Okay, let's see if I can post more in 2022!

 Hello my lovelies, 

I am so sorry that I have not visited with you all since April last year - not sure where the time has gone - especially as we (like so many of us) were in lockdown for most of it.  I promise you, a lot of reading, stitching and knitting got done but for some reason, I really hermitted and posted on IG rather than on Blogger.  But it is a NEW YEAR, so here goes. 

This is what I have been stitching this month....

Unfortunately, for me, despite stitching like mad all month I didn't quite finish my choices for two of the themes: One (12 Days) and Four (Nutcracker) for the Christmas Ornie SAL which I host.  Although I did make a lot of progress on my Nutcracker Village for Theme Four.  

But firstly, here is my 12 Days design - by Jim Shore - this is a picture of what it will look like when finished....

.... and here is my rather pathetic progress on it!

But I am pleased to say that my first section of Nutcracker Village by Country Cottage Needlework is coming along very well (although not finished).  It is stitched on the called for sparkly fabric but I couldn't seem to get the sparkles to show up but I must say I think it is one of the prettiest Christmas designs I have ever stitched and I am sorry to say that the photos do not really do it justice.

This is what I have been knitting, all last year and again this year - Dishcloths!

These are all free designs from Garlene from The Kitchen Sink shop - she releases a new one each month. You can find her designs on Ravelry, here (or click on the pic above) although you have to pay for last year's designs now. But if you sign up for her newsletter you should get these year's designs for free each month.  I find these very soothing to knit and so pretty and useful.

... and this is what I have been reading so far this year...

I would have to say, don't bother with either The Girl with the Stars (even though I have really loved all of Mark Lawrence's other novels) or Trigger Mortis (adolescent rubbish, really). I am rereading the Matthew Reilly's Jack West Jr series as the final one has come out but they are a VERY light read and you have to suspend a lot of disbelief.  The real gem that I have discovered this year is Louise Penny and her Inspector Gamache series. At first they seem like a light read, too, but they have so much depth to them which becomes more with each novel in the series.  I can highly recommend them (and I am learning a lot about Quebec, too).  Update: Stanley Tucci's book was a delight!

So, that is me for this past month (yes, I know it is Feb already but at least I am trying - lol!)

hugs, 

Gifted Gorgeousness_September Update.....

Okay, a few things to catch up on for GG this month... but first, in case you do not know what I am talking about ...

Gifted Gorgeousness (or GG) is a SAL run by the wonderful SAL Mama, Jo from Serendipitous Stitching.  Basically, on the 15th of each month, we post anything which is stitchy gift-related.

First up is a gift of some lovely Henry Viii and his six wives chocolates that my dear friend Anna (no blog) brought back for me from a recent trip to London.  I have been resisting eating them as they look so cute with my Henry Viii thimble (which I bought at Hampton Court Palace in 2006) and my Henry Viii and his six wives teapot.

Thank you, dear Anna, for thinking of me. Such a thoughtful gift.

Also, I have been working hard on my DD's London blanket.  She has been travelling all over Europe and even into Morocco, where she spent a night in the Sahara and kissed a camel - I wonder if in Moroccan fairytales it is camels that turn into princes if you kiss them rather than frogs (which are probably pretty rare in the Sahara - lol!)????

She arrives in London next week, so I had better get a wriggle on - I still have five colours to go after the lilac - and I want her to have it before the English winter.

Then, my dear friend Linda, came home from her trip to France and brought me back this gorgeous Medieval book mark kit.  I can't wait to stitch it up!

                                  Doesn't she know me so very well?

Also, this month, I had the Prairie Schooler train birth sample framed and gave it to the new mum and baby.

I am so very pleased with how this turned out and Hannah, the new mum, loved it.

We had lunch at The Kiln, a very nice cafe on the site of the old Northcote Pottery (I still have some of their terracotta pots in my garden).

Okay, I think that is it for now.  I do have one more GG piece finished, which I stitched for a dear friend's 60th but it is off being framed, so I think that I will hold it over until next month.

Take care everyone, happy stitching, 

lots of hugs, 

P.S.  Ooops, forgot to tell you, please click here, if you wish to see what the other GG participants got up to this month.

Finally .... a Gifted Gorgeousness Post.....

.... Hallelujah!  I am finally posting for GG, after having missed July and nearly missing August!
  
If you are not sure what I am talking about.....

 Gifted Gorgeousness (or GG) is a SAL run by the wonderful SAL Mama, Jo from Serendipitous Stitching.  Basically, on the 15th of each month, we post anything which is stitchy gift-related.

.... but, as you can see, I am a few many, many day's late!

So, what sort of Gifted Gorgeousness have I been up over the past two months? Lots really, so here goes... in no particular order....

First up, I "gave" the gift of knitting (and the yarn, needles and pattern mag) to my DDIL last month, and within one

 week, she had finished her first scarf!

If you want to see her progress pics - check out this post and this one.

I am so thrilled that she has taken to this craft like a duck to water.

I also "gave" her the gift of Cross stitch.  I took her up a whole swag of cross stitch supplies to get her started (I thought that I had taken a photo of them but I cannot seem to find it anywhere on my phone - c'est la vie - just to let you know it was a couple of Prairie Schooler Christmas ornament designs).

She started to pick it up but not as quickly as the knitting! That will have to wait for our next visit, I think!

Okay, what is next for GG?  Let's see, I have started what I am calling a "London Blanket" for DD.  It is the same pattern and yarn as the Baby Blanket I made (you can see some pics of the finished blanket here, if you are interested) but with a greater range of colours as it needs to be bigger, naturally. Once it is finished it will be posted off to Old London Town to keep my DD warm over the English winter.

This is the colour palette which we chose together.  I think that it is going to be gorgeous when it is done!

... and here is a further progress pic - I am onto colour two now - can wait to get to the lilac soon!

and, look, it is taking me so long to write this post that I am well underway with colour two....

... the other GG project that I really want to show you is this Prairie Schooler "Baby Sampler" which I made for the baby of the baby blanket fame.

Don't you just love the red cow?

Now, I am sure that I have some other GG projects floating around but I want to get this post up and posted, so next time.

If you want to check out what everyone else got up to for GG, just click here.

hugs, 

Quick update....

... and a Happy Dance before I go to work.

Here is my progress on Day 10 of Prairie Schooler's Santa's 12 Days of Christmas, the Sunday SAL I do with my dear friend, Linda, every Sunday.

My aim is to get this finished next Sunday, 31st so I can reach my goal of finishing it by end May.

Next up is a Happy Dance, a knitting one - some wrist warmers.

Just perfect for these cold mornings waiting for a train to work.

Well, not much else to report - I have been unwell all week (fluey, gastric buggy thing) and so off work for most of last week and so we had a quiet weekend.  Still not feeling 100% but I had better go back to work today or they won't remember who I am! lol!

Have a good week, everyone, hugs  

Wonderful Wool, Wool, Wool ....

.... yes, I have gone Wool mad this winter!  Since rediscovering my passion for knitting - which, don't worry, is fitting in quite nicely with my cross stitching - I have been enjoying sourcing some wonderful yarn.

This pile of beauties is going to make three scarves and some wrist warmers.

Not all for me, a couple of the scarves will be for friends.  I can't wait to get started!

hugs, 

I blame it on Margaret...

... for me taking up knitting again.

Now, in my teens and over my twenties, I was an avid knitter.  I used to knit so much of an evening that when I went to bed my fingers would ache!  So much so, that TraderVic was very worried that I would get arthritis in them when I was old (so far so good). So, in the end, as life got busier with the children and work and as patchwork and quilting and cross stitch was kinder on the fingers, knitting somehow got left behind.


I used to knit quite intricate garments such as this christening gown (with matching bootees and cap) which all of my children wore to their christenings.  It was knitted in very fine 2ply and a row was hundreds of stitches (it was knitted in the round).

Anyway, my dear friend, Margaret from Days of a Sampler Lover, has been knitting like crazy the last several months.  Her great progress pics have been whetting my appetite.

I especially love this scarf, called the Walking Tour scarf, which she knitted. I adore Fair Isle knitting.

Isn't it gorgeous?  You can buy the pattern from The Feral Knitter via  Ravelry.

So, while I haven't quite committed to starting this as a project yet (it requires 36 colours!), I did visit Morris and Sons  and bought some gorgeous wool to knit an ombre cowl scarf.

I am about halfway through and I only started last Monday evening.  I am really enjoying knitting again. It is a bit like riding a bike - it has all come back to me.

Anyway, enjoy your Sunday everyone.  It is a wet, miserable morning so far here in Eaglemont so a good day to stay in and stitch and knit away!

love from me to all of you,

hugs,

P.S. Margaret, I don't really blame you - I am actually very thankful for you giving me back my knitting mojo!  Love to you xoxoxo