Snow, Snow, thick thick snow - or something!

Blizzard conditions this morning, and I was looking forward to our garden looking as well-tended as everyone else's. Some hope!! By the time I had remembered where I had put my camera and worked out where the best place was to take a picture, most of what was left was muddy slush! That's typical of snow in Derby. However, now it's dark, snow has started falling again!!

I seem to have spent the past fortnight or so coping with an elderly friend who has been in hospital with pneumonia. For a few days it was touch and go whether he would recover or not, but he's back to where he was before. Not exactly fighting fit since he's very deaf, has inoperable cataracts, and arthritis which has rendered him almost completely immobile. But he still gets some enjoyment out of life, especially visits from friends. He has no living relatives, so relies very heavily on us. I am very touched that amongst the few possessions he has in the nursing home is a cross stitch picture of an owl I made for his 75th birthday. 

Anyway, he has been transferred to a different, hopefully better, nursing home, and we are looking forward to continued improvement in his health.

Slight panic over the weekend. I discovered on Friday night that we had no preacher for Sunday morning. So guess who had to prepare a service with less than 48 hours notice! I was very glad I had a good team to assist with prayers and readings. It was the first service I had led for about 3 months, and I found it quite draining, far more so than normal. But at least I know I can still do it, and without a panic attack, so I am quite looking forward to the next one on February 8th.

Sewing-wise, I have been progressing a bit on the cushion I am making for my younger sister. If you read my previous post, you will discover that is my UFO for January. 

Next one will be decided on Monday. Here's hoping it's not Frederick as he's on black, and I definitely do not like stitching on black in artificial light!

I had an explore of my ancient - at least 50 years old - knitting machine earlier today. It's a Jones, and the pattern book with it is from the 1960's. I must have a look online for repair and cleaning instructions, not to mention an instruction booklet! I haven't used it for 30-ish years!! Its great advantage is that it will cope with DK yarn: its great disadvantage is that it doesn't rib!! (Just found instructions at http://machineknittingetc.com/brother-kh588-user-guide-guide.html) As far as knitting is concerned, though, I am trying out 4 ply dolls' clothes and plan on trying toe-up socks on circular needles, but that will be slow because of my wool allergy!!

At the quilting group I am working on a table-topper made up of tiny triangles. No pic yet as I haven't progressed very far! I am getting comments about a beginner not starting with miniature work, but since that's what I love, I'll continue!! It'll probably end up as a pot holder....

That's it for now. 

Jenny

PS My new fridge-freezer arrived, and only just in time, but more on that saga next time.

Challenges and trees

After much thought and, errm, "encouragement", these are my stitching challenges for 2015 - well, some of them, anyway. One of the Facebook groups I have joined is running a challenge to make a dent in the progress of, or even complete, some of our UFOs (Unfinished objects). The "rules" are that you select 12 stitching/craft projects you want to tackle during 2015 and list them in any order. On the first Monday of each month, a number will be drawn out of a "hat", and you work on that project till the first Monday of the next month. You also post a "before" and "after" photo. So this is my list of projects:

The number chosen for January is 4, so I am busy working on Mary's cushion, and this is my "before" photo:

Since taking the photo I have made a bit of progress, though not as much as I'd have liked!! But that is fairly typical of my sewing!!

I missed my quilting group's meeting this past week. I had a doctor's appointment to review my medication, and he was running over half an hour late, so by the time I would have arrived, I'd have had time for a coffee and time to unpack my project. I will restart next week. I must decide soon what I am going to work on during the meetings.

Anyway, the doctor seems quite happy with my progress apart from the frequency of migraines (one every 8 days), so I am on a different beta-blocker which will have a prophylactic action for those.  Panic/anxiety attacks are happening much less frequently and with far less severity, but he would like to see them stop altogether. After that, it will be another 6 months before he would even consider taking me off the SRI (serotonin re-uptake inhibitor), so I will have to behave properly till then with regards to caffeine, chocolate and alcohol!!

Last year (whoops!), I promised the saga of our trees. It all started when Bruce was cutting back our rather large laurel bush in the front garden and he was offered some help by a tree-surgeon. We asked if he could help with the very tall conifers in the back garden which he agreed to do. No problems, as he did what we needed. Then he started on the laurel. Oh, dear! He was using a chain saw, and for some reason he omitted to tie his ladder securely to a sturdy part of the bush. I looked out of our front window just as he fell off the ladder, and dropped his saw in such a way that the blade caught the top of his head. I thought I was going to have to deal with a dead body, but the saw had a safety cut-out. Even so, he looked like something from a horror film! He refused A&E, so I mopped him up and used some very large plasters on his head - he was bald on top - and gave him a glass of water and made sure he rested a while. Still refusing to allow me to send for an ambulance, he insisted on carrying on for another few minutes to get his nerve back, and then drove home, telling me he didn't want his wife to worry. I phoned him a few days later, and he assured me he was recovering nicely.  Sadly, the next time we saw him, he told us his wife had died, but he himself was fully recovered and looking for more work.

Other challenges:

The house is a mess, and I am trying to get sorted bit by bit. 

One of my resolutions not listed last time is to do a bit of writing each week, be it blog, sermon, letter or other stuff.

The freezer packed in just after I had defrosted it, and the new one arrives on Wednesday. Well, actually, it's a very nice American-style fridge-freezer. 

Outside

Inside

I reasoned that if the freezer wasn't working properly, the somewhat older fridge probably wouldn't be far behind. However, whilst the freezer will be being recycled, I hope the fridge will go to a home which can use one for a while.  

 
The challenge will be getting everything into a slightly smaller space than we have at the moment.

Well, I think that's quite long enough! If you have been, my dear non-existent reader(s), thanks for reading this ramble.
Until next week.  
Jenny

A New Year and some new starts

So - it's the beginning of 2015! Happy New Year to all my probably non-existent readers. I haven't posted for so long, any I did have will have given up long ago!!  To make up for it, this may well be a long post!! I have just put a poster on our church notice board which reads:

CPO poster - Reboot

It caught my sense of humour - and that of others in the church as well.

2014 has been a bit of an iffy year. Briefly, I had just about recovered from the surgery I had in April 2013, when a very stressful family situation developed, unfortunately not one I want to blog about. The stress has made both my husband and I very unwell, and in my case, it caused irregular ventricular contractions. Of course, I became very anxious about this, especially as my doctor was considering the possibility of heart failure! So that, in turn, led to panic disorder - not something to be recommended!! It has limited my activities quite a lot, including my concentration span, so I haven't done as much sewing as I would have liked.

In April of last year, I joined a quilting group, and have become hooked on it. I am quite impressed with what I can do. OK, I'm still a rank beginner, and my progress is very slow, but two hours each week are spent sewing and chatting - and I have no responsibility for anything! The first thing I tackled was a mystery project. I haven't yet finished it, but this is the main panel part done:

Mystery Quilt project - main panel

One thing led to another, and I ended up repairing (with guidance from a very nice lady I discovered on the internet) a rather elderly hand sewing machine we have had lying around for about 25 years and never quite got around to disposing of!! With a bit of research, I have discovered it dates from around 1895 - 1914. It works beautifully now it has been cleaned and oiled and rusty parts very lightly sanded. It's beautifully decorated and a joy to use when quilting as I have so much more control over the stitching.

My finishes for 2014 consist of two cards, and a needlecase for an exchange. I received a lovely card and needlecase in return. At the moment, I don't have a good photo of the needlecase I received, so I will post it in a later blog.

Wedding Blessing card

The needlecase I made: From the top
back and front, inside front, inside back

The exchange Christmas card I received

 

 

 

The Christmas card I sent

As I mentioned earlier, my health hasn't been brilliant. My doctor has put me on some medication which means no caffeine - ie no tea, no coffee, no chocolate! It also means no alcohol. He told me all this just before Christmas. Guess what I received as presents?!  Chocolates and chocolate biscuits!! Oh, well, I can be kind to family and friends...  At least the medication is being effective and I am starting to feel more myself again. Hope I don't have to take the tablets for too long, though.

Christmas was hectic with 14 of us at our eldest son's house - 6 under 9 years old. We came home for a rest. Our middle son was over from Canada, so it was a real family occasion, and we have some family photos to show off to everyone who is willing to be bored by them!!

Once home, I decided to think about where I want my stitching (and other things) to go in 2015, and have decided that I'll aim to 

• do a little stitching each day as it's very therapeutic - except when the frogs come to call!!

• say "No" when I feel under pressure to do too much

• keep up with my blog a bit better

   I have started a new project for 2015: Muppet, Gabby, Malteazer and Gemm from HAED. It's one over one on 25 ct Lugana in "Dusk" from Sparklies. It's gorgeous!! This is a mock-up of how I hope it might look:

I'll keep you posted!!

Well, I think that's quite long enough! If you have been, thanks for reading this ramble.

Jenny

Another Year Older

This is rather a long post as it's been nearly a year since I last posted - 11 months to be more precise! Almost an annum horribilis!! Since my last post, I have had the surgery - sorry, "procedure" - which was delayed by a month, and taken 8 months to recover from. I was just about OK by Christmas. The delay meant I was around at Easter, and was invited to preach at the Good Friday joint service with the local Anglican church. That was a great privilege.

Anyway, during the past months, two friends, who were undergoing cancer tests at the same time as I was, have died. Another is in palliative care, and wasn't expected to be around at Christmas, but she is still with us, though very ill. Yet a fourth friend is having chemotherapy, but there is hope that the cancer was found in time. I was given the all-clear 4 weeks after surgery, when I was very happy to discover the cyst was benign.

So here are a few positive items from the past year:

Much of the time since surgery has passed in a bit of a blur. I was able to sit in the garden in the sunshine and enjoy stitching so was able to develop a bit of a tan; I no longer feel embarrassed to wear a swimsuit now I no longer look 8 months pregnant!; I dropped two dress sizes overnight, and still can't believe I am a UK size 12. It still seems all wrong. But I now have a lovely new wardrobe, and various charities have benefitted from my weight loss!

I have found jigsaw puzzles to be very therapeutic, so have completed the odd one or two . One of the latest is The Bizarre Bookshop (Ravensburger)

Two highlights from the year are first our eldest son's Ordination at Rochester Cathedral as Deacon in the Anglican Church. He's a curate in a parish just outside Gravesend.

And second, his graduation ceremony at Oakhill Theological College in London.

What have I been stitching? Mostly bookmarks for friends who were moving - except I couldn't get motivated to finish them, and I really messed one up. I'll probably have to restart that one in due course, but I can't face frogging, so it'll probably end up in the recycling. The friends all ended up with different leaving presents!! I started a Christmas decoration - one of Meg Evershed's paper creations, but haven't seen it since Harrogate!! It's probably still in my case....

I had a wonderful time in Harrogate, and met three stitchers from one of my groups. They were very kind, and looked after me very well. Of course, they enabled me, and I came back with some very nice acquisitions. I got back exhausted, but recovered quite soon. I will post photos next time as my laptop almost died, so I had to get a new one before it completely expired. I still need to get my preferred programs up and running on it, and the keyboard isn't as sensitive as my old one. But it's very much faster, and I don't have time to make a cuppa while it is booting up!! Unfortunately, Luxor in any form is not compatible with Windows 8 when you run it through Steam!!

We spent Christmas in Aylesbury with our daughter, son-in-law and two of our grandchildren. It was a lovely relaxing time, and we could just enjoy being with them. I got the impression they enjoyed having us as well. Matthew certainly enjoyed his outings to the coffee shop at Tesco where a muffin and a drink of orange juice/squash were mandatory!! Then we moved across to our son and his family just in time to be around when Miriam arrived on New Year's Eve, weighing in at 8lbs 8.5ozs. Daughter number 4 in Chris's family. Poor Thomas is the only son!! But he seems to cope quite well with being outnumbered. Our eldest granddaughter wasn't at home when this was taken:

So, for the moment, I am still pacing myself and not allowed to lift things (my consultant is a man and doesn't seem to realise that looking after a house = a certain amount of lifting and carrying!), I can't yet manage to play my guitar much because of its weight, and I find driving more than about 70 miles is too much of a strain - but I'm working on it! I am doing a certain amount of crochet, and working on Mary's cushion cover. (Yes, I have progressed a bit over the past year!)

I will finish this rather long post here, and will continue with the saga of the trees next time. Maybe 2013 hasn't been as horrible in some parts as in others, but I think much of the pain and problems have faded in my memory.

If you have managed to get this far - thanks for reading and your perseverance!

Till next time
Jenny

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!

End of year update 2012 with two hours to go!!

Happy 2013 to everyone!

Biscobud from the side

Biscobud from the top

2012 has been a bit mixed as far as stitching was concerned, but I did finish several projects and started several others. This is one of my finishes: a biscobud which I made for a friend who lives in Florida. It's actually quite small, and was very fiddly to put together. I filled it with Christmas pot pourri, and kept my fingers crossed that it would get through customs - which it did!

What I sent

I also took part in a Christmas ornament exchange. Despite frogs moving in, it was completed only one day late, and still made its destination well before Christmas. The picture shows the house from several different angles, and the card was made by a friend who sells them for charity.

The ornie I received from Liz G

The card I received - Christmas tree

MLI Angel for 2005 -  internet pic

I made several starts, and was rather taken by this one from MLI - a freebie. I'm hoping to get that finished by next Christmas  - a present for someone, perhaps if I can bear to part with it!!

My start on MLI Angel for 2005!!

I also tried - mostly unsuccessfully - to get organised into a stitching rotation. Instead, I was attracted by still more Chatelaines and HAEDs, and am now well SABLE'd out.
So, on January 1st, I am planning to start only two more projects. Both are quite large so I certainly won't finish them in 2013, not with all the other projects I have on the go!! I fully intend to be more organised about stitching, especially as my sister's 60th birthday present hasn't progressed since her birthday in the summer. Perhaps that should have a bit of priority!!

My January 1st starts aren't completely kitted up yet - too expensive to do it all in one go - but I have enough to begin, and ended up with a free piece of white cotton/linen fabric as well. I'll keep these projects close by ready to take with me when grandchild #6 puts in an appearance (due date Jan 10th). There might be an occasional slot where I'm not busy in an evening (Ha ha)!!

They are:
(1)Chatelaine - Xmas Mystery 2013
(2)HAED - Muppet, Gabby, Malteazer and Gemm by Lesley Anne Ivory.

I had hoped to add another Chatelaine, but daren't just yet as I still haven't completed my "starts" from 2012, though I have made better progress than I had thought I would. And this year, I am planning to add "Stitching" (along with "Guitar Practice"!!) into my very busy schedule, and not leave it to odd minutes here and there as I have done for the past two years. (A thought: I'm supposed to be retired: I'm busier than when I was working!!)

I'm having difficulty waiting till Jan 1st to start my projects, so I will be working on one of my long-suffering WIPs meantime - like this biscornu.

Framecraft Christmas Biscornu

I hasten to add that this isn't my work, but a pic off the internet when I was struggling to stitch this piece. The pattern vanished for several months, and finally came to light when I was filing some past sermons! By then, it was less than a week to Christmas, and far, far too late to complete for this year. What I'll probably do is stitch the two pieces, and put some Christmas fabric for the bases, so that way I'll have made two presents.

Happy planning and starting to all in 2013, and see you next year!!