I've Been Busy

 Thank you so much for all the lovely comments about my kitchen and bathroom, I have to say I am loving them both I can't quite believe the transformation I keep stroking my kitchen cupboards and opening the doors and then watching them close all by themselves, I gaze down at my new flooring and give a sigh of contentment.  As for the new shower in my bathroom it's causing problems I'm afraid because once I get under it I really don't want to get out and energy prices being what they are that is not a good thing haha.

Once the mess was cleared and thing's settled down I had to get over the 70th birthday, thank you for all your birthday wishes😘😘 I did have lovely day and week, I was quite spoilt it has to be said and got some lovely gifts....

This is one of the gifts my lovely daughter got me to use for my embroidery and it has been used many times already, it makes it much easier having two hands free.

My eldest son and DIL gifted those lovely flowers still looking fresh after two weeks and the terracotta rug you can see on the floor, I have to be very careful what I say around my kids, I did mention that I needed a new rug for the conservatory and so they got me one haha.  

I was complaining to my youngest son about not being able to find a NHS dentist and on the morning of my birthday he said I have put a bit of something in your bank account Mother so you can go and get some private dental work done 😲 I really couldn't believe it, as a consequence I have a dental appointment tomorrow and at last I can get some much needed treatment, it's over three years since I was able to visit a dentist.  I am very lucky I know there are so many who can't afford private dental care and are in agony because of dental problems. 

My brother has MS but was able to make this lovely barrow for me it has pride of place outside my front door

I could go on I got some fabulous gifts from family and friends alike and I would like to thank them all for their generosity. 

So What am I up to? 

 I am still working away at the Festive Forrest CAL although I 'm way behind and the CAL is finished already. I wasn't able to keep up because of the disheaval in the house and we don't have much natural light at this time of year so I find it difficult to see to sew the tiny details. I aim to finish it in time for Christmas, fingers crossed that I'll succeed.

Now while I was wading through my cluttered home a new CAL was being released and I was dying to take part, it was impossible at that time and so just as soon as I was able I bought the yarn and I started to make the Whoopa cardigan, by then the CAL was finished and I was able to see all the lovely Whoopa's that had been made.  

The Whoopa CAL was a ten day CAL hosted by Tinna Thórudóttir Thorvaldsdóttir. Tinna has a video tutorial for each day which made it super simple and very quick it took me ten days and look.....

She has introduced us to slouchy blocking which gives the cardigan a lovely drape. I think mine grew five inches after blocking.

I love this stitch it looks like knitted rib, I have used it before as you can see here

I used James Brett Masquerade Chunky and it only took six 100 gram balls to make it I have a feeling that I will be making more.

Another thing I have finished is this

This was an experiment for me, I used Rico Essentials Crochet Cotton which is a 2ply. I Lined the back to enclose the ends and it's the perfect size for a pot holder. I tried this because I'm toying with the idea of making one of the mosaic blanket patterns into a wall hanging, it would be far too large and bulky if I used anything other than the 2ply which I have used here. Cotton yarn doesn't have that much give and you have to be more careful to ensure that your stitches are neat and even but it hasn't put me off so watch this space.

You can find the pattern for this cute penguin here

At the moment I am working on this can you guess what the picture is going to be...

and this is the start of a simple sweater for me..

Time will tell if it ever gets completed.

I hope that you are all well and enjoying your Christmas preparations, I have have done nothing so far and am still looking for some small gifts to hook up for my friends, talk about leaving things to tha last minute.  I have come across these cute decorations here but I have a feeling that they will be super fiddly, although I do like those teeny sweaters, we shall see.

Have a great Sunday 😘😘

Linking with Kathy's Slow Stitching Sunday

Hand Made Monday