Christmas This Year

 Is it just me or are the years speeding by that much quicker? it doesn't seem five minutes since it was last Christmas and here we are again with just a few days left until the big day. I am hosting Christmas this year, I don't know how it happened but there you go, I haven't hosted Christmas since I moved into this tiny house of mine and I'm wondering how we are going to manage it, but all the family won't be present as son number two and family will be spending Christmas with his in-laws and son number three is at present in South Korea awaiting the birth of his first child! yes you heard right my baby son is going to be a Daddy, ok well not quite the baby anymore but hey they are always your babies aren't they?  Minju my beautiful daughter in law is due at the beginning of January and.... it's going to be a girl!!! my first granddaughter😊I wish they lived closer and I wish I could be there at the birth but there you go I'm just hoping all will go well and I can't wait to see pictures/video's of her.

So there will be six adults a child and a baby spending Christmas in my tiny abode, I'm trying to push things into the garage to make more space and I'm making a plan, a floor plan and an everything else plan so it should be ok, past Christmases haven't gone that well for me as you can read in this post written  8 years ago! but now I'm going to play the old lady/bad back card and hopefully everyone will be here on time and do their bit to help, wish me luck!

The lead up to Christmas has been filled with lots of festive crafting...

Baubles Galore.

One of the ladies in my crochet group came up with the brilliant idea of using plastic pool balls as a base for Christmas baubles since then there has been no let up and bauble mania has taken hold.  I honestly can't tell you have many we have made..

from these

to these

Once you get going you get hooked literally😆Why so many you may ask? well we have been giving the Marina some festive cheer...

and of course we wanted some for ourselves, they look great strung up with my Christmas pictures

and hanging on the tree, I like my tree to have traditional colours as you can see, I knit the little santa's when I was living in Syria, they must be over 40 years old! I taught my sisters in law how to knit them too and apparently they are still making them to this day. I love how tree ornaments bring back so many happy memories don't you? it seems like the modern trend is to change them each year with different colours to match the decor, each to their own but I think I'm now to old to change.

The baubles are easily made without a pattern but there are some lovely bauble patterns out there, I used the patterns from this website and there is a lot of choice.

Christmas Trees

These little trees seem to be very popular this year you can see them on all the social media sites and I'm not surprised because they are so easy! a christmas tree made out of a granny square, I have made lots of these as well, even small ones to hang onto gifts, the possibilities are endless, I did decorate some with beads and silver charms but forgot to take a photo. I popped them inside Christmas cards to give as a little gift.

Here they are hanging with trees of Christmases past.

You can find the how to here.

Remember the Penguin I mentioned in the last post? well here he is all ready to be gifted to grandson number three, little Louis, I have a feeling that after a quick cuddle he'll get thrown on the floor but I'm sure Louis's Mummy will rescue him and put him away and bring him out each Christmas.

I have been sewing too, a little Christmas tree embroidery hoop..

There is much more, the u3a crafting groups have been making all sorts of Christmas things to raise finds for charities but more about that later.

Have a great Sunday 😘😘

A Host Of Angels

 Once again I appologise for not being around for a while, this time it was because it hurt too much to sit at the computer.  I hurt my back, and please let this be a warning to you all, think before you lift! It was my own stupid fault, my brother has an electric wheelchair and two of the wheels got wedged between paving stones and gravel, he was completely stuck so yes you guessed it, I tried to lift the chair with him sitting in it out of the gravel, what made me think I could actually do that is beyond me. I felt a pop and the disc actually sliding out and then I was on my knees in excruciating pain. I have hurt my back several times before but nothing like this.

After a very painful five hour wait in A&E I was seen by a paramedic who confirmed that I had slipped a disc. I was told to go home take pain killers and move around as much as possible, no x-rays were taken and there's no follow up. So I have spent a very painful two weeks trying to do just that but boy does it hurt! I am improving and doing exercises that I found on YouTube because I know that by the time I get a GP appointment and I get reffered to a physiotherapist it will be weeks before I'm seen.

I have learnt my lesson, when we see someone in trouble our first instinct is to help, but we have to think before we put ourselves in danger, please be careful.  I think its going to be a few weeks before my back gets better, it's so restricting even driving is painful but I will get there.

I have managed to do some crocheting with my lower back supported with a cushion and a hot water bottle, what would we do without our hot water bottles instant relief ahhh. 

I have been making Angels for NHAP these go into memory boxes.

So simple to make and it's fun to make them with different types of yarn and thread, twelve pairs so far, I'm not sure if I'll make more because I'm now thinking of penguins.😀

An angel is always lovely to give as a gift or to even to hang on your Christmas tree, here is the pattern if you would like to give them a try.

PATTERN

I'm now going to try to plant some spring bulbs into containers, I'm not sure if I'll be able to but I'll give it my best shot as the sun is shinning and the weather is mild for this time of the year, it's set to change at the weekend with cold frosts and even the possibility of snow forecast.

Take Care 😘

Where to Start!

 Hello everyone it's ages since I posted, there seems to be so much going on and the time just goes! Here we are in Autumn already and as I'm writing this the rain is streaming down the windows and I can see the tree's almost bent double with the wind. I'm staying snug indoors for now but I will force myself out for a walk at some point in the day. 

There has been so much going on I really don't know where to start perhaps it would be easier to start from now and work backwards.

Can you believe my little Grandson Julian was one year old last Monday? where did that year go! His Mummy and Daddy did him proud I can tell you they hired a Marque for his birthday and family and friends gathered to wish him a happy birthday, it was a lovely afternoon but I think he was a little overwhelmed by it all at times and we had a few tears. 

Singing Happy Birthday 😊

I decided to make him these for his birthday, I haven't made them since I designed the pattern but they are very popular and always stay in my popular posts feed...

They are so easy and quick to make and I love how they turn out.

You can find the pattern here, I used Aldi so crafty yarn which I had already and it took 100 grams exactly I barely had enough to sew them up. I am waiting for a photo of him wearing them and will show you if one is forthcoming.

Can you remember I made him this little onesie just before he was born...

 As you can see he's wearing it now, but a request has come in for a larger size so did I need any persuading? I was off like a shot to buy yarn, they asked for brown but I hate working with dark colours so I compromised and bought this in shade Koala..

It's another lovely pattern to make and the tutorial is exceptional you can find it here.  The largest size is 12 months and I adapted the pattern to make it bigger.  If anyone wants the numbers I used please just ask.

I hope you are all keeping well, thank you for all the lovely comments that you have been leaving me. I must go round and visit you all and I will try and post on here more often now that the summer is over and the garden is fading... 

Hope to see you again soon😘

Health News and A Finish!

 Two weeks have flown by in the blink of an eye, where does the time go? almost half way through February already.  As usual it's been a busy and quite a stressful two weeks because of family health issues. For regular readers of my blog you will remember I was sent to A&E last October with tingling and numbness down the left side of my head and face, I was told back then that it wasn't stroke related but I needed to see my GP, then I had Covid and I thought it was related to that, but it has never completely gone away and now the symptoms are there all the time.  After several attempts to see a GP I managed to see a Nurse Practitioner and she has referred me for an MRI, that was two weeks ago and I have no idea when I will get an appointment.

I have noticed that the sensation gets markedly worse when I'm using my phone or tablet and decided to do a bit of research on the effects of radiation from mobile phones. There's a lot of material out there and none of it is that reassuring, each mobile phone has it's own SAR rating all of which have to comply with health standards but some of them have quite high ratings even some of the most popular expensive phones. 

I am now limiting my mobile phone use, I admit to using it far too much in the past, I'm always looking things up on google, searching for patterns and anything and everything that takes my fancy and I have to say it's not easy to stop, we get addicted. If I, an old lady can get addicted just think what this is doing to the younger generation, think of how much SAR they will be exposed to over their lifetime.

I'm going to stop there it's a huge subject and it's quite scary when you get into it. I'm hoping that they will find nothing too serious when they eventually do their investigations. 

I had an awful dental experience at the beginning of the week too, the removal of two dental crowns, what an experience! those crowns were stuck down really hard and there was a lot of drilling, prising,pulling and tugging going on. I emerged from that Dental practise after nearly two hours of what I can only call hell😫  I was a quivering mess, thank goodness a friend took me and was there waiting outside to take me home. It took me ages to recover, I have to go back in two weeks for the new crowns but I'm hoping that will be a straight forward experience. 

That was just me, another younger family member has received some very worrying news which will necessitate some quite serious surgery so we are all very concerned as you can imagine.

ON TO BRIGHTER THINGS

My lovely daughter-in-law is due to have her baby on the 19th of this month so we are all excited about that.  I managed to finish the baby onsie

and made some tiny bits and pieces to go with it

Made in white to go with the toggles on the onsie

and these cute booties in the same colour.

Stats -  the onsie pattern was made with Stylecraft Special Aran colour Duck Egg it took almost 400 grams  and you can find the tutorial here

The hat, mittens and booties were all knitted and the free patterns can be found on the lovely Marianna's Lazy Daisy Days Blog  She has a wealth of patterns on there and it's my to go to place for any baby knitting that I do. 

The Socks

I know they look a mess at the moment but they are nearly done, I will complete them this week and have a lovely photo to show you once they are all washed and blocked.

The Embroidery

Yes there has to be some time set aside for embroidery, it's so soothing to sit there and slowly sew one stitch at a time, I'm really enjoying sewing my love heart and that's what I intend to do today along with some sock knitting of course.

I hope that you all have a peaceful Sunday😘😘

Linking with Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching

January End Of The Month Round Up

 Hello and Happy Sunday! There's quite a lot going on in the crafty corner I can tell you and I think it could become a little overwhelming if I don't stop to re-assess and decide how to move forward.  

As you know I  love the idea of  making something different at the weekends so that I can put my WIPS to one side and get the satisfaction of having a finish. The Sophie scarf was made in a few hours and I'm wearing it ...

I quite like it, but it's too big if I make it again I would make it shorter and not so wide, I would also use a better yarn, something softer and maybe variegated.

The pattern I used is here.

This weekend I'm making butterflies because the u3a knitting and crocheting groups are going to yarn bomb our station again. Click here and here  if you would like to see our past displays, that was more than two years ago but since those displays were taken down we continue to hang bunting to the fence surrounding the Station and I think it really puts a smile on the faces of residents and visitors to the Town.   We are thinking a bigger Spring type theme/display this time and I thought that these butterflies would fit the bill quite nicely....

Aren't they pretty? they are named  The Resilient Butterfly and great for using up little bits of stash yarn, the  pattern for these comes with a youtube tutorial and it can be found here 

The reason why things are becoming overwhelming is because I have deadlines coming up for my WIPS and, it's all well and good putting them to one side at the weekend but it means I am more pushed for time.  

Things are progressing, the baby onsie now has the legs complete..

I'm going to concentrate on trying to finish this next week because I need to make booties to match too.  Grandson number three is due towards the end of February, but as you know babies don't always play by the rules and he could put in an early appearance.

The socks are progressing nicely and the heels are starting to make an appearance..

There has been no progress on my secret project and I have a feeling there will be a mad rush to get it finished at the end of February.

Along with the crochet and knitting I have to get my embroidery fix too and so I have started another project to sew along with the The Year of  Woodland Blossoms embroidery.  It's almost February and every year I like to have a heart themed project on the go, here are a couple I made  in previous years..

and I have just started this ..

I found this design on Youtube, there's a great tutorial which includes some stitches I haven't tried before so it should be fun to make. 

I'm sure you can see why I'm overwhelmed one doesn't quite know which way to turn but in all honesty I wouldn't have it any other way, I love to be overwhelmed with crafty stuff.  How many projects are you working on at the moment? 

I hope you all have a lovely Sunday, I'm off to rummage in my stash of little balls to see if I can find some lovely bright colours and then turn them into beautiful butterflies.

Linking with

Kathy's Slow Stitching Sunday.

Lots On The Go

 Hello and a happy Sunday morning to you all, as always a huge thank you for all the lovely comments on my last post.

I have unearthed something which I bought several years ago (although it just seems like yesterday) I had quite forgotten all about it until I decided to sew some seed beads in the centre of my embroidered flower and it stirred the memory..

I have brought it out from under the settee where it was residing and I will work on it now and then, the top part is finished so now on to the sea of poppies. I'm hoping that I have enough of the beads to finish it as the company I bought it from has gone out of business, that will tell you how long ago it is since I bought it. 

I seem to have quite a few sewing works in progress at the moment...

My lovely heart and flowers embroidery is coming along nicely I think the hardest part is trying to decide which colours to choose...

Then of course The Year of Doodles stitchery and as you can see I'm well into the month of March

I have also started a cross stitch this little gnome here...

you can find the pattern here, I'm finding it hard counting all the little squares it's certainly not good for my eyes. I've only managed a few stitches so it's going to take me forever but there's no hurry is there?

As for the Marina creatures a big thank you to my lovely friend Babs who has added these cuties to the family...

At the moment I am busy crocheting a banner to advertise our u3a, it's going to be two meters wide and I'm finding the crochet letters quite a challenge, this is what I've managed so far..

The crochet alphabet is a free pattern and can be found here

So I have lots to be getting on with, I hope you all have a peaceful Sunday and a great week ahead.😘😘

 Linking with the ladies at

Slow Stitching Sunday

Meet Shamus and A Bit Of Embroidery

 I just love this little fella, my feelings were quite mixed as I started to crochet all the individual parts but once he was assembled I quite fell in love with him he has such a sweet face don't you think.😀

Shamus the seagull will join the rest of the sea creatures that we are creating to decorate our Mariner in early Summer. In the meantime he is sat on my stairs I may make a couple of friends to keep him company, time permitting.

You can find the paid pattern for Shamus here he is called Marvin in the pattern but he looked like a Shamus to me.😂

I have completed the month of February on the Year Of Doodles Stitchery

This is a lovely project, it's nice to pick it up and sew a few stitches now and then. I'm looking forward to starting March and picking out the colours is part of the fun. I'm thinking greens, yellows, purples and pinks probably similar to February, they are my favourite colours after all.

and I started the heart stitchery I showed you last week...

I'm enjoying this too, just taking it nice and slow, I'm going to enjoy sewing this this afternoon and the good news is days are getting longer and because we have more natural light there are more sewing hours to enjoy.

I hope you all have a peaceful Sunday and week ahead, see you next time.😘😘

Linking with..

Slow Sunday Stitching

Handmade Monday

A Mosaic Crochet Cushion and a Loveliness of Ladybirds

 Thank you for all the lovely comments on my last post, it's good to know that it's ok to have a lazy day now and then, I did get dressed by the way but I have to admit crochet was still pretty much the order of the day, I didn't manage to finish the ladybirds that day but I have now and here they are ta daa....

The Ladybirds..

 Aren't they cute! 😊  I know that I'm always saying mosaic crochet is easy and it is, however if you try to work with more than two colours at a time it can be more tricky, but I was determined that the ladybirds would look like ladybirds making a whole lot of extra work for myself. Never mind I'm happy with the result and I won't be as pedantic with the rest of the blanket or I'll try not to be.

Did you know that A group of ladybirds is called a Loveliness - I didn't but how perfect!

The Cushion..

Here it is the long awaited cushion. It didn't take me long at all to crochet the tiles, the beauty of this pattern is it's in one piece so no sewing of squares. Although there are 72 tiles to choose from I only selected two for this cushion and I'm happy with how it turned out.

The blanket at the back is this one here

I used fabric for the back which I found in my linen cupboard, I cut it from the back of a cushion cover which  I'd bought years ago and had never used because it was too big. 

I had intended to insert a zip, but the zip I ordered from Amazon arrived broken, I didn't want to delay so I just used good old fashioned press studs for the closure

I used just over 200 grams of Hayfield Sundance Dk in shades Cherry pop and Whitesands which I had left over from making the blanket above.

The Pattern Is Azul and you can find it here.

My garden at dusk

I just love this beautiful climber, I took a cutting from my garden in my previous home and I'm so glad it took. It blooms practically all summer

and the beautiful David Austin Charlotte Rose another cutting from my previous garden,  this year is the first one it has done so well😊

I hope you are all having a great Sunday, I will be going for a long walk with my friend Barrie and there will be a Sunday Lunch at the end of it, I'm watching the weather and hoping that it doesn't decide to rain.  When I get back my son, DIL and little grandson Mikey are coming to visit, then this evening I'm hoping to continue with Mikey's blanket, this week is part two of the CAL and I have already started

can you see the snails starting to emerge?

Take care care until next time.😘😘

Linking with Kathy for Slow Stitching Sunday