January

So that was a post everyday in January, I didn't really set out to do this but it did give me a small daily task which in turn gave some me some sort of routine whilst being off work.

You are not getting rid of me that quickly, I'm still at home for at least another week !!!

Today the weather is a bit yucky, light rain and really dull, I had planned to go out for an hour later but this may depend on how heavy the rain gets.

Later......this turned into a quiet afternoon with the two of us watching Warehouse 13 with hot drinks and dark choc digestives, I know I will live to regret the biscuits ( just don't ask how many!!)

TAST so far...

wet and windy

It is getting very windy outside and rain is forecast for later today when the storm that hit states at the weekend sweeps across the UK. Already there are reports of HGVs being blown over in Scotland so I guess that I'll be staying inside today and continuing with the mini sort out.

I attacked the computer drawer earlier, its much tidier now :-)

and I found a couple of lace patterns in there, they should be in my files but one of them is really pretty so I may be tempted to put it on one of the pillows to give me a change from embroidery.

speaking of embroidery, I've added another stitch....

and I found some lovely silver grey merino wool partly knitted into a hat :-) beautiful colour.

not a lot going on

Today has been a sit and stitch day, I don't know whether its a reaction to being out yesterday but I really seem to be full of the asthma cough today.

So I'm back on the doodle band and watching a bit of catch up TV whilst I do it. I just wish I knew why some days are so different to others.


My plans for the week now include sorting my wardrobe out, having a look under the bed to see what is stashed there as well as the tent and bags of fabric and checking what is in the chest of drawers that we never use.

I also want to start collecting together recipes from the various groups I belong to and put them in some sort of order. I always have the urge to bake etc when I'm off work ill :-)

bags finished!

The goodie bags are finished, all 50 of them!! this means that I can tidy away the material and my sewing machine, sweep the floor and settle down to some more embroidery!!

now, did I ever show you my needle case ? I used to have a stash of woollen blankets, all very old ( some still had the wartime utility label! ) and over the years they have been cut down, dyed and used in various projects. A small piece of one of them ended up as my needle case ( I have two but the other is awol at the mo) just the right size to slip in my bag.

My next job is to sort out the next colours to use on my doodle band then I can start to stitch :-)

TTFN :-)

Post Number 965!!!

When I started this blog back in June 2007 we were still using dial up internet connection and I had no idea whether anyone would even read it!! So I'm a little surprised that I'm still here in 2016.

One day I will settle down and read the early posts especially as I don't keep a day to day diary although we tend to do a holiday journal when away on the bike.

So, here is the progress on the doodle band, I have now covered the first 4 stitches on the challenge, all familiar stitches so far.

I managed to throw out a few books yesterday, some are heading towards a friend of mine who runs dressmaking courses in case her students are interested in them, some will go to the charity shop.

xx

They said it would snow...

...they lied, just rain and cloud :-( I'm like a little kid when it snows, constantly checking to see how deep it is, watching it from behind the window but today we are disappointed. Such a mild winter so far.
I slept on until nearly 9 today, probably making up for all the days when I'm wide awake from any time between 3 and 6 am but its left me feeling sluggish so the bathroom is only half cleaned at the moment and I'm not resisting the lure of the threads.

I've been spending time catching up with old detective and crime programmes that I have missed over the years due to not having a TV and listening to the radio together with the Harry Potter audio books.

I'm just coming up to do the third stitch on my doodle band, feather stitch although I still have to choose the colour...more on this later.

Earlier today my Mum popped round for dinner and we spent quite some time talking about the family history, a few surprises came to light, quite a few early childhood memories of Auntie this and Uncle that where I really didn't know the family connection.

Much of this should be written down but I know I'll never have the patience to follow it up.

quietly stitching

although I did venture out this morning, a necessary dash to the shops for some essentials and spent most of the day recovering!!
So, I've been doing a little stitching, moving on to the second stitch....buttonhole stitch.

I bought these threads at least 15 years ago from the Natural Dye Studio, its about time I used them!!

I feel quite settled stitching this at the moment :-)

Meanwhile, back in 2015.......a very hazy view from Hadrians Wall, we had been chasing round all the tourist stops along the wall as we had run out of Heritage Mead, a favourite tipple of ours. Finally tracked some down at a National Trust site....special offer price for three bottles :-)

the blank canvas

Ok, I think I'm sorted apart from the creases and I'm working on them!

I've set up a scribble band on one of my frames, this is for embroidery of any kind. I can add fabric, paint the background, do what ever even if it doesn't work out.

If, for example I fancy doing some drawn thread work then I just do it, no worries about what I will make with it etc.

The stitching area is 6 inch wide, I've left 3 inch borders which I've temporarily hemmed just in case I want to back the band with something. When winding on to the stretcher bars I've added an extra folded length of fabric just to help with the tension issue caused by the thickness of the sides.

So far I've just stitched a start line, I need to add the date somewhere as well.

then I did some thinking, over the years I have taken part in Take a Stitch Tuesday and Take it Further challenges set by Sharon of Pintangle. The challenge is running again so I've signed up and I'm now playing catch up!! you can see my previous attempts by clicking the Link for TAST and take it further under the list of labels on this blog.

So after some basic darning stitch. I started on Fly Stitch, (week one)

It's very much a case of deja vu but also a bit of fun :-)