New Year - back again

Back again. I had a bit of a funk about writing this blog! I really couldn't see the point of sitting here, writing down what I'd been up to ... but thinking about it I'm going to continue. I shall write about what I've been creating, and where we've been.
Mind you - saying that - I should say that I won't post everything I've finished since my last post! That would take too long! I have to say I finished a few bits at the end of last year, maybe I will get round to posting them at some point - but let's start afresh and go from now.

I am currently working on a Heritage Crafts kit of Neuschwanstein Castle. I'd forgotten how they work those partial stitches they use, but luckily I'd bought the kit with evenweave fabric, so it was not too much of a pain. I'm about two thirds of the way complete, but the camera is tucked away, so I'll post a photo next time. Hopefully that will be a finish (or nearly one anyway).

Remember that Hummel piece I stitched last year?

I finally bought some fabric to finish this as a flat-fold. It will be my first attempt to finish in this way - so watch this space!

My dear friend celebrated her 80th birthday in November so I had to stitch her a special card. I loved the meerkats, but was disappointed that the glue I used showed through the fabric - luckily it almost made a pattern! But I was still upset with the finish.

This was a Joan Elliott pattern which I stitched and added to a christmas card for Jessica this year. My intention is to make another similar each year for her to hang on her tree. Now that they have moved house, they have space to put up a tree, so hopefully I can start this as a tradition for her.

I also finished this for Jess this year. I backed it with a red Christmas print and finally found a small enough hanging rod from Sew and So. (Most of them were too big). Although she is still slow in speaking, there is nothing wrong with her intelligence. And she does not yet write her name legibly. But this year she sat with her mum's Tesco Christmas catalogue and had ripped out the pages where she wanted the toys! So she could slip the pictures into the pocket at the bottom. I also printed out some A4 letter headed sheets which purported to come from Santa's desk, so that her parents could write a reply for her and put it into the pocket as a reply from Santa. 

This year we had Christmas at home alone - merely going to a friend's for a Boxing Day meal. And our New Year was quiet too - we sat at home watching Jools Holland on the television. 

The weather here has been very cold, but so far we have not seen any snow this far south and east. I hope we don't get any either! Tomorrow I have to go for a mammogram and have already decided to go to town on a bus so even with a heavy frost I should be okay for that. Then I have to start looking around for some summer wear - my t-shirts are looking a bit sad! We are off to celebrate our 40th Wedding Anniversary in February in Egypt. We are going with a friend to a hotel in Hurghada and a Nile cruise tagged onto it. At least it should be a fair bit warmer than here!

Right - enough of the computer - time to get the bins ready for collection tomorrow - then make dinner and settle down for a night in front of the television with some knitting. I'm making a tunic style jumper in an Aran weight yarn, so it keeps me warm while I'm making it! The front is almost finished, so I hope to cast on for the back tonight.

Take care

Sandie

Always look on the bright side......

Hi friends! It's been a while I know - but I'm finally back!

Excuses aside, I just haven't been in a good place to post recently - my mind has been elsewhere, but hopefully I'm back now and will try to post more regularly. I've had a few health issues lately, and have discovered that the older you get, the more pills you seem to have to take! Luckily as an OAP I can claim free prescriptions!

What's been going on stitchy wise? I decided that I needed a break from large pieces at the moment. My stitching mojo took a walk somewhere and didn't reappear for a while, so I took some time for other crafts. I finished off those hearts I had completed in December. Here they are with my new candle bridge which we bought this year. (Along with that new tree!)

I finished knitting the pieces for my cardigan - it's all sewn up and awaiting the buttonband to be knitted so I may get it done in time for the final arrival of Spring. I altered a few bits from my wardrobe which had been lamenting in my sewing pile for months. Nothing really worth photographing here though.

In Britain, we have had some severe weather over the first few months of the year. Luckily in the East of England, we did not have the terrific downpours of the West of England and Wales, or even just west of London, where some communities were up to their waists in water, and even entire villages had to be evacuated. However we did have some strong winds and on two separate occasions we had to have fence panels replaced in our garden. On the second occasion we even replaced those which had not been damaged, so now we have completely new fencing on both sides. I would take photos but at the moment it's a bit of a mess out there as I didn't get round to finishing my autumn tidy-up, so when I finally manage to get out there again I'll post some new photos.

As we celebrated our 39th anniversary this year, we took ourselves off on another Hawaiian cruise - the same one that we have done before, although this year it was on a different ship - the Star Princess from Princess Cruises. Nothing like a spot of sunshine to refresh the soul - and the body eh? While away I finished 2 cross stitch pieces - a free Shamrock design from Brooke's Books - scroll down past the alphabet to get the pattern for this. It's actually stitched in a dark purple rayon thread, so it shimmers a bit when you see it.

And the other piece I stitched from a colouring book page. I hope to make this the centre panel of a wall hanging for my GD Jessica. Last year while we were away I bought her an alphabet wall hanging from Hawaii. So I'm thinking that I should try to make a number one to complement it. I was thinking 1 airplane; 2 suitcases; 3 swimsuits etc to tie in with the holiday theme of this piece. Jessica loves anything with Hello Kitty on it, so I should be on to a winner here!

Just before we left on holiday, I noticed that Brother had released a new cutting machine which also operated as a scanner. In the UK the only distributor is Create and Craft, so after we came home I treated myself to a complete set-up. Here is the page to see what I'm talking about if you have missed the hype about it all. The machine arrived last Friday afternoon, and I've been spending a bit of time getting to grips with it. Like all new technology, it has a learning curve, but I can see it being so useful in all areas of my craft. It will be very useful for cutting all those appliqué pieces for Jessica's number quilt! I foresee more on this little beauty in the months to come! 

Well, if you have stuck with me so far, I'll wish you all a good afternoon. I need to get the dinner on, and then I can settle down to try and sort out that buttonband on my new cardigan while I watch Hawaii Five-0 tonight on Sky One. (We did drive past their studio in Honolulu but didn't have time to stop and see if they were filming!)

Until next time

Take care

Sandie

Nearly Christmas - another year gone!

Hi all
I've been hunkered down, trying to finish my Joan Elliott diary piece, which might help to explain why I've been missing my blog lately. And I've had a few minor ornament finishes too.
Joan Elliott diary 2013 (World of Cross Stitch freebie) - started Jan 2013 - finished Dec 17th 2013.

I posted a picture of the finished piece on the Facebook group page - and even received a message from Joan herself, "I am smiling. This piece looks fabulous Sandie". Praise from the designer herself! Thinking I shall make it into a wall hanging, but I'm taking the time to look for the right fabric to use, so it might be a while before I can actually say completed.

I managed to finish 3 small heart pieces, which I'm going to sew into decorations. 

I have some fabric which I bought at the Knitting and Stitching Show, which would be great for this, so I'm going to find a few minutes tomorrow to get them done.

I also bought some cotton yarn at the same show, and have decided that I am going to make a short-sleeved cardigan ready for next spring. I have completed the back (obviously this photo was taken a while ago!). I've taken to knitting during the evenings as the winter nights are so bad for stitching. I have a daylight bulb fitted into a lamp which I use for my sewing machine, but unless I carry it up and down stairs every night I'm stuck for a proper light. Maybe if Santa doesn't bring one, I can wait for the January sales?

We went out to town yesterday, looking for a replacement Christmas tree and a new candle bridge. Our old tree was really too large for the space we normally put it, so this year DH and I decided to look around. We decided that we really liked a minimalist look - so we ended up with an LED "cherry blossom tree". 

We put it up, but haven't yet tidied up around the bottom of the tree, so apologies for the mess!

And to top it off my Blood Pressure has been climbing back up again. So after a trip to the doctor's today, I'm on a new regime of tablets, to be reviewed again in January. The pressures of the Christmas season don't seem to count as far as Doctor's are concerned - all he could suggest was that I don't overeat over Christmas!!!

I did manage to get my hands on the latest issue of Cross Stitch Collection. There's a beautiful Joan Elliott Winter Queen cross stitch in it, which I really want to do (perhaps for next Christmas?)

Or do I start those Nutcrackers (Mike Vickery) which I got earlier in the year? Or a kit called Tiki Tropical Collage (Janlynn) as a memory of our Hawaiian cruises? Or my European Bistro? Or do I continue just with my cheetah that's been languishing lonely in the corner for the last few months?
Decisions, decisions, decisions! Tune in again after Christmas to see what I decide to go with.

In the meantime, here's a little visitor to my back garden to wish you all a Merry Christmas or Happy Winter Holiday.

I hope everyone has a fabulous time with family or friends, and that Santa brings you lots of stash enhancing presents.

'Til January
Sandie

Oh My! February Already

If only I was good at making excuses - I'd come up with a reason why I haven't been around! But I'm not - so I'll just own up and say that not much has been happening and I can't face more time at the laptop!

However I'll start now and try to update you from where we left off last month!

Cross stitching - has been moving on a bit. I've started the Joan Elliott Diary 2013 stitch-along. The idea was  to stitch a picture a month from the diary, but I decided to start with August not January! I gridded the fabric, and made a start. There's been a few messages about it to Joan Elliott on Facebook, as we discovered several mistakes in the printing where World of Cross Stitch has changed colours! Luckily Joan replied and has put us right with the correct colours, even providing a pdf of her finished samples. And surprise surprise I have finished August!

I'm going to do all 12 months on one piece of fabric, and put the name of each design and the month it represents under each one. Now I've started April!

Then I've got another FINISH!

I started to make a bellpull with four Santa designs I found. But after chatting with a friend about Christmas traditions I changed my ideas. She was telling me about how her grand-daughter posted a letter to Santa in her "false" fireplace. I can remember doing that as a child myself. And it got me thinking that Jessica won't have that opportunity as they don't have a chimney, so I came up with an alternative. It's still a bellpull type hanging, but I will sew it up with a pocket at the bottom so that she can put her letters there for Santa. Here's the cross stitching finished. 

The pocket will start just under the word Santa. Then I'm going to back it with felt and sew it onto a hanger so that she can hang it over the doorknob of her bedroom for Santa to collect!

And I've gone back to my cheetah. Not got far here yet as it's loads of confetti stitches. Here's the pattern and how far I've got. 

 I'm starting at the top left corner on this one to try and focus on where I am. It's only four A4 pages, but completely stitched. So I need to be methodical. I discovered that I was one shade missing, but a quick email to Yiota solved that - she's putting it in the post to me today. Good service eh? I've put a link to her website on the right hand side, so go and have a look. I'll be reporting how I get on with this pattern over the next few months.

My knitting hit a brick wall this week - and bounced back at me. I was sure I had enough wool to complete that shrug. But you can guess what I'm going to say can't you? Yes - I'm a third of the way down the second sleeve and rapidly running out of wool. And I can't find any more! So today DH and I went to town and I've come up with a sort of solution! I'm using an Aran weight yarn, so I found 2 different 4-plys which when used together are ALMOST a match. So I'm going to pull it back to the edge of the first sleeve and knit the "back" of the shrug in the mixed, then do the second sleeve in the original. Hopefully it won't look too odd, and I'm reluctant to pull out all those cables, but there's no other way.

I've put a few photos up that I found of some of my older pieces on my Older Cross Stitch Finishes Page, so hop over and have a look.

And on another front we're off on holiday at the end of the week, so I won't be around again until March! Off to LA for a couple of days, then onto the Golden Princess for a 2 week cruise around the Hawaiian Islands. We did the same cruise (on the same ship) in 2010 and had such a fabulous time that we're doing it again. I just hope DH doesn't come home with another ukelele!! I'm intending to hit the craft/sewing shops while we're away, so hopefully there's a bit of spare room in the cases!

  It's our 38th Wedding Anniversary while we're away, so a small celebration on board is in order I think. I'll be missing you!!

Take care 'til next time
Sandie

Tigermum's November WIPocalypse again!

This WIPocalypse seems to come round quicker than ever each month - or maybe it's just that I don't get as much done as I'd hoped each time?

My big finish has to be Egypt - no apologies for giving you the photo again!

Still haven't decided how to frame it though - I must take a trip to the local shops and see what looks right I think.

I also have ANOTHER finish - my frogs came and went quite rapidly without any visits from their froggy cousins either! I'm thinking of a nice vibrant colour frame for this one (once it's pressed!).

I took a few days to make a quick project for DH for Christmas. I can show it here because he never checks my blog! It's been a bit of a job to get it done without him seeing it! I've taken to stitching at the table in the dining room, with another project to hand so that I can swap if I hear him coming! He's always been a bit of a musician (with guitars, clarinets, mandolin, banjo, ukelele and piano keyboard around!) so I went for a music theme. It's called "All that jazz" and It's totally in black apart from a few gold stitches around the singer's dress.

My knitting also takes centre stage this month. I finished my wrist-warmers (and wore them on Monday when we went to London for the day).

I've now started another knitted project - a cabled shrug from a Lion Brand pattern. It's my first attempt using circular needles, and so far I have to say I feel very comfortable with them.

And my cross stitch concludes with the first picture of my cheetah. I showed the fabric on the frame in my last post - here are the first few stitches I've put in. It looks like it will be a slow progress on this one because there are so many pesky confetti type areas, but the finished project looks like it will be worth it. It also uses Madeira threads which is the first time I've sewn a project with them, and so far I'm impressed with their coverage and the fact that - unlike my experience recently with Anchor threads - they do not twist up so much either.

Well, if you're still here I hope you've enjoyed seeing my progress this month. I'm off to check out some of the other blogs and be inspired yet again.
'Til next time - take care and keep warm and dry (especially if you're in the cold or flooded parts of the UK)
Sandie

FINALLY!!!

Morning all

Some of you may guess from my title that I have finally got something to shout about!!

Here was my Egypt piece on 4th November -

And here it is today - FINISHED!! Washed and pressed and ready for framing -

Now I just have to sort out a frame and stretch it square (you will notice the wonky lines which separate each section). That year was my 60th birthday in the November, so not only is it a souvenir of our fantastic trip, but also my birthday.

And on another upbeat note I've managed to finish one of the wrist-warmers I was knitting. I put it down in order to finish the embroidery, now I can get moving on the second one. I am quite happy with how it turned out, but there are a few changes I would make to the pattern if I was to knit another pair in this pattern again. And they are SOOOOO soft! The pattern said to knit 3 cables, but I decided to knit an extra one so that the lower edge comes higher up the wrist - then there's no gap when I wear a coat.

So what am I moving on to next?
Well I decided that while I'm prepping the fabric for my next BAP, I'll get a small one in. Some of you may recognise this kit, as it was discussed on a Yahoo group earlier this year. I'm going to do it as a gift for someone close to me as a Christmas gift!

 

I'm going to add the title - Hear no evil, See no evil, Speak no evil when I finish it too.

And my BAP? - it's really time that I got going on that Baby Cheetah I got from Yiota's xstitch earlier this year. The fabric will be completely covered with stitches, so I've marked out the fabric from the kit with my fabric pen, which will help to make sure that I get all the stitches in the right place and (hopefully) not have too many visits from cousins of my froggy pals above!

 

Here's the fabric marked up, and here are the colours! All pretty similar eh?

 

Watch this space!!!

Finally I had to include a picture as it's Remembrance Day. This picture was posted on Facebook by a catalogue company - a cross stitched picture! 

We remember with gratitude all of the men and women who have given their lives to ensure that we are free to live in the countries we do in freedom. And our thoughts are with the families who have given their loved ones for their countries. 

Until next time - in thoughts of peace

Sandie

Tigermum's EARLY Wipocalypse update October

Evening everyone!

It's getting colder here, and with the news of price rises from our energy companies I've finally brought out the jumpers rather than turning the heating up a few degrees! Have to save the pennies now we're both officially pensioners you know!

What have I been up to? Well - read on -

Egypt - it's actually beginning to feel like I might get this one done by my self-imposed deadline of my birthday in November - TWO years after I started it. Here's the photo I took last night as I finished the mini hieroglyphs above the last two figures.

Now I just have the final hieroglyph band above them to do - so I'm looking to do that during the afternoons - before the light gets too bad each day.

I've started with some of the wool I bought at the show. I'm trying out a pattern for fingerless gloves - I followed blindly, and if I was to knit them again there are some changes I'd make to it. For a start I think the 4 garter stitches at either end of the row should be cut to 2 stitches. After the rib rows the pattern tells you to make 3 rows of garter stitch - why? It doesn't make sense to have that just below the cable pattern. But as long as I knit the second mitt the same as the first it won't really matter! But the wool is lovely and soft - it's called Sublime - a bamboo and pearls dk - something I haven't used before. It would be perfect for baby and toddler clothes too.

All the rest of the items I had on my original WIPocalypse list are still there - glaring at me as I type! But AFTER Egypt I'll pick one to get going on again. How are you doing with your UFO's?? Drop me a line and let me know?

Here's my contribution for Hallowe'en -

This is a Pocket Dragon figurine I collected a few years ago. They were produced by someone called Real Musgrave, but are no longer available. I think they are really cute!

Dinner calls - and I need to get settled in with those gloves for the evening!

Sandie

Back again - September Wipocalypse as well!

Hi everyone
I know I keep saying it - I've been missing in action recently - and I think I've finally worked out why! For the last few months I have had a series of doctor's appointments - nothing serious - but following a Health Check, they discovered I had High Blood Pressure. Over the last 3 months I have been on a series of tablets trying to find one which succeeds in bringing down the BP but which doesn't have other side effects! Over that time I have had swollen ankles and hands, a cough, a kind of skin rash - AND a feeling of lethargy!

Now I finally have it sorted - I'm on another different tablet and this time (touch wood) everything seems to be fine. I've had so much blood taken from me to test that it's okay, and last week I had to have an ECG - scary in a way as I've never had to have one done before! But all the tests came back positively fine, so I now have a 3 month trial of this prescription. All I can say is thank goodness over 60's get free prescription drugs here as it would be costing me a fortune by now! My doctor is off on her maternity leave next week, and she's happy to leave me in the care of their Practice Nurse, so - hopefully everything is back on track.

And now I don't feel so lethargic I'm picking up the stitching again on a regular basis.

So what have I been up to? Well I've decided to pull out the stops on Egypt. It will be 2 years in November since I started it, and I want it done by my birthday (which was when I started - on our Egyptian Nile cruise!)

Here is the original picture from the pack -

and here is where I am today -

I had done all the details of the centre panel and to the left of the mask before I lost my mojo - but since picking it up again I now have done the bottom border (you can just see it poking out from the frame), and I'm busy doing the 2 figures. So far I've managed to get in a couple of hours each day since I picked it up again, so toes crossed (I can't stitch with fingers crossed - silly!) I can get it done soon. 

We also had my DH's 65th birthday last week and had a friend over for a meal. She was widowed last December and it would have been her husband's birthday a few days before my husband's, so I was a bit dubious about asking her as I didn't want to bring up too many unhappy memories for her, but she was happy to come and a good evening was had by all I think. I even started baking again (something I hadn't done for quite a while). I made Sauerbraten and served it with homemade red cabbage, broccoli and potato scallops, followed by a cherry clafoutis and cream. Then I baked some scones, and a raspberry and white chocolate loaf cake. Needless to say there's nothing left so I can't show you pictures! 

I've also decided that I am going to try and sell my old Brother knitting machine. I just don't have time to get on with it these days. So I've gathered all the bits together - from the shed, the loft and the bedroom, cleaned it all up and sorted it out. I've advertised it on Gumtree, so if anyone in the UK knows someone who wants to start up - or is looking for a new machine, ask them to have a look. 

Now I had better get back to my "other duties"! I'm trying to organise my pdf cross stitch files via calibre - the programme I use for my Kindle books. It's been quite easy, but does take time away from sewing - so I limit myself to an hour a day on that! You know (I'm sure) how computers eat up the time you have available!

Til next time - love to everyone - and keep safe

Sandie

FINALLY!

I know, I know...it's been ages since I wrote, but life just seems to get in the way sometimes! Even though we've nothing specific going on, I just don't seem to get round to computers lately! Or maybe it's the fact that I've been avoiding my PC!

Over the last few weeks our desktop has been getting progressively slower! So recently we've been investigating a new PC. Local shops have produced one machine, but our son-in-law has suggested that we try to look at custom-built machines. So I've been trawling through local phonebooks and come up with a short-list of companies. Now I've just got to sit back and wait for their quotes after I emailed them a minimum specification list. Watch this space!

On the sewing front - what have I been up to?

Well I swapped some of my patterns from my Items for sale or swap list. Shelley wanted some patterns and in exchange - I got the Tree Frog Trio by Dimensions! Can't wait to get going on it now! Why don't you have a look and see if there's anything you want there?

Tarrah! A new project - and it's FINISHED!

 

I used a Wordle programme and then converted it in my Ursa WinStitch programme to come up with a cross stitch chart. I've stretched it over a canvas frame and stapled it taut. Then to finish it off I've glued bright orange ric-rac braid around the edges. It's another item for Jessica's second birthday.

Got to go now - only a short note today, but now I've got to finish the knitted jacket as another item for Jess. Then I'm planing to make a fabric "Hungry Caterpillar" - it might get done in time for her birthday or it might not! Watch this space eh?

Take care everyone. I'll try and be a bit more regular next time!
Sandie

Two posts in two days! WIPocalypse update 2

Finally got round to taking some up-to-date photos of my projects! First of all though here's one more photo of our snowy landscape; slowly disappearing now as the sun shines - even if it is weak!

This is my wizard who sits guard over my rock fountain. He sits on a pile of magic books - but they can't be seen! 

On to the work I've been putting into my crafts. For the last few weeks I've been reading a lot of travel guides, so my embroidery took a bit of a back seat. Anyway - here's Egypt. This is the hieroglyph panel on the top left of the main design. (Not a particularly good photo - sorry!)

Now for my Rose fairy. Considering the light has not been too brilliant, and it's quite small work I'm pleased with the progress on this one. It's actually beginning to look like Cecily Mary Barker's fairy!

And for a finale - the knitting I've been doing - I don't profess to be a wonderful knitter, but I bought some specialist yarn and made some scarves - 

Three with a ruffled effect, and the fourth with an eyelash yarn. Think they'll be enough for this cold snap? I bought another ball of a pink mix. Not knitted that one yet; I'm going to save that for a present for my daughter. Hopefully she'll like mine and be delighted to get one of her own!

I've also sat down and made an anniversary card for my DH. We celebrate 37 years together on Feb 18th this year. And of course I can't show the card as he might see it on here!

So I'm using all of the above towards my WIPocalypse thread too! I simply won't have too much time to add another post in a few days for it, so I've updated this post to include it all. The other bits haven't even had a stitch put in them! But I have found another piece I want to add - a square flower pattern I got from Sparkles 'n' Stitching Louise has a few patterns free in her artfire shop. You request it, and she emails it to you separately. I'm thinking of doing it in a variegated thread on white - but I'm also thinking of making a series in various colours which I can use as cushion covers?

Today I went back to the library and returned a pile of travel guides. Why? Well in two weeks time we're off on a cruise in South East Asia! We are travelling with another couple who we have been away with before. We travel to Beijing, spending a few days there and in Xian. Then we get on board the Diamond Princess. First stop is Busan (South Korea), next sailing to Nagasaki (Japan). Then it's back to China for Shanghai and Hong Kong before sailing to Nha Trang and Ho Chi Min City in Vietnam. Bangkok (Thailand) and Singapore finish it all off before we fly home. Not really sure now if February is the right time to travel there? Temperatures will range from -11C to 34C, so we've got a lot of planning to decide what we should pack! I think it will have to be mainly natural fibres, worn in layers which we can take off as we get warmer! So the travel guides have been used extensively looking where the excursions go to from the ship, and planning what is the "must-see" places for each stop. (I've put some reviews and thoughts on my Book Page.) I think I'll be taking the square pattern with me to sew on the cruise as I won't have to worry too much about colours etc and it will be easy to pack!

I'll try and post more before we leave, but who knows where the time goes these days?

Hope you're all keeping well and if you have snow I do hope you're all safe and warm

'Til next time

Sandie

Christmas comes early - again!

This week has had a bit of an explosive nature! Yesterday (after we got our weekly shop) I put a potato in the microwave for lunch. I turned round and a few seconds later I heard a change in the usual noise it made, so I looked back - and there were FLAMES coming from the internal wall!!! I immediately turned it off, and after waiting for it to cool down I opened the door to discover a hole in the wall of the oven! After cleaning it, I tried again, but the same thing happened. So we had to go out again in order to purchase another one! We've recently replaced our kettle, now this - I wonder what the third item will be? I just keep thinking what might have happened if I'd left the kitchen and gone upstairs or something?

Earlier in the year, I entered a competition online to win an extreme knitting kit - something I've never tried, but wanted to. Weeks went by and I hadn't heard anything, so I assumed it had gone to someone else. But the other day I had an email to say that the original person didn't meet the requirement (to live in the UK!), and I was the runner-up. I expected a small package, but instead this ENORMOUS box turned up! These were all inside! The plastic bags at the back contain 2 more kits to make the knitted bags (2 already made up). There's a scarf (made up) and a cushion pack so I can see my knitting skills are going to be challenged even further.

I started knitting years ago, I even have a knitting machine in our shed but the size of these needles has to be a challenge to manipulate! I'll have to finish the couple of mini projects I have started already otherwise I'll be very confused when I pick up one or the other! I've just finished a jacket for Jess knitted from an Elizabeth Zimmerman pattern (look her up if you don't know her work - it's fantastic and so simple to make the pattern fit the size you want - she explains how to alter a jacket to fit a baby, child or adult!)

My cross stitch hit a bit of a brick wall too recently. So much so that I've joined an on-line SAL! I've always resisted before, thinking that I don't like to be told what I'm stitching and when! But this is TOTALLY different! Measi's Musings is having a stitch along with a difference -

• After years of involving myself in round robins and being so overloaded by projects I was committed to do, I’m committing myself to a year of project stripping before the world is supposed to end – my own little Works-in-Progress Apocalypse (or… WIPocalypse for short). The feedback I received when I made my first post was quite encouraging, so instead of a solitary thing,I’m now starting a stitch-a-long for the idea!

So later on this month I will make a list of the projects I'm hoping to clear-up next year, and will be making regular updates on my progress (or lack of it!).

Meantime the progress on my Flower Fairy (for the quilt) and my Egyptian piece have both been slow. So slow that there's not really a point in putting up a photo. Maybe by next week I'll have more progress to show. And I've just bought the fabric for the christmas stocking - so look out for progress on that soon too.

November has always been a busy month for birthdays in our house, so I've been spending a couple of afternoons making cards for them. I've got up to the beginning of December, but I'm going to have to keep making a few more - then of course there's the christmas cards to get moving on!

Today is my daughter's 33rd birthday - I just wish her all the love and luck in the world.

In the meantime the nights are drawing in, the evenings are getting colder and I'm going to have to find my daylight bulb to put back in the lamp so that I can carry on sewing.

I hope your week has been less eventful than mine, and hope you'll keep sewing.
love
Sandie

Back again!

We are safely back from our holidays and all the catching up has been done - washing (ugh), reading emails (wow - how many?), shopping to refill the fridge, etc etc etc...
Also I've been gradually stripping the vine which covers the pergola outside our back door  to make my own grape juice (bit pretentious to call it wine!) before the starlings beat me to it. Last year I opened my bedroom curtains one morning to be greeted by a scene from Hitchcock's film "The Birds". They all flew off at once on my movement, and the sky literally turned black! I hoped the grapes wouldn't ripen too quickly this year as we'd be away, and so far I've stripped about half of the bunches and got about 5 litres which I have to keep straining in order to get rid of the scum which grows on the liquid. If we can only have another few days of good weather I can get the rest picked, but if it turns wet then I shall leave them for the birds!

On our holiday we stopped one night in Cologne and two nights in Munich on the way to Mayrhofen. Each year the Oktoberfest has an image for all the official souvenirs - this year's was based on cross stitch!

I just had to treat myself to a t-shirt with that on - as well as Mike buying a stein to add to his collection! I might even be tempted to try and recreate it as a pattern to stitch. I'm surprised that the financial wizards of Munich hadn't seen that opportunity coming! I always treat myself to something from a holiday in the form of a pattern or kit. This time I got a couple of Rico pattern books (one of flowers and the other a christmas book). When we got to Mayrhofen I went to where my favourite shop used to be - it had gone! In its place was a slot machine "palace"! So I turned to my phone and Googled it - to discover that it had moved into the garage of the owner's house in the next village down! (What did we do before Google??) So we drove down there and up a very steep hill, we discovered Maria's HardarbeitStuberl, in her refurbished garage area. To celebrate I bought 2 patterns and a Hummel kit! (I've wanted to do one for ages).



Apart from that we didn't do a lot on holiday - we stretched out in the sun and watched the world go by. On the Monday before we left home they had 20cm of snow in the garden of our appartment house. Luckily when we got there it had all gone. For the two weeks we stayed the weather was perfect until the very last day when early morning rain fell, covering the mountains around in a dusting of snow again. Now we're home we've read that they are considering starting the season early this year!

But my BIG news (if you're still with me) is that I FINISHED the second side of Jessica's stocking. I still have to wash it and make up the stocking but I can stop panicking that it won't be done in time. I also created two bands which will go round the top of that.

So now I have to chose what to sew next? I must do a bit more to Egypt. But what else?
My cheetah from Yiotta's Cross Stitch?
The Hummel kit from holiday?
Oh I forgot - I've got to do a bit of knitting first - 2 Blanket Bunnies for Jessica's friends and a jacket for her which I've started - an Elizabeth Zimmerman pattern for a Tyrolean style jacket. I'll have to do that before she grows out of it!
Oh well - watch this space to see what I decide to do next.
Love
Sandie