Ethereal Snow

I have some sewing pictures to show too, but for today I thought I would share this photo with you.

Many of you will know that parts of England are gripped with Winter's icy tentacles already, having had the earliest snow fall for many years and temperatures of -18 in some places. That is cold!

I went out into the garden to record this winter wonderland and this was the result.

Those fronds of mist are hovering over a small pond, but the water in the pond was almost frozen and certainly not giving out any heat.

Eerie isn't it?

Love
Irene xxx

After the pride cometh....

So, these are the two pairs of socks I knitted recently. I began with the blue stripey pair and then, gaining in confidence, quickly completed the red motley pair.

Easy I thought - all this fuss about cuffs, heel flaps, instep shaping - in my sleep I can do this.

I will make a pair for everyone I know for Christmas.
They will be astounded at my prowess.
I'll knit them as I watch TV.

These are 4ply - I'll do some in double knitting, they will be even easier - and quicker to boot.

I may sell some on an etsy shop.

Or donate some to charity. That would be kind.

Two balls of your best double knitting sock wool if you please, my good woman.

Mmm - so I've knit the rib, and the cuff and turned the heel and now I have no wool left!

Well - I have a couple of metres, and another ball for the other foot but I will need a third ball to complete this pair. I have checked the pattern, used the needles offered by the aforementioned good woman, followed the pattern exactly, but the sock is enormous and sort of loose and of course, half-finished. And the wool is £4 a ball. Which would make the socks £12 a pair. Are they threaded with gold??

I have snuck it into a bag and left it for a while. I may have another look at it, or consult with people who actually know what they're doing with a set of needles (Maggie??) or it may just go to that happy half-finished heaven where it will meet up with an Aran sweater, a garter stitch cardigan and a scarf that only needs to be cast off and have a fringe added.

It is of course a fall which cometh after the pride!

And is my bum bruised!!!

Love
Irene xxx

The very last pear.

I looked out of my kitchen window on Tuesday and saw this - the very last pear on an ancient old pear tree, which actually sits in my neighbour's garden but overhangs mine.

It was just like this, a little golden orb hanging alone amongst the bare branches against the dark green of the ivy and naturally, the photographer (!) in me couldn't resist a photo.

Now - I know that I mutter constantly to myself that the pears from this tree - hundreds of them - fall on to my decking and go brown and squishy, and make horrid stains that only a power washer will remove and then the wasps come and are a nuisance especially to Meghan who having once been stung gets hysterical on hearing even a distance drone, and probably the roots are stretching out and undermining the very foundations of this house, but hey - what a pretty autumnal picture.

And yes, no doubt I should gather them and make pears in white wine and other such deliciousness but then - when would I stitch?

I had a really nice time with Clare and Judith at Fobbles on Thursday. The people there were so lovely and welcoming to these strangers from across the country. I bought some stash - scissors (of course) linen ( of course) threads (of course) and beads (of course) because I have none of these things and was in desperate need of them.

The journey back was tricky however with a severe weather warning in operation. We were driving on one of the highest roads running across the width of England (A66) and were exposed to the very worst of it. But we survived, Clare and I, and will live to stitch another day.

And - I have knitted a pair of socks. I know. How clever am I? And I have started another pair and knit nearly one whole sock in one day. Sleep and the need to eat got in the way or I definitely would have finished it.

Thank you again for your comments, read always with interest and much appreciated

Love
Irene xxx

Tulip pin cushion

I am just not back in the habit of writing this blog. They say the way to hell is paved with good intentions, well watch out, I'm on my way!

This is the second little pin cushion from the BBD Sarah Tobias booklet. It is stitched over one on a 32 count evenweave linen using a mixture of threads, some DMC and some from Vikki Clayton. It is finished on the back with a matching dullish print.

Have you noticed the clever bit yet?
Eh?
Come on, look closely.

Mmmm - maybe some of you will never find the clever bit, seeing as you don't know my full name - but my initials are IH.

Yeah - those clever gals at BBD designed this one so that my initials came in the right order and I could highlight them. Now how did they know to do that?

I enclosed a ric-rik ribbon in the joining for the edging and what a chore this was! Looks alright finished though.

This photo is very smudgy isn't it? I'm not sure why I have stopped being able to take a half decent photo. This one is using my camera which was way more expensive than my son's which I often use but his definitely gives a better close up. The problem is his battery is down and I don't know where all the wires are.

Do other people have boxes full of wires and adaptors and chargers and converters and cable things? We have so many, for phones, consoles, computers, games, cameras, every electrical appliance that has ever been made and every model of said appliance. Only my son can find the right one and he struggles sometimes. We should have a clear out!

Well, the builder has gone. He has been here for nine weeks and now he's gone and my house is an emptier place because of it.
I gave him his lunch every day and bought him a newspaper to read whilst he ate it and he had his own kettle and coffee and tin of biscuits which I replenished daily. Could this be why he stayed?

I am meeting up with friends from the Sampler Guild tomorrow over at Cockermouth which means a drive from the east coast of England to the west. It will take about 3 hours. England is quite narrow here! We will be stash building - of course - by calling in at Fobbles. We will be taking our latest stitching projects to look at so that will take all of two minutes for me, but I look forward to seeing what my more industrious friends have produced.

When I re-read my previous post, it sort of sounded as though the back of the Autumn Heart was too bad to show. The back, thanks to Anne, is perfectly wonderful, it was the photo of the back that was too poor to share.

Thanks for calling by
Love
Irene xxx

Autumn Heart

I think I mentioned that my friend Ann and I have a stitchy night every Thursday evening? She brings yummy biscuits and I provide as many cups of tea as we can get through - not as many as you might suppose as we talk a lot and drinking and talking are hard to synchronise.

Oh.... and we stitch!

It is a guaranteed oasis in the chaos of our busy lives.

Ann is much more adventurous than me and tries lots of new things, new finishes, or different stitches, I tend to stick to what I know.
I do have a bigger variety of stash though - ( c'est un surprise n'est-ce pas?) So I am sometimes able to help out with the odd thread and this lovely heart is a thank you gift from her.

Can I say that the French phrase above is just a shameful affectation. I have tried to learn French since I was knee high to a grasshopper and have spent many happy hours lounging around in France, sometimes staying there for five weeks in the Summer holidays, but in spite of that, and ignoring the fact that I sometimes even wore a little jaunty neckerchief (surely that isn't the word?) giving all the outward appearances of being stylishly French, and totally at home (a la maison?) as soon as I opened my mouth, my northern roots showed.

I so envy people who can speak a second language - or play an instrument - two accomplishments that in my life I have failed to .....well.....accomplish really.

Well, I did learn ....... naw... I can't really count that.

OK - when I was 6 I had my turn playing that clapper thing, that you bang on your hand, but hey - nobody recognised my potential so I just passed it to boy sitting next to me.

Raymond I think it was. He's probably in a boy band now.

Anyway, no good crying over that, the heart above is freebie from the gazette94 site and is stitched beautifully over one on a 32 count linen using an unnamed but appropriately autumnal thread from HDF. I also took a photo of the back which is finished in a matching watermarked cotton with a little 'hand-made' tag, but it was really too bad to post. Sorry Ann.

Love to all
Irene xxx

So I resume - with Sarah Tobias

It has been five weeks - can you believe that - five weeks since I last posted here.

I will tell you in a sec what has been occupying my time, but first to Sarah.

I was a participant in the Round 5 Blackbird Designs Exchange organised by Patti, and therefore browsed through all of my BBD charts and booklets looking for a suitable design to exchange. It was then I realised that in my eagerness to acquire stash, to possess it, to have it, own it, file it, organise it, gloat over it ( come on - you've done it!) I had actually hardly stitched any of it. So I completed my exchange project - afore posted - and decided to do a couple of things from the Sarah Tobias booklet.

I chose firstly the little alphabet pin cushion above, stitched over one on a mid-cream 32 count linen with Kaalund thread - the colour of which is lost in the mists of time. Now it seems that in the intervening interlude, any photographical skills I may have once possessed have deserted me completely, so the pictures show hardly any detail at all.

This, I think, leaves me open to a little exaggeration!

The piece is backed with a perfectly matching batik fabric ( you can't really tell so you'll just have to believe me) and exquisitely finished with opaque irridescent blue / green beads! It is packed with crushed oyster shells. I know - it sounds exotic, but I can't find those darned walnut shells that everyone seems to use and this gives a nicely weighty emery-ish feel.

So that is finish number one. I have a lovely gift and another finish to show another day.

Well, you ask, those of you who loyally check to see if I have made any effort to write here at all, what has the girl been up to?

A dream holiday on a paradise island.

Naw.

I've just been cleaning. Relentlessly. Unendingly. Exhaustingly. Purposelessly ........ cleaning.

Yes - purposelessly. To no purpose. Uselessly.

I still have the builder here. We are running into, I think, 6 or 7 weeks now. To be honest, he so much part of the family I've stopped counting. He came to renovate all the sash windows in the house, and just stayed. Like a lost puppy. We have adopted him. He hardly ever goes home.

He is now finally outside, repainting the house and it looks great. It is just taking so long. And because it was every window in every room that needed some work, every room was a mess, with dust sheets everywhere, and wood shavings and paint scrapings. He promised faithfully it would be completed before my guests from America arrived for their holiday.

Oh didn't I tell you? Oh yes, in the midst of all this I had guests for about ten days. Happily they are old friends and picked their way around the rubble, but it's not want you want, is it, when friends are staying?

So in a vain attempt to make the house look habitable I cleaned. But in the end I just asked people to wipe their feet as they left, not as they arrived.

There is just a glimmer of normality showing, a tantalising glimpse that I may eventually resume the retirement I signed up for.

We shall see.

Thank you for your patience

Ooooo - almost forgot to mention. Are you desperate for the 2010 Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornaments Special? My friend Margaret is giving one away in a draw on her newish newsy blog. She would love to have you visit. http://allthingsmaggieo.blogspot.com/

Irene xxx

Shhhh - not a word

I have stitched a couple of small things - and I've started on a Christmas pressie for my Mum - but I have nothing much finished to show. I don't think I have shared this with you though and I do like it very much.

This is Mocking Bird by La D Da. I used their recommended linen - if only I could remember what that was - and substituted HDF threads by Vikki Clayton. I am pleased with the colours I've chosen except that his little feet have almost disappeared. I'm afraid he looks a bit grounded, in real life and even more so in this very poor photo. He is framed, so that accounts for some of the wonkiness of the picture. Don't ask!!!!

So - I have a man in at the moment.

Not a handsome, suave, debonair, ready-for-love at the drop of a hat, man.

(I should be so lucky.)

( Well - I should be if I could be bothered with all of that, but I can't)

But anyway - back to the story.

He's a very nice workman.

He is renovating my windows. I live in a Victorian house and the windows are those old sash windows which I really like. But most of mine have, after a hundred years of less than precise painting, been sealed shut.

I need then to pose the question - why is it that although they are painted shut and will not moved by a herd of angry elephants, the wind whistles through them like a hurricane and leaves me shivering in my favourite (stitching) chair all through the long Northern winter???

I know, another of life's mysteries.

But Derek - for indeed that is his name - is mending them for me. He is making them open, top and bottom, replacing sash cords and weights, burning off the old paint, re-painting them and draught proofing them.

Which is all good. And he's no bother.

But..isn't it unsettling when things are going on in your house? I am in a constant mood of unsettlement. I feel not ready for anything. This blog, mundane as it is, has required considerable effort this morning.

Sorry it wasn't more exciting!!

Love
Irene xxx

My contribution to BBD Exchange

When Patti asked me if I would like to join the Blackbird Designs Exchange Group, I was quite apprehensive - not that I was afraid I wouldn't love the gift I received (I did!) but the whole thing about what to stitch, how to finish, can I complete in time etc.

However Patti is a persuasive gal so I agreed to give it a go.

There followed a great deal of chart searching and discussion with my stitching friend Ann. Is the possible design too big? Too small? Take too long to stitch? Need framing to look good? Has it been seen too much on other blogs? Will my partner have it already?

Eventually I chose this little Blackbird design from a file of printed-off charts. I chose the colours from Vikki Clayton's HDF as the original was a single colour and set to work.

It was lovely to stitch, just enough variety to keep it interesting but a bit of repetition to make it a fairly quick stitch.

Then half way through - a really worrying thought struck me.

'Was this an actual Blackbird Design chart, or just a chart with a blackbird on it' - in which case it wouldn't do! There was nothing on the chart itself to indicate where it was from. I found it under 'Blackbird Designs' in my folder, but you can see my dilemma.

I called my friend Ann and she remembered seeing it on a blog somewhere, but between us we read so many! She came round and together we began to trawl through the blogs we normally read - something with 'needle' thought Ann, or 'thread' - mmmm that narrows it down a lot!

Eventually we found it and read with relief that it was an actual Blackbird Design freebie. So I carried on, finished it as a little ornament with a beaded edge and peyote stitch hanger (I really like these now) and sent it off to my partner Elisabeth in France.

There was the expected anxiety about whether it would arrive safely and whether Ela would like it.

It did and she did. Ela even sent me a lovely hand-made card to thank me again for the gift.

So maybe I will join an exchange group again. I loved my gift from Christina and Ela loved hers from me and that's just about everything you can hope for.

Thank you for your comments - always read with much pleasure.
Love Irene xxx

Counting Mistake Item 2

I know, I promised you this ages ago. Counting mistake number two.

Mmmm you think - can't see anything much wrong here.

Well actually, there isn't anything much wrong, except that it is supposed to say 'Live, Love, Laugh'

I bought a chart which showed a little woven basket with a stitched border along the outside, and inside, lots of pretty little mottoes and inspirational sayings - like - 'be what you want to be - it isn't too late' (it was slightly more catchy than that) and 'seize the day' and stuff.
I determined to use my wonderful Kaalund thread (Taipan) and set to work.

Now, for little inspirational saying ornamenty-baskety-things, I don't much bother about the linen count, huh, that's for amateurs, so I grabbed a piece and began to stitch 1 / 1 because that is mostly what I do now and as I stitched I hummed a little inspirational tune. I was getting really quite good at this stitching thing although humming and smirking at the same time was proving a little more difficult

I learned the pattern quickly, the border was looking good, the colour was yummy, and so as I stitched, I began to discuss with myself where I might put the completed basket and the aforementioned sayings. On the table, in the hall, in the bedroom?? Now where would be the best place to show off my considerable skill?

Enough of this, border finished - time to look at the lettering.

Have you guessed yet?

Yes....stitching 1 / 1 from a chart that was meant to be 2 / 2 with lettering - spells disaster.

There was just not enough space to stitch anything much. So, not wanting to waste a perfectly good border, I wrote 'LIVE'
It's not even inspirational is it? If you manage to take in a breath, you're doing it.

I couldn't give you the exact quotes and sayings because I threw the chart down in disgust and now I can't find it.

Yeah, not so smirky now eh?

Love to all who visit,

Irene xxx

Beautiful Tall Ships.

I mentioned in my last posting that I have been busy. Well, I thought I would show you briefly what I have been up to.

My home town, Hartlepool, has been hosting the 2010 Tall Ships Race and I have been a volunteer. I haven't had a very high powered job - I am a 'Lost and Missing Persons Assistant' but it has been such fun to be involved with this event.

We began our training way back in May and have been looking forward to the arrival of these ships for months now. There are about 65 vessels in all, quite a few of which, including all those in the photographs, are Class A - the biggest of the sailing ships. They are from all over the world, Oman, Russia, Indonesia, Poland etc and their crews have been magnificent. It is not every day you see a group of Russian sailors shopping in your local supermarket!

From the Headland, we watched the ships far away on the horizon, steadily making their way into our port. I am not a watery, shippy sort of person at all, but seeing those great vessels in full sail must send an echo back through the ages as it really stirs the heart. I found myself quietly humming the tune of 'Hearts of Oak' and the rousing 'Rule Britannia'. Both these songs are probably inappropriate these days, and of course most of the ships here are not British, but still.........

The festival ended on Tuesday with a full Parade of Sail when all the ships left the harbour and sailed north along the coast, again in full sail.

OK - so even I shed a tear and like I said, I am not usually a watery sort of person!

Back to sewing now all the excitement is over.

Irene xxx