February done & dusted!

Well, that’s February done & dusted, eh?  Two months gone in a flash!  I haven’t taken any recent photos of the hens, but they’re all well.  Still being a bit lazy with the egg laying but we did collect 46 eggs this month.  That was more than enough for us, and a few boxes for the neighbours.

It’s been rather busy, and noisey here over the last few weeks.  We’ve got a some work going on . . . having our veranda/conservatory renovated.  Things are coming along nicely.  We also had a couple of vet visits with Tali who appears to have something of a sensitive tummy, the poor thing.  Not helped by the fact she keeps on eating whatever she can gobble down before we tell her “No!”,  including dog poop.  Yes, sadly, Flat-coated retrievers have a thing for eating poop and it’s not easy trying to break her of the habit.

Anyhoot . . . a few pretty pictures to liven up this post, and remind me of what was going on in February.

For starts, I grew one year older . . . and treated myself to a couple of pretty cloth dolls.  These are by a French manufacturer – Moulin Roty, and are two of the “Les Rosalies” collection.

On the left, a 32cm doll called Vanille. And on the right her 45cm big sister, called Violette.  I plan on trying my hand at making a cloth doll (or several) this year, and these two will be my muses.  I also received the box set of the series “Fallen Skies” (just love Noah Wylie) from Lindashee . . . so many hours of viewing in store there, and a plant & secateurs from the Husband.

My 5-year old friend, Mona, did a drawing for me.  That’s her house and our house with some birds flying in the sky and the sun just sneaking in too.  Please note, she can now write her name in joined up writing!!!

I’ve also been busy sewing, with stretch fabrics . . . in an attempt to make some clothes for Baby Inkling (due in April) . . . thing is, shop-bought clothes are so cheap these days, and babies grow so fast, I’m not sure if it’s worth my while sewing for a baby. Not when I can nab bargains like this in Lidl.

Still, I am having fun getting to grips with stretch fabric on my Juki, so I’ll show you some photos soon of my efforts.  I’ve also cast on and begun knitting a tiny sweater (even though I haven’t finished sewing up armholes and putting buttons on 3 baby cardigans yet.

The teal cardigan is much farther along now than in the photo, but not quite finished. Because I got side-tracked with a sweater project.

As you can see, I’m having fun with bright colours for baby.  And it’s an excuse to try out a few new things.

 

 

 

another diamond painting finish

I know diamond painting isn’t to everyone’s taste, but I’ve found it very relaxing and quite addictive since I discovered this hobby in 2021.  I’ve just finished a floral design – no idea what flower it’s meant to be but

I  love all the greys, pinks, and swirly bits.  I’m about to begin one of the cheap kits bought in Noz last month.

This one is not full coverage – it’ll be interesting to see if it makes the pandas look more 3-dimensional or not.

Tali – 4 months

Tali is 4 months old today – yay!  She came into the world on 17th October 2022 and into our lives on 12th December 2022, so she’s been with us for just over 2 months.  She’s a right live-wire and has her very own special sense of humour.   She’s still very dainty, and weighs in at 12.2kg

 

but she’s losing her puppy looks and looking more like a Flat-coated retriever.

Still has a mouth full of very sharp milk teeth . . . and I don’t dare wear any of my handknit garments at the moment because she’s forever trying to chew on my arm.  We’ll be signing up for K9 education classes very soon.  We are able to do all the basic obedience training ourselves, because Tali is very biddable (when she wants to be) but she needs to mingle more with other dogs too.

 

 

 

scraphappy # february

Linking up today with other Scrapsters around the world, for Scraphappy, organised by Kate & Gun.

Kate, Gun, Eva, Sue, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy,  Tracy, 
Jill, Jan, Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys,
Claire, Jean, Jon, Dawn, Jule, Gwen,
Sunny, Kjerstin, Sue L, Vera, Edith
Nanette, Ann, Dawn 2, Carol,
Preeti, Debbierose, Nóilin, Viv and Karrin

Back in October 2019 I made some dog beds, for Gibbs, recycling some old jeans and an old duvet quilt (for the inside).  Both beds are still going strong, despite being thrown in the washing machine several times a month, but I decided to make a few new ones to celebrate Tali’s arrival in our home.   This is more of a recycling project than a “scrap” project, however all fabric came either from old pairs of jeans (due to go the Red Cross bin) or from the box of fabrics inherited from MIL in 2015.   The fronts of beds were made, patchworking pieces of denim together, and also a bit of old curtain.

Any holes/rips in denim were very roughly repaired by sewing a patch on the back and doing a quick zigzag.

And I made use of different embroidery stitches on my Juki to sew an extra seam along each fabric join – this helps to reinforce the patchwork aspect, keep seams flat on the inside, and add a little touch of prettiness to the front.

Beds are already in use.

SAL -“my day off” #8

I seem to be apologising every SAL update Sunday, for the lack of progress when there really is no need for me to be apologising.  We each set our own pace, and this SAL is supposed to be a friendly way to motivate each other. The fact I’m slow, doesn’t mean I not enjoying this project, just that I allow myself to become side-tracked with other crafts.

Anyway, the group of fellow SAL stitchers are the following.

Avis, Claire, Gun, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, 

Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Megan, Deborah, Sharon, Daisy,

AJ, Cathie, Linda, Helen, Connie, Cindy, MaryMargaret

It’s always a pleasure to visit and see what they’re up to.

My photo from 3 weeks ago looked like this

For this time, it looks like this.

knitting & crochet

I’m alternating between knitting & crochet.  First, trying out the basic pattern from one of my new crafting books.

I followed the smallest kids’ size, because the aim was to understand the basic pattern and the anatomy of the slipper.  It’s ever so clever!!!!  I’ve learned how to double crochet around back posts and front posts, which created a lovely texture.    I still have to make the features of the animal these slippers are going to become, but that’ll be for another time.

What I was interested in was, seeing how the basic pattern worked, and also seeing how it crocheted up for size.  I’d read quite a few comments on @m@zon about sizing and I do find that it’s more difficult to get gauge correct in crochet than in knitting.

I was using an Alison & Mae “medium” yarn, which is supposed to be aran, on the recommended hooks, and my first slipper came out a bit smaller than it’s supposed to. However, I think it’s the yarn, and not my tension.  I tried making soles in a charcoal grey Alison & Mae yarn, and they worked up much bigger – proof that even within brands, the thickness of yarn can vary and it’s not necessarily the fault of the crafter.

When not crocheting, I’ve been knitting in bright colours for baby Inkling who is due mid-April-ish.

Following a pattern (free download) for a very easy baby cardigan.  It’s knit top down, with increasing for sleeves, which gives a seamless raglan finish.  The hardest part is knitting the sleeves on DPNs to keep the cardie seamless, but it really is a joy to knit.  It’s a DK pattern, so I cast on in DMC Knitty 4 for the first one.  However, I’m daring to try an Alison & Mae Medium (supposedly aran) for the second version.

February’s getting away!

Well, January went by in the blink of an eye and it already feels like February is getting away!  I’ve been flitting from one craft to another over these past days but do have one finished project to share with you!  I’m very proud of this one!  A sweater, but for which I combined two different patterns, and made up my own overall design.

This is the pattern it’s based on for the shape. A short, boxy type sweater.  I bought this pattern (originally) with the idea of following it completely and knitting myself a cabled sweater. It’s difficult to see in photo, but the lower half of body is riddled with cable patterns, as are the lower parts of sleeves.  However, after casting on and trying a few rows, I knew it was going to be too difficult for me at this stage in my knitting career . . . so after doing some maths and tension swatches, I decided to work off-set rib in place of the cables.

This was a WIP photo I showed you: knitting with Alison & Mae silver grey acrylic aran.  It cost 1.09€ for a 100g ball . . . I used 500g, so it ended up being a very cheap project!

Sleeves are raglan, which is my favourite sleeve as seams look so neat.   Above photo is a front view.

Back view.

And side view.  The collar is double thickness: 1×1 rib, 17cm of, then folded to the inside and sewn down, making it very warm & snuggly.

And last photo of yours truly to show the fit.  I love how it turned out and I love how it feels on.