Freebie and Finish Friday

Firstly a huge apology to Julie, thank you for your recent comments but somehow I appear to have deleted them rather than published them.  I really appreciate each and every comment and would not have done it deliberately.  I think I accidently hit the box when I was going through and deleting the anonymous comments.  So sorry.

Another beautiful day, part of which was spent with Harlee-Jay,  Colette, Lincoln and Sebastian playing in the garden and making the most of the sunshine.  This evening  I did manage to work on the bee freebie I started last week and I am pleased to say I have finished the stitching.

I now just have to fully finish this as a needlecase.  Sadly it won't be today.

 The sun is starting to set, so for the rest of the evening we will sit and relax in the garden.  The temperature is just right and we can watch the sun set - there have been so many amazing sunsets over the past week or so.

Throwback Thursday

Another hot and sunny day where I spent some time rearranging things in the conservatory which even in the morning was extremely hot, but it was something that needed to be done.  After my chores were done I was able to sit down in the rearranged, clean and tidy conservatory and decide which of my throwback WIPs I was going to work on.  Landscape came out the winner today.  This is how it looked when I started.

Following on from yesterday's Halloween project I worked solely in black to outline the middle section of this design.  As I was feeling tired I felt his was the safest option.  This is where I have left it until it's next outing.

While tidying up I remembered I hadn't posted a photo of this months Hook and a Book kit.  This month it involves a Tunisian crochet pattern.  Again this is something I have never done before so it will be another challenging kit for me.  Unfortunately there was a delay with the kit which meant instead of receiving it at the beginning of the month I didn't get it until the end of last week.  I doubt I will get time to complete the project before the end of the month which is what I was hoping to do with these new kit subscriptions.

The beaded scarf which came with my Sonic Knits kit is still waiting to be worked on.  I am hoping that Sunday will be the day I can dedicate some time to it as hubby is out for the day.  Fingers crossed I am hoping I will finally get the pattern right

Wicked and woolly Wednesday

Another beautiful day.  I managed to work on one of the bonus Halloween charts that came with the LK Mystery Halloween SAL this morning.

This afternoon I met up with my friend Sarah at Shaugh Prior and we took Max for a walk to Cadover Bridge.  As most of the walk is under the cover of trees it helped keep us all a bit cooler.  Max enjoyed a dip in the river when we got to Cadover Bridge.

We enjoyed an ice cream before going back the way we came.  It was nice to catch up with my friend as well as getting some exercise.  Having said that I think I will be aching in the morning.

Craft meeting this evening when I will try to get some crochet done.

Toasty hot Tinsel Tuesday

I took Max out fairly early for his morning walk today and II'm m so glad I did as it was another hot sunny day.

I've been working on Tree Farm for my Tinsel Tuesday project.  If the frog hadn't paid me a visit today I think I might have finished it.  I made the most of the evening sunshine, it was so nice to finally be able to sit out in the garden and stitch.  After I took this photo I managed to add the left hand border, the tree and one of the words.

I had my faithful stitching companion in the garden chair next to me.

I also came across a Prairie Schooler Santa which is almost complete.   The threads I was using for this one were not with it for some reason.  I'm pretty sure it wasn't the ones listed on the pattern so it could be fun trying to match them up to get this one completed.  This is from Book No 102 Redwork Santas.  I did complete one of them last year and believe I even finished it as a padded ornament, I wonder where I put it?

I only managed to get about a dozen stitches done on It's Only Forever yesterday evening, I was just too tired after my trip down to Mullion.  

Massive multi-page Mondays

Monday's are going to be my day dedicated to my really big projects, ones which have a multitude of pages.  These include my Gecko Rouge kits It's Only Forever,  Down the Rabbit Hole to name just a couple that I have actually started.  

Down the Rabbit Hole is being stitched on 25 count aida 1 over 1 so very tiny stitches.

I also have the two new purchases which are multi page, but these need kitting up with fabric and threads.  I have several other multi page designs from Kustom Krafts and Mystic Stitches again requiring kitting up.

I have been down to Scrapbook Magic in Mullion today working on our Christmas advent project. I have only just got home so not sure how much stitching I will actually get done today.

Yesterday I worked on the Adventure Awaits SAL 

 I also worked on Prim Sisters School of Needlework hanging sample pocket small.

I've been asked how many I have actually started and to be honest I have no idea but I will try to count them all up and let you know. I am a serial starter but hopefully now I have more spare time I might get a few mores finishes as well

SALs and Smalls Sunday

Sunday's have usually been the day I have taken part in SALs so I will continue to work on them on Sundays.  I'm currently taking part in Gecko Rouge Extinction SAL,  Joyful World SAL  (sadly neglected for way too long), The LK Mystery Halloween SAL  (neglected for even longer), a GeckoRouge Halloween SAL which I purchased but haven't started and my most recent acquisition is the Adventure Awaits SAL by Caterpillar cross stitch which I discovered while watching a floss tube on You Tube.

I am also going to try and work my way through my selection of Smalls kits that I have acquired over the years.  This is just a small selection from my smalls collection.

We have been enjoying our BIL and now SIL's post wedding family picnic today.  It's been  lovely seeing all the grandchildren together and enjoying each others company.  Adults and children playing games together and also enjoying the children's train ride, bouncy castle and the park at West Hoe.  We have only just got back home and I have opened the conservatory doors to let it cool down a little before I start on my stitching today.

Here are some photos of the two patterns I purchased yesterday .

SMS - Suit Myself Saturday

On Saturday's there will be no specific projects to be worked on.  I will just pick up whatever takes my fancy.  This may not be a lot over the coming weeks as today has been spent helping out at the model railway exhibition all day and then taking Max for a nice long walk when we got back home.  Now I am feeling incredibly tired so I have just been browsing the web - very dangerous as I have just purchased two pdf cross stitch charts, both beach themed and the colours should go with our lounge decor.  The next two Saturdays are also going to be pretty busy too.

Yesterday I did manage to make a start on the bee freebie design.

I also finished stitching my first Tinsel Tuesday project.  Not only did I finish stitching it I also fully finished it.  I had hoped I would get it finished so called in at The Range in the afternoon while out with MIL and bought a frame and a couple of pieces of mountboard.  I wasn't sure which colour mountboard would work best when I was at The Range but opted for the red when I was finishing it in the evening as I felt it brought the Santa image out.  I'm really chuffed with myself .

Freebie & fully finish Fridays

As I was looking for my WIPs yesterday I also came across a lot of cover kits from magazines and also pieces I have stitched but not fully finished.  So Fridays are going to be the day I try and stitch up those freebies, this is the latest cover kit from the Cross Stitcher magazine, with more in a bag upstairs.

And here are just a few of my stitching finishes that I will either fully finish myself or finally take to get professionally framed - there are more I found yesterday but they are now alluding me.  How they can disappear in just one day I have no idea.

A busy day today.  I took Harlee-Jay and Lincoln to the park this morning.  We were supposed to be going there with Colette and Sebastian too and have a picnic but Colette had to wait in for someone to come and repair something.  So we had the picnic in her garden when we got back from the park instead and when I left at one to return Harlee-Jay home the repair man still hadn't been - typical.

Next I needed to take MIL shopping and also pick up refreshments for tomorrow's model railway exhibition.  I'm hoping to get some fairy cakes made this evening to go with the lemon cake and barm brack cakes I made yesterday.  My friend Moya who will be helping me on the refreshments is baking some cheese and plain scones.

Fingers crossed I can work on my Friday rotation even if it's only a couple of stitches.

I almost forgot to show you what I worked on yesterday for throwback Thursday.

I decided to work on the Popcorn calendar and completed the month of May.

Throwback Thursdays

Thursdays I am going to dedicate some time to at least one of my oldest WIP's and while I was looking for one in particular I didn't realise just how many unloved projects there were.  Shame on me.

Popcorn calendar gifted to me by my dear friend Karen, how many years ago?

Fisherman's Lodge which I bought from Readicut, I had already done a seaside cottage which I donated as a raffle prize and fruit cottage similar designs which became a birthday present to my friend Jacqueline.

African Angel, one of a series of designs I have in my stash.

Landscape

Alice in Wonderland by Soda stitch.  I started stitching this one with a fellow blogger when it was an Alice anniversary year.

Country Spring Lady a freebie years ago from Yiotas cross stitch

Fisherman which was supposed to be for DS1 when he was much younger, he still likes fishing so who knows he may still appreciate it WHEN I get it done

Four Horses of Apocolypse by Kustom Krafts.  This is the one I was actually looking for and has to be my oldest WIP as I started this when David did his work experience week down at RNAS Culdrose when he was 14/15 he's now 32!

I'm not sure which one (s) will get worked on today and for how long as I have baking to do for the refreshments stall at DH's model railway exhibition on Saturday.  I along with my friend Moya are in charge of refreshments.

Also after three grey and sometimes drizzly days I need to get out into the garden, back permitting.

And if you stayed with me this far yesterday evening I worked on my crochet corner to corner blanket.  The yarn is King Cole Curiosity in Purple Haze shade.  I'm just coming to the end of my first wool cake and this this will take about four for the size of blanket I would like.  This is a nice and easy one to do of an evening while chatting with friends.

Wicked and woolly Wednesdays

On Wednesdays I am going to spend at least some time working on my Halloween stitching and my wool crafts.

At the beginning of the month I received a knitting kit from Sonic Knits.  Included in the box was the lovely lace weight yarn, knitting pattern, beads, crochet hook, stitch marker, mini bath bombs and scented candle.  The pattern is for a lovely scarf which can be knitted as a narrow or wide scarf.  I've never used beads with knitting so this will be a first for me.  Unfortunately the crochet hook that was supplied still isn't quite small enough to use to add the beads on so I devised a way of adding them using needle and thread.  I have made a start on this several times and for some reason keep making a mistake so it has been unpicked several times.  I initially started doing the wide scarf only to discover there was a typo with the number of stitches required for casting on.  I then made a mistake and so it was unpicked and started again.  I managed to get a bit further along next time but then somehow lost a stitch so it was unpicked again  - this was all last week.

Today I decided I might have more luck knitting the narrow scarf, fewer stitches to mess up - yeah right! Somehow I made a mistake again at row six of the lace pattern  so it was unpicked yet again.  It's  not going to beat me though.  In the end I have only managed to knit the first four rows.

Years ago I purchased the Lizzie Kate mystery Halloween SAL series.  With the main design you also got a bonus pattern with each part of the SAL. 

I managed to get a few stitches in this morning before taking mum to do her food shopping.  After lunch I was able to add a few more stitches before being pleasantly interrupted by DS2 and Harlee-Jay. 

This evening I will be meeting up with my crafting buddies and I shall work on one of my crochet projects, not sure which one yet so will post about that tomorrow.

I did manage to get some more stitches into one of the Christmas designs before I went to bed last night so this is where I finished it for the night.

Not much left to do on this one so may get a finish by next week.

A blogging lull

I appear to have had a bit of a blogging lull since we came back from holiday at the end of May.  Plenty has been going on including my brother in laws wedding, lots of stitching, gardening, back problems, crochet and playing with grandchildren.

I'm trying out a new rotation with my many stitching projects both started and waiting to be started.  I thought I'd use the days of the weeks for different areas of my stitching and other crafts, so Tuesday's are going to become Tinsel Tuesdays.  On Tinsel Tuesdays I am hoping to spend at least an hour on one or more of my Christmas projects as well as on projects already being worked on.

Yesterday evening I pulled out one of Little House Needleworks ornaments of the month from 2012 which I had started but not finished way back then.

I managed to put in just over half an hour on this one today before I needed to concentrate on Andy Murray's return to tennis competition.

I managed to complete the house, not loads but it's progress.

I also pulled out the one I started as a Christmas challenge with my friend Chris.  Neither of us got very far with it.  The design is from the Punch Needle & Primitive Stitcher magazine Christmas issue 2015.  This is all I managed to achieve back then. A little bit of Santa.

This one received an hour's worth of work this morning while the banana cake was cooking and I also picked it up after Andy's match had finished.  It might even get a few more stitches put in this evening. 

After washing the kitchen floor I rewarded myself with some time to work on It's Only Forever and finally have another page finished.  8 out 30 pages completed and a total of 23,673 stitches so far.

 This was the area I have been working on for the past couple of months.  This is how much I've completed so far.

I'm off now to pick out the project(s) I hope to work on tomorrow.