Not the holiday you would want.

This sewing box was a car boot find quite some years ago, I remember mum being with me at the time and buying it for me.   I've wanted to do something with it for a long time and last week It was a job I finally got round to.

I think It came out pretty good and hopefully I can make more use of it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Some of you will have seen or heard the news about the wild fires on the Greek Island of Rhodes.  Unfortunately my eldest daughter, Jenny, James and the boys flew out to Rhodes on holiday last Wednesday and their hotel is in the middle of all this chaos! 

Naturally I've been worried sick, but they have been evacuated to a sports hall in the north of the Island and are safe, thank goodness.   James has just texted me to say they are now being transferred to a hotel somewhere in the north.  They had to leave their luggage at their hotel so don't have much with them, I suppose If it's at all possible luggage will be transferred to the new destination, but some roads are still closed, a hotel close to the one they were in has burnt down!

Jenny said the locals and volunteers have been absolutely amazing bringing food, drinks and toiletries and even offering to put holidaymakers up in their own houses, Jenny has had two very kind people offering to take them in, she did decline both but only because she thought it best to stay where they would get updates on goings on.   They were only going for a week but I know they will be glad to be on their way home as soon as possible now, and I'll be glad when they are all back safe and sound.

Thinking about all the holiday makers and people who live on Rhodes today 💔

-X-

A productive June

June went by so quickly, how can we be halfway through the year already!  It's definitely an age thing, the older you get, the faster time seems to go!   I do try and make the most of my time each day, and this month as well as the things I was working on, I've also tried to get some of those languishing  projects fully finished.

Firstly, the things I started and finished in June.

My first attempt at lace knitting in a sock.  These are the Rosie Lee socks by Twinset & Purl.

I really enjoyed knitting these, they seemed to knit up quite quickly too, probably because the lace section made knitting more interesting.

  The yarn is Lace Hankies by Lay Family Yarn

My second pair of socks for the month, I know! I was on a roll, lol. My first pair of trainer socks.

I didn't follow a pattern for these, I knit 12 rounds of ribbing and 10 rounds before doing the heel and then my normal length for the foot.

You will notice that they are not 'twins' they are not even 'sisters', more like 'cousins' 😀

I have no idea why the yarn behaved so differently on each sock!

I still love them and no one will know what's inside my trainers 😉  

The yarn is from Mr & Mrs Rabbit, who no longer dye yarn, which is a shame because they did the most beautiful colourways, unfortunately I misplaced the ball band so don't know this colourway.

My next finish is something you haven't seen in progress, It's the Trescao Jumper by Along Aven Anna

I actually finished this in April, but then realised I didn't like the garter stitch hem and cuff, so I pulled those out and re-knit them in 1x1 rib.

Obviously too warm to wear at the moment but it will do nicely for Autumn and Winter.

My last knitting finish is also something I started a while ago, it's a cardigan for Bonnie and it has been waiting for quite a while for me to sew up the sleeves and put buttons on.  Good job I made a larger size!

The yarn is James C. Brett Stonewash.

I have one sewing finish for June.  You may remember that when I took Bonnie to the craft show at the NEC in March she chose a pattern for me to make her a bag, along with the fabric, and here it is.

This came out way better than I expected, the only fiddly part was the top stitching around the top edge.  It was supposed to be a little present to go in her birthday bag but she saw it when she came round one time and wanted to take it home.   My daughter has asked if I will make another one for Bonnie's friends birthday this month, there is plenty fabric left to make another one, I just have to buy some webbing for the handle, so that will be a little project for July.

And last but not least, I had two cross stitch finishes in June.

The first one is another Autumn pillow.  Love how this turned out!  I used the called for threads with the exception of the border which should have been black and I switched to a dark grey.

Pumpkin Spice Everything by The Scarlett House

My second cross stitch finish is my Stick6in2023 piece.  

For the months of May and June the number 3 was generated, and for me that happened to be the number I had allocated to another Autumn chart, Pumpkin Hollow by Little House Needleworks

I chose to only stitch the top half of the chart because I wanted it to fit onto this wooden pumpkin blanc I bought from Hobbycraft a couple of years ago.  I dry brushed the blanc with some paint from a match pot and I think It came out cute!

That's all my finishes for June, not too bad considering It's been a busy month.

The weather has been mostly good and everything in the garden has shot up, it's been keeping me busy watering, dead heading and generally keeping it tidy.  The roses have been lovely, the first blooms have just about gone now but there are some second ones appearing and, I had my first poppy, just one, lol.  I've had this poppy plant for about three years and this is the first flower it's produced, I've left the seed head hoping that I can harvest the seeds to plant more

We also finished decorating our bedroom this month,  it took a while because Mark only has the weekends to do anything.  Mark panelled one wall and put in wall lights and we had a guy come and spray our wardrobe and bedside tables.  We also had new carpet and blinds and I'm over the moon with the result, It's so light and airy I can't wait to go to bed at night, lol.

I've taken the boys out a couple of times for tea and went strawberry picking with Joanne and these two rascals.

I think the ate their fill of strawberries while we were picking! I made jam with my haul and for a first attempt it came out pretty good, so I've been told.

I've continued my weight loss through June, I'm now 18lb's down, still jotting down everything I eat through the day and keeping track of calories, it's just become something I do now, and It's working.  I haven't eaten any cake, chocolate or sweets since April and I have to say I haven't missed any of those things at all, I eat almost everything else, just count the calories, calorie deficit works, who knew! 

My plans for July - The number 1 has been generated by Martina for Stick6in2023, this will be our project to work on during the months of July and August, I made a start on my choice on Saturday.

I'll pick another stitching project to work on and rotate them each week, that worked for me in the past so I need to get back to doing it that way.

More decorating is on the agenda, we are re-doing the smallest bedroom

there's not so much work to do in there, the radiator has to be changed but as far as decorating goes it's just a matter of painting, so should be a quicker process.

If July is as busy as June was I probably won't post again until the end of the month but hopefully there will be more finishes to share 😁

Have a great month!

-X-