End of July

 July saw us on holiday, firstly in Devon, then onto Durham, so a fair bit of travelling.  This post is all about the makes and I will at some stage follow up on the holiday.  

On my needles at present is a cardigan for me.  This is in James C Brett Emotions in shade EM02 which is a heathery marled yarn.  It is in a loose ‘cake’ rather than a ball so I end up re-balling up the yarn.  I’ve used a Stylecraft pattern, which I’ve used before for the stitch count and general instructions but not put in the stitch pattern. I’ve finished the back and left front so far, having just cast on the other front. The pic below was taken on the 20th.

A finish this month has been this jumper. This is the Seashore Stroll by JST Knitwear Designs, which to finish off just needed the few rows of the short sleeves.  The yarn is from Attic Spin Dye in Plum, which I purchased from Yarndale, the year before last.

As for sewing I quilted the Mr Men and Little Misses quilt that I pieced last month. After holiday I sewed the binding and it looks great.  This will go to Project Linus West Dorset.

I have pieced and layered up a quilt kit that I collected from Project Linus last month and that will be quilted next week so it will be ready for the coffee morning next month.

Before going away on holiday I made an ATC with the theme of Red. I used a charm square which I cut to size and mounted onto red felt and quilted with red thread. I used the thread to sew with blanket stitch onto red card. Lastly I added some stick on gems. The photo below will be used for my August marker.

I don’t know who received it but I received this lovely Zentangle one in return by Sally.

Also in the TG craft Zoom group I made this stand up card (although mine seems to need a little support!).

I’m taking part in the Summer of Stitching Patron event hosted by The Bakery Bears. After last month’s mitred blanket (of which I made a sample piece to get the hang of the pattern). This month was to make a large project bag.  Kay’s influence was the Hundred Acre Wood of Winnie the Pooh and she had chosen a woodland Winnie Fabric.  In keeping with the woodland theme I used some fabric I bought back in April at the Brockenhurst Needlework Fiesta, by Lewis and Irene.  It was intended for another project, but it worked well for this. 

And lastly, I am currently working on a mini quilt.  This is a secret project for a swap which also involves a small extra as well.  I can only reveal a small snippet here.

One last thing, following my fall last month I decided a new pair of glasses was needed, seeing as the pair I had has suffered from being misshapen after 2 falls. I collected them yesterday.

So that was my July. 

Pay Attention Suzan!

 I have so many things on my mind at present that it needs clearing!  It’s so easy to commit to doing things and taking part in things that it’s easy to get overwhelmed. So I’m having to take stock. 

I missed the coffee morning for Project Linus this month as I didn’t have completed quilts to take because I ran out of time to get them done before holiday and only got back a few days ago. Since then one quilt has been completed and I hope to get a second one done in the next week or two.  The next meeting will be in September, so may be there might be a chance of a third quilt? Anyway here’s the completed one.

This is the Mr Men and Little Misses quilt for a small child which measures 34” x 40” in lovely cheerful colours. Happy, I’d say. It’s good to get this done.

Another finish that I’ve done is a small embroidery which has been several months in the making when I’ve been to embroidery group. Please excuse the creases.  It’ll need a good iron.

It was a workshop from earlier in the year called Moon Gazing Hare (not really looking at the moon but enjoying the flowers).  It was to be a needlecase, but for me a bit big, so it will house a small sketchbook, about A6 size. So that clears another work in progress.

I have got some outstanding things to finish off yarn-wise as I have 2 Canalside lap blankets to finish and the Yorkshire sampler blanket from last year to finish, but meanwhile something had caught my eye that I had to have a go at.  This is a ten stitch blanket, which is knitted, going round and round log-cabin style. There’s a pattern link here . I seemed to have gone down a mini rabbit hole since mastering the mitred blanket! 

There is some garment knitting too his mother to add to the mix as I’ve started a cardigan for myself in James C Brett Emotions yarn, that a bought a few months ago.  It’s wound into a loose ball that falls apart, so I’ve had to rewind the balls.  The yarn splits as well, so it’s not a lot of fun to work with although the colours look amazing.  I’m using a Stylecraft pattern for the stitch count.

As a patron, I’m following the Bakery Bears Summer of Stitching from which the mitred square blanket (I’m pleased a made a sample and not a full blanket!), the second part, which I’ve made this weekend. 

If anything could go wrong it did, but I got there in the end.  The instructions were well explained it was my impatience to get it done that held me back (more haste, less speed).  It will be the perfect size for the cardigan as it get bigger. 

Another bit of overwhelm is a mini quilt for my assigned partner on the Facebook quilt group.  I have an idea in mind and must draw up the design for approval by the team leader.  I wish I wasn’t committed to that but…. It is time I paid attention to myself.

It’s July

 

June went  very quickly and it’s the beginning of July and above is my monthly marker for this month.  I made this knitted mitre sampler as part of The Summer of Stitching by the Bakery Bears Patron project during June.  I’d not made a knitted mitre blanket before and this pattern was really neat and I enjoyed making it.

June saw me getting stitches of a different sort as just before going away and getting ahead of the washing when I tripped and fell as I was going back into the house. I caught my forehead on the sharp corner of the brickwork by the door frame cutting it open with a deep wound.  A visit by the paramedics followed by going to Accident and Emergency, then a long wait in the afternoon to be seen and receive 4 stitches. I had bruising to the forehead and around the chin, which fortunately went down after a week,

Then yesterday, while I’m away on holiday near Durham, I went to Peterlee Hospital’s Urgent Treatment Centre to have the stitches removed. I’m pleased how well the resulting scar is healing. This month I will be getting my eyes tested and some new glasses as the specs were a casualty. Although they have been repaired (hing was bent and the nose pad also bent out of shape). 

Anyway, what else have I been up to last month?  The Knit and Natter Group were asked to make baby hats for Bournemouth Hopital’s new maternity wing, so I contributed 2 hats.

I have been sewing before going away making quilt tops. One was one from my stash and the second is a Project Linus quilt kit.  They have been layered up and will be ready to quilt during July but it won’t be ready for the next Project Linus coffee morning this month.

I used what I had of Mr Men and Little Misses fabrics along with other fabrics to tone in with them. I didn’t want the seams to match, but somehow in the bottom row matches with thw row above. But they are cheerful fabrics,

The PL kit seemed to have my name on it, so I had to take it.  Again it’s layered and waiting to be quilted.

I made 2 ATC’s this month, one a bit late for this month and the second a bit early to get ahead! The first one was summer and it made me think of strawberries 🍓 . I used watercolours to paint the card.

For my July ATC the theme is red and I found a piece of fabric with a pattern that fitted the size of card. With a piece of felt underneath I embroidered with red thread and attached to red card with blanket stitch. I added a bit of sparkle with stick on gems.

So that was June, very brief.  I haven’t kept up with blog posts of late but I hope to catch-up next week,