Home made

I adore this cross stitch design, I made it many years ago, hubby got it framed for me, I love to see it out, it always hangs in our hall, next to the kitchen. It's a true spirit of Christmas, much how we now see the season. 

My love of cross stitch shines through in my cushions, the gold patterned one I remade this year, turning 5 small designs into one cushion, the teddies are again years old, finished in 2011,  my tiny tree is a design I played with and the big french tree, I finished last year. 

I made these stockings when our girls were young, so probably early 90's, the girls stockings were nicer, these were made quickly with what fabrics I had at home, one year our daughters wanted us to get a stocking, they were past the age of believing in Santa. We still use them every year, both daughters still have their original ones as well. 

Two years ago, I made new sacks for youngest daughters children, she asked for this shape so books can be popped in them. I am so happy our grandchildren get their excitement on Christmas morning, in something I made for them, no fur as George does love to chew on it.

I have always made things for the tree, whilst our girls were at infant and junior schools, every year a friend and I would knit Christmas puddings, we made loads, they were very cheap and popular with the children, the cat cross stitch was made in 2011, and the glass ornament a couple of years ago. 

I do make cakes each year, I've still to finish them for this year, so no photo's yet, these were from last year, I make for ourselves and our youngest daughter, and a smaller cake for my brother, it's not something I will stop doing yet, everyone enjoys them, so it's worth the effort. 

This is very special to me, back in mid 90's I was a guide leader, and my young leader (helper under the age of 18) made this card for me, it was her first attempt, it's too precious to ever discard, and has it's place in my Santa display. I messaged her a couple of years ago, to say I still had the card, she was surprised and happy to see it. 

I am making needle felting designs, but still not quite finished, you can see them here, most years I am busy with presents to knit and sew, socks for family and toys for the little ones, I'm having a break this year, which is good as these bugs are just not going anywhere, and I'm so tired all the time. I won't finish my Christmas blanket this season, which I'm OK with. 

I have to top ice the cakes, I have already started making the snowflakes, which I will decorate the top with, I do try to make everything edible and no plastic, the ribbon bands around the cake are giving back to me to reuse. 

I love to see these old decorations come out each year, I don't believe in having a different theme each year, as with the baubles on the tree, most of everything we display has a story, it's our history.  

Another lockdown week

I purchased this book 4 years ago, with youngest daughter, we thought it would be fun, I still use it everyday.

This strange year, my comments are really rather different, keeping in contact with friends is still vital, as is contact with family, the biggest lesson learnt from Covid is we are social, we need contact of others. 

I had the most beautiful yarn arrive this week, I ordered and paid for it in June, it's the colours of a Robin, not normally my colours, but the shades are stunning, I won't be making socks with this, I think a shawl will be best use. 

I have redone the G for George's Christmas tree decoration, it has fused much better, the large glass disc were purchased at different times, and the newer disc is different from the original. I popped it in the microwave for 8 minutes, then added another 2 mins and then did an extra 2 mins. I have more glass fusion tree ornaments to make, these take time, as once I have used the kiln to make an ornament, I have to wait until the kiln is completely cold before using again, so I can only use once a day.

I would never have picked this book up, but it was sent from our local library, and it's was the most enjoyable book, Harold is 65 and just retired, settling down to a simple life when a letter arrives, if you can, please read this book, I loved it. This being my 72nd book read this year. 

I plan a sewing day this weekend, I need to make 12 days of Christmas into a finished ornament for my friend and sign teacher. I also have a couple of other things to make, nothing big, fun things to do and a special homemade gift for George. 

I have done more knitting to Will's jacket, I am now waiting for measurements from mummy and also buttons to arrive and I have just finished reading a truly lovely book. 

My cakes are being fed brandy, daughters only has one feed as Will loves cake, so I will cover with marzipan soon. I have coloured icings to make the decoration, but as yet I've not decided what to pop on top. 

Daughter, Will and George are now free to go out again, all are still well, as is Wills little friend from nursery, mummy found it hard having to keep Will in, he's an active 3 year old, back to pre-school next week, we miss the fun of their visits and Will's constant cries of I'm hungry.

I am trying to keep busy, it's hard being in winter lockdown, I have plenty to do, but no true inspiration or energy, I do spend loads of time reading or sat on here, but often I get bored being 'online'

Can I say I'm fed-up with all the bloody Black Friday deals on offer, I thought it was the last Friday in November not the whole month, and no I have purchased nothing. 

 

Filling my time

I am pleased with my progress on this project, I am ensuring a couple hours stitching each day, I really would like to be able to use this in December. On the plus side, it is a joy to stitch, normally I get a bit crazy with so many different shades, often only a handful of stitches each colour, but the design pulls together with every bird, basket, apple and decoration. I have made a few counting errors on the tree, but it's so easy to make right, so far no unpicking. 

My dogwood plant arrived, it's really small, but healthy and I can wait for it to grow, it's already planted, it had a great root ball which filled the pot. I am still picking up leaves, most of them have dropped from my acer, and loads blow into the garden. I am still managing time outside on dry days, I do check my greenhouse each day and hubby fills the bird feeders most days. 

I've joined our local library scheme, and collected these books, they ask what books you like and then select books for you, I am hoping I can find some good reads out the these. I just turned up at the door, they passed books to me, quick and simple, I have left them for 3 days before reading, just in case. I know there is one book I won't read, I don't like the author, but the rest looks good. 

I managed to make the tree decoration for George, I'm pleased with the colours, but the glass bits have not melted as much as I wanted, I did it the same as Will's, and I don't know why it's not as fused as I wanted. I think I will make another, this one is not smooth to touch. 

Our house is just too clean and tidy, we are missing Will, George and mummy, but we are sticking to the rules, in hope we get a family Christmas. Great news on the breakthrough for the vaccine, our hope is it continues to keep within all the safety guides. Maybe by next winter we can have this virus under more control and find ourselves all back together. All of this week has been home, I did manage to get my 2nd Christmas cake baked, at one point we could not get fresh eggs. 

Will's best friend at nursery has tested positive for covid19, Will is Ok, mummy spent most of Wednesday checking what they could and could not do, regardless they have decided to spent the next 14 days at home. Daddy has been working from home most of the year, we are keeping everything crossed they all stay well.  We have not seen them this month so are not affected. 

We did a Asda home delivery shop, just a few things we required, but we also got the Turkey crown and a big joint of beef (on a special deal price), all ready for Christmas dinner, we are hopeful we will be at our daughters, we will provide the dinner, hubby is happy now they are in our freezer. Purchasing things early we are hoping will take us out of the mad rush in December, we hope to sit it out this year. This is something we do every year, we have time to get things done and enjoy the weeks before Christmas, I know not everyone can do this, but in this strange year we are doing what we can to keep ourselves feeling safe. Our new fruit and veg shop is a hit, it's first weeks trading has been busy, we loved being able to buy just what we required and take our own bags and containers. 

Now the garden season has finished I have started doing my nails again, for 2 weeks I have cut and shaped them short, I have very weak nails so it's important I do this, I am now using varnish again, I have loads of lovely colours, and will be playing with design soon. 

 

Day 1, round 2

I have done the correct body length, so I thought I would start the sleeve for Will's jacket, I'm knitting this on the round, I started with a set of DPN's and then when enough stitches I am using my sock circular needles. I am enjoying this design, and  looking forward to very little stitching together. 

I want to knit some textured colourful balls for George, just simple shape, I added the colours myself, I have different yarns to use, so they should all be different. This is yarn left over from Will's scarf.

I am super pleased with this glass fusion, firstly I manage to add the small top glass ring, so this ornament can be hung on a Christmas tree, secondly I saw this design and wanted to try, W for Will. Sadly I made a second one G for George, which shattered in my kiln, I know why it shattered, an error of mine. I have placed an order for more of these large disc and the small rings. For my own reference I fused this for 8 minutes, plus another 2 minutes. 

Our Magnolia has had a big trim, I do love this tree, I was a bit shocked to see all the leaves gone, but our tree surgeon knows what he is doing. On the plus side, less leaves to pick up in the next few weeks. 

Monday we had the tree surgeon in the morning, I spent a couple hours in the garden cutting back other plants, they left me a big tub of shredded tree, which I have popped over my raspberry bed, should do the soil loads of good. Later a friend popped in, we won't see each other now until after lockdown, we shared a lovely chat together.

Tuesday after loads of heavy rain, we woke up to a sunny cold morning, towels were quickly washed and on the line, at 11am a few of our sign class friends popped in for a coffee and cake (hubby made rich chocolate), just 5 of us, including hubby, enjoyed our last meet for a while. 

Wednesday, we had George whilst Will went swimming, daughter and Will came back and spent the rest of the day together, again just 5 of us, we won't see them until December. It was a fun day, but along with sadness, as we will miss this little family the most. We celebrated George 1st tooth coming through, he is a year old later this month, sadly another thing we will miss. 

So today is 1st day of second lockdown, we have not been out much this year, so it should not make too much difference to us, I plan to craft my way through it. We did not do a last minute shop, there is nothing we need, egg, milk and fresh things we will get from our local Co-op. Next week we have a fruit, veg and packaging free shop is opening in the village, we are excited and prepared to pay a bit more and use the shop as much as we can. 

I am not watching too much news, with USA elections filling so much time and all the negatives around the virus, both are important, but both are dragged out, has anyone any good news? 

Stay safe, follow the rules, or we are going to have a long hard winter. 

 

Finish, finish, start...

Another Christmas gift socks are finished, 

these are for youngest daughter, she loves shades of grey. 

One crochet blanket is finished and I am making another, these are for fundraisers for Portsmouth DS, these guys have been so supportive to our family, I will do all I can to help. I was asked to make a baby blanket for a raffle, but I decided to get 2 made.  

My cross stitch is still giving me loads of pleasure, 2 more days done, I have a few stitches for the top right corner of day four, these will be stitched at the end, the holes are too close to my frame and I don't want to move the design. 

I've done some more glass fusion, these are the biggest thing I can make, I wanted to play with colour, texture and shapes, I am pleased with both, whilst simple the results were as I wanted. I cooked these each for 12 minutes. I am looking for some 'silver' tape to finish the edges, I have seen some online just waiting for the delivery. 

This is the 4th book in the series, and it's another huge book, 599 pages, again a few more new people but the main people are from the police force and their family and friends. There is a 5th book which I do not have and for the moment I won't look to read it. Her books are full of shootings and stabbings, she is not to graphic, which is good, each book is a stand alone book. 

When the rain falls I am crafting, I never sit and do nothing, I don't spend every evening watching TV,  the only regular programme we watch is the 6pm news, and I'm happy to miss that these days again. We did watch Graham Norton on Friday night, I have always loved his chat show.

I did get my sewing machine out again to sew some patches on hubbies leather waist coat, he wears it when out on his motorbike with his mates. I have been thinking about making some Christmas buntings, just a small triangles, but as yet haven't made up my mind, I have enough fabric in my stash. The plan for my Christmas cards is forming, at some point soon I will make one card and see if it works, I always make our Christmas cards, I do like to send a lovely home made card rather than a purchased one. Christmas cakes will be baked 1st week in November, one for us and one for daughter and SIL, I have the ingredients. 

The only thing I have not worked on is my 2019 book, I now am getting used to the new format the publishers are using, it's still really simple, but I loved the old system, I do want to publish 2109 and I think I will publish 2020 only because it's been such a strange year. BUT after that I will not make any more of my blog into books, there is a link here if you are interested. I do love to look back on my blog and my books are a great way af finding things. 

We have had a dry few days, so the washing line has been full, catching up with the laundry, considering there is only 2 of us, we do have loads of laundry, house is tidy.

Today hubby is out for the day on his bike, I am home alone, I have leftover homemade Pizza for lunch, so a day of pleasing myself, I have no plans to go out anywhere. Bliss.

 

In my hands

Another new author for me, I enjoyed this book, different story line, I would read another of his. This being my 27th book read this year. 

Book 28, I always love this author and I loved the way the cast came together, very clever. 

Just 80 pages, so a short read, I enjoyed it and wanted the story to carry on, it could have, they sorted issue which threw up another. Book 29

I've done another glass ornament, I purchased some larger cut circles, this is as big as I can use in my kiln, I used different thickness of glass, just to see what works,  the blue disc is just too thick to work well, to get the soft edges I fused for longer, but that made the clear circle edges go a bit too thin, my sister Lena has decided she would like this one. For my reference, I fused for 10 minutes and then a further 2 minutes.  

One sock is finished knitting, just the toes and loose ends to sort, the second sock is almost at the heal pickup point, not done loads on these.

I am still enjoying this blanket, I have not stitched the ends in as yet, but I will start the task soon, it's getting so big I have to pop it on the floor to take a photo, I am still using the 1st ball of each colour and have a 2nd ball to use. Not sure how long it will become, should be enough for my lap blanket. 

The colder weather has been a shock, we have been lucky the night temperatures have not dropped close to freezing, all my plants in the greenhouse are doing well. it will be a few more weeks before I start to plant out, it's hard to wait, but I know I must. 

Most days have been inside, I am a fine weather gardener, always have been, so plenty of crafting and reading has been done. 

More glass

Having fun with seed beads, 

thought these might look good as flowers.

The lighter colours dissapeared, and the stems are a bit thick, but I do like the idea, because of the size limatations in using my microwave kiln, I do need to think smaller. But seed beads are a good way to add colour, and I have loads of them. 

I saw this design on Pintrest, and thought it was worth a try, the white is a bit to thick, the glass rods were all the same size, so I need to be aware of using the solid colours with the opaque. The design was made to look like holly.

I have not done much else with the glass, I want to get more of my gifts finished, before playing. I will try using bigger glass designs, I can't go huge, but I think the bits I am using does not suit the tiny things I am making. I do love the seedbeads and the thin glass rods, but they look big on my finished items.
Time is short with the arrival of baby George, who is beautiful, but tiny and not feeding the best, so visits with mum is planned. Will went home with daddy last night, he was missing both parents. Hopefully mummy and George will be allowed home today, so they can start this new part of their journey. Grandma arrive tomorrow, so more family together, there is nothing better than a tiny new life in your family.

Glass

 Hubby purchased these for my birthday gift, he asked me if there was anything I would like, I had been looking at these long thin rods for a while, I love the shades on the blues and translucent, and another pack with mixed colours in. They are small and should soften in the kiln, the blue circle's should be a great base for these. 

I have been playing, I do like using the circle cut glass as a base, this is sunset over poppy fields. I class this as a success, only point, a couple of the rods slipped and came over the edge of the shape, they are very hard to file back, I still have a bit more to do. This was made with a clear top and white base circle, and cooked for 10 mins, plus 2 mins. 

This should be holly and made to look like a bauble, it does look better from a distance, I hope to make another, but will try red glass seed beads for the berries. This was made just using the base with the decoration on top, cooked for 8 mins plus 2 mins. I now know how to bend these rods to look more natural. 

This was also a birthday gift from hubby, he knows I love these, I won't plant for a couple of weeks, I love to see these bloom after Christmas, when every where feels much duller. 

I did ask for no birthday gifts this year, there is so little I want, I knew hubby would ignore me, but was very pleased when he asked me what he should get, the glass bits are just perfect for me to play and create pretty glass. I have had fun this week, and have a few more ideas in my head, I do love the sea and I'm hoping to create a few scenes. The bulb was his surprise to me.
Saturday we popped to see Will, mummy and daddy at home, we took happy cake, which Will loved, which is birthday cake to the rest of us, I had not planned for a cake, but Will kept asking.
I also soaked the fruit of the 1st Christmas cake, using the zest and juice of 2 large oranges and 1 lemon, I have used this recipe for years, so the house smells of citrus.
Last night we went out for a meal, it was a gift from youngest daughter, for both our birthdays (hubbys in September), we don't often go out in the evenings, but it was fun. We ate early and was home by 9pm, and watched Strickly.
Today we have nothing planned, I have a book I've started reading and a few craft things to finish, plus I need to sort more yarn, I am happily ticking things off my 'to make list', I do need a couple days of my sewing machine out.
The Christmas cake is going in the oven today and I will soak the fruit for the 2nd cake, which will be cooked tomorrow.
The pressing thing I need to make is my Christmas cards, I have everything I need, so it's just a case of designing and putting them together, luckly we don't send so many, and I don't have a huge pile to make.

Finishes and planning a start

I have finished this cot blanket for George, it's not huge, perfect size for a baby. I used Drops 💗you, cotton 4ply, and used 12 x 50grm balls. 

 I still have all the ends to work in, I have a tiny rug hook, which I use, 

hope to get it all done in the week. 

 These are pretty boys colours, 

whilst not using the same shades of blue as used for Will's blanket, 

which he still takes to bed with him. 

 I have done some more glass fusion, these are made with triangles of glass in a circle, overlapping, but leaving a gap in the middle to be able to hang them. Neither is perfect, but I will use them on my Christmas tree this year. I have a couple of designs in my head, I hope to get them done soon. 

 Back to crochet, these are the colours for the ripple blanket for George to use in the car,  this will be the same size as the one I made Will, just the colours will be different. This will be a simple quick design, which I can thread the yarn ends in as I make it.

I'm not in a rush to start the ripple blanket, I really want to knit, I have enough yarn for a chunky jumper or a 4ply Alpaca jumper and a few shawls. I have just half a sock to finish for a Christmas gift, I might knit another pair, I have loads of sock yarn.
I also need to sort the scarf I am weaving, it should have been finished ages ago, the loom is on a small table in my dining room and is in the way, so that's my incentive to get it done. This will be done over the weekend, some of the blisters have broken on my fingers, and whilst they do not hurt, I think it's best if I don't hold hooks or needles for a couple of days.
I did pop to our local library and get some more books to read, so I have plenty to do.
I have been sorting, packing away baby toys and books which Will no longer uses, some went to our local charity shop, I have his toy box to do next, it is overflowing with toys. I also have some shoes and clothes I have not worn for over a year, these I take to the red cross collection, where clothes are given to those in need for free.

Smashing

I used the precut circles, with thin and tiny bits of coloured glass sandwiched in the middle.

 I fired the glass, whilst it is not the finished look I was wanting, the glass inside does look just as I wanted it. I wanted a summer days sky, with a field of poppies below.

This piece went into the kiln in my microwave twice, after the 1st go, the glass was fused, but the coloured glass had not melted, I checked the piece after it had started to cool down, so I left the glass and kiln to go completely cold, and then repeated the firing.
My Christmas tree, I did on one long setting, 10 minutes, I read else where to set it on 2 minute burst, which I tried on this piece, but the kiln was not heating up, so I did 6 minutes, which was not enough time to fuse the work. The 2nd time I did 6 minutes again, which was not enough, so I did another 4 minutes, which was too much.
There are not many places I can find for instructions for a microwave kiln, most says to adjust timings to your microwave, I have a powerful microwave, so I know that is not the problem. I just have to play around until I find the correct times.

 I had another try, just a simple design, I fired it for 10 minutes, checked and fired for extra 2 minutes, 3 levels, white on bottom, mixed frit with yellow bars, clear glass on top, I can see one small air bubble, but for me it's perfect, I'm just so pleased.

I'm on a roll so I thought I would try another one, this was designed simply, the pink glass already had the design in, I added the pearl and the purple, which is more see through, I cut each piece to fit into the square, which I also cut. I wanted to break up the solid colour so I added the yellow chips, they left gaps, so I added the finner navy blue.  

 In each case the glass cuts run to the edge of the design, this allows air to flow out of the fired item and have less or no air bubbles, this piece has no air bubbles. There was clear glass top and bottom, to seal this piece. It was fired for 12 minutes. 

The firing process worked well, so hopefully I have now got a better idea of the timings. I will try another design, keeping things simple, so once finished they look good. None of the failed ones are wasted, I can break the glass and reuse it, there is never any waste. But I will purchase some more clear round glass, I find these useful. 

Finished glass

I collected my 2 pieces from my recent class, they had been through the professional kiln, with someone who knew what she was doing. This is poppies, the bits in the clear glass should have been clouds and patches of darker blue sky, but I used glass too thick, hence the air bubbles.

 This one is very different, I wanted to keep the textures, I will hang it on my office wall. I did make it the other way up, and after I left I asked for a hanging loop to be added. I am not unhappy with the look, even if I made it to be the other way around.

 Here you can see the different levels, in the firing the sharp edges have become round and soft, but the definition of the shapes are still there. I just want to touch this piece. 

I thought I would try something like this at home, 

using my microwave kiln, a nice simple project.

I forgot to take a photo before mine went in the kiln, it was a basic design, with 3 tree pieces in different shades of green, with a small yellow millefiori at the top and a small brown millefiori at the bottom. I added some frit in green and red colours for simple decoration, the photo shows the glass I used.  This was more about testing the process, I 'cooked on high' for 2 minutes burst, for 4 times and then left for an hour to cool down. The cooling down being the hardest part, cos I did want to see how it all came out. 

Not quite right, the middle piece of glass slipped and is too low, it was the wrong colour to choose, I thought it would enhance the tree. I over fired this, whilst it's lovely and smooth, the smaller bits of glass melted too much. But for a 1st piece, it shows promise, the basic design was right, this will be the biggest size I can make, which for me is OK. 

I found online cut circles of glass in both clear and white glass, small circles are hard to cut, plus a couple of useful tools. These have been added to my stash list. 

I found cutting the glass not so difficult, I had purchased the same cutter and snips as I had used in my class, all the bits of glass were the same thickness, which is important in my small kiln. I used all the safety items, gloves, goggles and a mask to ensure safety first. I collected any bits of glass, which can be used on another project, nothing is wasted in glass fusion, even the tiny glass flakes can be used for decoration. If I decide not to keep my tree, the glass can be broke up and reused.
I enjoyed the process, and will do another design at the tomorrow, I have so many things I would like to make, I am thinking of having another half day class to make a bigger item, probably happen next year.