Another Shawl finished!

Finished the cream shawl this afternoon, just need to bind off & block!

Woolfest

Very excited; have sent off my booking form for Galina Khmeleva's workshop on Orenburg Shawls at this year's Woolfest. I know it's not until June, but it'll get booked up quickly & it's something to look forward to.

Am getting on slowly with the shawl, have finished the star & first edging bit & just started the second edging, hopefully will finish over the weekend. This where I seem to remember it gets tricky so I'll need to turn the TV & radio off & concentrate - always a hard thing for me! It always surprises me when I get to the end of a row & I've the right amount of stitches!

New Shawl

Have just started a new laceweight Shawl, I'd forgotton how boring the first bit is.

But,I know it'll be worth it in the end.

Felting

Well, I had a day's felting lesson with a friend today. It's like mud pies for girls!

This is what I produced in a morning. It's hard work though, my arms & wrists were really sore!

Will most probably make some corsages with these bits, as they're only small & quite thin, although they're 4 layers.

I eventually would like to make bags, but now realise how much fleece you'd need to make it thick & durable enough not to lose your purse!

Have been busy making some of the crochet corsages too.

Beaded Shawl

Finished! My first beaded shawl & even though I haven't blocked it yet I love it. Love the way the beads catch the light, lovely....

Our local wool shop is out of action because of the floods, so we went to Keswick today & bought a stash of DK wool to make some corsages with, some colours are for orders for friends & others are maybe for my Etsy shop, when I finally get it up & running....

Also bought some sock yarn, solid grey for husband & a multi-purpley one for me.

Not enough hours in the day.....

Heating...

Glory, glory, the boiler's working again!

It's been leaking all over Christmas, so we haven't been using it for the last 2 weeks, not knowing whether it was leaking oil or water, but today we got the plumber to come & have a look & luckily it's only water, so we have heating & hot water again; which you really appreciate it when it was -8 this morning at 10.00! The plumbers are going to come back when it's warmer (August, I think) & empty the cistern & sort out the problem.........

More Christmas

This is our Christmas tree, it's coming down tomorrow as the dog keeps knocking the needles & my favourite baubles off it!

And this is our dog......

Had some of the elderflower champagne I'd made during the summer over Christmas, it's so lovely, such a gorgeous taste with the smell of summer & a gentle fizz, will definitely make lots more next year.

Also, had some of the chutneys, jellies, jams, pickles & membrillo, which is a quince cheese which they eat in Spain with Manchego cheese. First time I've made this & it turned out brilliantly, it really complements the cheese, perfect combination of sweet & sour.

These are my shelves in a cupboard, I'm very sad & just like looking at all the jars lined up.

The fruit gins/whiskies/brandies are waiting to be decanted. The blackberry brandy & whisky are ready but the sloe gin still tastes like cough mixture! When I decant the blackberries, I want to have them as a special dessert with some luxury ice cream or pannacotta - lovely.......

Happy New Year!

Well, Christmas is over for another year & we're into 2010. I'm always grateful to see the back of the old year & on with the new......

I don't like new year's resolutions as it just sets you up to fail, & they're always the same;
lose more weight,
exercise more,
etc, etc
although one year I did make a resolution to go away somewhere every month of the year, that was a good one, if expensive & don't think I made it through the whole year!

However, this year I want to finish all the projects I've got on the go before starting new ones, actually, that's about to go out the window already as I'm learning how to felt next week! But generally speaking, I WILL TRY & FINISH THINGS BEFORE I START SOMETHING NEW....

I did finish the other sock, bit tight around the top as I usually cast on so loosely I didn't want my socks falling down, so I cast on quite tightly, hopefully they'll loosen a bit. Enjoyed making them, in a masochistic sort of way, will definitely have a go at some more exciting designs, even the husband wants a pair!

I need to finish my beaded shawl, only 5 rows to go....