Sarah Lund, The Killing, THAT jumper and my Faroese yarn

Did you love 'The Killing'? We did, although I did worry about Sarah Lund wearting that jumper all the time, until my good friend took off to the Faroe Islands for a short break. Then it all became clear. That jumper is made of Faroese wool, hand made, and the islands are dotted with sheep and knitters! My friend wants to knit for her son, so we found a pattern and we are going to work on it together - she looked for yarn on her trip and only came away with a lovely skein of this:

for me! I am thinking something with a fair isle pattern. This week we are going to put our heads together and chose yarn for her son. And I am going to ask her to help me with my Open Uni course and UCAS. What a nightmare. I feel so out of date.

I now have an android phone, gone is my little Nokia that does nothing. I can FaceBook and use google and have something called LINE which Hannah uses to text me. It is a constant source of amusement to my family that I am so archaic in my ways......

Reminding you all about the giveaway which will close on Tuesday.

And finally, so excited to show you the lastest knit,  it has not even been blocked ....baby cardi #2. All I need now is a girl baby, or someone wanting a cardi for one.....as this is a lovely heathery tweedy soft natural wool.

Parcel in the post

Yesterday the text book and DVD for the Open University course I am about to do arrived. Very exciting and a little bit daunting. 'Understanding Cardiovascular Diseases'. Riveting stuff.

This morning, very, very early, Juno and I went for a run. Shorter than our usual course, but invigorating non the less.

Exercise is good for the soul.

Please don't forget the giveaway....

Give away x 2 - with a Japanese theme

Although there are not that many readers of this blog...bless you all who pop in from time to time....I am going to have another give away.

In the purge this little item turned up.

It is sashiko, and many moons ago I did a fair amount of it. These are five indigo coasters with backing fabric. The instructions are in Japanese, but for any crafty soul out there, they are not hard. For more information on how to, this is a very good web site:

http://loiskershner.com/sashiko_embroidery

I also want to give this away: Two fantastic Japanese fat quarters.

The awesome lady Katie from Japan Crafts very kindly sent this to me for returning the lost Japanese fabric to its rightful owner. The owner also gave me something so I thought I would share my bounty.

Please just put in the comments box whether you want the sashiko kit or the fat quarters. If enough people want them, there will be a draw.

Sleepless - and GIVEAWAY DAY

Up in the dark this morning because sleep was impossible. Not sure why, and no, it is not because we are going to collect JUNO a bit later on.

It is giveaway day and there is only one comment - so the skein of wool goes to the lovely J at crunchnrustle.  In the post on Monday J. xxx

Tonight we party at a friend's 50th and will leave the girls to puppy sit. Much preparation has been done, the cage is set up in the kitchen, old towels have been found, some chewy toys and for now, one fluffy one to snuggle up to. She has two new bowls as well as a blanket to cover her with.

I had plans to use my MAC make-over voucher (Christmas pressie last year and soon to expire) before the party today, to get lovely, but have decided to postpone the appointment so that I can spend time with the newest family member and help her settle in and to be honest - just enjoy the cuddles and playtime. Babies before beauty!

Pics to follow, not of the beauty - just the baby....... x







 

YARN GIVEAWAY

It is Halloween but nary a ghoul nor ghost has rattled on the door knob tonight. Even though we have treats for them. The howling wind and occasional showers may be keeping them indoors.

It is the end of my three days off work and while lots got done, lots didn't. However, no beating myself up here, I also deserve a break.

Hannah's blanket is tantalizingly close to being finished, well the rows are. It will need a border, but not long now.

I have been slowly editing my yarn and fabric stashes and tonight I offer to anyone who might like to comment on this lowly blog:

100gms of 12ply Boucle Mohair

 

 

 

It is all the way from Oz, and is enough to make a scarf. I had plans to make a beanie with it, but I am just not a mohair sort of gal really. It itches me too much and while the colours are GORGEOUS, this pile of yarn needs to go to someone who will love it and use it. If you click on the photo below you should be able to make out the details. The actual tag is nowhere near as faded as this.

 

Just stick a comment on my blog (not a rude one please as that will not be counted) before Saturday 10 November to be in the draw.

 

Could be the perfect Chrissie pressie for someone...

 

x 

AND THE WINNER IS..............................................

There were two contenders for the OHIO STAR QUILT which was very exciting, as I worried so much that no one would want it and it would haunt my WIP basket forever...... So, I have taken the rather practical and unimaginative step of deciding who gets it, based on who came first to the frey.

That person is none other than FRUGAL QUEEN - but as the other lovely lady GILL was pretty quick too, I have a bundle of FABRIC pieces from my stash which I would like to give to her. Would both ladies send me an email with your postal address and I will send you the parcels.

I will get to the PO on Thursday as tomorrow is a LONDON day with crunchnrustle yippee!

Frugal Queen, please post a picture of the finished quilt when it is done.

Liz x



 

Mum's birthday

Bless him, but Dad slipped an email out to us all to remind us of Mum's birthday - at 5:43am Queensland time - evening here in the south of England......happy to respond that I was on the case and was the first to phone her.....

But it is Mum's birthday in Australia and today is not her birthday here....tomorrow is (it makes sense to me - the date being 9th October here tomorrow) and that is the day I give away the quilt

I will have to do it after work tomorrow night, but if anyone else is interested, just let me know.

 

Snatching time

It seems like a while since the house has been empty - and today there was a slither of quiet time on the cards. Time to tidy and potter in the silence. Maybe do a few rows on the wave blanket.

But, the phone keeps ringing, the doorbell has rung twice in the last half hour and a man with ear protectors is doing something very, very noisy to the lawn.

Still, noise aside, the place is mine to work in.

Big J comes home from Wales tonight. I want him home. Been a bit of a tough week so far.

Please don't forget the OHIO STAR QUILT which is desperately looking for a new crafter to make it whole.

I think later a walk to the shops to buy some flowers is in order. The house could do with flowers.
 

GIVEAWAY - BIG WIP OHIO STAR QUILT

A few years ago I wrote about a lady who gave me two quilt tops to finish off for her as she was losing her eyesight. With the best intentions in the world I took them on. I cut and sewed hexagons for one and made it bigger and brighter but I did not finish it because  I discovered CROCHET and all my patchwork templates and fabrics were left languishing, ignored in the basket from that day forward. I felt very guilty.

But I hung on telling myself that there will be time to work on them one day, all the while building my yarn stash and because frankly it was so hard to admit that these projects were not going anywhere under my watch.

These hanging on feelings clash directly with the desire to have fewer objects (especially unfinished ones)  and even though it might seem a bit pitiful to the organised and productive folk out there whose blogs I drool over and whose work and homes I aspire to, it can be very emotionally draining.

So today - while doing more decluttering, I decided to offer the big project to one of you lovely people out there. You may be a quilter, you may be part of a group who quilts, a teacher, someone on a budget - let's face it, quilting fabric can cost A LOT - or just someone with lot more get up and go than yours truely.

IF anyone is interested, just let me know in the comments bit. If a few of you are interested a name will be drawn out of a hat.

There are SOME IMPORTANT DETAILS:

This spectacular quilt top is not complete - there are some spare squares, but you may have to make up more.

There are 35 squares (approx 12.5" x 12.5") The border is 2".

18 of them have been sewn together and some have been pinned.

It is HUGE.

It is ALL on backing paper - the traditional quilting method, but with careful measuring and sewing new blocks can be added without paper.

There is no template, although I do have the pattern (not to scale).

There is no spare fabric - all I got was the quilt top.

I will post it to you - anywhere - 2nd class in the UK and standard international anywhere else.

Here it is lying out on the (clean) kitchen floor- 8 loose squares on the quilt and some pinned.

Any questions? Fire away.


As for the little quilt, it has gone to someone local. x

THE DEADLINE FOR THIS GIVE AWAY IS 9TH OCTOBER....My mum's birthday.