Sunday 20 August 2017

It's a stitch up!


Good afternoon folks! Can't believe another week of the holiday is almost over. Before we know it, the Christmas cards will be in the shops! I've packed the holidays full, probably doing too much in reality, as I'm now panicking slightly about all the things still left undone on my list. I may need to prioritise a little!

I spent a couple of lovely days with my pal Snoopydog this week. On the first day we did some sewing, making rather cute Hamish the Hound pincushions from kits that I'd picked up from Sew Creative down in Petersfield on my trips to and from Portsmouth. They were a little fiddly but we muddled through and were pleased with how our pin cushion pooches turned out!






And of course the naughty dogs couldn't resist doing what all doggies do when they meet each other! 




It was Mr JK's birthday this week, so rather than spend time alone being sad, I decided to be busy. I did stop off at his tree for a few words first thing. It's growing really well and the bark is lovely. There's something very tactile about silver birch bark.




Snoops and I had fun dyeing some yarn. It definitely wasn't very scientific and our skeins are very much one of a kind, never to be repeated, but it was a lovely way to spend a couple of hours and I'm sure I'll knit something from the yarn - possibly a scarf or a cowl as it's 100% merino so no good for socks, at least not for me!




We also took Oscar for a walk around Whitlingham Broad. I'm not a dog person, but do have a soft spot for Oscar. He loves chasing his tennis ball into the water!




We had tea and tarts in honour of Mr JK's birthday - lemon and white chocolate for Snoops and Bakewell tart (Mr JK's favourite) for me. 




Yesterday I took another sewing class at Sew Me Something over at Stratford-upon-Avon. Last time I drove there and back in a day, but it was pretty tiring, so this time I stayed the night before at a Premier Inn about half an hour's drive from Stratford. It made much more sense as these sewing days are full on and quite intense. I was sewing an Imogen top using the fabric that I bought recently at the Festival of Quilts. The cutting out took ages, and once that was done, it was time for tea and cake!




Then I sewed the placket opening - one of the trickier parts of the make. But I was pretty pleased with how it turned out. My top stitching could have been a little better, but I doubt that anyone's going to look that closely at it! 




I managed to finish the top and am really pleased with it. It would be great to make some more in a variety of fabrics - oh to have more hours in a day! No modelled photos I'm afraid, you'll have to make do with a photo of it hanging on the wardrobe!




I went for another dog walk this week too - caught up with some old friends and went walking on some heathland near by. It was really beautiful there and the heather and gorse combination was stunning. Although it's only a couple of miles from where I live, I'm slightly embarrassed to admit that I've not been there before. There were loads of dragonflies too, which was surprising as there really is very little water there.




Flo has been very glad to have me home today and has been very cuddly. I hardly dare tell her that I'm off to Portsmouth tomorrow for an overnight trip to see my auntie. She's 99 and not terribly well at the moment, so it will be good to see her.




Before I go, I must just share with you the virtual granny square blanket that was hooked by me and some of my fellow Stylecraft Blogstars this week. The clever people at Stylecraft were able to gather all our photos together and it looks lovely! Talking of the Blogstars, we now have our own Instagram account so if you're interested in seeing what we're up to, please follow us. You can find our page here. Have a great week and I'll catch up with you again soon. xxx



4 comments:

busybusybeejay said...

I love the top.That is my kind of material.I love geometric shapes and designs.The dyed wool looks pretty good too.You have been
Busy.What a shame works will get in the way soon.Enjoy the last couple of weeks of the holiday.

PixieMum said...

Ooh, I recognise the cake plate at Sew Me Something, it is Royal Doulton's Tapestry dinner & tea service, a design on sale over 40 years ago.

I was sharing a house with two other girls, they were horrified I hadn't started collecting a dinner service, never occurred to me, up till then had been living at home with my parents. However if this is what one did so I did it, chose this design as whatever colour my future own home would be this would go. A couple of years later I bought my own home, then two years on from that married, we used wedding present money to grow the Tapestry service.

Now it is packed away, not so practical with the gold trim which doesn't work in a dishwasher, there is just the two of us so for everyday use we use Denby Baroque, suitable for freezer, microwave, oven and dishwasher.

Thank you for making me smile at the thought of happy memories.

VeggieMummy said...

Wow, what a fantastic post; so many lovely things. I love your pincushion pooches - especially the way they were arranged for the photo! Your top is gorgeous and so is your yarn. I think that silver birch is one of my favourite trees and I'm so glad that you decided to celebrate Mr. JK's birthday. Hugs to Flo. xx

Lynne said...

You've definitely been busy!! You and Ros's doggies are brilliant, and there's no doubt that something like that is really fiddly to sew. Also, you top is amazing.