Karoline's Corner

Spot of Autumn

2009-10-29T19:31:00.002Z

Thank you all for the comments on my rabbits.

I have finished the next seasonal spot by The Drawn Thread - Autumn. I think this is my favourite of them so far. I shall add the charm when I get round to the finishing.

Stitched on 36 count Cream Linen with the recommended threads.

We've had some glorious weather here for the last couple of days. It's been very sunny and warm much appreciated after the very grey wet days we've had recently. As it's half term here in the UK Rosie and I have come over to stay with my parents on the Yorkshire coast so we have been able to spend time on the beach building sandcastles and collecting pebbles.

Small Rabbit with Sweater x 3

2009-10-25T13:52:00.004Z

The nature of life recently has been more conducive to knitting rather stitching recently so I have a few finishes to show off.

First up are these Rabbits from Debbie Bliss Toy Knits. One has made a home with Henry, another with my new nephew Brandon and the last one is for Rosie for Christmas.

The rabbits where knit in various anonymous double knitting wool from my stash, and the jumpers using some Louisa Harding Aran left over from knitting a jumper for Rosie.

Melody asked what I was knitting in my last post. It is indeed a sock, the second one of a pair knit in Fyberspates wool.

Interlude

2009-10-15T20:49:00.002+01:00

I got to spend some time on my own in Leeds today as my Mum came over to spend some time with Rosie. In between doing the various messages I needed to in town I took a break for a breather.

Thank you for all the sympathy, Rosie has now cut the two teeth that where causing the trouble so we're all catching up (until the next lot come through!)

Holiday - Part 2

2009-10-12T20:31:00.006+01:00

One of the highlights of our holiday was a trip on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway.

We started at Pickering

We travelled up to Grosmont where you can go and visit the engine workshops.

Sorry not to be more chatty but Rosie has been cutting teeth over the last week and I've not had nearly enough sleep for a working brain.

2009-10-04T20:15:00.003+01:00

Yesterday I dug my passport* out and headed over the M62 to meet up with several stitching friends. It was an interesting drive as there where some very strong winds passing over the top of the Pennines but that was more than made up for by seeing the full arc of a rainbow over Halifax.

Pausing only to pick up Rachel and a three week old Henry on the way, we arrived at Pat's house where we were joined by Paula, Lindsay, Kate and Rachele. There was much merriment, conversation and an awful lot of laughter. Some of us even managed to put in a few stitches!

Rachel, Henry and Rachele

Kate (don't ask!) and Pat

Lindsay trying her hand at being a Ladies Maid!

Meanwhile Henry slept through the hilarity

Rachele plotting how to get Lindsay's beadwork bag home.

*for the border crossing between Yorkshire and Lancashire LOL

Holiday - part 1

2009-09-30T20:33:00.003+01:00

We went over to stay at my parents house in Filey to look after their cat while they were away. Rosie is quite clear about what we have to do first when we go there - hit the beach!

We managed a short while as there was a stiff North-Westerly blowing, everyone else on the beach was bundled up in lots of layers while Rosie wouldn't keep hers on... After half an hour Dave and I decided it was time to get a hot drink so we adjourned to a near by cafe.

Waiting for the Chocolate Cake, as you can see Ted* made short work of it

The following day it was still rather on the brassic side, so we went for a very blowy walk out along the Brigg. But it does give you a great view back across Filey bay.

Rosie with her sherpa

We walked back along the bottom and introduced Rosie to rock pools. I expect that next year we will have to get a net and go pool dipping

2009-09-28T20:37:00.003+01:00

Thank you all for the birthday wishes. We've been away on holiday hence the blogging break but more about that in following posts.

While we were away it was Dave's birthday. I had decided to stitch something for him this year and Plum Street Samplers freebie Coffin Buzz seemed to me particularly apt. Although in Dave's case it's less 'springing to life with glee' and more like watching evolution in process!

Coffin Buzz by Plum Street Samplers (copyright 2008)
stitched over one on 32 count Bone Lugana with Gentle Arts Sampler Thread in Fudge Brownie.

Cake!

2009-09-08T20:22:00.002+01:00

Thank you all for the lovely comments on Rosie's top, they were all very much appreciated.

It was my birthday on Sunday, I would have liked to invite you all round for some cake but the distances involved would have made it impossible so you'll have to make do with a virtual slice!

I had a lovely day. We went out to lunch at a local farm shop, The Balloon Tree. The food was lovely and Rosie was very taken with all the animals and the children's play area. It didn't take her long to get the hang of the rope climb and slides are her new favourite thing!

After lunch we went on to Fangfest - The festival of Practical Arts held in the village of Fangfoss. We had a great time wandering around the festival, Rosie got a new fleece blanket and we got a new milk jug from the pottery. The festival is organised by The Rocking Horse Shop and Rosie had a great time riding on a couple of the sample horses.

I got some lovely presents that included my stash from the Festival of Quilts, Homemade by Elspeth Thompson and Ros Badger, the catalogue from Erna Hiscock's Darning Sampler exhibition and a friendship trifold. My main presents are still to come, the class with Lauren Sauer on Saturday and my parents are going to have Rosie stay overnight next month.

Peasant Blouse

2009-08-26T20:44:00.003+01:00

I can now share with you a sewing project that I've been working on for a while, the baby's peasant blouse from Sew Hip issue 1 refashioned from an old Indian block print cotton shirt of my husbands.

I should say that when I sat down to work on the top it went very quickly, the problem was the perennial one of making the time to do it. I'm really pleased with my first effort at sewing clothes for many years and I know I'm biased but I think Rosie looks very cute in it!

Festival of Quilts

2009-08-24T20:26:00.003+01:00

I went to the Festival of Quilts on Saturday and had a highly enjoyable time catching up with friends, shopping and getting completely overwhelmed at the stunning quilts on display. Unfortunately the only camera I had with me was my phone; my DSLR is too heavy to schlep round the show as a result none of the photo's I took are good enough to share so you'll just have to make do with my new stash:

In liu of quilts I shall leave you with a shot of the glorious flowers that I picked up from the produce table at church yesterday. Rosie is very taken with the pompom dahlia's.

Damsons

2009-08-21T08:41:00.002+01:00

I got lucky last week and found some damsons at my Greengrocers.

Rosie was very taken with them and really enjoyed helping me prep them.

The damsons are now infusing in Gin. Yum :)

Maria Spence

2009-08-14T20:19:00.002+01:00

Here is my most recent progress photo of Maria Spence, since I last posted a photo I've finished the black bird motif and the beige one below it.

2009-08-05T16:07:00.001+01:00

Well, it certainly doesn't feel like it's been fourteen years!

Sewerby Hall

2009-08-01T17:26:00.005+01:00

Rosie and I went over to stay with my parents for a few days this week as Dave was away for work. Rosie had a great time playing with her Nana and Grandpa and despite the weather (which was pretty awful) managed to spend some time on the beach while I went to Scarborough for a window shop. I had a good browse in one of my favourites, Bespoke Country Collection, although all I came out with was a fat quarter of fabric and the good news that they had opened a shop in York.

Thursday we went to Sewerby Hall for the morning as there was a break in the rain. They have a small Childrens Zoo and Rosie really enjoyed looking at all the animals, the Llama's in particular were a big hit!

A nosey Kune Kune Pig

This handsome gentleman knew just where to pose

After the zoo we went for a stroll round the gardens, there is a lovely walled garden with lots of carpet bedding and topiary. The penstemons where looking stunning.

And the Rose garden, we were a few weeks too late to get the full glory.

Saturday Morning

2009-07-25T15:09:00.004+01:00

Dave took Rosie over to see his mother this morning so I had the luxury of the house to myself. I didn't take long to decide what I was going to do with myself, it was up to my sewing room with my coffee to work on the pre-stitching for the Red Rabbit Needlecase class, browse some blogs and listen to a few podcasts. Bliss!

Of course I wasn't totally on my own, Tansy came up to chill out with me.

Spot of Summer

2009-07-21T20:01:00.004+01:00

I've finished the second of The Drawn Threads seasonal spots - Summer.

Stitched on some anonymous 36 count linen from my stash using the recommended threads. I'll attach the charm when I do the finishing, I've still not decided how I'm going to finish these yet.

A Girl and her Daddy

2009-07-13T15:17:00.003+01:00

More Maria Spence

2009-07-06T15:35:00.002+01:00

Here's my most recent progress photo of Maria, since I last posted a photo I've got the blue rosebud motif and started the beige one at the bottom.

Some bits and pieces

2009-07-02T20:10:00.002+01:00

Here are a bunch of crafty finishes that I've had over the last few weeks - first is another rag book for Rosie. After I finished the last one Chris got in touch and very kindly offered me another panel that she had in her stash and had not got round to making up. Here is the finished book, thanks Chris.

Next up is a knitted dishcloth, I've found that I can do a certain amount of knitting round Rosie as long as I don't have to follow much of a pattern, so I'm tending to work on plain top down socks and dishcloths. I took the pattern on this one from the Ackworth Pattern book by Needleprint.

And last up is a goldwork class that I took back in 2004 at the Stitch and Craft show at Olympia. The class was with Jenny Adin-Christie and was to make a small broach. As you can see it looks lovely on my denim jacket.

Summertime

2009-06-28T14:31:00.003+01:00

We harvested the first of our strawberries this week, all six of them! Rosie was very interested in the process and spent quite a while just sniffing them, she wouldn't try eating them but that just meant more for me...

The roses are looking particularly gorgeous this year:

As is the clematis that's grown over my water butt.

Thank you all for the comments on my sewing room. It's not normally that tidy, I'd had a friend over for a stitching session so it had been all picked up.

My Sewing Room

2009-06-24T20:17:00.002+01:00

Susan asked us to show her our sewing rooms to inspire her now she is going to have a dedicated sewing room again so here is mine.

I am lucky enough to have the attic of our house for my sewing room but it does have to double up as our guest room on occasion, so there is a futon bed against one wall. This is a very popular napping spot for one of our cats LOL

On one side of the room I have my worktable, this is usually where I will sit and stitch as it has the best natural light in the room from the Velux windows. The tall chest of drawers behind my chair contains the majority of my threads.

On the other side is the chest of drawers I keep my fabric and some of my kits in. It originally belonged to my Gran and was part of the bedroom set she bought when she got married in 1932.

The end of the room is all shelving, this is where the rest of my stash lives. In front of them is my rocking chair and an antique sewing box that we were given as a wedding present.

I hope you have all enjoyed the tour of my sewing room

Americana Sewing Case

2009-06-15T20:16:00.005+01:00

While I was at Dove Farm I took the opportunity to have some uninterrupted finishing time and the first project that I completed was the Americana Sewing Case by Merry Cox. I took the class online through the Shining Needle Society and I decided when considering the personalisation that I would anglicise the design. So I've stitched the flag of St George and changed the verse to the first stanza of William Blake's poem Jerusalem.

And did these feet in Ancient time
Walk upon England's mountains green

The case front

The back

and the inside of the case. Needless to state I am thrilled with how it turned out!

The other piece I took with me for finishing was Two Friends and a Flower from The Needles Content. It's one of the Breast Cancer fundraisers from Elegant Stitch and the finishing instructions where for making it into a pincushion. It has to be said that I hadn't registered just how big the finished piece would be but again I'm really pleased with it.

Dove Farm 2009

2009-06-10T20:19:00.005+01:00

I spent last weekend on a farm in the Peak District along with some of my stitching friends. We spent the time chatting, stitching, knitting, quilting and lots and lots of laughing!

This is the third year that we've been to the farm and the owner Jane commissioned us to make a wall hanging that can hang in their conference room. I wasn't able to take part but everyone who did take part did a stunning job. Here is the completed hanging:

The farm has a growing flock of alpaca, sheep, cows and poultry. I was only able to get photo's of the alpaca and the hens due to the weather which was distinctly on the soggy side.

Due to the weather we weren't able to enjoy the courtyard but the flowers were looking lovely

You can see more photos of Dove Farm from previous years here and here
and in my photo album if you follow the link in my side bar.

Baa Ram Ewe

2009-06-04T20:46:00.005+01:00

There has been a degree of excitement genereated by knitters in Leeds this week as we've gained a new wool shop - Baa Ram Ewe. Rosie and I went over yesterday to have a browse and had a lovely time. We had a lovely welcome from the owner Verity and she was very tolerant of Rosie's desire to fondle all the wool that was at her eye level.

After much contemplation Rosie and I decided on a skein of Noro Kureyon Sock yarn. As you can see Rosie is very taken with it!

I've also managed to finish my latest pair of socks, knit in Schoeller+Stahl Fortissima Colori Socka Color using a generic top down pattern.

A small Just Nan binge

2009-06-02T16:02:00.003+01:00

I had room in my rotation for two new starts last month and after a very happy time diving into my stash, I came up for air with these Just Nan designs.

First was the Hop Needlebook fob from the In the Tin range from last year. This was my small project for May (I'm trying to stitch one small project a month) I stitched the tin top last year but don't hold your breath for me getting round to the finishing on either of them.

And as I also had an opening for a mid-sized project I pulled the kit for Regency Roses out and made a start. This lovely sampler is a shop exclusive that was designed for Susan at Hanging by a Thread to celebrate the shops 10th Anniversary.