Taking Stock in October

Posted on October 14, 2015 by The Little Room of Rachell

Making : jam! Apple and blackberry, then apple and mixed berries (red currants, black currants, blackberries, raspberries)

Cooking : my version of my favourite Itsu dish: teriyaki salmon

Drinking : English breakfast tea, whatever the time of day

Reading: Diary of The Lady by Rachel Johnson

Wanting: to find back issues of The Lady magazine

Looking: at the bird feeeders a lot – it’s pure theatre

Playing: scare the squirrel away, watching him return as soon as the door is closed

Deciding: it’s a pointless game but I DO NOT want to see him hanging upside down, scooping bird seed into his mouth

Wishing: I’d stuck to plan A today

Enjoying: cooking with apples and tomatoes from the garden

Waiting: for a parcel from China

Liking: having 164 episodes of Frasier recorded, it’s comfort telly

Wondering: how many times I’m going to hear “Do you know how many episoodes of Frasier you’ve recorded????!

Loving: the humour of my new audio book although unsure at first (Madensky Square, Eva Ibbotson)

Pondering: serious topics

Considering: buying chocolate flavoured instant cofffee from Waitrose, though only ever occasionally drink filter coffee

Buying: toilet rolls without embossed puppies, much more for puppies – madness!

Watching: the weather change

Hoping: to see more starling murmurations

Marvelling: at the starlings who are coming mob-handed into the garden, even the squirrel is startled
Cringing: at the things people say (roaring with laughter at others)

Needing: some autumn/winter outfits

Questioning: why? Lots, as usual

Smelling: my lovely freesias

Wearing: ha ha! (jumble sale recluse look today)

Following: witty people

Noticing: how much cooler it is in the evenings

Knowing: it’s time to eat something

Thinking: of appley puddlings

Admiring: colours in nature

Sorting: more books to give away

Getting: a bit behind on a secret thing

Bookmarking: patterns, always

Coveting: a Thames riverside apartment

Disliking: that you hoover thoroughly one day and it needs doing again the next

Opening: a new packet of butterfly shaped pasta – pretty!

Giggling: at the Man Up film, ‘rewinding’ the Reflex bit

Feeling: cheerful

Snacking: on a variety of apple which taste of pears

Helping: encourage a friend to buy more yarn (naughty!)

Hearing: birdsong
If you fancy Taking Stock too you can get the list from Pip.

Spring birdies

Posted on March 12, 2014 by The Little Room of Rachell

Another make from my Cath Kidson Sew! book. It’s not my best, or coolest make, so far…

…so I’m not altogether sure about blogging this, but they are what my friend and I have pootled about making this afternoon. She’s the friend I made a tote bag with in January. I’m aware that The Great British Sewing Bee are still advertising for participants for the third series -woo hoo! – but don’t think we’re quite ready to apply…

If I hadn’t been too lazy to get my iphone, before turning it out the right way, I could have shown you how much my machine stitching has improved. It follows the line of the bird template really well, apart from slightly wiggle on the beak but that doesn’t show much. See the gold stitching on my raw edge applique on the wing? I reckon sewing is about getting used to operating the foot pedal at a good speed, unless you’ve got a fancy speed-limited machine which frankly is a bit of a cheat, and being able to stop in time to turn the material. I can’t sew in shoes though, I see GBSB keep showing Chinelo’s shoeless foot on the pedal, is it that unusual to sew barefoot? I did take my right boot off at the Mystery Workshop, now I’m thinking about it, I guess no one else seemed to dive under the table. Does that make me eccentric?!

My bird’s head looks slightly rooster-like. I reckon that could be my violent stabbing of the toy filling with a chopstick!

They’re meant to be lavender bags but it’s not the season for it, also they seem a little big, so we filled them with toy stuffing for pincushions. I’ve got to stop making pincushions now – that’s three this year alone. I guess I’ve used a range of techniques at least. Here are some others I’ve made, all crocheted apart from the cactus, if you fancy going pincushion crazy as well: knitted cactus pincushion, Springtime hat pincushion, flower pincushion and floating pincushion (written on the 16th day of my newly hatched blog I see!)

Who’s going to the Knitting and Stitch Show this week/end? Hands up please!

Crochet doings

Posted on January 13, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

Morning!

Here’s what I’m doing at the moment, though I’ve haven’t done much crochet this week as the work I’ve put off for so long has to be done by next Thursday. I’m going to be working next Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday elsewhere so time is lacking. I can see a long weekend of sighing and a lot of Earl Grey being drunk next to a red-hot lap top! It’s my own fault, if we really need to talk blame… *smirk*

Here it is in all it’s-all-wibbly-needs-blocking-badly-‘glory’.

I’ve unravelled the first circle so far, it’s the larger one, and am going to make one of those folded circle birds everyone seems to making at the moment.

The other circle is new and improved with a smaller 3.5mm hook, and greater attention to detail…those stitches have to be counted and recounted as I go, there’s no getting away from it.

Lynne said that she goes into the back loop when ss into the 3rd chain at the end of a curcuit and she still has gappy bits, so not to worry. She is the master of knitting and crochet, so I’m not worrying about it.

These aren’t the colours I’d have chosen to put together, but I’m using scraps. The surprising thing is I’ve had many compliments on the colour combination! It’s made me like them more. I know. I’m a sucker for flattery…

This is what I call (I know; I sound like Miranda’s Mum!) The Hilton crochet. I stayed in the one in Nottingham last November without taking any crochet. I madly thought it would be good to have a break for a few days. My fingers started itching in an alarming way, so much so that there seemed only one thing to do – I had to go to the John Lewis, conveniently located next door to the hotel, and buy a hook and some cotton.

Experimenting with a different middle. I prefer this to the usual GS cross.

Those pesky ends!!! …Actually it’s not popular to say this but I don’t mind the darning at all. It makes a change and doesn’t take long at all.

Rowan HK cotton. It’s my first go with it. I like it but I’m not sure it works for clothing or a blanket, not for me anyway. Plus it’s mahoosively ££££££ for the 50g you get. They offer a nice range of colours though, I can imagine using it for decorative bits and pieces.

This is probably going to be a bag, only 25 more squares to go I reckon. Don’t hold your breath for a big reveal soon. It’s not going to happen too quickly!!!