What a lovely lovely day of embroidery.

I have had such a wonderful day today.  A while ago I decided I wanted to learn to how to hand embroider because I had seen so many beautiful things like this!

Seriously, wow!

My hunt for a workshop started online and I couldn't believe how hard it was to find a hand embroidery workshop in Nottingham given the amount of craft studios and workshops there are, they al, seem to be machine embroidery.  I therefore widened my search to the whole county and I found workshops run at the Manor Farm Tea Shoppe in Bleasby, typically the hand embroidery workshop had been run the day before I was reading about it online.

I read closely and found out the lady running the workshops was called Jane Lightfoot and also held private workshops at her home. As is necessary I looked up her Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jane-Lightfoot-Designs/246582298747187) and internet (http://janelightfoot.com/) pages and checked out what she was capable of and here are some lovely examples.

My mind was made up so I made contact to find out about how these workshops are run.  I was told they're best done with a partner so I got hunting.  My friend Sarah from primary school said she was interested but lived too far away.  After suggesting she visit for a night it was all booked and the date was set, so exciting!

We arrived this morning at Jane's and were taken to her beautiful sewing room where we immediately got started.  We first learnt how to French knot and ribbon stitch and made a lovely little daisy.

Then we moved on to make a tulip using chain and ribbon stitches.

Next we moved onto my favourite ever embroidered flower, the bullion rose.  It's a tricky stitch but so beautiful, one very big smile appeared when I finished this one.

Once we had finished our practice flowers and drunk tea and eaten amazing homemade flapjack, we moved onto making our needles and pins case.

The first part of this process was to choose the fabrics and ribbon to adorn our cases.  This was tricky because Jane has a beautiful and extensive selection of fabrics.  I faffed, faffed a bit more and then forced myself to make a decision.  One the fabric was cut with a very nifty fabric cutter much like a pizza cutter we started the machining.

I was better than I remembered and managed to get things reasonably straight.  The ribbon was a little tricky though as I had chosen a thin little piece.

Once we had finished stitching the material onto the front we started our embroidery.  We took a little break for lunch where we were fed with the most delicious home made quiche, salad, beet root and then cake and scones.  I was so full I could have had a little sleep.

I decided that I loved the look of some stocks that had been sewn by Jane so I made a start with one of these in the centre of my pin case with some variegated silk ribbon.  Ooooooh, I love it!

Next I just had to make a bullion rose, they are so pretty.  This one turned out with a few more petals than I intended but I think I like it more because of this.

Then I made a pair of pretty tulips as we were running short on time and another bullion rose would have taken me ages.  I also wanted a nice variety on the front.

Then we sewed the side ribbons in place.

The next job was to sew the front, the wadding and the lining together.  We used a walking foot which is something I knew nothing of but now think is one of the best things ever.  It was a tense moment turning it the right way out but also very exciting.  All we needed to do now was slip stitch together the hole and sew in the pages.

And here it is, my stunning, wonderful, beautiful and favourite stitched thing ever!

Here is mine and Sarah's together on the table while we stood looking at them smiling.

I could not have wished for a better day.  Jane was fantastic and I feel really inspired and confident to continue embroidering on my own.  I would highly recommend her workshops and if you can't make one at the Manor Farm Tea Shoppe then do consider getting in touch to arrange a private workshop as it was wonderful.  

Thankyou Jane for such a lovely day. X

A mossy cowl

At the weekend I purchased a beautiful ball of cygnet seriously chunky in barley for a bargainous £1.  It was screaming cowl and the colour would go perfectly with the mustard yellow lining of my favourite coat which can be seen when the collar is worn folded down.

I desperately wanted to knit it as soon as I got home but I had to finish this little blighter first, the third and final one I am ever going to knit!  Here he is trying to steal my celebratory completion beer.

Once he was finished I picked up my beautiful yarn and my new giant wooden needles purchased from a charity shop for a whopping 30p.

Here is what I did for those of you who might be interested in knitting a cowl just like mine, it's incredibly simple.

Materials: 1 ball of cygnet seriously chunky or similar yarn. 15mm needles. Darning needle.

Cast on 15 stitches using whichever cast on method suits you.  I always use long tail for a nice even start.

Knit in moss stitch/seed stitch until you have almost run out yarn.

Cast off in whichever way suits you.

To create the collar and bib effect I sewed the top half of one end to the bottom half of the other.

I told you it was easy!

I think this will be perfect for those cold winter days and the collar and bib effect makes it just that little bit different from other cowls.

Please feel free to reproduce and do whatever you want with these, I can't say I have designed much, I just went the knit it and see approach.

Love love.

One mans trash is another mans treasure.

Here is a project I undertook recently.  With having the lounge redecorated I decided a standard lamp would like lovely in the corner.  I looked around and they all seem terribly expensive so I decided to tke on a challenge and restore a tatty one.  I started by advertising in freecycle and after less than 12hrs had a message from a lovely chap who had one in his garage.  Once it was home we had to rewire it which I must admit was left to Tom, that was done in no time.  Then it was down to me to get to work.  Having been so busy it took a while to find the time but lastnight I got sanding and before I knew it I had sanded and painted the whole thing.

I started by sanding as much of the varnish off as I could, it was very thick!  Next I slapped on two coats of matt effect gloss and left it to try.  Then I took to it with the sand paper again and buffed the parts that would receive natural wear and tear.  

I'm not sure I am 100% happy with the lamp shade but I will give myself time to think about it.  They to are very expensive, or maybe I am just tight fisted.

Anyway, here it is, my transformed lamp.

Handmade cards

For a while now I have been trying to make cards as often as I can.  I do love giving a card that makes people smile.  I normally start by thinking about the person I am giving the card to and the occasion it is for and then going from there.  I started some time ago by making this card for my friend.

                      

From this first attempt my character cards took on and I have since made quite a few, they can be quite fiddly but the response they get is brilliant and that makes it all worthwhile. Here are some of my favourites.

                                

I also like to attempt to make Christmas cards, these were brilliant but I did have a lot of time to make them so they might not be as good this year.

                  

Aside from cross stitch there are plenty of things that can be added to a card, I have recently taken to crocheting appliqués to add to the front of cards, they can look lovely but I am sure on occasions they can look pretty terrible.  Here is an example of a wedding card I made.

                  

Here is another example of a card with a crocheted cat on the front.  It is for a friend who owns a Bengal and the yarn is perfect for her fur.

                             

Cards can also be made of card (surprise surprise) and with the use of Kate and her tools at Happy Henlow Crafts I created this lovely card for my parents wedding anniversary.

                

This blog might appear as though it is lacking something but the point of it was to show that if there is not time to make a gift a card can be created from a very small idea and the effect can be fantastic.  It does not take a huge amount of skill, time or talent and the recipients are always so grateful.  It is so much better than spending ridiculous amounts on a card from the Supermarket.

   

Squirrel Nutkins day out.

A while ago my Mum was told about a knitted tree competition being held throughout the chain of care homes she works for.  I think it is mostly for the residents to knit but my Mum's residents are all rather poorly so not capable of too much knitting.  She therefore has been asking friends and family to get involved and I was asked to make a squirrel.  I have to admit I was rather unenthusiastic but once I started Mr Nutkins I rather enjoyed it.  The pattern involved wrapping stitches which was interesting as it made me think about a different way of heeling socks other than way I do now.  Anyway, here is the delightful Squirrel Nutkins enjoying an acorn whilst chilling in the tree in the front garden.

                                  

I hadn't quite finished Mr Nutkins tail when we set off for a picnic this afternoon so he came along with me, I knitted his acorn in the car so he didn't feel too left out while we were tucking into our dinner.

We found a lovely spot by the canal in Zouch where we could watch the boats passing through the lock and the cows wading on the other side.

       

                         

                            

      

Squirrel Nutkins spent most of his time asleep in my bag but he did pop out for a quick sit on a bush and a chat with Tom.

                               

                                  

From our picnic spot we wandered along the canal the other side of the road through Zouch and had a go at skimming stones.

    

We also admired the wier and the speed at which the water travelled.  I just love being by water, must be the Piscean in me.

  

I also stopped to say Hello to these two lovely ducks, they looked very happy chilling on their log although I'm not sure how long they will have it because it was slowly getting closer to the wier.

    

 

 

  

A failed yet very successful trip to Holmfirth.

Today I went with some knitting friends, ooh knitting friends, to the Rowan Mill in Holmfirth.  The plan was go to the Rowan Garment sale which is quite simply a sale of all their knitted sample garments.  We set off nice and early from Nottingham and after a few wrong turns, very steep hills, narrow roads and entertainment from frisky cows we made it to the Mill.  In our excitement we ran from the cars and up the stairs to the door.

 

Sadly we were met by this....

Which resulted in some sad faces and a smug Jemma who had made the pre sale yesterday.

We decided not to waste our trip and headed into Holmfirth because as Eleanor says "its good to spread our legs!" I think that was an unfortunate combination of spread our wings and stretch our legs.  We made our way to a tea shop where we had a cream tea and a partook in a little bit of knitting/crochet.

Then we made our way to Up Country to peruse the yarns available.  All of their Rowan Cashsoft was reduced to £2.50 so I got two balls to make something yummy.  I have only just realised that one is 4ply and one DK, oh yarnballs!

Even Eleanor the Anti-Rowan gave in and treated herself.

From here we perused a few little shops where I saw these amazing beaded animals....

....purchased this very appropriate blackboard....

...and saw these rather comical if not a little rude sheep.

By this point we decided a pub lunch was in order, I ordered toad in the hole which was the best toad in the hole I have EVER eaten!

 

Our next stop was the Holmfirth Fabric Mill, a magical little room of some of the most beautiful fabrics.

I decided that it was time I bit the bullet and got my sewing machine out to make myself a skirt.  I have been thinking of doing this for a while now and this fabric convinced me it had to be done, beautiful!

The view from the mill was pretty awesome as well.

Then we headed back into town for a cold drink and an ice lolly in the park before heading home.  Here we got to watch a farmer wrestle these four stubborn sheep back into the van, very amusing.

 

We meandered along the stream where we noticed green kisses and I found a spot to admire.

When we got back to the car to drive home it was clear it had been hotter than we thought as the harribo had all merged into one giant harribo.  It was a treat watching Eleanor munch through that I tell you!

All in all a very lovely day.

Thankyou ladies.