First post of 2012

Firstly, A Very Happy New Year to all who read this new post of 2012.

I started the Crazy 15 Challenge on January 1st, if you would like to see my progress and what I decided to stitch, please click on the tab above.  That page is to show my progress until January 15th when I should have all projects started.  Progress and finishes thru the year will be posted here.  
January is always a hard month for me, the cold and dull days make me want to hibernate, and I get the 'winter blues'..... roll on spring!  I'm going to try and keep myself busy and hopefully get at least two finishes before the end of the month. 

I'll leave you with a lovely orchid I have on my kitchen window sill, this is its second flower stalk.

and Petra if your reading this .... yes, it is the one you gave me in the summer when you were over here.  Thank you, it gives me much pleasure.

Happy stitching

One finished.... another to start

Yes.... so pleased with myself, I have finished one sock.  Now the hard part is to get another finished, but I will push myself to get it done by the end of the year.   That will be my knitting craze finished with for another year.  Actually they are fairly easy to do, it's just the first few rounds that are a bit fiddly but after that working with so many needles was no bother, even with all five needles in play for the heel.    Had a bit of a problem understanding how to graft the toe but after watching a Utube tutorial it became clear.  Take a look....

and it fits perfectly.

Now I can show the Christmas ornie I sent to my partner on FS group, as I know she has received it.  I am still waiting for mine, post is a little slow sometimes across the pond.  It's a LHN chart, Gingerbread Village.  I have already started stitching another for a little surprise for a family member.... not saying who, they may read this. 

I am still kitting up my Crazy 15 ready for January...... now need to find 4 more charts,  I have taken one out .. far too large for me, I stitch better with smallish items.  Going to cut and neater edges of all the fabric I have waiting.... make a list of floss needed and look thru my stash.  Hope I shall be ready for Jan 1st.  It is very hard not to start some of the ones I have already kitted. Patience is not one of my virtues, but I do work better under pressure, and the pressure will be on to be ready. 

Ok I'm  off to browse for charts and will leave you with a snap of what's in flower in my sun-room.... ugh! where's the sun?

Happy stitching

A new start and a near finish

My new start is ...... 'drum roll'.......  socks, yes I'm knitting again.  Don't do much of it but now and again I see something and I think 'I can knit that'..... well, I saw these socks when blog browsing and found a kit online.  The kit includes yarn, set of five needles, pattern and cute little stitch markers.  Wish I had picked a brighter colour now but I could always do a second pair.  I don't class myself as a knitter by any means, but I think I am doing ok so far.  What do you think?

 
My 'near' finish is a LHN Deck the Halls, it is a lovely little piece to stitch.  Will be adding it to my Crazy 15 Challenge for next year.  I must spend some time today looking at how much fabric and floss I need to buy ready for this challenge.   I also need to add 3 more to make up my 15.   I'm thinking Christmas, then I may be ready next year with a few ornies made. 

LHN Deck the Halls

I shall have it finished this week, so watch this space...... need to look for fabric to make up into a little pillow.  I did finished one Christmassy ornie this week but can't show as its on its way across the pond for our Friendly Stitchers swap, and I don't want to spoil a surprise.

The weather here is bright and sunny today, but a definite chill in the air.  I'll leave you with a few snaps of what's in my garden this week.

I love the colours of Autumn, Fall..... but feel sad as I know it means the cold of winter is on its way..brrrr...


Happy stitching

Not a lot happened this week!

I don't seem to have done much stitching this week, not a lot has happened but it seems to have flown by...... ... I did get my Christmas ornie swaps in the post for International Hand Stitchers group, will show photos when I know they have been received.  Two to USA and one to Australia, hope they fly as quick as my week has.   I have started a LHN 'Deck the Halls' christmas ornie, and it's  lovely, I'm sure I will be stitching this one again and again.

It is my DH's birthday today, so as he loves muffins and cupcakes I made him some Banana and Choc cupcakes, recipe from my favourite baking book (see last post).  ummmmm.....  must start on a healthier diet, think we both  got a few pounds to lose now...

Yummmy !!!

I will leave you with a few snaps from my garden, really looking autumnal now.......

the resident blackbird will enjoy the orange Firethorn and red Cotoneaster berries this winter. 

Happy stitching

Phew! nearly a disaster!

My DH loves choc muffins, so being the good wife that I am......   I decided I'd surprise him with some homemade ones instead of his normal shop bought ones.  Now, I have made this recipe before and it's easy.  Ok, so I whip up this batch of 12 and pop them in my new oven, set the timer and turn around to start cleaning up.  I spotted the microwave and thought *****!!! , opened it up and there inside was the melted butter that should have been added to the muffins.  Quick as a flash I got the tray out of the oven, it wasn't very hot!!!  then spooned the mixture out of the paper cases into my mixing bowl,  added the butter and blasted it with my mixer on full power.  Then arranged new paper cases in the muffin pan and spooned the mixture back in.  Into the oven once more they went..... timer set again.   Time to clear up the mess, and oh  it was a mess ... chocolate mix everywhere.   I hung around the oven with my fingers crossed............ after 20 mins I stuck a skewer in one and DONE, out the oven and onto a rack to cool.   They looked good! 

And they tasted GREAT!  The recipe is out of this book my son bought me for my birthday.  http://hummingbirdbakery.com/cookbooks/the-hummingbird-bakery-cookbook/



Being pleased with my success in the light of a disaster I decided to make my favourite cake, Lemon Drizzle.  I did concentrate more this time and didn't have any mishaps.  If  you would like my recipe for this cake just leave a comment and I'll get it to you.

Yummy.... it won't last long!        Now I'm back to stitching.....

Two finishes!!!

I am so thrilled ....... I have finished the stitching on my LHN Home of a Needleworker.  It is the first big project I have worked on in cross-stitch and am so pleased I finished.  Now to find a frame to fit, or should I take it to a framer?  A 'do it myself ' would be cheaper, but can I do it?   Only one way to find out...

Here it is,  not a good photo

I know there are a couple of stitches in the wrong place and I didn't get my name spaced out evenly, but it's a finish, so I'm happy.


Well my next finish this week was a small doll quilt, made for a challenge on 'smallquilttalk' yahoo group.  The challenge was to use a four-patch block and there was lots of talk about red and white quilts, so I had a go.  Here's my attempt,  it measures 9 1/2 by 14 inches, and the big stitch quilting was done by hand.  All the fabric I found in my stash, which surprised me as I don't use a lot of red in my patchwork.

 My little mohair bear I made last year seems to like it.

Now I'm starting on Christmas ornaments,  I've just ordered two LHN charts so hope I can get them finished before December.  I'll keep you posted on progress


Happy stitching!

Crazy 15 Challenge 2012 - my list so far

I can't believe how quickly time has gone by, I haven't got very far with my stitching since my last post but I did make a start on organizing my Crazy 15..... well, I have 10  on my list, what do you think so far!  I'm looking for smaller projects for the remainder to give me some chance of finishing.  I have 3 kitted up and 2 just waiting for threads........ must do a little shopping for fabric and a few more threads, and maybe a few LHN charts, oh and needles....   I broke one this morning.

Crazy 15 Challenge 2012
Coffee Menu, by LHN
Tiny Linen Pinkeep, by Jane Greenoff
Tiny House, by LHN
Snowflake Biscornu, by Faby Reilly
Espresso Yourself, by Kell Smurthwaite
Hot Chocolate, by Kell Smurthwaite
Tea for 2, by Kell Smurthwaite
Bee Welcome, by Abi Gurden
Heart Stitcher, by à mon ami Pierre
The French Hen, by JBW Designs

Crazy 15 Challenge

Did you notice my little plastic wallets?  I have A4 and A5 sizes, they are so handy for keeping a project together.  Found them at my local supermarket, very cheap too!  So here's a pic of them in my 'WIP' bag, ummm.. so neat.

Don't think I shall get much stitching done tomorrow, my oven blew up this evening just as I was about to put our dinner in!!!  ....... the cooker is not that old, and I have had it repaired twice, but this time DH says 'oh no we buy another one', so that's what I'm doing tomorrow.  Salad anyone?  

Happy stitching

Autumn finish and needlebook exchange

I can now show  photos of the pretty needlebook I received from Viv in our Friendly Stitchers exchange.

from Viv

 This photo does not show it too well, but there are lots of beads which make it shine.  It's really lovely and beautifully stitched.  I think I may look for a new camera for Christmas, or is it just operator training I need.  I'll wait and see what Santa brings.

mine to Viv

 I added a little pincushion with mine to Viv, as I was going to use the acorns on the book cover but they didn't fit well, so I used them for a pincushion, and stitched the pumpkin instead.

While looking for charts for this Autumn exchange I found a little hanger, and I've finished the stitching  this week.... still got to do the making up.  Here's a link where I found it, some lovely free charts for all seasons. http://gazette94.blogspot.com/ 

worked on 28ct hand-dyed evenweave by Polstitches

I've also been busy with my LHN 'Home of a Needleworker', I'm so pleased with it, can't wait to get it finished and framed.

getting near to a finish

Well, my list of 15 for the Crazy Challenge is proving to be a bit of a challenge in itself..... I still can't decide what I'm including.  I only have 3 kitted up so far, much get more organised.  I have found some plastic folders to keep each project in as I kit them up, which will help me keep track of things.  As you may guess I'm not the world's most organised stitcher....... but I'm getting better !!!!!    I'll dig out some more holiday snaps for my next update.

happy stitching

Where was I? - ' Downunder mate'

Did you guess where I was on holiday?  DH and I had a great time for just over 5 weeks.... here's another photo from that amazing country,   the beautiful city of Adelaide, SA..... shopping on the Rundle Mall

Rundle Street and Rundle Mall are named after John Rundle (1791- 1864), an original director and financier of the South Australia Company, which was formed in London in 1834 to promote settlement of the new colony of South Australia.

 The sheep were on the road to the small town of Melrose, in the Flinders Range.  It was a wonderful sight to see early that morning, a field of blue with sheep dotted about.  The plant they were grazing on is Echium plantagineum, commonly known as Purple Viper's Bugloss or as Paterson's Curse or Salvation Jane (particularly in South Australia). Other names are Blueweed, Lady Campbell Weed or Riverina Bluebell. The name Salvation Jane comes from South Australia. In times of drought, many of the states grazing pastures died. Due to its drought hardiness, Echium was a source of food to the grazing animals in the state, hence the name Salvation Jane.  I believe it is toxic to horses.

The beach ............ 'sigh'  was perfect.  If I won the lottery that is where you would find me, building a house overlooking that bay..... named Tumby Bay on the Eyre Peninsula.  There was  a quilting shop too,  what more could I ask for...... 

Now onto an update of my stitching this past week,  more stitching on LHN's Home of a Needleworker, and a small autumn piece for a small  hanging pillow, which I haven't got a photo of yet, so will wait till its finished. 

I am really enjoying stitching this one, I have got the feel of linen now and love the look.  I think I am completely mad, cos I have signed up for the Crazy 15 Challenge, info here

   http://groups.yahoo.com/group/crazyjanuary2012 , 
so I have been browsing to find 15 projects I want to stitch next year.  I'm a very slow stitcher so it will be a challenge to finish 15 in a year.  Might have to choose mostly small ones, with a few medium, certainly no large projects.  My Mary Wigmore is the only big project I can concentrate on, maybe I can add that as one of my 15.  I know I shall be doing some LHN charts, one will be the 'Coffee Menu' as I love that and it will go great on my kitchen wall.   Also I have French Hen by JBW Designs to add.  I'll update next week on my 15 chosen ones.


happy stitching

a look back!

Not a lot of stitching has been done lately, apart from an autumnal piece to be made into a needlebook, which I can't show yet as it's for an exchange in Friendly Stitchers group.

So I've been looking thru my photos and thought I would show a couple of holiday photos,  plus what I stitched on that holiday.  See if you can guess what country I was in .......

sheep grazing, early morning

a perfect beach!

now to what I stitched .....

ready to bring home for Christmas

Look out next week for more 'looking back' at holiday photos and the stitching done.  Plus the answer to where the sheep are grazing and the location of  my perfect beach ....

Happy stitching