Monday, December 24, 2007

Wishing you all a very merry christmas!

Time seems to have got away from me and I have only just finished writing my christmas cards which although technically under the wire is very very late.
The reason for my tardiness is my Reindeer quilt which I finished last night. The pattern suggested using only the hands of children under 10 but, I decided to have one copy both Mario and my hands and make it into a proper family quilt. Rudolph's antlers are made from a copy of each of the childrens hands.
In october I imagined that I would have loads of gifts made but the reality is that I only managed two ( well the kids got slippers but, they have been wearing them for a while now!)
The Hemlock Ring for BlueGreenWorld it is in Cascade 220 which I bought from a very nice lady on Ebay.
I really like the design and had thought that I might make one for casually throwing over my sofa but, I shall put that idea on hold for a while as it was definately one that needed concentration. the dark colour was a nightmare in the evenings so it was one that had to be played with during the day. It blocked really well but subsequently bumped up in the middle after being wrapped. It has been opened and was a hit with both its recipeint and her very aloof cat Jack who actually let me stroke him once he had given it a good sniff.
The other present was for J it is the swallowtail shawl from the interweaves magazine. Totally breathtaking when it has been blocked. It also has the advantage of using less than one skein of the Jaggerspun. This is definately one I will make again though with beads rather than nubbs as they really slowed me down.

I hope that you all have a wonderful,peaceful christmas and that the New year brings you everything you need.

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Oops I forgot to post!

I hadn't realised how long it had been since my last post. I seem to have had a terrible cold for several weeks with a cough that I just can't shift. I have dusted off my sewing machine and have several christmas inspired projects ( I have to say the quilt mania magazine has a lot to answer for) started hopefully that will be finished in time for christmas there are somethings that have been completed but I would have to say I have started more than I have finished!
The finished projects in order of appearance are an Advent Calender for my friend's little boy Tobey.
I had a jag of making these about 3 years ago when I made for all the children I knew but, that was before Tobey was born. His mum put in a request last year but I couldn't find a nice one.This one was waiting for me in my local shop funny how that sometimes works. It only took me an evening to put this calender together. Though I have to say by the time I got around to posting it advent was already under way. It's late arrival hasn't stopped it from being popular with Tobey!



From Santa with Love Quilt. You might remember this from last year, I just ran out of time so put it away. I am really glad I did as I have come to it fresh and the embellishments that I found to go on it are perfect. I think I have mastered machine quilting though it doesn't look proffessional yet the tension is right which is a vast improvement on what has gone before. I am putting my new found skills to use on Anna's Starrey night another quilt from earlier in the year.




The Harrogate slippers are finished, you wouldn't think 24 rows could take so long but they were not very interesting to knit just garter st also I was a couple of rows short on both Oriana's and Inigo's so had to send off for some more yarn which was really annoying. Elenya has the stripey, Inigo the red and Oriana has the flowers. It took three machine washes to get them to the right size and Elenya's are still a little big I would have to say that the sizes are over generous. The children love them however, and my mum and the childminded children are also looking longingly!
I have cast on Gretel by Yolanda in the Lang SilkDream wool and silk I bought in Belgium earlier in the year aren't I good using stash.

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