A Girl As Mad As Birds

On hiatus

2010-09-06T18:18:00.000+01:00

I know I still owe people emails and exchanges, as well as pictures for blogs and stuff - not to mention the Travelling Stitcher pattern, and my freebie patterns. And I was beginning to get a handle on stuff, as one of the stresses in my life got to a bearable place.

And then my sister has been in hospital this last week as an emergency admission. Whilst my parents are away on holiday (ssh, we're not telling them). So I've been visiting and trying to help where I can, in a week that leads up to my employer's national conference.

Is my life a soap opera right now? If so, I never wanted to be on TV in the first place!

Apologies to all those who I'm letting down, I will try and make it up to you. And if you can send good thoughts my sister's way, they would be appreciated. This is the second major health scare with a close family member in the last ten months :(

Still Here...

2010-08-21T07:43:00.000+01:00

I seem to be saying that a lot lately.

Haven't been stitching much, or interacting much. The last exchange I stitched went missing (a fatal combination of Royal Mail and Canada Post...) and well ... it's just the icing on the cake. I'm behind on a couple of further exchanges - AGAIN, and I really hate that ... so these will be the last ones I do for a while.

I got good grades for my Uni work, and I'm really loving my new job, and the move to full time hours has been okay, honestly, especially as I can leave my work at the office door. So life should be peachy, but it doesn't work that way, does it? "Stuff" is going on that I don't really feel comfortable talking about on my blog, but some are getting resolved, some are on going, and I just have to keep on keeping on ...

For those collecting my biscornu charts - I will be restarting those when I get back to regular posting, but I don't know when that will be yet.

I hope everyone is okay ... I haven't been reading blogs so I don't know, but I hope you are all well and stitching up a storm!

Happy Canada Day!

2010-07-01T07:54:00.000+01:00

I hope Canadians everywhere have a lovely day!

See, I remembered this year :o)

Radio Silence Broken!

2010-06-26T09:23:00.000+01:00

Hello! *blows dust off the blog*...

Next time I look at changing jobs, remind me not to do it in the middle of assessment season. And remind me that recruiting for interns and my replacement at the same time as doing handover documents, submitting proposals for work I won't be around to see happen and setting up a subsidiary charity doesn't help my blood pressure or the amount of free time I have either...

Anyway, I'm through the worst of it. All essays are in - and back. I've passed these ones in the highest class possible, just need my exam result now. I'm very pleased, as these were even harder work than usual. It's not helped when you're writing one on your tutor's absolute specialist subject (Gothic literature) ... so no pressure there, then ;o)

Interns are recruited, as is my replacement. I'm still tidying a few loose ends, but hopefully will be able to meet with K one day after I finish work to discuss particulars with her. I'm not completely cutting all ties with the circus, so I'm happy to do this, and will be doing the odd bit of freelance stuff for them from time to time.And the subsidiary charity is likely to have me on its board of trustees.

The new job is very pleasant. It's a small national charity, and the office is staffed mainly by people who have been there a long time, and it's all very civilised. The office itself is light, airy and on a riverbank in a little business park that's leafy and tree filled. It's also only a 25 minute walk from my flat - all downhill, so in the lovely weather we've had this week, it's been a great start to the day. On wet days - and to get back up the hill - there's a door to door bus service which runs every 10 minutes, and an almost door to door one which is similar, so I can be home within 15 minutes of leaving the office. And leave the office we do, at 5pm on the dot. And we take lunch hours - for the whole hour if we want to! And of course I want to - the office is only 5 minutes from the quilt shop... ;o)

My new role is Communications Manager. I'm also going to be editing the charity's journal, which is the only specialist publication for the condition available. Me, editor of a proper magazine with an ISSN number and everything ... bizarre, as once again I have moved into a field where I have no qualifications, just the knack of acquiring the right mix of skills and experience as I go... I think it's going to be well within my capabilities, despite the moments of self doubt once I'd accepted the position! I've already turned one sad and sorry looking list of stuff for sale to a full colour, illustrated 8 page catalogue, and that seems to have pleased the Chief Executive.

I think the reduction in stress, the shorter commute, the nicer office environment and the daily walk to work will also help improve my physical and mental well being, so it's looking good... although it is going to be odd working regular, full time hours, Mondayto Friday, nine to five, instead of fewer, and less conventional, ones. I'm hoping though, once the reduced travel is taken into account that I won't actually be out of the house that much longer every day. (I'm being vague about the charity and the condition because I'm trying to keep a little privacy. This blog is open after all).

I've mostly been knitting, and I have finished another afghan. I've also started another from the book above... I have no self restraint! There will be pictures, eventually - I have rather a backlog of things to show, including exchanges sent and received. I also have a backlog of charts to dispatch, and July's to finish up!

I've been reading blogs sporadically, and I'm sorry if I haven't had change to comment on yours. It hasn't felt like enough hours in the day lately, but hopefully, things will be easier soon!

Right, I have a few chores to do and then I'm off out in the sun - there's a Green Fair on, and Sheffield Pride, and I'd like to go to both!

June Biscornu and Fob - Free Cross Stitch Pattern!

2010-06-05T10:34:00.000+01:00

June brings tulips, lilies, roses.

Fills the children's hands with posies.

Summer is here, the cricket Test Matches have started, and the flowers are really beginning to show themselves. I'm very fond of flowers, coming from a family of keen gardeners. Living in a flat, I don't have a garden of my own, but we're lucky to have some communal gardens which have plenty of trees and shrubs. It lacks the loving touch though! I remember as a child being taken to some amazing National Trust and National Trust for Scotland gardens - and being embarassed by my granny snapping off "cuttings" and putting them in a plastic baggie in her pocket :o)

I also have many happy memories of summers spent in a field of roses - my mum had a summer job working for a rose nursery and my sister and I would be welcome to go along, and help weed and dead head. I even learned all about grafting hybrid roses onto stronger root stock too. The scent of the field was fantastic in high summer, and I frequently wear rose perfume now - which is a little incongruous, as I'm not a flowery girly girl at all!

The chart follows my usual format of using only three colours so it should be quick and easy to stitch. I think it would look nice on almost any coloured fabric - and would look very striking on a dark colour!

The scissor fob can be personalised with your own initial as I've included a full alphabet

If you would like a copy of the chart, please comment below and leave an email address unless yours is visible in your blog profile. Some people ask for charts but I have no way of getting them to them :o( Charts are sent in PDF format.

If you do stitch this design, I'd love to see the finished article - and there will be a prize for any I show on my blog!

Although there is no charge for this chart, a donation to the MS Trust for this chart would be appreciated. Pennies will do - and you can make a donation by clicking here. You have raised £85 so far with your kind donations - let's see if we can make it a nice, round £100!

There is no obligation to make a donation - you will be sent the chart whether or not you choose to make a donation, as I appreciate that some people are not in a financial position to do so.

This pattern is offered for personal, non-commercial use only. Items made from this pattern may be sold on a small scale basis such as on Etsy or at craft sales. Sales for charity are positively encouraged! This pattern and the text and photos contained within, may not be copied or reproduced for any purpose other than personal use. Please direct people to this blog rather than forwarding the pattern, thank you! Copyright 2010 N M Wray

June Goals

2010-06-02T08:17:00.000+01:00

Well, hopefully with Uni stuff winding up, I'm going to have a bit more free time. Well, that's the theory, but I feel that work will expand to fill the space, at least during the week.

I've also realised that one of the reasons I've not been drawn to stitching as much has been my vision - so I've changed the sort of contact lenses I wear, and I'm much happier. So goals for June will be more stitching oriented!

Finish:

Zauber Socks - I'm ready to turn the heel on the first one. The yarn is amazing
My Needle and Floss Comfort Me - it's more or less just the lettering to do. Keep looking at my blog for details of the draw to pass the pattern on
Box of Chalks Afghan - either 13 or 19 blocks to do, plus a border. If I say it quickly, it doesn't sound a lot!

Finish UFO:

Lizzie*Kate Round Robin - Lizzie*Kate - this was a RR that came back to me barely started, and I've added the blocks sporadically ever since, there's only one to do, plus buttons to add.

Start and Finish:

A gift for my a personal exchange - can't talk about it, the recipient reads my blog :o)
Alphabet piece for exchange

Frame or Have Framed

Bee Merry - Victoria Sampler
Bee Mine - Victoria Sampler
Bee Joyful - Victoria Sampler - let's give these another go on the list!
Bathroom Plaque - Toadstool Tapestries - this needs reframing after getting grubby
June - Shepherd's Bush - well, it is the actual month, surely I should/could do this?

Finishing:

Country Cottage - I want to make this into a cushion for my niece.
Bless The Breeze - SanMan Originals - it would be good to do a summer piece actually in summer!

Giveaway:

June Biscornu and Fob Chart - this is done, I'm going to post it at the weekend.
Get previous things posted out

Fundraising:

£15 for the MS Trust - this would mean I reach my target for the year!

Fingers crossed!

May Review

2010-06-01T08:17:00.001+01:00

Well, when I made these goals, I mentioned in that post I had an interview for another job. Can I count it as a goal achieved that I got the job? I start on June 21 - Midsummer's Day. It's going to be a challenge, but I am looking forward to it.

As for stitching goals:

Finish:

Chevron Socks 2 - finished and given to my mum, and they are a great fit too.
My Needle and Floss Comfort Me - no, I haven't picked it up at all :o(
You Shall Be Queen Afghan - yes, finished and in use!

Start and Finish:

A gift for my favourite tutor - yes, I finished this, although it was a close run thing. My tutor loved it!
Early Christmas ornament for exchange - yes

Frame or Have Framed

Bee Merry
Bee Mine
Bee Joyful

This didn't happen, but I have all the stuff to do it, just need the time!They will be framed as a triptych.

Finishing:

Country Cottage - not done, but my niece is the forgiving sort!

Giveaway:

May Biscornu and Fob Chart - this was done, and quite popular it was too!
Get previous things posted out - still need to get this finished up.

Fundraising:

£20 for the MS Trust - only £2 this month, but this is enough to send an excellent information booklet to a young person whose parent has been diagnosed with MS. Thank you!

Other stuff achieved:

This has very much been a "mindless knitting" sort of month, and I've been making various afghan squares. This is a positive thing - it keeps me calm, I can think and plan better when I'm knitting than when I'm stitching, and it's using up quite a lot of stash! Plus, I have usable stuff at the end of it!

Charity Afghan Square - this is for a WI project to make blankets for AIDS orphans in South Africa
Molly's Dolly Afghan - a mini-afghan for my niece, using up some pink based yarns! This will be a Christmas present. Yes, organisation :o)
Bright Afghan Square - using some awful yarn I bought on sale. I am undecided whether to make an over the top blankie with it, or donate the sqaure to the charity project.
Box of Chalks Afghan - I've worked 23 squares of this, I'm aiming for either 36 or 42 - multiples of six because it's using six colours of a cotton/acrylic yarn in my stash. The colours are quite bright, but have a "chalky" feel to them - hence the name!

I've lots of pictures to share of the stuff above, so hang on, there will be interesting stuff soon!

Keeping my head down...

2010-05-31T14:49:00.000+01:00

I had my Critical Theory exam this week, one final essay to write and submit and then I will be free - ish. It's three weeks until I start my new job, and between then and now, I will be tidying up a lot of loose ends, documenting how I do the job, recruiting interns and trying to find my replacement.

I am hoping to get back to regular blogging after Friday's hand in though, I have lots of things to catch up on!

I know it's a holiday for a lot of people across the world, I hope you're all having a nice day off. Me - I'm about to go for a walk while I think about my essay plan. Oh for the days like above, when all I had to worry about was whether I could escape my granny! It's hard to believe in that photo, she was only a couple of years older than I am now...

Wuthering Heights - Free Cross Stitch Chart!

2010-05-25T11:42:00.000+01:00

You had a temper, like my jealousy
Too hot, too greedy
How could you leave me?
When I needed to possess you?
I hated you, I loved you too...

I designed this initially as a gift for my tutor, as she taught this novel on a course I did, and then had a flash of inspiration, and made her a similar design featuring the "lost Gothic" novel she edited and is a world expert on. I won't be sharing that chart, as it is very personal to Karen, but I'm happy to share this one - and I think more people will have heard of this book rather than The Mysterious Warning (unless they have memorised Northanger Abbey) :o) Hopefully, stitching this won't have the same effect as my gift did for the good doctor - I made her cry ... she'd taught me for the last four years, and I was hoping she'd be my dissertation supervisor, but there have been cutbacks at the University, and non-tenured staff have ~~been shafted~~ had their hours cut.

I have a very ambiguous relationship Wuthering Heights. It seems to turn up on a regular basis in my studies, and I find it very interesting, but just not very likeable. And those people who think it's a wonderful love story ... *cough*. I've been to Haworth a number of times, as my friend lives nearby, and you can see samplers stitched by Emily, Charlotte and Anne in the Parsonage Museum. The borders to this piece are from Emily's sampler, as are her initials, but the main lettering is from other sources. Although she was referred to in the family as "Emily Jane" I've used EB because Wuthering Heights was published under the nom de plume Ellis Bell. 1847 refers to the date of publication of the novel. Poor Emily died the following year.

Moira Blackburn has done a reproduction of Emily's sampler and also ones by Charlotte and Anne Bronte. Emily's was stitched when she was only ten years old, Charlotte's when she was just six - amazingly, both were done over one linen thread!

If you would like a copy of the chart, please comment below and leave an email address unless yours is visible in your blog profile. Some people ask for charts but I have no way of getting them to them :o( Charts are sent in PDF format.

If you do stitch this design, I'd love to see the finished article - and there will be a prize for any I show on my blog!

Although there is no charge for this chart, a donation to the MS Trust for this chart would be appreciated. Pennies will do - and you can make a donation by clicking here. You have raised £83 so far with your kind donations - let's see if we can make it a nice, round £100!

There is no obligation to make a donation - you will be sent the chart whether or not you choose to make a donation, as I appreciate that some people are not in a financial position to do so.

This pattern is offered for personal, non-commercial use only. Items made from this pattern may be sold on a small scale basis such as on Etsy or at craft sales. Sales for charity are positively encouraged! This pattern and the text and photos contained within, may not be copied or reproduced for any purpose other than personal use. Please direct people to this blog rather than forwarding the pattern, thank you! Copyright 2010 N M Wray

Happy Birthday Dad!

2010-05-24T10:49:00.000+01:00

It's my dad's birthday today, as well as being a Bank Holiday in Canada - for which he sends his thanks :o) My dad turns out to be Bob Dylan's cosmic twin - they are both 69 today!

I don't really know where to start with stories about my dad ... my parents came over yesterday, and dad was reminiscing about his school days, when he was a bit of a naughty boy, who got the cane on numerous occasions! The one for which he got the harshest punishment was when he not only let the tyres down on a hated teacher's bike, but threw away the valves, so that they couldn't be pumped up again... I think my dad's mischievious past was an asset when he joined the police force, because he knew all the tricks!

Dad's been feeling a bit low since the winter, when he had his first serious health scare. He's taking a while to adjust mentally to this, and physically to the medications he's having to take. However, now the sun is here, and he's able to get out and about a bit more, he's cheering up. And my niece works magic too - he's wrapped around her little finger, but I can't complain, because I too am a Daddy's girl still!

Happy birthday dad, here's to many more!

Up to date?

2010-05-18T10:52:00.000+01:00

Hopefully, everyone who has requested a chart recently has now received them - I'm sorry for any delays, life is a bit hectic at the moment.

If you are expecting a chart and haven't yet received it please:

- check your spam filter, because I'm sending charts as attachments, they sometimes end up there
- check that your mailbox can accept large attachments - some of the charts are about 1.5 meg
- check that you actually let me have your email address either in the comment or via your profile. No email address = no chart, unless I've already sent you a chart before and you are in my contacts.
- leave a comment to this post, giving your email address and the freebie chart(s) you want.

Thanks for your co-operation, I hope you have fun stitching the charts!

Thank you for the good wishes

2010-05-17T12:43:00.000+01:00

Thank you to everyone for the congratulations and good wishes on getting my new job. I know it's tough out there for a lot of people, and I feel very lucky. I've formally told my current organisation I will no longer be working with them (technically, I'm a freelancer) and have suggested an end date - because I'm the type who feels responsibility for everything, that date is actually after any notice period I would have needed to give had I been an employee... but I couldn't leave them in the lurch, these people are friends. The management know, but I'm waiting to tell the others and the volunteers I manage until after Wednesday's team meeting, so I'm having to be careful what I post and where (Facebook!).

Other than that, I had a nice weekend - I went to hear David Crystal give a talk on linguistics and language for children - very amusing, very accessible and engaging. And on Saturday, I visited a "new to me tea shop" with my friend Eleanor, which unfortunately was disappointing (hence no link) - there's a fine line between "quirky" and "total incompetence" and it was on the wrong side of it! We then went to a very nice exhibition at the Graves Art Gallery, which was portraits of influential writers. I came over all peculiar at a little silhouette of Jane Austen, one of only a couple of things known to have been taken "from life". The writers ranged from Milton and Shakespeare to Jarvis Cocker, J K Rowling and Amy Winehouse, which made an interesting selection. And it did kind of bring home to me that actually, I'm a pretty well-read person :o)

Talking of writers, I will be sharing my little Wuthering Heights chart sometime this week, so if the biscornu are not for you, and you like the primitive style, this might be more your thing!

May Biscornu and Fob - Free Cross Stitch Chart!

2010-05-16T10:13:00.000+01:00

May brings flocks of pretty lambs

Skipping by their fleecy dams

As a knitter, how could I not have sheep and lambs on the May biscornu? I love how frisky and frolicking lambs become very sedate sheep ... although not always very bright, it has to be said!

A lot of the wealth of England in the Middle Ages and Tudor period came from sheep. It's why, in tiny villages there are huge churches - built on the wealth accumulated from these most humble of animals.

The chart follows my usual format of using only three colours so it should be quick and easy to stitch. I think it will look best on a pastel coloured fabric or natural linen. It might look cute to make one of the sheep black...

The scissor fob can be personalised with your own initials as I've included a full alphabet

If you would like a copy of the chart, please comment below and leave an email address unless yours is visible in your blog profile. Some people ask for charts but I have no way of getting them to them :o( Charts are sent in PDF format.

If you do stitch this design, I'd love to see the finished article - and there will be a prize for any I show on my blog!

Although there is no charge for this chart, a donation to the MS Trust for this chart would be appreciated. Pennies will do - and you can make a donation by clicking here. You have raised £83 so far with your kind donations - let's see if we can make it a nice, round £100!

There is no obligation to make a donation - you will be sent the chart whether or not you choose to make a donation, as I appreciate that some people are not in a financial position to do so.

This pattern is offered for personal, non-commercial use only. Items made from this pattern may be sold on a small scale basis such as on Etsy or at craft sales. Sales for charity are positively encouraged! This pattern and the text and photos contained within, may not be copied or reproduced for any purpose other than personal use. Please direct people to this blog rather than forwarding the pattern, thank you! Copyright 2010 N M Wray

Ch.. ch... ch.... changes

2010-05-14T12:29:00.000+01:00

Oh lordy, I'm going to be going from a part time, freelance project manager to a full time, employed communications and marketing manager.

I got the job I interviewed for yesterday! It's going to cut into my knitting time and stitching time - the commute changes from 1.25 hours on busses to a 20 minute walk - but the opportunity of working for a national charity in such a role couldn't really be passed up.

Just need to negotiate a handover with my client - and hope they give me a good reference - and then, by midsummer, I will be in a new job! I'm quite sad to be stopping working for the circus, but this job, although it is a fixed term contract, offers me more security and - of course - more money.

May Goals

2010-05-12T08:32:00.000+01:00

My goal for the month is just to get through! May is awful in terms of the commitments I have - two family birthdays, and then all the assessment for my Uni courses. And to add to the stress, I'm looking for a new job - I didn't get the previous one I applied for, but I have an interview for another job tomorrow, which is more money and in walking distance of where I live - it's about 20 minutes stroll away, and another 5 minutes takes me to the quilt shop. If I got the job, it would be dangerous at lunchtimes...

May Goals

Finish:

Chevron Socks 2 - I'm halfway down the foot on the second, so it shouldn't take long
My Needle and Floss Comfort Me - it's more or less just the lettering to do. Keep looking at my blog for details of the draw to pass the pattern on
You Shall Be Queen Afghan - the border

Finish UFO:

I'm going to give this a miss this month.

Start and Finish:

A gift for my favourite tutor - I've designed it myself. There's two parts, one of which I may share on my blog.
Early Christmas ornament for exchange

Frame or Have Framed

Bee Merry
Bee Mine
Bee Joyful

Finishing:

Country Cottage - I want to make this into a cushion for my niece.

Giveaway:

May Biscornu and Fob Chart - this is done, I'm going to post it at the weekend.
Get previous things posted out

Fundraising:

£20 for the MS Trust - it would be amazing if I could get £27, because then I would get my target, but mustn't be greedy!

Right, let's see how I get on with these!

April Review

2010-05-12T08:17:00.003+01:00

We're almost halfway through the month, and I haven't reviewed April yet. Not that it feels like May, we apparently had a snow flurry in Sheffield yesterday, but my eyes were glued to the computer screen. At least that essay is in - and now I only have an exam and one more essay to do this semester. If I chose to finish my studies now, I would have a Dip. HE, but I'm going to slog it out for another two years to get my degree and graduate.

Anyway, where was I?

Finish UFOs:

Lizzie*Kate Round Robin - Lizzie*Kate - no, not even looked at
Passing Time - DMC (Little Suzi's Zoo) - ditto

Finish:

Chevron Socks 2 - no, these are still on the needles, but closer to being finished
You Shall Be Queen Afghan- by the end of April, I had finished and blocked all the squares, so I'm counting this as done! I knitted 33 squares for it this month, more than one per day!
My Needle and Floss Comfort Me - Waxing Moon - no, not a stitch was placed

Start and Finish:

F is for Friend (Prairie Schooler ABC SAL)- no, not even looked at

Frame or have Framed:

June- no - the frame has been chosen, just need to mount it.
Sow Kind Seeds - ditto
Morning Song - yes, and the framers did another super job
Bee My Honey Bee - no, still waiting

Giveaway:

April Biscornu & Fob Design - yes, and you can find the chart here
Easter Biscornu & Fob Design - the design is done, but I'm going to be limiting the freebies from now on, as I have plans :o)
Get previous giveaways mailed out- er - no. Sorry!

Fundraising:

£20 for the MS Trust - I received two extremely generous donations overnight on 30 April/1 May, so I'm going to count this as done - thank you ladies for your contributions!

So, what else did I do? Apart from Uni work, job applications and such?

Hooked on Exchanges Winter House Exchange - I will share pics soon, I promise!
Clapotis 2 - another large wrap knitted and I love it!
Liberty Print Pincushion - one of my oldest UFOs got made up into a finished item - yay!
Bee Happy - framed
Be Kind - framed
Be Gentle - framed

So, not one of my most productive months in terms of number of projects, but when you consider that the afghan has 48 squares in it, actually not bad!

Still Here...

2010-05-09T14:59:00.000+01:00

But otherwise occupied. I currently have a few paragraphs in search of an essay ...it's all a bit of a dog's breakfast, and I'm not sure how it's all going to come together.

I'm trying to think of something profound to say about the relationship of literary theory to life ... and then I've got to tie one particular theory to one literary text to back up my argument and well - I can do the separate bits but the linking is driving me crazy as I can't just say "it's obvious, innit"! LOL

I'll be back, but don't expect me to surface before Wednesday, after it's handed it...

Thank you for the suggestions

2010-05-07T13:38:00.000+01:00

It seems perhaps I was imagining the chart I was talking about in yesterday's post ... but I've had some great Bronte related suggestions!

Tracey told me about The Sampler Girl's On The Moors with Emily Bronte

Demeter83 suggested a piece that has been seen in a British magazine - I think I know the one she means, but it's a bit big as I only have two weeks to do something in ...but thanks for offering to send me the chart, it's much appreciated!

Both Riona and Sabine R suggested the Casey Buonauguorio freebie "Reader, I married him" which is of course the phrase everyone remembers from Jane Eyre - which is another book Karen has taught, and is very appropriate. And one I have in my folders, only not saved under that name, which is why I didn't spot it!
That little simple phrase says so much about how revolutionary and proto-feminist Charlotte Bronte was. It's not "He married me" (passive) or even "We were married". It's "*I* married *him*" - okay, lecture over!

It's a great suggestion, and something I will be stitching in the future, but while I was Googling away, I came up with an idea. My tutor has edited a "lost" Gothic novel The Mysterious Warning by Eliza Parsons. It was first published in 1796 and is one of the seven "horrid novels" lampooned in Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey. So, I'm going to work on a design based on that. As if I didn't have enough to do ... but it will be worth it!

(And the Wuthering Heights idea will get worked up and put on this blog at some point, too!)

We're Living in Interesting Times...

2010-05-07T12:45:00.000+01:00

Well, the Conservatives have got the most seats, but not an outright majority. The Liberal Democrats have lost ground, despite Nick Clegg's popularity, and the bloody, bloody British National Party have increased their share of the vote to 5.5% in my area - which means that, given the turnout and an average of two adults per household, that one person in every 14 houses round here voted for the bastards.

My sitting MP - Meg Munn - got re-elected, but with a hugely reduced majority. I hope she sits up and takes notice, her loss was much more than the national swing away from Labour, so it's personal this time. There was trouble at my local polling station though, when the polls closed with some people still queueing to vote - I think the Returning Officer is going to have some questions to answer, as there was also trouble elsewhere in the city.

There was some good news - a Green Party MP was elected for the first time - well done Caroline Lucas. Pete Wishart - the ex Runrig band member - (SNP) retained his seat, which was a Tory target, and in a neighbouring constituency, Paul Blomfield, who I know through working with the Student Union, got in on a tiny majority (165) - he may not represent the party I voted for, but he's a great bloke and will get stuff done.

There's going to be some horse trading going on now while various agreements and coalitions get negotiated.And if none of this works, we'll go through the whole thing again in a year or so. It's one in the eye for the people who maintain a "first past the post" system gives clearer results - this could be the election that finally gets us effective electoral reform in all sorts of areas, and about time too!

And perhaps this blog and my mind will return to more fun stuff... watch this space :o)

It's Decision Day! - and Help Me Track Down a Freebie!

2010-05-06T08:47:00.000+01:00

Today's the day - probably at the end of the day we will have a new Government, maybe even a hung parliament. It's been the most exciting and hard to call election for years, and I'm just off to vote and get in some snacks as I'm planning on staying up to listen to the results coming in.

One of my university tutors is leaving at the end of the semester because of budget cuts :o( She's been FABULOUS - I've done at least one of her modules every year on my degree, and I was hoping that she could be my dissertion supervisor :o/ Anyway, Dr. M is also a crafty person, and I thought I would stitch her something as a token of my appreciation. Her specialty is Gothic literature, and she also adores Wuthering Heights. And okay, we disagree on that :o) but I thought I could commemoratate that as there is a Wuthering Heights freebie out there - and I can't find it. I can picture it in my mind - slightly prim, pretty much just the words. I've checked my Primitive Betty's, The Sampler Girl, Heartstrings Primitives, La D Da files - in fact all my files. And I'm stumped. Does anyone recognise the freebie? Or have I imagined it and it's actually inspiration for one of my own designs? LOL

Right, and now I'm going to put in an hour on an essay due for the above tutor - it's all about The Heart of Darkness, so a little grim but mesmerising!

Stitching Blogger's Monthly Question.

2010-05-05T08:22:00.000+01:00

The lovely Lee (Lake Stitcher) has taken up the torch of the SBQ, and this is the first:

Suppose we say that there are two types of stitchers.

There are those who enjoy the “process” of stitching. They stitch for stitching’s sake and if something gets finished, so much the better, but it’s not necessarily the end goal.   Primarily, it’s the application of needle and thread to cloth that makes them happiest.

Then there are those who are “project” stitchers. They move steadily through their projects, certainly enjoying their stitching time, but finding their greatest joy in the completed stitching.

If you had to pick one to describe yourself, which type of stitcher would you be? I imagine that we could all say that we fall somewhere in between, but really think hard about this and try to pick just one. And once you’ve decided whether you’re a Process or Project stitcher, tell us if your recognize that approach in other parts of your life.

I think I've changed as I've aged. The reason I had/have so many UFOs is that stitching was a process thing for me - the stitching was all, and even if I didn't particularly like the project, I had to stitch with whatever resources were available at the time.

As resources increased there was more available to my taste, and I wanted to make things to decorate my home, even if it was just a rented room in a shared house. And as my skills increased, I wanted to make gifts for people - and of course, gifts come with deadlines...

And now I'm older, I'm more conscious of the use and misuse of resources and the impact I have on the environment, and so I'm working through my stash, and deciding what I want to finish. I think I'm also more aware of wanting to enjoy what I have, and what I've worked on. A project stuffed in a drawer isn't filling its potential ... which is partly what the Year of the UFO was all about.

As a knitter, I'm much more of a project person, and always have been - which is rather bizarre, but I put that down to knitting mostly practical items which I need and will use.

Knitting and Crochet Blog Week - Post 7

2010-05-04T11:32:00.000+01:00

(for more details, see Eskimimi Knits)

There’s one love that we all share: yarn. Blog about a particular yarn you have used in the past or own in your stash, or perhaps one that you covet from afar. If it is a yarn you have used you could show the project that you used it for, perhaps writing a mini ‘review’. Perhaps, instead, you pine for the feel of the almost mythical qiviut? You could explore and research the raw material and manufacturing process if you were feeling investigative.

I think the yarn I use most of - in number of projects certainly - is the sock yarn from Regia. It's a 75% wool/25% nylon mix to make it hardwearing, and it's nice and smooth to work with. But it's not the texture I love it for, it's the colours, especially in the Kaffe Fassett range. They are vivid and rich (mostly) without being too tacky and bright (again, mostly) and they make the funkiest socks which have kept my feet nice and snug during our "coldest winter for numpty nine years" ... I'm also quite keen on Opal sock yarn ... and - well, quite a few others, but for practically and enjoyment at a relatively reasonable price, it's the Regia for me...

Knitting and Crochet Blog Week - Post 6

2010-05-04T08:21:00.000+01:00

(for more details, see Eskimimi Knits)
Bring the fortune and life of a past finished project up to the present. Document the current state and use of an object you have knitted or crocheted, whether it is the hat your sister wears to school almost every day, or a pair of socks you wore until they were full of hole. Or maybe that jumper that your did just didn’t like that much…

These aren't anything special design-wise, or made from a a wonderful yarn, and they don't even match, but they get worn by my little niece every week to ballet class because "ballerinas wear legwarmers"- and because she loves them, and because "Auntie Nic-Nic made them 'specially for me".

Hopefully, my niece will never grow out of loving hand crafted stuff, and will never be too embarassed to wear hand knits!

And just because, here's a picture of her at the weekend at her fourth birthday party. The theme was "princesses and fairies" and there was so much polyester in the form of Disney dress up costumes that lighting the birthday candles was even more closely supervised than usual!

From this, you can see why I chose the yarn I did for the leg warmers ;o)

Family Resemblances

2010-05-03T09:50:00.000+01:00

My mum has discovered Facebook ... which is rather nice, as she's been putting up some interesting photos from her family tree researches.

I'll spare you the be-whiskered Victorians, as I'm not entirely sure how they fit in, but this is a photo that shows four generations - and it was taken over forty years ago...

I'm the baby there, and I would have been about 5 months old. To the right is my mum, to the left is her father, and the lap I am sitting on is his mother.

This picture is Grandad with his parents - the lady that to me always seemed so old looks very pretty and vibrant here, even in the stiff studio post. My Great Gran was a very independent lady - she was one of the first women in Scotland to have a motorbike, in the 1920s and was still driving well into her eighties! She could be a bit awkward, but she was never less than kind to myself and my sister, and even when her memory was failing, she remembered a little bit about us, and my dad, even though she could no longer recognise my mum or her daughters-in-law.

The little boy in the knitted dress grew up to be this handsome chap! Grandad was in the Navy in the War, and served on the Atlantic convoys, and went not only to West Africa (where he contracted malaria) but to Russia, where he spent most of one winter. He never talked about his war experience, and never wanted his medals. I think in this picture, you can really see the resemblance to my mum the most. My Grandad died when I was eight - he was a heavy smoker, and lung cancer took him. The hair by this time was heavily Brylcreemed to tame the curl, and the smell of Brylcreem and Old Spice still brings him back ...

This picture was taken when I was about four years old. And as you can see, I got the fair curly hair too - and so did Ma, although not quite as wild a head of hair... My mummy made not only the dress she was wearing, but my bolero too - it was knitted with a crochet edging and crochet flowers on it. I thought it was the bee's knees! Ma made nearly all my clothes when my sister and I were young - the dress I'm wearing must have been a present from my godmother, because they were nearly the only times we had anything "shop bought". I think partly this was out of necessity, but partly because Ma enjoyed making things - and she always sold it to us as something exciting, because we were getting something made especially for us!

I think this picture of my mum in Sherwood Forest was taken when I was eleven or twelve, because Ben (the dog) still looks quite puppyish ... Mum lost a lot of weight after Grandad died and to me she looks very thin. Although having a very active dog who needed a lot of walking won't have helped any ...

And to bring it up to date ... this was taken a couple of summers ago. I am turning into my mother ... when I stress about this - normally when The Hermit has pointed out matching character traits - The Hermit says "but that's okay, I like your mother!" - and he doesn't always understand why this isn't terribly reassuring :o) I think the resemblance was lost for a bit as I wore glasses and was a lot heavier than her ... now we're equalising a bit and I'm wearing contacts more ..

I think I'll stop here, because I could write the same again about how my sister resembles our maternal uncle, maternal grandmother and her mother - not to mention how much my niece looks like Sis! I hope you've enjoyed the little clamber around my family tree... I'd be interested to hear about your family and resemblances too!

Knitting and Crochet Blog Week - Post 5

2010-05-03T09:30:00.000+01:00

(for more details, see Eskimimi Knits)

Where do you like to indulge in your craft? Is your favourite arm chair your little knitting cubby area, or do you prefer to ‘knit in public’? Do you like to crochet in the great outdoors, perhaps, or knit in the bath, or at the pub?

I'm the Martini Girl of knitting - "Any time, Any place, Any where". Well, okay, not the shower. Any probably a job interview wouldn't be appropriate either, but most other situations are fair game. I find it helps not only pass the time when doing something dull, like on the bus to the office, but it also helps when I'm doing something fun - I knit during our WI meetings, as it helps me concentrate on the speaker, and also makes talking to new people less hard. It's a good ice breaker, and it's often a way of having nice chats on the bus, especially with older people. Although conversations do tend to start off in the same way: "oooh, you don't see many people knitting nowadays, especially not young people like you..." - well, they are obviously not hanging out in either my social circle, or in blog land! Although it is nice to be classed as you :o)

The knitting group I'm part of meets in a pub, and we knit pretty much anywhere two or more of us are. We've even knitted on the "Sheffield Eye" ...

(I was more comfortable than my expression perhaps suggested!)

Knitting in the outdoors can be fun, and here is our knitting group on our retreat to York last year:

We're sat outside the Castle, I think we drew quite a lot of interested looks! I like this picture a lot, it's a reminder of a fab time!

Knitting and Crochet Blog Week - Post 4

2010-05-02T13:20:00.001+01:00

(for more details, see Eskimimi Knits)

Is there a skill related to your hobby that you hope to learn one day? maybe you’re a crocheter who’d also like to knit? Maybe you’d like to learn to knit continental, knit backwards, try cables or attempt stranded colourwork.

Hmm - I think I covered this in post 2, when I should perhaps have talked more about a particular project. Anyway, it gives me a chance to make another confession. And one that may shock those readers than know me primarily as a cross stitcher.

Are you ready?

I can't follow knitting patterns that are written in chart format!

There, I've said it. I think some of it is cultural - charts used to be a very uncommon way of writing patterns in the UK, and so it is something I've never learned. Some of it I think is how my brain is wired - reading things in different directions and relating them to a two sided project ... it's just not like cross stitch! And thirdly - I am a reader. I like things to follow in a logical order, I can find my place in a written pattern easier than in a charted pattern, and I don't have to do a mental conversion. With cross stitch my poor brain can remember that a dot means a particular colour, but with knitting, if a dot is "purl on one side, knit on the other" by brain just goes "waaah!"

Knitting and Crochet Blog Week - Wildcard Topic

2010-05-02T09:20:00.000+01:00

(for more details, see Eskimimi Knits)

Okay, so I'm behind - but I will do a series of seven Knitting and Crochet related posts anyway ... the long weekend will give me a bit of chance to catch up!

Do you have a particular knitting/crochet tool or piece of equipment that you love to use? Maybe it is an old bent pair of needles that used to belong to someone special, or a gorgeous rosewood hand-turned crochet hook that you just love the feel of?

My most favourite pieces of equipment are my 2.50mm KnitPro double pointed sock needles. They are fabulous - so smooth, with nicely tapered points so they don't split the yarn, and the colours (they are made from dyed birch wood) just make my heart smile, and are very "me". They are a great talking point with other knitters. I do have to replace them from time to time, as I lose them occasionally - I don't hear them drop from my bag in the same way as I do metal needles. They are worth the little extra expense, as they get a lot of use, and having decent tools is part of the pleasure of executing any craft.

Knitting and Crochet Blog Week - Post 2

2010-04-27T08:49:00.000+01:00

(for more details, see Eskimimi Knits)

An Inspirational Pattern
Blog about a pattern or project which you aspire to. Whether it happens to be because the skills needed are ones which you have not yet acquired, or just because it seems like a huge undertaking of time and dedication, most people feel they still have something to aspire to in their craft. If you don’t feel like you have any left of the mountain of learning yet to climb, say so!

The day I feel I don't have any of the mountain of learning yet to climb is the day I hang up my needles and whip myself with wet yarn, because nobody can ever know everything about their art or craft, and if I feel like I do, well I need taking down a peg or three.

It is only in the last couple of years I've mastered knitting on double pointed needles, and it's been fantastic learning how to knit socks. I'm still on the top downs, though - toe up is something I will try in the future, hopefully.

There are other techniques I still don't know how to do - casting on by the thumb method is one of the ones I want to learn, as is the long-tail cast on. Using two circulars is one I probably should know how to do but I'm not interested in, and Magic Loop seems as equally fiddly. I also need to figure out brioche stitch, as I think the way I hold my yarn is messing that up for me.

In terms of projects - part of me would like to knit a traditional Shetland shawl, and make it fine enough to go through a wedding ring but I know that I would never have any use for a shawl so fine, and nowhere to display it, so I do wonder what the point would be - they are traditionally used for Christenings and Weddings, neither events ae going to feature in my life! I'm not necessarily drawn to doing something "just because I can". Maybe a more practical weight non-white Shetland style shawl will get made at some point?

And just because it is so cute, here's a Shetland sheep. Shetland sheep have very soft wool on their necks, and this was traditionally used for the finest cobweb yarns for shawls. The rest made wonderful, almost waterproof, clothing.

Click here to see other blogs tagged with knitcroblo2, blogging about this same topic for Knitting and Crochet Blog week. (May take a few hours to update on Google)

A Close Shave ...

2010-04-26T14:22:00.000+01:00

I know my partner The Hermit doesn't appear very much in this blog - apart from when I make him stuff, or ~~moan about~~ mention that he doesn't like Christmas, so I thought it was time he had a post of his own. I won't go overboard, as he's mainly a retiring type, and generally hides behind pseudonyms on the web.

I imported him from Canada over seven years, having "met" him online in a Usenet community we were both members of. He's very tolerant of my stitching and stashing habits, as he does get a little ~~obsessive~~ enthusiastic about his own hobbies.

Sometimes, it seems he's a living Canadian cliche - burly, bearded and wearing checked shirts.

But, come 20 May, at least one of those won't apply, because he is shaving his beard off for charity!

If anyone wants to know why, and who for, I'd like to point you in the direction of his blog, where you can read all the details (and perhaps offer to sponsor him). I've never known him without a beard, so this is going to be weird ...

Knitting and Crochet Blog Week - Post 1

2010-04-26T13:05:00.000+01:00

(for more details, see Eskimimi Knits)

How and when did you begin knitting/crocheting? was it a skill passed down through generations of your family, or something you learned from Knitting For Dummies? What or who made you pick up the needles/hook for the first time? Was it the celebrity knitting ‘trend’ or your great aunt Hilda?

I learned to knit very young, from my mum, who learned to knit from her mum, who learned to knit from her mum, who learned from her stepmother ... and so it goes.

My mum was always doing something crafty when I was little - she made virtually all of our clothes - in the picture below, I'm five - it's probably around my birthday, my sister is a year younger, and we're both wearing jumpers my mum knitted - Sis has a hat my mum made, and my trousers are homemade too - blue Crimplene flares! (And those of you who have seen pictures of the Tot will notice the resemblance between her and her mum at the same age!)

Anyway, it was probably around the time this photo was taken that my mum taught me to knit. Back in the early 1970s, there wasn't a whole host of distractions for children in a family where there wasn't much money, and bad weather ruled out my swing, or seeing Mr Ward's bantam hens, or climbing the apple tree in Matthew Abdy's garden. Mum cast on thirty stitches - I could count to thirty - using some dishcloth cotton and size 7 needles (metric was very much in its infancy in the UK, it's still a stroppy teenager thirty years later, but I digress) and taught me how to knit by chanting "in, over, through and off". And I was away ... I managed to do a couple of rows of purl, too, and how to cast off. Casting on was a technique that took me a while to get - I had to learn a two needle cast on, as being left handed and taught by a right-y, the thumb method just wasn't going to work...

My Ma still calls me cack handed at knitting, she maintains I hold everything in a very awkward way, but that doesn't stop her asking me to knit her socks ... it's rather sweet that I'm now the one making stuff for my mother rather than the other way round. I still sometimes have to call on her to remind me how to do things if I'm away from my books, and it's great that I have this resource and connection to my family going way back because of a shared interest.

Click here to see other blogs tagged with knitcroblo1, blogging about this same topic for Knitting and Crochet Blog week. (May take a few hours to update on Google)

Update

2010-04-26T11:42:00.000+01:00

First of all, I'd like to say a BIG thank you to all the people who took the time to send me supportive comments and emails after I posted about having a bit of a depressive blip. It really helped to know that I'm not alone, and that there are some people who really "get it" - despite us having never met in person.

I'm a bit behind in posting pictures and stuff, but I will get caught up eventually. However, don't expect too much over the next month or so, as it's the end of the semester and I have two assignments and an exam between now and the 4th of June. Add into that two interviews (from only three job applications!) and I'm going to have my hands full - oh, and I mustn't forget my niece's birthday, or my dad's! I must remember about Blogging Without Obligation ... no one is actually going to fall out with me if I can't post because I'm busy doing other things...

Craft wise, I've been knitting because it takes less energy (physical and mental) but I will try and get My Needle and Floss finished for the end of the month - or at least, the end of the May Day weekend, which is almost the same thing :o) I do have a big knitting project nearly finished, it just needs sewing up - but as it's an afghan with 48 blocks in it, it may take a while...

I hope everyone who has requested an April Biscornu pattern (or any others) has received it by now - thanks for your patience. The good news is that I've done the May one already, so it will be released in a more timely fashion. I will be continuing with the monthly series as freebies, but I think I may have offer any other designs for sale only, because of the time they take not only to design but to send to people. I haven't decided how I'm going to do that yet, though!

Okay, I'm going to have to get cracking, unfortunately I can't spend the day like my guinea pigs...

April Biscornu and Fob - Free Cross Stitch Chart!

2010-04-25T12:19:00.000+01:00

April brings the primrose sweet,

Scatters daisies at our feet.

We have been having a lovely sunny Spring here, and it's been most welcome after the cold and snowy winter! It's not been amazingly warm, due to the Northerly breeze that also brought all the volcanic ash, but leaves are budding, flowers are blooming and the birds are singing!

My niece is loving all the flowers - she is very much a child of nature and adores animals of all kinds, as well as flowers. She is getting good at identifying flowers now, having mastered animal names - which isn't bad when you're not quite four!

We went for the day to Hardwick Hall last weekend, and although she did enjoy visiting the house - especially the four poster beds, and finding all the animal imagery in the paintings, tapestries and furniture, the favourite part of the day for her was picking the daisies in the lawn... Her handbag made a convenient receptacle for them, and I'm sure the plastic shark that was already in there enjoyed being garlanded with flowers!

The chart follows my usual format of using only three colours so it should be quick and easy to stitch. I think it will look best on a pastel coloured fabric or natural linen.

The scissor fob can be personalised with your own initials as I've included a full alphabet

If you would like a copy of the chart, please comment below and leave an email address unless yours is visible in your blog profile. Some people ask for charts but I have no way of getting them to them :o( Charts are sent in PDF format.

If you do stitch this design, I'd love to see the finished article - and there will be a prize for any I show on my blog!

Although there is no charge for this chart, a donation to the MS Trust for this chart would be appreciated. Pennies will do - and you can make a donation by clicking here

There is no obligation to make a donation - you will be sent the chart whether or not you choose to make a donation, as I appreciate that some people are not in a financial position to do so.

This pattern is offered for personal, non-commercial use only. Items made from this pattern may be sold on a small scale basis such as on Etsy or at craft sales. Sales for charity are positively encouraged! This pattern and the text and photos contained within, may not be copied or reproduced for any purpose other than personal use. Please direct people to this blog rather than forwarding the pattern, thank you! Copyright 2010 N M Wray

A touch of the blahs

2010-04-21T10:31:00.000+01:00

I'm feeling a bit low and stressed at the moment, so I haven't felt like posting. Haven't felt like much of anything, to be honest.

This will pass. With gritted teeth at times, but it will pass!

Plans changing and disappointing turns of events aren't helping. But I have talked over one of the major stressors with a person who is in a position to help, and I feel better for that.

I had struggles with depression for years, and I know that I can and will overcome them. But when an episode hits me, it still has the power to knock me off my feet and mess with my head in all kinds of ways.

If you are waiting for a freebie pattern from me, I will be sending them out at the weekend. And I will be posting April's freebie pattern then too. I'm sorry for the delays.

It hasn't been all doom and gloom - on Saturday, I went with my Sis, BiL and The Tot to Hardwick Hall, and I will post about that, especially the needlework... but for now, I will just leave you with a taster of the building:

Requiem for a Mezzo - Carola Dunn

2010-04-15T09:40:00.000+01:00

With dashing Scotland Yard detective Alec Fletcher at her side, Daisy Dalrymple is enjoying a splendid performance of Verdi’s Requiem featuring her neighbour Muriel Westlea’s celebrated sister, Bettina. But the show comes to an abrupt end when what emerges from the star’s gifted vocal chords is literally a dying gasp. Daisy soon learns that the doomed diva was notoriously difficult and had more than her share of enemies. There’s a philandering tenor, a burly Russian bass and even her own vocal coach husband, with whom she had a turbulent relationship. Did one of them poison the singer? Or was it someone determined to see that Daisy’s investigation ends on as bitter a note as Bettina’s last performance . . .

Another good mystery with a period feel, this is even more convoluted than the last one I read, but no less fun for that. I'm warming to Daisy, and I think Alec is great...

The author contributes to a blog here, for anyone interested.

Two Down, One to Go

2010-04-13T16:51:00.001+01:00

You know that assignment I was working on and had to submit yesterday - well, I did it. Only to get an out of office response from the tutor, because he's on holiday all this week! Grrr....

I have submitted the job application as well - it's not that I'm desperately unhappy doing what I'm doing, but this vacancy is a new role and related closely to something else I've been doing. It may be earmarked for someone else though, in the way that jobs within the University tend to be, so I'm not pinning my hopes on it - but I'd like to at least get shortlisted!

The last assignment is stewing in my head - I need to get it on paper - or at least into my computer, but I've had enough of sitting and staring at my monitor!

So, tonight I'm going to have a night off and just knit. I hope everyone else has a pleasant evening too!

Still Here...

2010-04-12T16:13:00.000+01:00

I've got a numb butt from sitting at the computer today. I've got an assignment due before the end of the day, a job application deadline tomorrow, and another assignment due Friday. When I'm going away for the weekend, so need to pack suitable knitting as well as clothing for our changeable weather... so, I've been busy typing away and I'm sick of it ... especially as doing the first assignment has shown up some issues that will need to be addressed fairly urgently by one of the companys I work for... and guess who will probably end up sorting it all out? ;o)

I've been knitting afghan blocks because they are pretty mindless, portable and can be picked up and down - Margaret, I will show pics soon, I promise :o) - but other than that, not a lot has been happening on the crafting front. The good news is that the Easter holiday meant I got all my stash together, and I'm even more determined to work through it - and to certainly make sure that more goes out than comes in! Having it all together and being able to see it all is certainly helping my planning - but not my frustration as I can't get working on it! Roll on the weekend - a weekend of friends, fab home cooking and a lovely house in rural Shropshire with nothing to do except eat, chat, knit and stitch!

Right, just need to proof read assignment one before I send it to the tutor ... I'll be back soon, hopefully!

Fly By Posting

2010-04-08T08:51:00.000+01:00

I've now enabled comment moderation because of an outbreak of sex spam ... so sorry if comments are delayed, but at least genuine commenters won't have to enter the word verification any longer!

Anna, a "hygienic trimmer" is basically one for nose and ear hair. It's a man thing, fortunately - it looked vicious! The Hermit bought it and then changed his mind ...

Right, I'm off to the office early (for me) as deadlines are getting closer ... I'm going to have plenty of peace and quiet, as most of my colleagues are spending at least some of the day at the British Juggling Convention!

Flung ...

2010-04-07T09:01:00.000+01:00

This flinging lark is contagious. Not only have I worked through my UFOs, I've had a sort out of other stuff too. Thanks to Freegle, I've been able to help out loads of other people with my unwanted possessions. Prior to this weekend, I'd already got rid of a chest of drawers - replaced by a bigger set - but this is what went this weekend:

Over 1kg of yarn
One box of books
Two bags of clothes
One pair of boots
One pop up laundry basket
Two small plastic baskets
Four underbed storage bags
One underbed storage box
Four jewellery display items
One "hygienic trimmer"
One posture chair
Two underbed storage drawers
Two bath ballistics
One Psion Siena organiser
Two hand held games
One large box of various bits and pieces
Two covers for clothes rails
One tall bookcase
One set of hair clippers
One three drawer desk tidy
One 16" CRT monitor
One flatbed scanner
One Gameboy Advance
Three Gameboy games

I think this will be it for now - and I feel happier with some of the clutter gone. Now I can get round to sending out the UFOs other people have spoken for, and I may also get rid of some charts and kits to raise money for the MS Trust. I've also got some course deadlines approaching, so I will be busy - it's probably a good thing that I got the weekend of the knitting retreat wrong and it's not this weekend, it's the one after!

Update

2010-04-05T09:25:00.000+01:00

I've been having a bit of a Spring Clean this weekend - I've finally got all my yarn stash sorted - and given away over a kilo on Freegle! I'm also trying to get rid of some excess furniture and computer stuff, but some Freeglers don't seem to think "prompt collection, I'd like this gone ASAP" applies to them and that I have unlimited storage space ... perhaps I'm just odd in that once I make the decision to get rid of something, I want it gone quickly!

I'm working slowly on my afghan - I'm having a bit of a re-think about which blocks I'm going to use, as in my Spring Clean (yes, it deserves capital letters!) I found another 100g ball of suitable acrylic yarn, so I'm trying to incorporate that too. I have no idea what I'm going to do with the completed project, as the colours don't go with anything I have ... hmmm ... Ma has a bedroom that it might suit ... or my sister ...

Now that I'm de-junking the bedroom, I'm thinking about what colour to paint it. It's going to need something that will cover the existing pale pink (not my choice) and the marks from the damp (not my choice either, and why I bought a de-humidifier). I don't know whether to go with white, magnolia, or something else altogether. My sister has just done her living room in a very pale taupe colour which looked very nice, but I'm afraid it would just look grubby, as the room is north facing, unlike my sister's. It's going to be a pain to paint, as there's not a lot of room to move furniture too, but it needs doing. The whole flat does really, but I'm taking it one step at a time!

Right, back to the sorting and cleaning. My life is so exciting...

April Goals

2010-04-03T10:03:00.000+01:00

Finish UFOs:

Lizzie*Kate Round Robin - Lizzie*Kate
Passing Time - DMC (Little Suzi's Zoo)

Finish:

Chevron Socks 2
You Shall Be Queen Afghan
My Needle and Floss Comfort Me - Waxing Moon

Start and Finish:

F is for Friend (Prairie Schooler ABC SAL)

Frame or have Framed:

June
Sow Kind Seeds
Morning Song
Bee My Honey Bee

Giveaway:

April Biscornu & Fob Design
Easter Biscornu & Fob Design
Get previous giveaways mailed out

Fundraising:

£20 for the MS Trust

The good news is that next weekend, I am away with some of my knitting group for a retreat to deepest, darkest Shropshire, so hopefully, I will get the knitting goals achieved there.

March Review

2010-04-02T10:18:00.001+01:00

Who knows where the time goes?* It's been a busy month. There's been a lot of non-crafting stuff going on in my life and work and I'm so glad the long weekend is here and I can re-group and re-focus. But, as this is mostly a craft blog, let's have a look at the crafting goals I set myself for March:

Finish UFOs:

Mouse About The House - DONE!
Bless The Baby - not done.

Finish:

Chevron Socks 2 - these are going to be a Mother's Day present (in the UK, Mother's Day is in March) - not done. Ma got a massive box of chocolates instead, and the socks will be an early birthday present. I'm halfway down the second leg at the moment - and I have until June to finish them, which is when the Aged Parents are going to Norway.
Chevron Socks - DONE!

Start and Finish:

Hooked on Exchanges LHN/CCN Exchange - DONE!
One quilt block - not done. I'm going to put this away for now, it's just causing me loads of guilt, and I think I'll be happier once I've worked on some more UFOs. As a UFO, it is hardly the oldest...
F is for Friend (Prairie Schooler ABC SAL) - not done. But I'm well ahead of my self imposed schedule for this anyway.
20 Innocent Smoothie Hats - not done. But the deadline for this isn't until late October, so no worries

Frame or have Framed:

June - not done.
Sow Kind Seeds- not done.
Morning Song - not done.
Bee My Honey Bee - not done. I haven't done any framing myself this month, although I did take O Christmas Tree into be framed, instead of Morning Song.

Giveaway:

March Biscornu & Fob Design - DONE! - I had over 20 requests for this chart.
St Patrick's Day Biscornu & Fob Design - DONE! - I had over 30 requests for this chart.

Fundraising:

£20 for the MS Trust - a total of £12 was raised this month, which came from only two people. I would like to thank them for their generosity. Their names and comments can be seen on my JustGiving page.

I also need to get my previous giveaways mailed out ... - still not done. It's a task for this weekend!

My Needle and Floss Comfort Me - not completed yet, but I'm working on it.

I also managed to complete:

Alpaca Mitts - these are just so strokeable - I got one small ball of this alpaca, and it will be enough to make two pairs of fingerless mitts, a great use of this luxurious yarn!
Afghan Blocks - I've done 15 six inch square blocks so far of my stash busting afghan, which will be called "You Shall Be Queen" - you'll see the reason for the name when I post pics of the block. It's using acrylic double knitting yarn, which is horrible after the alpaca, but it will make a hardwearing and easily washable blanket!
Oh, and an eight inch block for a charity blanket

So, I was quite productive, just not towards my goals - I even managed to forget about one commitment totally :o/, which is going to be finished today ... One major project is complete - I've decided what to do with all my UFOs, whether to "Finish or Fling?" them. I've really enjoyed going through them and talking about them in a rational way, and appreciated all your comments on them, including the offers of adoption! I may do something similar with the "To Do Something With" pile, so watch this space!

Right, I need to get cracking, I'm off to the opticians to have my eyes checked over, and then to visit with my sister and The Tot! I hope you have a fun day too!

* This is one of the songs I want played at my funeral. The decision is to whether it is Sandy Denny's, Kate Rusby's or Nina Simone's version that gets played. Sorry if this sounds morbid, and it's not an event I'm planning on having anytime soon :o)

The Affair of the Mutilated Mink - James Anderson

2010-03-31T08:45:00.000+01:00

The Earl of Burford can't believe his luck; Rex Ransom, his favourite star from the 'talkies', and his hot-shot producer, Haggermeir, want to film their next feature at Alderley, the family's seventeenth-century country estate. Somewhat less enthusiastic is the Countess, who suddenly finds herself hosting an impromptu house party for the incoming Hollywood crowd. It's almost too much for poor Merryweather, the family's imperturbable butler, to cope with. And that's before there's a murder in the dead of night - By morning Inspector Wilkins of the Westshire Constabulary is cast in the unlikely role of hero, as he tiptoes through the evidence and endeavours to unravel the slightly batty, thoroughly baffling mystery - and work out just what a mutilated mink coat has to do with anything.

Another enjoyable visit to Alderley and the unfortunate Earl of Burford, who is lovely but seems to attract trouble! The characterisation in this, the second of the series, is more confident, and the mystery itself is full of twists and turns. Spiffing fun! :o)

Stitching Meme

2010-03-31T08:14:00.001+01:00

I'm sorry, there's still no pics of works in progress at the moment - I'm just running out of time here. There's been some issues at my main workplace and although some are resolved (yay!) some are on-going and I'm having to put in some more hours than I would like because there is a long weekend coming ... and after that a weekend away... holidays are great, but they get stressful beforehand!

Anyway, Anna over at Stitch Bitch had a little meme, so I thought I'd pass it on. I did change the wording to British spelling :op

What are your hobbies? knitting, needlecrafts, reading, Women's Institute, studying. I need to get back to doing yoga.
What crafts do you do? cross stitch, embroidery, blackwork, hardanger, quilting, beading, knitting. I occasionally make cards.
What sounds do you craft along to? Usually, Radio 4. But come the cricket season, Test Match Special on Five Live Sports Extra. Cricket and crafting are a perfect combination. On knitting group nights - well, the conversation can be quite bizarre, but is always very funny!
First Project You Ever Made: The first one I remember is a cardboard star covered with blue glitter I made for Christmas. I wasn't quite four. Not long after that, my mum taught me to knit and I made a dishcloth.
Favourite Project: Oh lordy. What to choose? I think it's probably No Bees No Honey - it has a lot of good memories atttached to it.

Favourite Items to Make: I always get a thrill out of knitting socks.

What's your favourite...
Colour: Anything that reminds me of autumn - golds, russets, plums, faded greens.
Movie: Local Hero
TV Show: I don't have a TV.
Band: It's a toss up between The Men They Couldn't Hang and Crowded House.
Book: You're asking someone who is going for a literature degree to choose one book? Okay, from the "classics" it has to be Persuasion by Jane Austen. For something a little more up to date, If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things.
Food: It's a toss up between good cheese and good chocolate.
Craft: It used to be cross stitch, it's possibly a dead heat with knitting these days.

And you? What are your favourites?

I Feel Lucky...

2010-03-30T11:58:00.000+01:00

Over the past couple of weeks, I've actually been pretty blessed by the lovely people in the blogging community. In chronological order, I've won some stitching goodies, got a blog award and won a gift voucher to spend on stitching stash!

First of all, I entered a draw on Joanie's inspirational blog, Nini Makes. If you ar einterested in all sorts of crafts, I thoroughly recommend you check it out!

I was lucky enough to win the makings of a Cath Kidston tea cosy, a vintage linen tea towel, a handmade scented heart, handmade card and even a tea bag so I can have a cup of tea whilst I'm pondering what to do with my goodies!

The most amazing thing about this is that the fabrics are those used on one of the most essential things I carry - my diary! This year, I opted for a Cath Kidston one instead of my usual Moleskine, and the cover is printed in the floral and dots designs... (it's a great diary, even has little tear out notes, an address section, and a zippered pocket). Thank you Joanie!

Blu over at Therapy by Thread gave me this award - thank you Blu! Apparently, there are some rules attached to this:

1. Accept the award
2. Thank the person who gave you the award
3. Add a link to the person who gave you the award
4. Put the award on your blog
5. Write 10 things about yourself others might not know about you
6. Pass the award on to 10 others

Ten things that may be of interest that I probably have not mentioned before:

1. I'm more or less ambidextrous - although it's probably fairer to say I have no particularly dominant hand. I do prefer to do somethings left handed - e.g. write and some right handed - e.g. use a knife, or a mouse. I have no dominant eye either.
2. I haven't eaten meat since I was eighteen. And no, I don't miss bacon butties (sandwiches) - I do sometimes think of corned beef and HP sauce in a fresh roll longingly though.
3. I'm forty one, and for only seven years of that time (birth to 4 and for 3 years as a student) have I not had a pet. I've had goldfish, guppies, Syrian hamsters, a dog (English cocker spaniel), Russian hamsters, gerbils and guinea pigs. I can't imagine life without animals in it.
4. I currently work (mostly) for a circus theatre company and I can spin plates, juggle (badly), and walk the tight wire.
5. I don't have any phobias or irrational fears. And as far as I know, I'm not allergic to anything either - just as well, as MS is an auto immune disease, my system has enough to deal with!
6. Apart from jeans, I don't ever wear blue. Sometimes I will wear turquoise, but anything that's navy, royal blue, airforce, cobalt, baby blue or related - no, no way. For one thing, it really doesn't suit me, and for another, they are colours I associate with my mum and my gran. My gran rarely wore anything that wasn't either blue, rose, or plum.
7. Although I have the nickname "beebarf" and I stitch lots of bees and beehive projects, I don't actually like honey.
8. I don't have a particularly deep speaking voice, but I have to sing in the alto range. Not that I sing a lot - but I can sight read, and play a couple of instruments.
9. I worked for a kitchenware company for several years, and in the course of my work have met a number of famous chefs, including the Roux brothers, Michel Roux Jr., Gary Rhodes, Rick Stein, Ainsley Harriot, James Martin, Antony Worrall Thompson and Jamie Oliver. Some of whom I think are amazing, some of whom - well, not so. I will leave you to guess who did not impress me.
10. Back when I was young and foolish, I went to University to study Materials Science and Metallurgy. I dropped out after two years and am now doing a part time degree in English Literature and Creative Media.

I'm supposed to pass this onto another 10 bloggers, but I honestly, honestly can't just pick ten, especially as so many of the blogs I read have had this award before. So - if you haven't already been awarded this badge, and you read my blog, consider yourself nominated! *Do* post about it, don't feel shy, don't hide your light under a bushel!

The final piece of good news I had was that I won a $10 gift certificate in Felicity's blogoversary giveaway. That was a lovely surprise, so imagine my delight when Felicity sent the voucher for $25 saying "$10 didn't seem worth it" - she's a very naughty girl, but I will have so much fun browsing the 123 Stitch site and deciding what to treat myself to ...

So, I'm a very lucky girl and very thankful to have such great stitching friends - you all really make life better with your comments, notes, gifts, inspiration ... Thank you everyone!

Sew Red for Your Heart Received

2010-03-29T12:00:00.000+01:00

The postal service here has lately been erratic, and several things have gone missing en route to me. Unfortunately, one was my Sew Red for Your Heart Exchange :o( However, Karen D very speedily stitched another, and put together another super package and it arrived on Friday.

You probably can't feel it, but the extravagant ribbon is red velvet - very nice!

Opening it up, you can see the goodies - a stitched floss tag with some floss drops (my first!), a fat quarter of finishing fabbie, two red heart buttons, Carrie's Creations thread and my fave DMC Color Variations colour.

And just look at the design - the little spools of thread as a band in the sampler - and finished by a cute heart eyelet!

Thank you Karen, for a great exchange, and thanks too to Jill who organised it all beautifully.

Update

2010-03-29T09:13:00.000+01:00

Sorry I've been a bit quiet this week - just the scheduled "Finish or Fling" posts. I've not been feeling that well. Some of the time, I'm having a great time, and getting a lot done and some of the time, I'm feeling really awful, with severe headaches. Grrr.... I'm so ready for the long Easter weekend, as long as my cluster headaches have passed by then... The Hermit's not been feeling so great this weekend either - we're wondering if it's related to the change in the weather back to more wintery, or to the time change. Yes, we're on British Summer Time now, and of course, snow is forecast for Wednesday...

So, here's my week in review:

The good stuff:

A certain work issue has been resolved
Going to the local museum to see a very well designed exhibition - although I was alarmed to see that I have some of the "museum pieces" in regular use!
Seeing BF and pottering around at a craft fair
Knitting with alpaca
Stash busting some of my acrylic yarn by making a blankie
An exchange has arrived (another post later!)
All decisions have been made on "Finish or Fling?"!

The bad stuff:

Training courses with homework!
Headaches
Nausea
The state of the flat
Pressing deadlines for all sorts of things - funding, course work, job applications, exchanges

Looking at that, the week wasn't so bad - I think I'm seeing things through the opposite of rose-tinted glasses because I really don't deal well with headaches. Not the ones that break through painkillers!

Fingers crossed for a good week for everyone, and plenty of chocolate at the weekend :o)

Finish or Fling? - Wizard of Oz

2010-03-25T08:04:00.000Z

And here, for all to see, is the date of this project. 1994. It could be about to sit its GCSEs, it's that old! Once upon a time, I dressed up as the Scarecrow with a group of people I was involved with, and we paraded through the streets of our town in their Festival parade. It certainly beat the previous year, when I'd dressed up as a mushroom for the same event, and so I decided to commemorate the occasion with a sampler and the help of Jo Verso's books. And for some reason I stopped before adding myself. I'm sure a psychotherapist type person could have a field day with that little nugget :o)

Pros:

A reminder of a great day out with friends
A chance to finish an early design of mine

Cons:

I don't like the style
Worked on aida

So - Finish or Fling?

Verdict: Fling. I have a professionally taken photo of us all (thanks to the local paper) and I don't need this too.

Finish or Fling? - Winter Sampler

2010-03-24T07:57:00.000Z

This is the start of a band sampler from a book by Jo Verso. It's one of a set of four, and I think at one point I had designs on stitching the set.

However, this got laid aside because I think I made a counting error in at least one of the specialty stitch bands - and frogging those can be nearly impossible!

Pros:

Worked on evenweave
Like the design

Cons:

Barely started
Counting errors
Difficult to frog

So - Finish or Fling?

Verdict: Fling. I haven't left much of a margin for framing. I'm going to cut this up and perhaps make a little ornament out of what I've done so far and reuse the rest of the fabric for something else.

Enablers Everywhere....

2010-03-23T09:04:00.000Z

I forgot in my last update to mention that I'd also spoken to Best Friend. She had been in Leeds for her regular yoga practice, and discovered that a shop she'd thought was a clothes shop was actually a yarn shop - Baa Ram Ewe. BF went for a nosey, even though she is not a knitter ... and confessed that she bought some Zauberball sock yarn and would I make her a pair of socks with it? So I guess the last couple of pairs I made for her have been appreciated ... the same with my mum. I was warned this could happen... Anyway, I think I've been given a bribe to make me compliant - BF also bought a skein of Noro Silk Garden Sock Yarn for *me* ... drools.... but what was I saying to Claire on Saturday about stopping knitting socks for a while to work on blankets? LOL

And if the vision of future yarn-y goodness was not enough, Margaret posted on her blog about a gorgeous etui which is featured in Inspirations magazine, so of course I had to see if the large WH Smith's in town had a copy - it did! Oh well, sometime this century I will be making this set:

The designer is Betsy Morgan of Willing Hands - I can't find a website for her - isn't it lovely?

Finish or Fling? - When This You See

2010-03-23T07:49:00.000Z

I know I started this out of a lack of anything else available at the time. It's from an old, old, Leisure Arts booklet, and has a basket of flowers on it. I've stitched several other designs from the booklet, including one I have currently hanging in the hall, and another one which I finished in 2007 but probably started at about the same time as this.

Pros:

It's on evenweave
It's not a big smapler, wouldn't take long to finish
Would fit in a standard sized frame

Cons:

Don't really like the design

So - Finish or Fling?

Verdict: Fling. This too is up for adoption - will send the chart, and check that I used the called for threads!

Update

2010-03-22T12:49:00.000Z

I had a lovely weekend. I went to Nottingham to meet with some fellow Bookcrossers, and we had our usual fun and frivolity! We do talk books - some of the time - but mostly we're just silly and laugh a lot! After a little light shopping, I went to see my friends Claire and Andrew. Both are writers, and Claire writes a column for Let's Knit, in which our knitting group sometimes makes an appearance. I have to confess the best stories aren't necessarily fit for publication ... ;o) Claire shared some of her recent projects with me, whilst I cracked on with my latest project. I've bought a book called 200 Knitted Blocks - although the title is misleading, as over 80 of them are just different colour variations. It's still a good book, and it will help make a serious dent in my double knitting stash, as I create some cosy blankets!

Then yesterday, I went with Sis and The Tot to visit my Aged Parents. I had a good chat with my dad - he's still a bit down over his heart trouble, but I know that he's really trying not to dwell on it. With the nicer weather and some holidays planned, he will feel better. The Tot is a great distraction, and it is hard to keep a straight face when she's around - she says things in such a serious way, but they are side splittingly funny sometimes. We were on our best behaviour though - last week, she'd to tell off her mum and her Nanna for talking with their mouths full... My parents garden is beginning to look spring like - the bulbs over the guinea pig graves were all blooming, and there's frog spawn in the pond. The Tot was going "Look at the *wonderful* flowers" - they were a distraction when she was jumping on the "bounce-oline" - the mini daffodils are just the right size for someone who is nearly four... I'm going to have to find another name for her soon, as she's really turning into a little girl and not a toddler.

The Hermit stayed home because he's been feeling a bit off balance lately with a change in some of the many medications he has to take. So he prepared dinner for when I got back - barbecue potato wedges, yum! All the better for being made with spuds one of my uncles has grown. And I came back yesterday with some eggs from my Uncle G's hens. I am going to do nothing but lightly scramble these because they are the best, most delicious, eggs ever. This is because his hens are the most spoilt chickens in the world - Uncle G. turns over a spit of ground every day for them to have something fresh to dig about it - and they reward him with eggs packed with flavour! If I ever get a house of my own with a garden, I'm going to want chickens...

I didn't do the stitching I had planned for the weekend, as I'm at the honeymoon stage with my the blanket blocks. You know how it is with a new project... And the blocks aren't terribly photogenic right now, as they need blocking. So, because a picture-less post isn't as much fun, have you seen the latest LHN release?

I am going to HAVE to have this, as I visit Nottingham so often, and have walked many times in Sherwood Forest. Then of course, Little John is buried relatively nearby to where I live ... and some stories have Robin called "Robin of Loxley" (or Locksley) - and Loxley is now a part of Sheffield ...

I hope you all had a great weekend. And thank you so much for the comments - I appreciate them all, especially on the "Finish or Fling" posts!

Finish or Fling? - Time and Season Sampler

2010-03-22T08:19:00.000Z

Although the date on this says 1994, I know I started it earlier. I bought it with some gift money from my gran at a lovely (now closed) needlework shop in Chesterfield called Brailsford and Way, and I thought it was pricey at the time.

It's worked on 18 count aida, and if I was buying this now, I would ask for this to be subbed out for evenweave or linen. In fact, this isn't so much a "Finish or Fling?" post as a "Finish or Start Over?" - I've been dithering over this for a decade or more and still can't decide. If I restart it, it will be a huge piece, because I would use 28 or 32 count and it's 18" x 12" already... hmmm, some maths tells me 28 count over 2 would make it 23" x 15" (58cm x 38cm).

I've also been stitching it with 2 strands of thread, which I wouldn't do now on that count. However, my stitching life is a journey, and lessons are learned along the way so ...

Pros:

I adore the design as much now as when I bought it

The motto is one - despite it's origins - I love

It will be a spectacular focal point for my wall of samplers

It's kind of symbolic of my stitching life

Cons:

Aida cloth

Using two strands of thread, difficult to get neat

A long way to go

So - Finish or Fling?

Verdict: I really don't know. Starting over wouldn't be hugely costly in the scheme of things as this is a heirloom piece (hopefully - The Tot will need to be taught to appreciate such things LOL) but there's been a fair bit of work done already...

Can I have your thoughts and opinions of this, please?

Finish or Fling? - The Boy King

2010-03-21T07:54:00.000Z

I bought this kit shortly before I left Sussex, and started it then. I have always been fascinated by Tutankamun, and one of my earliest forays into my parent's bookcase was to look at a book they had which was published to coincide with the big Tutankamun exhibition held at the Britsh Museum in the early Seventies.

I lived with my parents for a year when I first moved up here, and that enabled me to save enough money to go on a once in a lifetime trip. So it was fairly obvious that I would pick Egypt - despite my dislike for heat!
Our flight landed at 10.30pm local time, and by 9.00am the next morning, we were in the Cairo museum, and heading for the Tutankamun exhibits... I was not the only one walking round with a huge grin on my face after that, and saying "I can go home now and be happy!" Fortunately, of course, I didn't, because there were a further fourteen amazing days to go and the memories of that trip will stay with me forever.

Pros:

Love the design, will look spectacular when finished
Brings back a lot of happy memories
Will fit with my small collection of Egyptian memorabilia

Cons:

Still a lot of work to do
Navy aida. 'nuff said!
Lots of blending filaments and metallics.

So - Finish or Fling?

Verdict: Despite the huge cons, I really want to finish this!

Finish or Fling? - The Lord is My Shepherd

2010-03-20T08:04:00.016Z

I don't know who I was stitching this Jo Verso design for, or for what occasion. It certainly wasn't for myself, as I'm pretty much a lifelong atheist, despite my family background. It was possibly for a family member - I'm wondering if it was for my late step-gran, as it would fit with the period of acquiring the book?

Pros:

All the backstitch lettering is done!
Stitched on evenweave

Cons:

Not my sort of thing at all
Lots of fractional stitching and backstitching to do

So - Finish or Fling?

Verdict: Fling. Or offer for adoption. You will need the relevant Jo Verso book or I could possibly copy the chart for you (it's a colour chart though).

Irene's February Biscornu

2010-03-19T14:42:00.001Z

Design: February Biscornu and Fob - freebie available here

Designer: Linden Bee Designs

Stitcher: Irene

I first "met" Irene when I stitched a scissor fob for her on an exchange blog we both belong to, and I've been reading her blog ever since. So I'm honoured that she's chosen to stitch several of my designs - and hasn't she made a lovely job of this? Irene's chosen an antique white evenweave in 28 count to stitch this on.

Irene will be receiving a little prize in the post from me for sharing her finish. If you've stitched anything I've designed, please let me have pictures and I'll be happy to share them on my blog and you too could get a little goodie in your mail.

If anyone would like a copy of the chart, leave a comment on the pattern post and I will get it out to you!

Happy Dance! - House Mouse

2010-03-19T08:29:00.000Z

Design: House Mouse

Designer: Gillian Bowater, from Needlecraft magazine, November 1991

Threads: DMC as charted

Fabric: 14 count aida, white

This is the final design in the set of four, and again was another quick stitch.

I'm not sure how I'm going to finish these. I do have a friend who keeps a couple of mice - Boris and Vasili - perhaps I could make something for her? She's one of the founders of the knitting group I go to (and writes a column in the magazine Let's Knit) so perhaps I could make a knitting bag with them? Then again, she is the step-mum to a little boy, so perhaps something for him? Decisions, decisions...

Finish or Fling? - Sweet As Honey

2010-03-19T07:47:00.000Z

My mum found this in one of her "rootles" - either at a car boot sale or in a charity shop. It's from a Jiffy kit and is stamped cross stitch, not counted. The first kit I ever tried was stamped cross stitch - I was six - and I think that became a UFO too. And my feelings for stamped work have not really altered much in the the intervening 35 years, despite a couple of other attempts...

Pros:

It's bees!
My mum gave it me

Cons:

It's stamped cross stitch, which I hate - I can never get it looking neat enough
It's almost a prayer, and I don't do that, even in jest - well, especially in jest, as it could be taken as disrespectful - although the idea behind the sentiment I quite like.

So - Finish or Fling?

Verdict - Fling. Again, it's up for adoption if anyone wants it! :o)

Kathy's Valentine Fob

2010-03-18T14:09:00.008Z

Design: Valentine Fob - freebie available here

Designer: Linden Bee Designs

Stitcher: Kathy

Kathy took my Valentine's fob and stitched it all in red. I wish I'd thought of that! LOL. Kathy writes a great blog, full of stitching and adventures with her Irish Setter, Rory - if you love pictures of cute dogs, get yourself over there now if you aren't already a reader!

Kathy will be getting a little something in the post from me and if anybody else out there has stitched a design of mine and will let me post a picture on my blog, you could win a small prize too!

If anyone would like a copy of the chart, leave a comment on the pattern post and I will get it out to you!

Gather The Flowers - Helen Philipps

2010-03-18T08:22:00.001Z

Design: Gather The Flowers

Designer: Helen Philipps, from the book The New Cross Stitch Sampler Book

Threads: DMC as charted

Fabric: 28 count linen offcut, cream

Embellishments: Mill Hill seed beads

I have heard from Ronel that she has received this piece I stitched for a Friends Through Threads exchange, so I can now share it with you all!

I've always wanted to stitch this little piece, as I thought it was very sweet, and when I read Ronel's likes and dislikes included pansies, I went straight to the book and started pulling the threads! The chart in the book is a colour chart, and looked a bit more restrained than this - I did wonder at first what on earth I was doing, but the palette does work. I did change the lettering from black to the dark green/gray colour though, and cream stitches were replaced by beads (the model had been stitched on darker fabric). I also left off the other backstitch.

The finished piece had to be a pinkeep, so I used some nice bright fabric to back it, and to keep the contemporary feel going.

I really enjoyed working on this, and I'm so pleased Ronel likes it!

Happy Dance! - Dormouse

2010-03-18T08:22:00.000Z

Design: Dormouse

Designer: Gillian Bowater. From Needlecraft November 1991

Threads: DMC as charted

Fabric: 14 count aida, white

This little mouse rather reminds me of my guinea pigs, and their fondness for snuggling under blankets and duvets. I'm sure Jasper and Rowan would love beds of their own with patchwork quilts and lots of pillows...

This stitched up pretty quickly once I'd frogged the mistake (a couple of stitches) which had caused it to be abandoned in the first place!

See what I mean about snoozing in comfort?

Finish or Fling? - Summer Into Autumn

2010-03-18T07:42:00.002Z

This is a very pretty The Drawn Thread sampler, which I finished 18 months ago and yet didn't add the beads and charm to. No, I don't know why either!

Pros:

Only needs beads adding
Love the design
Have a matchign piece in my stash
Worked on linen

Cons:

The date on the sampler is 2008 - how embarassing!

So - Finish or Fling?

Verdict: Finish!

Finish or Fling? - Strawberry Sampler

2010-03-17T08:30:00.003Z

This is a kit I bought in a sale the first Christmas The Hermit and I spent together. I dragged him off to Hobbycraft (who had a good needlecraft selection back then) and he swore he didn't mind me going through every single sale kit in the shop ... I think it was his first wake up call about my obsession! However, he has his own little foibles and interests, so we're probably about even on that score :o)

The design is one of a set of four. I've already stitched the first one, and the set will be a memorial to my gran. Each has some significance to me, and a memory of my gran:

Strawberry - my gran's garden produced the most luscious strawberries (and raspberries) - gran jealously guarded these against the birds and snails, and our summer trips are full of delicious bowls of berries - for breakfast, lunch and dinner, if we wanted! She also grew many of her own vegetables, and there really is nothing to beat newly dug potatoes and freshly picked peas lightly cooked and served with fish landed at market that morning!

Wild Rose - Roses remind me of her, because she had a number of old fashioned rambling roses on the high stone walls of her garden. My gran loved flowers, and was a very skilled gardener - gardens were her passion, much as stitching is mine. She was always very proud of anything I stitched for her - the walls and shelves of her home had many small framed pieces which had originally been cards - I think she'd saved everything I'd ever sent :o)

Iris - irises were a favourite flower of my gran, and a favourite of my mum's, too. Gran's funeral flowers were in her favourite colour, blue, and included some gorgeous irises.

Heartsease - I love the happy smiling faces of heartsease and pansies - I love the old fashioned name, and their apparent delicacy - when really they are tough and will flower in almost any season. They are one of my favourite flowers. They also symbolise "thoughts" - and I have so many good memories of my gran.

Pros:

Not a huge amount of work to do
Matches a design I already have finished
Lovely linen to work on
A nice reminder of my gran

Cons:

Can't think of any!

So: Finish or Fling?

Verdict: Finish

Irene's Shamrock Biscornu and Fob

2010-03-17T07:59:00.001Z

Design: Shamrock Biscornu and Fob - freebie available here

Designer: Linden Bee Designs

Stitcher: Irene

Irene is a lovely stitching friend from Canada who has been enthusiastic and supportive of my designing from the beginning - thank you for that, Irene. I'm so pleased that you enjoy stitching my designs, and I love how you've adapted them to make them truly unique! Irene has gone with a variant on the "bright" colour scheme I suggested, and has also altered the designs on the reverse - I think they look great, and I'm sure they also made them quicker to stitch up - never a bad thing if you are working to a short deadline! I'm quite jealous I didn't think of using the knot device as the reverse of the fob myself - only joking! LOL

If anyone would like a copy of the chart, leave a comment on the pattern post and I will get it out to you!

Happy St. Patrick's Day to you all!

Fully Dressed!

2010-03-17T07:43:00.000Z

Well, no, not me - got to love blogging in your jim-jams - but my lady of the Sisterhood. Dressed in a very cheerful yellow, her hair and eyes have been coloured to match mine, but I think I'd need pretty heavy duty corsetting to get her figure! :o) Tonight I actually have an evening in so I'm hoping to get some of the lettering worked on. And last night was my last Uni class for a month, so that is going to free up some more time too! Yay! I love my course, and the tutor I have for both my classes is *fabulous* but I do need a break...

I'd like to get this finished at the weekend - I wonder where the pattern will go next?

Little House Needleworks Exchange

2010-03-16T15:25:00.000Z

I received this lovely parcel from Lillie. It was my gift on Hooked on Exchanges Little House/Country Cottage Needleworks Exchange. She made this wonderful pillow with the message of "Hope" on it - isn't the finishing and trimming just deliciously frivolous? You can't feel it from a picture, but it is lovely and soft, and the backing fabric is too.

And I received not one but two pin pillows which she had stamped - plus the handmade flower pins you can see.

And if that wasn't enough, there were some cute buttons - very appropriate, as I'm planning a Sunbonnet Sue quilt for my niece, and some delicious sounding teas and chocolate.

Thank you Lillie, for your generosity, I feel very spoiled!

PS In one of those coincidences, the tea came in a good luck envelope from HSBC bank - both my sister and brother in law work for them, and they have a major centre in my home city!

March Biscornu and Fob - Free Cross Stitch Chart!

2010-03-16T15:10:00.000Z

Design: March Biscornu and Fob - freebie available here

Designer: Linden Bee Designs

Stitcher: Tina

Threads: DMC

Fabric: 14 count aida, antique white

Tina was another kind volunteer who offered to help me with the stitching of my models, and I'm so pleased she managed to do so, as I know she's had family stuff going on. She's done a great job, and I think she liked stitching it, because she tells me she's at work on another two but with slight variations in the colours, including a pink one! I hope she will also share those, but these ones were stitched in the charted colours. I especially like the braided cord for the fob, it's a great idea to get the perfect match.

Tina, thank you so much for doing this!

If anyone would like a copy of the chart, leave a comment on the pattern post and I will get it out to you!

Shamrock Biscornu and Fob - Free Cross Stitch Pattern!

2010-03-16T13:56:00.000Z

Design: Shamrock Biscornu and Fob - freebie available here

Designer: Linden Bee Designs

Stitcher: Sheila

Threads: DMC

Fabric: 28 count Monaco, tea dyed

Sheila kindly offered to stitch this for me, as I've been pushed for time lately, and hasn't she done a great job?! She chose the "antique" colourway on the chart, and stitched it on 28 count Monaco in the tea dyed colourway. I'm always amazed when something takes shape in reality from a thought in my head ...

Sheila, thank you so much for doing this, I hope you enjoyed it!

Another reader of my blog, Irene, has also finished her biscornu already, but I will save that post for later as these ladies each deserve a turn in the spotlight!

If anyone would like a copy of the chart, leave a comment on the pattern post and I will get it out to you!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy Dance! - February Block Flip It

2010-03-16T08:28:00.000Z

Design: February Block Flip It

Designer: Lizzie*Kate

Threads: DMC conversion as charted, with one change

Fabric: 28 count jobelan, cream

I told the sad tale of this piece in my Finish or Fling? post and I am pleased to say this was completed without further mishap or thread loss! I really enjoyed stitching this, although filling in that pink background seemed to take a while, but that's possibly because I was so anxious to get it done! The only change I made was to the pale green - the charted conversion didn't show up very well.

This joins the January piece. I don't know how I'm going to finish these, whether to frame them or to make them into some kind of wallhanging or quilt - well, whenever I get round to stitching the rest of the series. Which means I can put off the decision for a while yet!

Finish or Fling? - Petits Anges

2010-03-16T07:43:00.000Z

This was another eBay find - I think I must have been ahead of the curve as it is a French design, and it's certainly the French designers carrying the torch for cross stitch at the moment, IMHO. Before you all comment and protest, I'm generalising, I appreciate there are designers of other nationalities out there, but as a body ... it's the French.

Anyway, this became a UFO because it was a travel project, and somewhere on my travels to a series of trade shows, the chart went missing. It could be in Birmingham, London or Frankfurt - or at some point in between.

Pros:

Still love the design, even the cherubs
Stitched on linen
Company is still producing the design

Cons:

No chart
Will need to try and contact the company if I want the chart - and I don't write French
No stockists in the UK

So - Finish or Fling?

Verdict: I do really want to finish this, but it will take some effort on my my part to track down the chart. But yes, Finish.

This is what it will look like when complete:

Happy Dance! - Blue Tit

2010-03-15T08:22:00.000Z

Design: Blue Tit

Designer: from a chart in Cross Stitcher

Threads: DMC as charted

Fabric: 14 count aida, pale blue

When I pulled this out of my stash, I thought it was actually finished, and I was about to make it into a birthday card for my dad. It was only when I caught sight of the chart that I realised the poor little bird had nothing to perch on.

It took me longer to pull the two shades of floss and thread my needles than to actually complete the stitching ... and now it is definitely ready for making up into a card!

Fortunately, my parents are not as superstitious as my gran's old neighbour. Mrs Parsons would not allow ornaments or even pictures of perching birds inside the house (so no robins on Christmas cards!) - she claimed they were unlucky. Is that a common superstition? I thought it was quite amusing, given that Mrs P kept a budgie for many years ...

Finish or Fling? - Random Thoughts

2010-03-15T07:56:00.001Z

This does look finished - and it pretty much is, it just needs the embellishments. Which I can't find. I put them "somewhere safe" and now I can't lay my hands on them...

Pros:

Lovely, lovely design
It's pretty much finished
Did I say how much I love the design?

Cons:

Can't find the embellishments.

So - Finish or Fling?

Verdict: Bit of a silly question really. Finish, definitely. Now, has anyone any idea where the charms are?

Finish or Fling? - Pearlescent Bracelet

2010-03-14T08:35:00.000Z

I bought this little kit when my LNS was closing down, as I'd made a similar bracelet in a different colourway earlier.

I like the idea, I like the bracelet, I don't like the metallic floss.

Pros:

Something different
It's small, won't take long

Cons:

Black aida. Need I say anything as to why this is a con?
Metallic floss. Ditto

So - Finish or Fling?

Verdict:
Both. I will frog the little I've done, but use the design to stitch it with standard floss.

March Biscornu and Fob - Free Cross Stitch Chart!

2010-03-14T08:21:00.000Z

March brings breezes loud and shrill,

Stirs the dancing daffodil.

We're having a nice bright March here, but because of the snow earlier this year, our daffodils will be later than usual - it's looking like it will almost be April before we get a show! I love daffodils, they are so bright and cheery. The Hermit gets them confused with dandelions ...no, don't ask me how! He just has no interest in flowers, bless!

Another "D" who deserves celebrating is my gran, Donaldina Mitchell McLeod. It would have been her 87th birthday today. She loved flowers and was a super gardener - her soft fruits and fresh vegetables were high spots in our summer holidays! Her son, my Uncle Rod, shares her birthday (although not her green thumb) and he is 60 today! I can't believe that my cool, trendy Uncle Roddie would be eligible for his bus pass if he was still in the UK ...

Anyway, enough family stuff! The chart uses only three shades of DMC- I've chosen quite muted shades, but I think this would look good in a bright colourway too!

There's a matching fob with this design too, included in the chart pack!

If you would like a copy of the chart, please comment below and leave an email address unless yours is visible in your blog profile. Some people ask for charts but I have no way of getting them to them :o( Charts are sent in PDF format.

If you do stitch this design, I'd love to see the finished article - and there will be a prize for any I show on my blog!

Although there is no charge for this chart, a donation to the MS Trust for this chart would be appreciated. Pennies will do - and you can make a donation by clicking here

There is no obligation to make a donation - you will be sent the chart whether or not you choose to make a donation, as I appreciate that some people are not in a financial position to do so.

This pattern is offered for personal, non-commercial use only. Items made from this pattern may be sold on a small scale basis such as on Etsy or at craft sales. Sales for charity are positively encouraged! This pattern and the text and photos contained within, may not be copied or reproduced for any purpose other than personal use. Please direct people to this blog rather than forwarding the pattern, thank you! Copyright 2010 N M Wray

Happy Dance! - Liberty Print Miniature

2010-03-14T08:02:00.001Z

Design: Liberty Print Miniature

Designer: Liberty of London

Threads: Unknown

Fabric: 18 count aida, antique white

Again, please excuse the grubbiness of this finish - it's now washed and looks fine - but you would be grubby if you'd been hanging around, unloved and incomplete since 1991.

I think this is one of my oldest UFOs and I'm so pleased to have finally finished it. It took hardly any time at all as it was nearly there but - again - I needed to match up the colours as I had lost the threads, the chart had no colour key and no clue as to the brand of threads.

I started this at a difficult time in my life, and in my early days as a stitcher. I'm not going to show you the back, because it's shocking! And if I was going to start this now, I would use one strand for cross stitch on 18 count, not two, as it is a bit chunky looking, probably because my stitches aren't as even as I can make them these days - but I guess that's what practice does! :o) It was put aside because of counting errors - and then I lost the threads. Twenty years later, I had the confidence to sub a thread and to fudge and make allowances for the errors. So, actually, I think this little piece is a symbol of my journey as a stitcher, in a funny sort of way.

I think I will make this into a pincushion, I have some fabric which - although not a Liberty print - is very similar in style and colouring to this.

Finish or Fling? - Patchwork Garden

2010-03-13T10:17:00.000Z

I think I started this in 1998, when I moved back North and lived with my parents for a while. The design is by Elaine Cosier and was published in Cross Stitch Collection. It features a number of specialty stitches.

Pros:

Stitched on linen
Specialty stitches

Cons:

I've lost the chart - that's a pretty big one!
Don't like the colours I've chosen

So - Finish or Fling?

Verdict: Fling. Or at least, recycle the linen.

Work in Progress - My Needle and Floss Comfort Me

2010-03-13T10:05:00.000Z

I'm definitely on my way to being a member of the Stitcherhood! I've finally decided on my colour choices for this well travelled pattern, and made a start on it this week. Because I find stitching in golds and rusts the most "comforting" that my lady had to be dressed in those shades, and I have searched my GAST stash (one of my favourite overdyes) for suitable colours.

I'm hoping that I will be able to finish it this weekend, as the lady is the most densely stitched part of the design and she is nearly done, as I've worked on her since this picture was taken.

I am sure most of you know about the Sisterhood of the Travelling Pattern but for those of you who don't this is her journey:

Harmien in the Netherlands (November 3, 2007)

She sent it to Lili in France (June 17, 2007)

Who sent it to Barbara in Malaysia (June 25, 2007)

Who sent it to Tessa in Australia (July 16, 2007)

Who sent it to Lizzy in the North Carolina, US (February 26, 2008)

Who sent it to Barbara in the Netherlands (March 11, 2008)

Who sent it to Sarah (no blog) in Ohio, US (April 11, 2008)

Who sent it to Anna in Pennsylvania, US (May 28, 2008)

Who sent it to Wendy in Ontario, Canada (July 4, 2008)

Who sent it to Sue in Michigan, US (August 2, 2008)

Who sent it to Jennifer in Pennsylvania, US (September 2, 2008)

Who sent it to CJ in Texas, US, (October 25, 2008)

Who sent it to Claire in Nova Scotia, Canada (January 20, 2009)

Who sent it to Kathy in Arizona, US (February 18, 2009)

Who sent it to Carol in Indiana, US (March 15, 2009)

Who sent it to Carolyn in California, US (May 20, 2009)

Who sent it to Sharon in Oklahoma, US (August 8, 2009)

Who sent it to Jill in Minnesota, US (August 19, 2009)

Who sent it to Sara in North Carolina, US (September, 2009)

Who sent it to CarolR in Kent, United Kingdom (October 27, 2009)

Who sent it to Nic (me) in Yorkshire, United Kingdom (January 25, 2010)

Who sent it to ????

I'm going to need some stitching time, as this weekend is a busy one - I'm just checking in now before I dash off to assist in teaching a workshop about teaching workshops and of course tomorrow is Mother's Day here in the UK, so I will be entertaining my parents - and as I'm not going to be able to finish Ma's gift in time, I'm going to have to do a bit of quick shopping after the workshop! Fortunately, I'm working not to far from Meadowhell - aka Meadowhall, a very large shopping mall. I normally avoid it like the plague, but I'm prepared to brave it because it's for my mum! :o)

Hopefully I'm also going to have time to show some pictures of stitcher's finishes from my freebie charts ... thank you everyone for your kind comments about the latest design for St Patrick's Day. The March biscornu chart is ready for release too - I think you'll like it, I'm very pleased with it, it's very fresh and spring like!

Happy Dance! - The White House

2010-03-13T08:45:00.001Z

Design: The White House

Designer: Rowandean Embroidery

Threads: DMC (I think, no credit given in kit)

Excuse the grubby mark on this, I was so excited to have it finished I didn't wash it before I took the photo. The mark did come out, by the way...

I bought this little kit in the mid 1990s, and worked on a bit of it - I don't have a huge tolerance for French/colonial knots. Then it was put away, I worked on it some more when I moved North, and then lost the thread organiser with the threads on it. And Rowandean, although they produce fantastic quality kits, don't identify their threads by brand/colour number. And being basically lazy, I never got round to matching the work I'd done with my DMC collection, until recently. Once I'd done that, it took less than an hour to get this finished, despite even more French/colonial knots ...

As this looks a little like the house on my Spirit of Scotland piece, I will probably frame this and hang it adjacent to it. I'll get a biggish frame and get my framers to cut a suitable mount to show it off - the stitched area is only 3.25" x 2.25"

Although I like this - and Rowandean designs in general - I find the freestyle nature and lack of order hard to deal with sometimes. I must be more of a neat freak than my home would suggest!

Destashing - Charts for Sale or Trade!

2010-03-12T11:30:00.001Z

I'm trying to make space, and be practical. Not things that come easy, but I seem to have acquired charts I'll never stitch, plus duplicates, plus stuff I've stitched once and won't repeat... well, you know how it goes!

So, without further ado, please find the following offerings for sale - or offer me stuff in trade ... (okay, it won't make any room but I know times are tight and bartering is great! My wish list can be found here). None of the prices include postage, but that will be at cost only. I accept Paypal - and from the UK, cheques and bank transfers. For multiple buys, I may be prepared to haggle.

To keep the post within reasonable size, I'm not going to post pictures here, but if you would like to see anything - and a Google or Hoffman search doesn't come up with anything - let me know and I'll get a picture to you.

Anchor
Exquisite Drawn Thread Work - AEL010. £1.00
Timeless Array (Hardanger & Drawn Thread Sampler) £1.00
Creative Canvaswork (elephant, thistle fob, pincushion) £1.00

Canterbury Designs.
A Woodland Welcome. New and unused. £2.00

Carolyn Mitchell
Seasonal Samplings in Hardanger Embroidery. Booklet. Unused, but came from a shop's old stock. £2.00

Charland Designs
Beehive Sampler - chart only from kit, gently used.£2.00

Chessie and Me
Daily Labours - used. £2.50

The Cricket Collection
Flowers and Bees (Book 157). New and unused. £2.00

Cross My Heart
Earth Dragon. New and unused. £2.00

Cross 'N Patch (Emie Bishop)
First Steps in Hardanger Booklet. Unused. Lots of pretty things and great instructions! £3.00

Designer Stitches/Disney
Seven Dwarfs. DS7. Unused. £2.00

DMC
William Morris Booklet - 16 different designs for smalls. New and unused. Glossy cover and paper. £4.00
Art Nouveau Booklet - 15 different designs for smalls. New and unused. Glossy cover and paper. £4.00

Dover Needlework Series/Barbara Christopher
Miniature Samplers for Cross Stitch Booklet - 73 designs. Gently used. £3.00

The Drawn Thread
My Favorite Things. Gently used. £2.00

Elizabeth's Designs
A Year in Stitches - 12 designs, comb bound. Gently used. £3.00
Sweet Spring Garden. New and unused. £2.00

Green Apple Co.
The Tale of Peter Rabbit - 12 different designs.New and unused, but came from a shop's old stock. £4.00
The Tale of Pigling Bland - 10 different designs. New and unused, but came from a shop's old stock. £4.00
Kate Greenaway's Mother Goose - 12 different designs. New and unused, but came from a shop's old stock. £4.00

Homespun Elegance
Neat Country Stuff. Lightly used. £1.00

Imaginating
A Special Friend. Unused, but came from a shop's old stock. £1.00

JBW Designs
Merry Hearts III - out of print. New and unused. £2.00

Just Nan
Morning Song. Gently used. £2.00
Morning Meadow. New and unused. £2.00

Kustom Krafts
Great Horned Owl MBW-006. New and unused. £2.00

Lanarte/Stoney Creek
Girl With Cat -New, Unused £2.00

Lavender Wings
Planted Hearts. New and unused. £2.00

Linda Gillum/Leisure Arts
Bibs By The Bunch. 34 designs. New and unused. £2.00

Lizzie*Kate
Good Things Come To Those Who Stitch Snippet. New and unused. £1.00
Winter Basket Snippet. Gently used. £0.75
St Patrick's Flip-it. Gently used, no charm, £0.75
Meow Flip-it. New and unused, with charm. £1.50
Follow Your Heart Snippet. Gently used. £0.75

The Need'l Love Company
The Herb Garden. New and unused. £2.00

Patricia Ann Designs
Honeybee Harmony. New and unused. £2.50

Rainbow Gallery/Rosalyn Watnemo
Garden Song. Hardanger Chart + charm. £2.00

Scotstitch
Clan Crest Badges Vol 1. Booklet. 36 designs. New and unused.£4.00 - out of print and hard to find, there's some silly prices out there from book dealers, I'm assuming more in hope than expectation!

The Sewing Circle
Fit Words. Used, slightly crumpled. Postage only.

Shepherd's Bush
June. Chart only, no charm. £1.00

Sisters and Best Friends
Housework Makes You Ugly. New and unused. With little canvas bag with the saying printed on! £3.00

Something Different
Evans-Morris Band Sampler. New and unused. £2.00

Stoney Creek
Signs of the Zodiac. Book 289. 14 different designs. New and unused. £2.00

Teresa Wentzler
Petites - Dragon and Castle (Leisure Arts charts). Also known as Castle Ridge and Above The CloudsNew, unused - and out of print. £4.00
The Princess and The Dragon. New, unused - and out of print. £4.00

The Trilogy
Bee (chart from a Treats kit). Gently used. £0.75
Summer Spots. New, unused. £1.00
Spring Spots. New, unused. £1.00

Twisted Threads
You and No Other. New and unused. £2.00

The Victoria Sampler
Pansy Sampler. New and unused. £2.00
Heirloom Family Sampler. New and unused. £3.00
Rose Arbour Sampler.New and unused. £2.00
Friends are Treasures. New and unused. £2.00
Crowning Glory. New and unused. With Accessory Pack containing silk + beads £3.00

Waxing Moon Designs
Chocolate Makes Your Clothes Shrink. New and unused. £2.00

Zweigart/Ursula Michael
Holiday Treats. £1.50

And one final chart. I have a copy of Prairie Schoolers "Friends" - Book 84. This is now out of print and hard to find. It's in new and unused condition. I'm looking for offers on this - the last one I saw sold on eBay for $30.00 (which is approx £20.00).

Thanks for looking!

Finish or Fling? - Pastoral Sampler

2010-03-12T10:00:00.000Z

I think I started this in about 2001/2002. I've already restarted it once, as the varigated green was called for is now discontinued. It matches a little mini sampler I've stitched, and will - apart from the border - be solidly stitched.

Pros:

Love the design

Cons:

Stitched on aida
Solid stitching
Some fractional stitches in border.

So - Finish or Fling?

Verdict: Finish. I think!

Happy Dance! Holly Berry Sampler

2010-03-12T08:15:00.002Z

Design: Holly Berry Sampler

Designer: Bent Creek

Threads: DMC conversion

Fabric: 28 count evenweave, Silkweaver Solo, unknown colour

Embellishments: Dress-It-Up buttons (Keepsake Christmas)

This is the third and final piece in a series that - once upon a time - was going to be a Round Robin. The group collapsed, but I was fortunate enough to get this piece back, and I've worked on it sporadically ever since.

This was just waiting for buttons, but it took a while for me to find the "right" red - the charted Poindexter buttons were £0.75 EACH and that just wasn't going to happen ...

You can see all three samplers below - my dilemma is - do I frame them separately, or all as one piece, and have a Christmas tree on display all year round? What do you think, stitching friends?

Finish or Fling? - Passing Time

2010-03-11T10:26:00.002Z

This little kit was a charity shop find, and I planned to stitch it for The Tot, but her birthday came round rather more quickly than I allowed for - her birthday coincides with the end of semester assessment season - and so this was put to one side.

It's only a yellow blob at the moment, but it should apparently be a chick blowing a dandelion clock...

Pros:

Not a huge project to finish
It's quite cute
It's a kit, so everything is ready to go.

Cons:

On aida
Lots of backstitch

So - Finish or Fling?

Verdict:
Finish. I'll try and get it finished for The Tot's birthday this year.

Shamrock Biscornu and Fob - Free Cross Stitch Pattern!

2010-03-11T09:25:00.001Z

St. Patrick's Day is fast approaching, and I thought a little design to celebrate would be in order. This co-ordinates with the Thistle Stitching Accessories set I made for St. Andrew's day, but I have restrained myself and kept it to just the biscornu and fob this time - at least for this freebie!

I've chosen both a subdued "antique" and a "bright" colourway for this design. It is currently being model stitched by a very kind volunteer, so I don't have pictures yet. Like most of my biscornu designs, it only uses three colours, which makes coming up with your own colour scheme really easy :o)

There are two alternatives for the back of the design - one for Ireland, and one for Luck!

There's a matching fob with this design too, included in the chart pack!

If you would like a copy of the chart, please comment below and leave an email address unless yours is visible in your blog profile. Some people ask for charts but I have no way of getting them to them :o( Charts are sent in PDF format.

If you do stitch this design, I'd love to see the finished article - and there will be a prize for any I show on my blog!

Although there is no charge for this chart, a donation to the MS Trust for this chart would be appreciated. Pennies will do - and you can make payment via the link in my sidebar or by clicking here

There is no obligation to make a donation - you will be sent the chart whether or not you choose to make a donation, as I appreciate that some people are not in a financial position to do so.

This pattern is offered for personal, non-commercial use only. Items made from this pattern may be sold on a small scale basis such as on Etsy or at craft sales. Sales for charity are positively encouraged! This pattern and the text and photos contained within, may not be copied or reproduced for any purpose other than personal use. Please direct people to this blog rather than forwarding the pattern, thank you! Copyright 2010 N M Wray

Happy Dance! Bee Merry

2010-03-11T08:07:00.000Z

Design: Bee Merry

Designer: Victoria Sampler

Threads: DMC as charted

Fabric: 25 count lugana, white

Embellishments: 2 small brass bee charms, embellished mat (not shown)

This is a companion piece to the one I posted about yesterday. There are now six of these little designs all waiting to be framed. I think I'm going to ask Darren and Jamie - the lovely framers at InFrame Gallery - about framing them as two sets of three. They have very sweet little mounts and I'd like to show those off, but don't want to cram them into a 6" x 4" off the shelf frame as I could damage them if I do them myself.

Finish or Fling? Moonshadow Path - Shepherd's Bush

2010-03-10T11:12:00.002Z

This is an old Shepherd's Bush kit that I bought on eBay yonks ago. It's stitched on Quaker cloth using DMC flower threads.

Pros:

Worked on evenweave
I like the design

Cons:

I don't like the fabric - the horizontal and vertical threads are different colours, I find it difficult to see
I don't like the leaf border - one leaf is too dark, but DMc flower thread is discontinued

So - Finish or Fling?

Verdict:

Fling. Or at least offer it up for adoption! Complete kit, including button... comment if you're interested!

Happy Dance! Bee Joyful

2010-03-10T07:59:00.001Z

Design: Bee Joyful

Designer: Victoria Sampler

Threads: DMC as charted

Fabric: 25 count lugana, white

Embellishments: 2 small brass bee charms, embellished mat (not shown)

This little design only needed the bees sewn on for a "finish". I bought the series on eBay over a period of time, and they helped get me back into stitching after a period away from it when I was very low with clinical depression, which basically took away my ability to concentrate. It was an awful time, but I came through it, and I have these little cheerful pieces to remind me that I don't have to make huge and complex works of art to have fun and to make something I'm happy to share.

January Biscornu

2010-03-09T11:09:00.000Z

Sheila stitched my January biscornu design - hasn't she made a lovely job of it? She has used a dark blue fabric, and finished it with a pearl bead in the centre. Sheila will be receiving a little prize from me shortly - and you can too, if you send me a picture of anything you've stitched from one of my designs!

Thank you Sheila, for sharing this, and thank you too for your very kind comments!

Finish or Fling? Moonshadow Path - Full Circle Designs

2010-03-09T11:03:00.001Z

I started this six or seven years ago, as I liked the design. I think I was put off by the dark colour palette, but now it is more appealing, as my tastes have changed.

Pros:

Love the design
Love the verse
Stitched on linen
Would look great in my sitting room

Cons:

Quite a bit to do

So: Finish or Fling?

Verdict: Finish

Happy Dance! Country Cottage - Jolly Red

2010-03-08T12:59:00.000Z

Design: Country Cottage

Designer: Jolly Red

Threads: Anchor as charted (mainly)

Fabric: 14 count aida, white

This was one of the "Finish or fling" projects from earler this year, and really stitched up in not very much time at all once I got going. The reason it had been abandoned was wha I thought were counting errors on my part, but having spent some cool, calm and collected time with it, I am declaring that it wasn't all my fault! The chart and stitched model differed quite a lot - one complete row missing on the cover photo, and there were some colour difference too. I hate that - I thought the whole point of model stitching was to catch flaws?

Apart from that little gripe, the kit was good quality - Anchor threads were included, and lots of them - probably enough to stitch the design again and the design itself is very cute. I will ask The Tot if she would like it for her bedroom, as the colours are similar to her new room decor!

Happy Dance! - E is for Embroidery

2010-03-08T12:44:00.000Z

Design: E is for Embroidery

Designer: Prairie Schooler

Threads: DMC

Fabric: 28 count evenweave, cream

Stitches: Half cross stitch, backstitch

Oops, I'm a little bit behind on posting my finishes. I enjoyed this, even though I was a bit worried about the seemingly complex design on the "frame". There are a couple of small charting errors on that section, but it all came together well in the end.

I got rid of the Embroiderer's cat - they aren't my cup of tea - and I added the date instead of a sprig of flowers.

This is how the five letters I've stitched so far:

I'm so looking forward to finishing the first nine and getting it framed.

Finish or Fling? - Lizzie*Kate Round Robin

2010-03-08T11:02:00.000Z

This started out as a Round Robin, which collapsed very early on. I was fortunate enough to get it back, although I think only one square - mine - had been stitched. Sporadically, I worked on it, as it had taken a long time to work out the layout for the charts, which are all Lizzie*Kate freebies. Then for some reason, it got stuffed in my UFO box...

Pros:

Only one design and the charms/buttons to sew on
Still really like it
Worked on evenweave

Cons:

No idea what to do with it when it's complete

So - Finish or Fling?

Verdict: Finish

Happy Dance! - Happy Happy Bunny Day

2010-03-05T08:55:00.000Z

Design: Happy Happy Bunny Day

Designer: The Trilogy

Threads: Various - DMC, GAST, House of Embroidery

Fabric: 14 count aida, tea dyed by me

It feels a bit of a con calling this a happy dance, as to be honest, it only needed the buttons sewing on - but hey, it was in my UFO pile, so I'm counting it!

I loved this design, but I made a few alterations to make it my own, including changing some of the coloured letters in the alphabet to highlight my initials. The buttons came from my stash and although they don't quite match the pink enough for my obsessive little self, they'll do!

Finish or Fling? - Little Bee

2010-03-03T12:06:00.000Z

This was an eBay purchase some time ago. The kit (by DMC) is stitched on 11 count (I think) aida and perle cotton. I think I actually got bored with the relatively large blocks of colour, and the shredding thread, as I can't find any counting errors...

Pros:

It's a bee!
Large count, easy on the eyes
Cheerful colours

Cons:

Aida
Perle thread, shreds a lot
No idea what to do with it when its finished

So - Finish or Fling? (I think I need some kind of cheesy announcer voice-over here)

Verdict: Finish. I think!

Pinkeep Received!

2010-03-03T10:32:00.000Z

On Saturday, this little gem arrived from my near neighbour (in global terms) Hazel! from the Friends Through Threads exchange blog. It's wonderful. The design is from Carriage House Samplings, from their Folk Art Pincushions chart. I loved especially how the lady is wearing a shrug just like *my* favourite one - I think Hazel must have been spying in my wardrobe, even The Hermit noticed the resemblance - mind you, I was wearing it at the time :o) Hazel's stitching and finishing is great - the ribbon is double layered, which must have taken some time and patience to get to work on the bow :o) The backing fabric is a Moda design, and as I told Hazel, I've just bought a fat quarter of the same fabric, so again, she got my tastes spot on!

Thank you again Hazel, for a special gift, and it will be treasured!

March Goals

2010-03-01T08:18:00.001Z

Finish UFOs:

Mouse About The House
Bless The Baby

Finish:

Chevron Socks 2 - these are going to be a Mother's Day present (in the UK, Mother's Day is in March)
Chevron Socks

Start and Finish:

Hooked on Exchanges LHN/CCN Exchange
One quilt block
F is for Friend (Prairie Schooler ABC SAL)
20 Innocent Smoothie Hats

Frame or have Framed:

June
Sow Kind Seeds
Morning Song
Bee My Honey Bee

Giveaway:

March Biscornu & Fob Design
St Patrick's Day Biscornu & Fob Design

Fundraising:

£20 for the MS Trust

I also need to get my previous giveaways mailed out ...

Edited to add:

My Needle and Floss Comfort Me

Fingers crossed...

February Review

2010-03-01T08:12:00.000Z

Well, here in my part of the UK, we seem to have missed the big storms that have battered our European neighbours, and March is coming in like a lamb ... and the lighter mornings are making me feel so much better, fingers crossed for a great Spring!

February is always a busy month for me, although it has got easier in recent years, as I'm no longer working in an industry which scheduled three major trade shows in the late January/February period. I still have to fit in three celebrations, including my birthday, and of course, the start of the new University semester! However, I managed to do a reasonable number of my goals:

Sew charms onto:

Bee Joyful - done!
Bee Merry - done!

Finish:

Bless The Baby - not done
D is for Drum - done!
February Scissor Fob - done!
Sew Red for Your Heart Exchange - done!
Ripple Wave Socks - sort of done. I ripped these back and cast on again using the yarn for a different pattern, and one sock is complete and the other well on its way.

Start and Finish:

February Biscornu - done!
28 Innocent Smoothie Hats - 18 done!
One quilt block- not done. I have a huge mental block when it comes to this quilt...

Frog or Finish:

Colonnade Wrap - done! - well, the frogging part!

Frame or have Framed:

Bathroom Plaque - not done
Alphabet Sampler - not done
Bee My Honey Bee - not done

Giveaway:

One to celebrate my birthday! - not done. I need to catch up on mailing the other giveaways I've had before I have another one...

Fundraising:

£20 for the MS Trust - not done. Donations for the month totalled £8.00, for which I'm grateful. I had secretly hoped for more, as I sent out over 60 copies of the Valentine Biscornu pattern and over 25 copies of the February Biscornu one, as well as some other designs, but I guess times are hard, and I mustn't get greedy.

Not scheduled, but done:

FTT Exchange Piece
February Block Flip It - Lizzie*Kate (Year of the UFO)
Happy Bunny Bunny Day - The Trilogy (Year of the UFO)
Blue Tit - Cross Stitcher (Year of the UFO)
Liberty Print Miniature - Liberty (Year of the UFO)
The White House - Rowandean (Year of the UFO)
Holly Berry Sampler - Bent Creek (Year of the UFO)
Country Cottage - Jolly Red (Year of the UFO)
E is for Embroidery - Prairie Schooler

Some of the above only needed buttons, or a few stitches, but it looks impressive, doesn't it? :o) They will be blog fodder for the next week or so ...

Framed/taken to the framer:

Wooly Zipper - Bent Creek (Year of the UFO) (Framed)
Hearts Sampler - Heart in Hand (Year of the UFO) (Framed)
Do Well The Little Things - Moira Blackburn - taken to the framer for re-framing.

Onwards and upwards...

Stitcher's Heart - A Mon Ami Pierre

2010-02-28T10:25:00.000Z

Design: Stitcher's Heart (freebie available here)

Designer: A Mon Ami Pierre

Threads: DMC 75

Fabric: 28 count evenweave, cream

I stitched this lovely freebie for the Stitch Red for Your Heart Exchange over on Hooked on Exchanges. My partner was Marie, and she tells me that due to all the bad weather she has been having, it was one of only two valentines she received this year - I'm glad it cheered you up!

The theme was dear to me, as it is to Jill, the exchange organiser. My dad was taken ill in November last year - frighteningly so. Tests have shown that although he is basically very fit, with low cholesterol and such, his blood pressure is way too high and his heart isn't pumping as efficiently as it should be. He has mild Left Ventricular Dysfunction, and possibly has had it since he was a child, when he had rheumatic fever. The good news is that he's reached 68 without it being a problem before - and he was a coal miner when he left school, and then was a builder's mate and spent 27 years in the police force, all fairly hard on one's heart in various ways. The bad news is that he's going to be on medication for life now, and there is a chance of reduced life expectancy. It's been a bit of a shock, but I think we're all getting adjusted now. My ma's biggest complaint about the situation at the moment is that she had to spend a day phoning round and internet searching because their insurer wanted to triple their holiday insurance premiums! (She's found a company that will cover them for pretty much the original premium, so it pays to shop around!)

Anyway, back to stitching! This freebie was a joy to stitch, and I used a discontinued DMC thread (75) to work it. Actually, I think the thread may only be discontinued in the UK ... although 115 is a close substitute. I traced the heart freehand using the chart as a guide - and it doesn't look as uneven as the picture. I used some vintage Laura Ashley fabric to back it, and some bought cord to trim.

The observant among you will have noticed that the fabric has changed colour between the photos. This is because when I mounted the stitching on the board, I used an aerosol glue, and there was a little seepage in one spot. Using solvent didn't remove it, and the Hermit suggested coffee dying the piece! As I couldn't dismantle the piece, I brewed some strong coffee and dabbed it on with a cotton wool ball, so that I wouldn't soak the card - and then used a hairdryer to "set" the dye and to stop any potential buckling... so, if things do go wrong, all I can say is don't panic and think laterally!

The Affair of the Bloodstained Egg Cosy - James Anderson

2010-02-28T09:46:00.000Z

The theft of the diamond necklace and the antique pistols might all be explained, but the body in the lake - that was a puzzle. "Don't expect me to solve anything," Inspector Wilkins announced modestly when he arrived to sort out the unpleasantness. And at a house party that included English aristocracy, foreign agents in disguise, a ravishing baroness, a daring jewel thief, a Texas millionaire, and of course, the imperturbable butler, it was going to take some intricate sleuthing to uncover who killed whom and why...

The cover image is a good clue to the contents of this fun book - it's a return to the 1930s, with war looming, but people still having "top hole" fun in the country house of an English earl - a house which comes complete with a secret passage. The author has his tongue firmly in his cheek, but has written an affectionate tribute to Christie, Sayers et al and he has constructed a convoluted plot worthy of Christie at her peak. Some of the characterisation is weaker than the others, but again, I think that is very Christie-esque - as is Wilkins' repetition of "not sanguine, not sanguine at all".

An enjoyable mystery, and I'm looking forward to the other two in the series.

Another year older ...

2010-02-23T15:20:00.000Z

I had my birthday on Saturday, and right on cue - but fortunately after I'd got home from my day out - it started to snow! I know we've not suffered as much as many places, but this has been a bad winter by UK standards, and I'm ready for Spring now ...

This is the view from our living room window (we're in a first floor flat - second floor for US readers!) looking over the communal garden to the neighbouring building, which is an undertaker's business - the big rolling door is where the hearses come out of... it's nice to have quiet nieghbours ;o)

So, Sunday's plans got cancelled - the Aged Parents were going to come over and we were going to go for lunch, but the road to get here is a minor country road, exposed and not gritted so they stayed home. I stayed in too and stitched. I've made quite a dint in my UFO pile, so there's plenty of blog material to come - I even finished some pieces before showing them on a "Finish or Fling?" post :o) I can't believe that some pieces were abandoned so close to completion...

The Hermit bought me the remaining Prairie Schooler alphabet charts for the SAL, so I'm all set with that. The guinea pigs bought me a lunch bag in the shape of a bee (I think they had help...) and the Aged Parents gave me a cheque - I spent half of it on a new pair of flat black shoes on Saturday which I really needed, the previous pair were about worn through. I'm going to look at the Nashville releases and see if there's anything that catches my eye - have you seen anything you've just got to have? Sis gave me a giftcard for Waterstone's (a book chain) so equally, if you have any craft book recommendations... I wasn't in any birthday exchanges this year, and I really, really missed it. I'd hoped my Sew Red for your Heart exchange would arrive in time, but it's not turned up so far - and my piece hasn't made it to its recipient yet either :o( Oh well, something to look forward to!

I'd like to thank Carol who pointed out that pictures on my blog had vanished ... because there's been so much interest in my designs, I'd exceeded my monthly bandwidth limit over on Photobucket - who host my pictures - and nothing could be seen! It's all sorted now, I never realised there were perils in being popular! Hopefully everyone who has asked for a chart has one now, I took a break for a couple of days ... don't forget, if you like the charts and would like to make a donation to the MS Trust, it's really simple to do, just click here - donations can be made via Paypal as well as debit/credit cards.

Right, better get cracking, I have a Uni class later, just need to gather my thoughts and find a bit of critical theory to discuss in class...

The Winter Garden Mystery - Carola Dunn

2010-02-19T08:16:00.007Z

So who put the body in with the spring bulbs? The merest hint of spring has arrived in Cheshire, and so has young reporter Daisy Dalrymple. The feisty flapper’s visit is a breath of fresh air for gloomy Occles Hall. But while photographing the rather barren grounds, Daisy spots that someone’s been digging among the first green shoots – and much to her horror unearths the corpse of missing parlour maid Grace Moss. So begins an extraordinary adventure, as first the dead woman’s shocking secret is revealed and then Daisy swiftly realizes she needs to catch the killer before she herself is left pushing up the daisies . . .

This spiffing mystery harks back to the Golden Age of crime fiction, with nods to Agatha Christie, Dorothy L Sayers and even P G Wodehouse. It is a nice, easy read, without jarring anachronisms and vocabulary - although I'm sure Christie never used "spiffing" quite as much! The plot and motivations are plausible, and the denouement is done in the classic style.

Excellent froth for a lazy day!

Crippen - John Boyne

2010-02-18T09:37:00.001Z

If you are going to write a novel about such a well known event you can't rely on dramatic tension - after all, everyone knows the outcome. To make the narrative work, the writer has to make his or her readers involved in the lives of the characters, to believe in them, and to understand them.

Unfortunately, Boyne's characters are stock stereotypes - the upright captain, the maverick seaman, the snobby pleb married to money - and he has not heard of the maxim "show, don't tell". And let's not forget the anachronistic behaviours and vocabulary ... a personal bugbear of mine in historical fiction! Perhaps I wasn't reading the same novel as the other reviewers on Amazon but truly, this was not well done at all. I have eclectic tastes, and will cheerfully read "lightweight" stuff as well as "literature" as long as either are good - and this wasn't.

What could have been an interesting story was rendered dull and unimaginative. Boyne should be locked in a room with Beryl Bainbridge's historical fictions Every Man for Himself and The Birthday Boys and not allowed out until he realises that that is how it should be done when you're telling a story whose ending is already known.