frayed at the edge

I want a new garden .......

........ and I want it now!!  Why?  Well, yesterday, we had a trip up to Edinburgh to visit Gardening Scotland  It wasn't quite on the same scale as the world-famous Chelsea Flower Show, but we saw some wonderful gardens

 

we liked this low maintenance garden

 

 

 a place to relax, surrounded by water

 

 

an eco-friendly garden

 

 

this little water feature looked as if it had been there for years, not days!

 

 

planting to attract bees

 

There were also tiny gardens, which were entries in a schools competition

 

I hope they dried the sewing machine afterwards!

 

 

time for tea?

 

There were other things to admire

 

this was a rather scary bird .......

 

 

..... unlike this fluffy chick!!

 

But the best bit of the day for me didn't involve gardens or cute baby birds ......... it was seeing my lovely friend Helen, who had a stall selling her beautiful yarns, as I hadn't seen her for almost a year!

 

 

If you look at two wraps hanging behind us, you may recognise the one on the right as the kit I bought recently ....... and yes, I succumbed to the kit for the other one, the gorgeous Alina, which can be knitted as a wrap or a triangular shawl (I think I'll do the wrap)

 

the kit comes in a lovely little bag

 

 

Helen's colours reflect her surroundings in beautiful Sutherland

 

I have been busy knitting, as I hope to have a stall at a Christmas fair

 

lots of baby gift sets

 

 

I could knit these washcloths in my sleep!!

 

This afternoon, I had a break from knitting and did some sewing ...... on the chickens!!

 

 

I still haven't finished embroidering the legs and beaks, but I thought I would be encouraged to get on if I started assembling the blocks!!

 

Shadow Shot Sunday

I thought this week I would share some more shadows from our recent holiday in Mallorca.

 

shadows, reflections and wine - what more could you ask for!!

 

 

strong shadows from the potted palm

 

 

a very large snail!!

 

 

Malcolm spotted this shadow

 

 

a grasshopper lounging in the sun

 

To finish ....... yes, it's a new month, which means another braw laddie baring all (if this is your first visit, I should explain that the photo is from a calendar which was sold to raise funds for this very good cause)

 

For more shadows (but probably not more naked men!!) head over to Hey Harriet.
 
  

  

  

 

 

 

Pure gold!

After the excitement of the hot air balloon yesterday, I was delighted to have something else special to take a photo of today!  It isn't the clearest photo, but it is of a goldfinch sitting on top of the birch tree in the front garden - the first time we have seen one in the garden!! (click on the photo to enlarge it)

 

 

Continuing with the nature theme, I didn't spend all of yesterday's walk looking upwards, which is just as well or I would have missed this gorgeous foal ......

 

 

..... and these two horses, who look as if they may have foals on the way

 

 

But for the last animal pictue, something very special, which I know will make you go aaaaah!  My friend Seonaid has just e-mailed this photo to me .... a little hedghog which has been coming into her garden to be fed.  In the last day or two, she has noticed the poor little thing has ticks - does anyone have any advice as to what she could do to help it - if you do, please leave a comment!

 

 

The garden continues to recover from the harsh winter, with splashes of colour finally appearing

 

this delicate flower would make a lovely embroidery

 

 

the clematis has just started to flower

 

 

the poppy is ready to open

 

Over the winter, most of my 'five-a-day' comes from vegetables, but in the summer I eat far more fruit, as you can see in this colourful selection

 

 

And fruit featured in our Friday afternoon cake at patch'n'chat ......

 

 

It has been another lovely day, and the forecast is good for the weekend - I hope you all have a good one, love Anne

 

 

 

Would you like to fly ......

........ in my beautiful balloon?  This morning after I got dressed I went back into the bedroom to say bye to Malcolm - and suggest that he might like to get out of his lazy bed and come with me.  I think the grunts from under the duvet signified that he didn't want to come, which was a pity, because this was the amazing sight that greeted me

 

 

I don't think I've ever seen a hot-air balloon this close

 

 

Then, as I headed down towards the turning point - there was another one!!  I knew I would get a better view at the bottom of the hill, so I ran down before it vanished behind the hills (my legs haven't yet recovered!!)  There was still early morning mist over the hills, so this photo isn't very clear).

 

 

I spoke to one of our neighbours, who has a livery.  He said that the horses had been spooked by the noise of the balloon's burners (they were very loud!), but nothing was going to deter these two from munching on the lush verge

 

 

After lunch, I headed out to the studio to play with my new toy.  First I watched the dvd which came with the embellisher, which explained how to use it safely, and how to achieve the best results

 

 

I started with a piece of felt (from a bag of mixed bits I bought at a craft fair) and some wool roving. 

 

 

The dvd suggested that when you first use the embellisher to loosely needle the roving in place

 

 

Then it was the scary moment ...... I took a deep breath and off I went!!

 

 

It definitely helped that I am used to doing free motion quilting, as the movement is similar (except that I kept trying to pivot the felt, which you can't do with five needles in it!!)  So stage one was completed successfully

 

 

I then added an outer circle

 

 

The last stage was to add a stem and leaf.  I found this much trickier - I think it will take quite a bit of practice to get the shape of the leaf right

 

 

For my second project, I started with a flower cut from a piece of felted sweater and some purple and pink roving

 

 

I covered the flower shape .......

 

 

....... then added some pink beads (they were still sitting on the worktable after using them on the shawl!)  All I need to do now is add a brooch pin.

 

 

This detail shows the lovely colours and texture

 

 

I forgot earlier in the week to show you the finished applique runner (I need to organise my photos better!)

 

 

I stood on the bed to take this one, so it's a bit wobbly!!  I only realised when I saw the photos on the laptop that you can see the fine wire going from the radio alarm clock to the lamp - it's the aerial for the radio!!

 

 

Now that the runner is finished, it's back to those chickens!!

 

 

 

A very spoiled girl!

Earlier in the year, I had to go to the Court Offices in Newcastle to swear an oath that I would carry out my duties as Malcolm's Dad's executor.  Afterwards, we went for a wander round the shops, and I saw an embellisher (for those who don't know what that is, it looks like a sewing machine, but has a cluster of special needles for needle-felting).  I have wanted one for some time now, but couldn't really justify the expenditure .......... so I was delighted when Malcolm said that once he received his inheritance, he would buy one for me!!  So yesterday we set off for Newcastle, going via Morpeth to pick up Jennifer (who treated us to a lovely lunch!).  After another look at the embellisher, I said yes please, I really would like one - so I now have my lovely new toy

 

you couldn't mistake it for a sewing machine .........

 

 

......... when you see the cluster of five needles

 

The embellisher wasn't the only  machine we saw yesterday - we were amazed at this shop window, which was full of old sewing machines

 

I have never seen so many machines in one place!!

 

 

and I've never seen some of the makes before!!

 

When I went out the front door this morning for my walk, I could hear birds chirping away.  I realised that they were very young birds, but where was the nest!!  Following the sound, I eventually saw the nest - it is tucked between the top of the house wall and the wooden board under the the roof - but I didn't see the parents, so I don't know what kind of bird the nest belongs too.

 

 

I found this little bit of fir tree in the middle of the road!!  I guess it must have caught on a lorry and had dropped off later, as there are no trees like that where I found it.  I immediately thought ........ embroidery!!

 

 

I would have loved to finish with a beautiful piece of needlefelting that I made on my lovely new toy ....... but I've been out most of the day, so you will have to wait until tomorrow!!

 

Tuesday Tutorial 20

Grown-up Washcloths

 

 

 

Having done baby washcloths, I thought I would do some grown-up ones.  These are very simple to knit, and would be a good project for a beginner, or if you haven't knitted for a while and need some practice!!  They are all knitted with 4-ply cotton and 3mm needles.  Wrap one round a pretty bar of soap and tie with ribbon to make a lovely gift.

 

 

This one is the simplest one.  Cast on 52 stitches and knit 8 rows, then

row 1 : k11 (p6,k6) to last 5 sts, k5

row 2 : k5 (p6, k6) to last 11 sts p6,k5

repeat these two rows 23 times ( so you will have patterned 48 rows).  Knit 8 rows, cast off and sew in ends.

 

 

 

Cast on 52 sts and knit 8 rows, then

row 1 : k11 (p6, k6) to last 5 sts, k5

row 2 : k5 (p6, k6) to last 11 sts, p6 k5

repeat these two rows another 3 times (8 rows worked) then

row 3 : k5 (p6, k6) to last 11 sts, p6 k5

row 4 : k11 (p6,k6) to last 5 sts, k5

repeat these two rows another 3 times ( a total of 16 rows worked)

repeat these 16 rows another twice ( 48 rows worked)  Knit 8 rows, cast off and sew in ends.

 

 

 

Cast on 52 rows and knit 8 rows, then

row 1 : k11 (p6,k6) to last 5 sts, k5

row 2 : k5, p5 (k6, p6) to last 6 sts, k to end

row 3 : k5, p2 (k6, p6) to last 9 sts, k to end

row 4 : k5, p3 (k6, p6) to last 8 sts, k to end

row 5 : k5, p4 (k6, p6) to last 7 sts, k to end

row 6 : k5, p1 (k6, p6) to last 10 sts, k to end

row 7 : k5, p6 (k6, p6) to last 5 sts, k5

row 8 : k5, p1 (k6, p6) to last 10 sts, k to end

row 9 : k5, p4 (k6, p6) to last 7 sts, k to end

row 10 : k5, p3 (k6, p6) to last 8 sts, k to end

row 11 : k5, p2 (k6, p6) to last 9 sts, k to end

row 12 : k5, p5 (k6, p6) to last 6 sts, k to end

repeat rows 1-12 3 times, then knit row 1 (49 rows worked)

Knit 8 rows, cast off and sew in ends
 

 

For an even quicker and easier pattern. cast on 52, knit 8 rows, then

row 1 : knit

row 2 : k5, p to last 5 sts, knit to end

repeat these two rows 23 times, knit 8 rows, catch off and sew in ends.