17th November 2021

 Oh boy am I tired.   In bed at 7.15pm and about ready to have a little read of this..

I can't even bring myself to doing some crafts.   

I did do some cross stitch last night and did 300 more stitches of this..

It's called Almond Blossom by

Van Gogh.. just at half way mark and started it on July 17th.

I'm off to do some reading.. bye for now

👋 

14th November 2021

For the last few weeks I have been crafting a lot and then I lost my mojo again. I am still trying to use up my acrylic stash into blankets and will start another one soon and probably gift it.  I have so many now!

I have just finished a bolster cushion that I have called Onions Bolster on my Ravelry projects.  I had a go at yarn dyeing with onion skins and it was a good experience.  So interesting to do but I decided to just do it now and then when I want a unique colour.  Now that it is winter and have got no chance of getting skeins dry, I decided to maybe have a go again in the spring/summer next year.

Here is a few photos of the bolster cushion that I have finished tonight.  I have decided it is a present for my son and his partner for Christmas.  I have enough cushions around the house.

It was originally going to be a cowl but I got a bit bored and after deciding it was long enough for a cushion, I left it sitting in my craft pile to be finished and then after about a month, I picked it up again and picked up stitches at one end making sure I left a ridge to show a bit of texture and just knitted and decreased to make it look like the top of a hat.

I then put it down again for a few days and then Friday evening I started on the other end.  In between entertaining the Grandkids (they have gone home now, Sunday) and after finally sitting down and resting this afternoon, I picked up stitches at the other end and just 7 rounds of knitting, an eyelet round, 7 rounds of knitting and again an eyelet round.  I then did a few plain rounds and casted it off.  

I threaded through the eyelet holes with some craft rope that I had lurking about in my craft draw and happy with the results.

Can you see the darker stripe colour.  When I dyed the yarn I held 2 skeins dangling into the dyepot and then slowly emersed the rest. The yarn just sucked up most of the colour.

I am happy with the overall result and I think that if I do more dyeing, I would rather use natural colours rather than acid colours.

I will have to think about the next colour and what I can use to create it.

I did make Frank a pair of socks too out of the yarn but I forgot to take a photo of them.  So out of 2 skeins of dyed yarn, I did quite well.

I am so glad that Autumn/Winter is here now, I love this season.  It is still quite mild though, I hope we get some cold temperatures soon so I can get my wooly hats and scarves out.

I am still working on my cross stitch which seems to be taking forever.. I am at the half way mark and will  take a photo for next time.

Be back soon!

15th October 2021

 I have been on annual leave since Wednesday 13 th,  wanted to destress from work and people.   I have been crafting a lot,  not much house work.   

Frank bought me a blanket kit from Lovecraft which had a pattern with it but i didn't like it.   

I used 4 strands held together of worsted as per original pattern but just did granny square and a 12mm hook.  Its lovely and thick.  Is currently draped over Grand Daughter's bed.   

I have started another one using 5 strands of DK for my Grandson.   

I also finished their Christmas stockings that I cross stitched.  

October 23rd 2021

 I honestly thought I had lost my love of crafts but the past week I gave myself a break from taking knitting to work and by the time I got home,  I was itching to sit and knit. 

I had started knitting another hat using my handspun held together with sock yarn from deep stash and then sorted out my scraps i have left and crocheted 2 scrappy scarves for my Grandchildren.

Here is a picture...

I am using my mobile to write this little blog post, hope the picture is ok.

It is now time to try and use up the last of my scrappy dk etc.  I might just do a blanket for my sister in laws little dog.

Catch up soon, its late and am ready for bed. 

A slow return!

Hi,  such a long time since I posted (January 2021), 

I had to have a break and I am still hurting at the loss of Tipsy, 

my cat of 23 years

 

and Tammie, my dog of 17 years.

Even though it's been over a year since Tipsy died, she has left a big

whole in my heart.

It's only now that I am thinking of rehoming a cat,

I miss the comfort and friendship that they give

plus, my home feels empty.

  

 Tammie died on 11.12.20 and I still have her toys, collar and lead.  I just cannot get rid of them.  Her toys are still sitting in my living room and I look at them every day.  

I know I'm not going to have another dog.  It's not fair on a dog to be left at home for long periods of time because of having to go to work.

So maybe when I can go part-time, hopefully in 7 years time, I might get a little dog again for some company.

I have a colleague, who fosters cats so I can go to her when I am ready to adopt. 

She has about 8 older cats she is looking after, so maybe I can get one from her.

I have done a lot of crafting, not so much spinning but lots of knitting and crochet.  

Below is a picture of a hat that I blended with my grandchildren many months ago, spun it many months ago and recently, knitted and designed it.  

My work colleague, Leigh wanted to try it on straight away and she liked it.  

She is a knitter too, although I keep asking her how she is getting on with a jumper she

started during the first lockdown and she is nearly done and asked if I would

help with sewing it together. 

I have been cross stitching too and finished 3 Christmas stockings and am spending some time this coming

week, to sew them together in time for Christmas.

I will post a picture here when they are done!

Thank you to those who are still following me, and thank you for your patience!

 

3rd January 2021

 Hi and thank you for the comments about the loss of our little dog Tammie who died on the 11th December.  The house is so quiet and we miss her terribly.  You don't realise how attached you are to a pet until they are no longer there to cuddle, to feed, to walk, to take up space on the sofa and bed, to bark at people just going past the house.  Our back door was always being opened to let Tammie out for a wee and it is so odd that, for over a week, we did not open our back door.  I now make a point of opening it, even if it just to throw some bread or seeds out for the birds and squirrels that visit.

So let's get into what has been going on here in my crafting bubble.  I have done a heck a lot of knitting to keep myself busy.  Here is a selection of projects I have made since I last posted..

This pattern is from a kit using Finual Garn PT2 yarn and the kit is called Cairngorm.  I purchased it about a year ago from Ysolda Teague's online store.  TI knitted it to pattern until I got the depth of the hat I wanted and then I stopped the fair isle on the crown.  I think that fair isle stretches when you decrease a lot to form a crown.  It always looks odd to me.

The chart is easy to follow, very clear and it fits on my head good.   

The only negative thing I would say about it is that is not very warm.  If it is a cold and windy day, like we are having now, it is not warm enough for me.  

However, for the spring time weather or autumn weather, it would be perfect.

The next hat I knitted was just a design as you go kind of hat, I wanted to have a go at some colour work and wanted to use my Novita Nalle yarn that I have which is cream, light grey and a dark grey.

The funny thing with this hat is that I did not think about how I was going to decrease for the crown.  

After a bit of frogging and frustration, I decided to just do the best I can and then hope for the best.

The wool is definitely warm and soft and is great to knit with.  It has washed up lovely and soft and of course, went in the washing machine which is a bonus.

The crown looks a bit odd but when I took my Grandchildren home on New Years Day it was so cold and windy and the hats they had were not that warm, so my Grand daughter chose this one.  It's a little big on her but pulls down over her ears to keep her warm.

The next hat that I made was kind of a wing it hat too, I had some black DK yarn and some green Novita Venla yarn left over and decided to have another go at a hat with a little colour change and hopefully, a better crown.

As you can see, this came out much better.  There is a green stripe and then when it was deep enough I decided to just decrease every other row.

I knitted this on a circular needle, as per my preference at the moment, and I knitted 5, k2 tog all the way around on the first row.  I then knitted 1 round.  

Then I knitted 4, k2 tog all the way around and then knitted a row after that.

I repeated it until I got to K1, K2 together and then after doing that I just knitted 2 together.

Et voila, a much better crown I have made.  

This one, my Grandson wanted because it had green in it and is a little big but it keeps him warm and loves it.

I went on annual leave from 23rd December and was glad for the rest.  I had to go to work on the morning that Tammie died and it was really hard to do.  Luckily my job is quite busy and it was only when I came home that the tears would flow.

We had our Grandchildren on the 23rd December and they stayed overnight so that Christmas Eve would be our Christmas Day with them.  They woke up about 7 am and there were lots of excitement and they got spoiled as usual.  They went home in the afternoon and will have them again New Years Eve so that their Mum and baby brother can stay with her parents.

I got 7 or 8 cross stitch kits for Christmas from my partner.  They are full coverage, most of them, so will keep me busy for the next year or two.

There is a sampler, a daffodil and a tiger which is full coverage.  There is also at the bottom right of the photo, a diamond painting which I have never done before.

I do watch a lot of podcasts and love watching 'dizzysticher' on Youtube.  There is such a lot of them to watch and they are amazing the amount of projects that people have on the go at one time.

I could not bare having too many, I get a bit flustered and overwhelmed so I just stick to a knitting project, a crochet project and a cross stitch project.

I will show an update of my latest project next time.

This next photo, to the right, shows you the full coverage cross stitch kits that my partner got me too.

These ones are Van Gogh pictures in full coverage.  I will probably start the one that is at the top left of the photo.  It is a cherry blossom in full coverage.

I am working on a Christmas stocking for my Grandson for Christmas 2021 and when I have done his, I will have to start on my Grand Daughters before I can work on any of these new ones.  I also have to purchase a 3rd Christmas Stocking kit for their baby brother to do.

This is getting quite a long blogpost, sorry about that.  I am hoping to blog once a month.

I was thinking of doing a Youtube channel but I would feel a bit odd plus there is a lot of craft channels on their anyway.

My aim this year is to try and get more views, I was getting about 500 views a month but because of my lack of posting, it has gone down quite substantially.  

I do read blogs, I read Yarnharlots and that is good to read and also Attic24.  

Oh well, I will toddle off now.  It is Sunday afternoon, 4pm, getting dark and need to get on with some more crafting.  Back to work tomorrow!