Snowflakes!

stitchesoftime5 Comments
Snowflake ornie front
A little snowy scene

No this time not real ones thankfully – we having lots of wet rather than snow at the moment. I have just finished the first of my winter ornies for my ‘decorate my house collection’. I have adapted the JBW stocking design that I did in red for the Xmas tree and made it into a little hanging pillow to complement the snowflake stickers on the conservatory doors.

Snowflake ornie back
Nice sparkly fabric to go with the sparkly Aida on the front

I chose to stitch it in two different Silk Mill blues to go with some very lovely fabric that I have had in my stash for a couple of  years. I am pleased with the way it turned out though could have made it a little bigger as it is not that obvious that it is a stocking shape as the edges got hidden once I stuffed it. However I do love the way it co-ordinates with the ribbon (that again has been in the stash for a while).

Snowflake ornie side
Pretty little ribbon!

I have also finished the set of Lilac Sublime Wristwarmers and am half way through a pair for me. This was the second attempt at these. They are from Ravelry – a free pattern called Blonde Wristwarmers. The original pattern had garter stitch for the main part and I changed that to stocking stitch but when I  had finished the first one it was too loose around the wrist so I re-did it on smaller needles and added a 6 stitch garter stitch band at the wrist edge – because the whole thing is knitted sideways it acts like a rib. I also shortened them. My finished pair was knitted with 30 stitches on 3.5 mm needles with the last 6 stitches on alternate rows as knit rather than purl if you want to adapt the pattern as I have done.

lilac handwarmers 1
The real colour is much prettier - this looks a bit dull

 

lilac handwarmers 2
A side view – I like the garter stitch rib as it goes well with the lace pattern at the fingers

 

I am very pleased that I managed to adapt the pattern so much and to re-do it. I have got a lot more confident with my knitting and now understand more of the technical side which makes it easier to visualise what a pattern will look like. I particularly like the points or waves at the wrist on these and think I will be knitting a few more of these.

When I get time that is – term has started again and I have been ridiculously busy – I have been working all weekend (which I really try not to do but I have a large pile of marking to get done!) I did make my evening knitting group this month but only for 3/4 hour due to having to work late and have not made any of my other groups for ages 😦  Thankfully I really enjoy my job and have a great time doing it but do wish it left more time for crafting. My new quilt cutting mat and ruler arrived on Thurs but I have not had time to play with them yet – maybe next weekend.

Well I do hope you have all had a good week and thanks for visiting.

Cold hands, warm heart

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Hello everyone and welcome.

Hope you are all wrapped up warm and cosy, I am busy knitting woolies at the moment, luckily my LYS opened again yesterday after the hols so I was able to cast on for the last of my knitted gifts – pics of those later when finished. I am making a pair of wristwarmers. That being the item of choice round here at the moment. I have just finished a pair for me yesterday in the nick of time as look what happened again this morning!

Rib wristwarmers 1
Modelled against a backdrop of my snowy garden

I was not expecting snow again – was only thinking the other day ‘oh this was the really bad weekend for snow last year when me and Jake only just got home as they had closed lots of airports’ and lo and behold it is here again. The wristwarmers will come in very useful, we have a conservatory on the back of the house and it provides a lovely view of the garden while I am sitting working (or blogging!) at my computer but it does get a bit cold in winter and I do have very cold hands a lot of the time.

I was looking on Ravelry for some more patterns the other day and found this very lovely site  CreativeYarn  with lots of wristwarmers among other things so do go and visit – all patterns are free. This very talented lady (sorry don’t know her name ) lives in Rome – fab city, went once a few years ago and would love to go back. Here is a peek at one of the patterns I am planning to do for me soon.

emerald_handwarmer2
Moss Stich handwarmers - pic by Creative Yarn

 I have recently been reading  ThimbleAnna’s  brilliant blog (am still going through all the archives which has been a lovely antidote to the marking I have been doing!) Be warned before you visit her – not only is her blog wonderful but she has links to so many other fab people as well , this could take up serious amounts of your time – well I suppose one of my resolutions was to spend more time on fun stuff on less on housework so I can justify ThimbleAnna as a form of therapy!

Well hope that you are keeping warm and happy – thanks again for visiting!

New Year Knitting and resolutions

stitchesoftime3 Comments

Hello again

I am luxuriating in the last day of holidays still sitting in my PJs and enjoying the luxury of a day to do what I want (though I have done a couple of hours work this morning). I do love the week after Xmas – we had a lovely time with all the family here but it has also been very nice just to do nothing (well nothing much that is tedious – lots of crafting of course!).

I have finished the first of my Xmas cast ons – these should have all been done well before Xmas so Ellie could give them out to her friends at Uni but there was no way I could finish them by the last posting date due to lack of time. Well actually I did allocate lots of time but failed to factor in that one of the scarves would take 6 weeks altogether. You may remember this WIP –

Spain - knitting
Started in Spain in Oct - finished early Dec!

Well it took a long, long time to do, a very complex pattern not helped by the back injury that meant I was very fuzzy for a few weeks and could not do more than a few lines at a time. It was finally finished in early Dec which did not leave enough time for the other items. A lovely pattern but not one I will be repeating any time soon!

Finished lace rib scarf
My longest knitting project yet!

Anyway I have now completed the lilac hat in Sublime which goes with the lace fan and feather scarf knitted earlier in the year. This is one of my fave wools, it is so soft to knit with and the stitch definition is great. The pattern was a freebie from Ravelry,  the Lace Edged Women’s Hat by Julie Hentz and it did not turn out quite like the illustration but I really like it – it is a lot looser but I love the way the decreases give a swirly pattern at the back. Another one I may knit again for me.

Lilac hat 1
Lilac hat showing the lace pattern on the edges
Lilac hat 2
The back of the hat with the lovely decreases
Lilac hat 3
Side view showing lace pattern again

I have been looking for some more wristwarmer patterns as I need to complete the lilac set and have found some lovely ones so as soon as the wool shop opens again (tomorrow!) and I can get some more Sublime I will be casting on for those. Am also going to knit myself a few pairs as I get very cold hands when using the laptop in the winter. I have made a start on a ribbed pair using some lovely wool that I picked up from my LYS Woolly Minded and Beady Eyed before Xmas, it is called James Brett Marble Chunky in a gorgeous mottled blue and purple shade. I have also bought the brown/burgundy colourway to make myself a new hat and scarf set. It was very good value at only £4.99 for 200 g and I also bought some for Ellie and my friend Judy as Xmas presents.

Blue chunky wristwarmers
Isn't that pretty wool!

I thought I would also have a quick look at what I had accomplished in 2010 craft wise and make some resolutions for 2011. My general New Year resolution is the same as always – more fun and crafting, less work and housework which I am achieving slowly (amazing what a difference having grown up kids who can clean their own rooms has on my time!)

Looking back through all my archives for 2010 I made the following items –

Knitting – 3 hats, 2 pairs of wristwarmers, 2 scarves, I teddy with clothes and bag, 4 little flowers, 2 baby cardigans, 1 set of baby bootees, I baby blanket

Stitching – 4 exchange pieces (1 Valentine, 1 Spring and 2 Autumn), 2 scissor keeps, I scissor pillow, 2 reindeer ornies, 2 stocking ornies

Quilting – 20 patchwork trees, 1 tree skirt, 1 Xmas hanging

Xmas ornies – 5 gift bags, 6 Xmas stockings, various pine cones and baubles (didn’t keep count and sold most)

Costume – 4 pairs braies, 1 pair of hose, 2 coifs, 1 dress

Not bad but wish I had time for more! In 2011 I plan to work on my quilting skills and want to make 3 play quilts and cushions for the youngest members of the family and make a start on a double bed quilt for Ellie. I aim to make 11 more stitched ornies for my tree (1 is already done) and will do assorted exchanges and birthday gifts as required. Knitting wise 3 pairs of wristwarmers, a new hat and scarf for me. Costume I know I have 3 dresses planned and whatever new clothes Jake needs! And of course lots more Xmas things for sale at craft fairs.

That should keep me busy – will review at the end of the year to see how I did!  

Hope you enjoy making your own to do list and thanks once again for visiting.

2010 in review – stats from WordPress

stitchesoftime1 Comment

Hello there and a very happy 2011 to you all.

I got this e-mail from WordPress last night which shows how my blog did last year so thought I would share it with you and say a big thanks to all of you for visiting and especially to those people who have linked to me (you get a special mention a bit further on!) I am very pleased that the Blog Health o-Meter reads ‘WOW’ and thank you all for making this happen.

Like most of you who blog I started this little venture 3 years ago not knowing what would happen, I have met so many wonderful, creative people through the blog and visiting other people’s blogs and absolutely love being part of this community. It spurs me on to finish things knowing I need something to post about each week and I get so many ideas from everyone! I have also participated in lots of exchanges so I have lots of lovely new creations in my home as well as all the virtual pleasure from seeing what you all do. Thank you to everyone who makes blogging such fun!

“The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

Healthy blog!

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.

Crunchy numbers

Featured image

About 3 million people visit the Taj Mahal every year. This blog was viewed about 38,000 times in 2010. If it were the Taj Mahal, it would take about 5 days for that many people to see it.

In 2010, there were 67 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 173 posts. There were 470 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 59mb. That’s about 1 pictures per day.

The busiest day of the year was August 10th with 223 views. The most popular post that day was Project Nepal.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were littlecottonrabbits.typepad.co.uk, elmsleyrose.blogspot.com, loopylousadventuresintohandicrafts.blogspot.com, ifreestores.com, and facebook.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for nepal, maria doyle kennedy, houppelande, elizabeth 1st, and goldwork.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

1

Project Nepal December 2007
1 comment

2

Medieval Peasants’ costume – women September 2009

3

Medieval Lady’s Costume September 2008
9 comments

4

Medieval re-enactment December 2007
10 comments

5

Medieval Costume Making – the surcoat February 2009
1 comment

Thanks for visiting – all 38,000 times!!!!

A very merry post Xmas to you – JBW love

stitchesoftime4 Comments

Hello there

Hope that you all had a lovely festive season – we did despite colds and flu for all of us at some point over the time but we all had a lovely time if very hectic. Everyone has gone now (there were 8 people and a very cute dog in the house for all of Xmas with 13 on Boxing Day so it was very busy and lively) – since then I have mainly being lying on the sofa knitting and stitching – ahh bliss! I had lots of very lovely pressies – lots of books and lots of DVDs to watch while I stitch and knit.

I will start with pics of the festivities – my sister and her kids Sam and Sarah joined us this year as well as my Mum and Nana as it was Sam’s 18th birthday on Christmas Eve so we had a festive bar-b-que at my brother’s house (he likes fires!). I did not get a good pic of Sam blowing out his sparkler candles but here is a slightly fuzzy one of the cake I made him – the sparklers spelled out his name.

Sam's cake
Sam's cake - a very yummy spiced choc cake from Sainsbury's magazine

 I spent a lot of time cooking and tried out some of my new recipes and had a great time – here is the Xmas dinner table with my new table decs, as well as the little fabric trees that I made I had bought some silver tree name place holders and a new gold table runner from Spain so was very pleased with the way that it all looked.

Xmas dinner table
My Mum bought me those lovely gold flower candles which were just perfect for the table

My lovely sister-in-law Amanda , who is also a big JBW Designs fan,  stitched me a card for Xmas and guess what she chose? The reindeer that I have just made two of for my aunt and cousin – I have made him into an ornie so he can hang on the tree again next year as well.

Reindeer from Amanda 1
Isn't he cute - that is so good as I was planning to stitch him for myself anyway

 

Reindeer from Amanda 2
The back of the reindeer ornie - fabric from this year's Xmas stash

She has also lent me some of her JBW patterns so that I can make more ornies – think I will start on the top tree next.

JBW from Amanda
3 Xmas designs, a cute cat and the autumn pumpkin

I have already started on my next lot of ornies – I completed one before Xmas and one just after – these are from the new JBW Designs stocking sets that I treated myself to just before Xmas. One is for my Mum but is hanging on my tree at the moment for safe keeping!

JBW Stockings 1
This week's stitches - the one on the left is for Mum

 

JBW Stockings 2
The backing fabric - more of my new stash

 

JBW stocking on tree
It looks even better on the tree!

I am really enjoying these as they are so cute and quick to stitch. They are only about 2″ high.

Have cast on for the last little bit of gift knitting – a purple hat in Sublime which needs to be finished by the end of next week along with the matching wristwarmers. Good job I am not doing anything much for the next few days! I will probably be having a very quiet New Year – the kids are out but I am still full of cold so am planning a night in with the telly and my crafting!

Hope that you have a lovely time whatever you do and wishing you all a very happy 2011!

Thanks for visiting.

Nearly there!

stitchesoftime1 Comment

Well have just finished and uploaded the Xmas newsletter, was great fun deciding which of our many pics to put up. Have been making spiced pear pickle this afternoon to give as a homemade Xmas gift so the house smells very lovely. We had our Xmas party last night which was great fun, Ellie got home just in time before Birmingham station was closed due to snow.

I finished the tree skirt off on Friday so thought I would show you some pics of that.

I cut round a circular mat I have to give me the pattern – I used some red cotton that I had in my stash – then folded this into 16 to give me the template for each piece. I cut a slit in the backing fabric so that I could put it round the tree.I used eight different Xmas fabrics, cutting two segments from each and ironed bondaweb on to the backing fabric then ironed all sixteen pieces on evenly spaced. I then cut a small hole in the centre and zigzagged over all the joins. I didn’t put any wadding between the layers though you could if you wanted it thicker.

Tree skirt WIP
The tree skirt with the centre hole cut out

I then hemmed  it all and added a ribbon and voila here it is under the tree!

Tree skirt finished
It looks very pretty - just waiting for the pressies now!

I have taken a couple more pics of the tree just to show you a couple more of my unique ornies. Here is one that I did show you last year – an exchange that I got from the USA,  it got delayed due to bad weather so never made it to the tree but here it is this year.

Joy Xmas ornie
A beautiful hand stitched ornie from Marlene
The pic below is one of my new crop of baubles for this season – I love making these!
green bauble
A new addition for this year

 As I mentioned in my last post I want to stitch more ornies next year so I have ordered these three below from Sew and So  – I still have another two that I ordered previously that I have not made yet, a tree and an Xmas pudding and am also going to make myself versions of the lovely ornies I have given away over the last few years. My aim is to complete one a month during 2011 so I will be posting details of how I get on over the year. Once I have finished sorting out the house for Xmas I will snuggle down on the sofa with some mulled wine and make a start!

New JBW ornies
My new JBW ornies

Well I do hope you have nearly finished your preparations for the festive season. We have got a packed week planned, with visits to the cinema and to an exhibition at the Trafford centre of replicas from Tutankhamun’s tomb, then all the relatives arrive Weds and Thurs for the duration. In between I have a whole lot of marking to do!

Hope you have a very, very lovely Xmas with lots of time for relaxing and crafting. Ellie and I plan to do nothing in between Xmas and New Year except sit, knit and watch girlie movies – heaven!

Thanks for visiting.

Giveaway winner and a few more Xmas finishes

stitchesoftime1 Comment

Apologies for not posting about the giveaway sooner, I have had a very hectic weekend and have been working lots and very little time for the fun things in life. Thankfully term is nearly at its end and we now get the bliss that is Christmas holidays with lots of crafting. I do intend to spend an awful lot of this holiday knitting and I have just signed up to do a charity quilt through the Quilt Guild for a local children’s hospice. Don’t have much (or anything really) in the way of kids’ fabric so will have to treat myself to some stash.

Anyway the winner of the 3 year blogaversary giveaway is Elmsley Rose! Please mail me at alison.gorf@yahoo.co.uk with your address and I can send you your goodies. I am going to the post office on Thurs so if you see this before then I can post them then, they may not get to you before Xmas but they will keep!

I have been enjoying the warmer weather here – no snow and spent a very lovely time yesterday decorating the house for Xmas. It took me ages as I just pottered around moving things here and there and trying to decide where best to put everything. I have some new ornies this year as I have made myself some new pine cones and baubles to keep and some little Xmas tree pots. I have also finished the Xmas hanging so that will go up in the hallway later in the week (just need the curtain rod to hang it from.) I machine pieced this then hand quilted it with metallic thread (not a good idea it breaks way too much) them added some of my little brass charms.

Xmas quilt hanging
Jacob very kindly held it up for me!

 

Xmas quilt hanging 2
Detail of one of the brass charms on the quilt

Some of the  tree pots are in the dining room which has gold and silver colour scheme. These two will be used on the table on Xmas day – they are the same size it is just the perspective!

Xmas tree pots - gold
Look no snow!

The others are on the mantelpiece in the lounge along with the mini poinsettia which started it all (the surplus gold pots that I have acquired over the years). Apologies for the quality of the pics – the light was not good as it is a north facing room.I made one of these last year but the matching one took a year to get finished!

Xmas tree pots - multi
The festive mantel

 I have also finished some cross stitched ornies- have only done two of these this year due to getting sidetracked by the delights of patchwork! These are from JBW designs  and I have added a little charm I bought last Feb in a bead shop in Leeds. I have just been to the web site at Sew and So to add the link for JBW and have seen that they have some new stocking designs. I do love their designs so much, I still have a tree and a plum pudding that I have not done yet but am going to set myself a goal of doing one Xmas ornie a month next year so that I can have another 12 for my tree, as I was decorating it yesterday I was wishing that everything on it was handmade rather than mass-produced baubles so will add to my stock.

Reindeer ornie 1
Reindeer ornie showing back and front

 

Reindeer ornies 2
Detail of ornie showing the charm

My camera is behaving very well at the moment (if the light is ok ) and the pictures are very clear. It must know it’s on its on way out as I have ordered a new one (though will keep it as a spare as am very accident prone with cameras).

Have also started a new project that needs to be done for Xmas (because of course I have loads of time!). I have lost the skirt for the Xmas tree – not that I liked it anyway as it was very polyester and shed glitter everywhere, I may well have thrown it out last year meaning to make another one before this Xmas (oops!)

So this evening before Quilt Guild I cut out another one, I was a bit stuck what to use as a pattern until I remembered that I have a small circular rug so cut a circle a little bigger than that and divided it into 16 and cut out 16 triangles of Xmas fabric (lucky I have some you see for just this type of emergency!). Did not get chance to sew it together as I need more Bondaweb which I will get later this week.

Am aiming to get this made by Friday! I mean this Friday as we are having Xmas party on Sat – not that anyone will notice bare legs on the tree but if not will get it done Sunday as there is the little matter of party food to prepare, yes Mum is going to Iceland for some of it (the little mini fish and chip cones at Ellen’s request) but the rest will be all home-made so I shall have to get cracking!

Well have a lovely week and once again thanks for visiting.

My first Craft Fair

stitchesoftime1 Comment

Well I am back from Oakwell Hall and it was a great success. I have spent all day sitting in the lovely barn with lots of other crafty people, I have finished hand quilting my Xmas hanging while talking to lots of lovely people and selling my stuff. So all in all a great day.

The hall looked beautiful this morning in the winter sun.

hall 1
Isn't that pretty!

We were in the barn which is used for wedding receptions – my first customer was one of the bridal party (don’t know if she was actually the bride) who bought two baubles. In terms of what sold it was very interesting as I only sold one complete tree. Lots of people admired them and took the tree part off to look underneath which I think confused them as a couple asked if it was for a candle (which you could do after but not while the tree is on the top!). I think next time I make them I will try to use twigs in a piece of sawn off log so they look more tree like.

Barn 1
The barn with the yummy cake stall behind me!

It could have been the price, it is always difficult to know what the charge for hand- made goods as I had to factor in the cost of the pot, charm, fabric and time so I priced them at £4. Maybe that was a bit high, I could have reduced them but I wasn’t that worried about selling any more of them as I need lots to give to people this year as their Xmas card and if I’d sold all of these I would just have to make more.

I did sell quite a few kits, all but one of the stockings – could have sold more of the little ones as 5 went in one go, half the gift bags and about half the baubles and pine cones so another donation will be going to Community Action Nepal.

It was a very good experience seeing how people react and what else people are selling at events like this.  There was only one other person selling ornaments and she didn’t sell that much of her stock , she had lots of lovely padded ornies and hangings. There were two fab cake stalls there, one selling Xmas cup cakes and the other more traditional mince pies and Xmas cakes and lots of jewllery/ handbag and gift stalls.

Stall 1
My tree pots and kits on display
Stall 2
The baubles and cones on my mini tree - the lady in the Santa oufit was the one with the cup cakes!
Stall 3
Little gift bags and more cones and baubles

For a copy of the instructions to make the tree please click on the link below, this will open up as a printable Word file with colour pics.

Xmas tree ornie instructions

Altogether a lovely day.

Thanks for visiting and don’t forget to comment on my blogaversary post to enter the giveaway – I will be picking a winner next Thurs the 9th.

All ready to go!

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Well the craft fair at Oakwell Hall  tomorrow is still on (fingers crossed there will be no more snow!). The show is melting at the moment so huge chunks of ice are falling off the gutters which is a bit alarming but so far all seems well (i.e. no holes in new conservatory roof!)

I have spent the day finishing off the last of my stock, printing off the instructions for the ornament kits and packing everything up to go. I am very excited as this is my first proper venture selling my designs. I have done a craft fair before at Scouts to sell my ornies to fundraise for Project Nepal and sold them at work for the same reason but it will be nice to see if people like the things that I have made as well.

Yesterday evening and today I made two batches of little Xmas stocking backed with felt. The little ones are meant to be just tree decorations but I thought the bigger ones could be used for giving Xmas gifts of money – they can be hung on the tree as well but I though they might be more festive than the cards and envelopes you can buy for that.

Xmas stockings 1
Just need to sew the hanging tags on the little ones tonight
Xmas stockings 2
A close up of the money gift stocking

 I did promise myself that by the end of the year I wanted to design something and have a pattern published – well this is not really publishing but I have put together the instruction sheets with all pics all by myself so it sort of fits!

Ornie kit
I have made 10 little kits with everything needed except the pot!

I am very pleased to be doing this (not only as it has given me a chance to play with loads of lovely Xmas fabric) as it has been a dream for a while to be able to run a textile creation business. I was hoping to do that a couple of years ago but life got in the way but if I can do bits and pieces that makes me very happy. I spend lots of time looking at blogs like Hen House  and wishing I could craft full-time (not that the job isn’t lovely but playing with fabric all day would be heaven!). However one day it will happen.

I don’t think I can add downloads onto this blog but if anyone wants a copy of the instructions for the Xmas Trees pot ornie  (it is a Word file) then please leave me a comment with your e-mail address and will send you one.

Will take lots of pics at the craft fair so that you can see my little stall – I do love Xmas!

Thanks for visiting and don’t forget to leave a comment on my blogaversay post to win some Xmas goodies.

3 year Blogaversary giveaway!

stitchesoftime3 Comments

Have just been and checked and it is today – the first post on this blog was the 2nd Dec 2007.

A lot has happened since then in my blogging world , I have made some lovely new virtual friends and have thoroughly enjoyed meeting new people from all over the world. I am now getting around 4,000 visits a month thanks to all the lovely people who have put links to me on their blogs.Have spent far too much time reading all the links I have found on other people’s blogs and marvelling at all of the loveliness out there.Thank you blogging world for all the fun!

So to celebrate I am going to do a giveaway. Since it is the season for it and you all know how much I like them the giveaway will be a selection of Xmas ornies and fabric.

If you want to enter please leave me a comment – I will pick the winner a week from today on the 9th Dec to give me time to catch the last parcel posting date.

Thanks as always for visiting.