Packed my bags! and Cleared out!

no. wait! I mean I've cleared UP! (thats incase the family should start getting hopeful!)

I finally decided to do something about my WIP's UFO's and sort them all out and get into a proper state of management with those projects I've put down awhile.
Everything is now bagged along with its pattern and needles if I've started it or intend to start it and I plan to sit down for an hour or two and go through each bag and write out at what stage I'm at and look at the pattern with a view to picking the project up again and ENJOYING it as once I presumably did enough to want to START IT!


Above are all my bagged projects.
Below is the lovely bag that my good cyber-sew-pal Carol made for me as a gift when we very nearly thought she and her husband were coming over last year and SEW far its done an excellent job holding all my stash and projects but I decided to use THIS as my main "this is what I'm currently working on bag" as it seemed a shame to leave it as storage not a working bag!


You can see inside the bag it has zillions of handy sized pockets and spaces for needles and patterns and tape measures etc - IN the bag is the lovely V-neck tunic from Classic am/pm in Rowan Alpaca dk and my jitterbug sock.2 which is almost complete sitting inside the handy if cheap looking plastic bag gift with old copy of knitting magazine!


The rest of the bagged projects are divided between larger carry bags that are not as posh as my knitting bag but big enough to hold all the projects that are queued but not started, and those that are WIP's sew-to-speak.
I've put sock yarn all together in one bag, and odd but full balls of yarn in another; left overs that I sort of feel I can't bear to part with and ever hopeful they'll come in useful are in a last smaller bag.


Finally I put all the novelty yarns and balls of stuff that came from Linton Tweed at various sewing shows in containers on top shelf in my sewing room. Left the pic a little wide in order to point out the clock that one of my son's made for me a year or so ago ..


I feel much more organised, now all I need to do is find ROOM to house all my "bags" and then the next task with be to start uploading my books and needles and stash onto Ravelry which I started yesterday and might add to later on.

The V-neck tunic is coming along nicely, I'm about halfway through the back rib and looking forward to getting onto larger pins and st-st! I think part of the reason I got fedup with the sideways jacket and the bolero is that they are BOTH knitted all in one and BOTH in rib! there just wasn't a break or variety.
I am reassured that though my sideways knit stripe jacket appears SMALL in length, Lisa who has knitted it, assures me that a damn good pressing with an iron will stretch it to FIT and duly turned up wearing hers and looking glamourous which has inspired me to revisit the project and I'll try and pick it up and proceed while its still COLD enough to wear!

The bolero I've discovered is missing the entire BACK of this all in one rather complicated (and boring! zzz) pattern and thats been flung aside for now. Ann assures me her daughter did finish hers and that it is possible to work it out if I just stop screeching and heaving into cushions and just GET ON WITH IT .. she's offered to help me out should I find myself unable to stop the screeching and heaving ..

I MUST must MUST do more to the Kiri project, not least because it WAS afterall, my college first term project - I have put this in the lovely knitting bag with the intention of sitting down for an hour in the day while family are out at school/work ..

My no.2.sock in the Jitterbug is so close to being complete I'd be mad to not just grit my teeth and compare it to sock.1 and just get ON WITH IT

EVERYTHING ELSE is set aside and will not be looked at until I'm able to commit to a further project even though I'm tempted to start "Martha" (and the bamboo tape.. )

Creative Textiles Course : week 11

Today was a mix of show'n'tell on our achievements and projects undertaken in felting and a discussion on organising and planning sketch books before we had an opportunity to look at and feel some different fibres for adding to such projects as might be felted.

Interesting to see how many lovely projects and how different they each were from other ladies in the group, I rather fear mine is the least creative! and I think I might have to settle for it being a sketchbook sample!! Seeing the embroidered and beaded work where a mix was combined to create an overall effect made me feel more enthusiastic to explore these and I continue to work on my sampler trying out different stitches and one reason I went mad and bought SEW many beads today was because I do think this will add something to my own work (and I still want to do a proper knitted beading project!)

I think we're close to needing to choose a final project for the year and I'm mindful that I've not finished my mini project - Kiri yet!

Should I do? (Martha OR the bag?)

hmm. Decisions. Should I DO the Rowan felted tweed "bag" from the knitting magazine as blogged earlier with my bargain purchase of 4xballs? OR should I DO "Martha" from Studio 2 and buy the additional two balls which I've got squirrelled away just in case .. ?
I've seen "Martha" and quite like the look of it, however the colour isn't what I'd have chosen, necessarily, for a garment although it lends itself well to the "bag" ..
Meanwhile I've started on the V-neck tunic from Am-Pm classic Rowan using the baby alpaca ..

(my children have picked up on the fact that I've got TWO garments and one pair of socks and ONE shawl still OTN's in my work basket and did some teeth sucking and make pointed remarks and veiled threats to "tell DAD!" .. I let them stop up extra late tonight to watch a HP film and they've promised to keep quiet about the two bags sneaked in AND the newly started kniting project ..)

all THIS and change from £20 too!

In preparation for the new Coates concession, the "old" haby has to go! Some real bargains to be had! I was thrilled with my purchase last week with 70% reduction off the selling price, but this week they added an additional 50% TO the 70% thus making it (almost) FREE!!

I had all of the above haby items including TWELVE balls of Rowan bamboo tape and studio booklet for LESS than £20! Lots of "regulars" were instore stocking up, a lady from quilting club and a "sewing" lady .. we all picked up bargains I won the *prize* for cheapest item - a pack of floral trims for £0.04p!! My burda tissue paper cost just £0.22p! and best of all my 12 rowan bamboo cost me £8.50!!

THAT ought to see me through to retirement! In amongst the useful haby, I also bought several tubes of beads as I plan to get into beading and at that sort of reduction I can't go wrong!! Picked up a pair of bamboo knitting needles and a crochet hook and several packs of assorted elastics, petershams and shoulder strapping too ..

I could set up shop myself with my new stash ..

Creative Embellishing!

Above are a few pieces of "fabric" I've created some heart shapes from using the Janome Embelliser - I am considering buying one of these but don't really know what to do best to make the most of it creatively wise! I plan to add some free machine stitching atop and some beads and perhaps some other bits and pieces too to embellish further! - this is stage I in the proceedings!


When my good friend Debs suggested I lookat the Bernina blog and see some beading done by machine I just had to have a go! The light is not terribly good and the shot rather poor, but you can just make out the little cluster of beads sewn with monofilament thread top and bobbin thread under and (rather scarily!) NO presser foot! I did this sample with my colleague and only JUST remembered about the tiny needle required as I pressed the NEEDLE DOWN button! we had a bit of a funny moment when it all went upwards and beads flew past our noses at high speed - note to the cautious - WEAR GLASSES or at least keep your eyes out of the way!
Anyway it was fun to do and nice to see how it works but I think I'll stick with sewing on tediously by hand in future as it is at least, less PAINFUL!


Finally! my crazy patch is just about complete in terms of stitching! I'm really quite pleased about how its turned out and its interested me sufficiently to know that I need to explore this method of sewing rather more to get the best from it! I have been helped enormously by reading the blogs and lessons on stitches from Annie's Crazy World and her website in particular!
From there I found the marvellous Sharon B's stitch dictionary which has loads of stitches and combinations and even I managed a few of them!

Happy Birthday!!

It was Les's birthday yesterday! We celebrated with a meal out at our local pub. Above are the cards I made for him - we don't "do" birthday gifts but he has a mind to buying himself a new snooker que!
Last week we went out for a meal at a newly refurbished local pub with my stepfather as we'd not really done much over the Christmas by way of getting together - rather pricey for what we got and service not that great - we did rather better at the "local" yesterday!

Hand Embroidery Stitches - sampler

The photo below shows some of the hand embroidery stitches I've had a go at on a sampler I am creating to try out this *new to me* form of stitchwork.

For these I used as reference the book I loaned from local library The Country Living Needlework Collection : Embroidery by Karen Elder. Its a nice book and has some lovely beginning ideas for use in crazy patch which is my reason for learning these stitches, however its not a book I'd rush out and buy!
Some of the stitches are less than satisfactory, not least because THIS particular book doesn't make it absolutely clear which way to stitch and its been a bit hit and miss as to where I aimed the needle and the angle achieved!!
Still I had fun doing it and it was FUN to see the lovely effects!

I had a go at putting these stitches onto my piece of crazy patch, I'm not sure if you can see all that clearly but when my camera is fully charged and I've done a few more seams I'll takesome further pictures.
I worry, slightly, that the toning threads don't stand out as much as perhaps they ought! but I am mindful that the project isn't complete yet and its always that much better when fully finished!

To complete my sampler I plan to refer next to another book also loaned from the library: Embroidery, Techniques & Patterns by Marie-Noelle Bayard, which, at least, has a better guide for newbies like me as well as a few more variations.

Its not as easy as you might think, but I can see myself becoming interested beyond a loaned book or two and expect I'll have to buy a good book as reference!