Karoline's Corner

Theme-a-licous Check In February

2012-02-15T15:01:00.002Z

In my previous post I outlined my plans for Fangirl February. It was to primarily focus on With My Needle's Fruits of the Vine that I started at the class in May last year. I'm steadily making progress through the needle roll front, you can see my previous progress here. I'm hoping to at least get this part finished this month, if I get any more done it will be a bonus.

Fruits of the Vine by With My Needle copyright 2010
stitched using the kit materials

I have also started work on the gift I was planning and am about half way through.

Theme-a-licious January Round Up

2012-02-01T21:07:00.003Z

Here is my round up of Jardin January. I only had two goals for the month I wanted to work on Just Nan's 20 Flowers and Forget Me Nots in Stitches Anniversary Roses. Because of succumbing to the eye infection I didn't get as much done as I hoped but I'm still pleased with the progress made.

On Anniversary Roses I'm still working on the band I started back in October but I have finally finished the all the over-one in the roses, now I'm onto the Montenegrin stitch...

using the silks and fabrics provided

To give you an idea of the size of this sampler when I finish this band I will be half way through!

using the silks and fabrics provided

On 20 Flowers I've made good progress on the front.

20 Flowers by Just Nan copyright 2004
stitched with the kit materials

The theme for this month is 'Fan Girl February' and so I have decided that I am going to mainly concentrate on With thy Needle's Fruits of the Vine Hussif. I also need to work on a gift but I'm not going to be able to blog it until it's received but it's by Blackbird Designs so it fits the theme as well.

Theme-a-licious 2012 January Update

2012-01-16T21:05:00.004Z

It's time for a quick update on Jardin January. I've not managed to get as much done as I hoped so far this month because the eye infection put paid to doing much stitching last week. Fortunately it's cleared up now so I'll be able to crack on.

I had just picked up Anniversary Roses when the infection hit so there has only been a little bit of the over one in the centre rose done.

using the silks and fabrics provided

Once my eyes started recovering I decided that it might be wise to give the over one a rest and picked up 20 Flowers. Most of this has been stitched this month, apologies for the terrible photo

stitched with the kit materials

I'm planning on working on 20 Flowers for the rest of this week, then I'll pick Anniversary Roses back up.

Happy Winter

2012-01-11T14:59:00.004Z

I'm a bit late with this weeks update but I've managed to pick conjunctivitis up from somewhere, not the children who'd be the obvious source. They're both fine so I just need to avoid passing it too them but it does mean that I'm trying to limit my screen time so my eye gets time to recover.

Last week I worked on Rosie's ornament, I let her chose her ornament this time which as she went for one of the more stitching intensive ones was possibly a mistake on my part! I've almost finished the front I just need to finish the backstitching and add some Rhodes stitches to the border. Then I need to stitch the borders again for the back.

Happy Winter by The Nutmeg Needle from Just Cross Stitch Ornament edition 2000.

On the knitting front I've started the front of the Pembroke Vest for Christopher.

Pembroke vest by Kirsten Kapur
knit in King Cole Merino blend DK

As I'm sure many of you know Betty Ring's Sampler Collection is being sold by Sotheby's later this month so I treated myself to a copy of the catalogue and it arrived at the weekend. I've not managed to have more than a cursory flick through but I'm looking forward to going through it in more depth soon.

Theme-a-licious 2012

2012-01-01T14:58:00.004Z

I don't have any set stitching goals for this year apart from trying to get as much stitching in as possible. I decided that a fun way to do this will be to join in with Heather's Theme-a-licious.

So for Jardin January I'm planning on working on two of my wips - Just Nan's 20 Flowers and Forget-Me-Nots in Stitches Anniversary Roses.

But before I can get stuck in to those two I need to finish Rosie's Christmas ornament.

A Final Flourish for 2011

2011-12-31T15:10:00.002Z

I'm finishing 2011 with a finish! They've been a bit thin on the ground this year so maybe stitching 2011 on Sunflower Bellpull back in November was a touch on the optimistic side. However I managed to get the last stitches in yesterday so no restitching was required.

Started May 2010 - finished December 2011
Stitched using the recommend fabric and threads

I hope you all had a great Christmas, Father Christmas was good to me again this year bringing me several things off my wish lists. I was in a Secret Santa exchange with some friends and my Santa sent me Plum Street Samplers - Fruit of the Spirit & a piece of hand dyed fabric. I also got Blackbird Designs A Stitcher's Journey.

On the books front I got River Cottage Veg Everyday from which I've already earmarked a long list of recipes to try. I also got a couple of sewing books, Home Sewn by French General and Sewing for Boys by Shelly Figueroa and Karen LePage. Unfortunately Father Christmas forgot to leave me some time for crafting!

I hope that you all have a lovely New Year

2011-12-24T19:45:00.001Z

I hope that everyone who visits here has a very happy Christmas

Persephone Secret Santa

2011-12-16T20:03:00.002Z

I think I've mentioned before how much I like Persephone Books so this year I joined in with the Persephone Secret Santa organised by Claire and Verity.

My Secret Santa was Joan at Flowers and Stripes, I got a lovely parcel containing High Wages by Dorothy Whipple and a special reprint of the Time & Tide Alphabet by Eleanor Farjeon that was done for Persphone's fifth birthday. I am very much looking forward to reading them both. Thank you Joan.

Catching Up

2011-12-10T20:21:00.003Z

Apologies for the length of this post, it's a catch up of everything I've been working on since October.

First up is Anniversary Roses by Forget Me Nots in Stitches, I took this to the retreat to stitch when I wasn't working on Tend thy Sheep. I was thinking that I could get a fair chunk stitched but then I realised that the band I started was one of those fiendishly complicated ones that Lauren does so well (there was unfortunately also a fair bit of frogging)

Anniversary Roses by Forget Me Nots in Stitches copyright 2009
using the silks and fabrics provided

One wip that I have been working on here and there is Just Nan's 20 Flowers, this is my go to project for when I'm too tired to work on one of my larger projects and am now at the half way point on this one.

20 Flowers by Just Nan copyright 2004
stitched with the kit materials

The project that I'm shooting for finishing this year is The Drawn Thread's Sunflower Bellpull. I'm now down to the last part of the stitching but I've put it down for the present as I need to stitch the children's ornaments.

Sunflower bellpull by The Drawn Thread copyright 2000
stitched using the recommended threads and fabric

And now a finish! I completed the socks I was knitting for Rosie this week.

Basic top down children's socks knit in UK Alpaca Sock yarn in Moss

I completed the knitting on the Ishbel just before I went to the retreat but haven't yet managed to block it so no photo's yet. Maybe next week! My new project on the needles is a Pembroke Vest for Christopher, this is the back I'm about to start shaping the shoulders.

Pembroke vest by Kirsten Kapur
knit in King Cole Merino blend DK

And of course now Rosie is in school I had to make her a costume for her nativity play. Rosie was a snowflake which stumped me for a while. However we eventually came up with something that worked. I made her a small tutu based on the instructions on Simple Kids and then Rosie & I decorated a white t-shirt with glittery fabric paint.

Thank you all very much if you've stuck with me till now, I'm cautiously optimistic that I can go back to more regular updates from here in.

Tend Thy Sheep

2011-12-02T15:33:00.004Z

Sorry to have been absent for so long, we've all been struck by numerous different bugs since I last posted. Small children are just such virulent germ factories, poor Rosie is on her third ear infection in six weeks.

But now onto much pleasanter things, when I last posted I was about to go away to The Sampler Guild retreat in the Cotswold's.

We stayed at the Wroxton House Hotel just outside Banbury & it was wonderful. Comfortable rooms, lovely food & nothing seemed to be too much trouble for the staff. Most of the time was spent in the stitching room & I enjoyed the luxury of being able to focus on my stitching for a weekend.

The TSG hard at work

My goal for the weekend was to do the finishing on Merry Cox's Tend Thy Sheep, the most recent class that she offered through the Shinning Needle Society. So here is my finished box:

A close up of the Smalls, Tend Thy Sheep copyright From Merry's Heart 1998

The one time we left the hotel was to pay a visit to Sulgrave Manor. I'm sure that I don't need to tell many of my American visitors that Sulgrave was the ancestral home of George Washington's family.

Picture used by kind permission of Sulgrave Manor

Our guide gave us a very comprehensive tour of the building highlighting their textile collection. As the light levels in the building were not good I wasn't able to get many decent pictures. The ones that I did where of some replica Elizabethan bed curtains which were made from slips stitched over ten years by a large number of stitchers both here and in the US.

Picture used by kind permission of Sulgrave Manor

It's a bit blurry but I thought that you all would like this photo of an original hornbook from their collection.

Picture used by kind permission of Sulgrave Manor

Mostly Knitting

2011-10-10T14:22:00.002+01:00

I've mostly been knitting over the last couple of weeks. Dave treated me to a new iPad and playing with that has rather cut into my crafting time, but I have discovered that it makes it a lot easier to knit and read at the same time!

Progress is slow but steady on my Ishbel, I'm now working on the edging so it's rare I manage more than one or two rows at a time as they're so long now.

Ishbel by Isolda Teague in Fyberspates 4ply Sport Superwash Scrumptious

On Rosie's socks I've almost finished the first sock, I'm decreasing for the toe so I'm confident that I'll be one sock down by the end of this week.

Basic top down childrens sock knit in UK Alpaca Sock Yarn in Moss

Not a lot of stitching has happened. I'm working on the pincushion for the Merry Cox class, Tend thy sheep.

From Merry's Heart - Tend thy Sheep 1998
stitched using the kit materials

This is the last bit of stitching for the class and it will get finished this week. I'm away this weekend at The Sampler Guild retreat so I'm planning to do the finishing on this set (that is assuming I don't spend the whole time sleeping!)

Thank you all for the kind comments on Rosie's dress.

Rosie's New Dress

2011-10-07T11:09:00.004+01:00

No progress update this week as I wanted to blog Rosie's dress before I go any further.

Scully was correct when she identified it as being by Clothkits. I have vague memories of making various things from Clothkits in their previous incarnation many years ago. Since they relaunched a few years ago I've loved the screen prints they use, especially on the little girls dresses so in the spring I bought a kit to make one of the Funky Chicken Shift Dresses for Rosie.

I started working on the dress during the Easter holidays, the kit comes beautifully packaged with everything needed to complete the dress (apart from the sewing machine!).

Since then I worked at it on and off as I got the opportunity, it has to be said that was no where near fast enough for Rosie who monitored progress closely. While there are things I might do differently when I make another one (and I'm sure I will) I'm really pleased with the finished dress and most importantly so is Rosie.

I should add that they don't suggest putting the pocket in the middle of the dress but that was where Rosie wanted it, so that was where I put it!

2011-09-28T20:32:00.003+01:00

Sorry that I didn't update on Monday but the power brick for my laptop died and I've had to wait for the replacement to arrive. So here is a quick update, it wasn't a good week for crafting as Dave & Christopher went down with the lurgy.

Stitching - I only managed an hour of stitching all week on the Fruits of the Vine needlecase

Knitting - The socks didn't get worked on last week, but I managed to do a few rows on the Ishbel. The rows are so long now that I don't get more than one or two done at a time.

Sewing - I made a start on the Kaths Kubes that I bought at the Quilt Museum, I've got the freezer paper templates cut out & attached the fabric.

What I was doing last week was reading. I managed to finish two books, the last time I did this was when I was in hospital waiting for Christopher to arrive! It wasn't planned that way but both books were set around the First World War, one a novel written in the immediate aftermath of the war in 1918; Cicely Hamilton's William - An Englishman, the other Elizabeth Spellers The Return of Captain John Emmett which was published last year. I highly recommend both books.

2011-09-19T21:58:00.002+01:00

Stitching
I went back to working on Tend Thy Sheep by Merry Cox this week, this class has been my rotation focus piece recently so I've been working on it every other week. I finished the box band a few weeks ago, here is a picture as I hadn't got round to sharing it yet.

This week I was finishing off the needle book from the set, I just have to complete the pincushion and this set will be ready for finishing.

From Merry's Heart - Tend thy Sheep 1998
stitched using the kit materials

Knitting
My Ishbel is progressing, I'm now onto the third of the lace sections.

Ishbel by Isolda Teague in Fyberspates 4ply Sport Superwash Scrumptious

Rosie's socks have continued to grow, I'm upto shaping the heal.

Basic top down childrens sock knit in UK Alpaca Sock Yarn in Moss

Sewing
I've made another pump bag for Christopher. He's just started going to nursery on a Friday morning now (Mummy's sanity saver!) and needs a bag for his change of clothes.

I have also finished a dress that I have been making for Rosie but more of that in another post.

Making Monday

2011-09-12T20:16:00.003+01:00

A few weeks ago The Yarn Yard proposed 'Making Mondays', a day to blog about the things we have made. I liked the idea as I often feel that I don't achieve much, so I'm going to use the idea to journal my crafting progress as when I stop to consider it I often manage to get more done than I think.

Stitching
This week it was Above the Clouds turn in my rotation. I didn't get a huge amount done, what I did was mostly on the wing.

Teresa Wentzler - Above the Clouds
stitched using the recommended DMC on hand-dyed Lugana

Knitting
For the last couple of weeks I've been mostly working on my first Ishbel, I rattled through the central stocking stitch section in under a week (mostly because sleep had been in short supply) now I'm onto the the second lace section.

Ishbel by Isolda Teague in Fyberspates 4ply Sport Superwash Scrumptious

I've also cast on for Rosie's socks in the Moss Alpaca sock yarn I got at Baa Ram Ewe a couple of weeks ago.

Sewing
As Rosie has moved on from her Playgroup to the school nursery she needed a pump bag so I repurposed an old skirt of mine to make one.

2011-08-29T15:54:00.002+01:00

As a follow on from my last post, I also got to indulge in some of my favourite forms of retail therapy on Thursday. Before we went to the Quilt Museum I had a quick browse in a couple of second hand bookshops and found these

The Quilt Museum has got a lovely shop and I bought a kit to make some 'Kaths Kubes' for the children with this lovely vintage style fabric.

In the evening I got to really indulge. As Dave was on holiday I was able to make it over to Baa Ram Ewe for their New Season Preview. The special guest this time was Susan Crawford and she talked us through the gorgeous designs in her new book 'A Stitch in Time 2' along with allowing us to try on her samples.

Of course I couldn't leave without shopping! Rosie had made a special request for me to knit her some green socks, so that yarn was top of the shopping list, I got some Alpaca Sock yarn in Moss from UK Alpaca. There was also some Merino Blend DK from King Cole to knit a top for Christopher and the indulgence of a skein of hand dyed Bluefaced Leicester Silk Lace for myself along with an Amy Butler skirt pattern.

2011-08-26T20:36:00.005+01:00

We had a lovely day out yesterday. Rosie took her daddy to the Railway museum and as she was quite adamant that Mummy and Christopher were not to come we took the opportunity to visit the Quilt Museum.

There is no photography inside the Museum so I shall just leave you with some pictures from the gorgeous garden that was restored by the York Conservation Trust.

2011-08-14T20:07:00.003+01:00

As always, apologies for the length of time between posts. It's the school holidays so my online time is even more limited than it is normally and so I'm way behind with my blog reading as well, so I hope you'll understand if I'm not commenting as much as I would like at the moment.

You may remember that back last September I did a 500th post giveaway offering to stitch a gift for the winner. That was Missy and a few weeks ago I heard that she had finally received her prize so I can now share it with you all.

I decided to stitch the 'Le temps qui passe' sewing pocket from A mon ami Pierre, it's stitched on 32 count Summer Khaki Linen with Gloriana silk in India Ink.

Front - closed

Back

The pocket open

Some Knitting

2011-07-18T20:39:00.003+01:00

Thank you all very much for Christopher's birthday wishes.

A while back Melody asked me if I was still knitting, the answer is of course yes! I've just not been very good at getting round to photographing and sharing my finishes recently. So I made sure that I got some pictures of my most recent finish (with the help of a very willing model!)

Mericash Neck and Wrist Warmers by Jean Grey, knit in Rowan RYC Cashsoft 4ply.

The trick now is going to be persuading a certain someone that they are mine!

One!

2011-07-08T12:11:00.001+01:00

2011-06-26T21:09:00.003+01:00

I hope my updating this blog so soon isn't too much of a shock for you all! There hasn't been much stitching time this week but I've managed to stitch some more of the centre panel on the Tend thy Sheep box band. As always with one of Merry's projects this is being a joy to stitch.

From Merry's Heart - Tend thy Sheep 1998
stitched using the kit materials

As I stopped working after I had Rosie, I've tended to save my meagre stash budget so I can do some classes but recently I've had a little splurge. The first photo shows my stash from my trip to Fobbles. It was probably a good thing I was only at the last class that Ellen taught and that some serious shopping had already been done by the other participants before I got there!

I treated myself to Ellen's Within My Heart Sewing Case, Blackbird Designs Honeysuckle Manor Book and the Clara Ellen chart. I've wanted Clara Ellen since it came out as that was my Great Grandmothers name.

The other stash came later, I decided that I could no longer resist the Birds of A Feather Mystery Sampler by With My Needle and Thread and as I've missed reading Sampler and Antique Needle I got a copy of the latest issue to make the postage over the pond worth while.

Before I go we had an early birthday party for Christopher yesterday and Rosie helped me decorate the cake in her signature style LOL!

The party was at my parents house in Filey as my sister was up with my nephew. In the afternoon the weather was glorious so we went to the beach as you can see.

Stitching Update

2011-06-19T16:29:00.003+01:00

Sorry for the lack of updates, I'm just not getting much time at my laptop at the moment. Mainly because Christopher is fascinated by it especially the keyboard so I'm finding it better not to have it on when he's around. I'm doing the bulk of my blog reading on my phone as a result but I struggle with commenting on it so I apologise if I don't leave as many as I would like.

Anyway onto much pleasanter things. As I mentioned in my last post I had the great pleasure of taking the Fruits of the Vine class with Ellen Chester of With My Needle while she was in the UK. In the class she had us working on the speciality stitches on the needleroll, since I got back I've started to fill in the other bands and I've discovered that I took my inability to count to the class with me and I got some of the spacing wrong. Nothing that couldn't be worked around (so far) however.

Fruits of the Vine by With My Needle
stitched using the kit materials

I've also made progress on Teresa Wentzlers Above the Clouds. It's almost a year since I last shared progress on this one and I have now finished all the cross stitch on the bottom half. Just the wings and the backstitching to go

Above the Clouds by Teresa Wentzler
stitched using the recommended DMC

2011-05-26T11:05:00.004+01:00

Sorry it's been so long between posts again. We were away on holiday last week & I had hoped to post before we went but the Blogger downtime meant that it wasn't to be.

We went up to the Lake District for a week and had a great time. I shall be back with more about it in another post but the highlight for me was to spend a couple of days at Fobbles taking a class, Fruits of the Vine Huswif with Ellen Chester of With My Needle. My photo's from the class weren't any good as I forgot to take a spare battery for the big camera and my phone pictures turned out all blurry but there are plenty on Ellen's blog here and here.

Finally I'd like to say a big thank you to Becky and Julie of In the Company of Friends. They offered a give away on their blog and I was one of the luck winners of the guide to the exhibit of Middle Tennessee Sampler.

A New Start

2011-05-06T13:59:00.004+01:00

With the two bank holiday weekends we've just had here I've managed to get a fair bit of stitching in. So with out further ado here is where I got up to on Sunflower Bellpull at the end of it's rotation slot.

And the whole piece:

The Drawn Thread - Sunflower Bellpull, 2000
stitched using the recommended threads and linen

The new start in the title is one I've been looking forward to starting since the beginning of the year. It's Tend thy Sheep by Merry Cox and is this years online class through the Shining Needle Society. The class ran through January to March but other commitments prevented me from starting it then. In this rotation slot I've managed to get about halfway round the box band.

From Merry's Heart - Tend thy Sheep, 1998
stitched using the kit materials

Finally a stitchy update:

2011-04-12T14:46:00.004+01:00

The first wip I've picked now I'm back to my rotation is The Drawn Thread's Sunflower Bellpull:

The Drawn Thread - Sunflower Bellpull, 2000
stitched using the recommended threads and linen
(you can see my previous progress here)

I've started a new small project for those times when I have the chance to put a few stitches in. After a lengthy stash dive I decided to go for Just Nan's 20 Flowers scissor case.

Just Nan - 20 Flowers, 2004
stitched using the kit materials

I also treated myself to a new tote for my wips. I've liked Orla Kiely patterns for a long time but her bags are usually out of my price range, so when I found that my local supermarket is selling this canvas tote for charity I had to get one.

2011-03-31T10:58:00.003+01:00

Argh, what happened to March? Despite my best intentions blogging has ended up taking a back seat again. Partly that's been because I've been stitching on the gift for the giveaway I held last September and without stitching pictures to share I don't seem to be able to motivate my blogging mojo in quite the same way. However the stitching is now finished and the finishing will get finished this weekend so I'm back enjoying my wips.

So what have we been getting up to in March

Most importantly someone turned three.

And someone else is starting to be on the move, he's mainly rolling but he's trying to crawl so it won't be long!

We spent half term at my parents and went to The Deep in Hull

and to Burton Agnes to see the snowdrops.

Attended a special Baby Bloggers event at Leeds Art Gallery to view the Henry Moore exhibition.

Had a wonderful afternoon tea at the Secret Tearoom

Spent a day at the Abbey House Museum and Kirkstall Abbey

Clandestine Cake Club

2011-02-22T20:11:00.003Z

The weekend before last I was lucky to be able to participate in the February meeting of the Clandestine Cake Club. Due to the original venue falling through Lynn very graciously hosted us at her Secret Tearoom and kept us all supplied with copious amounts of tea. Steadily over the space of an hour gorgeous cake after cake arrived until we could dive in and sample them.

L to R Kentish Chocolate Cake - me, Lemon Meringue Cake - Helen, Beetroot & Spiced Apple - Mike, Rose Vanilla Cake - Clair

The theme for the afternoon was 'Sweet Valentine' which we all interpreted in different ways although chocolate cake proved to be popular.

top to bottom: Chocolate & Ginger Cake - Lucy, Chocolate and Raspberry Cake - Stephanie, Chocolate, Honeycomb and Truffle Cake

Blueberry Cake - Eleanor, Lemon & Lime Cake - Lynn

Georgina's Almond and Cherry Birthday Cake

The cakes were delicious, by dint of taking samples home with me afterwards I got to taste everything bar the Rose and Vanilla Cake - as soon as Rosie saw the pink icing I didn't get a look in on that one. And given the speed it vanished it must have been good!

This Too Shall Pass

2011-01-31T10:06:00.003Z

The message on this pinkeep is one that I have been reflecting on a lot recently (potty training 'nuff said) I stitched this last year before Christopher arrived and started the finishing last October. I finally finished last night!

This Too Shall Pass Pinkeep design by Lois Mouriski Bear of Elegant Stitch
stitched using the materials from the kit.

I stitched the Scissor pocket from the set back in 2005, I have the kit to do the matching box but on my current rate of progress with the set I wouldn't hold your breath that it gets done any time soon.

Finally....

2011-01-22T18:15:00.005Z

I've not had much luck at carving out stitching time this week but what I've managed has been very productive.

First I've got the last little bit of nun stitching finished on the Red Rabbit Needlecase. I still have to finish the stitching on the smalls, scissor fob and scrimshaw keep before I can call it a finish but they shouldn't take too long.

Red Rabbit Needlecase by Forget Me Nots in Stitches
Class taken in September 2009

I have also 'finished' the first piece in my Finishing Challenge. I stitched this cute freebie back in 2003. No I don't know why it took me so long to finish either!

Groundhog Day by Bent Creek

Quality over quantity I've been telling myself but what I wouldn't give for the chance to develop a case of 'stitch ass' at the moment.

So near, yet so far

2011-01-13T18:32:00.002Z

When I've had some stitching time over the last week I've been working on the finishing on another Forget Me Nots in Stitches class, this time the Red Rabbit Needlecase. I took the class back in 2009 and have been plugging away at the nun stitching on and off ever since when I've been able to plug into the zen of nun stitch. As you can see I'm within sight of the end, hopefully I can find the time in the next few days.

I've decided that this will be the first of my larger finishing projects to completed, there's a couple of smalls to go with it that I need to stitch so it's in my rotation until they're all done. Chelle asked if I had decided on which 15 projects that I wanted to finish, and I have to say that I'm not going to decide ahead of time and go with what is speaking loudly when I get the time to finish. I know that when I start digging through the piles of unfinished projects I will find some that I've forgotten about.

The big happening round here is that Christopher is now 6 months old. We celebrated by moving him into his own room, Dave and I are really enjoying the luxury of being able to read in bed again!

This photo was taken the week before Christmas.

When I posted last week I forgot about this blogs anniversary. I started the blog on New Years day 2004 and it's been quite an adventure over the last six years. Here's to the seventh year of blogging...

Happy New Year

2011-01-03T07:35:00.002Z

I hope that you all had a lovely Christmas. Sorry to have been absent for so long. A combination of the Christmas holidays and a teething boy have meant that I haven't had the brain capacity for blogging or anything else if comes down to it.

So while I've not been able to stitch I've been considering what I'd like to acheive with my hobbies this year obviously starting with finding some time for them! I've been reading everyone's plans for the Crazy 15 Challenge and while it sounds very tempting I know that even attempting it would be setting myself up for failure given the uncertain nature of my stitching time. So what I have decided to do is to adapt it to address my piles of completed but 'unfinished' stitching and I am going to challenge myself to 'finish' 15 things, 12 small pieces (ornamets, pinkeeps etc) and three larger ones. I think that aiming to finish at least one small piece a month should be doable.

The other challenge I'm going to set myself this year is to read at least 36 books. I managed 24 in 2010 and as my to-read pile has been growing exponetially thanks to the 5(!) charity shops on my village Main Street. So I'd love to make myself find more time to read.

I'll finish by showing where I'm up to on Anniversary Roses

Forget Me Nots in Stitches
Anniversary Roses

Snow

2010-12-05T14:11:00.003Z

Much to Rosie's delight we've had a large quantity of the white stuff over the last week. I've not been quite so impressed as the snow's been too deep to take the pushchair out and it's been too cold to take Christopher out in the baby carrier unless it's been absolutely essential.

Add in a husband stuck at Munich airport for 36 hours because of snow there and a cold water tank leaking down the bathroom light fitting because the overflow froze... Well lets just say I'll be quite happy not to have any more snow this winter.

Anyway back to much happier things, last Sunday (before we got another couple of feet of snow dumped on us) I got the camera out as Rosie played in the garden.

Learning about snowballs from Daddy.

Look Mummy!

Meanwhile Christopher decided the sensible option was to sleep through it all.

2010-11-26T10:01:00.002Z

I've now managed to get enough stitching in that I have some progress to share on Sunflower Bellpull.

Sunflower Bellpull - The Drawn Thread
I'm stitching this one using the recommended fabric and threads.

Last week I got a short break from my daily round of baby and toddler wrangling when my Mum came over to babysit while I went into Leeds to start the Christmas shopping. It was a pretty full on charge round the shops to get what I needed without much time for some personal browsing but I did have time to nip into the Oxfam shop. It generally has the best selection of second hand books in town and I got to indulge one of my other expensive hobbies - book collecting.

I got lucky and found a lovely vintage hardback by Elizabeth Bowen and an original green cover Virago Modern Classic Vita Sackville-West. I'm sure it's a generational thing but I much prefer the older green VMC covers to the new ones (for more on VMC covers see this post by Lyn).

Also in the photo is my diary for 2011, it was an easy choice once Persephone Books announced that they where producing 'The Persephone 90'diary. The diary includes pictures of all the wonderful textiles they use as end papers and I am enjoying browsing through them. Particular favourites are these:

From Fidelity by Susan Glaspell - 19th Century log cabin quilt by Mary E Sexton Mann, Aurora, Illinois (The American Museum in Britain)

And From Round about a Pound a Week by Maud Pember Reeves - Sampler by 'DAR' 1912 (Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester)

I hope that all my American readers have had a great Thanksgiving.

Getting there

2010-11-05T21:00:00.003Z

The technique needs a bit of finessing but she's grasped that the wool goes round the needle...

Anniversary Roses Update

2010-10-09T15:15:00.004+01:00

Thank you all for the kind comments on my knitting and yes Rosie definitely has designs on the Clapotis!

I am managing to get a small amount of stitching done, nothing like as much as I was but just enough to keep me teetering on the edge of sanity.

Here is Anniversary Roses by Forget Me Nots in Stitches, since I last shared a picture I've completed the knot work band and am working on the second section of the verse.

And I realise that I haven't shared a photo of Christopher since he was a new born and now he's three months (when did that happen!)

Some Knitting

2010-09-29T09:41:00.003+01:00

A catch up post today of some knitting finishes from earlier this year.

First up are some top down socks knit in Fyberspates sock yarn

Another small bunny from the Debbie Bliss Knitted Toys book

And finally my Clapotis knit in Lorna's Laces Lion and Lamb in Motherload.

And the winner is

2010-09-16T14:04:00.003+01:00

Waterlily - The Old Station Tearoom, Claughton

Sorry not to get back sooner about the winner of the giveaway in my last post but Christopher had his first set of immunisations last week which completely through his (and by default my) sleep patterns out. However he is now back to his usual sunny self and I'm steadily getting caught back up again.

So without further ado the winner is Raven/Missy. I have emailed you for your details and hopefully will not take the full six months to get your gift to you.

Thank you to everyone who entered.

Finally 500

2010-08-30T10:17:00.002+01:00

Rosie at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park investigating a sculpture by David Nash.
May 2010

It's taken six years, one masters degree, two children and large quantities of finished stitching but I have finally reached my 500th post. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who drops by whether you leave a comment or just read. I really appreciate you being interested in what's going on in my little corner of the universe.

As a thank you I have decided to stitch a gift for one of my readers. Just leave a comment on this post and I will ask Rosie to pull a name out of the hat. Comments will close on my birthday, 6th September and I will undertake to get your gift out within 6 months.

Some Works In Progress

2010-08-12T20:23:00.003+01:00

I thought I'd post where I was up to with some of my wip's as none of these have been worked on since Christopher was born.

First is Sunflower Bellpull by The Drawn Thread, I started this one after I finished 4 Wishes.

Then Above the Clouds by Teresa Wentzler, progress on this really stalled during my third trimester as I was too tired at night to be able to cope with following the chart so it would only get worked on when I had some rare toddler free time during the day.

Finally here is Juda Hale in Miniature by The Sampler House.

2010-07-30T14:40:00.003+01:00

Thank you all for the congratulations. We're all settling down nicely and getting used to being a family of four. Christopher is doing really well, he took to breast feeding straight away with none of the problems I had with his sister. He's been doing so well that at 5 days he was only an ounce under his birth weight(!) and when weighed today he is now 9lb 14oz. I'm obviously producing Gold Top this time round!

The big advantage of this is Christopher has more or less got himself into a routine especially at night, so we're getting some sleep (if not enough) and I'm getting a small amount of stitching in on a few nights.

Rosie is easing into being a Big Sister. She's being very helpful at nappy change time and bringing me things I need. Her latest thing is giving Christopher kisses.

I'm going to leave you with a small finish that I had just before Christopher was born -Mama Bird by Brightneedle. This design was published in the April 2002 edition of Just Cross Stitch. I'm not sure how I'll finish it yet, possibly a pillow.

Mama Bird - Brightneedle
stitching in the recommended Sampler threads on Country Stitch hand dyed linen (can't find the details at the moment)

Christopher

2010-07-15T17:10:00.003+01:00

Christopher John arrived at 2:17am on Thursday 8th July weighing in at 8lb 9oz.

I should like to point out that while I did go into hospital on the Monday afternoon I wasn't in labour all that time, as happened when I went in to have Rosie I managed to hit a baby boom here and there was a queue to get onto Delivery Suite. As a non urgent(ish) induction I just had to wait on the Anti-Natal ward until there was a free slot in delivery.

There were some advantages to the wait! I got two books read, Louis De Bernieres' Notwithstanding and Ian Rankin's Beggars Banquet(I can't remember the last time I read anything that quickly probably pre-Rosie) and managed to get the best part of an ornie stitched, Star Shine by Heart In Hand from JCS Ornament Edition 1999. I also did an awful lot of walking in an effort to get Christopher to move by himself and by the time I did get called to delivery suite on Wednesday evening I was having regular contractions. This didn't save me from going on a drip but did mean that 7 hours after having my waters broken I went into second stage labour, much faster than my midwife anticipated; they were prepping me for an epidural at the time. So I did it on gas & air with no interventions this time round. The whole labour was just shy of 8 hours and I have to say I felt a whole lot more human afterwards this time round. So human in fact that we were discharged on the Thursday afternoon.

Since then we've been getting to know Christopher, Rosie has taken his arrival pretty well, what she struggled with was all the uncertainty about the length of my hospital stay and there have been a few meltdowns about needing Mummy but as we're working out how everyone's routines mesh they're getting a lot less common.

Rosie gets the Blues

2010-06-19T16:36:00.007+01:00

This is going to be a post of many parts. First off I would like to thank all of you who commented on my last post, all the messages meant a great deal to us.

We have been treated to a great deal of blues harp over recent weeks. Rosie found her Daddy's harmonicas and it didn't take her very long at all to get the hang of playing them. It could be that as I've been working my way through our CD collection with her and we recently hit a run of Charlie Musselwhite albums that she found inspiration. She certainly seems to enjoy her Delta Blues.

There has been a bit of stitching going on when I can fit it in. I've started an online class - Anniversary Roses with Lauren Sauer of Forget Me Nots In Stitches that's been offered by Susan at Hanging by a Thread. I've finished the first section of this gorgeous sampler, you can see a picture of the complete sampler on the class page.

Lastly Ellen has asked how much longer it is till Alien 2 arrives. Because of some health issues on my part which have led to me being diagnosed with Obstetric Cholestasis again, I'm scheduled for induction on the 5th July when I will be at 38 weeks. This is the same condition that led to Rosie's early arrival. I would have preferred not to be induced again but ultimately my only goal is to have a healthy baby so I'm concentrating on the positives. Dave has his leave booked, we can get Rosie over to my folks and I'm not having to worry that everything will kick off in the middle of the night with Dave at the other end of the country and me having to find people who can run me to hospital and to look after Rosie.

Tansy

2010-06-04T14:51:00.003+01:00

Sorry to have been absent from here over the last few weeks but we have been suffering from a bad dose of 'life' round here.

It all started with Rosie cutting another tooth (only 3 left to go!) then Dave & I both caught a stomach bug last week that lasted over the bank holiday weekend. Thankfully Rosie didn't get it but the whole parenting thing doesn't work very well when both parents are broken. The final straw was when I found one of our cats, Tansy (the cat in my avatar), behaving very oddly on Monday afternoon.

Dave took her to see the emergency vet where they discovered she was extremely dehydrated and has lost over a pound in weight since her annual check up in December. The vet ran some blood tests, and they found severe kidney failure. The vets tried to treat her but she was not responding, they were trying to syringe feed her but Tansy refused to swallow so we listened to what she was telling us and let her go. My Dad came over and took Rosie and I to the vets as Dave had a meeting he couldn't get out of. We let Rosie say goodbye to Tansy and then my Dad took her to a near by park while I stayed with Tansy till she'd gone.

We all miss her horribly. We got Tansy and her litter mate Dill when they were 8 weeks old in 1996. Rosie is taking it by far the best of all of us, thank goodness for the pragmatic nature of two year olds. I got a copy of 'Goodbye Mog' in just in-case but I don't think I'm going to need it this time round.

Tansy was a frequent visitor to my sewing room to keep me company when I got to spend time up there

In her classic 'feed me' pose

Tansy loved a sunny spot and wasn't too fussy about where it was

4 Wishes

2010-05-14T15:12:00.002+01:00

I just seem to be posting finishes at the moment but that's more a reflection on how infrequently I get round to posting these days than the amount of stitching I'm getting in!

Here's the finished 4 Wishes, I think it will probably become a bellpull eventually.

Just Nan - 4 Wishes
stitched on SMF Putty with the recommended DMC

Regency Roses

2010-04-29T20:45:00.002+01:00

I actually finished the stitching on this small Just Nan sampler last year but never got round to sharing it as I went straight into the finishing. Shortly after I started I realised that I had started the hem stitching too close in to the stitching so it languished waiting for me to decide how to rescue it. A few weeks ago I decided to mount it on a fabric bellpull and managed to get it finished. Despite my best efforts it's slightly crooked but I'm going to wait till I'm slightly less sleep deprived (I'm aiming for somewhere round 2013LOL) before I try and correct it. As this is a Rose sampler it's going in Rosie's room of course.

Regency Roses by Just Nan, shop exclusive for Hanging By A Thread
stitched using the fabric and AVAS silks from the kit.

A finish and Quilts

2010-04-05T20:06:00.002+01:00

I finished Forget Me Not a couple of weeks ago, it's taken me a while to have the opportunity to photograph it and then get the picture uploaded. I think I must have had this in my stash for around 10 years so it's good to get it stitched!

The Drawn Thread Forget Me Not
stitched on Lakeside Linens 36 count Vintage Light Exampler
with the NPI silks from the chart pack.

The weekend after I last posted we spent in London. On the Saturday Dave and Rosie went to visit friends and I got to indulge myself with a visit to the V&A with other members of the Sampler Guild. The main reason for the visit was to view the Quilts 1700 - 2010 exhibition although we couldn't be in there without paying a visit to the samplers as well.

The quilts were stunning, though the inclusion of a couple of YBA's left us cold (and if the comments I heard were anything to go by the vast majority of the other visitors as well). I treated myself to the accompanying book and a piece of one of the exclusive Liberty fabrics that have been produced to tie in with the exhibition. My goal is to make a dress for Rosie from it but I wouldn't hold your breath on that one, LOL!

2010-03-18T20:51:00.002Z

Sorry for disappearing last week but sleep has been in short supply recently. Let's just say that a teething toddler with a cold who could climb out of her cot was not the Mothers Day present that I was expecting! So stitching has had to take a back seat but there is some progress worth sharing.

I've been slowly working through the Spring section on 4 wishes, I just have the verse and one more band to go and then I'm at the halfway point.

4 wishes by Just Nan

I had hoped to finish Forget Me Not last weekend but it wasn't to be especially as I got visited by the frogs :(

Forget Me Not by The Drawn Thread

Above the Clouds has not been touched at all for over a week as I have not had the brain power to cope with following the chart, so I've put it to one side for the time being.

Above the Clouds by Teresa Wentzler

Instead I picked up Juda Hale in Miniature which despite being all over one isn't too complicated.

Juda Hale in Miniature by Eileen Bennett

Two!

2010-03-04T15:02:00.002Z

Yesterday was Rosie's birthday so here are some photo's from her party at the weekend with her grandparents and opening her presents. Happy Birthday Rosie!

There will be another party this weekend this time with 5 other two year olds (wish us luck!) so stitching progress is a bit thin on the ground at the moment. And in Alien 2 news I had my 20 week scan on Monday and he is developing just as he should.

Last weeks progress

2010-02-26T14:33:00.003Z

Rosie and I went over to stay with my parents last week as it was half term which meant that I got to have some quality time with Above the Clouds while Rosie played with her Nana and Grandpa. I didn't quite manage to achieve a full blown case of 'Stitch Ass' (tm Siobhan) but as you can see from my progress I gave it a good shot.

The weekend was much busier as we were back home, so progress on Forget Me Not

And 4 Wishes was a bit slower.

2010-02-18T20:02:00.002Z

Here's an update on where I got to with my wips last week. First up is Teresa Wentzlers Above the Clouds. I managed to get reasonable amount of stitching time in on this and I've made good progress:

The weekend was very busy however so I didn't get much time on either Drawn Threads Forget Me Not.

Or Just Nan's 4 Wishes.

And now for something completely different...

2010-02-12T20:12:00.002Z

Thank you all for the congratulations on my last post.

I decided that I needed a complete change after finishing Maria so I pulled Above the Clouds by Teresa Wentlzer out of my stash, here it is after a couple of days work.

Here is last weeks progress on The Drawn Threads Forget Me Not

And Just Nan's 4 Wishes

Woot!

2010-02-05T19:36:00.003Z

Sorry to have been absent from here for the last week but I decided to sit down and stitch rather than spending a lot of time online. This is the result!

Maria Spence 1815 - The Essamplaire (copyright 2006)
stitched using the Linen and AVAS silk from the kit.

Started in December 2006 at the Ackworth Seminar and finished yesterday. The sharp eyed among you will notice that I've altered some of the personalisations to my own.

The reason that putting my feet up and stitching when I get the opportunity is so appealing at the moment is that I am now 17 weeks pregnant. I had a scan last week and Alien 2 is developing just as it should. The challenging bit is keeping up with an energetic toddler! The net result is that I am not spending nearly as much time online and I'm way behind in my blog reading so I hope you'll all understand that it also means that I'm not commenting as much as I would like.

I'll leave you with a picture of Rosie showing another reason why I don't get on the computer as much. I'm now having to hot desk at my own laptop!

Progress

2010-01-20T20:04:00.002Z

Here is last weeks stitching progress, first up Maria Spence (The Essamplaire)

Saturdays progress on The Drawn Threads Forget Me Knot

and my JN Sunday progress on 4 Wishes

Whoops

2010-01-12T20:05:00.004Z

I got a bad attack of itchy fingers over the weekend and succumbed to the urge to start some new projects. I've been trying to fight it off for a while but could resist no longer after Chris mentioned that she was going to start 4 Wishes as her 'Just Nan Sunday' project. This reminded me just how much I'd wanted to stitch this design when I bought it so I dug it out and kitted it up.

Stitched in the the recommended DMC on a piece of Sugar Maple Fabrics Putty Lugana. I'm planning on joining Chris in stitching this on Sundays.

Thinking about this made me decide to have a Saturday project as well and I've decided to focus on Drawn Thread designs as along with Just Nan these designs comprise the largest part of my stash with two folders full each. The design I've decided to start with is Forget Me Not

Stitched using the NPI silks provided in the chart pack on Lakeside Linens 36 count Vintage Light Exampler

Maria Spence

2010-01-05T20:08:00.002Z

Having got my Christmas stitching out of the way I pulled Maria back out of my stitching bag. As I don't have too much to go now I'm trying to focus on her now until she's finished, hopefully it will be sometime this month so watch this space...

Joanie asked about the Mary Garry ornament in the prevous post, it's from the 1999 Just Cross Stitch Ornament Edition.

Happy New Year

2010-01-01T20:15:00.004Z

I'd like to wish everyone a happy new year. Six years ago today I started this blog and I can safely say that my life has gone in directions that I never believed possible back in 2004! I'm still enjoying the opportunity to share it with you all and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who stop by and to say thank you for your comments, they are very much appreciated.

I have a couple more photos for you all then I think I'm caught up on a lot of the stitching I've been doing over the last couple of months.

First up is this years ornament for Rosie:

Mary Garry's Sewing Cabin - Home for Christmas stitched in the recommended Sampler Threads

Some of you may remember that I stitched The Drawn Threads Christmas Stitches back in spring. Well I managed to get it finished as a bellpull and up on the wall for Christmas!

Ornaments - part 2

2009-12-30T20:40:00.004Z

Thank you for all the Christmas wishes. I'm taking advantage of having my DH home over the holidays to grab some extra time on line. He's currently working overseas on a very stressful project and this has been a major factor in my online absence recently.

The other Ornament exchange I took part in was organised by The Sampler Guild. I stitched this ornament for Katie

Emmanuel by Plum Street Samplers stitched in the recommended DMC on Silkweaver fabric from my stash.

And here is the lovely ornament I got from Linda.

Ornaments

2009-12-28T20:14:00.004Z

I participated in a couple of ornament exchanges last month. The first one was organised by Lindsay.

I sent my ornament to Sally

A Merry Kitty Klaus by Vals Stitching Stuff from Just Cross Stitch Ornament Edition 2007. Stitched using a mix of Weeks Dye Works and Gentle Arts Sampler threads on a piece of Silkweaver fabric from my stash.

And here is the gorgeous ornament that I received from Kate

Merry Christmas

2009-12-24T20:40:00.003Z

I hope that everyone who visits my blog has a wonderful Christmas.

I'm sorry I've not been around much recently, 'life' has been conspiring to keep me off the computer and I've got woefully behind with my blog reading so I'm really sorry that I haven't been commenting at all. I'm hoping that things will ease up in the New Year.

Was that November?

2009-11-14T13:27:00.004Z

I'm sure I only blinked and a month has disappeared! Anyway the high and low lights of November were:

Helping Kate on the Sparklies stall at the Harrogate Knitting and Stitching Show
Meeting up with Paula while she was down for the show and taking her on a trip up to BaaRamEwe
Amanda staying over while she was up for the show.
Getting together with some fellow Chalet School fans for a good natter and knitting and stitching at Dawns
Rosie getting her first serious cold, two weeks later I think we are finally over it and sleeping again.
Catching Rosies cold.

So to finish I'll leave you with some fingerless gloves that were my first project from Homemade. They were knit in some Artesano Alpaca Superfine 4ply that was leftover from various outfits knit for Rosie. I wasn't sure about the turquoise and violet colour combination but knew I'd seen it somewhere, it wasn't until I'd cast on that I realised they where the colours of the book cover! Doh!

Spot of Autumn

2009-10-29T19:31:00.002Z

Thank you all for the comments on my rabbits.

I have finished the next seasonal spot by The Drawn Thread - Autumn. I think this is my favourite of them so far. I shall add the charm when I get round to the finishing.

Stitched on 36 count Cream Linen with the recommended threads.

We've had some glorious weather here for the last couple of days. It's been very sunny and warm much appreciated after the very grey wet days we've had recently. As it's half term here in the UK Rosie and I have come over to stay with my parents on the Yorkshire coast so we have been able to spend time on the beach building sandcastles and collecting pebbles.

Small Rabbit with Sweater x 3

2009-10-25T13:52:00.004Z

The nature of life recently has been more conducive to knitting rather stitching recently so I have a few finishes to show off.

First up are these Rabbits from Debbie Bliss Toy Knits. One has made a home with Henry, another with my new nephew Brandon and the last one is for Rosie for Christmas.

The rabbits where knit in various anonymous double knitting wool from my stash, and the jumpers using some Louisa Harding Aran left over from knitting a jumper for Rosie.

Melody asked what I was knitting in my last post. It is indeed a sock, the second one of a pair knit in Fyberspates wool.

Interlude

2009-10-15T20:49:00.002+01:00

I got to spend some time on my own in Leeds today as my Mum came over to spend some time with Rosie. In between doing the various messages I needed to in town I took a break for a breather.

Thank you for all the sympathy, Rosie has now cut the two teeth that where causing the trouble so we're all catching up (until the next lot come through!)

Holiday - Part 2

2009-10-12T20:31:00.006+01:00

One of the highlights of our holiday was a trip on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway.

We started at Pickering

We travelled up to Grosmont where you can go and visit the engine workshops.

Sorry not to be more chatty but Rosie has been cutting teeth over the last week and I've not had nearly enough sleep for a working brain.

2009-10-04T20:15:00.003+01:00

Yesterday I dug my passport* out and headed over the M62 to meet up with several stitching friends. It was an interesting drive as there where some very strong winds passing over the top of the Pennines but that was more than made up for by seeing the full arc of a rainbow over Halifax.

Pausing only to pick up Rachel and a three week old Henry on the way, we arrived at Pat's house where we were joined by Paula, Lindsay, Kate and Rachele. There was much merriment, conversation and an awful lot of laughter. Some of us even managed to put in a few stitches!

Rachel, Henry and Rachele

Kate (don't ask!) and Pat

Lindsay trying her hand at being a Ladies Maid!

Meanwhile Henry slept through the hilarity

Rachele plotting how to get Lindsay's beadwork bag home.

*for the border crossing between Yorkshire and Lancashire LOL

Holiday - part 1

2009-09-30T20:33:00.003+01:00

We went over to stay at my parents house in Filey to look after their cat while they were away. Rosie is quite clear about what we have to do first when we go there - hit the beach!

We managed a short while as there was a stiff North-Westerly blowing, everyone else on the beach was bundled up in lots of layers while Rosie wouldn't keep hers on... After half an hour Dave and I decided it was time to get a hot drink so we adjourned to a near by cafe.

Waiting for the Chocolate Cake, as you can see Ted* made short work of it

The following day it was still rather on the brassic side, so we went for a very blowy walk out along the Brigg. But it does give you a great view back across Filey bay.

Rosie with her sherpa

We walked back along the bottom and introduced Rosie to rock pools. I expect that next year we will have to get a net and go pool dipping

2009-09-28T20:37:00.003+01:00

Thank you all for the birthday wishes. We've been away on holiday hence the blogging break but more about that in following posts.

While we were away it was Dave's birthday. I had decided to stitch something for him this year and Plum Street Samplers freebie Coffin Buzz seemed to me particularly apt. Although in Dave's case it's less 'springing to life with glee' and more like watching evolution in process!

Coffin Buzz by Plum Street Samplers (copyright 2008)
stitched over one on 32 count Bone Lugana with Gentle Arts Sampler Thread in Fudge Brownie.

Cake!

2009-09-08T20:22:00.002+01:00

Thank you all for the lovely comments on Rosie's top, they were all very much appreciated.

It was my birthday on Sunday, I would have liked to invite you all round for some cake but the distances involved would have made it impossible so you'll have to make do with a virtual slice!

I had a lovely day. We went out to lunch at a local farm shop, The Balloon Tree. The food was lovely and Rosie was very taken with all the animals and the children's play area. It didn't take her long to get the hang of the rope climb and slides are her new favourite thing!

After lunch we went on to Fangfest - The festival of Practical Arts held in the village of Fangfoss. We had a great time wandering around the festival, Rosie got a new fleece blanket and we got a new milk jug from the pottery. The festival is organised by The Rocking Horse Shop and Rosie had a great time riding on a couple of the sample horses.

I got some lovely presents that included my stash from the Festival of Quilts, Homemade by Elspeth Thompson and Ros Badger, the catalogue from Erna Hiscock's Darning Sampler exhibition and a friendship trifold. My main presents are still to come, the class with Lauren Sauer on Saturday and my parents are going to have Rosie stay overnight next month.

Peasant Blouse

2009-08-26T20:44:00.003+01:00

I can now share with you a sewing project that I've been working on for a while, the baby's peasant blouse from Sew Hip issue 1 refashioned from an old Indian block print cotton shirt of my husbands.

I should say that when I sat down to work on the top it went very quickly, the problem was the perennial one of making the time to do it. I'm really pleased with my first effort at sewing clothes for many years and I know I'm biased but I think Rosie looks very cute in it!

Festival of Quilts

2009-08-24T20:26:00.003+01:00

I went to the Festival of Quilts on Saturday and had a highly enjoyable time catching up with friends, shopping and getting completely overwhelmed at the stunning quilts on display. Unfortunately the only camera I had with me was my phone; my DSLR is too heavy to schlep round the show as a result none of the photo's I took are good enough to share so you'll just have to make do with my new stash:

In liu of quilts I shall leave you with a shot of the glorious flowers that I picked up from the produce table at church yesterday. Rosie is very taken with the pompom dahlia's.

Damsons

2009-08-21T08:41:00.002+01:00

I got lucky last week and found some damsons at my Greengrocers.

Rosie was very taken with them and really enjoyed helping me prep them.

The damsons are now infusing in Gin. Yum :)

Maria Spence

2009-08-14T20:19:00.002+01:00

Here is my most recent progress photo of Maria Spence, since I last posted a photo I've finished the black bird motif and the beige one below it.

2009-08-05T16:07:00.001+01:00

Well, it certainly doesn't feel like it's been fourteen years!

Sewerby Hall

2009-08-01T17:26:00.005+01:00

Rosie and I went over to stay with my parents for a few days this week as Dave was away for work. Rosie had a great time playing with her Nana and Grandpa and despite the weather (which was pretty awful) managed to spend some time on the beach while I went to Scarborough for a window shop. I had a good browse in one of my favourites, Bespoke Country Collection, although all I came out with was a fat quarter of fabric and the good news that they had opened a shop in York.

Thursday we went to Sewerby Hall for the morning as there was a break in the rain. They have a small Childrens Zoo and Rosie really enjoyed looking at all the animals, the Llama's in particular were a big hit!

A nosey Kune Kune Pig

This handsome gentleman knew just where to pose

After the zoo we went for a stroll round the gardens, there is a lovely walled garden with lots of carpet bedding and topiary. The penstemons where looking stunning.

And the Rose garden, we were a few weeks too late to get the full glory.

Saturday Morning

2009-07-25T15:09:00.004+01:00

Dave took Rosie over to see his mother this morning so I had the luxury of the house to myself. I didn't take long to decide what I was going to do with myself, it was up to my sewing room with my coffee to work on the pre-stitching for the Red Rabbit Needlecase class, browse some blogs and listen to a few podcasts. Bliss!

Of course I wasn't totally on my own, Tansy came up to chill out with me.

Spot of Summer

2009-07-21T20:01:00.004+01:00

I've finished the second of The Drawn Threads seasonal spots - Summer.

Stitched on some anonymous 36 count linen from my stash using the recommended threads. I'll attach the charm when I do the finishing, I've still not decided how I'm going to finish these yet.

A Girl and her Daddy

2009-07-13T15:17:00.003+01:00

More Maria Spence

2009-07-06T15:35:00.002+01:00

Here's my most recent progress photo of Maria, since I last posted a photo I've got the blue rosebud motif and started the beige one at the bottom.

Some bits and pieces

2009-07-02T20:10:00.002+01:00

Here are a bunch of crafty finishes that I've had over the last few weeks - first is another rag book for Rosie. After I finished the last one Chris got in touch and very kindly offered me another panel that she had in her stash and had not got round to making up. Here is the finished book, thanks Chris.

Next up is a knitted dishcloth, I've found that I can do a certain amount of knitting round Rosie as long as I don't have to follow much of a pattern, so I'm tending to work on plain top down socks and dishcloths. I took the pattern on this one from the Ackworth Pattern book by Needleprint.

And last up is a goldwork class that I took back in 2004 at the Stitch and Craft show at Olympia. The class was with Jenny Adin-Christie and was to make a small broach. As you can see it looks lovely on my denim jacket.

Summertime

2009-06-28T14:31:00.003+01:00

We harvested the first of our strawberries this week, all six of them! Rosie was very interested in the process and spent quite a while just sniffing them, she wouldn't try eating them but that just meant more for me...

The roses are looking particularly gorgeous this year:

As is the clematis that's grown over my water butt.

Thank you all for the comments on my sewing room. It's not normally that tidy, I'd had a friend over for a stitching session so it had been all picked up.

My Sewing Room

2009-06-24T20:17:00.002+01:00

Susan asked us to show her our sewing rooms to inspire her now she is going to have a dedicated sewing room again so here is mine.

I am lucky enough to have the attic of our house for my sewing room but it does have to double up as our guest room on occasion, so there is a futon bed against one wall. This is a very popular napping spot for one of our cats LOL

On one side of the room I have my worktable, this is usually where I will sit and stitch as it has the best natural light in the room from the Velux windows. The tall chest of drawers behind my chair contains the majority of my threads.

On the other side is the chest of drawers I keep my fabric and some of my kits in. It originally belonged to my Gran and was part of the bedroom set she bought when she got married in 1932.

The end of the room is all shelving, this is where the rest of my stash lives. In front of them is my rocking chair and an antique sewing box that we were given as a wedding present.

I hope you have all enjoyed the tour of my sewing room

Americana Sewing Case

2009-06-15T20:16:00.005+01:00

While I was at Dove Farm I took the opportunity to have some uninterrupted finishing time and the first project that I completed was the Americana Sewing Case by Merry Cox. I took the class online through the Shining Needle Society and I decided when considering the personalisation that I would anglicise the design. So I've stitched the flag of St George and changed the verse to the first stanza of William Blake's poem Jerusalem.

And did these feet in Ancient time
Walk upon England's mountains green

The case front

The back

and the inside of the case. Needless to state I am thrilled with how it turned out!

The other piece I took with me for finishing was Two Friends and a Flower from The Needles Content. It's one of the Breast Cancer fundraisers from Elegant Stitch and the finishing instructions where for making it into a pincushion. It has to be said that I hadn't registered just how big the finished piece would be but again I'm really pleased with it.

Dove Farm 2009

2009-06-10T20:19:00.005+01:00

I spent last weekend on a farm in the Peak District along with some of my stitching friends. We spent the time chatting, stitching, knitting, quilting and lots and lots of laughing!

This is the third year that we've been to the farm and the owner Jane commissioned us to make a wall hanging that can hang in their conference room. I wasn't able to take part but everyone who did take part did a stunning job. Here is the completed hanging:

The farm has a growing flock of alpaca, sheep, cows and poultry. I was only able to get photo's of the alpaca and the hens due to the weather which was distinctly on the soggy side.

Due to the weather we weren't able to enjoy the courtyard but the flowers were looking lovely

You can see more photos of Dove Farm from previous years here and here
and in my photo album if you follow the link in my side bar.

Baa Ram Ewe

2009-06-04T20:46:00.005+01:00

There has been a degree of excitement genereated by knitters in Leeds this week as we've gained a new wool shop - Baa Ram Ewe. Rosie and I went over yesterday to have a browse and had a lovely time. We had a lovely welcome from the owner Verity and she was very tolerant of Rosie's desire to fondle all the wool that was at her eye level.

After much contemplation Rosie and I decided on a skein of Noro Kureyon Sock yarn. As you can see Rosie is very taken with it!

I've also managed to finish my latest pair of socks, knit in Schoeller+Stahl Fortissima Colori Socka Color using a generic top down pattern.

A small Just Nan binge

2009-06-02T16:02:00.003+01:00

I had room in my rotation for two new starts last month and after a very happy time diving into my stash, I came up for air with these Just Nan designs.

First was the Hop Needlebook fob from the In the Tin range from last year. This was my small project for May (I'm trying to stitch one small project a month) I stitched the tin top last year but don't hold your breath for me getting round to the finishing on either of them.

And as I also had an opening for a mid-sized project I pulled the kit for Regency Roses out and made a start. This lovely sampler is a shop exclusive that was designed for Susan at Hanging by a Thread to celebrate the shops 10th Anniversary.

Can't stop

2009-05-27T15:39:00.004+01:00

Got to hit the beach LOL

Maria Spence Update

2009-05-22T19:40:00.002+01:00

It's been a while since I posted an update on Maria but I've been working on her when I get the chance and I've got another four motifs stitched.

Thank you for all the comments on Christmas Stitches and my photos of Rosie. They are all very much appreciated.

Feeding Ducks

2009-05-20T19:18:00.002+01:00

Very near the top of Rosie's list of favourite things are ducks so we went to are local RSBP reserve Fairburn Ings today to feed the ducks (and swans, geese, coots etc)

Here she is watching the swans:

A Coot on her nest:

Two of the Swans displaying:

I love her expression in this shot:

A spot of Baking

2009-05-07T20:28:00.002+01:00

Rosie and I baked some biscuits this morning. Leastwise I baked and she decorated the kitchen with pasta

And the biscuits - Oaty Vanilla biscuits from Jane Brocket's The Gentle Art of Domesticity

Christmas Stitches Finished

2009-05-05T07:55:00.002+01:00

The Drawn Thread - Christmas Stitches
stitched on Lakeside Linens Vintage Mocha using the recommended threads.

Thank you for all the comments on the photo of Rosie and I. It was taken by my husband and was the only one of around a dozen pictures where we were both looking at the camera LOL

Waistcoat finished

2009-04-28T16:17:00.002+01:00

Some of you may remember that last year I mentioned that I was knitting a waistcoat/short sleeved Cardigan from Noro Designer Mini Knits by Jenny Watson. I got the knitting finished at the end of last year and then it languished on the finishing pile waiting to get the seams stitched up until I gave myself a boot up the backside and got it done.

Design 26 from Noro Designer Mini Knits by Jenny Watson, knit in Fyberspates Scrumptious DK. I should mention that there is an errata for this pattern here

Christmas Stitches SAL Update

2009-04-24T20:25:00.003+01:00

Here's my latest update picture of The Drawn Threads Christmas Stitches. We only have one section left to go so I should be finished next week. Yay!

I'm running a bit late with my update as Rosie and I took advantage of the glorious weather we've had here in the UK this week to go to visit my parents who live on the east coast of Yorkshire for a few days. Rosie was a little unsure of the beach to start with but she soon got the hang of it and got a good collection of pebbles in her bucket.

Buttons and Blooms for the Cure

2009-04-18T19:48:00.005+01:00

I pulled this Blackbird Designs kit from Elegant Stitch out of my stash as my small project for April and managed to get it 'finished' last week while Rosie had a long nap :)

If you haven't been already I recommend a visit over to Blackbird Designs blog, Barb and Alma have me drooling every time they post and they are running a competition over there at the moment.

Easter Eggs

2009-04-16T19:46:00.003+01:00

As she was only three weeks old last Easter, this year was Rosie's first opportunity to discover about Easter Eggs. She soon got the idea

but while taken with the chocolate she much preferred playing with the box LOL

Camillas

2009-04-12T19:54:00.004+01:00

My parents bought Rosie a Camilla when she was born hoping that it would flower for her birthday. It didn't quite but it is flowering it's heart out now.

One of Rosie's favourite things to do now is to wander round the garden looking at all the plants coming up.

I'd like to wish all my visitors a Happy Easter. I hope you've all had a lovely day.

Christmas Stitches SAL Update

2009-04-09T20:14:00.002+01:00

Another update of Drawn Threads Christmas Stitches. This time we stitched the bauble section (which would make a lovely Christmas ornament if stitched on it's own).

Finished

2009-04-02T19:59:00.001+01:00

Shepherds Bush - Baby Bug Ball
stitched with the kit materials

Better late than never

2009-03-30T16:43:00.005+01:00

They are a bit late but now life has quietened down round these parts, here are a couple of photos from Rosie's birthday.

From her birthday party:

And on her birthday proper opening her presents.

Christmas Stitches SAL Update

2009-03-25T19:17:00.003Z

We were stitching on The Drawn Threads Christmas Stitches last week and here is my latest progress:

Maren asked about the threads - it's charted for NPI and Threadgather silks and gold blending filament.

Thank you all for the lovely comments on Spot of Spring and Rosie was very taken with all the birthday wishes

A Spot of Spring

2009-03-13T16:15:00.003Z

Spring has definitely sprung round here and to celebrate I stitched The Drawn Threads Spot of Spring.

Worked on some miscellaneous 36 count linen from my stash and the recommended DMC threads. I still need to attach the charm which I will do when I get round to the finishing. I'll probably wait until I've stitched all of the other Spots (hopefully this year!) before I decide on the finishing.

I've also been working on Shepherds Bush's Baby Bug Ball for Rosie. I was hoping to get it finished for her birthday but life got in the way. Still hopefully shouldn't be too long now before it's done.