Flower Beds

Every summer classes from local primary schools walk to the park down my road to plant the flower beds in the rose garden. Each school has a bed and there is always a theme to unite them. They are supplied with lots of bright cheerful annuals but they also bring things that they have made at school to add to the display.

The theme this year is Winnie-the-Pooh who is celebrating his centenary so there were several versions of the bear himself and his jar of honey. And yes, the children do know how to spell 'honey', Winnie-the-Pooh is of course a self-described 'bear of very little brain' and that's how he spells it.

For this one, the children had made 100th birthday cards which were hung from a line.

And other characters from the books made appearances too. This Piglet and Tigger are a bit Disney for my taste but then I'm very traditional when it comes to this sort of thing.

I like the signs pointing to special places in the Hundred Acre Wood on this one and the copy of the opening of the first book written by a child.

Several of the beds displayed this quotation by A A Milne which I rather liked too.

And who hasn't played pooh sticks at one time or another as Christopher Robin and Pooh are doing in this scene?

I enjoyed wandering around the rose garden looking at the children's flower beds. They're always lovely and I hope the tradition continues for many years to come.

The Little Things

Hello everyone. I thought I would squeeze in one last blog post before Christmas. I find the extra work and change of routine involved with the festive season puts extra pressure on my already fragile health which, for someone who has always loved Christmas, is rather sad. The greatest pleasure I get at this time of year is from the quiet times when I don't have to deal with people or, in fact, do anything much so I thought I'd share some of the little things that are helping me at the moment.

I love all the decorations that I've collected over the years, many of them made by my children or myself. My daughter spent a day the other week putting them all up for me and I'm really enjoying them. The tree in the picture above is my 'special' tree which is in the latest room to be decorated. When I say the latest, the rugs arrived a day before the tree went up. It's basically a spare bedroom but, as you can see, I've saved a cosy reading corner complete with my Mum's rocking chair.

One of the most exciting things about finishing this room is that we've finally been able to get all my Mum's quilts out of the bin bags they were languishing in and on to the big set of shelves we bought to house them. I'll start showing them to you in the new year but, in the meantime, I've been able to put some of the Christmas ones up on the wall at last. This one, behind the rocking chair, is my favourite.

Opposite the reading corner, in the alcove by the fireplace, is the little stained glass robin quilt Mum made us years ago which I love.

The dolls house on the table below it is one I've had for many years but have never had time to decorate and furnish. I'm hoping to make a start on it next year now that I've got a space to work on it. For now, Father Christmas is trying to work out how to get down the chimney.

We have always had baskets of Christmas picture books out at Christmas. There are two more baskets of them under the piano downstairs but I have got one basket up in this room.

After a bit of a struggle, we managed to hang my Christmas Bunting above the fireplace and then Rose decorated the mantelpiece with pretty things and gingerbread men lights. I'm not sure what the lace knitted fairy thinks she's up to.

Tolly cat isn't a little thing and he's definitely not just for Christmas but he does make me smile. He loves the patchwork coverlet I've put over the bed (to keep cat hairs off the clean bedding underneath). Here he is in a quiet moment in between hunting all those little hexagons. And yes, he really does do that.

As well as the quilts, I have a lovely collection of Christmas stockings that my Mum made me - a new one every year. We hang these on doors around the house. This one is on the front room door this year.

It was one of the first ones Mum made and, as you can see, it's a collage of photos of the children at Christmas when they were small. I also have this beautiful cross stitch stocking which Rose gave me a while ago - this one's on the airing cupboard door.

There's another tree in the front room and more decorations. It was a bit dark to take good photos this morning (it's gloomy most of the day at this time of year) but here are an assortment of knitted things on the piano.

You might recognise some of them as old patterns of mine. The round candle quilt above the piano is another one of Mum's and the little knitted cone snowman was a present from my friend Pat a few years ago.

The front room mantelpiece is pretty too. It's a mixture of old, treasured things, some new and a bit of knitting.

That's my Christmas Wreath hanging between photos of my much-missed Granny as a toddler and on her wedding day.

I've been enjoying my cross stitch this year and there are two new ornaments on this mantelpiece. Here you can see my pyramid shaped Christmas tree; the tree is different on each of the four sides.

I also cross stitched what was called a Christmas pincushion but decided to use it as an ornament stand instead ...

The village scene continues round all four sides and then there's a big snowflake on the top. Again, my apologies for the bad light in these pictures. You get the general idea though. At the other end of the mantelpiece are my cherished tiny crib, a cross stitch gingerbread house and a very pretty old tin. The tiny quilt propped up by the radio is another one of Mum's. She made them into fabric postcards, complete with a terrible poem on the back.

Something else I'm really enjoying this year (as I do every year) is getting out my Christmas china to use. I've collected so many pretty festive mugs that they don't all fit on the shelves. You can see a few of them in this picture.

Choosing which one to use each time I put the kettle on makes a cup of tea a bit special. The teapots on the dresser have their Christmas cosies on too ...

... and I've knitted new ones for the smallest ones this year. Here they are on the tray I use every day which I've lined with one of Mum's Christmas placemats so it's ready for Christmas too.

As a family we really enjoy our advent calendars and, this year, we've each had three different ones. We share pictures of them every day which is nice as we are all in different places. Firstly, we have paper advent calendars. Mine this year was a Brambly Hedge one. Here it is on my bedroom fireplace.

There's a bit of a competition each day as to which of the three of us has the prettiest picture but with festive mice I think I'm winning this year. While we're in this room my little criss-cross shelves are Christmassy too.

My little beaded Christmas village has grown again this year. I think I need to make some stands though so that the houses and things can stand at different heights. New to it this year are (I think) another building, some trees, a post box and a couple of street lights. Next on the list will be a church I think. I'm also very fond of this book which I read again the other day ...

We always have an advent jigsaw each year too. The pieces are divided between 24 envelopes and put together one day at a time. There was much hilarity when Jack's first day consisted almost entirely of white snow pieces! This is how my puzzle is looking after nineteen days.

The third set of advent calendars is the result of my concentration this year on improving my tatting skills. Over many months I tatted three sets of 24 snowflakes, three in each pattern. We have one set each (they're different sizes) and we add one to our snowflake trees each day. I'll write about this project properly next year but here's how my tree is looking today.

So, I may not be able to do very much or celebrate with friends and family as I would have done before the Long Covid but, when I think about it, there are lots of little things around me that make me smile and give me comfort. I hope that wherever you are and whatever your situation you all have a Happy and peaceful Christmas.

Hollyhocks

Nearly all the flowers in my garden this year are shorter than normal. I've had dwarf foxgloves, mini love-in-the-mist and pint sized lupins. Because of this, I was dubious that the little hollyhock plants I planted in the Spring would come to much. I needn't have worried.

The flowers are coming out in ones and twos rather than in a mass but still ... I'm pleased with them. I've got five all together, these two near the house and three more up the garden. They're all doubles and four of the five are pale pink with just one deep pink.

I'm hoping they'll self seed and be back next year.; I have no idea which type these are so we shall have to wait and see. I've always loved hollyhocks but this is the first year I've really managed to grow them. I'd like some single ones too and ore colours but you have to take what they have from the plant stall in the market which is the only place I can get to for plants. It's and excellent stall though and it's quite fun just seeing what's there.

My Mum always had a lovely display of hollyhocks; this photo is from about sixteen years ago.

You can just see her runner beans up at the back. There may only have been two of them in the house but she still had a full row of plants. She loved her fresh runner beans. I find that three or four plants on a wigwam of sticks gives me more than I need.

Inspired by the flowers in my garden I thought I'd have a look round the house for other hollyhock prettiness and found all sorts of treasures. This is one of my favourite cup and saucer sets. Isn't it lovely?

And I love this teapot, complete with cup, saucer and tea plate. I used this set for my tea the other day.

I have a whole cupboard full of pretty china and, every so often, I swap it round and choose a few sets to go on my kitchen dresser for everyday use.

Cottages with pretty gardens which nearly always featured hollyhocks were very popular themes in china and embroidery from the 1930s and are back in fashion again now. Or maybe they're not and I just think that because I like them so much. 

Over the years I've found various embroidered pictures in antique shops. This one hangs in my front room ...

... and I've written about this little one before. You can read about it here. It just took me ages to find the blog post I wanted to link to. This is what comes of being lazy labelling the posts when I write them. You should be able to click on any work in the word map at the side to find posts on that subject but I'd forgotten to list that particular post under 'embroidery'. Oh dear.

Anyway, if you read that old post, you'll learn that this particular embroidery came from a 'Good Needlework' magazine from November 1937.

I have lots and lots of old needlework magazines like this. Often, hollyhocks were combined with the ubiquitous crinoline lady as in this design from the 'Good Needlework Gift Book' of 1936.

This is an early catalogue of Weldon's embroidery transfers. Note the hollyhock tea cosy in pride of place on the cover.

I've shown you this lovely embroidered firescreen before too and, four years on, I still haven't managed to re-lace it and mount it properly.

I found a couple of other crinoline ladies to show you in my trawl round the house. This is actually a handkerchief sachet but I've put a piece of plastic canvas inside it and it's been propped up in  my kitchen for years (it could probably do with a wash).

Then there's this bag which I made from one of my many charity shop finds.  This is hung up in my craft room and holds my embroidery hoops.

Lorna Bateman is partial to embroidered flowers and crinoline ladies too. Her work is absolutely beautiful and I would recommend her book Embroidered Country Gardens.

As well as lots of detailed projects, she has instructions for embroidering all sorts of garden flowers and features so that you can design your own garden picture.

I have to admit that I haven't made anything from this wonderful book yet but I will - one day. That reminded me of these two tablecloth kits that I bought about thirty years ago when I found them very cheap.

I think they're both beautiful but - you've guessed - I haven't actually made either of them yet. I did make a start on one years ago ...

Mmm, quite a bit more to go I think.

The nearest I've come to knitting hollyhocks are these on the side wall of my Summer Cottage.

I have just published a pattern for some crochet flowers though. 

Crochet Bouquet

Having crocheted lots and lots of these flowers I thought I'd just try making mini versions and these turned out to be favourites.

I had fun choosing colours to match the threads on my old cotton reels. These are now sitting on my desk and they make me smile every time I see them.

Before I go, I just wanted to show you the woven blanket I finished the other week. This is the pin loom one I was working on with the help of my improvised Lego loom holder. I crocheted the squares together with a lacy join, added a simple crochet border and it's all done. It took less than a month to make from start to finish. That's a lot quicker than knitting or crocheting a blanket. 

Learning Stuff

I really like learning new things. Whether it's from something I've read or a podcast I've listened to, it makes life interesting. Now that my life is so constricted, mastering new crafts or projects in particular gives me a real sense of progress on what are mostly very difficult days.

Recently I've been working on a mixture of crafts, not to turn them into patterns (although I always make notes in case I want to try them again) but just because I feel like it. I've been trying various little ideas using some of my vast collection of scrap fabrics. First I made these.

A dozen new hankies. Why has it taken me so long to realise that I could make my own hankies? My existing stock were wearing thin and it's not easy to find anywhere to buy hankies now, especially when you can't go out. These are 12" squares, double hemmed on the machine. They're a bit thicker than bought ones but they're already softening up after a few washes. I have plans to make some Christmas ones too and then bigger ones from plain fabrics for when I have a cold.

The internet is a great source of inspiration for small sewing projects. I found this little collapsible thread catcher on a blog and then worked out my own version. I used a ring of plastic canvas in place of the cardboard tube and changed the measurements a bit. This means that there's a little hole n the middle when the pot is twisted closed but I liked the fact that it was shorter. I gave this one to my daughter.

It's a clever idea but does involve a fair bit of hand sewing so it's not particularly quick to make.

Next I started looking for origami ideas that could be made from fabric scraps and found several ideas that I liked. I made a little butterfly which is rather nice. Those antennae are cut from a black paper clip, not at all safe but it didn't look very much like a butterfly without them.

It took me a while to get the hang of these folded fabric flowers. I used my Sizzix machine to cut out circles and then folded and gathered them into flower shapes. The centres are another fabric circle gathered round a button. These hide all the raw edges. Again, these were hand sewn but they don't take long.

I blu-tacked them to the side of the shelf for this picture but they soon fell off so now they've got wooden stalks and are standing in one of my pencil pots.

My favourite make though was this little folded fabric ornament. Again, it's just two circles of fabric cut with the Sizzix and sewn together. A bit of folding and pressing and a few hand stitches and you're done. The clever thing is that you can tuck a square of card in the back which gives it a bit of stability. I used this tutorial but started off with smaller circles to make a little ornament. 

Regular readers will know that I am working on improving my tatting skills this year and I'm glad to say that it's paying off. I'm now able to tackle some of the lovely patterns in this book.

There are actually 49 snowflakes as a sample pattern is included at the beginning. I'm working through the easiest ones first and, so far, I've mastered five of them.

I love the fact that the designer includes diagrams and written instructions, together with clear photos of the finished snowflakes so I can work out where I'm going. I tend to get confused in the diagrams when the work is reversed so the written instructions really help. I am working each snowflake three times in size 20, 40 and 60 thread. Repeating the patterns with thinner thread is a challenge but gives me lots of practice so that I can fix the techniques in my head. Here's the first snowflake (the sample pattern) in all three sizes.

I stiffen them with diluted superstarch and then store them on card as you can see. Then each set goes in a little square envelope that I make with the envelope punch board I found in Orinoco. This is a very handy little tool. I've been using six inch squares of Christmas paper to make the envelopes.

In between tatting snowflakes, I've also been making a few of Diane's different Ice Drops. I'd only ever attempted her basic design before but I felt ready to try a few of the others now.

The two little snowflakes with metal flowers in the middle are Diane's pattern too, the first of her Doodad Snowflakes. I don't know if my glass gems are smaller than hers or if I just tat more loosely but I was having trouble getting the tatting to fit. Even after soaking in hot water, the gems would sometimes fall out. so, I plucked up my courage and tried paying with the stitch count to get a version that worked for me and I'm very proud of the result.

I've also been doing a lot of weaving lately. My absolute favourite yarn for weaving is King Cole Bramble DK. It's a variegated yarn with a heathery look to it that really works well when woven and it comes in lots of lovely colourways. At the moment I'm using the shade Thistle to weave lots and lots of four inch squares.

I'm trying to finish five squares a day so that I can get on with the joining as I want to try out a lace join that I haven't used before. I need 81 squares all together and I've got eleven to go so I'm nearly there.

I was weaving with the loom on my lap when it occurred to me that I could use my small book chair to hold it upright. This worked but the loom kept moving around and then inspiration struck - Lego! I had fun playing around with my small collection of Lego bricks and finally came up with a loom holder that holds the loom firmly in place while I weave.

I'm very pleased with this and it does make the weaving quicker. Now I'm wondering what other craft tools I could make with Lego. There's quite a bit of K'Nex in the cellar too ...

After this blanket is finished I want to try joining woven pieces together on the loom, something I've seen before but not really understood. Finally, I found these instructions and light dawned. Not only does it give a perfect join on the right side but I quite look the look on the back of the pieces too.

I have lots of ideas for using this technique but first, I'm going to finish that blanket.