Back from the framers

 Today I collected the Quakers in Japan from the framer and I am very pleased with the result.   It is now hanging on the wall where I can look at it easily and allow the waves of nostalgia for Japan to sweep over me.   This is a truly wonderful design from Tempting Tangles.

It was hard choosing a frame and supplies are limited due to import restrictions from Covid-19 but I am pleased with this one and think it suits well.

Now I am back hard at work finishing off the Shepherds Bush Christmas epic and this years quota of ornaments for the family.   Hopefully there will be another update on progress this weekend.

A Finish (or two)

Quakers in Japan is finished.   I put the last stitches in while watching a TV documentary of travels through Japan and mentally reliving my happy days there, all the while wondering when flights will resume and I will once again be able to visit.  Then I hear that Air New Zealand plans to start a once a week flight from July so maybe.....?

Anyway, my lovely sampler is finished and I may just wander over to Mr Van Uffelen this week and have him help me select a suitable frame:) The place on the wall is already selected.

Also finished is the small Christmas Ornament.  The black beads for the musical notes were a nightmare - I spilt them all over the carpet not once but twice!! This may be the only ornament this year.   With all that's going on I'm not sure I have the enthusiasm to make the usual quantity and distribute them. 
I'm back to stitching The Birds and want to get that finished.   Then there is a birthday gift which must be completed by the beginning of September.   After that there is only a piece of hardanger half done but which is not needed until March 2022 so I don't need to "bust a foo foo" on that one.

Progress to report

Finally I have a photo of the cardigan knitted for little Sophia and with the cold weather we are having lately it will certainly keep her warm.   The well matched buttons were a stroke of good fortune as under the shop light I thought they'd not match so well.   However I am very happy with this whole garment. 

Next on my knitting agenda is an Aran Cardigan for me, myself and I.   But there are several stitching projects that must be completed before I can start that. Besides which the DBEM has some sewing she wants -  a couple of merino tops.  We will go to the factory to purchase the fabric this week and I hope to sew them next weekend.

And despite having two major sessions of reverse stitching I have completed the third quarter of my Quakers in Japan SAL.   There is still the white to do in the dancing cranes cartouche but I will leave that to last so it doesn't get grimy.   Next is to complete the cherry blossom tree and the lake scene.   And the final pleasures are a Kyoto pagoda and some bonsai trees.   This stitch has been an utter delight from start to .... now.
Hopefully New Zealand will go to Alert Level 1 this week as we have now been 16 days with no new Covid cases and with the move to Level 1 we can begin the "new normal" of life.   I'm looking forward to that:)

Progress on the Japan SAL

Embroidery progress has been rather slow this week as I am having problems with xerosis.   Yes!   Did you know there is a special medical term for dry cracked skin on fingers :-)   It makes stitching and knitting and most anything more problematic than usual  and has hampered progress.
But I have almost completed the left half of the Quakers in Japan SAL and must say that this is a most enjoyable project and one which I will happily pay for framing. 

The Birds stitching project is still in time out!  But I have knitted a small sweater for the two year old son of a friend and am about to start on a cardigan for his younger sister. 

Hopefully these will be done quickly as the weather is turning cold.   We had out first frost this week and the DBEM needed an extra blanket on the bed.
My garden is doing well and I have Swiss Chard (=Silverbeet) in varying stages of succession planting as this is the only green vegetable the DBEM's dietary intolerances will allow. 

And I'm learning about seed propagation so have seedlings just germinated.  By day these live on the laundry windowsill and have a brief hour or two in the sun each morning and are carried in to the warm kitchen area in the evening.   So far so good.   I may yet welcome the day when I can honestly say that gardening is fun :-)

Progress on the Japan SAL

I am enjoying this project and after a diversion with the DBEM's knitting got back into it tonight.  Some more cherry blossom, a rising sun and part of The Mountain.   I think the blue beside the red Torii Gate is supposed to be a snow crystal. 

Currently I am timetabling my days so as to ensure I don't waste time so will do another hour or two on this tomorrow. 
The DBEM and I are planning an adventure to the shops to cross off some items on our list. Cleaning fluid for our spectacles is high on the list!    We both have only sufficient for a few days.   I have a list for the only local handwork supplies shop so hope I can get all I need (a must have is DMC156!!)and can then start on another sewing project.   I have promised a warm gilet for my Great-Nephew and want to get onto it asap.   He's an active outdoors little one-year-old and an extra layer would certainly help his parents to keep him warm.
Another progress report in a few days.

Good progress

The DBEM and I are happily planning our first road trip in my new car.   NZ moves into Alert Level 2 on Thursday and we will be free to travel (sensibly) so will pack a small picnic basket and go to a local village for a picnic.   According to the weatherman we should have a fine sunny day on Friday so here's hoping he's correct this time.

I did a mental happy dance when our Prime Minister announced the news - my first thought was that I could finally get to the store and buy DMC 156 and so fill in the gaps in my cross stitch piece.   However I will leave that until next week as there will be plenty of people like me itching to get to the store and I would rather wait until it is less busy and therefore safer.

This week I have done a few odd jobs around the house and garden and made some progress on the Japanese sampler.   I'm enjoying this one but will need to find a red bead to hang from the lantern on the Torii Gate which looks remarkably like that at Asakusa in Tokyo.   It is such fun stitching each of these motifs.   I have extra stitches to put in the Acorn Cap and also a Koi fish to go in the gap to the bottom left of the iris motif.   Perhaps I should go through and colour in my chart to ensure I haven't left anything out;-)

I've been knitting too.   I promised myself I would knit a jersey for a brother and sister (2 yrs old and 6 months old) at church and the delivery of the yarn was delayed.  Now that it has arrived I have been beavering away on the small sweater for John - so much so that I have gotten a painful right shoulder yet again.   I need to take care so will slow down on this as I need to keep my shoulders pain free in order to fix up all the extras that the DBEM's knitting entails now.   Oh dear, she has such a lot of reversing and repairing for me to do:-(   I mask my feelings as I don't know what to say when she says "I think I'll need to give up this knitting.  I can't do a very good job...." and her voice quavers a little.   What she would do if she had to stop this simple pleasure I don't know so anything I can do to help her continue is a must.   Today we both went exploring a hitherto undiscovered lane across the street and enjoyed the golden autumn weather.   Both of us are in need of time out of the house and of vistas new and fresh scenery. 

It seems I can't count

Even a simple motif like these irises had me flummoxed and I unpicked and repeated twice!   Not having DMC156 has been a pain too as I needed to leave gaps.   The irises and the dragon and now the pink flower in the bottom right all need that elusive DMC.  Still I am making progress.

The Birds population is growing also.  Not much to say about this one except that it isn't my favourite piece of work:)

Today I ventured out to the supermarket again, list in hand, and after that stock-up will not need to go again for a month.   Hopefully by that time our Prime Minister will have decided what to do about opening up a) hairdressers, b) needlework shops, c) libraries and, d) churches.

Meanwhile Keep Safe, Keep Well

Progress and a new start

33 days in Alert Level 4 lockdown proved too much and I fell down the rabbit hole of internet surfing and stumbled on Tempting Tangles Designs website.   Their Quakers in Japan SAL was too tempting to resist and so I have made a start on a new project.

When I first joined the Auckland Embroiderers Guild many many years ago I promised myself I would not have any unfinished objects and now.....I have two that are languishing in the cupboard. Surely I will find time to complete everything now I am retired??
Anyway, the first two motifs of Part 1 have been stitched and I am thoroughly enjoying this:)

Some work has also been done on The Birds and the flowerpot has been completed along with the tiny bird on top.  Only three more birds and more of that boring teal green feeder trough and the left half will be complete :)

Besides that I have been out in the garden chopping away unwanted bushes and branches and enjoying the golden Autumn sunshine.  Today the DBEM came out and sat on her walker to keep me company.

New Zealand has moved into Alert Level 3 but it makes no difference to what our household can and cannot do.  We live in anticipation of reaching the promised "new normal"