upgrade from UFO to WIP = more cushions!

Another UFO has been promoted to a Work In Progress :o)

I found this long forgotten project lurking sadly in the bottom of a basket when I had a clear out in my workroom a couple of months ago. I had originally bought it about 8 years ago, stitched about an inch of the centre and decided that I HATED stitching on pre printed canvas... and quit! Anyway... I reminded myself that this year IS going to be the year I turn my stash into completed projects so off to work I set. I admit to getting completely & utterly mind numbingly bored filling in all the white stitches!! and wasn't enthused at persuing its completion but got there in the end :o)

It still has to be turned into a cushion but that wont take me long, I just need to work out what sort of backing I want to put on it. Also it only measures up at present to 10" square so I'll probly add another border to it to make it big enough to at least be classed as a useable cushion!
(The needlepoint kit was from Candamar Designs)

I've also been doing a bit more knitting and have made even MORE can-can scarves & can happily state that I have had enough of scarves now and dont think I'l be making any more for a Looooong while LOL
I made another square from my book too, which proved quite a learning curve as there was an error in the pattern!!! so I had to work it out for myself in the end, but this taught me quite a lot in the process about un-knitting/fixing !

I know I have to 'block' it as its gone a bit zigzaggy on the edges but its another pattern I can tick off as 'done' and another square closer to my sample blanket being completed :o) I'm determined that its gonna be a blanket and not just a few MORE cushions! LOL
(the material in the background was a 'must have' purchase, that I havn't decided quite what to do with, ...yet)

Despite the weather in the UK turning into summery /shorts weather, I have started on my bobble hat at last :o) after my mum showed me how to do a bobble stitch I thought it would be fun to make a bobble covered, 'bobble hat', it was tricky learning how to make the little bobbles but have since found a great online tutorial for those of you not lucky enough to have a mum like mine to show you .
click this link to take you to Heidi Bears great bobble stitch tutorial
I'll add pics amd pattern when there's more to show than the first few rows.

I went to the Stitch n Craft show at the Bath & West showground this week and nearly wore my feet out browsing & shopping. I bought lots of goodies and despite trying to clear my stash and my never ending 'to-do' list, I bought lots of lovely new stuff to add to to it!! hahaha... I never learn! but I am hopeful that my new goodies will be turned into completed projects over the next few weeks and not just delegated into the U.F.O. bin just yet ;o)

tarting it up!

I've added a few extra pages, (tabs under the header) for you to see some of my other stitched 'stuff' that I've made over the years, to give you an idea of the sort of projects that take me hostage, & what kind of things you may see appearing here besides my attempts at knitting!

I have almost 'scarfed myself silly' now.... no more... ok, 2 more to do and thats it... I HAVE to move on to something more challenging!

this is yet another type of 'net' like yarn I've tried. This yarn is Katia - Triana, and unlike the Rio - Cancan yarn that you can choose to make 2 scarves from one ball or one really long one, this Katia wool is supposed to do one scarf per 100g ball, but mine seems a little on the short side to me... perhaps I should have done my stitches a little tighter together? might have gained me a couple of rows over the length of the scarf?

Perhaps I shall make a start on something from this book that has caught my imagination :o)maybe my love of miniatures draws me to it, or that it just looks so warm and summery... spring's not quite sprung enough for me... its trying tho LOL methinks I need to practice some texture squares first... no point running before I can walk eh?

1st post!

OK so here goes... another outlet for my creative activities & ramblings!

I love making my miniatures, but textiles of any description have also been the cause of much Oooh-ing and Ahhh-ing by me over the years too, so I thought about it for a while, and decided to have a seperate blog just for my stitched stuff.

For those that dont know me, I am one of those peeps that has my fingers in lots of creative 'pies'. I find some creative crafts more addictive than others, depending on my mood, the seasons, my bank balance, a spark that lands from somewhere... and many other reasons! If you havnt arrived here via my other blog that I show my miniature work on, and you'd like to have a look, it's Wendies Mini World, click the link & it'll take you there.

My other past hobbies will unfold over time, but for now, my new 'addiction' is knitting! As long as I can remember, my mum has been a knitter who's always tried to encourage me to join her in her craft. I always adamantly declined. My sister learnt from her, and the way I saw it back then was that they were both doing a fine job, I didnt need to learn! ... Now, after many decades, I'm ready!!!

During the last school holiday, a local craft centre was offering mum & daughter knitting days. My daughter & I thought it might be a bit different to our usual outings and decided to join in and I am so glad we did!

step 1 - learn to cast on ... ✔
Step 2- learn to knit stitch... ✔
Step 3 -learn to cast off... ✔
(please note - there was much cussing during the above steps! LOL)
Step 4 -Repeat step 1 and learn to purl... ✔
then we were given Homework! - knit 1, Purl 1. Also known as moss stitch.... ✔

its uneven, its messy... I'd like to think it was just the wool I was using!

step 5 - show my mum! who immediately decided this was all FAR too easy peasy and dull and taught me how to do a bobble stitch!!!! OMG, my head nearly exploded with the pressure! Luckily, we get on VERY well and had tears of laughter streaming down our faces whilst watching my attempt, but I finally got there :o)

and I was rather pleased with it :o)

I bought a book that has lots of other stitches in it, and am going to wade through it, making other 6 inch squared patterns and eventually make them all up into a blanket.

Armed with this minimal experience, I then discovered the most amazing yarn/wool/fabric!!! and made these.

The black/grey & the red/orangey yarns are both Rico Cancan, and was just so easy to knit that I went out and bought several other colours to make up for friends! The blue is a different brand, 'Butterfly' and was a little trickier to knit with.
I found this link on youtube that shows just how easy it is! hope it helps someone.




Well... I think that's 'it' for my first post, hopefully as I progress onto more difficult projects, I may even gain a few followers? :o)