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

WIPocalypse post 1

Well, the New Year has started and I almost forgot to post my WIPocalypse pics. On the page dedicated to it I have listed what I'm going to work on (as of now) although the list may be added to as the year goes on - the rules allow for that. And how many of us stick to JUST what we decide at the beginning of the year? There's always that last minute gift - or the must-do pattern that we see in a magazine that we decide to slip in! And Measi has kindly said that other crafts can be included too, so I can see my list growing and growing!
So here are the projects as they stand TODAY - Jan 7th at 17.00.

Rose fairy - for my quilt. (I'll add a pic of the quilt soon as I've got most of the panel complete - just need to finish this to complete the whole panel before I add the borders). It's been hard to do any of this over the winter as the light has been so bad this year, so there's not been any progress at all on this!

Egypt - for some reason Blogger has turned this pic - and I can't get it to turn back!!! I'm on the fiddly bits now as each section on either side has plenty of colour changes and LOADS of backstitch - especially those pesky heiroglyphs! You can tell I've been doing a few stitches on this recently because of the Q-snap marks!

This is my longest UFO that I started way back when! It's a blackwork fan design from New Stitches magazine issue 70. Bearing in mind that this months' mag is issue 224 - you can see how long it's been sat around! I think I started it for our 25th anniversary but gave it up in favour of a different project!

Cheetah and Daisy (Hummel) are yet to be started, but they will be next on my list to complete (I think!) As you can see they are both supplied with Aida. As the cheetah is totally covered I think I'll work on that fabric, but I may have to change the Daisy as I think an evenweave will look better as a cushion front.

Another suggestion - do drop by my books page. I've posted my first review of the year. See if it's something you fancy?

Thanks for reading

Talk soon

Sandie XXX

Another finish!

Evening all.
I finally sat down and worked through the Beatrix Potter sampler for my granddaughter. I hated it by the time I finished all that backstitch. Not all of it is placed as acurately as in the pattern, but you're not going to tell - are you?

We're going to see them all on Saturday, so I'll be able to take it with us, along with all the bits I've sewn for Jess. As I said before I'm not investing in framing it! Let the other Grandma do that! It was her choice of picture, so she can do the rest! (Am I a rotten Grandma for saying that?) I made a special label to go on the back of the frame which says "Chosen by Grandma Jenny and stitched by Grandma Sandie". My daughter can put it on the back of the framed picture when it's done.

Having washed and pressed it, I sat down and sorted through all my threads and now I'm ready to start on the second side of my christmas stocking. Got the fabric and threads out, and I must get going on it if I'm to make that deadline too! My special threads - DMC linens, metallic threads, Kreinik and other bits of Anchor etc have benefitted from a tidy-up (I normally stitch in DMC). I've put them all together in one drawer of my cabinet and those which I haven't started yet are sorted and wrapped in bags.

Yesterday we sat down with some friends and sorted out a joint holiday in 2012! We're off on a cruise to China, with a land tour included too! It's one of the last countries on my "Before I die" list, so I'm really pleased! But I'll post more about that later - it's a bit too soon to go on about that one! But after our friend's diagnosis with cancer, Mike and I have decided that we'll go out adventuring while we can.

I spent yesterday evening organising the books on my e-reader. There are so many books out there I want to read; I still read "real" books from the library, but I seem to be borrowing more non-fiction or cd's from my local library rather than books. If they're on my reader I can read them when I want to, not when the library supplies it - often with a time limit because someone else is waiting for it!

Better go - the stocking calls!
Take care
Sandie

A month gone by

Hi all, January's nearly finished, the weather is cold and nasty, and all I want to do is curl up somewhere warm with a nice cup of tea and a good read. I've got some great books from the library recently, so I've been spending a load of time doing just that. Of course my Egyptian piece has suffered because of it but I can always spend another week on that. I've just read Paul O'Grady's second part of his biography - "The Devil rides out"; "The Dancing Years", part 33 of the Morland Dynasty series by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles; and both the latest Kathy Reichs and Patricia Cornwell. Not bad going for a week eh?
As a result I haven't photographed my progress (or lack of it), so instead I'll include a couple of older pieces which are hanging on my walls.

These two pieces are hanging in our bedroom. The clarinet represents my husband - he plays clarinet, sax, guitar, banjo and ukelele!

The accordian is my daughter. We once went on holiday to Austria when she was about 7 and she came back adamant that she wanted to play; so we bought her one and she still plays today!

The next 2 pieces are just things I liked and wanted to do!

The Lion Above - I completed this but never got round to framing or deciding how to finish it off - now I look at it I think - maybe a cushion?

The Praying Hands took me ages with all those sepia tones, but I think it was worth it. It remains one of my favourite pieces to date.

Over the next few weeks I'll put other pieces up here that I've worked on, but here's the piece that started it all - Erika's birth sampler. At the time I didn't know better - I sewed it all over one thread, using motifs that I picked up from a variety of magazines and things.
I never did frame it - I have it hanging with those plastic frame clips which we used to hang poster prints with. Last Christmas I was given some proper bell-pull ends, so maybe I'll get round to putting it on those!




Anyway my pile of books calls for today and tomorrow I'm off to see my daughter and grand daughter. (By the way - thanks to everyone for all the best wishes for Jessica's recovery - she got home late last Saturday night and seems to be none the worse for wear).
Bye
Sandie