A Stitching Round Up

This week you can tell winter is well and truly here in New Zealand. After some miserable bleak weather last weekend, the winter sun has been out and we've had a few mornings with good frosts and chilly starts but then a day of sunshine follows.

This coming weekend we get an extra day off work for the Queen's Birthday public holiday on Monday, and after having spent the past few weekends helping with my in law's move to their newly built house, an extra day at home will be great to catch up on some home jobs and maybe even some sewing time.

Lately I've been enjoying having the diffuser going in the living area. Earlier in the week I bought a new synergy blend from the local health shop. Called Stress Relief, it has bergamot, ylang ylang, patchouli, orange sweet and lavender, and smells so divine. Most of the oils I use are made locally by Lotus Oils. 

Onto a stitching update:

I'm so enjoying stitching the Flea Market Flowers design, the colours are so pretty.  

I pulled out a 2020 Stitchmaynia project last weekend to stitch and made some good progress on All Joys for Thine.

Sew by Row is coming along too:

Last week I finished the Last Ripe Berries by Blackbird Designs

Stitched using the recommended fabric and threads:

I've also stitched more on My To Do list:

I've also got a new knitting project on the go, having finally finished the pair of socks that have been on the go since January 2020! A friend from work has a new grand daughter so I've started a little baby cardigan and will match it with a hat and booties too.  

Have you started any new projects lately? 

See you soon xx

Blackbird Designs Weekend SAL

 With so many Blackbird Design projects on the go, how could I not join in with all the fun for the #bbdweekendsal, a stitch along organised by Brenda and Laura, from brendaandtheserialstarter Floss Tube.

I decided to start with some stitching on the Last Ripe Berries, I think I started this way back in April 2020. 

I have really enjoyed stitching this series over the past few years, I think after this one I have 4 of the charts to stitch.

See you soon xx

Current Projects

Last week I stitched ALOT - trying to make up for not getting much done during the summer heat of the previous few weeks. I pulled out one of the projects I haven't stitched for ages, Hear the Crickets Sing, part of Blackbird Designs Loose Feathers Series, For the Birds.

I'm using the recommended threads and fabric, the colours are some of my favourite to use.

I also stitched a little bit on my stitch along project with Kath and Clare, Patchwork sheep.

There's going to be a lot of white stitching in the two sheep!

See you soon x

Blackbird Designs Wips & a new kit

This month I've been trying to get a bit of stitching done on some of my Stitchmaynia & Jolly July starts and I have actually finished several of these so I'll share some pics soon. I have a bit of "finishing" in my future!  

I've also pulled out a couple of wips to stitch on including two of my Blackbird Designs projects:

Merrily Merrily We Welcome Spring - I'm using the recommended threads and fabric, 36 count Oaken linen by Picture this Plus.

Hear the Crickets Sing - also using the recommended threads and fabric, 36 count Ale by Picture this Plus

I'm also hoping to make a start on this gorgeous little kit, which was the last kit in the Silver Needle's Friends Stitching Circle Club.

These pretty handmade pins were the extra gift that came with the kit.

Some fun stitching to work on!

Also, just a mention, that it's now only a week away to the annual Knit August Nights, a Yarn & Stitch Retreat, which is held in Napier.  My friends and I just love going to the public Yarn Market, this year its on Sunday 25th August, at East Pier, Ahuriri. I'm so looking forward to seeing all the wonderful yarn and accessories for sale, I believe there's going to be over 25 stall holders from around New Zealand, including several New Zealand knitwear designers with their patterns and samples. Some of the traders I like to check out include Bleating Art Yarns, Yarnfloozy, Vintage Purls, and Truly Myrtle, and many more lovely goodies.

See you soon xx

Last Week

Whoosh, another week has rolled on by. The weather here in Hawkes Bay last week was dreadful. We had two months of rain in just over four days and it was like it was never going to stop!  Today the sun is out and it's a perfect spring day.

Although I've got plenty of other projects I could be working on, I made a small start on Hear the Crickets Sing last week:

I also finished the last few rows on my Spindrift Shawl, just the ends to sew in and then a good blocking.

My reading pile at the moment, several new-to-me authors recommended by one of the local librarians, and the latest Karin Slaughter book.

It was Father's Day here last Sunday so Hannah and I took Glenn out to brunch at one of the local cafes followed by catch ups with our own Dads.

See you soon xx

From the Weekend

I have finished another design in the Blackbird Designs Loose Feather series - chart 4, All The Hills Echoed.  Stitched with all the recommended threads on 36ct Oaken linen by Picture This Plus.

Good timing as the latest in the series arrived in the post on Friday. I think I might skip ahead to this one, it really appealled to me, and go back to chart 5 & 6 sometime.

Miss H started weekly ballet lessons last term, and she is absolutely loving ballet so far. Her teacher is just lovely and so wonderful with all the children in Hannah's class, from 5 year olds to the older children Hannah's age.  Hannah has her first exam coming up later in the month so on Saturday was the mock exam which Hannah participated in. All good fun and she has been learning so much.

In other news from around here, our house renovations are moving along and the laundry is currently underway.  We had to wait quite some time for a local plasterer to come, he's the same guy we used last year so we were happy to wait but now that part of the job has been done, we can get the painting underway.

This coming weekend the final coats on the walls will be done, then we can move onto the floor tiling. You can see the difference in the paint colours in the above pic as the door to the garage is still the previous colour and now with the black white paint, it's looking so much brighter and fresher. We've yet to decide on bench tops and laundry tub and a new washing machine will be purchased too. All in good time!

See you soon x

Stitching Update

The latest Farmhouse Christmas chart arrived in the mail so I had to start straight away on it last night. I'm so enjoying this series and now there's only two more to come! 

I've also stitched a fair amount more on this lovely piece, updated pic to come.

Two close friends have recently celebrated their special days so I made some Stocky Sock project bags, its such a handy size for any crafty project.

I purchased this pattern from Sandra of the Cherry Heart blog via her Etsy shop.

In other stitching related news, I had a lovely catch up on Saturday with my dear friends Kath, Clare and Wendy. We haven't seen much of each other over the winter months so it was wonderful to spend a few hours together. Kath, Clare and I have signed up for the "Tis the Season Sal, the lovely design by Blackbird Designs. I've had the pattern and fabric since it was first released and I've ordered the especially dyed threads by Nancy from Victoria Motto Sampler Shoppe. Looking forward to this getting underway next month.

See you soon xx

Current Projects

I was so pleased to see another chart in this series has just been released and it will now be on its way in the post. I started stitching this chart, number 4,  last month when I was home from work on sick leave but only managed a small start. 

The linen for this design is 36 count Oaken by Picture this Plus.

This week I finished another ornament from Hands on Design's Chalkboard ornament series. I had planned to stitch one of these a month over the year but so far I've only done two!

My Cosy stripe blanket is underway  too:

A few rows each week and it might be done by summer, ha ha.

See you soon xx

She Sights a Bird

I finished Part 3 of the For the Birds series before we went on holiday.

Stitched with the recommended threads on 36ct Oaken linen.

I've loved stitching this series so far.

I'm still unsure how I'll finish these, maybe into small frames?

See you soon x

LK Jingles & a new start

My Lizzie Kate Jingles project was finished earlier in the year and was just waiting for me to sew on a few buttons and beads. I'd already decided to sew it into a wall hanging, using a piece of gold spotty and red fabric.

A piece of jute for the hanging and a bright red button and it's done, all set for Christmas 2017.

                      

(It looks a bit wonky in this photo but it was hard to get a good shot of it as it's so long)

Last week I made a small start on the third chart from Blackbird Designs For the Birds series.

The fourth chart, fabric and threads also arrived last week. I just love the thread colours used in this series.

Now I'm "patiently" waiting for the first part of this year's Lizzie Kate Christmas mystery sampler to arrive from the Silver Needle.

Thank you for all the recent comments on my little blog - have a wonderful weekend!
See you soon xxx

All Sorts of Things #3

Time for a catch up post this morning:

my latest stitching project - The Light Upon the Lawn, which is No.2 in the latest Blackbird Designs Loose Feathers series.

Some new charts, fabric and threads arrived recently - can't wait to start the little mice!

More socks underway, these are for my SIL Jude. The pattern is the Sugar Frost Socks by Marianne Heikkinen (vanillawool on Instagram). This is the first time I've used the Head over Heels yarn by Stylecraft and it's lovely to knit with.

This winter so far has been so cold, cold, cold, wet and frosty - many a morning I arrive at work and its only 0-1 c degrees.This was the view just down street one day last week. 

I've found a new favourite biscuit recipe - Oatmeal, raisin and orange cookies by Jenny from Elefantz. Do try them, they are absolutely delicious! The recipe can be found on this post.

Last Sunday afternoon Hannah and I went out with Jude and my nieces Alice and Sally to see a local production of the Sound of Music. We all thoroughly enjoyed it and what a nice treat for the school holidays.

Over the past few weeks, Glenn and I have been carrying out some DIY around home. We have stripped the old hallway wallpaper and dining room too, and my Dad has been in to do some painting for us. Glenn is also giving all the hallway doors a fresh coat of paint and we're going to upgrade the handles. New wallpaper has *almost* been decided on ha ha, and we'll also get some new lighting fixtures.

I've been meaning to share some news from our sock knitting afternoons - both Kath and Janet finished their first socks recently - yay, I was so pleased for them.

This group has been so much fun over the past few months - lots of laughs and giggles that's for sure!

See you soon xx