A Varied Old Week!

Before Christmas, I spent a lot of time making extra special Christmas tree decorations for close family and friends and the Tiger was neglected. I really want to finish this during 2013 and here it is at the beginning of 2013 on 2nd January before I re-started it.

I'm also endeavouring to take more photos of Flossie. For some reason, over the last couple of years she disappears whenever I try to take photos. I don't know if she doesn't like the flash or the sound the camera makes when you operate the zoom. Either way, I've decided that this year I must try to take photos of her as often as I can to try and make her see that the camera isn't something to be frightened of.

She's actually very photogenic, so it's worth persevering with. I will be trying to take more photos of Minstrel ....... and I think his black and white colouring makes him a different sort of challenge!

On Friday evening, Mum and I visited my brother and he is much better. It turned out that he didn't have septicaemia and the clot in his vein has gone down. Rowena did find out one piece of information; apparently, during the original operation in November, his thoracic duct was nicked! Although it was grafted, there is a slight question as to whether all these 'infection like' symptoms and the swelling round the neck wound have been caused by leakages from the thoracic duct! The doctors at Queens are trying to get more definite information from Barts but it is annoying that Queens didn't originally have this information.

And on Thursday, I wrote a letter of complaint to a hospital. Not about Paul, but about my Mum. On the 4th-5th December, she was in our local hospital to have a die test on her bladder as her routine check had shown that her bladder looked a little inflamed. This routine check is because she is in remission from bladder cancer, originally diagnosed in 2005. However, within 4 days of coming out of hospital, Mum was covered in a red rash ...... and after a visit to her doctor, she was told she had scabies! She can only have got it in hospital! She was very upset about this, especially that she might have passed it onto us. Added to which, when Paul was initially ill, and very poorly, she didn't want to visit him whilst there was any possible chance of passing it onto him. In the end, she didn't feel able to see him until the Saturday before Christmas; all very distressing. It will be interesting to see the response to my letter. Mind you, Mum had her follow-up appointment on 2nd January and thankfully she's been given the all-clear. This is such a huge relief that I can't possibly begin to describe the relief.

Then Friday ....... I spent a frustrating morning going round and round the website of HMRC to complete setting up both myself and John as self-employed. I was trying to find out how to set up the payments for Class 2 NICS ..... but they certainly make it hard to find the information you need!

And finally, I spent a lot of time on Friday investigating the best approach to take in setting up a website for John's Candle making business as The Candle Cellar. So far, I've only set up a business page on Facebook but he does need a website as well. I will try and blog about how I get on, but by the end of Friday, I was beginning to feel a bit overwhelmed by all the information I'd found :)

And after all that ...... perhaps another photo of Flossie is called for :) Unfortunately, it shows th main problem with flash; alien eyes :)

My Last Post Before Our Holiday

Here's a little 'something' I at long last finished the other day! A crochet kitten! I used a free pattern from Beth Webber.

Why did I make it? Well ..... my son left home to set up in a flat with his girlfriend in January, but he sorely misses our cats! Although they did entertain the idea of possibly having a cat in their flat, I think they have (thankfully!) decided that a flat is not really the right place for a cat. It wouldn't really be fair. So ..... I thought I'd crochet them one!

I was aiming to make him to look like Minstrel but, as a very novice crocheter, I couldn't quite work out how to do the white on the body to make the 'tuxedo' bib under the chin. I must actually say that I found the pattern a bit of a challenge and I'm sure I went wrong a couple of times.

I also haven't quite got the ears right ...... but try as I might, I couldn't make it appear more like the examples in the pattern. Also, for ages I pondered how I could give it whiskers as the pattern doesn't have any whiskers ...... and no whiskers just didn't seem right!!

For several weeks he wasn't finished whilst I wondered what to do! Then John had a good idea! We have a swift tag gun that shops use to attach labels to things. What if we put several tags into the whisker area and then cut off the square end of the tag? We tried it ...... and they make pretty effective whiskers. So ..... yesterday off he went to be an 'indoor cat' for James and Liz :)

Finally ...... we're off on holiday to Devon tomorrow! I have a horrible feeling that they are having even wetter weather than we are ..... but never mind! I always take a craft activity with me and I shall be taking my cross-stitch tiger. I know I haven't blogged about him for ages but I have been steadily doing a little bit most weeks even though I've been doing lots of other projects in between.

Here is how he looked the last time I blogged about him back in October last year (believe it or not!) .....

And here he is now ......

Let's see how he looks by the time we come back :)

A Creative Catch-Up!

This is definitely a catch-up post! I really should have posted about this little cross-stitch card I made for my Mum back in March, but I just never got round to it!! I made it for Mother's Day ..... and for us in the UK, this is in March. This little card was a freebie from a cross-stitching magazine from several years ago; it was a kit that John's Mum gave me, but it has taken me until now to do it.

It's on quite a fine Aida but only took me a couple of evenings to complete. I love making things like this for my Mum. In 2013, it will be her 80th Birthday, so I need to decide what to make her for that :)

Monthly Make for April No 1

Really this is cheating! It should have been in the Monthly makes for March since, as you can see, it is a Mother's Day card I made for my Mum for 18th March.

However, I do have an excuse! The fact that I have continued to not feel very well means that I have just not been interested in taking photos and manipulating the images or putting together blog posts! In fact, a trip back to the doctor's last Friday has confirmed a bad sinus infection. I am SO hoping that the penicillin he has now given me will do the trick!

Anyhow ..... this little card! It has a history! My late Mother-in-law, Rose, used to buy a variety of  cross stitch and needlework magazines, quite a few of which are no longer produced. A number of them always had a 'cover kit' that was usually a small project of some sort. Rose never ever wanted to do these and she'd give them to me. I rarely did any of them straight away (if at all!) but could never bear to throw them away. During my craft clear out just recently, I sorted through them all and found this one and thought it would make a nice Mother's day card for my Mum.

The cover kit came from a magazine called 'Needlework' and was from the March 1995 edition!! It's actually quite small, being sewn on 18 count Aida, measuring only 4" x 3 1/4" (10 x 8 cm) and a very simple design that I finished over a couple of evenings. Still, I think it looks quite cute and my Mum always appreciates if something is made for her :)

Monthly Make Challenge Hang In There Cross Stitch for March

Well, I failed dismally to do a 'make' for February. In fact, February was a 'just about hanging in there' month all round with me not feeling bothered to do anything much, including making blog entries! I have not been at all well with chronic catarrh and the odd cold sore thrown in for good measure! Despite a visit to the doctor two weeks ago and some penicillin in case of a sinus infection, I'm still not much better. I went back to the doctor yesterday but he said that, basically, I've just been unlucky to have had several viruses one after the other and I have to just sit it out!

So ..... I was aiming to make this little cross stitch picture my February 'make' ...  and I did almost make it .... but not quite! So, it's a March 'make' instead!

It is a little kit I bought about two years ago; the little kitten just screamed out 'buy me' :)

It is only 13cm x 18cm on pale blue Aida. I started it last year in the week we were sitting with Dad during his last illness and I had just put it to one side since then.

On the 6th February, this is what it looked like .... not much done at all :)

But today, I put the finishing stitches in. In the picture below, I used flash to take the photo. Possibly, the one without flash at the top shows the stitching detail a bit better?

Still, it is quite cute :)
I am now not sure what to do with it! I could frame it as a picture? Or perhaps make it the centre section for a cushion (not that we're really 'cushion' people!)?

Any ideas?

Eye Eye Mr Tiger!

When I introduced The Tiger the other day, the photo showed how far I'd got before putting it to one side as a UFO. The Tiger was resurrected to go on holiday with us back at the beginning of July ...... and this shows how far I've got to date.

The Tiger can now look at me :)

I can also give the details for the kit. It is called The Tiger and is a Ross Original design from 1998 so, at the very least, I bought it sometime between then and 2005. It is stitched on 14 count Aida and the finished design will measure 12 x 10 inches (30.5cm x 25.5cm).

Once again I seem to have bought a kit with a palette of similarly coloured cottons! When will I learn! However, I have a soft-spot for pictures of cats, both wild and domesticated, and it is fantastic seeing this picture gradually reveal itself as I work down the chart.

The Rug Fringe Up Close

For all that the last post was to show the completed  fringe on The Rug, the photo just didn't really show it.

So, in what I can almost promise will be the last blog post about The Rug, here is the fringe up close and personal :)

It adds a rustic quality to the finished Rug that I really like

The Rug Really Is Finished!

In the last post I mentioned how I'd moved onto the Tiger cross stitch picture because The Rug was complete ..... and after a quick check, I realised I hadn't posted anything about completing the very final stage of The Rug, namely the knotted fringe. Well, here The Rug is in all its glory!

I wasn't entirely sure it needed the fringe but decided to do a little bit and see how it looked. I have to confess that it really finishes it off, so I set to and did the lot. It was surprisingly time consuming to do!

So now the finished Rug is on the floor in one of our bedrooms. This is the one where we listen to music, as John's extensive hi-fi equipment 'lives' in this room.

No one is allowed to walk on it wearing shoes by the way and the cats have been given very strict instructions to 'behave' if they come anywhere near it :P

Also, I must report that it is very soft under foot!

Meet The Tiger

Although I do have some catch up posts to do, I thought I'd introduce my current major project: a cross stitch picture of a tiger's head. Just as with the rug, this is a UFO that I'm not entirely sure when I started! I think it may have been around the time I finished my Open University degree in 2005? But as to when I bought it, that's anyone's guess!! Never mind!

After completely finishing the fringe on the rug (which in itself deserves a blog picture or two), this went with us to Norfolk when we were on holiday back at the beginning of July.

These pictures were taken on 3rd July, at the beginning of our holiday. You can see that I'd only got as far as the ears at whatever point I decided to stop, probably to do the rug! It is a mass of different shades of brown, cream and ginger so the daylight bulb is a must when working indoors. Also, starting it again definately required me to get my brain in gear to re-familiarise myself with the chart and all the different symbols.

How far have I got so far? I guess that will have to be my next post :)

The Pleasure of Making for Babies

I've belatedly realised that you may possibly mis-read the blog title ..... read it again ....... there is a little word for in there :P

My blogging Mojo has been sorely lacking just recently and I know people will understand why. However, the longer I've left it, the harder it's been to blog! There seems to be so many things I aught to write about that it's a bit over-whelming. For instance, I need to respond to Joy's blog award from ages ago and also report on how I've got on with Callie's give-away. I will!!  I promise!  Eventually :)

So, in an effort to get back into the swing of things, I thought I'd blog about two recent things I made during July and August for two new babies. The first baby is called Yeratel and was born when we were on holiday in July. But she was four weeks early and a tiny, tiny tot. Her Dad is the Curate at my Church and is one of the kindest people I know. I didn't find out about her birth until just after Dad died and I attended a week-day service, as much to mark Dad's passing in my own way as anything else. It was a surprise to hear that Yeratel had already been born but I was so delighted to find out that she was OK and doing well. The weekend after Dad passed away and I was down in the dumps, I couldn't help but think of this new little girl and suddenly wanted to make something to welcome her into the world.

In an edition of the Cross-Stitcher from last year, there had been a pattern for making some baby booties from felt and I decided to give it a go. I already had some pink felt, so that was easy. However, I really needed some waste canvas to be able to stitch cross stitches on the felt, but I didn't have any! I improvised by trying to stitch through a paper pattern ....... don't!!! ...... it doesn't work!! In the end, I did the stitching free-hand, so if you look closely, one little duck is slightly bigger than the other!!

I also happen to be someone who never throws anything away!! I had kept some lovely sturdy little boxes, so I covered one in pink wrapping paper and attached a little bit of pink ribbon ...... ribbon that I had saved from a card or something or other ....... remember, I never throw anything away!!

And voila! A special gift for a special little girl :)

Then, in August, a little boy called James Aidan was born to my Vicar and his wife. My vicar, Stuart, is also a lovely guy! Not at all like the description that Rowan Atkinson recently gave for Anglican Vicars :)

Even though he is not the Vicar for my Dad's parish, he very kindly took Dad's funeral service and that personal touch meant a great deal to me and to Mum and my brother.

So, with one pair of booties under my belt, I just had to make a blue pair for little James!

This time, I didn't have any blue felt, so ordered a whole load of colours from The Felt Fairy. This time, I also thought I'd buy some waste canvas and do things properly!!

Sewing on felt using waste canvas is really the only way to do it. The cross stitching took much less time to do and also ends up perfectly even. The only tricky bit is that, once the stitching is complete, you have to dampen the waste canvas so that the warp and weft threads separate and you can pull them out, leaving behind the nicely even cross stitches. Unfortunately, dampening the felt makes it shrink slightly. As a consequence, the top of these blue booties are a little flatter than with the pink booties.

Note to self ...... if I do anything like this again, pre-shrink the felt first!!

All the same, I still quite pleased with how they turned out.

I also forgot to mention that for both the pink and the blue booties, the buttons were from my button box ..... another thing I never throw away :)

Mind you, I'm not entirely sure the finished item is actually meant to be worn! I'm not sure they'd stay on a little one's feet!!

Once again, I covered a sturdy little box but obviously with blue paper this time ...... and I forgot to mention that I added a little gift label inside.

And, once again, a little bit of recycled ribbon to add a finishing touch to the box.

A long life and happiness to little Yeratel and James :)

Did I really say The Rug was finished?

OK, I lied before!
It isn't quite finished and won't be for a bit!! We've had a very busy time over the last few weeks but three Saturdays ago, I sewed back the edge of the canvas as you can see. It took a bit longer than I anticipated and I still have yet to do the fringe!

The cats seem to approve :)

However, I dare not leave them in the same room as The Rug without one of us being there! Minstrel has already looked as though he was about to sharpen his claws on it! Argh!!

The Rug Progresses .....

Yesterday we didn't go on a training walk. I wasn't very well last week with a bad sore throat and, given that the weather yesterday was terrible, we thought going out in the pouring rain was not a good idea.

So ..... we stayed in and I did a lot of sewing instead! You can see I've made a lot of progress. I'm aiming to get the border completely done before continuing with the middle area. I'm almost 100% sure I won't run out of the pale mauve colour. The jury is still out on whether I'll run out of the pale beige but I don't think so. Surprisingly, I'm now not sure about the cream ....... but I may have a better idea once I've completed the border.

Aargh! Run Out of Wool for The Rug!

Well .... I guess it had to happen! Almost from the start of doing this rug, I have had the niggling thought ..... what would I do if I ran out of one (or more!) of the wools? It is such a big beastie that it had to be a possibility! Mind you, I didn't entertain the idea for too long as I am well known for being economical with my thread usage to the point of being miserly!

Still, on Thursday evening I needed to roll the rug up a little and for the first time, I could see the one of the lines on the bottom border. However, eye-balling the amount of green that still had to be done and the amount of wool I actually had left, I felt pretty sure there wasn't enough. Quick decision....... getting the green lines done in the border would be best done with the current colour so I rolled the rug right up and concentrated on just doing that. Normally, I don't like doing this as I prefer to always work downwards and not jump around too much as I think it can make the tension in the canvas uneven. However, in this case, I needed to make sure there was enough green for the border lines so I concentrated on getting those done. Any remaining leaves could be done in the pale purple and I could think of something or other for the diagonal bands.

Unfortunately, I didn't quite make it! In the photo above you can see the gap of about 12 stitches. Not forgetting, a few leaves and bits in the diagonal bands elsewhere in the design. What a nuisance!

At the same time, it occurred to me that I may not have enough of the darkest beige/brown so you can see that I have tackled doing the areas that have this colour as well. Luckily, there was enough of that. I actually wouldn't be at all surprised if the cream background colour also runs out but it's a bit difficult to judge at the moment.

So, I will carry on with what wools I have left but I now have to also search out some balls of rug making wool that are the nearest possible match to the colours I want. A tough call!!!

Once I know which colours I need, I will try phoning Glorafilia ....... not that they will have this kit as it is over 25 years old! However, a quick search on the Internet shows that they do still do this type of kit .... perhaps they might have similar colours?

However, John (helpfully?) suggested that even if any replacement wool is not quite an exact colour match, it wouldn't matter as, after a few muddy boots had been on it or if one of the cats had an accident ...... any colour mis-matches wouldn't notice! At such times, it is such a bonus to be the wearer of glasses ..... they enable me to look over the top of the lenses with a withering stare :)

Still ..... I did have to laugh at some of the more obsurd suggestions being made last night by John and our friend Don.

The silliest one relates to the picture that came with the kit which is below:

We decided that the book has been artfully positioned to cover up the bit that couldn't be completed :)

The Rug Progress - Saturday 12th February

Here's the rug at the beginning of my sewing session on Saturday .... accompanied by Flossie :)

And here it is at the end.

The shots below show it in more detail, from left to right as it 'sits' in the frame.

Before......

After .............

Before.........

After ..........

Before ...........



After ........... actually, didn't really do anything on the right hand side.



Whenever I sew, Flossie in particular is never far away! More often than not, she sits on the arm of the settee closely observing what I do! For Flossie, just about anything is an opportunity to play so she loves to watch the thread being pulled through the canvas! However, thankfully she's never tried to pounce on the threads!



I love spending Saturday evenings sewing! Not quite the high life ..... but hey ho! We always sit listening to music as well and we spent a portion of the evening listening to Gary Moore who died the Monday before (6th February) at the shockingly young age of 58. He was a tremendous guitar player, best known for playing with Thin Lizzy. I think he would have prefered to be known as a Blues guitar player but I personally prefer his rock guitar.

I didn't keep a note of how long I spent sewing but I'm quite pleased with my progress.