It's all about the yarn!

 A belated Happy Valentine's Day to you all! It all passed by quite uneventfully here. 😊.

I saw this hat pattern all over a Facebook knitting group last year and finally found time to have a go at it in December. It's call the Baa-ble and was designed as the official pattern for Shetland Wool Week. I haven't done colour-work like this for a long time, and I have never used a circular needle, so I was happy with the result.

 It now has a bobble and has been claimed by my son's girlfriend. I made this one with some odd bits of yarn I had lying around, but I've now acquired some lovely new yarn in subtler colours to make more.

And still on a 'heart' theme (and still all about the yarn), I bought a lovely crochet pattern from The Hat and I on Etsy for a head warmer. The first stage was to make the white inner band.

The next stage was to make all the hearts and link them together. I have to admit, when it got to this stage, I was dubious as to whether it would ever look like it was supposed to.

But the pattern was so detailed, with really clear photos for the trickier parts, that it came together like magic. So, like the baa-ble hat, this is another pattern that I will be using again.

On the sewing front, I've been trying something completely new to me. It's on hold at the moment due to the fact that my kitchen is having new worktops and is in a mess for a few days. I'll reveal all soon (if it turns out as planned), and I might show you the kitchen too!

Bye for now
Teresa x

January Making for Me!

I made a decision towards the end of last year to spend the first month of this year working on a few makes for myself. I've had a mental list for a while of a few simple things I needed to get done, so decided to use the quietest month of the year (craft-wise) to get them out of the way (and off my mind).

A new ironing board cover was the most straightforward job, so I tackled that first. There was a big hole in my old one and it was looking decidedly worse for wear. An ironing board cover is not an essential item for everyone, but as I keep my ironing board propped up against a wall it can tend to leave marks on the paintwork. It also looks a bit nicer when I don't have a big enough cupboard to store it out of sight.

Next came a clothes-peg bag. You may have noticed that I didn't write 'new' clothes-peg bag! Previously, (I'm ashamed to say) I kept my pegs in an old, broken plastic bag: so there was nothing to replace.

I got the old, wooden coat hanger from my auntie, and my OH cut a couple of inches off each end, as it was a bit too wide. I made the opening like I do some of my bag pockets, where the lining is sewn on top, the hole cut and the lining folded through the hole. We haven't had the weather to hang out the washing recently, but when we do, it'll be ready for action.

My next project came about because my old purse broke a couple of months ago. I got a new one for Christmas but it didn't hold as many cards as my old one. My solution was to make a wallet for the cards I don't use so often.

Sorry, I couldn't find the link for the tutorial again.

I love how it turned out, and it's had lots of nice comments but if I made one again, I would bunch up the pockets a bit and try it with less of them too, to make it more compact.

I have one more thing left to make for myself then I'll be concentrating on my shop items.  My everyday bag has seen better days so I'm going to make a replacement.

As well as these personal projects, I've been doing some hand sewing of bigger, long-term projects which have been progressing well. I'll be glad to get them finished, though, and off my mind (like the things in this post).

Bye for now
Teresa x

Old News!

Hello all!
I hope you had a lovely Christmas and New Year. I didn't intend to be away for so long but...well....you know how it is; things happen; time passes, and all of a sudden it's 2015.

I loaded these photos a couple of weeks before Christmas, and then couldn't seem to find time to add any words.

This is my son's house in what was our garden. Things have progressed since this pic and the house now has a roof and windows, and is partially blocked up on the outside.

The first patchwork cushion I made for myself had come to the end of it's life so I made myself a new one over the holidays. A tried and tested, simple design of squares which I am always drawn to.

It's been a bit more difficult to craft because of all my materials being scattered in and around the house but I had a few requests that I managed to get finished, including this lavender heart.

There's good news on my Shed front, though, because OH has re-erected it and it's almost ready for me to start refilling.

Bye for now
Teresa x

Change is in the Air!

Hello everyone - I've been away from here for much longer than I expected to, but time seems to be speeding by so fast and there's been lots happening.

I don't think I've mentioned yet that I started a little part-time job about 6 weeks ago. Every week-day morning I help a local, partially-disabled, young mother to pack the parcels for her jewellery-making supplies business. It's quite unpredictable because it could take anything from an hour to 3 hours, so I'm never able to plan exactly what I want to do for the rest of the day, but it gets me out and about every day and motivates me.

Me at Laugharne Castle

OH and I had a last-minute mid-week break at Laugharne a few weeks ago (the last resting place of Dylan Thomas). It was a lovely few days of relaxation among a whirlwind of activity, to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary and OH's 60th birthday.

I've held craft stalls at a couple of local events at which I did quite well, and since then I've been asked to run stalls at 4 further events and give a talk at a local group (all before Christmas!). In other crafty news - I entered one of my quilts into the patchwork class at a local show and won first prize.

I also won second prizes for my lemon drizzle cake (above) and boiled fruit cake (below) in the novice classes, for people who hadn't entered cakes before.

I'm struggling to find time to make more things to stock my stalls, and the fact that I've had to empty all my materials out of my shed, ready for it to be moved out for the house-building, is not helping. It's already being dismantled and the garden is almost bare now, after 2 weekends of clearing out by son and friends, including: OH, son-in-law, son's girlfriend, son's girlfriend's father/mother/brother and son's friend. It's looking pretty bare, and it's going to get worse before it gets better.

I made a larger zipped bag for my last stall, which turned out well. It sold quite quickly and I plan to make more soon.

This little purse above was requested by a friend as a present for her niece, so this has also gone to a good home.

The big surprise, and another thing that has taken up quite a bit of time, was when daughter and SIL had the opportunity to move from a town 20 minutes away from us to this little country cottage 5 minutes away. It is on the country estate that my OH works for and needed lots of TLC. It looks very different now; especially inside. They moved in a couple of weeks ago.

Bye for now
Teresa x

New Beginnings!

This photo is taken from near the edge of our garden, which is on the opposite side of the road from our house. That's our house behind the bushes - the cream one with the roof lights. The house is about a foot lower than the road level, down a couple of steps; the garden is long and narrow and is a few feet above road level.

This view is from the top of the veg plot, with a couple of metres more of lawn and trees behind me. We've had a good supply of strawberries, lettuce and rhubarb so far this year and the rest is well on the way. Sadly, it now looks very likely that this is the last year we will be able to 'grow our own' here.

My shed will also have to move elsewhere - probably at the back of the house. However, the reason for all this upheaval (as per my big hints of a few posts ago) is a good one. Our son has, as of yesterday, obtained planning permission to build a house here! In an ideal world we would not have to make use of our garden this way, but with house prices in our area being so high, it is the only way he can afford to have his own place and stay in the village.

In crafty news, I seem to be starting too many longer term projects when I should be making quick, smaller items to build up some stock. Here's my latest bag creation, made from chopped up jeans and furnishing fabric scraps. I've also finished off a project for a friend and made a few more phone covers (photos next time).

I dug out some Christmas fabric to get ahead of myself for future stalls and have started on some lavender bag sets. I can hardly believe it, but I bought a Christmas present the other day (in July!). It's never been heard of before, but I saw the perfect thing and thought I might as well get it.

Bye for now
Teresa x

Progress?!

 There are 2 mighty oak trees on our lane. Wonderful specimens that I have known all my life, and that have stood here probably hundreds of years while change has gone on all around them. They were originally surrounded with fields with the lane running alongside. Then along came the by-pass (just visible to the right of the second pic) which was later widened into a duel-carriageway (in the early 1980s).

Also in the 1980s came the construction of a large estate (to the right of the above oak). This oak is the furthest from my house - you can just see the next one behind it.

As children my brothers and sisters and I loved kicking through the piles of oak leaves that built up against this wall in the autumn.

 This is the other side of the oak in the first pic. I noticed a lot of ivy growing up its trunk this year that I don't remember seeing before. I hope it isn't a sign of anything sinister!

This is the next oak tree towards our house. It's a bit smaller than the first one and is beginning to show signs of age. It's had quite a lot of ivy growing on it for years and tends to be a bit slower in responding to the seasons.

Where the smaller trees stand in this pic (above) is where a 3rd mighty oak once stood. We were very sad to see it go, almost 20 years ago, when it was (conveniently) condemned and chopped down to make way for this entrance road for 4 new houses. Our house is out of sight, on the left of this pic, just underneath the huge, new house to the left of the telegraph pole.

Here you can see our garden, as of a few weeks ago (opposite the huge, new house), where OH is rotovating ready for planting. It's now planted up and the crops are well on their way. There are promising signs for a good crop of apples and plums, too.

This may, or may not, be the last year we will be able to plant our garden. We are awaiting a decision from the county council and, if things go to plan, things will change drastically, including the moving of The Shed!

Bye for now
Teresa x

It's Hip to be Square!

After months of wet, miserable weather we are, at last, enjoying some lovely sunshine and the gardens are bursting into life.  This also means that son, K, is being deluged with calls and messages wanting gardens attended to. Daughter, J, is settling into married life (which is not much different from how it was before): and all is well (photos next time, hopefully).

Below is the finished project I hinted at last time. It's my Tag Square Bee quilt that was started at the end of 2010. The blocks are from quilters all over the world, except for the one at the top, centre, which I made. I also sent a block to each of those quilters to incorporate into their quilts.

It's the second, and biggest, quilt I've finished to date and will grace the bed in the spare room, after it's been washed (there's a lot of handling involved in hand quilting - and the odd spilt cup of tea - resulting in general grubbiness!)

I think the shadows on this photo are great.

It's backed with an old sheet, with the mini signature blocks (one from each quilter) stitched onto the back of their respective larger blocks. With this big project out of the way I can concentrate on one of my other major works-in-progress: which I usually do alongside smaller, quicker ones (for more 'instant' satisfaction).

Zipped purse made for stall at talk. Organic cotton samples and recycled orange zip.

Last week, I gave a talk about my crafting, to the Ladies Group I run locally. I was a little worried - mainly that wouldn't be able to make it interesting enough - but considering I talk to them every month to open our meetings I had no reason to be nervous. So I wasn't really. But I had no idea I could talk for so long without stopping, because I'd never tried before (and I'm known for not talking much). The ladies seemed to enjoy it, asked lots of questions and gave lots of compliments. I sold a few items and had commissions for a couple more, but more importantly, made people aware of what I do. In fact, I thoroughly enjoyed it and wouldn't be averse to doing it again to another group.

Handbag made from left over upholstery fabric from my mother plus other scraps

The cherry on the cake came the next day when I checked my emails and found I'd made my first sale from my Folksy shop (2 sales actually, to the same person). I was buzzing for the rest of that day and felt like I'd finally 'arrived'. Hopefully, other people will feel confident to order now that someone has broken the ice. I had lots more 'views' of my items too, which I'm putting down to the fact that Mothering Sunday is fast approaching. I should really re-stock my shop now - I didn't have much in it to start with - but that's one of the less enjoyable parts of this 'business'.

Bye for now
Teresa x

Bad News and Good News!

Bad News:  My auntie (who's house is attached to ours) was burgled last week, while we were sitting next door. It was late afternoon and she was out for less than an hour! Not much was taken but the house was a mess.

Good News: I joined a newly-formed stitching group just before Christmas, and we made it into the local paper this week as a result of our collaboration with the Church to help raise funds towards their 'Raise the Roof' Campaign. I'm sitting down, far left.

Good News: It's not much longer now until J's wedding. It seemed such a long time in the future when we started making arrangements. It's been amazing how much work J has put into the organisation, and I have helped where I can......

..... but as J and A are the experts on the venue it's mostly fallen on them.  I don't know if any of my previous mentions gave away the wedding location but the close-up of the invitation should make it clearer. J made the invitations herself, completely from scratch (I know because I asked if she bought the base card - It was that good!).

Bad News: The back boiler 'went' on our wood burner recently and we had to get a new one.
Good News: It could have 'gone' while we were away on holiday the week before and ruined the carpet and floor as well, but we were at home and able to catch the water as it emptied out (Bad News: It was 7.15 am!)

Bye for now
Teresa x

A Knock-On Effect!

 After de-cluttering and sorting out the bookshelves on the landing last week, we were left with some extra space; and, in this house, I find that any extra space is usually filled quite quickly, usually when I'm not looking. The only solution was to fill it myself first, and if it solved another clutter situation at the same time then 'all well and good'.

This was the clutter situation in question; kitchen shelves and tops filled with cookery books. It might seem logical to have them in the kitchen, but there are many more than this on the shelves upstairs, so they may as well all be together, and tidy.

Voila!

It didn't take long to gather them all up and rearrange the shelves. I should do this more often - it feels good!

Talking about books, I think my crafting books probably out number the cookery books (not including my son's cookery books or the pile under the stairs that came from MIL's when she passed away - but let's not think about all those!). Above is the shelf of craft books in my shed.

This shelf is the craft part of the shelves on the landing, and below are a few strays that came from the shed and made their way onto the coffee table in the sitting room.

And let's not forget the magazines.

Although I've made a few projects from these, I don't think I've really made the best of them, or got my money's worth.  I'm going to make it my mission, in 2014, to remedy that. So look out for progress on this, starting in the New Year.

 Now, here's what I have been up to the last couple of weeks. Only one of these  projects was made completely from a pattern and none of them were from my books - for the rest I used my usual method of 'winging it'.

 This bag started out as a simple, hexagon drawstring bag: purchased from a charity shop. Before starting any reconstruction, I removed the lining, and replaced 5 or 6 of the hexagons because the fabrics were a bit 'nasty'. For the revamp I added some bits of chopped up, charity shop corduroy trousers and a new lining, then shaped the bag with pleats at the top and boxed bottom corners.

An unplanned, and useful, side-effect of the construction means that the bag is totally reversible!

 This little bag and purse set is made from a pair of baby's cords. The useful, in-built decoration meant less work for me! The handle is made from half a belt.

Although this crocheted blanket is not from a book or magazine, it is inspired by a scarf in one of the books.

Motivated by the rapidly dropping temperatures, these fingerless mittens knitted up quickly. I haven't tackled knitting in-the-round for a while, but was pleased that this time I was able to work out how to knit them from the right side, rather than inside-out .

That's it for today then. I started off with the intention of making two posts with these photos, but they seem to have merged into one long one!

Bye for now
Teresa x

Decorate and Discover!

OH painted the stairwell and landing the other week. And I only mentioned it once before!  It meant removing the books and shelves from the wall, so that was my job.

I haven't got any 'before' pictures because, to be honest, there isn't much difference.  It's the same colour, just a bit brighter and whiter, and there are fewer books on the shelves, after a good sort out. A small pile has gone in the bin, another pile is ready for the charity shop and a couple of books made their way back to the shelf, after DD had a sort through!

This sort of job always takes longer than you think, especially when you come across books you forgot you had. I kept the Enid Blyton story book I was given when I left the Brownies in March 1974; a paperback copy of The Borrowers dated 1964, that looks as though it has never been read; and a hardback copy of The Selfish Giant dated 1967, that cost "13s. 6d. NET".

Inside the cross-stitch book, above, I discovered these two unfinished projects and a pair of scissors. The little cat is a design from the book, but I couldn't find the pansies in it anywhere. I am probably responsible for the pansies, and one of the children probably sewed the cat, but none of us can remember them!

I tried a different variation of zipped purse last week: padded and quilted ones. The first one is pieced together and the second is one piece. They are solid and substantial, and I'm quite pleased with how they turned out.

Next time, I'll have pictures of another finished crocheted baby/lap blanket and, hopefully, a hexie bag that is currently on the kitchen sewing table.

Bye for now
Teresa x