Ursula Mittens

Another completed project from Kate Davies's book, The Colours of Shetland.

The pattern is called Ursula mittens.  The mittens are a lovely snug fit, but I would have preferred a longer cuff.  Also the thumb would have been better if it was more fitted.  Details of the yarn etc I used can be found, as always, on my Ravelry page, here.

I'm satisfied with the mittens but not madly in love with them.  They'll keep me warm this winter and I'm happy with the lovely Autumnal colour combination.

Now I'm off to cast on for Kate Davies's Scatness Tam - I do love her hat patterns so I am anticipating a less muted response to this project.

A Relaxing Stroll Through the Pinewoods

How about joining me on a relaxing stroll in Formby, just 7 miles up the coast from where I live.

Let's set off and explore

Through the woods

In the pinewoods - look out for any red squirrels

Emerging from the woods we arrive at the coastal hinterland

See the sandhills in the distance

Past the windswept trees

Approaching the sandhills
 

Almost at the beach

A reminder of the fragility of the environment

The beach, popular with both two- and four- legged walkers

Watching the gentle waves

So relaxing 

Feel the stress slipping away 

Time to turn back 

Past some interestingly twisted trees

And back to where we started.

What a wonderful way to spend a few hours.  Thank you so much for joining me on the walk, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.  Where shall we walk to next?

A Little Embroidery Doodle

Having borrowed the lovely embroidery book from the library, as mentioned in my post yesterday, I couldn't resist a little doodle.

It didn't take long to do and was a lovely distraction.  I always love embroidery, and resistance was never an option.

Patchwork... But, Maybe Now Embroidery

I had some spare time yesterday, so I thought I'd make this week's scrap challenge over at Samelia's Mum - a double tulip pincushion.

I do love patchwork but my skill level is probably only intermediate, at best.  This was surprisingly quick to make and looks quite effective.  I may try some more patchwork / quilting but then again....

I popped into the library this morning and borrowed this book.

It's called The Hand Stitched Home and it's by Caroline Zoob.

There are lots of lovely projects with fun embroidery details to stitch as well as ideas for using vintage embroidery.

Now I'm thinking I'd love to do one of these - but what about the mittens I've started knitting, the crochet squares to make a blanket (started just the other day) and not forgetting the seamless sweater, now languishing at the bottom of the knitting bag!

Better switch the laptop off and get going!!

Northmavine Hap - finshed

Despite, what felt like a never-ending sewn cast-off, I've finished my shawl by Kate Davies.  The pattern is called Northmavine Hap and is knitted in 4 ply wool.

It was quick to knit and the pattern was very clearly explained.

I used Rowan's Fine Tweed for my version.  I used six colours rather than five because I didn't have 3 balls of the main shade.  You can see full details of this project on my Ravelry page, here.

This shawl will be perfect for the evenings when it's getting colder.  I feel cosier already.

Out of the Comfort Zone

Sometimes it's nice to stay in your comfort zone and tootle along nicely.  But every now and then it's good to challenge yourself and be daring.  Obviously I'm not talking about mountain climbing, taking up snowboarding or anything risky like that, I'm a happy-at-home sort of girl.  No, what I'm talking about is knitting patterns! Although I have found that some knitting patterns can be a bit scary and risky!

Anyway, for years and years I have been a faithful follower of Kim Hargreaves and her wonderful fitted and styled knits but this year I've wanted to try something fresh and new, something different.  Step up Kate Davies!

Her patterns are wonderfully explained and always provide a challenging new technique to give you goosebumps (although I'm not sure I'm brave enough for steeks yet).  I've made a few of her hats and now I've bought her ebook - Colours of Shetland.

Full of detail and lots of narrative on the background inspiration for the patterns.  Here are some of my favourite patterns.

Northmavine Hap

Northmavine Hoody

Ursula Mittens

Scatness Tam

Scatness Tunic

Ursula Cardigan

The Northmavine Hap should be finished this weekend - sewn cast off to try.  Then I have my eye on the Scatness Tam, although the mittens would be useful,because it's suddenly gone cold here.

I'm still working on my seamless sweater pattern, and in fact have been inspired to adapt what I was doing by a suggestion from one of Kate's patterns.  I'm on the second sleeve at the moment but the lovely Hap distracted me!

It may not be world changing but I'm feeling like an intrepid explorer - even though I haven't left the house.  Bring on the next challenge.

Farewell Beloved Tree

When we moved into our home - nearly thirty years ago, there was a delightful blue cedar in the front garden.  It was probably about ten years old at the time.

Over the years it has grown and grown (as trees should).  Unfortunately, it had grown and grown too much and we had problems - it was too near the house and the roots were starting to behave very badly.

View(?) from Eve's window

We had to take the difficult decision to say goodbye.

One last hug

Almost gone

Now, the front of the house is so much brighter.  There are no pesky needles from the tree to tread into the hallway.  And the paving stones are all level again (they had been a serious trip hazard to the postman!).

We'll miss it - nowhere to hang the bunting or do a little yarn bombing - but we have to move on.

Chicken Scratch Embroidery

These days I seem to spend so much time browsing Pinterest.  There are so many new ideas out there it's impossible not to be inspired several times a day.

It's one thing being inspired but another actually working on that inspiration.  I have a huge collection of pins on Pinterest of "stuff I want to make".

So I decided I needed to act on some of them.  Less browsing, more crafting!

So here we have my first sample of chicken scratch embroidery.

Doesn't it look effective?  It's worked on gingham, so it's very easy to follow a pattern.

I'll try some more patterns, maybe on bigger squared gingham, try different colour combinations, improve my stitch definition.

There are some wonderful designs on Pinterest and if you want to have a go yourself, Mary Corbet's Needle 'n' Thread is a good place to start.