Flashy Photos!

It's dark this morning, so I had to use the flash I'm afraid.

Well, Santa's wreath is finished. Now I'm alternating between the Christmas tree he will be holding and his beard, which is rather difficult to see here, but I assure you it's growing!

The tree is promising to be as much of a pain as the wreath, if not more, as well as all the greens, there are several reds, for the ornaments and a golden garland. 

 Maybe, just maybe, I'll be finished stitching on this one by Christmas.

I did catch myself wondering how to finish him. It would be nice to do something different with him. Perhaps a wall hanger, with a forest of patchwork trees around him? Hmm......

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If I'm wondering what to do with the finished project, then it must be time to start planning a new project.

A finish means a start doesn't it?

I've been lurking on Cross stitch sites, my clicky finger has been busy.

Hurry up and get finished Santa!

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I had started another little crochet cardi, but lost count and got all in a tangle with it! So it got chucked into a bag and out came this pretty blanket I started while we were in Europe earlier this year. 

I'm off to see if I can find some more of the yellow yarn today, problem is, I'm not sure where I got it or even what brand it is! 

Never mind, I do have a plan B just in case.

Even though it isn't very big yet, I can confirm that it is very cosy. 

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I'm off to do my chores, then I can relax and play.

Help!

Cheer me on please. This wreath is driving me bonkers! I seem to be spending more time changing thread colours than I do stitching.

I've tried 'parking' the threads, but just end up confused, I learned long ago I'm better off stopping and starting, no matter how much it slows me down.

This picture shows very clearly just how much detail a little back stitch can add. It also shows that nasty rusty needle stain in all it's glory. I'm so glad that one is not my fault, though I must admit, I have made that mistake in the past.

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I'm off to town to do a few chores, then home to stitch! Maybe, just maybe I can get the wreath finished before The boys get home looking for food.

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Two Finishes

But first a picture of my gorgeous Grand daughter. 

I got the last rounds onto this pretty little cardigan a couple of days ago, but only just sewed the buttons on this morning. 

 The colours really are much prettier in real life.

This was so quick and easy to make, I may just have to do another one, in different colours.

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 My second finish is my secret cross stitch. I collected it from the framers this morning. The problem with forgetting to take a picture of the completed work, before framing, is you end up struggling to get a good image! This one with a flash is the best of a bad lot I'm afraid.

I pulled my cross stitch Santa out and stitched on him over the weekend. It isn't as much fun as I'd like it to be at the moment. I'm stitching his wreath, it's made up of holly and ivy. There are 7 shades of green and three of red! So I'm constantly changing thread colours, and making sure to back stitch as I go! I'll take an updated picture in a day or two.

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Today we find out if Tony is finally redundant on Friday, or if the receiving company will require him to stay on for a couple of weeks to finish off closing down all the systems.

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I'm still waiting to hear from Immigration services to find out if I will have a residential visa. We're 99.9% certain that I will get it, but best to be sure!

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Busy day today, I'm off on the bus to Douglas to get a few gifts and visit my brother again. I hope to find time to sew for an hour!

Something Quick.

As I said in my last post, I started a new project. I wanted something quick! I seem to have a few long term projects on the go at the moment, so it was good to get this little jacket to the almost finished point yesterday.

I had fun with all those colours, of course they are not showing correctly here, they are much prettier in real life. I'll get this finished today, then maybe, just maybe, I'll get back to Santa.

Another finish.....

I finished the big blue blanket. My poor pinkie finger has been aching, terribly the last couple of days as I pushed to have it done.

I did want to make the bluer panel at the bottom a little longer, but alas I was running out of blues and wanted to be sure to have enough to do at least one round each on the edge. 

 Thank goodness I stopped when I did, that was literally all I had left! The dark blue has about 3 yards and the lighter blue a little more.

It's a very grey overcast day here today, one of those days when there is no weather! No sun, no rain, no wind, just calm and grey. So getting a decent photo was never going to be easy. What you see here is the best of a bad lot, but you get the idea. I shall miss this lovely cosy blanket, It has kept me lovely and warm in the evenings as I hook away at it, but I know the recipient will love to snuggle under it.

I started a new crochet project last night, just a short time after declaring the blanket done. I meant to take a photo of it, but got so frustrated trying to get a good blanket shot........

Never mind, I'll have something to show off next time.

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Right I need to take a quick trip to the post office, then the day is mine.

Crochet, or Santa? Hmm....

Getting there

The secret stitching is completed. All washed and pressed too. I forgot to take a picture before I dashed off to the framers though, so you'll have to wait until I get it back.

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The crochet blanket is currently undergoing edge treatment, so it will be finished very soon too! In spite of the pretty heavy snowfall last night and early this morning, it's now a great drying day, so both washing lines are full, so no WIP picture of the blanket either!

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Can't have a post with no picture, how about a squishy wreath.

I've had a busy day, so I'm off to relax for a while, before I catch a bus to go visit with my big brother.  Maybe I'll take him some of the chocolate cake I made.

Progress

In spite of a very busy couple of weeks that comes along with Remembrance day I did manage to get some time for crochet and stitching in between stints at Poppy shop, attending coffee mornings and duties on Remembrance Sunday.

It's nice when I have a little time to grab my crochet and hook up a row, or even part of a row. Just a few more rows on my blanket and I'll be ready to do an edge treatment.

My secret cross stitch is also progressing, slowly. Luckily the upper half of the chart is not as densely stitched as the lower half. So should come together much quicker.

The star of the show has finally arrived. The recipient is a sucker for little black kitty cats!

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I have a date with a bunch of Royal Marines today! We met up with them after the ceremony on Sunday and chatted with them about the British Legion branch here in Ramsey and the Royal Navy Association branch here in town. They were very keen....

I'm off to meet them today to introduce them to the Chairman and the secretary of the Royal Navy Association.  That should be fun. Still time for some stitching before I leave though.

I got crafty!

 I didn't manage to get any more cross stitch done, life is getting in the way of that, hopefully next week things will settle down again and I can get on.

Meanwhile, I have been managing to get a granny in here and there on the big blanket. I love that I can put it down like this and walk away if I need to. I know that it will be just fine until I come back to it.

Now to the title of this post! The other day in town I noticed a new crafty shop. (It's right next door to sweet ginger Janice!) Stocked full of hand made lovliness. There were many Christmas decorations in the window. One in particular caught my eye, I thought, I could make that. I kept on walking and met my pal for hot chocolate. She who is queen of all things card and paper! Well I gabbled away excitedly trying to describe what I had seen! It turns out she had made the little treasures and was more than happy to have me come by and play the following morning. 

I should have taken the camera!

When I got there her play room was all ready for me, everything was laid out and a handy cutting machine, cause she knows I can't cut rounds to save my life!

Look what we made, so simple, once you know how.

 LOL Very difficult to photograph though.

Needless to say I enjoyed my morning, the time flew by very quickly. 

I love having something unique and hand made for my tree.

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Look at this cheeky face and all that red hair!

My beautiful Grand daughter Faith is 5 months old now. Love this picture.

I had physio yesterday, for my sore paw.  He pushed and pulled and bent and twisted my poor little pinkie in every which way you could imagine. Then he gave me a blob of yellow putty to squish.

It would seem that squishing balls of yarn is not good enough, but he was happy that I was at least doing something while I awaited my appointment.

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All the necessary paperwork for my visa application is now here. Over the weekend I'll get it into some sort of order, then on Monday the whole lot will be mailed and I will be waiting to see if my immigration visa is granted. 

Wish me luck.

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Dinner is in the slow cooker. Time to stitch.

Works in Progress.

I still didn't find my Mojo, I'm totally uninspired at the moment. There are all manner of Crafty Christmas ideas out there and in years gone by I'd be bursting with so many ideas I could hardly decide what to do with myself. Not so this year.

I'm not slacking though, I'm plodding on with a couple of gifts. I had hoped to have this blanket completed by now, but the lack on enthusiasm and the sore paw has slowed me down somewhat. It's not meant to be bed sized, just a good size to snuggle under, so it's nearly done. 

The secret project is exactly half way. Well that's not strictly true, I have completed the lower chart. The upper area of the design is less densely stitched, so should be quicker to complete. I hope to do a little more to it today.

I think some of my lack of mojo and enthusiasm is partly due to my sore finger.  It's been seven weeks since I fell and it's still not working properly. I have a physio appointment tomorrow. We'll see what they say.

Look at the lovely flowers my sweetheart brought home for me.

I'm off to stitch.

Lucky Me.

The postman left a package for me yesterday. It was filled with hand made loveliness all the way from Australia.

I have a penpal out there, we have been writing to each other for over 20 years. We've sent all manner of gifts to each other over the years. 

Anyway, a few years ago we agreed that it is getting difficult to remember what we had given and to be inspired by new gifts. The solution we came up with was to exchange only ornaments at Christmas. 

Maxine makes some wonderful little goodies.She pinched my button idea though! I was going to do that. LOL

 On the subject of buttons, look at this little lovely. I'll have to find something very special for that.

 And a cross stitched tree hanger. 

It's lovely to get cross stitched items from her, that's how we met, through the penpal page of a cross stitch magazine. Like me, Maxine went off stitching for a few years and at one point seemed to go off crafting all together. So to get these items is very special. It's good to know she has picked up her needle again. In her letter she blames me. :-) In my last couple of letters I have included photos of my own new interest in cross stitch, and that got her fingers itching again. It's good to be an enabler.

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My own stitching is slowly moving along. I dedicated most of yesterday to my secret project. I have officially finished stitching a quarter of the chart. Can't rest though, got to crack on and get it finished.  I also spent the evening hooking away at the blue and white blanket, well I say an evening, it was more like do 20 mins, rest my hand, do 20 mins, rest my hand! So probably only an hour. It's a Christmas present, I can't let it languish either.

I'm off to stitch.