A spot of stitching

I have been meaning to share these pretty stars with you since January! As part of a friend's birthday present, I arranged for an online Zoom stitching workshop with the designer Anna. You can take a look at her Instagram page here. Anna sent me a materials pack in advance so we had everything that we would need to make our own decorated stars. The hour's workshop went by so quickly, but we were all able to complete one star. My knowledge of embroidery stitches was a little bit rusty and I eventually managed to crack French knots! We added beads and sequins to our stars for some extra sparkle. I have plenty of felt left to make more stars - I should crack on with them now, rather than leave it until towards Christmas when I will no doubt have a gazillion other things to be doing! Watch this space! xxx

 

Flower Patch socks

I'm delighted to be able to share my new sock pattern with you. It's the first time I've really felt like doing any designing for several months and it feels great! I was inspired by a beautiful sock set that was dyed by Hayley who owns Ducky Darlings. She dyed lots of yarn in the colourway 'Once and Floral' as a charity yarn for the Flower Power Fund which raises money for Marie Curie UK. I decided to offer my pattern to the FP Fund too, so that all proceeds will be donated. It's such a worthwhile charity.  

The sock is knitted from the cuff down, and features a lace and garter stitch stitch pattern. I used a short-row heel but if you're an experienced sock knitter and prefer a heel flap and gusset, you could easily do that instead. The pattern works well with both variegated and semi-solid and speckled yarns. I've already started my second pair and used a sock set dyed by my friend Helena in the 'Summer Meadows' colourway, and I've posted a couple of photos of that sock. I have yarn in mind for a third pair too! 

The pattern is available on Ravelry for £4 and all the proceeds from the sale of every single pattern will be donated to Marie Curie UK for ever! If you'd like to buy a copy or gift a copy to a friend, you can find the pattern here. If you are unable to use Ravelry, please send me a message on josiekitten123 at gmail dot com and I will do my best to help you!

You can buy the special 'Once and Floral' skeins from Ducky Darlings until the end of May, so you only have ten days left to get your order in. I bought a sock set in superwash merino/nylon which came as a 100g skein of the main colour and three contrasting 10g miniskeins. Hayley has several options to choose from so take a look here!

If you knit a pair of Flower Patch socks, I'd love to see them, so please tag me in on social media when you post a photo! xxx

Flower Patch sock pattern

Once and Floral sock yarn

 

I'm back!

Hello! Apologies for such a long absence. It has all just felt a bit much recently. I had a flare up of my myositis which really knocked me back. It honestly felt like a massive achievement just to get myself up, dressed and downstairs some days! Living with a chronic illness is hard going at times. I was talking to my Occupational Therapist about it and afterwards did some research online. I don't want this post to be full of moans and self-pity, but when I read about how other sufferers were feeling, I felt relieved that it wasn't just me! If you'd like to read more about what it's like, have a read of this article. I shared it with my OT, and he shared it with his colleagues to give them a greater understanding. When you throw into that mix all the issues of isolation and anxiety that being classified as 'clinically extremely vulnerable' gave rise to during the Covid pandemic, it's no wonder that I have 'off' days.  Thank you so much for sticking around.

I do have lots of things to share with you - I have actually been uploading photos into draft posts since my last post at the end of March - so hopefully there will be some more regular blog posts over the coming weeks.

I had surgery to fit a portacath last month. Whilst this will make my regular IVIg infusions a whole lot easier as I won't have all the trauma of cannulation, it was yet another reminder that my condition isn't going away. But now that I've got my head around that, I'm glad that I've had it done. It's such a clever device - one end feeds up into the jugular vein and the other end is in the vena cava which goes into the heart. If you're interested, here's a link to read more about it. I've already had my next round of infusions via the port and all was good. I will say goodbye for now and I promise to be back very soon! xxx