaller. I think the size is just right.

Ta Daaaa!!!

Jacqui's lovely double V edging:

It is his birthday soon in just a couple of weeks so I will be taking it up to my parents to give to him. Hope he likes it and doesn't throw it off his knee when I give it to him!!

Onto a little stitchy news now if you can bear with me...

Recently, Tina (no blog) and I have decided to do one stitchy Christmas ornie a month from last month till Christmas so that she and I can get some finishing practice in. One month I pick a design and the next month she does etc. I chose a really easy peasy one from Just Cross Stitch 2007 ornie ed. It's the Lizzie Kate one. I wanted it to be a quick one so that Tina could spend more time on the finishing. Here's mine:

I also have finished one for the HOE and sent it off and only just realised that I haven't taken pics grrrrrr!!!!!

But the ornie bug kind of got to me and I finished the stitching on this one from the same magazine:

Just need to finish this one.

Also I have been working on Dandelion Dreams which has been a pleasure to work on. Very simple design. I should be finished with this soon. I apologise for the usual unironed state of my wips!!

So that about all from me for now. Hubby is away for a couple of weeks now so should get lots of stitching done. Thanks for staying with me during my bad times.

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Hello peeps

2011-07-29T22:14:00.003Z

Just a quick note to say I have been away and also been having a few personal problems at home which has kept me away from blogging. Hoping to get back to you with a goodish post soon. I haven't forgot you all!

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Last weekend...

2011-07-15T15:48:00.007Z

I was pretty gobsmacked by all your lovely comments on my last post and it has taken me this long to write a new post! I was amazed at how many of us suffer from the same paranoia and low self esteem feelings. When I reread the post back, I think I came across as pretty negative so on the next post I'll try and be more positive!

Last weekend, hubby was away and so I decided to have a stay home weekend. We didn't do a lot so I decided to go round and take a few snaps of the little things. I didn't use my usual camera so I apologise now for the poor quality of the pics. I just thought it would be nice to have some snippets and snaps of ordinary life to look back on and remember. Here's some of what we did:

Lie ins were had on both days:

Brews were made and many of them. I love this Easter mug:

Crochet dens were made and played in and picnicked in too:

Cakes were baked - all by the kids themselves:

And Mummy had to try one of course:

I gazed over at my mess and thought I really need to tidy it up - still haven't :(

We watched telly:

We watched the rain:

We lounged on the couch whilst snuggling new but yet unfinished blanket:

We painted magic pictures:

Lunch was had - in my case was Tuna salad:

I got some lovely things through over the last few weeks. This came from Ann from Beadlework blog who had seen it on my wishlist and wondered if I would like to give it a new home. Are you kidding??? I love it. Thanks so much Ann.

Tina gave me these lovely charts and ribbons as a belated birthday gift! Love them.

Patti also sent me the first edition of Molly Makes magazine which I am thrilled with as I couldn't get hold of the of the first copy so thank you so much Patti!

I also started a rainbow rectangle granny blanket for my brother and this is where I am up to with it:

The problem is that I have ran out of a colour nearly at the end of a row but I carried on with other colours just stopping at the same point but I don't want to get into a huge tangle with it so I had better stop till I can get more wool. That'll be next month now. You may think it is rather bright for a boy and might be wondering why I haven't chosen blues or browns. The reason in that my brother is mentally and physically disabled and so I think bright colours will be a bit of therapy for him. I will post some pics when I get round to finishing it. It is his birthday next month and I am hoping to get some pics of him with it - hopefully smiling!

Well, that's all from me for now. I have finished a couple of Christmas ornies - I am starting early this year but one is for an exchange and one I just haven't got round to taking pictures yet. More will be revealed next time. Getting ready for the start of the Summer holidays.. yippeeeee!!!!!

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The "All About Me" Award Post

2011-06-29T12:21:00.003Z

I was recently awarded with some bloggy awards. Thank you so much! It is truly an honour to receive them as you get to thinking that perhaps folks don't really like you or your blog so getting an award or in this case two is even better. I don't really spill the beans much on who I really am - I tend to focus just on the crafty side of things. I am way too afraid of rejection and tend to show more pictures than actual writing. Have you noticed that? Anyway, if you are at all interested in a few silly facts about me then read on.

Way back in May Heather gave me this award:

and more recently, Cuckoo gave me this one:

It takes me forever to respond to awards as I never quite know things to say about myself or really stuff I think I could say but shouldn't. So... with much thought and a brave face, here are a few facts about me.

1. After my incident with Heather last weekend, it really got me thinking that no-one would really recognise me if I walked down the street. Every picture I take of myself is different and weight gains and losses over the years, what with the unavoidable ageing process, shows me in a different light each time I snap. Most pictures of me are pants and not very nice so I tried my best to get a half decent one of me. Here you go:

oh go on then.. a full frontal:

Sheesh I really do look like I am getting old! So now if you do see me walking down the street you have no excuse not to say hello!

2. I have put a serious amount of weight on recently. A few years ago I lost a lot of weight and have put it all back on with more besides so it is a case of getting back on that old waggon again. And staying on! The Old Waggon in this case would be Slimming World - tried and trusted.

3. It seriously annoys me when people hide their loo roll in their house and you can't find it.

4. Although my dh and I are christians, we no longer go to organised churches. We have been too badly hurt and seen too many bad things going on. I do get "fellowship" in other ways though.

5. I'm very forgetful and can never think of the right word to use. The other week I had to ask my DD the word for "sunset". I had completely forgotten it. I am putting this down to tiredness.

6. Linked in with the tiredness is that I seem to suffer from .... thinking of the darn word..... INSOMNIA quite a lot. I have been put on tabs but they don't do much really and I can't take them when DH is away which is a lot. Not stressed about anything too badly - just can't switch off.

7. I have two older sisters and an older brother. My brother is mentally and physically handicapped and I am making him a blanket for his birthday. Pics soon.

8. I am a totally paranoid fruitcake and think that everyone hates me! Like I said, paranoid fruitcake. I am trying to get over this low self esteem thing by chanting, "I am unique, I am special, there's no one like me!". Not sure if it's working yet or not.

9. I have never been on an abroad beachy holiday. I have been to beachy places in this country but never abroad. I have been to Germany and Paris. I am not so great with heat and so laying in the heat for hours on end does NOT appeal to me. Geeps, this last few days in the UK have been bad enough for me. I am sure I should have been born in Finland.

10. I intensely dislike bloggers who never EVER comment on your blog even though you have probably written a hundred comments on their blogs. Yeah I know, we are all Blogging Without Obligation but just one comment! Come on.

Okay well, that's ten and that's enough. I will prob find half my followers gone by the morning now. I pass this on to all the blogs I follow cos you're all brilliant - you can see them in my profile. I think there are about 300 of them. So feel free to take the awards and use them.

Think I need a drink now. My nerves are shot.

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Woolly Woolfest!!

2011-06-25T16:56:00.002Z

Had a rather rushed trip up to Wolfest today as DH had to be back home to do a gig this evening. What an interesting time was had! Started off with a service station stop at the lovely Tebay services as boy was letting us know loud and clear that his wee was coming out!! Who do I spot but none other than Heather from Little Tin Bird!! I knew it was her - I could totally tell from the pictures and it was only after I had called her and introduced my self and said hello etc that I felt a bit of an idiot because although I knew her immediately - poor Heather probably didn't recognise me from Adam. So... Heather... It was lovely to meet you but really sorry if I scared the life out of you lol.

We then missed the turning and carried on up to Carlisle - like you do before realising and heading back. Finally got there and was wowed by all the colour and creativity.

I am very camera shy outdoors but managed to take a few snaps before someone reprimanded me for not asking her first! She thought I might have been a journalist or someone from a magazine or someone who was going to steal her ideas. Quite flattering really. Nuff said. Camera went away till I got to the sheep. They didn't seem to mind. Here's a few of the shots I did manage to take of various outlets and crafty goodness.

Also saw my lovely friend Carole from Skeins who was helping out with someone else's stall. I treated myself to a lovely handdyed skein of wool for a scarf for the Autumn.

I got myself a new purse too. Desperately needed one as the zip had broken on mine. Lily got a toadstool brooch and two friendship bracelets.

I also saw a demonstration on needlefelting and the pictures looked wonderful so I bought myself a starter kit. It's a beach/sea scene - just a simple one - just to start me off.

I saw some fantastic woven hangings and there are courses held in North Wales so I would love to have a go at that at some point.

Finally, some sheep pics for all you sheep fans. Some of them were really friendly.

(These are the smallest breed of sheep in the world you know!)

We managed to stop off in Keswick for fish and chips before heading home. On my return I was really pleased to find that my two books from Japan had arrived! I bought them from this recommended seller here on Etsy called Pomadour24 and true enough, these items did ship fast! I am so happy as one of the patterns is the flowers from the flower scarves I made. So I know I am just going to drool and drool some more.

The blanket they are laying on is the one I started making last year but had so many ends to weave in it totally frightened me! Over the last couple of nights I plucked up the courage and began to weave those ends in. Just got a couple left to do but it means I can carry on with it now without fear or loathing. Here's a snap of it up to now. Maybe I will get it done for Autumn this year!

Thanks for staying with me if you're still reading. It is not like me to post so often.

I have been given a couple of blog awards and I will try and do a "Facts about ME" post soon. Have a nice weekend whatever you do.

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Round Robin complete and a couple of RAKS...

2011-06-24T08:21:00.003Z

...are winging their way to two special people. They don't know it yet but they will in the next day or so. Hope you like them recipients!

What else have I been up to?

I made a tin can cozy.

Actually I also made a bigger one for a bigger tin but it was a bit loose. DD doesn't mind though and she now has it in her room. I also made a blue stripey one for the bathroom but dh was like... "Why have you put a baked beans tin in the bathroom??" Men - they just don't get it! I might make a few more for pens and pencils and things. They are quite handy and rather addictive.

My Round Robin got back to me from Julie and here it is in all its robin glory!

I did this one:

Tina did this one:

Clare did this one:

and Julie did this one:

Perfect. Thanks everyone. Great job. Now I need to make it into a cushion.

I also had a play around with a new App on my ipod touch. It's a Kaleidoscopic camera. I took some pics of my crochet and here are a few of the pics. Aren't they cool? I think I could get some of these printed off and make a bit of a collage/mural/picture with them. These were only my first attempt so some of them might look a little fuzzy.

Well, that's me. Short and sweet. Time is of the essence. I am off to Woolfest tomorrow for a short visit but hope to take lots of pics. Be prepared sheep fans! xx

Round Robin, new stash and blanket catch up.

2011-06-16T17:11:00.004Z

Thank you all so much for the lovely comments in my last post. Your lovely words about my model really blessed me and I know they blessed her too. You are all very kind! Some questions were:

What yarn did you use?

Well, I used good old Stylecraft Special in various shades. It is an acrylic but a very soft one and I find the colours and feel of this yarn is great value for money. I love it.

Are you going to make a bigger one for yourself?

Perhaps. I'd like to but with my increasing size at the moment I am not sure it would flatter me a great deal. Saying that, I could always do one for just wearing inside the house.

I also got asked another question about my new cashmere merino yarn I bought recently and if I had done any more with it? The answer is yes! And here's the proof. I have done four rows up to now but I am weaving in the ends as I go so it won't be a mammoth task at the end.

I have to say the quality of this yarn is truly amazing. It is so soft and has a heaviness to it that makes it really drapey. It is lovely to work with - very soft and slips through your fingers very easily. I am not sure how big I will be making this blanket. I am sorely tempted to buy more yarn and just keep on letting it grow.

I got some lovely goodies through the post this week. For my birthday, Tracy gave me a $60 gift certificate for Anita's Little Stitches shop and here's what I bought. Anita was so kind and sent me a packet of Bohin needles as well as an extra birthday gift. I can't recommend Anita enough. She is super fast and very thorough.

So from left to right, I bought:

Plum St Samplers, Paradise Lost

Shakespeare's Peddlers, Jenny Bean's Friendship Sampler

Sullivan scissors

Blackbird Designs, Blue Bird

With Thy Needle and Thread, Homestead Samplar punchneedle kit.

The last one has puzzled me a bit as the last Punchneedle kit I bought, it contained and iron on transfer to put the image on the fabric but this one says "trace on" - yet it is back to front????? Any tips from punchneedlers out there would be much appreciated! Also a little disappointed that it only shows speciality threads and not a dmc conversion so I am going to have to spend a little time working this one out.

I also entered Simona's giveaway and won! I was supposed to get just the book of motifs but Simona sent me a magazine, some threads and some charms as well! All beautifully wrapped in lovely paper with real lavender in the package as well. Thank you so much Simona. It was a lovely surprise.

Lastly, I finished up Tina's Round Robin. I really loved working on this sweet design. Since I am the last person to stitch on it, it is going back home now to be with it's owner. It was a lovely Round Robin and when I get mine back I will do a proper post all about it. It was my first Round Robin and for once there were no problems. Well, up to now that is!

This is Seasonal Samplings by Hillside Samplings.

Well, that's all from me for now. I'm off to pop the kids to bed then it's HAED SAL night with Lisa and Tracy. Need to get more progress on that pink lady!

Have a good rest of week.

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First time poncho perfect

2011-06-12T15:29:00.002Z

Well maybe not so perfect but dd loves it so I am very happy!

Got the inspiration from MemeRose and the pattern from Lemonddesucrette. Soooo quick to do. DD chose the colours herself and the order in which they went in. You can't see them properly as two of the colours are greeny shades. She said she wanted it like the colours of the sea starting with white and getting darker as the sea got deeper!

I say it's not perfect as I think I should have done the neckline a little larger so it would be slightly more drapey. I finished it off with a simple cluster shell edging. DD says it is warm and snuggly and loves it to bits so that makes me very very happy.

Not bad for a firstie hey???

Meet Rosie Posy

2011-06-07T13:09:00.002Z

Guess who arrived today?

Meet Rosie Posy - my new friend from the lovely Julie from Needlecraft Haven. Julie has made a few of these "friends" to help encourage us to get our projects finished.

This little dear was sent, I know, to bring me extra special hugs and cuddles and she has found her place right in my stitching corner where she will definitely bring me the encouragement needed to finish some of my wips.

Thank you so much Julie. I absolutely adore her.

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Crochet bag finish!

2011-06-03T13:48:00.002Z

A couple of weeks ago I came to the realization that my UFO pile has now spread to my crochet wips as well. I have several unfinished items. I have 2 fronts of cushions that need backs, 2 blankets unfinished, and a crochet bag that I started at the beginning of this year. You can see my start here.

I wasn't very happy with my colour placement and so the usual thing happened and the whole thing went into a bag and got left there for 6 months. I decided that it surely was time to get some of these projects "finished" and decided to start with the bag. I didn't bother to unravel it after all. I just used it as a learning piece and after a couple of days and some sore fingers later, I ended up with this:

My Usual model!

Doesn't look too bad does it? I am pretty pleased with it. It's very roomy and will fit a whole pile of woolly balls in it. Maybe I will line it, maybe I won't. Not sure yet. Just going to enjoy this little finish and then onto the cushions I think.

A little stitchy update. Here is my Sampler au Bouquets. Scuzy the ring marks. I refuse to iron the piece till it is finished. Really enjoying working on this - such a simple design but oh so pretty.

I spotted this finish on Meme Rose's blog and just loved it. The link to the pattern is here and dd has decided she wants one first! I think I am going to be busy busy.

And.. here's a little friend you don't get to see very often:

This is one of our cats who disappeared the other night - quite unusually for her and reappeared the next day limping!

This morning her foot was swollen so a trip to the vet was in order. Seems she has three puncture wounds in her little paw that had got infected. Possibly a fight? She really isn't the type but maybe she was set upon in the night by a big fat cat bully. £54 for two injections and then she was home. Hiding under the table. Poor miss.

Well I have a birthday this weekend - tomorrow actually but I am moving it to Sunday as dh has got to work - all day, all night - completely rubbish but I have bought myself a cake and I have some cards to open too. I am determined not to feel like Mr Bean.

Have a happy weekend people.

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Seems to be working now

2011-05-28T11:30:00.001Z

All seems to be working now - I'm not sure if it is because I have just downloaded the new Google Chrome but everything seems in good working order and faster too. Off to comment..

Blogger grrrrs!!!

2011-05-28T08:59:00.003Z

Just a quick one to say that I have not been able to comment on all blogs. It seems to be mainly the blogs that require an additional verification code to comment.You know the one where you can't just click enter at the end but have to actually click on the "post" button. I know a lot of people are having probs at the moment with blogger and hopefully they will get it fixed soon but just sos you know. I am still reading - just not able to comment on everyone's.

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Some stitchy stuff and thanks to KarenV!

2011-05-24T18:56:00.003Z

Just had a lovely couple of days at my good friend Tracy's house. We had a lovely relaxing time (no kids for me although I did miss them like crazy). We went to the cinema to see the new Thor which was fantastic and then stitched our hearts out the rest of the time. I finished up page 1 of Breaking Dawn HAED. You can see the little pink wing forming.

I am stitching this for my dd - aren't they all for her??? And she loves the way it is turning out. Such an appreciative girl for an eight year old! Just hope she still likes it by the time I have finihsed it. I looked at my last pic update and it was July last year so that is almost a year since I worked on it. Poor girl. The one in the picture I mean hehe.

Before I went to Tracy's I got a beautiful gift through the post from the lovely KarenV - she has a beautiful blog. If you haven't already discovered her then head her way. Karen does the most beautiful pieces of stitchery ever! So a couple of weeks ago (prob less than that), Karen was giving away some bits and bobs she no longer wanted and look what came for me in the post:

Karen had done a little bit of beading in the past and had made this tiny purse necklace. My dd is modelling it for me. She has gone crazy over it! It is exquisite. Beautifully crafted and has a very Elizabethan feel to it which is perfect for me being a big Tudor history buff. So Thank You so very much Karen. I love it and will treasure it for ever!!!.

Now, speaking of dear Karen, some time ago I noticed a beautiful needle keep she had made on her blog and asked her how she had made it and Karen kindly replied and told me all about "finishing forms". I got onto Amy at DSL and ordered a couple and made this up for Tracy as part of her birthday gift. It didn't take long and I just love how easy it was to make up. I popped it into a circular box I had and took it with me. For my first time at using these forms I don't think I did such a bad job! So again I have to say a personal Thank You to Karen for the inspiration and help. Now I really need to make myself one. The design comes from Blackbird Designs Honeysuckle Manor book. Here you can see the front, side and back of it.

Well, that is all for me for now. I have just found out that next Monday the SIL has offered to have the children so me and dh can spend some oh so much needed time together. Yippeeeee! We really REALLY need some kid free time together. I just hope we find something nice to do. Any ideas???

I have been slowly reading and catching up with all your inspiring blog posts. Keep them coming! And also thank you so much for the gorgeous comments that flow my way. I appreciate and treasure every single one of them.

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Oh ETA: I have addded another sidebar thingy to my blog for any recipes I find on fellow bloggers' blogs. If you have one you think I may be interested in then let me know and I'll add it.

Bunting and yarn and lots of colour!

2011-05-19T08:18:00.004Z

Do you remember the bunting I was making a while back? Well, I am ashamed to say that I had this bunting made and finished and another lot in red, white and blue finished too but never strung up! Finally, motivation kicked in yesterday and I hauled one of the chairs from the garage and lugged it upstairs to pin them up.

The blue ones I hung in the bathroom and I just threaded them onto some pretty stringy stuff. However, I am not quite sure of the way they are hung and may just have to haul that chair back out and try again. They are hung on two walls but I think I need to just double hang them onto one wall.

I made the red, white and blue one for the boy. I was thinking I could turn his room into "american" themed someday and this might just go. I wasn't wrong. After I had sat and crocheted the pieces together, which surpirisingly didn't take long, I took some pins and pinned them to his window frame. I am really super pleased with the result. So is he it seems and he gave me the biggest hug when he saw them.

With the money I earned from selling a few crocheted bits and bobs, I decided to buy some posh wool - that being Sublime cashmere marino silk dk. Deramores were having 15% off and I also got another 10% off from Ravelry so I ended up saving £24 on it. I still spent a lot though - well, what I consider a lot on a mere 20 balls of 11 different colours.

I waited in for two days jumping at the sound of every car door but the postman didn't come. I sat and weaved in the ends on my Jewel cushion and then there it was. The big knock at the door. I threw the cushion down and pegged it to the door and must have looked a right idiot grinning at the postman. I took the parcel and jumped. Literally - jumped. I tore open the bag and let the balls tumble out.

You see, I had not actually seen the colours in real life. I had only chosen them online and was seriously hoping I had done a good job of choosing and that the colours were going to be accurate.

I wasn't wrong. I was lovestruck! The feel of this wool is oh so soft and silky smooth and the colours are to die for. Some were from the baby range and some from the normal range.

So I played with them. I lined them up. The changed them around. Then I turned them around so you couldn't see the labels. I love this yarn.

So I was very good and finished the weaving in of the ends of the Jewel cushion cover before I made a start.

I had been inspired by this blanket here and wanted a similar look/style. The differences are the type and amount of colours and I also did a two round centre in my squares but this is how it is looking at the moment.

Pretty hey? I really love it. It is quick and easy too and doesn't require me to look at any instructions - bonus.

Lastly, I have been a bit of a HAED addict of late and get really stuck into page 1 of Breaking Dawn. It is growing into somewhat of a rotation - a thing that I don't normally do - but I seem to be doing a page at a time and it seems to suit me very well. Other projects have taken a back seat though. Too much to do, to much to do!! Anyway, here's my progress on her:

So that's all from me folks. Hope you have a lovely weekend. I am heading over to my friend Tracy's for a break as it is her birthday and mine coming up next month. See you next week.

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Tea towels!

2011-05-16T18:56:00.003Z

I got an email from a chap called Al from All Tea Towels a few days ago asking if I would kindly review some of his tea towels for him in exchange for keeping them. Well, we all need extra tea towels and these looked like great quality.

I was not wrong. They are a decent size of approx 20x28 inches and were thick and super absorbant once I had given them a good wash in the machine. They are a cotton and a cotton/linen mix and the company have some fab designs. Here are the ones I chose:

Love this one... Thinking about using it as a table cloth for a small table of mine actually.

And more chocolate!

Yes, two vintage Cabdury adverts and a funky polka dotty one. So there you go. Three new tea towels. If you feel the urge to splurge on some new ones I can thoroughly recommend this company. Delivery is quick too and free in the UK.

I think I might need some more floral ones................

Back soon with a crafty update.

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And the winner is......

2011-05-08T08:52:00.002Z

Using the traditional method of folded bits of paper with a friendly hand to pick the winner.....

I really wish I could send you all a bag of these yummy sweeties....

So.......

The winner.......

It's Karen from Knitalatte

Congratulations Karen!! Please send me an email with your snail mail address and I'll get them sent off to you very soon. Email in my profile. Please feel free to share them out if you can bear to part with any of them. Some people love them and some hate them!

Guess what?? I have a stitchy update.

I haven't worked on any stitching for about a month or a good few weeks at the very least. But Tracy and I started up our HAED SAL on Thursday night again and I have zipped along with it. So here is my Fragile Heart progress:

The eye was just amazing to do. It has some sparkly Petite braid from Rainbow Gallery in it and it looks amazing! I am planning a trip to Tracy's in a couple of weeks and hope to have this page complete by then. Looks like my stitchy mojo is back! Happy to announce that Lisa will be joining us as well every Thursday night. It is quite a special SAL as we text each other before and after pictures so it makes it all a bit more personal and brings us closer somehow.

So that's all for me for now. I have been drooling over lots of the upcoming crochet books coming out soon on Amazon. There is one with a Kangaroo on the cover and I have been reading this to my boy and he loves it:

Here's the upcoming book....

So I am thinking... BLUE... Kangaroo!! I'm just not so confident that I will be able to make it though. hmmmmm....

Have a lovely week everyone.

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More flowery cushiony goodness!! and a mini giveaway. x

2011-05-01T14:48:00.006Z

Well well well. I have been busy on the hook as some of you have already guessed. I worked hard at turning those ever so pretty flowers into a cushion over the week. It was quite a fiddly procedure but eventually I got it. The hardest thing was working out which stitch in the back of the flower I was suppsed to work into. I only hope I have done it right and they don't all start to unravel.

So.... do you wanna see???

Okay here you go... my latest crochet Ta daaaaa....

I really am quite skippy with excitement about this. It is a specially ordered item and the recipient wanted blues and purple shades. Some of the shades are slightly more pink than purple but I hope they like it anyway.

Close up:

Skippety skippety. Happy, happy happy!

The Back:

Button edge using vintagey buttons I found for 10p each!

Just one last one???

The pattern is Rosehip's flower squares which you will find if you scroll down my sidebar. I think I will call this cushion Violet Sometimes. I am just a little sad that this is going to be going to a new home. Can I bear to part with it??? It would make such a nice friend for Flower cushion.

So.... I started a new project based on a similar one seen in Attic24 archives. Here's a small start. This is super easy and super quick and I love it. I am using 27colours of Stylecraft yarn and the whole thing just looks like jewels to me so this is going to be called my Jewelled cushion.

Now, if you have stuck with me this long then thank you so much. I notice that I have just reached 400 followers!!!! Woohooooo!!! That is just amazing. It really blesses my little heart to think that so many people are interested in my little space on the web. So that deserves a little giveaway don't you think? Well, I will have a little think and see what I can come up with. I will do a separate post for it soon I promise so stay tuned.

I would however like to do a separate giveaway on this post. In my last post there were quite a few people from abroad (I am in UK) who said they had never heard of chocolate limes!!!!! So I would like to invite readers FROM OTHER COUNTRIES ONLY PLEASE who have never heard of or cannot get hold of chocolate limes to leave me a message on here and I will pick a winner and post you out a bag. If you would like to that is. I mean, I cannot have so many people telling me they have never tried them. I think that is simply awful. They are really yummy. You start with a zingy limey hard boiled sweet and it has a chocolate centre that melts as you get closer to it. So please state in your comment if you would like to be entered to try a bag. Remember - ABROAD ONLY!! No cheating Uk-ers.I will leave this open for a week till the 7th - that is plenty of time is it not?? Open to anyone - follower or not - who cannot get hold of them and would like to try them. Make sure I have your email too if it isn't in your profile.

So stay tuned for another giveaway soon and hope you all have a lovely week. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Chocolate Limes..

2011-04-27T21:08:00.003Z

This is what my husband said when I finished Tracy's blanket for her.

Chocolate Limes?? I thought more of a mint choc chip ice cream.

Mmmmmm... are you feeling it??

This was a special order blanket from Tracy who chose the pattern and colours to go in her sitting room. I hope she likes it.

So chocolate limes or mint choc chip?? What do you think?

Speaking of orders, I have had another order for a flower cushion and what tricksy little beeps these are!! Here they are so far:

Aren't they just so pretty?? I love the streak of sunlight coming through the window and shining on them. Now they are in the process of being made into squares. They are from Rosehip's blog (link in the sidebar).

I stumbled upon something today that made me think. Has anyone seen or heard of 365 Grateful? A woman who suffered from depression was given advice from a nun that the secret of happiness was in reflection and gratefulness and challenged her to reflect and be grateful every night for the next ten days. She was so impressed by the results that she got herself a Polaroid camera and began to take a picture a day of something that made her feel grateful - every day for a year! It is so motivating and I have been thinking about a lot of stuff like this lately. I have had so much go on in my life the last few years that it is a miracle I am still here to tell the tale to be honest. Well, I am not ready to talk just yet but I am thinking a lot about this and getting very inspired. Definitely worth looking at.

So, what am I grateful for today? I am grateful that my husband finally ordered a skip and has cleared the garage! Just the office and garden to go now but I am very hopeful. This has been a long time coming. Thank you sweet man.

And, thank you everyone who has visited with me in my little space today. I appreciate all your lovely, kind and thoughtful comments. Keep well.
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Skipton

2011-04-24T17:22:00.003Z

Happy Easter all. I hope you are out or enjoying the nice weather we have been having in the UK. DH is home so we have been trying to spend some time together as a family.

On Good Friday we decided to head out to Skipton. I haven't been in years and it was so lovely albeit extremely busy. I think we will go again on a quieter day. I think it might be nice to stay there for a night too. Very pretty. Unfortunately I forgot my camera so had to rely on hubby's phone cam. Here are some pics:

We went up to the castle first. One of the prettiest castles I have ever been in.

Inside the Great Hall:

A view from the Watch:

Castle and gardens:

Castle Priory:

The canal walk was gorgeous. I love all the pretty barges. They are so colourful. I long to go on a barge holiday at some point in my life.

And on the drive out, we came across this little field of beautiful poppies:

We did go round the shops; the market was on but dh didn't take any snaps there. There was a fab wool shop called Purl and Jane which specialised in all sorts of hand dyed wools. I didn't buy anything this time but definitely will do next time I visit. Hope you enjoyed my little trip. It didn't end so well actually as we headed out toward Bolton Abbey but hadn't left enough time for it and so we stopped off for a drink and dd tripped on some cobbles and chipped her tooth! Apart from that all was well and we had a lovely day.

Just a quick stitchy update. I have finished Clare's RR piece:

This was so quick to do. I loved it.

And also here is my small start on Sampler Au Bouquets by Jardin de Prive:

I am stitching this on Vintage Mocha and I love it! Thank you Leena for the inspiration.

Hello to all my new followers and visitors - there seems to have been a bit of a surge!! I am quite amazed actually so thank you very much and hope you enjoy your visit with me.

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Park picnics

2011-04-16T13:23:00.003Z

I have been moping around the last couple of days feeling very poorly and very sorry for myself. You know how it starts with a bit of a sore throat and you think, "Ack!" and then it suddenly turns into something so very nasty that knocks you off your feet literally for the next few days? It has gone from a bug like flu with nausea and tummy ache and shivers and aches to a full on head cold. However, trying to stay positive I thought I would post about our recent pinic in Lyme Hall last Sunday. Do you remember my post not so long ago about the same place where the snowdrops were budding? I thought it would be nice to show you what it looks like in the heart of spring. We got there around 10.30- 11.00ish - a good time to go as it gets really busy after then. Found this lovely spot by the lake:

and settled down on the Ugly blanket which proved to be a great picnic blanket as it is massive and so there was no teetering on the corners on those small roll up blankets people use. I would have been using mine but I lost it in typical ME fashion and was kind of forced into using theUgly blanket.

Nothing posh. Just what we had in the house. Butties, pringles, fruit and juice and some chocolate mini rolls. There's nothing like eating outdoors is there? Then into the house and the gardens and here are some snaps of how the garden is looking now: Hyacinths everywhere and the smell so fragrant.

And these were taken in the arbetorium:

So colourful. I can't wait for summer. I have been doing some crochet too and finished off Clare's scarf and she now has it and loves it thankfully. Cream centres this time with more pinks and purple shades:

Also had a go at Julia Crossland's Popcorn Flower:

Really like this and will be making more shortly.

And another flower square by Rose Hip:

So there you have it. That was last weekend. This weekend I am staying home sulking! Thanks for all the lovely comments and especially new readers and followers. I will be heading over to read your blogs soon. Have a lovely weekend whatever you are doing. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Stuff

2011-04-03T17:07:00.003Z

Just a quick post. Many many thanks for all the lovely comments. I think my Dad is blushing! Some questions to answer. Firstly, the count of the fabric is 16 count aida which is probably why it came out so big. I started this a good few years ago before HAED and before I had even contemplated stitching over 1 on 25ct. I have the chart in very good condition as we used a working copy and only used the pages containing the symbols. It is spiral bound with a plastic cover. If anyone would like to purchase the chart I am asking for £10 + pnp. It is 49 pages of chart (not all full pages). Just send me an email if you are interested in buying it. I accept paypal.

Well, my first flower scarf got finished and purchased by my lovely friend Tina (no blog). Thank you Tina for paying so promptly! Here it is in all its glory. I have another one on the hook for my good friend Clare.

Yesterday, I FINALLY got a ball of yarn through from First4Yarns that I ordered way way back in October. Let's just say I shan't be ordering from them any time soon. Anyhow, the wool I was waiting for was some Rico Poems Aran and I had 2 different balls of the stuff. So I wasn't sure how I was going to use it but last night I made this:

My first slouchy beanie!!! Thanks to Aisyah from My Tinker Space who gave me the link to the pattern here. I am sooooooo pleased with the result! I think dd is too. This will def not be the last one I make.

I got the most wonderful surprise the other day. I had won a giveaway from Cath over at The Stitchin' Chicken and I was only expecting the chart. Then she emailed me to say she had to buy some threads for it. Bonus. But, when it actually came, she had popped in some extra goodies too. Made my day! Thanks Cath. Brilliant!!

And.... finally just a bit of stitchy. Here is my HAED Fragile Heart update after my SAL with Tracy on Thursday nights:

On the bunting front... I finished my blue bunting but not yet strung it up. Also I have finished some red, white and blue bunting too - good if you're a royalist. I'm not particularly so I see it more as American theme for little boys' rooms. Either way, it looks good but needs some blocking and hanging then I'll snap some pics.

Thanks for reading folks and all your patience. Be back soon. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ta daaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you Dad. x

2011-03-25T09:59:00.003Z

Beautiful spring weather we have been having here in the UK. Sunshine - at long last and even a bit of warmth to boot. These hyacinths were worrying me somewhat as they seemed to take ages to flower but flower they did and the scent was magnificent!

Anyway, onto this major, fantastic, happy dance ta daaaaa.... As some of you know, I was working on the John William Waterhouse piece, "I am Half Sick of Shadows" for some time before I asked my dad if he would like to have a go at it. The aim initially was that he would work on a page then I would work on a page and pass it to and fro to each other. My dad had other ideas and once he got going with it that was it! See here for the post where I first passed it onto my dad way back in 2008/2009 - just over 2 years ago!

Well, I am finally pleased to tell you that the piece is completed! It is amazing, stunning, beautiful and errr..... massive! Not sure how much this is going to cost to get framed but I reckon if I start saving now I might manage enough for 2020!!

Here's my dad proudly holding it up:

You can understand why he is laughing! And some more close ups...

So please raise your glass with me and join me in, well, my dad's happy dance!

Last weekend, I joined all the other lovely ladies from Needlecraft Haven in Nuneaton for our stitchy weekend. Tracy and I go up on the Friday and stay for two nights so we get loads of stitching done. I didn't end up taking any pictures this time but here is a little finish I did. It is a little repro from Margaret and Margaret called Sampler Sisters. It was a fun stitch to do.

I also worked quite a bit on Ann Taylor by Heartstring Primitives. This is so nice and easy to work on.

Since coming back, Tracy and I decided we would work on our HAEDS every Thursday together and last night was my first night back at it. I decided to work on the Fragile Heart SAL. Not much change but just starting to fill in all the gaps. Little by little this piece will get done. You can see Tracy's progress here.

Now, I haven't abandoned my hook either. I just can't seem to get enough time in the day to do all I want to do! But I started some Crochet Bunting which Bunny Mummy kindly gave the pattern for. Super easy and super quick. This will be for my blue bathroom. I will let you know when it is finished.

Well, that is all from me for now folks. I am going to be taking a little blogging/forum break for a while to recharge my batteries. I'll be back soon and as ever, thank you all for your beautiful comments.

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Pride and Prejudice finish and some Granny Goodness.

2011-03-13T16:13:00.004Z

Woot! Here's another little happy dance. This was so lovely to do and as I stitched it I realised that I do not have or have never had any of Tanya's charts in the UFO pile! I get her charts stitched up ever so quickly. I have quite a few of them now and I am thinking of a The Sampler Girl wall. Speaking of walls, I will show you what has gone up on my wall later if you stick with me.

Pride and Prejudice

The Sampler girl

Now what I want to discuss with you is MISTAKES. Do you ever make them, intentionally or not?? Well, I mentioned in my last post that I had made a few with this piece - some intentional and entirely deliberate - some not! So I thought I would share. This is what comes of not reading the instuctions prior to starting stitching!!

Mistake no.1.

See that green border... supposed to be worked in Satin Stich. Was I going to unpick it? No never. I like it just as it is.

Possibly another mistake is the blue bonnet. I used the correct code given but in the picture it is a pink colour, not blue. Never mind I like it and I won't count it as a mistake.

Mistake no.2.

Mr Darcy has longer legs than he should have! I had stitched the tree above him miscounting a stitch and whne it came to stitching him, his legs came out too short so I added a stitch. Woops! I did frog and restitch the tree so it sat inline with the other one but I kept Mr Darcy as the slightly taller version. I prefer my men this way.

Mistake no.3.

The little pink border had an extra stitch somewhere but I didn't see it. Carried on blindly along as they say. Anyway, I just needed to make sure my letters to the right of it sat okay and had to watch I didn't line them up with the top half of this pink border and everything worked out fine.

Mistake no.4.

This one was deliberate. The instructions said to do the diamonds in rice stitch - not my favourite stitch. I must also add that the chart looks like it is all cross stitches and doesn't show where spec stitches go. Seeing as I had not done the satin stitch border, I decided to opt for simple crosses. Which leads me to the next mistake...

Mistake no.5.

Here the instructions call for Herringbone stitch but I could not figure out how to do them both horizonatally and vertically as again the chart was just in stitch symbols. By this time I felt that there was no point in doing any of the spec stitches as it would stand out too much (ahem!) so I carried on the theme of plain old cross.

So there you have it. I put my maiden initials and my dh's and our wedding date too.

So you see, mistakes can be darling and personal and I love them. I loved every stitch and have a few more TSGs in my stash to look forward to for my wall.

Speaking of which, I had this idea a while back but it has taken all this time for me to actually do them.

Here are my granny square pictures..

It was really hard to get the pictures as there were reflections all over them. The point was that I wanted something white to break up all the red I had painted the walls in. I love the red but it needed something to break it up and this idea just popped into my head. I think it works quite well.

Well, thank you for staying with me if you got this far. On my next post I am going to be having a MAJOR party so please pop by soon. Big thanks to every single one of my readers and commentors. I know what an effort it can be to make just one comment on a blog and I want you to know I appreciate every single one of them and don't take them for granted.

Have a good week, y'all.

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Winter Whites finish and Pride and Prejudice update.

2011-03-04T12:19:00.002Z

So at last I have a stitchy post! I finished Winter Whites by Little House Needleworks about a week or so ago but just haven't got round to ironing and taking pics of the piece. So here it is at last. I am really pleased with how it has turned out. The fabric is Star Sapphire wichelt 32ct and I was worried about how the lettering would look on it so I decided to use DMC 800 for the actual words in between the letters. I also used Crescent Colours Wild Oats instead of the called for Oatmeal.

I have also been beavering away on The Sampler Girl's Pride and Prejudice and I am really enjoying it although I have made one or two mistakes on it. Shhhhhhh... I'm not telling and you won't notice ;-). This has been an SAL on NH headed up by Barb who has been graciously giving me reminders each week!! Such pretty colours in this one. I am using DMC. I thought it was kind of apt after my visit to "Pemberley"! Also they have been showing Mansfield Park on tv so I have been in an Austen mood.

Here is also a small update of Fragile Heart. I haven't been working on her much but the second page of the SAL is out now so I need to get cracking on her. I must say, I love how the pink kind of POPs out on the black lines:

Can I just say a big thank you to everyone who gave me a comment on my last post. I had some lovely ones and some really unmerited praise for my photography! Thank you so much. I don't rate my pictures very well at all. In fact I am very critical about it but I do my best and just hope they turn out. Hope you all have a lovely stitchy/crochety week.

ps. I am making a booklist of interesting things I should read. If you have any good reads then let me know. Ta.

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Coffee cakes and Lyme Hall Park

2011-03-01T20:09:00.002Z

Just a quickie post. I wanted to show off some coffee and walnut cakes I made. My MIL bought me the most thoughtful gift at Christmas. I have been wanting one of those cake stands for ages and also loved the look of silicone cake cases as well and guesss what?? She got me both! The cases came in a box with an icing bag and a gorgeous cupcake book. Here is what I managed to create.

Sorry... there's none left ;-)

Half term was a bit pants. Weather was bad and dh was working... a lot. Then dd gets sick on the Saturday night which scuppered our plans for the weekend. She had Monday off as well as inset and so we toddled off to Lyme Hall, park and gardens. I love it there. It is one of my favourite places to go. It was the setting for Pemberley in BBC's Pride and Prejudice. We went inside the house as there was a display on about Mary Queen of Scots. The room next door was the nursery and now the NT are letting you actually touch some of the stuff in the houses and so the children played happily with the doll's house and toy soldiers. There was the sweetest, old bear on the bead and a lovely children's book.

Some snaps of the Orangery and gardens and of the house itself:

Snowdrops were cropping up everywhere:

Ahhhh breathe in Spring....

I will be back with a stitchy update soon. Just trying to catch up with myself. Thanks for all the lovely, sweet comments. You make my day

Who said Romance was Dead??

2011-02-23T11:08:00.002Z

After a successful Valentine's meal, I decided that it would be good to start doing this more regularly. It is very hard for us to get any time together as dh works very odd hours and I can go days without spending any time with him and when he is around, we are usually both too tired to do anything except sit and slob and watch tv or go on the internet or basically do our own thing. This is great in itself but not so great for our relationship. So I thought, having a nice sit down meal with no distractions - phones off, tv and laptops off - with a bit of focussed time, would do us good. It did!

Nothing too special - effortless meal is key - so I got the £10 meal deal offer on at Tescos which includes a nice bottle of fizzy stuff. It was chicken in a marscapone sauce with red onion and proscuitto. Those nice sliced potatoes in a lovely sauce - forget the name. Veg mix. Candles.

Then I added:

and this:

which made these:

and you know I love these...

So there you go. A good evening. Short post but there to remember the good times.

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Weekend....

2011-02-21T12:45:00.004Z

After having a rather horrid day on Saturday, Sunday turned out to be quite nice. To console myself I bought some of these:

note to self: really must move my recycling box!

And made some of these:

Recipe from the lovely Lucy at Attic24. Chocolate chip cookies and Oat cookies.

The beautiful plate was a part of a giveaway win from Rachael at Clever Cheshire Cats. Look at these gorgeous goodies:

Last night, I stumbled across this beautiful SAL and spent the remainder of the day drooling.

I really REALLY want this. Is anyone else planning to do it? You can buy the chart here and the SAL can be found here. The chart is in three parts but the third part is not yet out until March.

I also managed to order the much needed threads to start Shores of Hawk Run Hollow and also some posh threads to finish up Winter Whites. Hopefully I'll have a finish soon to show you.

The lovely Suz has also invited me to her CAL of making a bedspread with those flowers on my last post so I have been thinking a lot about this and colours etc. I am yet to finish the scarf first though. Soooo much to do... so little time.

Have a great week everyone.

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Busy Little Fingers...

2011-02-18T12:28:00.005Z

I have been a busy little bee lately and have been very neglectful of posting about it all.

In my last post I mentioned the Crochet a Rainbow charity that Sarah London had set up. My sister had made 20 squares to add to mine and I have now sent them all off. Here are my sister's squares:

I have also been working on two boys' blankets for my dear friend Kathy who placed an order with me a couple of months ago. She wanted rectangle grannies and one in shades of blue and one in shades of green. I do hope you like these blankets Kathy and that your boys do too. I made them with two strands of dk and an 8mm hook. I did the edging very simply which I found on Bunny Mummy's blog.

Blue blanket

Green blanket

It was really hard not to be pretty and frilly and I had to remember that these were BOYS' blankets. That said, they are super snuggly and my DD says she wants the blue one!! I think I got it right.

Oooh edited to add that I got the pattern for the rectangular granny from here and it is a really great pattern!!! Very easy. I just made a little alteration and made 2 DC in the corners instead of the 1 DC that she suggests!

I have also been busy crocheting these Japanese flowers which Lucy from Attic24 started a trend for. You can find all the info on her blog including the link to the pattern. Lucy has made her flowers slightly different to the original ones. I have seen a great many of these popping up all over the place. So My intention is to make a long scarf rather than a shawl or wrap but you never know how things will end up. This is where I am up to with it at the moment:

Don't you think they are just so pretty??? I love them.

Lastly, a bit of stitching!!! This is my part of Julie's RR. I really enjoyed this as it was so simple to stitch. I even looked forward to doing the backstitch. Good choice Julie.

Well, with that I will love you and leave you. I have much stitching to do and catch up on so don't be alarmed if I am quiet for the next couple of weeks.

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A Most Noble Pursuit

2011-02-07T17:42:00.003Z

Finally, I have completed the first block on A Most Noble Pursuit. This has been a project I was sooo excited about and initially made a good start only to put it in the bag and promptly forget about it for over a year!! I have no idea why as it is a dream to stitch. It is worked on 36 count Vintage Light Exempler by Lakeside Linen and uses NPI silks 1 x 2 which are also heavenly to work with.

So it is a little TaDa moment. One down only nine more to go!

I have been very good and sticking to the Wednesday SAL for The Sampler Girl SAL over on NH forum and here is my progress on Pride and Prejudice sampler so far. I apologise for the bad lighting - the weather has been particularly awful here over the last few days with plenty of flood warnings.

Oooooh and finally my LL fabric arrived for me to make a start on Shores of Hawk Run Hollow. I luuuurve this fabric so much and hope it is as much fun to stitch on. It is the called for 40ct Vintage Autumn Gold.

And just for a bit of fun, here's my ds with a huge lollipop! It's good to put a bit of colour in your life.

Crochet a Rainbow

2011-02-02T14:14:00.002Z

If you don't already know, Sarah London has started a charity for the victims of the recent horriffic floods in Australia. She has asked for granny squares, 5 rounds each, nothing fancy, in a variety of bright colours with which she will turn them into blankets for the victims. There have been many people signing up from all over the world and if you can crochet a square or two then why not pop over and sign up too.

Here are some simple squares I have made which will be sent soon. My sister has said she will do a few and I will wait on her squares then send them altogether.

Today I got the cutest gift through the post. My lovely friend Amanda from Manda's Challenges had a giveaway and I was one of the lucky winners. She sent this cute pencil case - just right for holding my hooks in and three lovely balls of yarn. Woot!! Oh there is also some special wash stuff as well just for wools. Fab prize Amanda. Thank you so much.

That's about all from me today! Nearly finished the first block on A Most Noble Pursuit. Long time coming. Keep warm fellow Brits and neighbours around the world. x

The kindness of a stranger..

2011-01-26T19:27:00.002Z

I got a very unexpected email the other night by a lady offering me some of her fabric as she had seen I had requested some on my wishlist. This lady - Debbie - has no blog so I was taken quite aback! I have no knowledge of her from blogs or from forums or anywhere as far as I know but this dear lady knew me and sought to bless me. The kindness of strangers, especially stitchers, amazes me. I emailed her back and said I would love to rehome some of her fabric and today the most amazing parcel came for me.

There are various cuts, some being quite small which I will use for smalls and ornaments but some pieces are really quite big. I was astounded that a stranger would be kind enough to send me all of this! She said she no longer used 32 count and wanted it to go to a good home. By the looks of this lot, Debbie, you really do know me rather well. I absolutely love it all. And the bolder colours I can see some white thread going on there for christmas ornies. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart. I have not stopped drooling at it all day.

So, Needlecraft Haven are starting yet another SAL tonight. The Sampler Girl SAL. I have chosen Pride and Prejudice as I have had the chart and threads for a while but I didn't have any fabric. Until now...

I am using this lovely mottled green piece that Debbie sent me. I love The Sampler Girl designs and I think this will look gorgeous on this piece. It's 32 ct but not sure of the shade. I'm away now to start another new project! Bye people. Have a good stitchy week and stay warm. xx

January

2011-01-20T13:45:00.003Z

I can't believe where this month has gone! I am so sorry I haven't blogged and now, because I have left it so long, I am going to have an extremely long post! Lots of bits of things - this and that. Hopefully it will brighten your day. Feel free to just skim through the pics.

So what have I been up to this month? Well I have been a busy bee, celebrating my ds's 3rd birthday (can you believe he is 3 already???), stitching and crocheting my little heart out as well as trying to keep on top of blog reading. Do you know I am following that many blogs that when I try to add to my list it tells me it is too full to add any more!! So I have been more than inspired by all your lovely blog posts. I love them!

I noticed that quite a few of you had been doing the Crazy 15 challenge. That has been something to see. I have been adding more and more charts to my wishlist after seeing all the lovely ones you lot have been starting. No no no no.. I haven't even been tempted to do that challenge. My life has enough CRAZY in it without adding to it!

I did have a new start though. I decided to break my HAED rule once more and start the freebie SAL they are doing this year. I chose Fragile Heart and here is my start.

I really love this. Big blocks of black filled in with the most gorgeous pinks. Love it. If you haven't seen the picture of Fragile Heart and don't know what it looks like then I am going to surprise you as I progress through it. Watch this space!

And here is my progress on last years HAED SAL Rose SK:

Woohoo a full page completed! This is really coming along and I love stitching on it but I have promised to wait for Tina (no Blog) to catch up before we move on to p2. So that is 3 HAED wips I have on the go now. Shall I make it an even 4???

There were a couple of Christmas gifts I received which I didn't mention in my last post that really deserve a mention.

I got this from my best bud Michelle (no Blog). She bought it for me when we had our trip out to The Nimble Thimble last year. Complete with threads too. I think I am going to stitch this on the green fabric that Tracy bought me.

I also got given this which was a complete surprise from Karan:

One of the charts from off my wishlist. This was such a thoughtful thing to do and I love it. Thank you Karan.

This is my first finish of 2011!

Buttoned up for Christmas Victoria Sampler

32 count Summer Khaki linen Mixture of threads
It was the Buttoned Up chart from our Stitch and Pass it on exchange! I made this for CindyMae who will then stitch it up for Tracy. It was a fun stitch although I agonised over the colours for ages as it didn't give DMC alternatives.

Now, I think that is the stitching part over with and I will turn my attention to my crochet endeavours.

I finally finished a lap blanket which I had been working on for a while. Sooo... here's the reveal:

It measures 36' by 36' and uses the lovely Stylecraft acrylic. It is snuggly and warm and makes an ideal lapblanket. I was thinking of selling it so if you're interested in buying it then please send me an email and I can let you know what I am asking for it. Email in my profile!

The border around the edge of the blanket I found from this lovely book which I bought along with the two other flower ones. I have not tried the flowers yet but the books are sooo lovely.

I can't recommend these books enough. Oh and here's another one I bought myself for Christmas and I let my dd wrap it up for me:

This funky crocheter makes food scarves! T-bone steak, fried eggs, cupcakes, spaghetti bolognese lol. You get the idea. There is a lot of fun to be had with this book and again I can't recommend it enough.

My friend Kathy has asked me to crochet her two boys some blankets and she wanted a rectangular granny - one in blues and one in greens. It was really hard to not go for frilly colours and styles lol. I had to remember, these were for boys! I am using a size 8mm hook and double strands of DK to give it a chunky look. Here's is where I am up to with it so far:

So, dear Kathy, I hope you like what you see so far! The pattern is a really good one and can be found here:

Rectangular Granny

And that's not all the crochet I got up to. Nooooo!! You see this came for me just before Christmas and I had been waiting and waiting for this yarn.

Yay! It's the Lucy pack of Rico Creative Cotton. So I began a bag! But you know I discovered that I need to learn a little bit about colour so although I have made this so far.....

.....I am in fact going to be unravelling it and ordering the colours a little better! Good practice though.

Well I think that's about all from me folks. Sorry again for it being such a long post. I will try to update more regularly and not put it all in one post!

Love and hugs xxxxxxxxx

Happy New Year!

2011-01-02T12:46:00.004Z

Hectic time isn't it? I have still not caught up with myself but feel the need to do a catch up blog post. I'll probably most likely to forget something though so you might see me posting sooner rather than later.

Well, did you all have a good Christmas and new year? I did. I was very ill though with this Flu bug that has been going around. By the time Christmas day came, I went over to my in laws and collapsed on their sofa. It was all very lovely and nice though although I have to say there was an OBSCENE amount of presents for the children. Way over the top. It is too much to deal with - our house is not that big! Next year I might suggest we go away to a cosy cottage and give the kids just one gift each. It has gotten way too materialistic. Anyhoo, all fun.

My exchange piece finally arrived at Carole's house so she was able to put it on the tree.

Merry Christmas friend by CHS stitched on 40ct Wichelt Sand using a mixture of silk and dmc

I also did a quick finish for dh. I finished it simply so he can take it with him on his travels as a reminder of me! Think Braveheart lol. I think he liked it. Well he said he did but he might have just been being kind.

My Everything The Sampler Girl Stitched on 32 ct Summer Khaki using Caron Waterlilies.

I also made Tracy something as part of her Christmas present.

Sweet Simple Things by The Sampler Girl.

Ruth from the Musing Badger gifted me with the fabric and thread last year and I just think it looks great! It is the first time I have attempted a cushion finish like this and think it's not a bad first job.

Speaking of gifts, Tracy absolutely spoiled me. She gave me loads of stuff including this very special chart form my wishlist including all the threads!!:

She also got me:

Fantastic Silkweavers fabric, BBD chart and these Piecemaker needles which I have heard so much about. I can't wait to try them out. She got me a lovely scarf and toiletries too. Very spoilt. Thank you dear friend. We were just chatting actually about the BBD AotH series and we were both saying how we would like to do them all. Maybe that is something in the pipeline then. That would be a lot of fun SALing the whole series together. I just spent a relaxing couple of days at Tracy's, although she herself was a little unwell, and I was able to get a fair bit of stitching done. I have finished my piece for my very first Round Robin that I am in with Tina (no blog), Clare and Julie. Just the four of us as Julie and myself have never done a RR before and wanted a "safety net". It is being run on a new forum that Clare has set up called Needlecraft Haven and I know she would love you all to join the stitch and chat fun! It was really hard to choose a design that would work ie it had to be a certain size and there needed to be four parts to it. I finally found something which is a bit unusual for me - I wouldn't normally stitch something like this - but I saw potential and so I stitched up my first piece ready to be sent off.

Design from Cross Stitch Card Shop by Lisa Reakes (I think!) Stitched on 32ct Summer Khaki using dmc.

I also decided to get out Mary Wigham. I have nearly finished the first page:

Mary Wigham Needleprint. 25 ct Light Mocha lugana 1x1 DMC

I have decided that I am going to try to aim for stitching a page a month to get this finished within the year. I know I can do this!

Also here is my progress on Winter Whites:

Winter Whites LHN 32 ct Wichelt Star Sapphire mixture of threads.

As usual I have ran out of thread so need to reorder some. I am thinking about doing the words in between the alphabet in a slightly different colour so they stand out a little. Love working on this but it is going to have to be put to one side for a while.

I thought as well you might like to see my dad's progress on I am Half Sick of Shadows:

He has reached the bottom! Not long to go now.

So what is in store for this year? More crochet for a start. I will leave that for another post. I am hoping to start Shores of HRH but need to get fabric and threads sorted for it. Also want to join in the new HAED SAL - I chose Fragile Heart. I also have Hannah Westcombe by Needleprint to start and Helen Bell's Multiplication Table by CHS all kitted up ready to go. I must get on with the Stitch and Pass on as well. Ohhhh sooo much to do!

Well I think that's all folks. Boy I really needed to get that little lot off my chest! Thank you if you got this far down. Wishing every one of my readers and commentors a very special year ahead. xxxxxx

Merry Christmas one and all

2010-12-24T14:24:00.003Z

There are so many blogs wishing everyone a Merry Christmas I just don't have the time to get round to every single one of you so this is me wishing you a very special day to each and every one of my fellow bloggers. May you be filled with love, joy and peace and be surrounded by family and friends, good food and drink and plenty of new stash to play with. Here's to a brilliant Christmas. I'll be back soon with a proper post. xxx

Everyone else is doing it so why not?

2010-12-16T18:20:00.002Z

Oh my gosh I am in a magazine!!!

2010-12-14T11:50:00.002Z

...and a knitting one at that!!

Sue kindly left me a message last night telling me I was in the Jan 2011 ed of Let's Knit p77. So today I went and bought myself a copy as I was intrigued by how I could have appeared in it seeing as I don't knit that much. Okay I have made a couple of pairs of socks and some scarves and half jumpers that never got finished but I am not a "knitter" by any stretch of the imagination.

Sure enough, there was my blog on page 77. They like me!!! Oooh this thrilled me no end. Weird they picked me but hey I'm not complaining. You start to wonder how in the heck did they actually find me? Very strange. There are much better blogs out there than mine but still - it's nice to be liked.

So... I'm not very well. Lack of sleep and generally run down has made me reach for these:

Oh yes, the chocolate is indeed needful. So I just want to console myself and go to bed.. but I can't. Never mind. I'll just be consoled by the Christmas tree.

Till next time peeps, stay warm. xx

Christmas ornaments of the stitching kind.

2010-12-07T09:35:00.002Z

Yesterday I got some great ornies through the post. Rachael and I decided to do a private ornament exchange this year and this is what she sent me:

Isn't it beautiful? It is her own design. I love it Rachael. Thank you very much.

Here is what I stitched for Rachael who has let me know she has received it now:

It is the JBW design from the Just Cross Stitch Ornament magazine. I cheated and stitched it over two instead of over one! I believe she likes it! Lovely to stitch too.

Yesterday I also got my HOE Christmas Ornament exchange through from Margaret. I love it! Thank you so much. Again I think it is from this years magazine. Margaret even stitched my initials on the back. Very sweet.

I'm still waiting to hear that my HOE has arrived at its destination.

So I will leave you with my first mince pie of the season. Marks and Spencer rich butter ones with Bailey's cream. Mmmmmmmmm

Thanks for all your lovely comments on my last post. Need to make more!

More hooky playtime!!!

2010-12-05T21:18:00.003Z

Woop!!!! I did it. I can't quite believe it but I really really did it. I made one of Lucy's hooky ornaments and she only put up the tutorial today! Mighty proud of meself I am. Just took an evening to make and assemble and I just LOVE it. As soon as I saw them I knew I had to get my Rico wool that I ordered, so on Friday I contacted Lisa from First for Yarns to see where it was. I ordered it in October!! Big delays, she said. Oh no! I got to have that yarn. So without even thinking anymore about it, I picked up a bit of Stylecraft and Hayfield Bonus (all I have left of my dwindling pile) and began a practice ornie. But lookie!! How good does it look? Well I think so ;-). Here are a couple of pictures and if you want the instructions to make one for yourself then head over to Lucy's blog.

Right I'm too giddy with excitement now. I'll never sleep! xx

Playing hooky

2010-12-04T13:35:00.003Z

Just a quick post because I am super excited that I can make these:

Beautiful star garland that I found on Corn Poppy Girl's blog who had the tutorial link for it here.

And these:

Sweet snowflakes from the lovely Lucy at Attic24. They do need a little blocking and stretching but was too excited. Just had to post them.

xx

Better get a cuppa..

2010-12-01T16:27:00.003Z

Sorry for myself cakes

...it's going to be a long post.

I have so much to share but recently been in such a blogging slump, I just couldn't get my head around posting. I have been visiting mind you and getting lots and lots of inspiration.

So, SNOW! You want snow? I'll give you snow! And tons of it. Why we chose to live here I just don't know. We live in the Peak District of England. It is beautiful, hilly, rural and very cold come the winter. As we're quite high up and also in a valley, we kind of get the brunt of the bad weather. We were warned. We knew Northumberland and Newcastle had had it bad and that it was heading our way. You just never realise how much until you wake up seeing this:

Oh yeah it is magical, and Christmassy and silent. Have you ever noticed the silence when it has snowed like this? It's like no-one comes out. It's a still, still world for a time. But it is also a pain in the behind especially when the school doesn't close. But it did, today. Thankfully. DD was up at two in the morning throwing up till dawn. Bug. Yuk. So today has been a stay at home day. I ventured out and got my car going just to keep it ticking over and then proceded with two other neighbours to clear our road of snow so at least we can get in and out. It is still snowing though so may get covered over in no time.

So... last week I got a wonderful surprise in the mail. Cathy had a giveaway for some beautiful tatted things her mum had made and no... for once .. I didn't actually win. But I did mention in the comment how I would love a tatted bookmark for my bible and last week, these arrived in the post with a rather special note. I can't tell you how much they cheered me up Cathy. Send my thanks and appreciation to your mum. I absolutely love them.

Today brought another special gift from Berit. Can you believe that Berit was giving away this??

She had almost finished the design but decided not to keep it! So I got the nearly finished (and rather well stitched) design, the chart and the threads and beads! Wow. I love it and am going to finish it off as soon as I get the time. Love it. Thank you Berit. Really needed that little boost today.

What else? What else? Oh yeah... I have two TWO finishes!!! I told you I would. I told you!!

Right, here's the alphabet sampler by La D Da. Loved stitching this and it worked up so quickly. I don't know why I left it for so long in the wip pile.

Stitched on 32 Sassy's Creamy Cocoa with NPI silks.

Next and here's the big one!! Here is, finally, a major TA DA!! Cirque des Cirque. I had a love hate relationship with this one. I started and restarted it several times. First I started it with beads and that wasn't right. Then I had a go with metallic threads, that wasn't right either so by the time I just got round to plain old stitching it, I'd had enough of it. And so I struggled and struggled. Then Rachael set up and Ink Circles SAL this year and I took up the challenge and finished it within the year. No more lingering in the wip pile for you matey. Done. These photos are very accurate of the colour of fabric and threads. I have had a job all year getting the thing to photograph right but it never came out well. These are pretty accurate. You have all been so great with the encouragement to finish this and keep on with it so THANK YOU all for that. It worked. ;-)

Stitched on 32 ct Mulberry linen with Thread Gatherers Silk n Colors silk in Spring Frocks.

I have also had a new start today although it doesn't look much right now. I am doing an SAL with Lisa on Winter Whites by LHN. Tracy bought me this chart last year for Christmas so it seems rather appropriate to do it now the opportunity has arrived. There are some others doing the SAL too with other LHN winter designs and I look forward to seeing their progress.

LHN Winter Whites Stitched on 32ct Wichelt Star Sapphire

It was dd's 8th birthday the other day and we had a little celebration for her. We decide to have a simple pizza and film night for her and some of her friends. I made the cake! Smartie flowers. I saw this on Adamento's blog and shamelessly copied it :( Looks okay though hey? Tasted pretty nice too. And you can see the beginnings of my red room but its still not finished yet but you get the warmness of it though.

Lily is pulling a face in this one! What great friends. They all had a good time.

Now, is there anything left? Well, I am doing my first ever RR starting in January bu tI think I will leave it till then to post about it. There are only four of us doing it and we all know each other so hopefully it should run really smoothly. No, I think that is about all I can manage. Thank so much for your kind comments from yesterday. I was feeling a bit sorry for myself. Happy stitching this December! xxx

Sorry

2010-11-30T22:34:00.002Z

I have so much to post about... Beautiful gift from Cathy, DD's birthday, TWO finishes!! Snow. Round Robins, SALs. So much. I am so tired. I have not even had the energy to have my two happy dances yet. Soon, I promise. I'm just in a small slump.

HUgsxxx

Oh my, what a beauty!

2010-11-21T20:17:00.002Z

On Friday I got this amazingly beautiful scissor fob made for me by the very talented Veronica. It is soooo stunning that at first I thought it was just too good to use. I didn't want it to get lost or broken. However, I grabbed my new Ginghers and promptly placed it on them. Love it. Veronica, thank you from the bottom of my heart! And you know what... she even put a coffee pot on the end which is very apt for me as I don't drink tea - only coffee! Now, how did she know that I wonder??

I have been working away on La D Da's Alphabet sampler which I haven't touched for a good while. As you can see, I have done a fair bit on it. I don't think it will take me long to get this done at all. Maybe a week? Although saying that I do have other things I need to get done - like, 2 exchanges, CdC, Stitch alongs coming up, RR to prepare for, other ornies for DD, DS etc. So you know, maybe I will finish it, maybe I won't. Watch this space.

Sassy's 32ct jobelan Creamy Cocoa using NPIsilks 2x2

That's me! Have a good week everyone. xxxxxxxx

Coffee dying fabric

2010-11-17T19:19:00.002Z

The other night I turned my hand to coffee dying some fabric using the instructions found on the back of Heartstring Primitives Charts.

I used some odd bits of 36 count Edinburgh white linen and also a scrap of stitching I had done to see how it would look to dye after stitching. I tried using instant and ground coffee and did a weaker solution for a small scrap to see the difference. Actually, the ground coffee I used was a rather special Chocolate Truffle flavoured one from Whittards. I noticed no difference between the instant and the ground coffee to be honest. I then put the linen in the oven to dry off a bit and these are the results:

These were taken in the evening:

These were the same pieces taken in the daytime:

I then had a piece of cream coloured 28 count Brittney which I thought I could dye and see what happens. This piece took a bit of battering. I burned it a bit int he oven as I couldn't get it to lay all flat and wherever you get lines or folds then these places will darken. This can be a good thing if you want these marks but I wanted something more subtle. So I washed out the burned bits and dipped scrunched up areas into a darker coffee solution and put back in oven but then that wasn't quite right so I washed it out a bit again and tried ironing it dry. Iron too hot and caused burn marks as it began to cook the coffee. Washed it again etc you get the picture. Eventually hung it up to dry and this is the final outcome:

As you can see - a more subtle result. So I was a happy chappie and set about having a new start on it. This is Ann Taylor by Heartstring Primitives. I love my new start and my own hand dyed fabric. Squeeeee!!!!!

Love love love it! I'll definitely be doing this more often. A cheaper alternative methinks.

Also just a quick note about another lovely blogging lady who is going to have a fantastic giveaway as soon as she reaches 300 followers. Julia Crossland is a localish artist to me. Please go and check out her blog and wonderful creations.

Thanks as ever for all the beautiful comments. You really cheer my days - oh you'll never know how much they mean right now. Thank you special peeps. xx

Cosy stitchy update

2010-11-09T21:26:00.005Z

Well I do think an update is in order, don't you? I haven't posted in over a week but that's because I have been doing some serious stitching. Well that and doing the whole bonfire night thing and freezing our behinds off at the local display. Yep that was good. I refrained from making the rocky road eaties again and even swerved from putting on a crusty pie top on my hotpot! Well, I'm at target now you know so I have to be careful to stay there - this time!

So first up is my CDC progress. If you have followed me for any length of time you will know what an absolute hell I have had with this project and have not enjoyed stitching it muchly. However, recently, I have had some sort of a boost and have not been able to put the thing down! I have had to save a bit to do in December as it is now part of an SAL which I think has been extremely helpful in me getting this thing done!

This silk (Thread Gatherer silk n colors) has an amazing sheen to it. I have tried to capture it on camera but I can't really do it. When you turn it, the whole thing changes. I can't really describe it but I have never experienced it before with thread.

I have also been working on HAED Rose SK. So much detail in this one - it really makes my eyes water at times. Loving the way it is turning out. So so pretty.

Got the latest copy of Country Homes and Interiors the other day - oh what an issue. If you haven't got it - run RUN and get it. It is gorgeous and filled with drooly christmassy things. Here's a taste:

and if you're wondering what that is floating in my hot choc - it's marshmallows - yummo!

Really warmed me up. We've been having some freezing cold weather here. You remember my cold feet?? Lookie now:

Thanks to MnS. Perfect cosy toes. Keep warm dear friends. xx

Some lovely gifts..

2010-10-31T18:32:00.002Z

I got a couple of lovely gifts through this week from blogging buddies. First up was a beautifully wrapped parcel from Maaike which enclosed a couple of lovely magazines. I think they are written in Dutch as Maaike is from Amsterdam so I don't understand very much but the pictures in them are lovely. The parcel was wrapped in the most gorgeous ribbon and string and crocheted flowers!

The second parcel I got this week was the Stitch and Pass on from Barb. I was not expecting this so soon as my "turn" is not till January! Anyway, the idea is to stitch the chart then pass the stitched item and the chart onto the next person in the round and so on. It's a lot of fun. If you're interested then take a look at the Stitch and Pass on blog. I love what Barb made me and can't wait to hang them on my stitching tree at Christmas. Barb also sent me a couple of additional gifts - not part of the Stitch and Pass on. She sent me some cute wooden buttons and a crochet magazine which has some fantastic patterns in them. Thanks Barb.

Tina emailed and asked if I would like to start Shores of Hawk Run Hollow next year as part of an SAL and I have said .....YES! Ooohhhh it's getting to that time of year again where I can start planning new starts yippeee!. Anyone want to join us??

Speaking of new starts.. I broke my pledge and have done some Christmas ornament stitching. Well, I am in a couple of exchanges so thought I'd better make a start. No pics though as they are for exchanges.

Yesterday I had a turn about another local park in our area. Here are a few of my favourite pics:

It truely is Autumn! Bye bye my lovelies. See you soon. xx

Quickie trip to London

2010-10-25T20:47:00.004Z

Had a bit of a spurr of the moment trip to London this weekend. Now, after my last trip to London - a complete and utter nightmare with someone who shall remain nameless and who I will not be in contact with again!!! - I vowed I would never return. However, husband had some business to do down there and thought, seeing as it was the half term holidays, that we could all tag along too. Ooohhhh okay then!

I knew time would be short so I planned a couple of shops to visit and I knew it meant a nice meal out as well. However.. about an hour from London, husband's phone died! So we spent most of the time yesterday in o2 and the Apple shop wherein he got an upgrade and an even better phone than he had - bonus!

So with what little time we had left and freezing my butt off....

We ate in Maxwells who brought the little darlings puddings rather late so they knocked some off the bill - another bonus!

Me and sweet girl enjoying our meal.

Beautiful food there actually. I had BBQ Chicken Chop salad which was lurvely. Oh and I had a cocktail too! How exciting is that!! That was last night.

We breakfasted in a little cafe this morning with was lovely and I was very tempted to get one of the gorgeous cakes but I didn't.

We visited Liberty

Love this building. It is the oldest shop in London apparently. Prices are shocking. This cushion was £175 I think.

This bar of Lavender Chocolate was £5.25. But I bought it anyway ;-)

The Christmas dept was simply gorgeous! I could have stayed there all day. Ooooooh I do love Christmas. I do, I do! So many twinkling lights.

I love the collection of fabrics. Autumn is definitely my thing at the moment!

and this gorgeous hoop display... oh now there's an idea..

We visited Hamley's. I was too excited by all the daft gadgets and toys to take many pictures in here and time was running very short..

We visited All the Fun o' the Fair in Carnaby St but it was shut!!!!! Dangnabbit. Maybe we got there too early?? Anyway, here's a misty window shot.

After a long, freezing morning we had to check out of the hotel and go to Cockfosters and get the car and drive home again. I am happy to be home even though my feet are still as blue as they look! I really need some fuzzy slippers to keep them warm.

Oh and do you want to see how my throw is coming along???

Are you sure???

Well, I'm not there yet but I did promise a sneak peak.....

Sooooo....

Here you go...

I love it! It has such warming, autumnal colours in it. Really need to get going with this before all the leaves fall off the trees!

On Friday I will be visiting The Nimble Thimble nr Oswestry in Shropshire. I have wanted to go for such a long time. I don't have much cash this month but hope to gather enough to have a little spend. For those who don't know.. this is a beautiful stitching shop which tends to stock in lots of American style folksy type of charts and things. I am going with my lovely friend who has just learnt to crochet so it should be a great day out. I promise to take lots of pics!

Thanks for visiting me. I am trying to catch up on everyone's news. I'll be round your way shortly. xxxxxxx

Stitching Retreat, Ripple TaDa and some stitchy progress!

2010-10-21T20:53:00.003Z

Hi peeps. Brrrrrr.. It's really cold here in the UK. A real cold snap. Have some homemade soup to warm your toes. It has been nearly a week since I went to the Stitch and Stash stitching retreat in Nuneaton and I haven't blogged it! Well, it went super duperly. Tracy came to mine on Friday and we both went together in my car. We go on Friday so we can have an extra night. We went to our usual eating spot - that of Frankie and Benny's and enjoyed some delicious tea. Back to the hotel for some serious stitching before the Saturday meet up.

Saturday meet up was great! Usual peeps there and a couple of peeps I haven't met before so that was lovely. It was great to see Julie's crochet especially her Lucy bag - super cool. I have ordered my pack of Rico for that and am waiting - very patiently - for it. I baked those yummy chocolate thingys from that magazine a few posts down for the meet up and they went down surprising well! I substituted the chopped choc chunks for sultanas and they worked a treat. Oooops I forgot to take a picture of them though so I guess that means I'll be making them again - doh! I don't know how it happened but I managed to get myself roped into a Round Robin!?! TINA!!!! Anyway, Julie and I have never done one before so thought it would be a good safe place to start so Julie, Tina, Clare and I are going to do a small one starting in January. Hmmmmm.... I am struggling with designs to choose - such a hard life!

Watch the concentration going on here:

Rachel and Julie deep in discussion:

Vicki's (India Grace Designs) stuff:

Kathy's Stuff?

Julie's work:

Lesley's beautiful work:

Thanks Kathy for organising this. Can't wait till next year. The Stitch and Stash bb is having a bit of a revamp thanks to Clare and it is looking wonderful. New pages up and plenty to chat about. Please feel free to join us. It is a lovely group.

Whilst I was there I decided to pull out an old wip "A Most Noble Pursuit". I am so glad I did. It has been an absolute joy working on this so I think I will keep at it. The Needlepoint silks are a joy to work with although I have noticed I have to be careful of the colours bleeding - not on my fabric as yet but on my fingers so far!! It has been over a year since I worked on her I fear.

I have a TaDa as well. I finished the ripple for my girl. Ooooh I love it. It looks so great on her bed and she loves just lazing around on it. I am glad all my hard efforts are so appreciated! I decided not to do a border on this. Join me in my happy dance :-) xxxx

Awwwwww and sweet dd has a little finish of her own too:

Now she wants to go onto something bigger :-S I am reluctant knowing how long it has taken her to finish this although she has been a lot quicker on this one than her others so maybe she is ready. Ho hum... perhaps something for Christmas??

Quick news on my autumn throw: today I began joining the squares together and it is looking superb but I want to do a bit more joining before I show it. I can see its potential at the moment but I fear others would not. Believe me though... it is going to be fab!

Sorry if there has been a lot of pics on this post. Just needed to get everything down and stay up to date. Thank you for visiting me. I love love love getting visits. Have a great week lovely people. xx

Stitching and a new throw

2010-10-12T09:30:00.003Z

Tuesday Through the Window at Swedish House

Hello folks. What a lovely day it is today. This is just a quickie post just to keep on top of things otherwise I tend to let things slip and end up not blogging stuff I really should. I am very tired after having very little sleep last night due to little one waking up after having nightmares. Yawn yawn. I really should be in bed but I have FIL coming over to fix our loo. Well I hope he does anyway. We have a nasty water hammer and have tried everything to get rid of it but to no avail.

Okay. You know how hard I have struggled with my CDC? I have hated every stitch of this sucker and each page seemed to take forever. I can now announce..... no not a finish... but very close... I have almost completed page 5!!!!!! I just seemed to get on a roll with this one and put all my efforts into getting it done. It WILL be finished by the end of the year. Oh yes it will. So here are some pictures. You know how hard this sucker is to photograph.

It's actually starting to grow on me but you know, I'll never, NEVER, stitch on mulberry coloured linen ever, EVER again!!

And next up is a few circles in squares that I have been making up using the Rowan pure wool dk for my autumn throw:

I am going to be putting another round of colour on each one and using Join-as-you-go method to attach them all. But can you imagine it?? Can you see how autumnal and cosy this throw will be?? I can. I really can and I wasn't sure about the circles in squares at first but I am really loving this now. I also wasn't sure whether to do one colour to join them all in or do them all different colours so I am going with all different colours. I am quite excited by this one. I Luuuuuurrrvveeee doing squares.

A couple of days ago I recieved this gorgeous giveaway win from Staphani from Harvest Moon Hollow blog:

The truest colour is the second picture. How adorable is this?? and it really goes well in my red/autumnal/leafy new sitting room. (Still not quite finished so no pics yet - soon I promise) Thank you so much Stephani. I really love it.

I'm away this weekend for a kid free stitching retreat with the gang from Stitch and Stash. Can't wait! Have a good week everyone. x

Autumn things..

2010-10-02T18:45:00.004Z

Rainy days mean....

(just for you Berit ;-)) and a cosy up with...

Check out the blanket..

and the towel..

and the crafts..

I tell you I just love this magazine! I could look through it for hours. Many of you know that I don't celebrate Halloween and really usually start getting uncomfortable this time of year when things start displaying in the shops and ahem.. magazines. But lookie what caught my eye in this magazine...

Not a witch, jackolantern or devil in sight! Just a lovely article on celebrating Bonfire Night. This is a custom in the UK that dates back to 5th November 1605 where a man named Guy Fawkes attempted to blow up the Houses of Parliament and overthrow the King. He was caught, tortured and killed and every year we celebrate the night of his capture with having bonfires and fireworks and lovely food. See more here about the history of the night. I guess the modern day equivalent would be to celebrate the end of terrorism. Well, that is how I like to think of it anyway!

Gorgeous leaf lanterns!! How adorable are these?

Mmmmmmm...... do you think I could? Just a bit? Speaking of food, the usual fare comes by way of jacket spuds - cooked on a fire if poss, chestnuts roasting in the oven, corned beef hash, treacle toffee, chilli - lovely hot, warming kind of food just right for outdoors.

So I showed this fab article to Husband and pleaded, "Could we have a little party - just us - and the kids - a little fire in the back - please, please?" And he said, "Maybe". Yeeeeeaaaaa!!! That sounds most definitely positive, doesn't it?

The weather brightened up today so off we went to Bakewell. We stopped off at Monsall Head to take a pic of the stunning view.

I feel truly blessed to live here. I really do. The Peak District is a stunning place and there are many gorgeous places like this to go to. I really want to get back into walking but I think I will have to wait till the little lad is a wee bit older first as he would probably just run off the edge of a hill right now.

Onto Bakewell..

and my favourite shop...

which is really the reason I went afterall to get my hands on this years copy of..

Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornaments edition 2010!!!!! Oh it is all fabtastic. I like so many of the ornaments this year. Sweet daughter has already chosen her ornie for this year but that will get its own special post when I stitch it. I must say I do rather like the red collection here:

Oh yes, I can see many red ornies in my red room this year! So is this the Pledge coming to an end???? Well, I promised no new starts till December which is two months away. Hmmmm.... I'm not sure I can resist that long. Would I be condemned as a failure if I succumbed and stitched an ornie??? On a positive note, I have been ploughing away at CDC and have page 4 finished and now onto page 5! I am determined to get this sucker finished this year. I'll save this for another post though. I think I have probably posted waaaaaayyyyy too many photographs on here already. I kind of feel that pictures seem to tell my stories and life in a much better way than my words can and I quite like being able to glance at pictures and not have to bother scrolling through reams of words.

Anyways, time for me to get off this computer which has been playing up a lot recently. Thank you so much for your kind words and comments and wowza followers have appeared and nearly up to 300 now!!! Well, do you reckon another giveaway is in order??? Hmmm, I better think about that one.

Love you all. Have a happy Sunday. We're off to see Postman Pat at the theatre tomorrow. Ho hum, that shoud be fun! xx

Giveaway winners....

2010-10-01T18:25:00.002Z

Well it's that time. I have to say I really enjoyed putting this giveaway together and thank you to everyone who participated. I know most of you but I was very happy to meet new peeps and those who have been following me but have never left a comment before. It is always great to meet fellow crafty bloggers. I always get inspired.

So, without further ado...

I used the random number generator and got two winning numbers.....

Just so's you know anyone who entered got one entry so if their names were on more than once then I counted over it.......

Sooooooo......

Winner of the BIG package is........

NUMBER 15....

GAYLE

and the winner of the smaller prize is.......

NUMBER 35......

VALERIE

Congrats to you both and I really hope you enjoy what I have put together. I will be in touch by email but if you get to me first then please send me your address details. Thanks everyone.