February already?

 January seemed a long month but looking back I don’t seem to have accomplished much.   

Oh well, new month new start.

I built a house in Kensington Square!   The chart was difficult to decode with my poor eyesight so this may not be exactly to pattern but I’m very happy.   The few gaps are for French knots which I shall put on last.   I have stitched but not constructed the lid so only three sides of the box to go now but I’ve put it aside for the moment.

Three times I turned the heel on my Stephen West January Sock and three times I pulled it back.   I realise now that I am not going to be able to keep up with a pair of socks a month in his crazy adventurous avant- garde patterns so have decided I shall print them all off and keep them and will progress at my own pace.   I don’t need 12 pairs of new socks anyway!  So a current photo is…..

Quaker Pocket and  Wedgewood Reticella are both in Time Out while I am enjoying the utterly delightful Ukrainian Mat.   A friend designed this so instructions are sparse and there has been quite some reversing but I’m well on the way in the first quarter now.   Yesterday I sat under (near) the sun umbrella absorbed in this stitching and absorbing vast amounts of Vitamin D and feel enthused once more for what promises to be a busy week.

First up is the usual housework, laundry and general chores then I need to get on to my sewing machine as I need new summer pajamas.   I don’t have  a lot of fabric stashed but there’s just enough cotton lawn for a pair of those  - yay!   During February I’m trying to have a “nothing that’s not necessary” month which is partly to try and complete half done projects and tidy up my To Do list.   Early days yet but resolve is strong.

Some finishes, some starts and a return to a WIP

 January is passing by so quickly and we are finally enjoying hot summer weather.   So besides watering the garden daily and sitting under the shade umbrella with a cool drink, I have been busy with my needle.

First up the Noel ornament is finished.

Then I completed the pincushion from the Wedgewood set (kit from Inspirations).   I’m using this to teach myself reticella but have not fallen in love so the rest of the kit has gone into time out.

Section one of the Quaker Pocket is done.   I’m enjoying this one and the variations in the DMC 115 make it interesting to stitch.

And I started a new piece.  A Ukrainian Whitework piece but done in blue and white.   However the first motif, while it is in the correct place is not in the correct colour so this too has gone into time out until I get some Perle thread in DMC 794

My start

What the finished piece will hopefully look like

So  as some sort of penance perhaps, I decided to go back to the Kensington Square box and get that finished before Show and Tell at stitch group next month.  

And I have the first pair of Westknit socks to finish.   Oh dear, too busy!

Productive start to the New Year

New Year’s holidays are quiet here and I have filled the hours with cooking, cleaning, reading, stitching, knitting and gardening.   That all sounds more productive than it really is but I do have some results to show.

First up a Christmas Ornament (I will be prepared early this year) in a colour way I’m not sure that I associate with the festive season.   I intend to finish this as a flat ornament - perhaps tomorrow?

Then I have started another project - from an Inspirations kit, this is a Christine Bishop design.   I started on the pincushion and now the border is done I need to learn Venetian Picot.   Just maybe not tonight.

And I signed up with Westknits for the Year of Socks in which I get a designer sock pattern each month.  The first has arrived and I will hopefully get yarn next week and get the first pair finished by the end of the month.   

However before that I decided to knit the scraps of sock yarn from the three pairs I knitted late last year, into children’s socks for Operation Coverup.   First pair now finished and my shoulders and wrist tell me I need to take a break.

So I have made a start on a cross stitch project  - Quaker Motif inspired small pocket pouch.   This is all done in one colour and as I had sufficient in stash I have opted for DMC 115.   So far so good.   The fabric is Permin 32 count linen colour cream.

And The Repair Shop is about to start on TV so farewell for now.

Kiwi Christmas

 Little Sister, her husband and I went away for a short break.   Brother-in-law likes driving so he was in charge of that - six and a half hours from my house - Little Sister sat and knitted and I dozed in the back seat.   We rented a house and were very comfortable.

On Christmas Eve we went to a Tea Estate for High Tea which was a new experience for them both and an excellent way to say thanks for having me tag along.

Christmas Day was simple and relaxed and we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

Then on Boxing Day, Brother-in-law found a Classic Car museum and its Jukebox Diner.   So guess where we went for lunch?   Great fun.

The Arboretum provided a much needed walk for Little Sister and me!

On the 27th a friend of mine took us to a needlework shop (well to be specific, needlework, quilting, knitting and lots of Christmas bits and pieces) where all three of us managed to open our wallets.   Then it was on to the spectacular Hamilton Gardens where we ambled around the various themed “rooms” thoroughly enjoying ourselves.

The small Christmas Ornament kit I found at the needlework shop is all stitched and ready to be constructed.   I’m really happy with this and were it not for a must-see programme on TV tonight I’d get it done.  But there’s always tomorrow.

And so this year draws to a close.

This year’s Christmas ornaments

 I had a minor panic at the beginning of the week when I realised I hadn’t begun the annual ornaments for nieces and nephews.   Fortunately I have 20 years of the Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornament issue so a quick scramble through the stack, a dive into the linen box and then selecting appropriate DMC threads and I’ve managed to stitch two.  Hopefully number three will be done this weekend.

One niece doesn’t like Santa Claus decorations, another really likes Santa Claus.   One family have a large tree, another has a very small tree.   There are so many conditions that need to be applied but I like to keep up the tradition so here we go….

2024 - Number One

2024 - Number Two

I’m sure I have backing fabric in stash and will add a twisted cord hanger.   So onwards to the remainder.

And a finish

 After stitching these I came to an abrupt halt trying to follow the instructions for completing them.   Indeed I almost consigned them and the chart to the rubbish but an epiphany in the wee small hours of the night and some grim determination and all six are complete.

And my “take out” project also got completed.   Next year I will start another - that system of a project only stitched at other places was taught me by a friend and seems to work well.

Now I’m back to working on a longer term project and it is progressing so maybe before year end I will have it done as well.    There’s such a lot to do outside and so many activities on this time of year that some days I don’t even put in a single stitch.   Not good enough Margaret!

Little Treasures

 My friend is an inspiration and after she showed me her stitching I had to follow her example.  These are Betsy Morgan’s Little Treasures.   

It is next to impossible to obtain Gloriana Silks here in New Zealand so I substituted red, green and gold DMC.   Feeling very righteous about using only what was in stash, I came down to earth with a bump when I had to buy the 28mm buttons that go top and bottom of these tiny hanging cylinders.   So all I need to do is make the twisted cord and construct them!

Maybe tomorrow.   I have The Last Sock to finish tonight🙂