Time to spare

I have finished Jan's RR now. I completed the last stitch before lunchtime yesterday which meant I had a day and a half to spare! Maybe I ought to borrow the wizard's wand and wave it so the the kitten will always be as quiet as this one!

Now all my deadline projects were out of the way and complete until September, it left me some time to do something for myself. I picked up the crochet bag and continued with that

Last night I completed all the rounds that form the side of the bag. I now have to do the edging border and then make some handles. I think that will keep me busy today, though there is a little matter of some housework first. It will also give me some thinking time-do I line the bag or not?

Fabric Postcard Received

We have a fantastic day out yesterday, with glorious weather. The good things didn't end when we came home either. This is what the postman had bought me. ThreeCoyote made this beautiful postcard entitled "Salmon". DS2 was so impressed, I had to wait in line to have a good look at it.

As I expected, there was no stitching yesterday, but the boys are at a party this morning, so while they are away, I can have some uninterrupted stitching time. Let's hope the kitten agrees!

RR update

Despite Hurricane Bill sending over grey skies and rain, I did manage to get some stitching on the RR. I think I have all the threads now.

The cross stitch is complete on the cat, the back stitching will have to wait for the whole thing to be completed. I am now onto the wizards hat. You might just be able to see the sparkle from the kreinik threads and there is plenty more of that to come. This is just a small part of a bigger design, Wizard Magic Picture, taken from the book Magical Cross Stitch. It uses DMC and Kreinik threads to add the magical sparkle.

After all the small stitching, my eyes needed a rest so I did a bit more on the crochet bag to end the day. I think it will need to grow a bit more before it will be a useful size, but it is nice to see the sides coming up. The RR is the last piece I need to get finished this month. I am hoping with the bank holiday this weekend, it will get completed on time. Today, we are out enjoying a boat trip on the canal, so I don't think there will be much stitching today.

Alla Turca Part VII

I have completed my exchange piece and made it up, so it is ready to be packed up and posted. I did restart the RR, only to discover I was still one thread short, so that has gone away again until I have been shopping today. This left me with a bit of time to do something else.

I had an aborted attempt on my ATC. To do what I wanted, I will need a light box, so I either treat myself to one today, or else I have a rethink.

I must say Gaynor has gone to some lengths to stop me from making progress on Alla Turca, she even went as far as sending me this book to sidetrack me. D and I love it, and are picking out projects to try but I was a good girl and got Alla Turca out. This is part VII and was quite a small section, so I easily finished it early evening yesterday.

Only two sections left now, which I hope to do next month. September is going to be my catch up month so everything will be up to date with only the monthly exchanges to have deadlines for.

I did have a rethink over night about the ATC, and will give it another go this afternoon. If it doesn't work, I might end up getting a light box tomorrow. If it does work, I also have the fabric postcard worked out too. I am so glad we have a bank holiday this weekend, I might just about finish everything by the end of the month that needs to be done.

Still Here

I haven't completely disappeared of the face of the earth, but I am working on exchange pieces at the moment which means I can't show you what I have been doing.

At the moment, I am concentrating on the Exchange Heaven "home" exchange which is going a bit slower than planned. I think it is all to do with the interruptions for knitting lessons for the little girl over the road, and then DS2 needed a bit of help with making pasta and a sponge. Not a lot of help was needed, just a little pointer in the right direction, and very tasty were the results.

The threads have arrived, so I will be able to do the RR stitching as soon as the exchange piece is finished, then there is a little matter of an ATC and fabric postcard to do. I have all the ideas, just need the time to do them.

This is a crochet bag that I am doing while the boys are busy with activities. It is inspired by a pattern from Attic24 which I saw on another blog. It is great for putting up and down. Children willing, I shall hopefully have something to show you soon.

Pergamano Cards

Thanks to Gaynor's (http://stitchersanon.blogspot.com/) generosity, I am a happy owner of some pergamano tools and pens. I thought it was about time I got them out and used them. I spent a very pleasant morning colouring and drawing. I have never used colour with pergamano before, which is hardly surprising as I have only ever done one card previously, so it was rather experimental. It's been a good way of using a lot of the cards I had in my box.





I have lots more to try, but D was nagging at me to let him have a go. It gave us an hour or so of peace and quiet as he was concentrating so much.





I think it is now time to concentrate on my exchanges and RR that need to be completed by the end of the month.

Having a Clearout

I have been sorting through my craft supplies, trying to use up what I have, and to find a new home for the things I won't ever use. While doing this I came across some completed cross stitch that needed to be finished in some way.

They went to make three cards (also in my stash). The middle one can be used as a bookmark.

I have two more pieces that will make cards, but as I didn't have any suitable cards, they will have to wait for another day. I should be able to get out towards the end of the week to get some more cards.

I did find a couple of other treasures, but more on that another day.

Short Sleeved Girls Cardigan

I had some of the Sirdar Click DK yarn leftover from a cardigan I made for myself, so I thought I would make some children's cardigans.

I found pattern number 2239 which has short and long sleeve versions of this cardigan. The lower half of the cardigan and sleeves are done in stocking stitch, the upper half in reverse stocking stitch. I was even fortunate enough to find a suitable button in my button tin.

I still have some yarn left, so a long sleeve version is now under way.

On A Roll

I've done three more pencil/pen/crayon rolls. I didn't use wadding for these, I just used interfacing to give the fabric a bit of strength. The fabric seemed a perfect choice for holding pens and pencils.

This one holds pencils and pens,

and then we have one holding pencils, the other crayons.

D now wants one for himself, and J wants two made as gifts by the end of the month. I have kept some of the blue fabric to make one for D. I will have to see what fabric I can find to make for the two girls.

After all this interaction with the sewing machine, I think it is time for the knitting needles to come out.

Three More

Three more pencil/pen rolls hot off the press and slightly different from the first one. After the first one, I had worked out the sequence for when to attach the bindings in relation to the folding and stitching. The next two were still fairly simple to do, one holding 10 pencils, the other 14.

I did a different fastening method for these, I used Velcro. Amazing what you find when you are having a clear out. I have has this so long, I can't remember for what I had originally bought it.

The next one I made, was a lot bigger and I used ribbon to fasten this. I wasn't sure Velcro would be strong enough to hold it shut.

This is a double one and holds up to 46 pens and/or pencils.

I have thought of trying to make some that aren't quilted, but using iron interfacing to give the fabric strength. I thought it might be a little more flexible. I'll let you know the results. I am looking forward to using the fabric, if nothing else, even the non-stitching J thought it was "cool".

ATC Swap

This month's theme on Stitchin Fingers ATC swap is jade plus 2 colours. Mary Lou was really well organised and this has arrived in the post. I love the colours and the textures on this. The base is a felted sweater, overlayed with a chiffon scarf then embroidered and beaded. It really goes well with my front room too.

Thanks Mary Lou, this was a real joy to receive.

First of many

The tablets have done their business and I am moving around freely again. Yippee.

I am doing a craft fair next week, and I thought some pencil and crayon rolls would go down well. This is the first one I made and it was definitely a 'learn as you go along project'. For the first attempt it hasn't turned out too badly.

D keeps wanting to open it once they are closed. We decided for the next one the separating lines would go right to the top and we would put a binding along the bottom edge.

The next RR piece has arrived, so I had better get a design sorted to stitch on that.

Harvest Bell Pull

There was some fabric left from making the bag and I didn't want it to go to waste, so I decided to make a bell pull. This is another first for me, and it didn't turn out too badly, although there were lessons learned for the next one.

The fabric that it is resting on, is the fabric used for the backing. I have quilted around each of the picture motifs, so have kept it very simple.

I think this would look great filling up a little bit of wall space in a kitchen.

Short Sleeve Version

I finally gave in and started taking some tablets for my back, and after a day or so, they have taken effect and doing things has become a lot easier. I finished the short sleeve version of the tie cardigan. I do love short sleeves, so quick and easy to do.

When my back was at it's worse, J and I started thinking about how to make things easier and a table for cutting out seemed to be a better idea than using the floor. He helped rearrange the porch and brought in the little table so my cutting mat could go on it. It fits perfectly.

I've tried it out, and it works. So much easier than getting up and down from the floor. I should have thought of it before.

I received some lovely items in the Home exchange on Exchange Heaven. Michelle sent me this little hanger which is now hanging in my hallway.

There was also this gorgeous cow to bring a smile to every one that sees it.

There were also some DMC rayon threads which I will enjoy using. I have never used them before so I will have to look for something special to try them on.

Thank you so much Michelle, they are beautiful.

Another Quick Knit

The good thing about baby knits is that they are quick. It's a great way to relax in the evening, knitting away, and then within a couple of days, have a finished garment.

As I had plenty of the yellow bubbly yarn, I did this long sleeve tie cardigan. A short sleeved version is already on the needles.

This one is going a bit slower. I don't know what I have done, but I have a bad back which is interfering with everything I do. Hopefully, normal service will resume soon. I have a few exchanges to do this month, so I need to be able to get back to full steam ahead.

New Life

This is another piece of fabric that has been waiting to have a useful life for about fifteen years. My mum bought it for 20p because of the join. After the success of the first bag, I thought it would be perfect to make another one, so yesterday morning, it all took shape.

I used narrower handles than the last one, I felt they were too wide. Great to be able to have a variety.

While making this, I had to take a break, as the girls that live across the road came over for a knitting lesson. They came for just under an hour and want to come back for more today. It's definitely more of a challenge trying to teach two at the same time, than it was teaching D on his own. I was amazed by how well the youngest did, she is 6 and quite happily knit to the end of the row while I was making a drink. Not one stitch was dropped.

My First Flat Fold

On Exchange Heaven this month, the theme was Summer, and I immediately thought of the beach and this lovely design from All Our Yesterdays. I did stitch this some time ago and have been waiting to finish it. Reading blogs makes you try other ideas than just framing pieces as pictures, so I decided to try a flat fold. Folding this to size was the easy bit. I did think it would make a lovely postcard. Maybe I'll do that with another design if it is just a little smaller.





I used the cloud fabric, with the blue skies to hopefully bring the image of warm days.
This was definitely a learning curve. Next time I will try a smaller version, which I think would work better. For a first attempt I am happy, hope my partner is too.

Elephant Quilt Complete

When I was sorting the fabric to make the bag, I found some that I thought would be ideal for the back of the elephant quilt, but I still needed some for the binding. So off I went shopping and came back with a completely different plan.

As soon as we J and I saw this fabric, we thought it would be great for the back of the quilt and the fabric I already had would be used for the binding.

I then stitched almost straight lines, using the flower borders on the front as a guide. The front looks completely different now the binding is on and it is finished. It has really brought out the colour of the elephants. I think I may use some more of the fabric to make a cushion to match.

RR Completed

On Thursday, I was able to get out and stock up on a few stitching items that I needed, including the white thread to finish the tea cup.

It didn't take long at all yesterday to finish doing the cross stitching and the back stitch around the top of the cup. Here it is all complete and ready to send to the next participant.

The next one will be a challenge as it has a mythical/magical theme. Once I have seen what everyone else has done, I will have to try and find a chart to fit. Happy days!

While shopping, I found some fabric for the back of the elephant quilt. I have fabric in my stash for the binding, so that is the next project to be completed.