Christmas gifts and making a start with the Christmas Mosaic

 The clocks have gone back and I can feel myself slipping into hibernation mode, although I do love long Summer days I quite enjoy the cosiness of winter evenings as well, the ritual of locking the doors, closing the curtains and lighting soft lamps and candles, sitting in my favorite chair with my cuppa and a warm crocheted throw over my lap.  Then whatever project I'm working on sitting at arms reach along with TV remote and audio book close by. I am quite content sitting there in my little world and have to make myself get up and move around but to be honest it's usually just as far as the kitchen to get another warm drink.

What about you lovely people? I would love to know your evening ritual.  I live alone so I'm lucky in that I have no one else to please but myself.

I'm also lucky because I love to crochet with a passion and if it's a new pattern even better.  I have started not one but two Mosaic crochet CALS and to be honest I'm wishing that I had two pairs of hands.

The first is the one I told you about in my last post Sonia's Holiday Mosaic, it runs over six weeks it's amazing to think that if all goes well I'll have a beautiful blanket in less that two months just in time to be gifted for Christmas.

Christmas Crackers

Then quite by chance I came across yet another beautiful CAL for a Christmas blanket on Facebook and it's free which is very generous of the designer because there's a lot of work goes into designing any pattern but Mosaic especially because of the charts and in this case there are written instructions too.

This one is called Cosy Christmas and this the start..

The designer is Fiona Kirk and you can find the pattern here  However if you join her Funky Loops community on Facebook the pattern can be found there for free. The pattern is released over six weeks.  I would like to donate this one to be sold or raffled for a charity but I'm not confident that I will have it finished in time, if that's the case then I will put it away until next year.  I wish they would release the new Christmas patterns just that bit earlier.

Along with the crochet there has been quite a bit of sewing going on I am a member of the u3a sewing group and we brainstorm for little gift idea's for Christmas well in advance, we usually start sewing them in September, we had lots of idea's this year, just for small things to be gifted to friends who appreciate a little handmade something, this week I have made these..

Little lavender bonnets very easy to make, in fact quite addictive but I had to stop at five as I had run out of fresh lavender, they really do smell divine. 😊

Do you gift little handmade items and are they appreciated? I plan to make more little sewn gifts this afternoon the sun is actually shining and my conservatory beckons so I will say bye for now and I hope you all have a peaceful Sunday. 😘😘  

Linking with the ladies at 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

Love Hearts

Thank you for all the lovely comments in my last post, I am really enjoying the Year Of Doodles stitchery and the month of February is coming along fine in fact I have almost finished it.  

I have been looking for another stitching project something small with a heart theme to add to my heart themed collection after all I don't think that you can have too many hearts around you and this month being the month of love is a great time to start one I think, what about this...

 

You can download the free pdf here

and just because Valentines day will be with us next week I made some love bugs 

Cute don't you think? you can find the pattern for them here

Tea anyone?

I'm in the mood for making fiddly things right now which is just as well because this little tea set fit that bill to perfection and I think it was worth the effort it's so cute.  This is destined for our Marina yarn bombing operation which is taking place this Summer, we are trying to decide how best to display it, we are thinking of having a picnic table so I'm planning to make other edible projects too. You can find the pattern for the tea set here

This starfish has put in an appearance as well

Pattern here

At the moment I'm busy crocheting a crab I mean to say what else would you be doing on a Sunday haha

Have a great Valentine's Day sending love and hugs your way😘😘

Linking with 

Slow Sunday Stitching

Handmade Monday

The loop scoop

Oombawka Wednesday Link Party

The First Month

 The first month of the year has been a very busy one, I haven't even had time to post or visit you lovely people so I'm making time just to check in and say hi. 

I have been busy with my involvement with my local u3a we have a lot of issues to deal with at the moment one of them being my term on the committee is coming to an end along with six other committee members and trying to get people to come onto the committee is proving to be a challenge.  I will still stay on as communications officer and manage their website and as group coordinator as you don't need to be on the committee in order to do those roles. However if someone would like to take them over I wouldn't stand in their way.  It's a shame that people don't like to get involved in the running of things but enjoy the facilities and numerous groups that are on offer. If we don't have a committee then unfortunately we will have to close down but fingers crossed it won't come to that we have until April to get more committee members on board. 

I have been crafting none stop throughout January with lots of projects on the go I started this at the beginning of the year and hope to complete a section a month...

A YEAR OF DOODLES

I finished January yesterday just in time for the start of the new month and I'm now choosing colours for February, I'm thinking lots of pink and red because of valentines and maybe some yellow and purple because of the Spring bulbs that I hope will soon begin to appear.

You can find the pre printed fabric here to purchase on Stitchdoodles

I did complete the Festive Forrest embroidery and will show you once I have it framed.

Then just to keep things interesting along with the sewing I have been making these..

These little owls are requested by NHAP.  They place one in a little bag along with a message and are left outside for someone to find in the hope that it will put a smile on someones face and also to bring awareness of NHAP and the work that it does, I have just been to my sewing group today and they are going to make some fabric ones too.

As if that wasn't enough we are going to decorate our Mariner again, regular readers of my blog will remember this back in 2019, can you believe that display was left intact throughout the whole of the summer, people loved it and came from miles around just to see it.  It had a mention in our local press as well.  We felt that we needed to spread a little joy again in these depressing times so watch this space as all kinds of beach themed objects begin to emerge. 

I hope you have all had a lovely start to the new year, I'm going to have a pop around to see what you have all been up to. 😊

Progress

 Time seems to fly and at the same time it drags if that makes sense, I suppose it depends on how you look at things, when you are waiting for something to happen then it seems to drag but when you look at the date, October already you think here we are nearly at the end of another year, where has it gone?

Things have moved on a bit since my last post but there is still a lot of stuff up in the air which could take sometime but thank goodness for the things that keep us sane like this...

This is the Festive Forest SAL from Stitchdoodles I had so much fun embroidering this little cabin and I think for the first time ever I managed to complete it in time for part two where we sew the candy canes and the little birds that sit on the top.  The candy canes are done but I'm having a bit of a hard time with the owl, it's not easy for me to embroider small things without them looking a bit of a mess I have already unpicked the owls face once and will have to try again.

After visiting Linda at Crafty Gardener I see yet another SAL has started from Stitchdoodles Stitch a Leaf a Day what fun!  it's a free template too, do I have time to do this too do you think? I'll certainly have a try but I'll have to play catch up it's day two already.

My builder knocked on my door at 7pm the other night and said I'm going to start on your bathroom he gutted it and this is how it looks now..

He said he would come back and continue the next day but he's been nowhere near since so this is the third day it has been left like this, to say I'm angry is an understatement. Why do these builders take on so many jobs at once instead of finishing them one job or even two at a time. 

Let's see what tomorrow brings.🤞

I'm linking with Kathy's Slow Stitching Sunday I love to see what everyone has been up to there's so much inspiration.

Have a great Sunday 😊

Crochet, Embroidery and a Fall!

 This week has gone past in a blur! so much to do and so little time..

I have been busy on the craft front and have managed to make another 24" square, it consists of four twelve inch squares, two of which I made last May for the Patchwork CAL.  This was another project of mine which never got completed, I had intended to make a full blanket but I found that it was difficult to get the squares the same size and there were so many ends to weave in I got fed up with it and only managed to make these two...

They are joined by two c2c squares which is my absolute favourite method of crochet at the moment it's so quick and easy.

Making these large squares for the Remember me with love blankets is a great way to make use of unfinished projects, I have found yet another batch of squares which I'm hoping to to use for this purpose too.😊

 

A remember me with love blanket is made up of six 24 inch squares making a blanket of  48"x72", these are then given to end of life patients and then handed over to relatives once the person has passed away.

I have completed that stitchery at last!

The Potting Shed

I have been working on this on and off since the beginning of the year, it's by no means perfect but I do like it now that it's finished which is a relief as I was falling out of love with it half way through. Mine looks nowhere near as good as the one in the magazine where I got the pattern from but I have come to the conclusion that it really doesn't matter, never strive for perfection and then you won't be disappointed. 

This is the magazine ..

 On to other things....

I had a fall this week. thankfully it wasn't serious but it did hurt when I crashed to the floor after tripping over the door ledge, I was lay there for a good five minutes until I could actually move myself, I think it was because of the shock and the impact. I wasn't sure at first if I had broken anything but thankfully I hadn't.  

Now why did I fall? because I'm always rushing too and fro with things on my mind, thinking about what I'm going to do next and then what I'm going to do after that. In this case I was thinking about my next crochet project and I had been into the garage to collect the yarn that I needed for it, at the same time I was thinking about whether I had enough fabric to make a pair of curtains for my bedroom with the fabric I made the pentagon bowl with below..

Picture the scene, I stride out of the garage with armfuls of yarn and fabric when I went to step into the house I couldn't see the door ledge because of all the stuff I was carrying and misjudged the height and over I went arms outstretched trying to break the fall, everything scattering to the floor, I crashed into a bamboo chair which shot across the floor crashing into another chair and it banged up against the wall, I lay stunned with all this mess around me.

Lesson to self, Slow down, carry small loads and think about what you are doing! I have told myself this many times but in the heat of the moment I forget.  I think as we get older we have to try to discipline ourselves to really think about what we are doing. 

I always make sure that my stairs are always well lit and I say to myself take it slow and hold onto the banister, I have never fallen down the stairs however I have fallen up them, I didn't apply the same rule when I was going up as to when I was going down and so I tripped over the top stair and crash landed onto the landing a few weeks ago, luckily I missed crashing into the radiator and just landed on the carpet and although I was stunned I didn't hurt myself .  I have been lucky twice! 

Please let it be a lesson to all of us who are getting on in years, it's so easy to fall and break a bone as we get older, be mindful.

As always thank you for all the lovely comments and suggestions I got from my last post I do appreciate them all and all your suggestions are always taken onboard.

 What are your plans this weekend? It was my grandson Mikey's fourth birthday earlier in the week and so my DIL is planning a little party for him this weekend so I'm looking forward to that.😊

Leaving you with beautiful crocuses in full bloom in my front lawn..

Take care until next time. 😘😘

Linking with

Slow Stitching Sunday 

Handmade Monday

Oombawkadesigncrochet

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Having Fun with something new

 Becki from the blog Field Lilies has decided that she is going to push herself to try as many new things as she can this year and has invited us to join her, you can read her post here.

I think that it's a great idea because we all know that it's good for us to try something new, it keeps our brains active and it boosts our mood as well. Most of the new things I try I have to admit are mostly craft related but there are a few exceptions and I want to expand on those.  I have counted up the new things I have tried so far this year and they are as follows

1.  Made a square with a c2c chart.
2. Dabbled in needle felting
3. Assembled a lamp for the first time (I don't know if that counts but it's my list so it's staying there haha)

Number Four

Who would have thought that cutting out countless pentagon shapes would be so satisfying.  

I was unable to attend my u3a Patchwork Group for the last couple of sessions because I was unwell, although it's called a patchwork and embroidery group we dabble in all types of crafts really which always makes it interesting and a lot of fun too.

The leader of the group was good enough to email me details of  what they were making  and provided me with instructions and templates for the pentagons.  The object is to make little bowls using fabric pentagons using the English Paper Piecing  (EPP)  method.

When I looked over the instructions and realised the amount of work involved I thought no way! but do you know I'm enjoying every bit of the process.

 I didn't think I would have the patience to cut out all the bits that I would need, as it turned out, I was completely absorbed and it kept me totally focused on what I was doing which in turn helped me forget the awful way I was feeling health wise. 

  I was so happy with how this cute little bowl turned out and as you can see I even managed to centre the fabric so that it all looks quite symmetrical, I'm feeling quite proud of myself  😊.

Now that I'm feeling well again and going about my daily business as usual, I'm feeling quite frustrated that I don't have enough time to just sit and play with these pentagons all day.  Everything I was going to do this month has been put to one side so that I can focus on these but now I need to stop and make room for something else, I can continue with these next week at the next patchwork class.

If you would like to try these yourself you can find a great tutorial here  

and on YouTube here

Number Five 

I've joined my u3a Italian Language group, now this is a biggie for me because I'm finding it increasingly difficult to retain new knowledge it seems to take me so much longer than it used to and Italian is entirely new to me.  I was completely overwhelmed at my first session yesterday but I'm determined to give it a try so please wish me luck I'm going to need it. 😵

Have you tried anything new lately?

Five new things so far for 2022

Take care until next time. 😘😘

Linking with Kathy's Quilts Slow Sunday Stitching.

Sum of their Stories Handmade Monday

The Last Stitch!

 I did it! the last stitch of the Twelve Days of Christmas Sampler was placed late on Christmas Eve, and yes I did do a little dance to celebrate. I am so pleased that I managed to get it finished but it was touch and go as there was so much to plan and organise because of Christmas.  Now it needs framing and then it will go away until next Christmas.

This is how it all began way back in September 2020 when Jo invited us to sew along with her, I challenged myself to sew a day a month, it didn't quite happen but at least it was sewn in time for Christmas.

 I am pleased to say that this project cost me absolutely nothing I had all the materials that were needed in my stash.

Many years ago a work colleague brought her collection of cross stitch magazines and quite a few cross stitch kits into work and asked if anyone wanted any as she was finished with them, of course I pounced on them at the time and kept the magazines and made quite a few of the projects in them, when I moved house I passed the magazines on but kept what was in the kits the Aida fabric and the silks. 

Go back even further to 1975 - 1995 when I was living in Syria I often frequented  Sūq al-Ḥamīdīyah in Damascus it was like paradise for a craft lover like me.  While I was there I purchased dozens of embroidery silks and I still have lots left.  For the Twelve days of Christmas Sampler all the threads came from that particular stash, I was afraid that I would run out of the red but as luck would have it I had just enough as if it had been waiting for this particular project. 

So as you can see this item has quite a history already. I intend writing a little note and will put it inside of the frame at the back for future generations to find explaining how it all came about. They will also have the fun of finding the mistake in each of the twelve days too, because not one of them is perfect and the mistakes weren't made on purpose either haha.

Although I really enjoyed making this I have come to the conclusion that cross stitch is just a bit too taxing for my eyes now.  To make this I had to wear magnifying lenses and make sure I was sat in good light and even after doing that, at the end of the session my eyes were aching and sore.  I'm not saying I won't ever do a cross stitch design again but I think for my next project I'm looking for something that is easier to see and won't strain my eyes as much. With this in mind I have been browsing and searching for something to sew.

I love embroidery although it has to be said I'm no expert, I did purchase a few Embroidery magazines last Summer and there are some lovely templates that came free with the magazine and I would like to make some of those.

I have also found this website Stitchdoodles  which I'm sure many of you will be familiar with but is new to me.  I love it as there is so much inspiration and a lot of information about embroidery techniques.  They are hosting  the SAL Winter Splender which is due to start  on the 12th January. Are any of you sewers joining in with this? I'm not going to take part just now but I will be watching the Facebook page to see everyone's creations. 

I like the idea of completing something small each month and I like the look of the Birth Month Flowers, the templates are available for free on the website along with instructions on how to sew them, I have already downloaded the January birth flower snowdrops and I'm hoping that I have the threads to sew it in my stash, I'm sure I will have (see above haha)

As for crochet, I have so many crochet projects buzzing in my head but I must finish the throw that I'm making to match the cushions and new rug, I'm starting on the border now so it shouldn't be long.

I am going to try and post more often this year but I always say this and then life gets in the way but my intentions are good, the biggest problem I find is, and I've said this before several times there just isn't enough hours in the day! 😄

Take care until next time. 😘😘

Bed Runners Are In!

 Who would have thought it, well certainly not me that's for sure.  As far as I was concerned a bed runner was something you encountered in a hotel.  So what is a bed runner and what is their purpose ?

A bed runner is a long narrow piece of fabric, and it's used to enhance the appearance of an otherwise plain bed or to enhance the décor of the room.  

In a hotel setting it's also there to protect the bed as visitor may lie on top of the bed without removing their footwear. ( I would never do that!)

The first time I made one of these was in this post, it was used to enable people with dementia to  recognise their own bed, probably in a care home setting.

When my daughter in law mentioned that she had bought new curtains and would like a bed runner to go with them my mind started racing,  her birthday was coming up so I thought that this would be the ideal thing to make for it. 

I asked my son to send me a photo of the curtains without her knowing and then picked out a colour from them, I was a little nervous because choosing colours from a photo is tricky.  I knew that the bed cover was white so whatever I chose would go with the bed but getting the shading right to match the curtains was a different matter.

I didn't have a lot of time to make this and I had to wait for the yarn to be delivered  so it had to be an easy pattern, something that wasn't too complicated and I could work up quickly. 

Because the curtains had a lot of detail I decided to make it in one colour, if  I'd had more time to think I may have done differently. 

Once I'd finished making it, I enlisted my daughters advice about the border and made quite a few samples for her to see.  She thought that the grey edging made a nice contrast and picked up another colour in the curtains.

Stats

I worked this C2C using a 5mm hook and 850 grams Stylecraft Special Aran in shade Camel

For the border I worked one round in trebles (dc US) and I worked crab stitch or reverse dc for the final round with a 4.5mm hook and I used Stylecraft Special Dk in grey. 

It measured 60cm x 240cm

It was lovely to make because it was just mindless crochet, I do love working C2C because it's so quick and you can get the exact size you want effortlessly.

My DIL had painted a picture to hang in the bedroom to go with the curtains too 

I decided to paint a little rock to go with it

She sent me a photo of her bed with the bed runner in situ and I'm pleased to say she was delighted with it phew! 😊

I'm now thinking that bed runners are a good idea, they certainly enhance a plain bed.  I have some yarn left over and I'm thinking of  making a couple of cushions to match to put on the bed if she would like me to of course. 

I hope you all had a lovely Easter, I'm pleased to report that little Mikey enjoyed looking for Easter eggs in my garden, here he is carrying a basket to put them into, we had a two hour window of lovely warm sunshine just enough time for him to enjoy the egg hunt 

and for us to have something to eat. I ate far too much chocolate but hey it was Easter.😋

In the meantime day seven from the twelve days of Christmas sampler is underway 

and I'm working on the border for my hooked and locked blanket so hopefully I will have it finished for next week

What are you all up to? I'm still waiting for some decent Spring weather it's freezing here at the moment.

Have a great week!

Click here to see what great parties I will be linking to this week.