A Sewing Update

This is a bit of a cheat as I haven't picked my needle up for what seems like an age but I thought I'd post a picture of the JA SAL that I was working on before my sewing went AWOL.

This is part 2 and some of part 3 of the SAL. I was really enjoying this piece and even though the SAL has long since finished I have every intention of finishing it, although I'll have to learn how to doing beading first.

Thanks for all the messages with regards to the last post. We are over the shock of it now and trying to make the best of it.

Yesterday Husband and I enjoyed a long day's walk on Eyam Moor and on Monday he joined me for an afternoon around Brassington when I was making notes for the next walk I'm publishing in All Things Local, a local publication I write for.

The one advantage of him working for himself is that we can often make the most of the good weather and get out walking when we want to. Yesterday despite it being cold and the paths being very muddy we did enjoy some great Autumn colours.

Highlow Brook

Bamford Edge

It does mean he then spends evenings and weekends working but it is the lifestyle we are hoping to achieve in the end, we just didn't plan on having to rely on the business to pay the mortgage just yet.

Better Late Than Never

Today was Son's birthday and so naturally I had to bake him a birthday cake. I'll leave you to work out how old he was but the way his face dropped when I suggested this morning that maybe he didn't need a birthday cake this year was priceless.

Today I finally started on the Jayne's Attic SAL 'Good Friends Count'. To say I'm way behind is an understatement, the final part (5) comes out this week and I've just completed Part 1.

I did it because it was an opportunity to try out new stitches and by and large it has worked out OK. There are to my knowledge at least 2 errors in it and I had to frog the whole of the top row but I'm pleased with it. At least the next two parts will be a lot easier as they are mostly cross stitch. I'm hoping to work on them tomorrow when the plumber arrives to disconnect the shower in the bathroom.

Husband has already done a lot of work in there, stripping the tiles and plaster, which was rotten where the water had got behind the grouting. With any luck I might actually get it finished before Christmas.

All Things Yellow

Yesterday I managed to fit in a couple of hours on Celtic Autumn. I finally took the plunge and started some of the stitches using the braid which is new to me. Not sure that I'm going to enjoy working with it as it seems very fiddly to use and it was for ever coming out of the needle. Maybe I should use a needle with a smaller eye but then threading the stuff which is difficult enough already would become even harder

Regardless of the trouble I had with the braid I'm finding this an easy piece to work on and still enjoying it. However I'm going to reluctantly put her aside for the rest of the week and do some work on the JA SAL that I have done nothing on yet.

Yesterday whilst I was killing a bit of time and following a link on the computer I finally found a good reason to stitch one of the Ink Circles designs. I quite like these designs but couldn't see the point of stitching one if I couldn't think of a home for it. Whilst I was on the Ink Circles website I came across one of the designs used as a footstool which is something I have wanted to do for ages.

I have decided I'm going to add the Cirque Des Triangles design to my wish list and I will probably do it on a dark, possibly black, linen with gold or orange thread, which means it will fit in with the colour of our settee. Its quite appropriate as if I doddle I tend to create patterns out of triangles so I think I will enjoy this far more than doing the circles.

A word of warning to anyone planning on buying an orange/reddy coloured 3 piece suite - DON'T. The suite was purchased by Husband before we lived together and as it was in far better condition than mine moved in with him. When we had the house extended and hence the living room decorated it took me months to find the right colours to go with it. The wall behind the settee looked like a display area for Dulux as I'd bought that many different colours and shades before we finally found the one that worked. If ever we sell the house and the new owners strip the walls they are going to be amazed at how many different coloured squares they will find on one wall. Actually thinking of that I wonder how many threads I will purchase before I find a shade that goes with the settee!!

I think I have also finally decided on which of two kits I would like for Christmas. As they retail at £70 plus each it has to be a Christmas present as even I can't justify spending that much on a cross stitch design everyday of the week. A few months back I fell in love with two Thea Governeur designs, one of St Petersburg and a Tutankhamen design as well.

I've been tossing around between the two but the St Petersburg one has won this round. Mind that doesn't mean that old Tut won't make it onto a birthday or Christmas list later on.

Where Has The Week Gone?

Firstly a big thank you to everyone who posted a congrats on the new job.

I've survived the first week at work which in actual fact was 3 days, or more accurately 3 afternoons. I have some idea of what I'm meant to be doing but I'm constantly getting lost using the computer systems I need to use. Thankfully the girl who is currently doing the job doesn't leave until next Thursday so I have a few more days of her rescuing me before I have to survive on my own. Needless to say it is very strange having to go to work after nearly 3 years of not doing so, which followed on from 2 years of working for myself. As my hours are 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm it also cuts right into the day and I seem to have got very little done at home. Did anyone besides me notice the difference I wonder!!

Last weekend was spent in the Lake District visiting friends, family and walking. We should have been camping but with the terrible forecast we abandoned camping in favour of a B & B. We only managed one walk, but as it was one that has been on my to do list for a long time it was great to do it.

For over two years now I have wanted to walk up the nose of Fleetwith Pike (above) and on Monday that's how we started out 7 mile walk that took in Haystacks as well. We didn't leave the pub in Buttermere until 6:30 pm and finally got home shortly after 10:15 pm.

Naturally neither child was in the house, although the evidence of the party they didn't have was. It was just as well it was re-cycling the next day as the glass container was already full, but they didn't have a party!!!

Although they had made some attempt at tidying up there was still plenty for me to do.

Why is it teenagers:

Can fill & run the dishwasher but not empty it.
Fill the bin to almost overflowing but not empty it.
Pile the recycling by the door but not actually take it outside.
Walk past the milk that has been delivered but not bring it inside.
Bring games consoles, DVD's etc downstairs but not take them upstairs again.

I could go on but I'm sure you get the idea.

Anyone with teenagers old enough for parties etc can probably add to it. Or maybe I'm just a complete failure as a parent. Although the conversation I had with my sister and her friends on Sunday night would suggest this is just normal behaviour.

So not only have I started work but I've been trying (and failing) to get my house back into some sort of order. This week I've also had to meet a deadline for a magazine I write walks for and attend a committee meeting for the Quiz League. Needless to say there has been very little time for sewing.

However yesterday I did spend a couple of hours on Love Songs. I also did some stitching on it last week so there is an update below.

Sadly I haven't yet started the JA Sal 'Good Friends Count' or the JA Monthly Finishing Challenge. I'm unlikely to get the second done now but I must get on with the SAL as I'm now two weeks behind.

I have also had two of the Little Women charts that I ordered come today.

I've only posted a picture of one, 'Reading' as the other is planned as a present for someone that I know reads my blog and I don't want to spoil the surprise.

Like plenty of others I have signed onto the Me Myself and I Round Robin and finally decided what type of neighbourhood I'm going to do. For anyone who knows me it won't be a surprise that I've decided on a Lake District village now I just have to design it.

Working has one big advantage, money. I decided after one week (yes I know its only a few hours ) I deserved a reward. I gave into temptation and ordered two My Big Toe Design charts from Jaynes Attic. I have been resisting them since she first posted but today I crumbled and ordered the Quaker Seasons and the Give Me the Cookie charts.

The one major disadvantage of this job is that if I want to get fitter I now have to get up earlier as the only time I can realistically get to the gym or into the pool is first thing in the morning i.e. by 7:30 a.m. So far I have been good and made it to both the gym and into the pool but next week will be the real test.

I'm hoping for a quiet wekend with plenty of time for sewing, gardening and maybe even some walking but first I'd better clean the house before someone does notice it's a tip.

JA Monthly Challenge & Love Songs

With 16 days of watching the Olympics and a few days off for depression it will be no surprise that I didn't get the JA Monthly Challenge finished. I completed the stitching on Friday but I haven't yet had a chance to make it into the planned pin keep. I need to get to the local fabric shop and buy some material for the backing, a job I plan on doing later today. As the reveal day was Saturday I haven't posted any pictures of my progress but here it is below.

Day One - 5th August

Border Detail - 5th August

Day Two - 26th August

Letter Detail - 26th August

Hearts Detail - 26th August

Day Three - 27th August

Day Four - 29th August

Bird Detail - 29th August

As you can see it actually stitched up relatively quickly and if I hadn't got side-tracked I'd have easily have completed the whole thing. I'm hoping to make-up the pin-keep later this week.

On Friday I started on Love Songs again but ended up unpicking everything I did. It was just one of those times. I sat down to stitch for an hour before The Tudors and ended up knocking over a drink, getting knots in my thread and then just as I thought I'd finish for the evening I found a second knot at the back of my work. To get rid of it I ended up taking out everything I'd already stitched. Thankfully Saturday and Sunday were more successful and I'll soon have finished the bottom part of the piano.



Sunday had been set aside to do the Jayne's Attic Good Friends Count SAL but the first set of instructions never arrived and I'm still trying to find out what happened to them.

Today is the start of the Celtic Lady SAL so I'm definitely going to be working on that as I've been itching to start her. However I shall be good and go to the gym first as my fitness has suffered enough during the last few weeks. Thankfully as the scales proved I haven't actually gained any weight, instead I've just lost muscle tone, which is why I have felt so fat lately. Yesterday's trip to the gym also showed that, whilst I have lost some of my fitness, I'm not back to where I started from in July, which is good. Even better the rest has allowed my ankle to recover properly. Now if only the forecast would improve I might make it up Scafell Pike on Saturday.

A Nice Surprise

Yesterday didn't turn out at all as expected. For a start I actually did catch up on the much delayed housework and ironing, mainly because it only the athletics I'm really interested in now so ironing and watching athletics go together quite well. As usual once I'd made a start on one job I got onto a roll and jobs started to get ticked off the list. The only negative is that now I've caught up with the washing I have another big pile of ironing to do again.

With a clean house all to myself and nothing worth watching on the telly last night the choice was between sewing or reading. On this occasion A Matter Of Honour won and early this morning I finished it. A good read, but the ending was a little weak, almost like the author ran out of ideas. Lorna Doone is next, I think. A book I have owned for a long time and never got around to reading. The print is very small, as it's a very old copy, so I hope I'm not going to struggle too much with it.

No progress on the sewing front although this beautiful fabric and thread has arrived from Jayne's Attic, ready for the Good Friends Count SAL which starts at the end of the month.

The material has the delightful name of Chocolate Crush even though it looks pink to me.

The nice surprise was that I have had one of my photos published in our local paper.

The irony being that of all the photos I have sent in I consider it the least interesting one, but if they used it I'm not going to moan. You don't get warned that they are using your picture it's just a case of opening the paper and finding it there. I took the picture in May and had forgotten they had it, looked at it and thought that looks familiar, I wonder who took that, to find my name underneath it.

Post

Two packages dropped through the door both with stitching goodies for me.

One from Thread Bear contained the charts I'm planning on using to make my family Christmas cards from so now I need to start looking out for some suitable material for them.

The second from Country Designs contained the beads and material for Celtic Autumn so now I only need to get the threads sorted and I'll be able to start her. Luckily it's the Wye Needlecraft Show next weekend so I'm hoping to on stock up on everything there. No doubt I'll come home with some extra stuff as well!!

Excellent service from both places as I only ordered the goods on Thursday. Even more impressive when I spotted the error in the order from Country Designs and emailed them about it they replied very promptly, amended the order and have sent me exactly what I wanted.

The mystery of why I can't see as well with the new bulb in my magnifying lamp was also solved. It's not a daylight bulb but an 11 watt energy saving bulb. No wonder my eyes were feeling so tired last week. Another thing to purchase at the show next week.

One good thing about being woken up early by the postman was that it got me to the gym first thing this morning. I left feeling really happy as I was able to increase times, weights and speeds on different exercises, a sure sign that all the exercise is having an effect and I'm getting fitter.

Getting Involved

No sewing yesterday as Husband was ironing whilst watching the cricket so I couldn't get to my sewing chair. Instead I spent far too much time browsing the internet and signed up to 'Jayne's Attic Forum'. I was then a little naughty, as I planned on being a silent reader for a few days, but saw the 'Good Friends Count SAL that was starting so signed up for it before I'd introduced myself. This morning I spotted the August Challenge so voted on that. I really liked the design I voted for and could see it as a pin keep, which I really fancy having a go at, so I hope it wins.

In between browsing Jayne's Attic I started getting up-to-date with my website which is only 7 walks behind!! Not being able to get out walking on a regular basis has meant I've not been keeping up with my postings but now I'm fit(tish) again I need to catch up fast. So it's another computer day for me today.

Early yesterday saw me back in the swimming pool for the first time in months. I only managed 50 lengths and it felt like I was swimming through treacle but at least that too is progress. Mind my arms are aching today!! I'll settle for my easier routine in the gym later and hopefully a walk tomorrow which give my arms the chance to recover.