I have created this blog to share my interest in all forms of stitching, quilting, sewing, knitting, medieval re-enactment and costume making – particularly my love of historical embroidery. I also love travelling,especially when it also involves any of my other interests.
Well I have just returned from a lovely week in Spain where there was lots and lots of the above. The whole country is looking very lovely with lots of greenery and of course lovely weather. We went cycling a few times, paddling in the sea (which was very warm and many of the beaches were crowded), out for some lovely meals and relaxed at the house.
My lovely Mum had arranged for a little present for me as she has had the front of my planting area tiled – doesn’t it look pretty! The cactuses have grown really well in the last couple of years. They are a bit of a job to weed though – thick gloves are needed!
My lovely little house in the morning sun
The bougainvillea at the back of the patio is growing very well – a lovely place to eat breakfast in the mornings thinking how lucky I am to be outside in the warm in October.
It has grown to twice the size it was in April
We went to the beach quite a few times and there were the amazing sandcastle builders there again – this one had included real foliage for her trees.
Another wonderful creation on Guardamar beach
We went to Alicante one evening which gave me chance to visit my favourite fabric shop, Julian Lopez. It has the most amazing range including all the brocades and lace used for the festival costumes. And they had some fab Xmas quilting fabric so I just had to indulge myself!
Fabric heaven Spanish stylePerfect for another Xmas wall hanging
We had a very nice meal at a little restaurant overlooking the marina in Alicante and there was the most wonderful sunset – they were lots of brilliant ones all week but this was the best picture that I got.
And all the lovely big yachts as well
I had a couple of nice afternoons sitting on the terrace knitting – have made good progress with the scarf to go with the hat and wristwarmers set – the pattern is a lace one from a book I got from the Let’s Knit mag.
A more complicated lace pattern for me as this is a 12 row repeat
Not an awful lot has been going on since I arrived back as I have managed to put my back out while away so am in a lot of pain. However I have had an exchange ornie arrive from Australia so will take pics of that and post them and the pics of the one I sent soon.
I have just had a wonderful weekend helping out at the Marsden Jazz Festival . I was there all weekend (out till well past my bedtime on Saturday as I was stewarding at the late night event!) and finally got home at 10 on Sunday – a bit tired but very pleased that all went well. I saw a few bands play which was great but most of my time was spent manning the box office selling tickets and a bit of whizzing round Marsden checking that bands were ok and the punters were happy – oh and collecting money so that we can run the festival next year!
This year was the 19th year that the festival has been run and there were over 60 live music events over the weekend – every pub and club in and around the village hosted at least one band – many had four or five so it was an absolutely massive feat of organisation – I only joined the committee in July by which time most of it had been done but it all went very well. There were 12 ticketed events which was why we were running the box office but all other events were free.
It was so much fun and I am very, very grateful to all of the committee for being so welcoming and making me feel so included.I also made some new friends from some of the other volunteers which was great.
Music wise I got to hear my fave combo String Fellows , Jacuzzi 500, the Huddersfield University Band and a bit of Blue Toots, Jackie Dankworth (who I also got the chance to meet – she is lovely and very beautiful as well as having an amazing voice), Dizzy Club and Orchestra DC Dansette. It was a really buzzing weekend!
I was also interviewed live on radio for Two Valleys radio in their ‘Caravan of Love’ on Saturday about being a volunteer – have yet to listen to that yet but the broadcast from the whole weekend is on their website so will try to find my bit .Pic of the caravan below – isn’t it fab!
There was also cake – lots of it keep us going all weekend (and fish and chips and lovely pie and peas – great Yorkshire grub!) – I had to take a pic of this little cupcake which was being sold by one of the local cafes Crumbals – how cute is this – and it tasted very lovely!
The Jazz Festival cup cake - limited edition -all eaten now!
Marsden is a very pretty village with the River Colne running through it and many of the events were centered round the river including a Duck Race ( yellow, plastic ones not real ones ) organised by the National Trust. I love feeding the ducks whenever I visit.I took this pic on Sunday when it was lovely and sunny!
The River Colne in the centre of Marsden
Marsden is also famous for its sheep who roam around in the village , invading people’s gardens and eating their plants, lolling in the middle of the road and generally being woolly and the sheep is a feature of the Jazz Festival publicity – being on all the posters and T-shirts. This year one of our merchandise items was toy sheep and I couldn’t resist buying one – who I have named Baahney in honour of the festival committee chairperson who is called Barney. Here he is manning the box office with us.
Baahney being very helpful answering customer queries
Anyway back to crafting news – I have just taken possession of some fab knitted items – not made by me but by one of my students, the very talented Juliet who runs her own business selling knitted hats – these are Xmas pressies for the family babies – how cute are they! Thanks very much Juliet – excellent work.
A pair of strawberry beanies
And I have finally (big drum roll….) joined the local quilting group – something I meant to do about 18 months ago and kept being too busy to make it but I went tonight and listened to an excellent talk by Vivien Finch who showed us some of her vast collection of quilts including many vintage ones.I had a very warm welcome from all the members which was lovely and I will be joining them on Saturday for a sewing day so I will get the chance to cut out my Xmas hanging.
Am also planning a trip to the one of the local museums for their knitting afternoon on Sunday so am looking forward to another textileiciuos weekend! Hope you have something nice planned.
We have had a very lovely weekend here as my daughter Ellie has been up from Uni visiting – we have been for a bit of retail therapy, out for a couple of lovely meals and finally got to go to the Quilt Museum in York! I wanted to go to see the Wartime Quilts exhibition which is only on for a couple more weeks – Ellie really likes that period and since I like quilting particularly for the history side of it I thought that it would be really interesting to see this display and it was.
There were about 15 quilts on display – mainly those that were made by the Canadian Red Cross to send to families who had been bombed out of their homes. All were very utilitarian being made of dress fabric, suit fabric and in one case pyjamas and all well-worn which obviously means they were well used and appreciated which was lovely to see. There were also comments with the quilts from those people who had received them – mostly when they were children and that was very moving reading their accounts.There was also a quilt made by German prisoners of war which again was very thought provoking.The patterns used were varied, Nine Patch, Dresden Plate, Fans, Hexagon Flowers and lots of Crazy Patchwork with some lovely embroidery. As usual no photos were allowed so am sharing this one from the web site.
This quilt included a V for Victory fabric
I know I have said this before by I am constantly reminded how textile history is our history – it is not just about someone’s hobby, or an outdated craft – these carefully preserved artifacts tell stories about the reality of all sorts of very sad and in other cases very joyous occasions. We use the expression the ‘fabric of our lives’ and in these many pieces that I see in all sorts of exhibitions, historic houses and museums we see just that.
I have also been busy on other domestic fronts – Ellie and I made huge batches of veg chilli which is now in the freezer for the final supper at the end of the Marsden Jazz Festival which is this coming weekend. I volunteered to cater (I miss doing Scout Camps!) for our Sunday meal. I have got my rota of duties (mainly doing the office and band liaison) which is great as I will get to watch about 6 different bands over the weekend so am really looking forward to that. We went out to Marsden last night for a final meeting about the involvement of the local community radio station and them the kids joined me for a very lovely meal at Mozarella’s pizza and wine bar there.
I have also been busy on my knitting and stitching – I have made up more patchwork trees and tree kits and have finished the first of my Autumn exchange pieces – I have tried a new form of finish this time using my new sewing machine (which is still working wonderfully!) but cannot show pics till it has made its way to the USA – am posting on Fri.
Have finally made up the second version of the baby cardi using the Sublime wool (first version is here) – all it needs is a button and ribbon.For details of the pattern click here .
Knitted in gorgeous Sublime turquoise wool
I have also have started on a new set of wristwarmers as an Xmas pressie – these are the Frothy Gothy Wristwarmers from a freebie on Ravelry – a very easy and striking knit – I love all the little points and it is very easy to do.
A nearly completed wristwarmerDetail of the points
Well I have a busy week ahead at work and will be in Marsden all weekend jazzing it up! Please pray for fine weather for us!
I have had a very busy week at work and while I have been able to do some stitching I’m afraid I can’t reveal anything as the next two projects are for exchanges. I have joined another exchange group in addition to the All Seasons Ornament Exchange which is called the Seasonal Exchange so being the clever people that you are I bet you can guess that the theme of both pieces is Autumn! I am stitching on evenweave which I do find more challenging than Aida due to the smallness of the fabric gauge so I have resorted to both my glasses and my neck hung magnifier to see what I am doing! Have also recently completed another reindeer ornie – only 5 more to go!
In lieu of pretty pics of stitching then here are my completed wrist warmers – I had a lot of trouble with these as you may remember trying to match up the variegated wool but made it work on about the 3rd attempt! Please excuse slightly fuzzy pic as the light is not good – it has been raining hard all day and is a bit miserable – was tempted to keep the wristwarmers on as it is a bit cold in the conservatory! These are from a free pattern called Waffle Stitch Wristwarmers that I got from Ravelry.
Lovely and warm!
Term has started so that is why I have been so busy – we have another lovely group of trainee teachers this year and I am really looking forward to working with them all. I am lucky to have a job that I really enjoy and look forward to going into work – though a large Lottery win that would enable me to retire and devote my life to stitching and knitting would be fine as well!
I am also going to be busy this week with helping organise the Marsden Jazz Festival – I recently joined the committee for this event which will be held in a village near me on the 2nd weekend of October. See this link for details if you are in the Yorkshire area. As the name suggests there are lots of live music events on in all of the pubs and clubs across the village as well as a parade on the Saturday. This week we have a meeting of all the volunteers who will be helping over the weekend, a t-shirt folding and packing evening and then I will be helping out in the festival shop selling said t-shirts next weekend.
Just thought I would leave you with another couple of pics from re-enactment events – courtesy of my friends on Facebook. The first pic was taken at our recent August Bank Holiday event at Bolsover Castle and shows Paul (in the helmet) and Luke – with the sword – demonstrating during the weapons’ talk.
Ouch!
The second one is a much older pic, probably taken about 6 years ago and shows my lovely friends Kat and Richard all dressed up in their costumes – doesn’t he look the epitome of chivalry!
Edward and Lady Joan
If you want to see more of Kat’s wonderful headdresses and costume you can visit her Kats Hat website.
I hope that you are having a nice weekend – thanks very much for visiting.
I have just come back from a lovely afternoon at Oakwell – my evening knitting group had been invited as part of a Heritage Weekend where lots of properties are open for free across the country. Our task was to sit in the amazing Painted Chamber and knit and talk to the public about knitting – how hard!
The ‘painted’ title refers to the wood panelling – though the vertical and horizontals panels are real the rest of the 3D effects are painted on. The room reminded me very much of the bedrooms in Tatton Hall that we visit every June – with again beautiful bed hangings. It was such a privilege to be in that room – especially when we were told that was where the ladies of the house used to sit, embroider and gossip!
There were 5 of us there today – others will be there tomorrow – we had two tables with old patterns, examples of things that we had knitted and crocheted and modern examples of fun knitting patterns for the kids to look at. the really lovely thing was that so many people had owned and knitted the baby patterns we had on display, or talked about their Mums and Grannies knitting – there was a real wealth of social history that people wanted to share. We met a man who knew someone who had modelled for Patons knitting patterns in his youth, a women whose Mum was a test knitter for the same company, and someone whose Mum had knitted string vests for priests.
Apologies for the quality of these pics of our display – the light was not good!
Kath, Pauline, Pamela and Debbie demonstrating
Debbie's collection of vintage patterns - there were some lovely garments for men!
Pamela's beautiful baby shawl from an original 1930s pattern
Kath's detailed lace and ribbed socks - you can also see some of the crewel work embroidery that was displayed on the table in the chamber
These women are all very good knitters or crocheters – Kath’s speciality is socks, Pauline’s is crocheted jackets and scarves, Pamela’s is lace knitting and Debbie makes beautiful baby garments. I have learnt a lot from them in the year I have been going to the group. This year I have really improved on basic shaping and have learnt lace. Next year it is going to be double-pointed and circular needles so I can do my first pair of socks!
I did not get much chance to look round the rest of the Hall as we were so busy but did have a little peek in the room next door which had another wonderful set of bed hangings. These crewelwork reproductions were done by the Friends of Oakwell Broiderer’s group (another idea for if I ever have more time!). Pics again from the Friends of Oakwell website.
The Little Parlour Chamber
Detail of the bedcover
As well as all the crewelwork the Friends have also done lots of needlepoint cushions, chair seats etc so it is well worth a visit if you like textiles!
Hope that you are having a good weekend – thanks for visiting!
Well we have just got back from a very fab and very hot weekend at Tribfest – well hot until the middle of last night when it decided to pour down so we had a wet pack up to acclimatise ourselves for the return home, where it is also wet so the tent is in hanging up to dry in the garage! It was a great event where we saw tributes to lots of bands including Madness, Bon Jovi, Green Day and Lady Ga Ga. We really enjoyed it and are buying tickets for next year asap.
We bought VIP tickets on the advice of my sister who went last year as you get lots of extras for not much more money such as camping near the arena – so you can mellow out back at the tent (or knit in my case!) and still listen to the bands, a VIP tent with bar, indoor and outdoor seating and extra bands and best of all jacuzzis!
This is us on Friday afternoon –
Sadly they only sold champagne by the bottle or I would have been sipping some as well
The kids had a great time – my niece Sarah and my sister Jacky dressed up for the occasion – this is Sarah on Friday night.
There were lots of people in fancy dress - tutus were very in this year!
Ellie had her festival wellies on (as did most of the girls – I must get some pretty ones for next year -mine are a boring blue).
Ellie, Jake, Sam and Sarah
Some people were even more dressed up – this is the festival mascot –
I bet he was a bit warm!
We had a very nice VIP beer tent to sit in –
Look flowers on the tables!
And a great view of the stage from the outside seating area –
A little bit of summer festival sun
Jacky’s friend Chris was also with us – another glamping camper with a selection of mini wines –
Mini rose and glass
This is one Chris bought at a previous festival - it came full with a peel off lid - how convenient!
My finger is mending well – thanks for the good wishes – and I was able to finish off knitting the wristwarmers, finally made a second matching one that I happy with – here they are in the field outside the tent where I finished them yesterday – while having a little mellow and a glass of red!
Not identical but good enough!Waffle Stitch Wristwarmers - a freebie from Ravelry
I have just got to stitch them up the side now – I knitted these at Xmas for Jake and they are a very quick knit and look very effective. The waffle stitch pattern is a simple four row repeat which uses knit two, purl two for two rows and then two rows of plain knit.
Talking of wristwarmers (or fingerless gloves) my friend Barbara from knitting group has just finished the most gorgeous pair for her daughter. I hope that she won’t mind me sharing this pic from her blog with you –
They look even more gorgeous in real life - knitted in a silky sublime 4 ply
I would love to have a go at these – pattern details are on Barbara’s blog – it is from Ravelry but uses double-pointed needles which I have not tried yet. Barbara is a much cleverer knitter than me and does all sorts of gorgeous patterns using fine needles.
My new Xmas cross -stitch patterns from JBW have arrived today so I have got lots to amuse myself with – next weekend is the last camping of the season where we shall be back at Bolsover for our final show of the year, then it will be candles lit and on the sofa for another winter season!
I have almost completely finished the cardigan and booties that I have been making for my cousin Joanne’s new baby girl Avive – just the ribbon and buttons to sew on and then they will be done.
Has taken me a long while to make up as the original purple frill that I knitted was too small so had to unpick it twice and then knit again on bigger needles – will know for the next time I make this pattern!
The finished cardi
The little booties to match
The booties were very quick to knit and though they do look a little big for a small baby I’m sure she will grow in to them.
Am taking this pattern away with me on hols to knit a bigger version for another family member as it was a very nice knit as well as some stitching.
It is my birthday next week while we are away in Italy and my brother Ben and his partner Amanda came round yesterday for a BBQ (this time it only rained a little bit!). They bought me a ‘Best of Cat Stevens’ CD which has been on my wish list for a long time and Amanda made me the most beautiful card with this JBW cat design on it.I will definitely frame this and keep it.
My lovely birthday card
Just thought I would add a couple more recent pis of the kids for the benefit of family who read this blog. As an update to Friday’s post here is Jake at the prom with some very lovely female friends.
Hannah and Victoria with Jake at the prom
Ellie spent 10 days in Spain recently at our house with two of her friends from University, Dani and Becky, so thought I would share a couple of her holiday pics with you.
Ellie with my Nana, my Mum and my Auntie MaureenAnd her she is with a lovely cocktail
I hope that you have had a lovly weekend – it has been really hot here so we have had a BBQ tonight as well and I have done more gardening in preparation for our week away.
I hope that you have had a good and very productive week. I have got loads done despite being really busy again at work. This week has gone very quickly due I suspect to it being 4 days rather than 5 – wouldn’t it be lovely if every week could have a day off – rather than a Bank Holiday we could all have a Hobby Holiday every week.
I’m sure it would make sense economically as production would remain the same – even be higher as people would be more relaxed, happier (especially if you read all those studies about craft activities lowering the blood pressure and releasing endorphins). All we need is a political party that believes in that kind of policy and problem solved – we wouldn’t have had a hung parliament!
Anyway I digress. I have decided that in the same way that I love doing small items of stitching I also love doing small items of knitting. I really enjoyed the teddy and all her outfits and am going really well on the baby cardi I started last weekend.
The back and left and right front pieces
So much so that I have bought some more Sublime wool (this time in the gorgeous turquoise colour) to knit another cardi for the other baby in the family.
It is a great pattern and knits up really quickly and the Sublime wool is very lovely to knit with – it is very soft and silky.
The stitching has been coming along very well and I have finished the ornie for my Spring exchange – can’t show you pics yet but I am very pleased with the end result. It would have been winging its way to the USA as we speak had I not inadvertently deleted the e-mail with my exchange partner’s address in (doh) so am waiting for her to mail that to me again.
I have finished the stitching for my scissor keep for Tracy from Cupcakes at Home’s raffle to raise money for her rare breed sheep. Please go and visit her site if you haven’t yet and do buy some tickets. All I need to do now is sew it together and add the braid.
The completed Quaker motif from The Workbasket site
After the cardi is finished I need to cast on for some Forget me Knot flowers. Our knitting group are making some to give away in exchange for donations at our Knit in Public event day in June.
Stitching wise I have a WIP with my JWB designs cockerel to finish (only done a tiny bit on this start) then I think I had better get cracking on some Xmas ornies – it is May after all and as I have about 12 to do it really is about time.
Will leave you with a further pic of the lovely flowers that my students bought me last week as the lilies have come into flower. They are so lovely – it always amazes me that this perfection and wonderful use of colour comes from Nature every one just as perfect as the other with no intervention. I love lilies and have loads in my garden just coming through. The clematis is nearly in flower as well and looks to be fab this year so will post some pics of that soon.
The very nice thing about teaching is that I always get two periods of the year which are about new things and feeling optimistic about the time ahead.
This time of year is one of my favourite – from a work point of view things are getting quieter, my lovely garden is starting to look beautiful again with lots of new things blooming every day. The camping and re-enactment season has started (hurrah!) and hopefully I will feel much better in time for the next event.
September is also a lovely time as that is when all of the new students start and that is again a very optimistic time – for me and for them so I really look forward to that, This September will be very special for us as Jake will be starting sixth form and Ellie will be starting her second (!) year of Uni.
We have also got some new beginnings in our family as my cousin Joanne had a baby girl yesterday so I would like to send big, big hugs to her, Tom (the proud dad) and Elan (the proud big brother).
The baby has not got a name yet but will have a cardigan soon as I cast on last night for the little wrap cardi I have been waiting to knit for her, the yarn is Debbie Bliss Sublime again and the pattern comes from this book Cool Knits for Kids by Kate Gunn and Robyn Macdonald which I got as a nearly freebie from my Let’s Knit magazine a little while ago (just had to pay for postage).
Lots of lovely knits in here for birth to 7 years old - should keep me busy for the new babies for a while!
This is the cardi pattern ….
Pic from book - not pic of actual new baby in cardi!Look lace again - I can do this now!
I took the above pic this morning and have already finished the back so it should be a quick knit though work will stop play once we finish having the lovely Bank Holiday weekend!
I am planning to make these bootees as well to go with it.
Am going to do the cardi border and the shoes in the same Debbie Bliss purple that I used for the scarf
I have finished the lacy scarf and am about half way through the Quaker piece for the raffle so the crafty weekend is going very well.
The original design
The design is called Quaker Flower and is freebie from The Workbasket site. I am modifying it as it is going to be a scissor keep so am only stitching the top motif on my favourite sparkly evenweave with Silk Mill lilac thread.
As you may remember from my last post we were heading down to South Wales this weekend however that has not been possible due to a combination of my work pressures, Jake’s GCSE work pressures and me being in a lot of pain due to back problems etc.
Work has been so manic recently that I have been doing additional hours and working the last two weekends and realised that all I wanted to do this weekend was sleep, read while enjoying a long soak in a bubble bath and indulge in lots of crafty behaviour. So that is what we are doing instead. There may be a little bit of gardening involved (if the back is ok) but at the moment that looks unlikely due to very wet weather.
Hopefully things will quieten down a bit at work in the next couple of weeks ready for a mellow and relaxing summer ( I am very much an optomist!). It is a very lovely job and I get to work with wonderful people but there is always such a lot to do – if anyone can lend me 100 hours they are not using or can point me in the direction of a pattern to knit more time that would be most useful!
My full-time students finished their course this week and we had a lunchtime celebration – they very kindly bought me presents amongst them these beautiful flowers.
The bouquet in the hall - I love lilies and gerbera so these were an excellent choiceWhat a perfect flower - and such a fab colour
I grow lots of lilies in the garden and always have great success with them – have not tried gerberas yet. The garden is looking very lovely at the moment – the rhododendrons and azaleas are blooming along with the pirieus and the clematis are just about to start so it is all looking very colourful – so nice after the long, cold winter.
I have several knitting and stitching projects on the go at the moment – I am making very good progress with the lace scarf from the Ravelry pattern.
Only 1/4 ball left to knitA close up of the fan and feather pattern
I have another lace scarf pattern lined up but in between have got some stitching to finish. I have completed the cross stitch for my next exchange – have just got the finishing into a pillow ornament to do and that one can be sent to the USA.
I have just started on a Quaker motif scissor keep as a donation for Tracy at Cupcakes at Home’s fundraising raffle. Tracy is rescuing rare breed sheep so do go and visit her blog and if you can help in any way I am sure that she would be very grateful.
I am also planning to do lots of reading – I have just finished the second book by the wonderful Laurie Perry aka Crazy Aunt Purl – ‘Home is Where the Wine is‘. I think Laurie is fantastic – if you have never read her blog do go and visit – she will have you in stitches both with her humour and her knitting inspiration. She has done a great job of keeping me sane over the last couple of years with her inspirational writing.
Crazy Aunt Purl's new book
I hope she won’t mind me giving you a sample of why she is so my kind of woman – this is from one of her recent posts where someone suggested the idea of a lending library for yarn so that we can borrow rather than buy stash we are never going to use.
‘I’m sure lots of folks here can give you great ideas on where to donate yarn but I wanted to tell you that your craft lending library idea is BRILLIANT and I hope when I am a gazallionaire (as I hope to be one day) I can open up the world’s first Craft Lending Library and Wine Bar. We’ll have big comfy couches and chairs, plenty of books, yarn, hooks and needles and a shop cat who will be one of those rare felines that loves everyone and sits everywhere. And I’ll have a poolboy.’
Laurie Perry – Crazy Aunt Purl 2010
Well I hope you have a really lovely weekend and that the weather improves – have optimistically suggested we have our first at home BBQ on Monday so here’s hoping for sunshine!
