Shawlette and Tusal Check-in

I have been wanting to do a bit of knitting for some time and as my daughter and family were due for a visit this month, I thought I would make a little shawlette for my daughter for the cooler summer evenings.  Making the most of DH driving into town, I went to a favourite shop for the yarn but they didn´t have the colour I wanted in a light weight yarn and I ended up dithering and buying wool - hate making quick decisions when DH with a noticeable frown is waiting outside in a no parking zone.

I bought three balls of wool and found a pattern at Ravelry called Haruni and started knitting straight away.

Knitting a lacy design while watching TV in the evenings is not really the best thing to do and I made quite a few mistakes which weren´t much fun to put right when working with hundreds of stitches.  Anyway it knitted up very quickly.

The design included three sizes and I wanted something small, just to cover the shoulders, so I followed the pattern for the smallest and made a crochet flower to fasten.

Here is my daughter with the results.  I don´t know if she will ever wear it.

TUSAL  DAY

Today is also Tusal check-in day and so here is my jar of ORTs for this month.  Not a lot of new threads but getting to fill the jar nevertheless.

For more information about the Totally Useless Stitch A Long, click on my sidebar button and visit Sharon at It´s Daffycat.

Be back later this week with the Smalls check-in.  Hope you will pop by.

Back in the Kitchen

While giving the kitchen cupboards a good sorting out a couple of weeks ago.  I took some photos of my kitchen clock which has an embroidered cross stitch design that I did about the same time as I made the kitchen shelf trimmings seen in my post `on the shelf ´.

I can´t even remember when I bought the actual clock but somewhere around 25 years ago and it originally had a yellow flower print face which also matched oven gloves and tea towels, etc.  The pattern was from the magazine Labores del Hogar which had several pretty Dutch landscape designs for cushions and I embroidered just a small part of the pattern to fit my clock.

Here I have removed the glass to take a close up.

Sometimes I think it would be nice to buy another clock and I have even thought about buying a nicer one and trying to remove and adapt the embroidery again, but realistically I suppose I won´t do anything until it grinds to a halt one day.

Thank you for visiting, until next week.

Smalls SAL - July and Tusal check-in

It´s time to check in for the Smalls SAL which is hosted by Heather at Stitching Lotus.   I finished a bookmark for a friend of mine who is going through a rough patch in her life and this gift is to mark, not only the pages of a book, but also a turn in her life.

The pattern was amongst all my needlework papers and paraphernalia but I can´t find reference to the designer.

I embroidered the initial of my friend´s name.

 and backed the bookmark with a silky blue fabric and added a couple of beads and tassel

I love bookmarks and have quite a few, mainly bought years ago as souvenirs from visits to museums and zoos etc.  Now I enjoy embroidering them as small gifts.

If you are interested in stitching a little item each month or finishing one already started ages ago, just click on the sidebar image which will take you to Heather´s blog where all the information is.

TUSAL Check-in.

A few days late but here are the threads in my ORT´s jar nearing the top.  All my stitching this month has been mainly with red threads used on the Randje per Week SAL sampler and mixed coloured threads from the above bookmark.

If anyone is interested in joining `The Totally Useless Stitch A Long´ which involves, not stitching, but saving threads in a jar and showing them each month when there is a new moon, you will find all the information clicking on the sidebar button which will take you to It´s Daffycat.

Linking this post to Supermom-no cape  Stitchery Party.

                                                         
                                   Happy stitching,

Sheryl

On The Shelf

Such a lovely sunny day to be cleaning kitchen cupboards but at least my shelf trims dried in about four minutes hanging in the sun and here are most of them:

I made these about ten years ago  inspired by a cross stitch design seen in a magazine.

I believe I tea dyed the fabric but that colour has long washed out.

The tiny designs are dotted with beads,

not always in very realistic colours.

I also made a small crochet border.

Here´s a view of one of my kitchen cupboards.

See you next week.  Thank you for passing by.

Linking to Supermom-no cape Stitchery party

My First Biscornu

A lovely afternoon, with nothing planned, so how about a quiet afternoon stitching?  perfect as long as you don´t sit anywhere remotely near your sewing machine or you might be hesitantly approached by DH with three pairs of new trousers to be altered. " had you forgotten?"  well no....and while diligently taking up the trouser bottoms, asked "Did you repair my jacket pocket?" ....ah well, er... the pocket through which all and sunder disappeared during the winter? ... ah. well, there goes my quiet afternoon stitching.

This is the first biscornu that I made years ago, the Rhodes Butterfly biscornu by the Sweetheart Tree  Some cross stitching, diamond eye stitch, rhodes butterfly stitch and lots of backstitching.

I added pretty pink beads to the side seams and although started out as a gift, when finished I liked it so much that I kept it for myself.

I used a darker green that mentioned in the pattern and added a piece of ribbon so to hang the pincushion from my sewing machine.  There is also a lovely little design for a scissor fob, which I might get to make one day.

This week I noticed with annoyance that yet again my posted comments to other blogs show me as <no-reply>  This is the third time that this has happened since Christmas.  Google + randomly resets my settings every month. WHY does it insist on doing this? 

            Thank you for visiting.

Sheryl

What not to do

Hello everyone,

It rained this past weekend, so I decided to reduce some of my stash by making a couple of mug rugs, which always make nice gifts and if you don´t spend hours like me, on deciding the colour combinations, can be cut out and sewn quite quickly..... that is ...... if you don´t need any applique paper.

I had very little, so off I wobbled (due to sprained ankle) to our local ` enter at your own risk´ patchwork shop and this is of course just what you should not do.  If you have children, send them or your husband, a neighbour or anyone who won´t be tempted by a wicker basket full of very pretty fat quarters in blues, creams, reds and tans, all just sitting there saying ¨buy me, I´m perfect for your mug rugs¨.  Of course I loved the reds but contrarily bought some blues.

  then I found  cream and  green fabrics in  my stash.

 

and the chocolate cake coloured fabric also.  Did I mention that I nearly left the shop without the applique paper? so pleased as I was by the new fatties and some pen refills.

                              

  I noticed with interest that the iron-on adhesive is American and called Heat n´ Bond, the first time I have seen it here and it costs 6,30 euros a metre.  I wonder how that compares with prices in other countries?  Really must remember to buy it online because if I buy fabric every time I really just need the applique paper, it certainly works out expensive. 

Until next time.

Sheryl