packages in the post, a little spinning and an interesting find.

 Hi

Welcome to December !! Where has this year gone? I've now been at home for just over 8 months and it still feels a little weird. I'm actually only on my own until around 1pm then hubby gets back full of work woes and usually snoozes through part of the afternoon. Starting work at 3am has that effect although this last week he has been on 4am starts so there has been more conversation.

Our hope of getting away for Christmas is still hanging by a thread, we are due for a review 16 December and we are keeping everything crossed for a change in Tier (Uk currently in Tiers which carry different levels of restrictions) so we can make a dash for a campsite for a few days to escape the Christmas madness.

Over the last few years we have developed a routine of waking Christmas day in the van, music on, chilling then walking round the country park. It won't be the same if we have to stay in the house :-(

Anyway, enough of my moans !! Postie made a couple of trips to us this week..

I spotted this on eBay so its now in my sewing crate ready for the right moment. Also, whilst on eBay I spotted a box of bits on offer at an opened bid of  £1, so I put a bid on.

For £1 plus postage I acquired this little lot, again stocking the sewing crate for future use.

I hope to have the blackwork finished by the end of this week. I found a frame during my search for patterns and hopefully this will fit nicely.

I'm still working on my hat, nothing much more to show at the moment but I did get my spinning wheel out a couple of days ago as I had found a bag of mixed breed, combed fleece oddments. These were promptly popped through the drum carder.

There is some shetland, manx and romney in there plus other bits left over from previous spins. I usually spin 100-120 gm per skein and if I have any oddments I've popped them in the bag. So far I've spun up a couple of 100gm or so and there is probably another 2/300 to go. Rustic yarn (not washed yet), I may over dye but not sure yet.

Lastly, Ian regularly checks Facebook market place for vinyl, cds etc and at the weekend he spotted a jigsaw for me. I've had my eyes on one called the Weavers shed which has quits and spinning wheels in it but he spotted this one which we hadn't seen before.

lets turn it the right way up, it will make more sense.

This is one for the future, I'm slowly collecting pictures etc to frame and go on the workroom wall eventually and this will join them.

That's about if for both moaning and crafting. I'll leave you with some of the beautiful sunsets/sunrises from the last week.

Have a great week, take care, speak soon xx

To post or not to post ?

 Hi

I nearly missed posting this week, simply because I don't really have anything to show.

Lockdown continues, the desire to sort out my workroom is there but whether I will act on it? I'm not sure but I'm increasingly aware of the fact that I no longer know what is in the cupboards.

The current blackwork project got me thinking about a pattern file that I put together in the 90's, Had I still got it? A rummage through the cupboards produced the file along with a lot of mess !

The mess created in finding the file was a bit ridiculous to say the least.

See what I mean !

The small blackwork project is coming to an end, should be finished this week.

and the knitting is coming along nicely

At the moment, I'm looking out for stitch a long type projects for next year and I'm thinking about having a spend free year of crafting to use up some of my stock but I think that will be difficult if the fibre festivals start up again :-)

This is the scale of my stash of embroidery threads in reds etc so you see why I may have to start to use things up.

That's about it for now, not the most interesting post but I did challenge myself to put up something each week.

Speak soon xx

do I need a hat to go with the mitts ?

 Hi

Its been a quiet week, lockdown has settled on the house and we only leave for either work , exercise or shopping. I have a walking circuit round the local area, as we live in the bottom of a valley it's pretty much uphill in any direction. I'll try and grab a photo for next time to show what I mean.

The leaves have now come off most of the trees although a few are still holding out, the early morning sun shows off the colour beautifully.

The pile of fabric got me itching to stitch and I've started a small blackwork design, I have an idea for my needlework, more will be revealed later.

During my hunt for embroidery thread etc I found a cross stitch picture that I started and abandoned maybe 30 years ago. I'm not really sure why I stopped, I think that I may have made a mistake counting somewhere but I've found the chart and threads so hopefully I'll be able to have a good look at it this week.

And I did cast on the hat, this is for myself as its the same yarn as the mitts and I generally only sell my work when its spun/knit from British breeds.

Thats about it for now, speak soon xx

I needed some mitts

 Hi,

The reality of being at home this time of year is that wearing layers keeps the body warm but my hands always chill down quite quickly so I found a skein of handspun Bond ( Australian breed evolved from merino/Lincoln)

I've made them short on the thumb and with the fingers free so I can still work with them on.

we've had a few good days, sunny but chilly which has given us some wonderful sunrises

although not today !!

Returning to cross stitch has made me want to sort out my even weave fabric and threads, that was until I found this lot in addition to those I knew about.

Yep, that is 8 yards, 56 inch wide of even weave !! I vaguely remember buying it at some ridiculously cheap price many years ago. I had forgotten about the complete set of threads ( dmc I think) all on printed cards with their numbers .

As I also have a drawer full of bits and pieces of threads, my next job will be to try and organize them somehow . I may have to have a look on ebay for some card bobbins to wind them on to.

thats about it for now, more next week x

just sittin' and craftin'

 Hi,

The sun has finally come out so I'm going to chance putting some washing on the line, probably won't dry but at least it will air a bit. I will probably finish it off in the tumble dryer as its that strange time of year when heating is not needed much in the house so any washing hanging around doesn't really dry off.

Over the last week or so I seem to have spent more time thinking what I want to do than actually doing it. Slow progress on the cross stitch so far.

I recently found someone else who is doing the same pattern and its taken her 2 years so far ! She still has all the back stitch to do where as I'm trying to work it as I go along.

I've also been knitting ! I had a request from a friend for a hat so here it is.

I know, not my usual handspun but he wanted something colourful so I've used up oddments from my strap weaving stash .Its the fair isle fisherman kep pattern minus the tassel.

That's about it for now, we are due to go into further lockdown tomorrow so I stocked up on coffee for the Tassimo yesterday and chocolate for our weekend treats. 

Quick late addition, the postie dropped this off. I spotted this small kit on ebay, its an old one but I thought it would be good to work on whence are away in the van as its quite small.

                                             and just look at all the stamps on the envelope

That's about all for now, speak soon x

NCR - not craft related

 Hi, 

We managed to get away for a long weekend, making the most of the weather before we find ourselves with travel restrictions.

Just 120 or so mile to Norfolk, an area that we have never really explored either by bike or van.

A last minute booking ( we had to wait to find out what the new restrictions announced last Wednesday were) on Seacroft Caravan Club Site for 3 nights. As we are self contained and tend to stick together away from other people we felt safe on the site and when the local town got busy in the afternoons we headed back to the van for tea and cake.

Cromer has the feel of an old fashioned seaside resort, there is a pier without the obligatory amusement arcade but still housing a theatre for the end of the pier show. The Lifeboat also launches from the its own house tagged on the to the pier.

The beaches have a mix of large pebbles and sand , ideal for families especially those with dogs.

Some dogs were thoroughly enjoying jumping into the sea !

 Youngsters were crabbing off the end of the pier and having fun with the surf school , the atmosphere was very calm and relaxing without all the usual trappings that we normally find at our nearest east coast resort.

We would have liked to explore the town more but as I said, it got busy in the afternoon and we wanted to keep our distance but we will make a return trip when we can.

This campsite is now on the list of sites to revisit, plenty of places nearby to visit by bus or train if we don't want to take the van offsite.

My next post will be a crafty one, promise xx