A fun make

I finally got around to using up the remainder of the Wendy Party yarn to make a couple of girl's shoulder bags. I have even done two sizes.

To make, I started with the button hole tab, then increased to the width of the bag. I continued in stocking stitch until it was the required size when doubled up. I then cast off and knitted the shoulder strap separately. I then stitched the sides together and joined the strap, et voila!

I think these are quite fun, even the boys thought so. I am even more determined to knit an adult bag now.

I couldn't resist

I know I said that I wasn't going to buy any more wool, but......

I had to get some buttons, so off to Atkinsons I go and as I walk in the door I see a sign. It says "We pay the VAT Friday, Saturday and Sunday". Interesting I thought, that's worth 13.5%.

I got my buttons with a brief pause by the wool, the wool I liked knitting with so much I said I would like to make something for myself. Then on the way to the checkout I had to stop again, and this jumped into my arms.

So the wool and pattern was reduced, and then the VAT was discounted, so I couldn't resist. Could I?

A first, but definitely not the last

It is amazing how much I can get done when I don't have to go out, Monday was the third day at home. Fantastic. This meant that a lot of stitching got done today, but I can't show you as it is for an exchange.

I just had to say how much I have enjoyed using these threads. This is the first time I have used any Gentle Arts, Weeks Dye Works and Crescent Colours hand dyed floss. I love the way that the colours are working together. I will have to look for more projects that so that I can use them again.

I have another day at home today, so I am hoping that I can get another good stitching session. I really want to get this exchange piece finished this week.

Happy Dancing

I am so happy, I have completed two of my exchanges today. The mail art envelope has been done, pictures to follow, and I've also done Gina's teapot.

This is for a Round Robin on Stitchin Fingers. I chose a DMC design and it stitched up pretty quickly.

I hope Gina likes it when it goes back home. Now it is ready, with plenty of time to spare, to be posted onto the next participant.

I have to do one more exchange piece to complete all my commitments for this month. This is a Blackbird design and is next on my list to be done. I have to cross stitch it and then decide on a finish. The stitching time will give me some much needed thinking time to decide one something suitable. What is even better, I might actually get it completed on time, totally unexpected after the last couple of months.

More beautiful mail

This is what I received yesterday from Lindsay as part of this month's exchange on Exchange Heaven, a wonderful scissor fob and a pair of stork scissors. I love the colour and I am hoping this will mean I no longer keep losing my scissors. Thank you so much Lindsay.



I did make progress on the mail art envelope. The address has been stitched and it has been pinned to the fabric that will be the lining. The boys were using the plug I usually use for the sewing machine and I decided to be kind and let them finish what they were doing.



Instead, I started on Gina's teapot for the RR on Stitchin Fingers. Today I need to finish the spout, handle and lid. Maybe, I'll manage two finishes this weekend.

A black eye and a finish

Wednesday morning saw me at the hospital to have the cyst removed from my eyelid. I have to say I was really impressed. I was in and out before my appointment was due and the actual procedure was over within five minutes.

It has been interesting to watch the colours my eyelid has gone over the last few days. Today, the red bit of the bruise is surrounded by a lovely shade of yellow.

As you can imagine, not a lot got done on Wednesday and Thursday, but I did get the knitting needles out yesterday and have finished this girls jumper. It was interesting to do a v neck jumper with a roll neck collar, but I like the way it all turned out.

This was knitted using Wendy Narvik yarn which is 85% acrylic, 5.5% mohair, 5.5% wool and 4% polyester. It is really soft and cuddly and should be really comfortable to wear.

This weekend's project is to finish the mail art envelope.

Good Mail Day

It was definitely a happy mail day yesterday as this lovely mail art envelope arrived from Lynne. We are exchange partners on Stitchin Fingers.

This fun cat greeted me on the frontand this gorgeous cat was on the back. I even had a surprise when I lifted the flap and found this cheeky chappy! There were also a few goodies inside. I was absolutely delighted and my boys were impressed too. They have never seen anything like it. Maybe I ought to hurry and finish mine and then they can see another one.

I have done the cross stitching, but need to get some iron on interfacing to continue. I should get that Friday so can put it all together over the weekend.

I did manage to finish something yesterday. I finished the last sleeve and the frills on this cardigan.

It's all sewn together and is now in desperate need of blocking. It will look a lot better then.

I even made a good start on this girl's jumper. I did the back and the front yesterday evening. The joys of knitting with big needles and thick wool

I love this wool. It's a wool, mohair, acrylic mix and is lovely and soft. I would love something for myself knitted with this, but I don't think there is any more in stock as I bought this in the sale.

Card Workshop

I spent a very happy Friday morning at a card workshop with D. The other adults there were quite taken with him and so we are now going to be doing some more together over the next few months.

We had to make piles of parcels and then attach them to cards. These are the ones that D did,

and here are mine. D wants me to buy the punches now so we can make some more at home. He thoroughly enjoyed himself and is eager to do some more.

I have a very large collection of pieces of stitching that needs framing or put to other uses and I am hoping to get this done as this year progresses. I have found a home for one piece and have finally appliqued the fish embroidery panel to a tote.

This was a plain one I bought from Hobbycraft ready made. I just got my new machine out and used the blanket stitch to attach the panel to the front. I had put it in place using bondaweb to give it extra stability.

I am now concentrating on getting the exchange and RR pieces out of the way. I have completed almost half the cross stitch for the mail art envelope, so if I have a good day, I hope to get that completed today. I have to make up for not doing anything at all yesterday, I was too tired by the time I got to sit down.

Cat Pad

I haven't taken photos of the baby quilt yet, but I will.

I did finish this cat pad though. Using the cat basket as a template, I cut out two pieces of fabric and batting and sewed them together, leaving a small gap to turn through. I had this pinned and ready for the hand sewing when Kashka decided she would try it out. At least I know it meets with her approval. I hand stitched it together on Tuesday and have plans to make some more. Not only is it good for the basket, but they are great for putting where she regularly sits. Hopefully, it should help to keep the furniture clean and fur free.

Next time I may put some random stitches in it to highlight the padding. We also thought, if we could find the appropriate fabric, we could do some for dog baskets too.

I finally finished my last ATC to go to Australia. Unfortunately, I forget to take a photo before I put it in the envelope. Never mind, just one of those things.

I have almost finished the items for the swap for this month on Exchange heaven. The cross stitch and machine stitching is complete. I just need to do the hand sewing to finish them.
I have decided to have a break next month as I need to catch up with some other exchanges and RR's.

Hopefully I can get these ticked of the list over the next week.

Card Crazy

Seven o'clock yesterday morning and I was already making cards. These are half of the total number I made. These are the butterfly cards and are on rectangular cream cards.

The others were all on square cards. I quite like the black and pink together. These two are mounted on natural coloured cards.

The last set are mounted on white square cards. These took me most of the morning to finish and then I thought it might be a good idea to cook and feed the boys. They tend to complain if they don't get fed.

Once dinner was out of the way, I was busy with the bondaweb and got a quilt top ready for some hand applique. I started doing the hand sewing today whilst waiting for the boys. I'll show you tomorrow what I have done so far.

The sewing machine also made an outing. I will show you what I made tomorrow. The hand sewing was completed today and it has already been unintentionally tested by Kashka. All in all, it was a productive day. I am hoping that a few outstanding projects will be completed this week.

Another biscornu has reached it's destination

This is the last of the biscornus to reach it's new home. This one has gone to Australia to live with Marg. I am sure it will be very happy there, as Marg is a very talented lady and loves stitching. I know it will enjoy better weather than we will here.

I went to Hobbycraft yesterday and managed to get the correct cards to complete the ones I have here to do. See what happens when the boys are there to double check! Mind you, who would think that a pack of cards and envelopes wouldn't be folded cards!

Now I have the cards, you know what I will be doing today. I am hoping they will be completed in time to get the sewing machine out too as I have some machine stitching to do. Unfortunately, I can't stitch all day and evening at the moment, as my eye won't let me. Never mind, only another 10 days and I will hopefully get the cyst treated and can get back to normal.

Hope everyone is having a lovely weekend, we have sun at the moment and I am hoping it will last all day.

Two bears

In between the knitting, I have been doing some cards. These two bears are done in a pyramid style. The top one has a real spring feel with the tulips and I just had to do the second one, as poppies are one of my favourite flowers.

I am in the process of making some other cards, but they are not ready for public view yet. I need some cards to put the designs on. I did try to get some today, but ended up with the wrong ones! Never mind, there is always another day.

Party-Take Two

I am happy to say that another biscornu has reached it's destination. This one was for the exchange on Stitchin Fingers and has gone to Annie in America. I even remembered to put my initials on this one and the date. The pattern again came from The Floss Box.

I was sat knitting merrily away the other evening, thinking that the coat was going to fit me, never mind a six year old! I don't know what happened, but it seemed to be breeding stitches and wasn't getting any smaller. The only thing to do was to take the whole thing off the needles and rip it back to the beginning.

I am so glad I did. Second time around it all went smoothly and quickly and within two days, this is the result. I will go and get some buttons tomorrow and it will be complete. The yarn was a bit of a nightmare as, not only was it a chenille type yarn, there were little loops along the length. I think it was these that were causing the increase in stitches.

I have two balls left, so I am thinking of using them to make a little girl's shoulder bag. As long as there is only a small amount of sewing up, I will be happy. It was a nightmare to sew.

I have already started using one of the other yarns. This one is going to be a lightweight ladies cardigan. I have already completed the back and one of the fronts. This is going to be a quick knit as it is knitted using size 8mm needles.

I am hoping to get some sewing done, but the knitting bug seems to have taken hold for a little while. Might have to get it out of my system first.

Yarn, and some more

Someone was asking to see what yarn I had acquired this week. It has been a very long time since I have bought yarn in these quantities, so it seems very strange. I think though, I will be staying away from yarn shops for a little while.

This arrived Wednesday and only cost me £36. This came from Readicut and were their pot luck packs. They came with several free patterns too, so quite a bargain. Apart from the top pack, I know exactly what I am going to be doing with these.
Then on Friday, this bag appeared.
This is also full of yarn that was in the sale, down to 69p per ball instead of £2.29 and £2.99.

This pink one is appropriately named Party and I am knitting a girls coat. It's not the easiest of yarn to knit with, but it will be lovely and warm. It comes up really thick. The body is shaped, so should look lovely when sewn up. I had a fun time at John Lewis yesterday morning. It was only an hour, but it brought back the memories of when I first learned to crochet when I was about 8. I also had a practice at doing rows. This was new to me so hopefully, I can progress from blanket squares and going in rounds to actually making something. Time will tell, but at least there are two places I can go if I get stuck and need some help. Here is a picture of what I accomplished in my hour.

While at John Lewis, I bought some fabric. I now have all I need to do my applique baby quilt. Hopefully I can get at least the top done this week.

J got to go out yesterday afternoon and I did my bit of knitting in the evening. It didn't last long though because this week has been so busy and I was tired. Early night for me. So here's to today and hopefully there will be plenty of stitching and knitting going on. Just have to decide which.

Colour Exchange

Lorna has now received her biscornu that I stitched for the colour exchange. Her colour choice was dark red. The pattern is from The Floss Box and I managed to find some beads that matched the thread colour.

This week, I have added to my yarn stash. All the yarn was in sales and I have managed to get some good deals. The hard thing now, is to choose what to knit next, I have six patterns to choose from. I think I had better finish the little bolero first. I just have to sew it together and do the borders.

I am at John Lewis this morning for a crochet lesson and J wants me to take him out this afternoon, so I don't think I will be getting much done today. At least I should have this evening, I hope!