A very long week

It has been a very long week at our house.   The HD3QBEM has been unwell again, all week, cheerfully telling me very untruthfully each morning that she feels better than yesterday!   She has only been outdoors for two doctors visits and has had no oomph to do anything.   Tonight for the first time in two weeks she dried the evening dinner dishes.  I'm sure she feels very frustrated and unwell as she hasn't even picked up her knitting needles :-)

My needles have not been in use much either but last night I did  make a start on finishing the needlework tools that will go in the Sweet Strawberry Bag when it returns home.   Currently the bag is on display at the Auckland Regional Exhibition.
First a pin keep -  it was well nigh impossible to find green and red pins so these are a little mismatched

A teeny tiny scissors fob for a teeny tiny pair of scissors -  I opted for a felt leaf rather than the specified needle lace.  

And the front and back covers of a needlebook.   I need to make the lining pieces and then there will be a fabric hinge and the closure to design.   Can you tell I have not followed the instructions completely??

And on a completely different note -  there have been workmen in the area digging up the footpaths to lay (?) fibreoptic cable for ultra fast broadband.   At least I think that's what they are doing!   Anyway in the midst of all that this appeared.

No no no.   They are not retrieving the old cables using over sized chopsticks.   This is a recent addition to the city art works collection.   I like the way it brings a smile to the face each time I go past  although to be fair it did generate many Letters To The Editor in the daily paper.   But being a lover of soba noodles I just love this and am delighted to think that my city tax helped pay for it :-)

The big, the small and the epic error.

Spring is showing her face and my garden has both big daffodils

and the teeny weeny miniature ones.

The warmer temperatures and sunny days are most welcome as it has been a very wet winter.   During the week we had a couple of white frosty mornings and it was hard to crawl out of bed and go off to work but it is light when I commute now.
During the past busy week I managed to stitch and complete the back panel for the needlecase and then .... the great discovery of the epic error.   Can you see what I have done?

In the interests of conserving linen I forgot to leave a border around the 'sampler' front cover of the needlecase before stitching the back.  What a foolish mistake.   However rather than reverse stitch all that I have  moved upwards and with sufficient border left to allow for lacing to the card, I will restitch the flowers.  Next time I will follow the directions instead of thinking I know better.
This week I plan to lace the panels for the Sampler Casket.   On Friday I found an art supplies store near work where I can purchase acid free card for the lining pieces so I am inspired to complete that project.   So all being well I might be able to cross two further items off this month's list :-)

Two are better than one

Last Saturday I bravely left my embroidery spectacles at Mortimer Hirst to let the handsome Grant make me new lenses.   So all week I struggled with clip on magnifiers.   I have been almost too tired to stitch but managed to make these "doubles".   Why does everything have two sides - even an argument?!
My mulberry Mary Stewart Hussif is turning out well.   The hardanger decoration is backed with a small square of cream calico and the lining is some ancient cotton quilting fabric from stash.  Now I need to buttonhole stitch all the way around both pieces before joining them together.

I wanted to make fancy toggles on the ends of the draw cords but the only scraps left of the linen fabric are a few stray threads that frayed off the edge.   This has been a truly frugal project!

And both sides of the red and green blackwork strawberry are done so I hope to get this finished over the weekend.   They have both to be lined with wool batting and laced over a more strawberry (oval) shape before being stitched together and then the search for red headed pins will begin.  There remains a strawberry scissor fob and a needlebook for this set but not just right now.

My list for this month is already drawn up in my mind so I will courageously commit to paper - well to blog anyway
1.  Finish off strawberry pin keep
2.  Complete Mary Stewart Hussif
3.  Finish hemming quilted placemats
4.  Construct Advent "candles" for  Christmas Gift
5.  Tack out linen for hardanger jewellery roll
6.   Lace linen panels of Sampler Casket
Now I am off to put Chicken Soup into the slow cooker and Sweet and Sour Pork Casserole into the oven.  I try to do the week's cooking over the weekend leaving the HD3QBEM to heat up meals through the week.   She feels she's helping and I get a meal quickly when I get home after work then gym. A win-win wouldn't you say?

Strawberries grow well in the rain

Today it is really wet and windy.   I defied the weather to go out and cross off my list of chores -getting drenched in the process.  

However being confined indoors has done wonders for my stitching and the strawberries are growing. They look good don't you think?

I find it harder to do the cream flowers, aged eyesight etc but they do look effective.  There's a needlebook, pinkeep and scissor fob to complete this set.   In faith I dated this 2015!
My quilted placemats need the binding hand finished and I'll do that tonight.   I'm still dithering over the colour for lining my Sampler Casket so no progress there.   But I do have the buckram cut for my Advent Candles so will soon have those done.
And now my Date and Orange Loaf is out of the oven, the Miso Meat Balls are in baking, Chicken Soup is in the slow cooker and I have a book and a cup of tea.   See you later!

And tomorrow I go to the prison...

Today I have been busy.
First,  I finished all but the initials and date of the back panel of the Sampler Casket.   Milestone number one achieved :-)

Second,  I made a start on my Guild project -  the Sweet Strawberry Bag.   I rather like this.   A band sampler bag is just what the doctor ordered.   The rows are started so I can continue on at Guild meeting and not have to consult the chart all the time.   Clever preparation n'est-ce pas?

Third, as a reward to self I started a small hardanger trial piece.   The fabric is a coarse even weave from stash and I am using Perle #8 thread to try out this stitch taken from the Anchor Book of Hardanger. I want to make a hardanger piece in red for a ruby wedding anniversary so am trialing both the stitch and the fabric.   Currently the jury is out.   I will finish the piece but may not use either stitch or fabric for the final gift.

Today's extras were to take the HD3QBEM to another yarn store where we found a 30% off sale and suffered a consequent accumulation of stash :-)   I picked runner beans from the garden and froze them.   This year's crop is not as abundant as last year but it is still fun to grow some of my own produce and to be able to enjoy it throughout the year.

This afternoon I received forms from the Department of Corrections that needed to be filled out and signed so tomorrow I go to the prison to deliver them to the person in charge.  While I may be a "preferred candidate" there are still many hoops to be jumped through before the job is mine.   

On Monday I went for an interview for an accounting position with the City Council in their water control board.   I'm to hear within two weeks if I am successful.