3 Ways to Embrace the Cold

 

 

                                                      Reading, Resting and Knitting

We haven't felt inclined to venture out much over the weekend.  After taking a tumble at work on an icy piece of ground and hurting my left knee; bruising and swelling (not just to my knee but to my ego too) it's been far nicer to stay warm, cosy and safe in the house.  Much nicer to look at the snow from the comfort of my sofa whilst cupping a warm drink in my hand.   This has also given me plenty of time for resting and reading over the past few days, but I'm determined that I should make more time for crafting. So in between reading and resting,  I've decided to stash bust those odds and ends of wool from previous projects. You know,  the ones that are too small to make a project on their own but added together they should or could  make something quite spectacular, such as the  Manic Panic Cowl. 

When I have ventured out into the snowy winter wonderland, I have been  going between my Norie hat and Tears of Bronze.  Both patterns are available from Ravelry.

Me a Gardener.....no!

  

 

Back in April of this year (during the Easter Holidays to be precise)  I decided to start a blouse pattern, and as I explained I normally just cut straight from the pattern, but in this case I thought lets trace it because in the near future I'm hoping to shed some weight, and this pattern was at the top end of the pricing range, so I thought lets just keep it in all its splendour.   Well during my summer holidays I decided to go to the next level and actually cut out the pattern and then the material.  Well, when I say the material, (the ditsy flower stuff) what I actually mean is I took a bit of a wobble at cutting the fabric for the blouse  and decided to make a toile,  but I didn't  have any muslin to hand so I racked and racked my stash until I came upon the idea that I could just use a new cheap lemon bedsheet.  So I did!  Although I did get quite carried away.  You see, this was only meant to be a test garment to help me iron out any mistakes or quirks of the material, but as you can see by the picture I have attached a peter pan collar, bias binding and ruffle sleeves.  I showed a couple of friends and family the final product and they thought it was stunning. they were also pretty gobsmacked when I told them it was made from a bedsheet.  Yip!  My bedsheet blouse is so lovely, that I might just have to wear it with jeans and flats.

During my summer holidays I also had a surf around on Amazon, which is always a bit of a mistake because inevitably I always end up making a purchase that I don't really need.  Although, I was quite good I only purchased one book, and no, it wasn't a craft book ( it only took me 4 hours to re-organise my book shelves). I did really need the Audrey Hepburn book.  Why? Just because, was my answer to Paul.

As well as sewing and reading, my garden received some love and attention.  My Primroses went to seed after flowering (this was intentional) as I wanted to harvest the seeds so that I could replant them to produce new plants. It's the first time I have ever harvested seeds of any kind and I wasn't quite sure what I was doing and if I was doing it right.  Yet I have little brown things collected in a tub so I will keep you informed as and when I plant them.  My summer holidays had some warm days here and there so I decided to purchase some new plants online, and I was rewarded with free plug plants. Although, I am a bit miffed at the condition of the Geranium plug plants (last picture).  I know that I have come a long way in my gardening skills, but I think they are pushing it by sending plants that are half dead with twig stems. Nevertheless, they are repotted, watered and fed so we will have to see what happens.  And the rose plant that I received for my birthday in April, well I thought I had killed it, the buds where dead, it was covered in greenfly and had dead leaves and twigs everywhere.  So I shoved it outside, sprayed it and then cut all the deadness off, and do you know what? It's super healthy, new leaves and buds sprouting everywhere. This is one plant up to now that I have never been able to keep. So I'm feeling quite proud and smirky right now.  I wonder if I can now call myself a gardener?

xoxoxoxo