Using my time

 When I come and look after Holly, I regard it as a sort of holiday.  It's actually more restful than most holidays when I tend to want to see and do things.  When I come here I like to "be" and to be creative.  There's a brilliant craft room here where I can make cards, and there's a porch where I can look at the view and click my knitting needles. 

This time I've been making a blanket for a little boy of my acquaintance.  (I mentioned it in an earlier post.)  I wanted to get it finished as T's granny died recently and I think he needs all the comfort he can get.  I was determined to get it finished for him.  And I have.   But Holly seems to have different ideas about who it is for.  

The Tree

 I watch other people's trees with interest as they go through the year and photograph a special specimen each month.  But this tree isn't like that.

This is a tree which lights up.  I bought it one Christmas but left it out when I packed away the other decorations.  I don't often switch on the lights but I do like to decorate it a little.  It has the usual sort of thing at Christmas, small eggs at Easter and I have recently bought these bees.  They made me smile.  

I'd like to make a few things to hang on my tree but I have no idea what.  They need to be 2-4cm high and not weigh much.  Anybody got any ideas?

Better than being at school.

 

When I was at school I was rubbish at sewing, art,  and "sporty things".  Always bottom of the class.  Never sewed a thing of which I could be proud.  Forget painting.  Always last to be picked for a team.

But I've been free of school for fifty five years.  And the great thing is, I don't need to compare myself with anyone else.  My body is a weird shape following a severe motor cycle crash and a bilateral mastectomy but I've found somewhere to swim without feeling self conscious.  I can sew adequately and take really pleasure in being creative with a needle.

So that leaves art.  Shame about that.  I'll never be able to paint or draw.  Or can I?

One place where I have found inspiration is Kirsten's blog "A letter from home".  Kirsten does some lovely little sketches on her blog.  I don't think she'll mind if I say they aren't great art but they are fun and they have inspired me to have a go.  They are so appealing and immediate.

Then the WI has an on line drawing club.  This little drawing (poppies before you ask) was this month's picture and the instructor takes us through it step by step.  We use felt tips which must be the most unintimidating medium ever.  The instuctor is a primary school teacher who has our measure!

And I've just bought my first paint box since I left school and I'm planning on having a crack at water colour painting.  I've found on line classes on painting flowers.  

Maybe I'll find courage to put a few attempts on my blog.  

Trying to get off the naughty list

 Back in March I said I would report on my Christmas projects on the twenty fifth of each month.  April came and went.  May came and went.  I reported nothing.  

But I wasn't idle - honest!  I decorated some candles by sponge dabbing them with paint and then using (home made) stencils to create a design.  (The mottled effect looks better in reality than in the photograph!)

And I used paper napkins and PVA glue to decorate some shells which I then edged with a gold nail polish rim.  All these are now in my Christmas present drawer.

275 sleeps

I like to make Christmas presents but I am not the best organised person in the world.  My aim this year is to do one Christmas project (presents, cards etc.) a month and blog about it on the 25th of the month.  Please keep me on the straight and narrow!

So here is my first project.  A covered notebook which will be a gift for someone.  That poppy fabric has been doing sterling  service for quite a few years!   I bought it to make a skirt in 2019 and it has been used for several projects since.  

It has made a very cheap notebook look like a worthy Christmas present.  

211 sleeps

 I pressed on and made a partridge!  Or at least "the book" says it's a partridge.  The creation on my table looks better than the photo but you get the idea.

The suicidal birds on the roads around here look more like this.

This is the book I am using.

I am regarding this as a challenge.  

And it would still not be a good idea to wait for that drummer drumming.

213 sleeps to go

 I make almost all my Christmas presents and all my own cards.  What I rarely make is anything for me!

And it's years since I did any embroidery, probably at least twenty five years.

So I remedied both this week and embroidered a pear to hang on my Christmas tree. (M from NZ, I hang my head in shame when I look at your glorious creations.)

There may be a partridge to follow.

But don't hold your breath for even one drummer drumming!

U is for UFOs

 Show me some one who has no UFOs and I'll show you someone who isn't a crafter!

UFOs (UnFinished Objects) or PhDs (Projects half Done) seem to be an inevitable part of being creative..  

There's the garment cast on but only the back and half the front actually knitted.  I started a jumper in 2018, shoved it in a drawer and when I got it out a few weeks ago I discovered a hole, maybe moth, more likely mechanical damage.  I pulled it down completely as it was knitted on a circular needle and I'm trying again with a different pattern.

I started a patchwork quilt in 1975.  It was intended to be for a single bed but it's now heading for king size.  In a couple of years it will reach its Golden Jubilee.  Maybe that's a good target for finishing it.  

Then there's the stash of fabric and wool just waiting to be used:  sometimes it's materials bought for a project which never materialised or just as often, it's stuff kept "just in case". 

But I am now sharing with you one object which is no longer unfinished.  Two years ago I started my temperature scarf, knitting one row for each day and using a different colour for each degreee celsius.  I started on my seventieth birthday and finished the day before I was 72.

MyPhD has now graduated.

Lunch

 

One of our local churches is having a lunch tomorrow for people who live alone.  I wanted to help so I offered to make some gifts for people to take home.

It took quite a while!

Robbie

Robbie the tartan reindeer. 

 What did Santa say when he and Mrs Claus gazed up into the sky?

It looks like rain, dear!

Another item to escape from my sewing machine.

Gnome,sweet gnome

 There seems to be an invasion of little fellas.  I think Santa may remove them.  Each has consumed a whole bottle of prosecco, so they may be on his naughty list.

What will my sewing machine get up to next?

Head above parapet

 

I had great ideas for December but on the first day of the month I woke crying out with pain.  I think I may have slept very awkwardly but the pain took several days to subside.  Then the dizziness started.  I've never had this problem before but Christmas lights in a spinning room adds a certain originality to the season.  

Anyway the spinning has downgraded itself to the occasional pirouette so I am now starting on the usual December things except that I won't drive.

Focussing on one very definite  thing seemed to help my head so I was able to sew.  These are a couple of the bags I have made. 

 

TWO

 TWO?  That Was October!  
It was the month I turned 71 and celebrated suitably.  In fact, two weeks on, I am still going out for birthday meals.  I was supposed to go out today but a friend has the dreaded C***d so we have had to postpone.

I've been doing a lot of craft courses,  We have a local set-up called CLIP, Community Learning in Partnership, and I have done a Christmas fabric craft course and a rag quilting course with them.  Both are on-going but I thought you might like to meet my gnome.  I have called him Dopey.  The rag quilting is with pre-loved fabrics which I've found in charity shops.  

I've also done an on-line macrame course with Hobbycraft and made two trees and a star.  It was supposed to be a garland but I may detach the things from the garland and just hang on my tree.

 

I had my breast screening and got the all-clear again so that also makes me very happy.

I have been rather active in leading worship and have visited several new-to-me churches which I may write about sometime.  

Not a bad month.  (Except that Blogger is being even more temperamental than usual.)

C is for Christmas

 I almost started this post by saying "Sorry about that" but I don't feel apologetic  There are eighty eight more sleeps before Christmas so no need to panic, but I want to get a good start on my preparations now. 

I know I've said this before, but when I was in the regular vicars I knew I had to have my personal Christmas prepared (cards written, presents bought and wrapped etc) by the end of October or I didn't get a personal Christmas.  November I prepared my professional Christmas and then in December I went to all the carol services, Christmas parties and general socialising that I was invited to and still had time for the funerals and pastoral visiting which are part of every minister's everyday life.  

Once I retired I let early preparation slip a bit, but last year I made a very determined effort to get ready for Christmas really early, and I was so glad that I did.  December I was able to enjoy Advent and then Christmas, I was able to reflect and pray and the real meaning of Christmas was able to shine though the razzmatazz.  

So, here are two of the first presents I have made.  I made something similar for several friends last year but these are destined for friends who live in different parts of the country.  Each wreath will have to be mailed so they are robust enough to be posted.  My cards are written but left unsealed in case of last minute messages.  

A Previous Playtime

 Writing about my lino cutting playtime reminded me that I haven't blogged about some playtime I had in July.  I went on a hand sewing workshop but I have to confess I brought my stuff home and finished it by machine!

Several ideas for small gifts I feel.  

But maybe without the wobble on the coaster.

Fabric pot

Wobbly coaster

Notebook

.

Key fob

Playtime

 So many things close down in August!  What I really miss is opportunities to craft.  I enjoy going to craft classes both for learning and also for the socialising.  Socialising still happens in August but learning doesn't.

So I decided to give Hobbycraft on line courses a try.  I hadn't done any lino cutting for about fifty years so that seemed a good one to try.  £30 sounded reasonable.  

Last week I received the kit in the post.  There was basic lino printing equipment: a lino knife with three interchangeable blades,  a plastic tray (for ink) a brayer (paint roller) two lino sheets and some black printing ink.  They also sent an A3 artist's pad, an A5 notebook, a pencil, a hand safety guard and a couple of templates.  I priced the whole lot on-line at £33.50.

The course was on-line and there were eight participants.  The instructor was very good and I did this print.  It was much more enjoyable than I remembered.  The lino is now much easier to cut and the hand guard takes away the danger to one's fingers!

I shall definitely have another playtime but this time on my own.

Sorry about this one

 I know many people are allergic to any mention of C*******s before mid-November by the very earliest, but if you make your own cards and presents you will know that not starting before November means not starting at all.

My first job is always making cards.  I make around 100 each year, most of them the same.  I also address the envelopes but leave the card writing until November.  I've gone back to writing envelopes by hand as I found seeing endless address labels as I opened cards last year made everything feel a bit impersonal.  

So here's a batch of this year's effort.  

Finish

 Thanks for being here!  It's a long time since I posted.  I've had a bit of a tricky time struggling with depression and I really couldn't get my mind around posting.  I think I stopped using my SAD lamp too early, (i.e. when the clocks went forward) and I should have used it for at least an extra month.  The depression wasn't severe but everything seemed a huge effort.

One thing I was able to do was to knit!  I knitted various things - scarves, hats, twiddlemuffs.  What I didn't do was finish them.  

Ali at Less is more has set herself the challenge of finishing.  She wants to finish cardigan she started while ill with covid, finish a domestic rearranging project, finish some decorating, finish sorting her allotment.

So, inspired by her, I too have started finishing,  Here's my first finish.  A scarf for a homeless person.  I finished the knitting months ago and this afternoon I have made the fringe.  I have three more of these to finish!

Two years . . .

 . . . ago on 11th March 2020 I decided my life  had to change.  News of a highly infectious virus caused me to withdraw from many things and instead to live in a new way entirely within my own home.  Like everyone I had to accept regulations like nothing we'd seen before in my lifetime.  The world became a worrying, almost frightening place and my home was the best place for me to be.

Within my home I sewed, cooked, knitted, read and did one hundred and one other things while others, far more capable than me waged war on that virus.  And I sat at home and sewed,

Today another war is being waged and it involves hatred and deliberate killing.  Restrictive regulations are the least of the worries being faced by the people of Ukraine.  And still I am safe in my home.

I am just as helpless.  All I can do is pray and help in fundraising.

Wreath made from pattern by Claire Salmon of the Women's Institute

So I have used one of the sewing skills I developed in that war on the home front to make a wreath of sunflowers, the national flower of Ukraine, to be raffled off at a coffee morning tomorrow in aid of humanitarian relief. 

It is so little.  God bless the people of Ukraine. 

A Host of Golden Daffodils

 Well, five of them!

I've been feeling a bit crafty again and I decided to make a spring wreath.  Just a simple one, with five daffodils.  Up-cycled fabric. a bit of felt and my glue gun combined with some sewing and I had this jobby.  I'm quite pleased with it.  I might even make a few more and offer them on Etsy.

That would be a new project!