Oh Happy Days :-)

Second post in 2 weeks, I might just be getting back into this blogging thingy :-)

So today is Mothering Sunday here in the UK, and what a lovely day it was for it too, the sunshine has been beautiful and very welcome after all the wintery rain we've had.

My lovely daughters always buy beautiful gifts on such occasions, and today was no exception, I was really spoilt this Mother's Day with all these lovely goodies

I even got some of my favourite chocolates and flowers off the little dude :-)  And as if all this wasn't enough I was treated to a lovely afternoon tea at a local Bakery.  

I guess I can kiss goodbye to loosing any weight at this weeks 

weigh-in, lol but it was worth it, everything was delicious :-)

I've had some crafty goodness going on this week too, In my bid to clear out in preparation for our move I found a couple of things waiting to be made up which I will be trying to get done over the next few weeks, first to be tackled though was this lovely angel.

On knitting needles I found a slipover that I started for Oliver

I had only knit the back before abandoning it in favour of something else, (I imagine, though can't remember what!), luckily it was a size that will still fit him.

And just so that I will have something else to carry on with I started another sweater for him

It's an easy knit and something I can do and watch TV at the same time :-)  The yarn is Sirdar Baby Crofter and is oh so lovely work with, produces lovely even stitches and gives a mock fair isle effect (it's a great cheat, because I don't think I would ever be a good enough knitter to attempt a real fair isle pattern).

I've had one more stitchy start this week, Needlecraft Haven forum have a monthly ornament challenge, I've yet to finish one and this month is no different, but at least I made a start :-)

It's a free design you can find here 

I didn't take much notice of the size and number of stitches so mine will be too large for an ornament so I need ideas for finishing please!

That's about all for this week except for one more bit of news, well, big news really.

DD#2, Joanne, got engaged!

Gavin proposed last week when they went on a trip to Dublin

She had no idea it was coming but we did as Gavin had phoned Mark a few days before to ask his permission, bless him, he is such a lovely lad, I hope that they will always be this happy.

Until next time

-x-

There's Something About Mary

Mary Glover that is.  

Can you remember when Emmanuel offered up this lovely SAL, way back in 2011?  There were so many stitcher's taking part, it seemed that everywhere you looked you would see Mary. 

 As usual I started with great enthusiasm but, also as usual, fell by the wayside. 

First it was the over one stitching, I hate over one stitching, although it does look fabulous when it's done, so I suppose it's worth all that effort.

Next it was the rice stitch that sent me into a panic, but there was no need for me to get into a flap because it was actually quite easy once I started it, and very enjoyable to do :-)

Finishing the rice stitched panel spurned me on to finish the sampler, that's when it I came a cropper yet again.  

I trotted off to the framers with my newly finished piece, got her all laid out to choose a frame but all the time I was thinking that something wasn't quite right, so I took her home to check.

When I came into the SAL I think others were already on the second part and for some reason, (and I have absolutely no idea why) I started stitching down a way from the top and never went back to finish, so I was 3 lines missing!  Thank goodness I noticed in time otherwise it could have been an expensive mistake!

I promptly banished Mary to the cupboard in disgust where she lay forlorn and forgotten for nearly another 12 months.

A couple of weeks ago whilst having a clear out I once again came upon poor forgotten Mary and decided that I had punished her long enough, she deserved to be finished and put on show.

I left off the two little straight stitched motifs at the bottom because I preferred the look without them I also dabbed a tea bag all over the finished stitching to give a more aged look. 

 Close up of the frame

So, yeah, there is something about Mary, she's beautiful, and I love her, but was also a pain in the ass, lol.

-x-

Catching up

It seems that time has been my demon again, I'm full of good intentions, honestly, I am, I'm just not very good at time management lately.  I have been busy though, with crafty things as well as the normal everyday things that seem to steal all of my time (as I'm sure they do yours too).

One of my Nieces is due to have her second baby in April and has requested a blanket like the one I knit for Jenny when she was expecting Oliver.  

I've been knitting this on and off for a while, far longer than it should have taken really, but at last it's finished!

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A new crochet project is on the go.  I'm choosing the colours more or less at random and so far I think they look ok. 
A few days ago in a quiet moment at work I was browsing the internet and admiring various granny squares and one of the lads came into reception, saw what I was doing and told me that I must stop this, It's not 'cool', (apparently) 
er..... I'm 52, I think I'm old enough to not give a jot if anyone thinks I'm 'cool' or not, lol.
So here is my new un-cool hooky project, which, as it happens, I think is pretty cool :-)

I've only finished about 18 squares so far, so there will be loads more to tell on this blanket before it's finished, and I'm trying not to think of all those ends to weave in yet...eek

I have to say that I am getting immense pleasure from working all these little squares :-)
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Stitching is still sort of taking a back seat, larger projects have been abandoned in favour of smaller ornaments, which is about all I have the attention span for at the moment.
I've stitched up two freebies but only managed to get one made up into an ornament.

Free chart found here

As usual the finishing was a challenge.  I swear I could have stitched it all again in the amount of time it took me to make it

 up, and we won't even go into the mess I made whilst sewing!

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The only other news to tell this time is that we are on the move.  A couple of weeks before Christmas we put our house up for sale, It was something that had been talked about for a few years but never put into action, but now the time seems right and we were both ready to do it.  
We were very fortunate in finding a buyer after only being on the market for about 5 weeks, and a few weeks later we found ourselves a new property.  My initial reaction to selling so quickly was shock, and to be honest I was a little scared, but now that we have found somewhere to go to I'm really excited and looking forward to getting things moving.  I will keep you posted on the progress