The white cat, an update of problems, and an enforced rest!

There was a white cat in church on Sunday morning. I was taking a service in the north part of Derby, and afterwards, whilst talking to members of the congregation, I noticed a  large, stuffed white cat on one of the seats. As I approached its owner, I thought I detected a twitch, so I asked "That cat's not real, is it?" At which point, the stuffed cat lifted his head and peered round to see who was talking. He had been there during the whole of the service quietly lying on top of his carrying bag. He and his owner let me make a fuss of him before he was picked up and zipped into his bag where just his head and shoulders were visible for his journey home.

No update photos on this entry. I'm not sure if I'm just too lazy or if there really isn't anything worth photographing. The problem was with the piece of 32 ct sparkly mid-blue evenweave I bought for the Xmas 2013 mystery.  I started the stitching, and then realised it was fraying badly, so out with the Fraystop. Then I looked more closely, and discovered that two edges of the fabric hadn't been cut straight, so that by the time I had reached the end of the long side of the design, I wouldn't have enough around the edge for framing. I lost about an inch in width down each side which I wasn't very happy about although there is still plenty of fabric for the project. Ok, I hadn't got very far, and "only" had to frog about 120 stitches, but it had taken me a lot of experimenting to find just the right amount of sparkle in the thread combination, so I felt very frustrated. But I have now caught up and progressed further, but it isn't very exciting to post a photo of part of a rectangular border of white!

On the way home from my guitar lesson last week, I stopped off (as is my custom!) at Hobbycraft at Bridgemere Garden Centre. They had a really good offer on Siesta bar frames, so I stocked up on some sizes I needed. Now, most of my projects are pinned to those, and I quite like the way they handle when I'm stitching. (That would be another boring photo!)  I haven't yet discovered if my floorstand will hold them in its jaws!!

Finally - I have my surgery for the removal of a rather large ovarian cyst scheduled for 10 days time!! (Hooray!!)  It looks like I shall be forced to put my feet up for a while afterwards, so think of all the stitching I could get done!! This is a cyst which has remained undiagnosed (and growing!) for several years while I was being told "it's your age" or "you've had three children, what do you expect" when I saw my GP (woman) to explain my body wasn't working right. It took a bout of pneumonia which left me with unexplained symptoms before anyone would listen properly, and then it was a man!! So, I am looking forward to a good summer once I have recovered, rather than another struggle. And if I still need to rest, I shall sit in the sun to stitch.. :) The downside is that it will be a while before I am up to visiting grandchildren and I won't get to this year's Sewing for Pleasure at the NEC.  On the plus side, Harrogate will be all the nicer!!
Till next time,
Happy stitching!

New Family Member

Welcome to our newest family member, Charlotte, born at 1.18 am on Saturday January 19th. Parents only just reached the maternity unit in time - 1.00am!! All is well with both mother and daughter, but she doesn't have a name yet, though DD and DSIL have a shortlist. I gather their DS is very taken with his new baby sister. Sadly, we are snowed in, So it will be a few more days before we can visit.

Back garden 21st Jan

On to stitching things. We had a lovely day here on January 9th - plenty of sunshine, so a good photo opportunity for where I'm at with my rotation. Hopefully it will encourage me to make progress! I also took photos of my January 1st starts, but as they have only a few stitches in each, maybe I'll wait a while before posting some pics.

I have had an almost finish: I completed the stitching on the biscornu I have been making, but I have lost the beads, and it still needs making up. I may try using the crushed walnut shells I bought a while back (ebay to the rescue!!) to fill them with

Biscornu stitching

 The other pics which follow have self-explanatory captions, but I was having a "bad camera day", so they have had to be published larger than I would have liked! They are as at January 9th 2013.

Frederick the Literate

Ottoman Elegance cushion

Fairytale castle - shown large as otherwise it has interference lines across it which rather spoils the effect!

Apron started 1964.

On the knitting side, I have been working on a couple of vests for fish and chip babies in Africa. These are tiny babies whose families are so poor, they are sent home wrapped up in newspaper (hence fish and chip) to keep warm. Often they have AIDS. I found some really nice space dyed DK yarn at our local Sainsbury's made by Red Heart, and have been using that rather than trying to put in the stripes which they have suggested.. I used 4.5mm needles, and a vest takes about 50 grams of acrylic yarn (about 125 metres).

Fish and Chip jumpers - heading to Africa via WaterAid

Here are the original knitting patterns which are circulated worldwide:

Jumper/Vest:

• 8 Ply Yarn (double knitting)
• 5mm needles (tight knitters) or 4.5mm needles (loose knitters)
• Cast on 44 stitches
• Work 18 Rows in K2, P2 rib
• Work 30 Rows stocking stitch (1 row plain, 1 row purl)
• Cast on 12 stitches at beginning of next 2 rows and at the same time change to K2, P2 (for sleeve)
• Rib 22 more rows.
• Next row: Rib 21, cast off 26 stitches, rib 21
• Next row: Rib 21, cast on 26 stitches, rib 21
• Work 22 rows in K2, P2 rib
• Cast off 12 stiches at beginning of next 2 rows
• Work 30 rows stocking stitch
• Work 18 rows, K2, P2 rib
• Cast off

They do ask that you don’t use white or baby pastels as they’re unlikely to be washed. They also suggest bright colours, and stripes are appropriate if you want to put in a pattern

Beanie:

• 8 Ply Yarn (double knitting)
• 5mm needles (tight knitters) or 4.5mm needles (loose knitters)
• Cast on 64 stitches
• Work 14 rows in (K 1, P 1) rib.
• Knit 24 rows, or work until 11 cm from cast-edge
• Shape Crown as follows:
  Row 1 : K 6 K 2 tog; repeat to end of row (56stitches)
  Row 2 : Knit.
  Row 3 : K 5, K 2 tog; repeat to end of row. (48 stitches).
  Row 4 : Knit
  Row 5 : K 4, K 2 tog; repeat to end of row (40 stitches)
  Row 6 : Knit
• Continue decreasing in this manner until (K 1, K 2, tog) has been completed and 16 stitches remain
• Knit 1 Row
• Break yarn and thread through remaining 16 stitches

Our local Methodist Minister is co-ordinating getting them to their destination.

Still snowing here, so no sign of being able to travel. Will see what tomorrow brings.
Till next month, enjoy stitching!