A right old fankle

I do love the word fankle.  And my new yarn. I certainly got into a real fankle when I tried to wind my skeins into balls.  I remember seeing a yarn swift somewhere online a few years ago and wondering why on earth it was worth having one.....surely it couldn't be that hard to wind a skein by hand?  Well,as I now know, it can be pretty tricky but it isn't impossible.

I am so much enjoying my Quince and Co Finch (colourways Pomegranate, Split Pea, Kittywake and Bird's Egg - bought here).  I asked for the wool for Christmas after seeing this scarf.  I love the colour combination and had a shawl in mind.  I was a little thrown when I found that the shawl pattern was charted and far harder than I had anticipated but in many ways that became a little bonus.  I spent a few very happy hours, over the Christmas holidays, searching Ravelry for a new perfect pattern. I eventually settled on the Serena Shadow Shawl (but I won't be short of shawl patterns to try once this one is finished, there's some lovely designs out there).  

I'm enjoying the pattern, which is very simple and really suits my life at the moment.....which at times has felt like it could be getting into a bit of a fankle too.  But it isn't and it will all work out, it is just rather hard to see quite how we'll get to that point.  We're on the move - up north* - which will be wonderful, but John** starts up there pretty soon and we still have a house under scaffolding and a fair bit more work to be finished outside before we can sell.  And really, we need to do some work inside too to show our, very unusual, house at it's best.  But we will be selling it in great condition which is more than can be said for the condition in which we bought it.  I'm not sure we'll be taking on a mid 1700s house again for a wee while!

So, I suspect I may be a bit quiet for the next wee while.  I won't be disappearing altogether and I'll try to pop in when I can.  I will also be reading all your lovely blogs, but maybe not commenting quite so much.

Sorry for the murky photos, the light here is terrible and the wool colours aren't very true.  I'm longing for some blue skies and crispy weather.  

* I'll spill the beans about where we're going soon but there's a couple more people I haven't contacted yet and I want to make sure they hear properly and directly from me first
** John has a wonderful new job, I can't tell you how proud I am of him
*** Books - presents from John for my birthday and Christmas.  Flora Celtica documents the relationship between Scotland's people and plants. I have longed for a copy for years and the new paperback version is perfect. The Ancient Pinewoods of Scotland is a guide to each of the Caledonian Pinewood remnants - a subject close to my heart.  My university dissertation was based on one of the larger remnants, The Black Wood of Rannoch. 

Emerald Giftie Slouchie Beanie

I can't begin to tell you how happy my new hat* makes me.........I knitted it!  I first saw this pattern here (and loved it) and then here (and loved it even more).  

I somewhat naively thought that I'd be able to make it fairly easily, or at least without too much of a struggle.  Kat  described it as 'quick fix knitting, nothing that required brainpower or much time'.  But, of course, I very quickly remembered that she is an expert and I am undoubtedly a beginner.

I had to frog back to the beginning several times and then back a few rows several more times (does everyone else find frogging easy?  it seems to me to be very tedious and yet nerve wracking at the same time). I think now though (and very much hope) that I have fathomed the steps that were causing me such trouble.

I really would like to make another as soon as possible but have a number of other projects, which are rather less quick (even with the learning curve) than this was, that I really should make more progress on first.  This is the yarn I'd like to use next.........relatives and friends willing to be gifted a Giftie Slouchie Beanie please do let me know!

I've posted all the details of yarn etc on ravelry.  I haven't really used ravelry to it's full potential so far.  I do have a list of favourite projects which is long enough, as well as being completely unrealistic in terms of skill level, to keep me going for many many years.  I haven't felt that my previous projects have merited 'Project' status on ravelry but, for me, this one makes the grade and it was very satisfying to create a project page for it.

 * I really can't work out how people take successful selfies of the clothes and knits they make....it looks so effortless, but I guess it isn't and probably that is part of my problem - I try to do it quickly when Miss Kitty Cat is asleep, not when there's time (there never is in my life) to set up a proper backdrop, wear co-ordinating clothes and wait for good light.  Any tips?!

An evening in North Berwick

This has been a strange old week.  Not as quite as bad as might have been anticipated but really not great either.  But John and I did have a night to ourselves last Saturday courtesy of my mum and dad.  We dropped the children off late afternoon and decided to visit North Berwick before going home.  We had a lovely stroll along the beach followed by lobster and chips at the Rocketeer.  Yummy but basic food, good company with no interruptions (although the dog could have done with being a bit less wet since she chose to sit on my feet while we ate!) and views out to sea and to the harbour.  The following morning we slept until 8.30.....bliss!

~Photos taken on my phone~

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Catching up

Catch-up time!  Finally, here's some photos of my makes from this summer's Fat Quarterly Retreat.  I loved it and learnt a lot but I think it is far too late now to say much more - so many others have already done so.
The cushions below are the finished pieces of Precision Piecing from Lynne's great class- I had a treat and bought new fabric for this class, just buying what I really liked without much thought with what I'd do with the end product...........as I finished the precision pieced pieces (I do like writing that!) I realised that whatever I turned them into would never look right with anything in our house, much as I love the fabrics and colours.  I have made them up into 16 inch cushion covers and will load them up onto my folksy shop - it has been closed since Katie was born but I plan to re-open it in the next few weeks, I have quite a bit of stock built up ready to go.  And so many ideas for other things I'd like to make, as and when I find the time!

 I also attended Lu's Improv class - this was a lot of fun, I like working that way and Lu herself is brilliant.  I used my leftover Maze and Vale and other odds and ends from my Free As A Bird Quilt.  Lu hand quilts her improv pieces, but while I'd love to do it, I just know I wouldn't find the time.  So it is quilted with an improv spiral instead - done completely free-hand and more than a little squint!

My mini-quilt is living happily on our dining table with our basket of special shells and other treasures.

 Apart from the above I haven't really managed much this week.  I still have crochet and English Paper Pieceing to finish from FQR -don't hold your breath!  Katie is feeling pretty poorly and really isn't herself.  She fell asleep on Tuseday morning around 7.45 am.  I put her in the playpen each morning while I'm in the shower (she is such a busy fiddly little person that it is the only safe thing to do) - when I came out I realised things were unusually quiet - this is what I saw when I peeped into the sitting room!

Please don't pin this photo

She has wanted a lot of attention and has spent a lot of time sitting like this, cuddling Doddy Pot (Spotty Dog).  Hopefully she'll be back to her cheery self soon.  

Thanks so much for all the lovely comments on the Free As A Bird Quilt - they were lovely to read and very much appreciated. 

The Stitch Gathering - A Gathering of Stitchers

Wow - I am still buzzing, really, from Sunday.  The Stitch Gathering was such a  special day.  It was a truly lovely mix of people who all had one thing in common - a love of crafting, and especially stitching.  We were such a mix of ages and interests and the day felt very easy and friendly - especially once my class (thankfully in the morning) was underway.....then I relaxed a bit more and began to properly enjoy myself.

I didn't remember, or really have much of a chance in among all my chatting, to take any photos so those from the day shown here are all taken by Jonathan (Jo The Stitch Gathering organiser's photographer husband) - I would have dearly liked to show more, and tell more, and mention more people but really I think there's going to be enough going on below.........I loved meeting you all and just wish I could mention and link to everyone.

We started off the day, which was held at Napier University's Merchiston Campus (just round the corner from Jo's treasure trove of a shop) with tea and coffee and lots of meeting and chatting - it got really noisy once we started swapping our name tags - I got the most beautiful one from Fiona at Poppy Makes (and she got mine), it even has trees on the back, just for me.  Thanks Fiona, I love it and it is hanging on my sewing table lamp........just in case I forget who I am!

Then it was off to the first classes. I had a great group in my Patchwork Bib Class and everyone, despite some being quite new to machine sewing, finished their bib.  I was very proud of them!  Look at those beautiful bibs.

We had a yummy buffet lunch and got the chance for some Show and Tell, a lucky dip (fat quarter of fabric for me, yay!) and time to admire the wonderful embellished tickets - it is going to be quite some quilt once Jo has found a way to sew them together.

How's this for a first quilt? - in progress by Emily

Lynz's Around the Block and Across the Pond Quilt - I really really love it

In the afternoon I got to attend Katy's Foundation Paper Piecing class, something I have wanted to try for quite some time.  It isn't the easiest technique to teach and explain but Katy did a great job*.  I don't have much to show for it.....yet.....I did get a fair way through but it really isn't worth photographing for public viewing yet.  Have a look here at Carol's which she finished on Monday night.  I think I might have made better progress if I hadn't taught in the morning - but I'm not complaining as I really enjoyed my teaching and am sure I learnt enough from Katy to be able to finish off my teapot mat and tackle other projects in the future.

Then it was off to Jo's shop to view the quilts in The Modern Quilt Exhibition.  It was part of Edinburgh's annual International Arts and Culture Festival.  I had a quilt in the exhibition which was completed just in time to enter and will be blogged about shortly (along with many other things on my ever growing list!).  My quilt paled into insignificance alongside some of the beauties on show.  Find out more here.  Jo and her lovely colleague Sarah were handing out fizzy and nibbles and it was a lovely way to end the day (some carried on for a meal out but since it was our anniversary I thought I ought to head home and see a wee bit of John!).

My 'Free As A Bird' Quilt - it will get a post of it's own

We were given bulging goody bags too from a wonderful range of sponsors.  Highland Spring water; biscuits from Nairns; a bag from Liberty and a Liberty Fat Quarter too; a Pilot frixion pen (I use them a lot so know it will be very handy); ten pretty spools of thread from Sewing Machines Direct; beautiful wee hexies from webfabrics; lots from Coats Crafts including embroidery thread, fat quarters and a tote bag; some beautiful liberty from Very Berry Fabrics (who I have wanted to buy from for quite some time); buttons and thread from  The Button Company; fat quarters from Jo's Avery Homestore; and lastly contact information for Beechwood Quilting services (tempting!). 

I can't wait for next year.  Maybe you'll be able to make it?

* I now know that Katy had a pretty long and stressful start to the day - which involved an early-hours-of-the-night drive to Glasgow and back.  But it was all part of a very good cause.  To look after Sarah and her lovely mum.  So good to see them both after their dramas!

Thursday treat

I am hoping that Katie and I can have the treat of a weekly walk* somewhere special.  Our daily walk along the river is lovely but it doesn't give that feeling of space and solitude that makes me feel really alive and well.  For me, someone who grew up in the countryside and hadn't live in a street until my thirties**, town life gets a little claustrophobic and I does me the world of good to have a proper 'leg stretch' somewhere a little less visited.

Katie seems very happy in the backpack - we point to things and sing songs as we go along.  Today we spotted a buzzard,  a beautiful roe buck and a fox.  It was the first fox I have seen close up for a few years.  I don't think I'll ever fail to be surprised at just how long and bushy their tails really are.

My photos aren't great as I used my phone.  I think next time it will be worth taking the proper camera.

I chose the route to take me past some pussy willows.  I love having them in the house as a reminder spring is on the way.

Walking is hungry work

* We're a one car family and although John often cycles to work (45 minutes each way - give or take 10 minutes depending on the wind!) I don't often use the car during the week.  Everything we need can be found locally and on foot.  But I'm sure there'll be some weeks when I can't have the car on the day that suits best or when we have too many other commitments to manage - I know next week will be tricky - amongst other things there's two events at the boys' school which I need to go along and watch.
** Except for my city living student years but I spent many of my student weekends escaping the city to go hillwalking and climbing.......because I'm just not a hemmed-in sort of person.