a thank you rose and a baby cardie

I didn't get nearly as much done last week as I'd hoped as I was struck down with a really bad cold. I basically sat or lay on the couch for 4 whole days feeling yucky. I'm on the mend now, thankfully. Crumbs I do hate being unwell.

I got a lovely parcel whilst I was feeling sorry for myself which made me feel a lot better! It was a box from interflora!

Inside the box was a lovely rose.

There was a card:

And on the card it said -

Oh my goodness. I was stunned! Gail - who I made the diary cover for shown in my last post - sent me a rose to thank me! How lovely! How kind! I only hope I can keep it alive!

The only crafty thing I managed last week was to finish off this wee cardigan.

I really was surprised at how far apart the colour changes were in this yarn. There was also no repeat of the colours so I couldn't start the second front in the same place as the first front. It's a bit weird but I don't think it's horrible. If Debbie doesn't like it, she can always make it a sleeping-only cardie. I do remember having a few sleeping-only cardies when my two were wee. You know, the ones that are just a wee bit strange for some reason or another.

I dug out my Hague linker to sew it up - much quicker than sewing it by hand.

This is the back of the cardigan. It looks like it was deliberate to have those dark pinks matching at the top of the back and sleeves - it wasn't. It's pure fluke!

Now for a laugh. I was standing making a cup of coffee in the utility room last week when I noticed this on the mug cupboard door.

It's a Christmas poem written by one of the girls when they were at Primary school. It - along with many others - gets stuck on the kitchen/utility room cupboard doors as part of our Christmas decor. Why is it still there? We use that mug cupboard every single day - at least 4 times a day. How did we not see it? How did Joanna not see it? It made me laugh so hard when I saw it. I wonder if there are any other Christmas decorations still in full sight? I wouldn't be at all surprised! :oD

bulbs and the one that got away

I bought some hyacinth bulbs last year and this is how they've done. (Please ignore the filthy windows!) These are the pink ones.

These are the purple ones - not much difference between them, is there?

These are the red ones.

And these are the white ones - they're a wee bitty further on than this now (I took these photos last Friday).

I was a bit worried that all those hyacinths would be really powerful together scent-wise but they're not. The smell is absolutely glorious!

We've also had success with an amaryllis plant that I got out of Aldi's for half price - all of £1.49.

I'm not really much of a plant person - I like them well enough but I'm not that good at looking after them. I'm obviously not bad at looking after hyacinths and amaryllises! Go me. :o)

Around this time every year, I seem to post a similar photo. This is Christmas decoration that wins "the one that got away" prize this year.

This is the dining room door out to the garden. We're in this room every single day - in fact, we eat all our meals in here! I don't know how we didn't spot it earlier! There's always one! LOL

all sorts of sewing going on

The 5 patchwork stockings I was working on all got finished and loaded into the tartan bee shop.

Then I had to make 3 new bow tie brooches for the new ladies who joined the choir I sing in. I'm pretty sure they won't be taking part in our concert with us - 5 weeks to learn all 14 songs we'll be singing is a bit much really - but I thought it would be better to be prepared so I just went ahead and made the brooches for them.

I bought and planted 12 hyacinth bulbs - 4 bowls each with 3 bulbs in them. They'll be fabulous when they come out - and probably a bit overpowering scent-wise!

The biggest thing I've been doing lately is embroidering reindeer. I got the set here.

I was really pleased that there were the correct number of reindeer! "You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen ..." etc. I'm thinking of embroidering their names under each one so I'll have to choose which one is Rudolf so I can put a red sequin or a red button on his nose!

Oh and you might have noticed that, at one point, a plaster appeared on one of my fingers. I didn't sew through my finger but it did come into contact with the jaggy end of the machine needle! Ouchy!

from Archer to Amaryllis

I finished another Archer shirt on Saturday.

I love this one just as much as the first one I made which I blogged about here. It's a really dark navy needlecord with flowers in various colours all over it. I picked some creamy flower buttons to go with it - very appropriate!

After finishing the shirt, I was looking through my piles of fabric wondering what to make next. I had a bit leftover from a dress I made in December 2014 and realised it was big enough to make a tablecloth with so that's exactly what I did. I overlocked and hemmed the edges, gave it a quick press and then, about 10 minutes after digging it out of the pile, put it on the dining room table. Lovely!

I must remember and not lie on the table with my dress on or I'll be invisible! LOL

Yesterday I cut out and started sewing a pair of grey trousers. I finished them off today. Another pair of Simplicity 5844, view E.

Lastly, this is our Amaryllis.

Isn't it glorious?

There's still another flower to come. I hope these three are still out when the last flower opens. It'll be even more fabulous than it is!

skirt, hyacinths, hexagons & books

I made another skirt for myself yesterday. It's in a polyester suede type fabric which Santa brought me and I made it using the pattern I made from my own measurements using the "Sew What Skirts" book. I've made this skirt so many times now, the paper I used to draw the pattern is almost worn out! I really should dig out the roll of paper and make myself a new one!

I used a yellow bias binding at the waist this time - see the left side of the photo below to see the colour - and, as I didn't have an ordinary brown zip in my stash, I used an invisible zip instead. I'm not fond of sewing invisible zips but I must admit to being chuffed at how well this one looks, well, invisible - apart from the zip pull, of course!

This morning, I was in Lidl and bought myself a wee bowl of hyacinths. I planted them as soon as I got home and, according to the instructions, in 10 days I'll be taking them out of the cupboard at the bottom of the stairs to display them. I wrote it in my diary in case I forget!!

This is the design on the wee pottery bowl. Not bad for only £2.49, eh?

This afternoon I decided to see how many hexagons I had in the box where I've been keeping them. I started these back in April last year. I haven't been working on them non-stop - nothing like it. I take the urge now and then and then I stop again.

I tipped them out ...

.... then arranged them in piles of 10.

100 made! I don't know how many more I'll do or how many more I think I'll need. I do still have a few still needing their black "rounds" crocheted on. I don't think a few more would go amiss!

Douglas kindly got me down a pile of old books which were on high shelves in the room I used to use as my sewing room. He now uses it as his train room with his huge train table taking up most of the space in that wee room. I couldn't reach the shelves so he got these down for me yesterday. I've not read these books in years so it'll be a bit like re-visiting old friends. I'm looking forward to reading every single one of them!

Fun times! :o)

dressmaking, lil twister patchwork and flowers

I've not been doing much sewing this week as I've been having trouble with my back and neck. Not a lot of trouble but I can't do as much sewing or cutting out as I'd like to. I'm not worried by this - I just have to be careful and not overdo. I think that's the hardest part because I have all these plans in my head of things I'd like to get on with but I just have to be patient. I will get them done just not this week!
Anyway I have made a blouse this week. Just the button threads to tie and finish off and the buttonholes to cut then it's done.

The fabric is a very narrow lilac and white stripe. The buttons came from my own stash - more stuff used up!

My next project is a Christmas one. I'm excited to see how it turns out! Watch this space!

We've had a lot of *really* heavy rain here this week and it's battered our gladioli so hard that they were beginning to give up the will to stand up straight. So I went out and cut the ones that were keeling over and brought them inside. Aren't they just gorgeous? I think so!

in the garden

Although I have done a wee bit of sewing this week, today I spent some time sitting out in the garden because - WOW! - the sun shone! A-MA-ZING!! Of course, I took my camera out to document said sunshine because it'll probably be raining again tomorrow!

Here's our hanging basket:

The Livingstone daisies really look their best when the sun shines.

Some nasturtiums - nasturtia??

The hydrangea has tons of heads on it this year - it usually does when it gets a lot of rain!

I just adore fuchsias. I remember as a child calling them the ballerina plant because they reminded me of ballerinas. They still do! :o)

I bought this earlier this year in the supermarket. According to the label it's a "blue lace cap hydrangea". Em, no it's not ... but it's pretty anyway.

And here's what I took outside with me to do. The unpicking had to be done because I forgot that in the tumbler pattern, the rows aren't all the same. Oh well, at least I didn't have to unpick all 60 of the pairs - just 6.

I finally managed to cut a few sweetpeas. They've really been affected by all the rain this year but I'm hoping that more will come now that they're being cut. I love the smell of sweetpeas.