Saturday 1 July 2023

It's July so it must be Tour De Fleece 2023

Team Spindler 2023


 

Where did the year go? We are here again at the start of the Tour de Fleece, the spinning event based on the famous Tour de France cycle race.

This year I am joining in with Team Spindler again as I enjoyed their company very much last time.  I plan to spin every day the riders race and rest on the days they do too.

My goals for this year's Tour de Fleece are to:
  • improve my spindling technique by using both research and practice
  • finish any fibre started last Tour
  • follow Team Spindler fellow spinners and cheer as we go
  • look at what worked and didn't in my organisation last Tour and improve where I can
  • spin every race day
  • learn something new 

So I am starting with a beautiful British fibre, Norfolk Horn from The Fibre Workshop:


The other fibres I hope to spin are a set of rolags from Sarah's Texture Crafts (sadly no longer trading) in "St Martin's Summer" (renamed by me) which is a Merino and sparkle:


And this lovely fibre from Gone Woolly in the colour "Atlantic Waves" which is an American wool top/roving:


The Grand Départ is from the beautiful City of Bilbao which is home to the stunning Guggenheim Museum.

image courtesy of pixabay.com

1 July 2023

Stage one - Grand Départ Bilbao


I had a choice of three spindles and for the Norfolk Horn I have chosen my mid-weight spindle - I don't know the make but the remaining are an Ashford and Spin City spindle.



I am very motivated to get the 100g of Norfolk Horn spun as I have the Binham Mitts pattern also from The Fibre Workshop. The pattern calls for a 4ply yarn and I think that is achievable from the fibre I am spinning - hopefully!

The beautiful Binham Mitts by The Fibre Workshop

The design is based on Binham Priory in Norfolk. The Priory has both Norman and medieval English carvings which is reflected in the geometrical patterns in the mitts. The Priory is in North Norfolk and was founded in 1091 by a Norman Baron Peter des Valoines who was a nephew of William the Conqueror. It housed an order of Benedictine monks until the dissolution in 1539 when it was partially destroyed. 

So here is my first stage finished spinning - 50g of the Norfolk Horn and I am more than happy:



Many congratulations to the winner of today's Yellow Jersey, British rider Adam Yates for UAE Team Emirates, who gave us a terrific end to the day's racing beating his twin brother Simon Yates of Team Jayco Alula.



I'll be back with more soon,



Tuesday 21 February 2023

Letters from Europe - travel projects for the Summer of 2023

 Celebrating NicolaParkman of Hands Across the Sea Sampler’s very special birthday 


It’s a delight to be celebrating a birthday even when it’s not my own (although in a way this does form part of my birthday too). So it was a very exciting moment when I was lucky enough to be one of only 600 stitchers who were able to have one of Nicola’s limited edition boxes full of needlework treats.

The beautiful red box


Nicola released the boxes on her website Hands Across the Sea on 14 February 2023, St Valentine’s Day (midnight on 13 here in the UK). My birthday is not until May but my lovely husband suggested I might like to make it an early present and, of course, I was more than happy to do that.

I was prepared for a very congested system on the website and a long night of getting through to secure a purchase, and I wasn’t wrong. At one stage I was really flagging having stayed up on the Sunday morning to watch the Superbowl match and decided to go to sleep. Of course, having the item in my basket, sleep was going to evade my poor tired mind because it was super excited. So after a break I popped back to her website and was able to get my payment through. 

That was just the start of a few days of nervous excitement spent tracking my package from Post Office to depot to Post Office. It didn’t help that a cross stitch kit from another business had been lost by DPD and I had been refunded the cost as they had no more stock of that item. Not good for my HS personality. 

However, all looked as it ought and on Monday 20 February (Nicola’s birthday) our Postman arrived early in his little red van and I rushed to the postbox and hardly dared lift the lid. I needn’t have worried though as the promised brown paper wrapped package was neatly snuggled inside.

I had watched Nicola’s YouTube video talking about the box and had taken on board her advice to not damage the special box inside by cutting through the parcel tape and accidentally scoring the box top inside. 


There is nothing more delightful than a box full of surprises and as it was a gloriously sunny day I wanted to sit outside with a cup of coffee and explore the contents.

Isn’t that the perfect way to enjoy a morning coffee 


I had so much fun opening everything inside and was absolutely thrilled with all I discovered. But I won’t be sharing until we are clear to do that and not to spoil the surprise for others. Although some are talking about opening each item over the months to come, I am not someone who can wait that long and, besides, I just know there will be so many posts online showing what’s inside and I would rather enjoy finding out by myself first. 

There is a private Facebook group and I have already been kindly invited to join and have been very warmly welcomed there. It’s going to be great getting to know everyone and share our stories there too.

I sent Nicola an electronic card wishing her a very happy birthday and I do so here too. Here is a screenshot of the card and I will be back soon with some more stitchy notes to keep a record of the letters from Europe.



_


Monday 4 July 2022

A Summer full of Crafting Loveliness

So many crafts...

Crafting is really such a panacea when the world seems such a difficult place to navigate. The past few months have been a time of calming the mind with lots of lovely crafting projects and events. So let's have a look at some of the things I have been up to.


Tour de Fleece 2022 Team Spindler


 One of the highlights of Summer each year is to follow the Tour de France cycling alongside spinning each day. This year I joined Team Spindlers on Ravelry and I am really enjoying learning about different fibres from their general pages as well as sharing what I spin each day on the Team page. I very sadly had to say goodbye to my spinning wheel recently because she had come to a point where there was more repair than spinning time spent on her. 

That meant I would have to do the Tour using my spindles and I looked around for a suitable team to join and came across Team Spindlers which has members from all around the world with a great deal of knowledge and some absolutely stunning spindles. If only we could get some more interesting spindles here in the UK.

The Tour goes on through July and I hope to have a lovely amount of yarn at the end. I am spinning Falkland at the moment which is a joy to work with and, thanks to all the advice from my fellow spindlers, I am planning to make the yarn into a pair of winter mittens. You can see from the photo below the beautiful fibre from Friday Studios (sadly no longer selling fibre).


Gnoming Along

I've had such a lot of fun joining in with Sarah of Imagined Landscapes and her Gnome Alongs. This time we were making a gnome which included stranded colour work. She is called Gnocci based on season three of the GNetflix programme "It's a Chef's Life". I used Lucy Locketland's Woodland Foragers set of minis which she made specifically for this gnome along. What do you think, isn't she cute? I know she has a beard!


She joins my other Imagined Landscape Gnomes, Gnombleberry with Gnewt in his backpack and Gnorwen who looks like an ice cream.



Dandelion Designs Redwork

I have been sewing along with Mandy Shaw's Secret Society of Redwork Stitchery and Crafty Loveliness for the past year. We have been making an Alphabet Quilt and I am so pleased with the result and have made it my own by adding some of Mandy's fabrics left over from past projects. I also made one of her cute kits for a watch pin cushion which is proving very useful.



Cross Stitch

Here in the UK there have been celebrations for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee and I stitched these three designs by Carol X Stitch which I put on display on the table in my entrance hall. 


I also stitched the very pretty "Red Bird Sampler" by Brenda Gervais of With Thy Needle and Thread. It fitted on a spare piece of 40 count linen using the called for colours of thread which at first I thought were a bit out of my comfort zone but now she is finished I am absolutely loving.


Well I am going to leave this post here and I shall be back soon with some more of the crafting I have been enjoying during the first half of 2022. I will leave you with a lovely photo of my seven month old Grandson enjoying the fireworks for the Jubilee. Going up and down to Yorkshire to spend time with him is so wonderful.





Saturday 1 January 2022

Welcome the New Year 2022 - you have arrived bearing change 🎆

 Like Janus:

A quick look back and then a look forward

There were so many wonderful projects during 2021 and I wish I had recorded them more carefully as I finished them. However, these are a few that I enjoyed working on.

The Red Manor House Quilt was finished and now awaits the quilting process

I enjoyed taking part in the Royal School of Needlework Postcard from Home in 2020 and found it a beautiful piece to draw inspiration from during 2021

This was the year of redwork and I joined Dandelion Design's Mystery Quilt along for 2021/2 which is great fun and includes lots of extra sewing projects

Sew Sweet Violet's projects this year have been absolutely delightful

One of the 'extra' projects with Dandelion Designs was this cute Bee Skep embroidery

Dandelion Designs again and a really useful 'extra' was this thread holder

Caroline Loves To Sew had a gorgeous Autumn knit along with her new sock pattern

As always I made a pair of socks to be given to someone in a Marie Curie Hospital ward this Christmas and this was yarn especially dyed for the Flower Power Fund which organises the sock knitting

I loved the first Sew Sweet Violet tiny EPP project and couldn't resist a Christmas version

Then there was a gnome along with Imagined Landscapes - who knew making a mystery knitted gnome could be such fun!

I won the postcard from Mersea run by my quilting group Ladies Who Sew having based my design on the metal soldiers which stand in the mud flats by the Strood (the stretch of road joining the island to the mainland)

Another 'extra' from Dandelion Designs heavily improvised to make my flower a lilac fairy rather than a sunflower

Hallowe'en stitching is one of my favourite things to do.

Hands Across The Sea Samplers had a stitch along for Martha Dawson and this is tiny being stitched on  a 56/64 linen count fabric

Sew Sweet Violet's "St Nick Socks" was a gorgeous test knit for my lovely friend Jooles Hill 

Another Hands Across the Sea Sampler this time Ann Morison. It was a celebratory piece for a Canadian needlework shop

Then there were all the wonderful tiny kits from Nicki Franklin of The Stitchery and this beautiful needle/pin cushion was a delight to sew

From knitting to stitching and many crafts in-between it was a year of many different projects. I signed up for stitch alongs and knit alongs and had such fun working on them month by month. 

For me crafting is a panacea and it allowed me to push all the stresses of life away for a few hours each day so that my mind could function without being overloaded with worries.

Then looking forward to what I might make in 2022 I have to start with a year long project with Alice Caroline which will be a Liberty Fabric Alice in Wonderland Quilt. I can't wait to get started on it around March/April time. 
I might decide to hand sew my nine blocks for this stunning quilt - slow stitching might be just what the Doctor ordered this year!


Cross stitching is going to be working my way through wips as I have way too many and the same is true of knitting and other sewing. 

We may also be moving this year so that will seriously impact my making time. I only hope I can find time to sit down and relax with my crafting in 2022 what with our new Grandson, William, who arrived in October 2021 also being a most excellent distraction too!

I hope you have lots of plans for the year and that you have a joyful, peaceful and healthy year ahead. Happy New Year!

William my new Grandson wearing a cute hat made using a pattern given to me by my lovely friend Lisette 




Saturday 2 October 2021

🍂Ah September - the prelude to October 🍂

 🗓where i am 

Knitting

The Rainbow Sock Chronicles, which is a knit along hosted by Jooles of Sew Sweet Violet and Kelly of Lay Family yarns,  has reached the end of the seven rainbow colours and starting now in October we will be able to choose our own colours.


The picture above shows the socks up to July. For September (picture below)  I used one of Jooles's patterns called 'Sweet Bee Socks' using Henny Penny Yarns sparkle sock and Orkney Angora for the stripes and lace. These are definitely an indoor only, snuggle up in front of the fire pair of socks as the angora makes them a lot more delicate but so cosy and comforting.


There have been lots of test knits for Jooles of Sew Sweet Violet and one of my favourites was this Wondrous Shower Mitt which means you can put your bar of soap inside the mitt to wash and that means you don't have to buy plastic bottles of shower gel.




🪡🧵Cross Stitch

I have been working all year on two cross-stitch stitch alongs. Martha Dawson and Ann Morison both are reproduction of antique samplers by Hands Across The Sea Samplers. I am stitching Martha Dawson on a 56 count fabric using Au Ver A Soie silks and below is my progress so far.


I am actually a little further on but only have a photo of the process in the frame (see below).


I veered off the set monthly section so that I could work on the house whilst I was on holiday in Salcombe and I didn't have to think, just make crosses and it worked.

Here is my progress on Ann Morison being hosted and in celebration of twenty years in business for Traditional Stitches.


There are a lot of Algerian stitches in this project and they really take concentration and time but they do look wonderful.

Other crafts

I have been enjoying some hand stitching and recently caught up with some of Nicki Franklin of The Stitchery projects. 





One of the joys of stitching this year has been joining Dandelion Designs "The Secret Society of Redwork Stitchery and Craft Loveliness". We get a red dotty package each month which includes the redwork design for the quilt as well as a different project, sewing snippets and a recipe as well as Mandy Shaw's signature joke: sweets themed around the letter we are sewing that month. There is a private Facebook Group which is great fun to join in and share some sewing chatter.













Quilting

I joined in with Lori Holt's Red and White Sampler using four of her books. We made over thirty blocks, large and small and I have still to put the sashing around mine and then I can decide on how to quilt it.


This was a little English Paper Pieced Hexagon Bee panel which I bought as a kit from Jooles of Sew Sweet Violet and it was an absolute joy to stitch by hand and display in the glass frame which came as part of the kit.


Well that's it for now, a quick catch up. There are many other projects I haven't had time to show you here but I hope to pop some in a future post including what I've been reading. Happy crafting, 



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