A genteel adventure and other exploits.

Well its been an interesting week. The school has been on Half Term Holiday, usually a good time to try and catch up with all kinds of things. This last week has been no exception.

Apart from sleeping through Saturday (I was so tired, that was literally all I was fit for!) I went to Quiltfest on Sunday. This is an annual exhibition held in the wonderful town of Llangollen in North Wales. The exhibition was wonderful with some really good pieces of work. Nikki Tinkler was the featured quilter this year. Sadly, I have no photos I can share of the wonderful exhibits.

I went to Quiltfest with my friend Hilary. We visited the Traders Bazaar too. I bought this delightful cat print.

The photo above is the rather wonderful globe that hangs outside the entrance to the exhibition hall.

I had a second, rather genteel adventure on Thursday. This was part of the celebrations for my mother's 80th birthday. Mum is an adventurous and delightfully busy person. So it was rather a privilege to be chosen as mum's companion for this treat.

She had been given a couple of vouchers for afternoon tea at the Midland Hotel. This is a rather wonderful building in the centre of Manchester, down near the Manchester Art Gallery.

We decided to stop and explore the Art Gallery whilst we were in Manchester.

We were so lucky! Ten drawings by Leonardo da Vinci were being shown as a special exhibition. Such a wonderful opportunity, it is so rare to be able to actually see these drawings. They are so beautifully detailed and so small. I hadn't realised that they had been drawn on paper made from rags which has helped preserve them so well to this day.

But, on to the main event. This was such an adventure for both of us. Needless to say we had dressed up for our afternoon tea.

First of all, we were escorted to a table for two in the Octagon. We were the asked if we wanted champagne first or with the cakes. This was a complete surprise to both of us. Tea we had been expecting, but not champagne! Well, we started with sandwiches - rather special sandwiches beautifully presented on a plate. We were given a glass of Madeira each too. Delicious.

When we had settled in to enjoy the sandwiches and the madeira, we were brought a pot of tea and cups. We both felt very spoilt by the gently attentive staff.

When the sandwiches had been finished a cake stand was brought to us. There were two levels. The first held a couple of fruit scones, freshly made. These were presented on a plate with butter or clotted cream (a very thick fresh cream, which is solid rather than soft). There was also a small dish of fruit jam (jelly) and a second dish of a mixed fruit compote. So refreshing adding compote to fresh scones. I think I shall try doing this myself.

The second layer held a collection of small cakes - individual portions of carrot cake, and a number of others.

When we had finished with the scones, our attentive waitress returned with two champagne flutes served with half a strawberry.

A magnificent and extremely special treat. I cannot imagine that this was at all inexpensive. The Hotel and it's staff were genuinely kind and helpful and well worth a visit if you can. Just dress appropriately. A visit there is quite an occasion.

I managed to finish Liz's Christmas jumper this week, adding some clips instead of buttons on the front. This is the same design I made some time ago, it is based on the Open-collared Pullover by Elizabeth Zimmermann from her book "Knitter's Almanac".

Band-Robin.

For some months I have been working on a piece of embroidery for the Stitching Sisters group.

It is part of the Band-Robin we have been working on for some time. This particular sampler belongs to Jenny. She did the wonderful Hardanger work you can see. This is now just waiting until I know who will be the next person to work on it.

For further details, please see my post on the Stitching Sisters Blog.
http://www.sistersstitching.blogspot.com/

I have started Liz's new pullover, the second to be knitted to the Elizabeth Zimmermann "Open-collar design"

Apart from this, I have completed a Christmas Challenge. This was set by the Knots and Needles Group. A stitchers group, we were challenged at the Christmas meeting to decorate a bag each. These were supplied by the committee. The bags were basic shopping bags from Hobby craft. This is how mine looks now it is completed.

This is the side I think of as the front. The applique cats picture is also a pocket. This design was originally used for my cat quilt - sadly still languishing in my WISPs pile. It only needs quilting, but I still can't think how to quilt it.......... I must finish it this year.

This is the back. Ooops! I've just remembered that I forgot to blog about the bits and pieces I did over Christmas. The paw prints above were an experiment in printing. More in my next post.

I don't think I shall use it as a shopping bag, but it will come in handy as an additional project bag.

Today, I am working to finish a bag lining. The bag belongs to a friend of mine. She rather liked the lining I had added to my own bags, so I offered to add a lining to her bag. As you can see, the original lining is beginning to fail. There is also another bag here, which started off in a rather worse state.

I was rather lucky in that I went into the local Help the Aged charity shop. They had this gorgeous pair of curtains.

These will make a superb lining, just the right weight of fabric. I do have some other furnishing weight fabric in my stash, but could not find any of it when I first got hold of Sheila's bag. Its in there somewhere.........

Whilst in town, I also picked up the latest copy of Sew Hip.

Inside, it suggests getting fabric from charity shops! There is also a rather good "Vintage Cloth Holdall" which I shall definitely be making. There is a very nice "Joli Cube Bag" pattern too. Then theres Henrietta the Hippo. Now who can resist ! I know I can't She will look wonderful in the curtain fabric. Yes, I know I do not have any young children at home........... She will be a friendly addition to the menagerie in my workroom. I already have a pottery cat, a miniature teddy bear I made some years ago, and my daughter's toy bat.

I was also lucky to find these.

Aren't they fun! They are supposed to be the weights to hold down table cloths when used outside. One of my friends, Hilary, was clever in using this type of weight to hold down the bottom edge of a long hanging she made recently. It looks fantastic. I just couldn't resist these when I saw them.

Well, I am as old as I feel, and that's not as old as my age might lead anyone to suspect! I refuse to grow old gracefully........................ Life is for having fun and making things in any spare moments.

A new camera!

I finally have another camera to replace my old one. Sadly that one could not be repaired. It was too badly damaged. I don't think I shall let this one out of my sight for a while................ Its a Sony Super Steady Shot DSC-W200. It will take me some time to get as comfortable with it as my old one. Still it will be fun learning. My dear husband found this one in a sale of ex-catalogue items. What a find!





At present I am working on three knitted projects at the same time. This one is my main priority at present. I really need a cosy cardigan and this will be it. I am most of the way up the back now, so should be able to start one of the fronts next week.




Sorry the second photo is so blurred. It shows the colour of the yarn far better than the first picture.




The next picture is my second version of Elizabeth Zimmermann's Open-collar pullover. I shall attempt turning this into a v-necked jumper since I could really do with a warm one. I already have a bought one, but it really just isn't warm enough.



This next photo shows the progress with my Nutkin socks. The design is by Knitzi. Such a pleasant design, these are intended to be worn with my new short brown boots.



The lovely little zipped project bag was a free gift when I renewed my subscription to Selvedge. So useful! Its just the right size for the socks.

Last time, I mentioned the pattern I had bought from Sandie Lush. Here it is. The second photo shows the thread pack I bought at the same time.





The next photo shows the lovely little booklet about hand quilting which I bought at the meeting. The ISBN number is:1 870264 27 4. You can get these booklets direct from Sandie Lush.





The last photo is the Travellers Chuck pattern which I mentioned last time.



I was really intrigued by this idea and really want to make one.

The bauble completed.

A quick post to show the completed Christmas bauble. The first photo shows the knitted base. The second, the filled bauble hanging from the shelf above my desk.

New work and other silliness.

I woke to a glorious morning today. A real lift to the spirits after all the rain we have been having lately. Sadly, it is just beginning to cloud over again - do not feel down-hearted since this will not dampen my spirits. Not after such an enchanting wake-up call.

The rest of the day will be rather silly, in that my dear husband is working on the plumbing and the water connection to the house has been switched off. No possiblility of housework using the wet stuff. Goody, goody, more time to play in between helping with the D.I.Y! (Do-It-Yourself) We are so fortunate in this household that my husband is extremely good at things D.I.Y. However, I do end up as the maker of cups of tea, general assistant, finder of missing items and first-aider. So if the post today seems a little disjointed, please forgive me.

The next few photos are of a Elizabeth Zimmermann project I started earlier this month. This star design comes from the August chapter of her book, the Knitter's Almanac. I decided to stick with the star shape and turn a number of these into a bauble, sewing these together with a few beads. Everything here has come from my stash, which is a good thing since I am fast running out of space in which to stash my various stashes.

This picture, showing the loop on the top of the bauble shows the true colour of the yellow acrylic yarn I have been using. Each star is 2 inches tall and the bauble is around 3 and a quarter inches tall (not including the loop, which adds an extra inch and a quarter).

Since the sides gape rather a lot, I have knitted three of these four-sided stars based on EZ's pattern for the five-sided star. The whole shape will then be filled by this enchanting stuff seen in the bag below. It came protecting a gift I received at Christmas. The bag I will keep to use again one day.

The next photo shows the pile of filling next to the partially completed bauble.

The delightful little snowflake is attached to one of the long lengths of filling. I shall use it in some way too.

The last picture shows one of the gorgeous flowers in my garden at the moment. I really wish I could share it's exotic scent with you.

Finishing off those UFOs

I've decided to work hard this week on completing things.

The knitted mystery blanket is continuing. In fact I have now completed the border and am steadily filling in those holes. I managed to get rid of the lacey centres I was not happy with - almost without incident. I did manage to drop rather a few stitches ripping out one - but then was able to repair the mess. A bit of a heart-stopping moment.

However, I find myself aided and abetted by a new visitor. Seb belongs to my younger daughter and he has been sharing my workroom for some days now. My dear daughter tells me he is too noisy to share her bedroom, so he is here with me. I seem to have taken over cleaning duties, since I cannot bear to have unpleasant smells around me. Hot iron - yes, smelly rat - no!

Seb's cage after he has rearranged it. He always does this after I have cleaned it for him. He has moved monkey, a small toy, into the box and made a nest.

In return for the daily tidying, Seb keeps me entertained - I keep hiding things in his cage for him to find. He entertains the cats too. Coco, however is unimpressed. She is disgusted - but then she's the effective hunter and sees rats a prey. Felix is fascinated - he seems to be convinced that the cage is a new cat TV!

In case you are wondering, Felix's idea of a good hunt is a visit to a nearby barbecue after everyone has left. He brought back a sausage from his last expedition. I didn't have the heart to remove it from him.

I only found out about this exploit because Felix was so proud of himself. I heard a series of loud cat shouts and went to investigate. I was so relieved that it was just Felix with his "find".

Needless to say, when the cats are around, Seb is confined to his cage. I refuse to deny the cats access to my workroom, since they are used to keeping me company when the mood takes them. However, the door is firmly shut when I am not in here - just in case................

The second UFO I am currently working on is for the local Hospice. This photo shows three of the four strips completed by other members of Hartford Quilters. The pieces of fabric top to the left of the picture were being auditioned for my own addition.

I have completed my section (extreme left) and now just need to sew all the pieces together and quilt it. Each of the strips above will be seperated by a stripe of plain cream. The backing is a cosy cream coloured piece of polyester fleece. I'm intending to use a form of quilt-as-you-go, stitching each piece to the backing fleece and not just to each other. I'll let you know how I get on. The whole piece doesn't need much in the way of quilting.

Only two UFOs? Well, to be honest, there are many more. I felt if I limited myself to just finishing two I might just be able to reward myself by starting something new.

Back again!

Well, its been an eventful few weeks here, hence the lack of posts.Finally, I am able to get back to the stitching once more.

My dear husband and I have been able to get a few days away in North Wales. A short, but very welcome break.









These first two photos are of the Clive Engine House which was standing next to the site where we were staying. We later found out that this interesting building had housed one of fifteen steam engines which were used to drain the Talargoch Mine which closed in 1884.



We were staying near to Dyserth which has a most beautiful waterfall. A delightful place for a walk. My own photos just could not do the area justice.



On one day, we went to visit Llandudno. It was beautifully sunny, but with such a very chilly wind! I took a number of photos of the textures and patterns in the metalwork on the pier.











The second photo was of a disused section. I just loved the colours of the rust on the white paintwork.







Another day, we went to visit Conwy. The photo here just shows some of the wonderful colours of the stonework in the castle. If you visit this next site there is a stunning aerial view of the castle and two famous bridges.

Conwy is a walled town and is really marvellous to walk around - lots of interesting buildings.







I found the rooflines particularly exciting.



Whilst here, we visited a rather wonderful tudor house called Plas Mawr. It has been beautifully renovated and its so interesting to learn about how the family used the house all those years ago. The building was completed in 1585.



Whilst in the area, we had a glorious few hours in Bodnant gardens. It is looked after by the National Trust.











We saw these pine cones growing on the largest Blue Pine I have ever seen. It is over a century old and would fill my tiny garden garden............

Such a wonderful place to visit - so peaceful and seemingly empty with just a few people walking around. An illusion since the gardens are well-loved and there were a lot of visitors that day, judging by the busy car park.



Ah well, back to earth again. We had a marvellous few days in Wales. Not a long drive from here, but so nice to get away from the phone..........







As you can see, work has been continuing on my blanket. I have just completed the third border and have still nine of the "holes" to fill. In trhe end I completed 35 squares and the whole blanket is roughly 42" by 52". I shall remeasure it when it has been blocked. I will not show the other side - it has so many ends to be sewn in!