November Ramblings

 November seems to rattling on and I don’t seem to have achieved much and what I do get done can’t be shared on the blog as they’re secret makings (getting ready for Christmas, etc) but after Christmas there will be a show and tell blog of what I have made.

Meanwhile I received a package from the lovely Helen of Mousiemakes podcast (on You Tube) after a giveaway to celebrate her 100th episode. It contained 2 little mice. Aren’t they gorgeous? Only a few inches tall and complete with little outfits (even the little girl mouse has knickers!). They quickly made themselves at home on the corner shelves with other creatures and are quite happy.

November is birthday month and the first is my Mum’s.  On they way to Christchurch we stopped at Homebase there to get some guttering for the water butts, and greeted with a Christmas dinosaur!

I don’t know what Christmas has to do with dinosaurs, do you? We decided he wasn’t going to come home with us!

David’s birthday was on Monday and after fetching my granddaughter off the school bus, we had Dorset Apple cake for tea to celebrate, which she helped make with my daughter. Earlier that day I went to West Country Embroiderers and as it was just after Remembrance Sunday, the altar in the church still had its covering of poppies.

In December I’ll be taking part in another gnome knit a long, this will be my third. There’s usually new things to learn when making these little fellas which makes then quite addictive. 

(Image by Imagined Landscapes). This gnome is called Gnova , who helps the other gnomes with Christmas presents.  I’ve chosen my colours (with some help)

But the mustard was to close to the yellow so another colour needed to replace, so I opted for the blue and the colour scheme looks much better. These take 20 gram mini yarns and there’s usually some left overs.  Really looking forward to the KAL.

I’ll sign off with today’s picture of Poole Park.  The water was like a mill pond, it was that calm and on our walk we saw the radio model boats on there section of the lake and the reflection was beautiful.

Furtling in October - Way Behind

 It’s November- quite a way into November.

I took this photo about 3 weeks ago as the leaves changed colour and the sky was a vivid blue.  Recently the weather has been grey and wet, so wet you wonder if there’s any more in the sky!

So last month I have been concentrating on getting Christmas handmades done so I can’t share much here.  I have finished a cardigan for Cecily.

I’ve bought buttons now, so it’ll be properly finished.  I also finished off a pair of gloves for Flo which I make from leftover sock yarn (Stylecraft Head Over Heels, with I-cord ‘string’ to thread through her coat.

I was passed on some cotton yarn, Drops Paris, which has gone on to make 4 dishcloths, 3 of which are shown below

They are knitted corner to corner, starting with 1 stitch and increasing at the beginning of each row until I reach about 43 - 45 stitches (the yarn is Aran weight using 4.5mm needles) then I decrease knitting the second and third stitches of each row together until 2 stitches remain, then knit them together. 

The local TG group had a charity sale at the meeting with craft stalls, Tombola, cake sales to raise money for the selected charity this year which is Dementia UK.  I made some Christmas coasters which sold well last year.

And I had oddments of pelmet Vilene and with some scraps made bookmarks, they went well too.

Doesn’t make any dent in the fabrics though.  I have gained a little bit more fabric as my Mum is no longer making quilts.  Most of her fabric will be going to local Project Linus group with a donation from my friend so the group which can go towards the cost of fleece fabric for the backs. 

There has been a bit of card making, though I wouldn’t get involved much with this, but that stash is growing a bit. I’m still endeavouring to keep it contained within the 3 boxes.  But I ran out of Get Well cards, that are sent to the ladies in the TG group and I have some ‘toppers’, which are cut outs that decorate the fronts of cards.

And of course my ATC swap card for this month

Would you believe this is made from serviettes, when separated they make a fine tissue that can be glued and layered onto card.  The bird was on a separate piece of card and mounted on top with the flower on top of that. I got very stuck up with that one, but it turned out well.

And at Hotchpotch craft group we made pencil pots.

That also involved some gluing, so got stuck up again.But they turned out well.

So onto November and more Christmas crafting, so there may not be as much to show, but see how things go.

So linking up with Mini Archie’s Furtle Around the Blogosphere for October.