Stitching in July and more

Hello friends, 

this month I've been Jolly July stitching, a Christmas design stitch along that has been running each July for a few years now.  

My first choice is Claus Christmas by Stitching with the Housewives, this design has been in my stitching basket since it first came out. I'm using the recommended DMC threads on 32 count black linen.

 

The second design I chose to start is the Green Coat Santa by Teresa Kogut, a Patreon chart released back in July 2022. My fabric is 32 count natural linen and I'm using the recommended threads.

Priscilla and Chelsea's latest little series is so cute - I had to add these to my July stitching bag. 

We are very excited as a family friend and her husband are expecting their first baby, a daughter, in a few weeks time.  I started knitting a few little hats a few months ago and also two little cardigans.  If you ever need a baby knitting pattern, do check out Mariana Lazy Daisy's blog. I have knit so many of her lovely patterns over the years. 

We recently travelled to Wellington for the weekend to catch up with our friends and to go along to their baby shower. It was a lovely afternoon, lots of delicious snacks and drinks, and fun baby shower games.  Hannah and Glenn did very well at one of the games and won me a bottle of wine ha ha.

The rest of the weekend was spent mostly at the mall shopping, and we enjoyed a lovely meal out with our friends.  A trip to Wellington is so much quicker now you drive through Transmission Gully, it was just under three hours from home to our motel.

It's school holidays right now here in NZ so Diesel has been enjoying hanging out with Hannah, lots of snuggles together as its been quite cold some days.  Here he is, waiting patiently and watching out for either Glenn or I to get home from work, so cute.

Diesel will be two years old this coming Friday, he's just such a joy, he brings us so much fun and laughter.

Have a fun week, see you soon xx

And just like that, it's July

How did it get to be July already, the last few weeks seem to have just whizzed by and here in New Zealand we're now fully into winter with some chilly days but also sunny days which help to keep the winter blues away.

I'm getting through my pile of stitching to be finished ever so slowly, ha ha.  This design by Primrose Cottage Stitches was my choice for April's ornament.

Then for May, I chose Winter Blessings by Plum Street Samplers.

Each week I pick one of my sampler projects out of my stitching basket to focus on, and then over the weekend I'll pick up something "small" to stitch on. Lately it's been these cute designs by Satsuma Street, Lolly Claus and Candy Claus.

 

They have been a lot of fun to stitch, I haven't stitched anything on perforated paper for a long time. I have several others in the series to stitch over the coming months.

Finally, I finished these socks which I'm pretty sure have been on the go for over two years! The yarn is by Mondim and I used the Basic 4ply Sock knitting pattern by Christine from Winwick Mum. 

My knitting mojo has well and truly returned as I've also been doing some knitting for a friend having a baby in August.

We try and get out walking with Diesel as often as we can, and this past Sunday was fairly warm while we walked by the river. We have several good tracks to pick from.

Of course, Diesel doesn't hesitate to jump straight in the water! 

This was my recently pile of library reserves. I've been reading a lot lately, taking my book to read during my lunch break, otherwise I'd have my lunch and go back straight to work.  

Have you read anything good lately?

Now I'm off to kit up one or two new projects for Jolly July, have a happy week.

See you soon x

World Knit in Public Day and more

Last Saturday morning I went to our local library for Worldwide Knit in Public day.

My friends Clare and Sonia came along too and we had a lovely morning chatting and knitting away, and meeting some new friends.

Our library is a wonderful space, it's way more than a library with lots of other services operating from there and activities happening. The staff that work there are amazing, always so chatty and friendly and they go out of their way to be helpful.  We do have two libraries in our small district, the other one ten minutes away is just as amazing, I love going there too.  

And the great thing about Saturday? I've joined a new knitting group, how fun! We're going to meet up monthly on a Saturday morning.

Now for some recent finishing and stitching.

Cup of Cheer by Brenda Gervais was stitched earlier in the year, it was started during my summer holidays. 

I used the recommended threads and 32 count Flax linen, natural ric rac for the trim.

Next up are some recent ornament finishes.

Mistletoe Kisses by Erica Michaels, this design has been kitted and in my stitching bag for quite some time. Stitched on 32 count vintage mocha linen with the recommended threads.

From Country Cottage Needleworks Pastel Ornaments Collection, Christmas Bird. I used the recommended threads and 32 count cream linen.

This year's Prairie Schooler Santa  - I loved stitching this, recommended threads and 36 count vintage mocha linen.

Have a happy week, see you soon x

Now it's June

Hello friends, it's now officially winter here in New Zealand and where I live, on the east coast of the North Island we've had some settled weather, a tad cold but mostly sunny days and not a lot of rain lately. This morning we had a boomer frost and it was only 1 c when I left for work. Brrr, out came the handwarmers!

This past weekend we enjoyed a three day weekend thanks to King's weekend on Monday 3rd June. We had no plans except for the usual jobs around the house and I was able to get outside for a few hours on Sunday in the gardens, get the vegetable gardens tidied up and the lawns were mown. There's still a few vegetables growing in the garden - lettuce, silver beet, and the winter seedlings are in too - spinach, cauli, brocoli and cabbage. Glenn worked on his latest project, a small pergola coming out from the deck by our laundry door and also spent a day out cutting firewood. Hannah enjoyed a few nights' away at her friend's house, and I also spent a few hours with my Dad, popping up to Hastings to collect some painting materials, having a coffee at one of the local cafes, and visiting his brother, whom we hadn't seen in a few months. Other exciting news this week, Hannah now has her Learner's Drivers licence so her driving lessons can begin! This was the theory test and she can sit the practical, or restricted licence at the end of the year. She was so very excited!

Now for some stitching news - I recently came across this little freebie chart by Teresa Kogut, you can find it here as well as some other great freebie charts.

I used the recommended DMC threads and the linen is a piece by Fox & Rabbit, which I can't recall the name of.

Last week's sampler project out of my stitching basket was This Happy Morning by Plum Street Samplers, I couldn't get an accurate photo of the colours. I started this back in April 2023 and I'm using the recommended threads and Fox & Rabbit's Black Swan linen.

I feel much better about being able to get some finishing done recently, the little pile of things to work on has been growing! 

Here's a couple of Hands On Designs ornaments - from Oh Christmas Three, a pattern I bought during the 2022 Jingle Ball.

As it's been awhile since I last shared a photo of Mr Diesel so here he is, enjoying a spot of sunshine recently. 

This lovely boy brings us so much joy and laughter. He loves a good snuggle, and will cozy right up to me at night when I'm stitching, and snore away quite loudly, it's so funny.  He's going to be two years old next month.

Enjoy the rest of the week, see you soon x

Hi friends, Monday again already, the weeks seem to be zipping by! We had a good weekend just been, catching up on the usual around the house jobs, some baking and meal prep for the week ahead, and yay, the first part of the new series of Bridgeton was released. Hannah and I also went to a show on Saturday night, CHB Rising Stars Talent show - it was a fabulous evening of dance, singing and music. Several of Hannah's dance friends were in it and they were amazing.

For the first time in ages, I was able to spend some time at my sewing machine the other day so I've been sorting through my pile of finished stitched pieces, and will hopefully have some photos to share soon. This is a recent finish, I Stitch by Teresa Kogut. This design was given to Patreon club members after the Nashville needlework market. I'm thinking it might be made into a project bag.

Something else I haven't done in ages, is any knitting. One night last week I decided to hunt out my sock knitting. These socks have been on the go for a good two years and I really enjoyed knitting away for a few hours. 

Hannah's 16th birthday celebrations continued with a day out last Sunday. We started with ten pin bowling in Hastings and then over the Napier for the girls to enjoy some shopping while Glenn and I enjoyed a coffee in the sunshine. 

There were lots of people out and about, and after a few hours shopping it was time for a very late lunch at one of our favourite restaurants, Lone Star.

This was Glenn's meal - looked so yum! It was also Mother's day here so I was treated to dessert, chocolate brownie with a strawberry sauce, delicious.

We finished the afternoon with a walk around the Bluff Hill lookout, watching the sun come down.

 Thanks for stopping by, see you soon x

Sweet 16, Sampler stitching & More

Our Hannah May is now 16 years old, wow, where have the years gone to? Our lovely girl is clever, kind, funny and loves her family and friends, a beautiful dancer, loves all things hair & beauty and soon will be sitting her Learner's Car Licence test. Last night we celebrated with takeaways, cake, and macaroons as Hannah had hockey practice followed by ballet class. This Sunday we're taking Hannah and a couple of her friends to tenpin bowling followed by lunch out in Napier, will be a fun day out.

Talking of fun days out, this past weekend, Hannah and I went along to a fundraiser for our local cancer support group, a fashion parade followed by afternoon tea. Our friends were in the show and they did a great job of modelling clothes from our local retail clothing stores. 

We also tried out a newly opened Nail salon in town for fresh pedicures. 

Last week's choice for my sampler stitching was Winter Rose Manor by Brenda Gervais, mostly just the house to stitch now.

My local sewing and knitting shop, Curtis Fabrics, had something exciting come into stock last week, Oliso irons! I've been looking at getting one for quite some time so I was very excited to go into the store last week and check them out. I decided to go for the Project iron, which is going to be just perfect. I've yet to try it out but can't wait to get it out of the box next time I have a sewing session.

Another happy purchase recently for our laundry, a new clothes dryer - we had a very old one, which we didn't replace when we completed our laundry renovation a few years ago. This is going to make getting clothes dry way easier over the coming winter months, especially since we have a cheeky doggy who likes to take our washing off the drying clothes racks!

See you soon x