Wednesday 30 December 2015

A couple of finishes and a UFO

It's not quite New Year yet but my resolution is not to start anything new but complete some UFO' (unfinished objects) Like many stitchers there's so many gorgeous projects out there I find it difficult to finish a project before starting another. Every time I say to myself that I will work the current and the new project along side each other but usually one of them (usually the older of the projects) become a UFO. 

What has not helped for me is through November and December I lost my stitchy bug so got very little done. I am now also into crochet in a big way and do a little bit of knitting. 

On Boxing Day I finished this small finish which took me 3 weeks (yes 3 weeks) to finish.

One thing I love about the time between Christmas and New Year is I have the time off work (yippee) and there's loads of easy watching TV to sit with feet up and stitch/crochet and I can do it without feeling guilty about housework. 

This morning while everyone was still in bed I got up to a lovely quiet house, made myself a cuppa and caught up with my soaps while I finished this. 

I should have taken a before and after picture but all I did to complete was the pink flower on the right hand vase. My photos aren't brilliant its me and my tablet so there's shadows in the pictures. 

I've picked up this as the next UFO on my list
I started this in September 2014 and it was suppose to be a surprise Christmas present for my hubby. It's really nice to work on. I've done about 30 minutes on it today but hope to get a good run tonight and hopefully I might be able to get it finished for hubby's birthday in April. 

My other resolution. To update my blog regularly. 




















Sunday 22 November 2015

A Lovely Surprise in the Post

I received this gorgeous card and candle ornament from a lovely lady from South Africa in the post yesterday I am in a Christmas card exchange on a cross stitch forum and this was my card. It's the first Xmas card I have received. 


Sunday 19 July 2015

Day 25 Vase of Flowers

I'm still enjoying this one but sometimes find it difficult to see the holes-they're not in straight lines

Sunday 12 July 2015

Monday 29 June 2015

Vase of Flowers - Day 4

This is day 4 of my new project. I know I shouldn't have started a new project yet but I did fall in love with it when I saw it in July 2015 CrossStitcher. I ordered the material - a whopping £15 plus postage from Willow Fabrics and this is the first time I have stitched on 19 count aida. It was out of stock so it took a fortnight to come but it was worth it when it came and I'm pleased I didn't use another alternative. 


The material turned up on Friday 26 June and I couldn't wait to get started but due to the type of material I decided to edge it with my sewing machine. 

I tried to edge the material with my sewing machine but my sewing machine and I don't get along too well  And after an hour of trying to thread it and get the bobbin to sit where it's suppose to I finally set off to edge the material AND the material got snagged up!!! And as I've probably mentioned The material was expensive so I spent Friday afternoon over stitching by hand. 

Finally about 5pm I was ready to start and I loved putting the first stitch in. I've stitched loads over the weekend and am pleased  The results. I am using 4 strands of DMC thread on 19 count evenweave. 

Here's the results after 4 days of stitching. 


The only thing is I have a busy week this week with work, evenings out and kids sports days/end of term assemblies so I won't get much done this week. 
















































Sunday 21 June 2015

This weeks crafting

I haven't done much this last week or so. Now the lighter nights are here we've been out and about on an evening and hubby and I have taken up swimming so by the time we've got in from work, gone swimming and walked the dog and had tea I'm too tired to stitch. 

I'm still working on my owl. I don't feel like I'm getting far with this but I am enjoying it still


I'm really onto my crochet at the moment. I'm working on 3 blankets at the moment working them in weekly rotation  this one I call Scandanavian Cool 


There is only one row of dark brown. I have tried doing it again further up but it doesn't work so this might be the only row of dark brown in the blanket. 

I am also trying my hand at knitting. I have subscribed to The Art of Knitting and am working through the squares. 


This is what I've done so far. Im falling way behind I've only completed 4 and started the 5th but I have 14 issues and to make it worse my sister has also subscribed. I'm not saying my sister and I are competitive but she's way ahead of me and I don't like it so my challenge now is to complete a square a fortnight!!!!



I'm 

Thursday 21 May 2015

A finish

I did finish this at the weekend but have only just got round to showing it. 


It was a great little stitch but like all my stitching it took me a lot longer than I thought to stitch. I did hope to finish it over a weekend but it took me 2 weeks to finish. I am also not on target to complete my other WIPSby the end of May so I can start my summery kits. It hasn't helped that I've been doing extra hours at work which sounded like a good idea when I said I would do them but now I'm regretting it. I did not realise how much it would cut into my craft time. 

Friday 1 May 2015

Bank Holiday Weekend Stitching Challenge

Ok so it's another British Bank Holiday weekend here. I am hoping to get lots of stitching done especially as it's predicted to be a rainy one! I have set myself a challenge to get this piece finished 

It is an easy and enjoyable piece as it's mainly block colours but I do need good light to work on it as it's done on 28 count even weave and my eyes are not as good as they use to be. 

Here's an update on my owl 


I hope to have this finished through May and am hoping from June 1 I will be able to,start some new pieces, more 'summery' type ones I have in my 'to do' pile. 



Saturday 18 April 2015

A Finish



So I have finally finished the first of a set of 4 pictures which I have been doing on holiday. They are enjoyable to do with their bright colours and the right mix of block and scattered stitching. Not too taxing for stitching on holiday. On this holiday I've been waking up about 5 am every day so I'm able to get a couple of hours in before the others get up and it gets too hot to stitch.  

This is the fantastic view I have while stitching 


Overlooking the hotel pool and the fantastic carribean sea. And here's my finish. 





Sunday 12 April 2015

Holiday Stitching

Well I'm back onto a piece I haven't touched since my last holiday in August 2014. I continued with the piece on the train from home to Londons Kings Cross. It more difficult than I thought stitching on a moving train but I managed somehow. I picked it up again upon arrival and realised I've used 2 shades of white and it's very noticeable. I refilled my thread card with B2500 which was the number I've written on but now I've seen the difference I remembered I actually used Blanc. A simple and basic mistake but we all make them. I'm so cross with myself for not changing the thread number on the thread card. The difference is noticeable but I might leave it. 


If you look closely you can see the top couple of lines are a different shade of white then the rest of the White 

Saturday 7 March 2015

A cheeky new start.

I did say I wasnt going to start anything else until I'd finished all my WIP's but I do love the Sheena Rogers pin cushion in this months Cross Stitch Collection. The pin cushion I currently use must be about 15 years old so I'm making myself this lovely new one. I love the bright cheery colours. I started it on Thursday. So here's how much I did on Thursday 
And here it is as of 5 minutes ago. 

I think this will take me about a week to do cos I just don't seem to have a lot of time to stitch at the moment. Even as I write this my darling daughter is stood with her friend waiting for me to take her swimming. So off I go for a swim, sauna and jacuzzi (not too bad really 😄) and hopefully I'll get some more stitching done tonight. 

Sunday 25 January 2015

This weeks craft projects

Well I've been busy to week stitching, knitting and crocheting. I'm really into crafting at the moment and keep switching projects so I get to do some of each regularly. I've spent a lot of time in the house this week so I've got quite a bit done on each piece. I'm not sticking to my resolution of posting updates every week but I am trying. 

I've been working on the owl at sunset which is hubby's Christmas present. It's lovely to do with a good mixture of block stitching and confetti stitches so there's enough to keep the interest. Here's an update as of about 10 minutes ago. 


I have a,so been knitting. I have been working on this scarf which is done in a chunky wool which is duck egg blue. It's easy to do and relaxing. 


My sister and I met for a coffee and a catch up on Friday morning then we had a meander around the supermarket. We spotted a new issue of Art of Knitting so we both bought it and have set ourselves a challenge to knit the throw. We're both going to subscribe and keep a photo diary of our progress. Here's how far I've got so far. 


I've also been working on my crochet blanket, this one is coastal ripple. 


I must admit I'm loving this and often found myself stroking it (yes I am sad). 






Wednesday 7 January 2015

Coastal Ripple Blanket

Well I've been diversifying with my crafts and in November started this gorgeous coastal ripple blanket which I found at Attic 24. I loved watching Lucy's blanket grow and knew I had to give it ago myself and I love it. I am working her cosy stripe blanket alongside this and I'm loving doing them both. The only downside is they're not big enough to cover my knees on these cold winter nights. Here's an update so far. 


I would never have put these colours together but they do work well. 

Sunday 4 January 2015

First Post of 2015

I don't make New Years Resolutions but I did promise myself that I would update my Blog weekly. I am inspired by reading Attic 24 blog. I log on at least once a week to check out what Lucy is up to. I have been poorly over Christmas one good thing about being poorly I was able to do some crafting, not loads but some. I now also crochet a lot and I am working on 2 blankets. I work one week on one then swap and do a week on the other. I will post updates as I work on them. 

My stitching updates are below. I'm a slow stitcher so I'm still working on the same ones as previous posts but hopefully there will be a big difference in hat I've done. 

The owl project I started in September and it was suppose to be a present for hubby for Christmas but as you can see it's still a long way from being finished. 

But it is coming on nicely. 

Next is my 'easy' Project. There's not a lot of counting involved so I usually do this on a night  after work as little concentration is required. It's the second one of two. The first one you can see in a previous blog and says 'keep calm and carry on'. This one will say 'now panic and freak out'. When they're finished I hope to display them side by side.