Busy Couple of Weeks

 With Little Miss O staying with us - which somehow takes up all our attention!

We did visit a Mary and Stuart's lovely garden in Finedon.

 They open the garden through the National Gardens Scheme

 But we were invited for a "private" viewing

 which included Tea and cake

 It is not a large garden as such, but it is beautiful, and I'm sure is a full time job, keeping it as pretty as it is.


Then there was the Dying Day.....

 I had found 8 balls of this wool that was cleared out after my Mum passed away. I'm guessing that this is about 29 years old!!  But still lovely and soft and 100% wool so worth playing with

 Dyes were purchased and mixed

 And pots filled

 and mess made

 Playing with techniques

 Even using the microwave1

 At the end of a fun day Jo and I both had 4 skeins of hand dyed yarn

Then there was the VISIT

which took a couple of days to get over!!

The end of the month saw the Mini Mania June Reveal 

My Mini

Diana's

Dee's

Ann's

Ann's (just the binding to go)

Jo's

Janie's

Carol's

Some great Mini's again in June.
July's theme is Seminole Patchwork - fancy having a go? pop over to the group and join us!


I have finished my Downtown Line

oh those ends!!!

 And am very happy with the blocked shawl

 I was not going to cast on another project just yet and certainly not purchase any supplies .....but then I saw this lovely coloured  yarn, and just had to get out the Hilltop Shawl pattern

It had to be done.....

It's  super to knit (baby alpaca and silk mix) and I'm now on 50%. I love the way that Helen charts the progress in percentages so you can keep track of where you are

And then there was the 108 lavender bags sewn and some filled but waiting on more supplies of lavender. An artist friend sells these at events along with her beautiful Nature inspired art

Hoping to finish the 8 reading cushions for Save The Children before the weekend is out

plus a Fold and Stitch Wreath sample

that we are making at Group in a couple of weeks,

and then I can choose what I want to make next -

Or maybe just take a holiday!!!!!

Some Experimenting ......

 Yes, Those scraps do breed!!!  I have pieced 7 of the 8 cushions - fronts, pockets and backs, and the scrap box is still full!!!

Just got to put the fronts and backs together and they can be passed of to  Save The Children for sale at their Woodstock shop -  A Charity shop, that sells only books  and hopefully these will pretty up their window

 Much of the last week has been spent traveling the 40 miles back and forth to Leicester Royal Infirmary where DH was being repaired.

Looks like the picture of health !

 And now he is home and getting back to normal.

So after a major baking session on Saturday, Sunday morning I left him in peace and went off to make the teas at the Open Gardens in the village.

lots of yummy cakes

                                      
Plenty of visitors

 And we even had freshly made waffles on offer!

 I think that I must have poured 300 cups of tea so DH had a peaceful evening too !!! Zzzzzzzzzz

While I was out, he had spent some time hashing together inventing a version of a Yarn Swift (out of an unused Ikea Lazy Susan) so that I can ball up some of the skeins of yarn that have tempted me

 And it worked!!  It might just need a bit of tweaking but that will keep me happy.

 And it works in reverse too

 I found 8 balls of this 100% wool 4ply yarn in my Mum's old knitting basket.  I think this could be around 29 years old!!!

But I have a plan.....

 And will be using this.....

 And some of this ......

 To have a play at dying the yarn in fabulous colours!!!  We will see how that goes.


I had cast on another shawl project - This one is the Talisman Shawl  and although I love the design, I was not happy with the fabric that the yarn was making

 This is a 4ply Baby Alpaca/ Silk mix. Super soft to knit.

So I pulled it out and went with Downtown Line  instead 

 It is coming on very nicely, and I am much happier with this one.

 This week was our project day at my local Patchwork and Quilting group

We had a choice of four projects to do, all of which could be completed in the day - that is ALL FOUR.

I think I must have been talking too much because this was the results of my ALL DAY sewing !!!!

 More catching up to do !!!

Two Weeks!!!

I swear it only seems a week since I posted last!!

And it's not as if I have been doing anything exciting either! 

But I have been keeping myself busy

6 Place mats and a Table Runner for our garden table

 My Spindrift Shawl finished

 Sunday saw some real sunshine and after a bit of gardening I sat and caught up on a couple of
You Tube blogs whilst I knit the Pretty Basic  pattern

which was a very simple pattern and was completed by Monday evening!!!

 

I haven't been sleeping very well just lately ( a new thing for me!!) and the postie brought the results of some insomniac shopping!!

 I am joining  the Shawl Society   A Ravelry Group . There will be a new shawl pattern released each month and these will be knitted for gifts. The yarn is scrummy and I hope that I will be able to let them go!!

 Last night saw a bit of this

 and resulted in a lot of this ...

 Allium, Delphinium and many more plants have been beaten to the ground so it was an early start to try to recover them.




The Mini Mania Challenge Group revealed the May finishes - this month was Cathedral Window

This was my Mini

those center pieces are 1"  Quit Measures 9""

Carol's

Lynda's

Jo's

Angie's

Ena's

Karen's

Diana's

Dee's

Linda's

Lish's

Janie's

 Another great month in the group!


Junes design is Stars - we will see what delights are produced at the end of the month

My Mini collection has outgrown my sewing space so a little time has been spent and they now hang on my staircase. Difficult to photo but I love them

 My next goal is to make 8 Reading cushions  ( with a pocket on the front to house a book and a cuddle friend) for a friend's Charity.

I am using lots of scraps for these, but my scrap box does not look at all depleted!!

 I think those scraps must breed!!