Monday's Musing

The sun is shining, the washing is on the line, my mind is set to spring-clean mode. Maybe later I will do this...

Giveaway here.

Ooh la la! My French Giveaway is finally here!

I'm sorry this has been such a long while in arriving, but you know how it is when you get back from a holiday - piles of washing, then ironing, then tidying everything away (and dealing with the layer of dust and grime that has settled everywhere in your absence)  plus a general 'settling back down' time till you finally feel back in the swing of things and in a more normal groove...On top of that, having been largely deprived of sewing for the duration of the holiday, I was itching to get stitching last week, and was acting like a whirling dervish in my sewing room - not really finding the idea of sitting down at a computer very appealing...

Anyhow, here it is, a little taste of France.  I have two 'prizes' - one for the sewing enthusiasts....

... and one for the less needle-and-thread minded...

For the stitchers (or would be stitchers?) there is a copy of that sweet little red embroidery book I found in the lovely haberdashery in Morzine.

Sweet designs 

Crisp white linens and bright red thread 

Ideas for embellishing all manner of things around the house

Along with that there will be a copy of 'Il etait un fil' (There was a thread) which is filled with cross-stitch and embroidery ideas and patterns.

What's new pussycat?

A different take on baby bunting - love the little pram

Charts

Transfers (I think!)

Plenty of inspiration to keep you busy, or just to admire!


The other giveaway is a copy of 'Maison et Deco - Shabby Style' magazine, oozing with pretty pictures of shabby chic decor...

Pretty furniture

Gorgeous fabrics and soft furnishings

Oodles of vases filled with pretty blooms

What a stove!

And with that, a selection of repro postcards...

Each of the prizes will come with a little something extra (because magazine reading requires a little sustenance, doesn't it?)


All you need to do is leave a comment at the end of the post, saying which of the prizes you'd like - sewing or non-sewing.  I will leave this open till next Wednesday (that's May 1st)  when I will have a small helper around to draw a name out of a hat (Should that be a beret?)

Bonne chance mes amies!

Ta-Dah Tuesday!

Yesterday I finally finished the little ballet wrap I had been working on ever so intermittently since the summer.  I remember I knitted the back during a tense Wimbledon Men's final - hence mistakes that led to me putting the project aside for a good while!

Eventually I unravelled and got back on track, only to make a right front that did not match the left front, leading to another spell shoved at the bottom of my knitting bag.  

With long evenings on holiday (the 'evening' starting around two when the slopes were generally rather slushy for fun skiing) books, cross-stitch and knitting all made progress.

By Saturday, all I had left to do were the borders - goodness though, they took a LONG time.  But I think they were worth it in the end.  

I love the colour of this yarn - one by Bergere de France called Sonora - a cotton/acrylic mix.  I don't normally like knitting with synthetics, but this didn't set my teeth on edge, and I'm sure it will be more practical in terms of washing.

The shade of blue reminds me of bluebells!  Ah, dreams of Spring!

It was hard to find the right shade of ribbon, so I ended up with four different lengths of blue.  But I wish I had thought ahead and found what I have now ordered from 'The Ribbon Girl' - some wide silk ribbon which I think will drape more prettily and look less shiny than the ordinary stuff I purchased from the local shop.

Wide silk ribbon from The Ribbon Girl

The pattern was from this booklet...

Sublime yarns and patterns by Sirdar
Yarn: Sonora by Bergere de France in Mosaique

...from which I have now knitted four items, making it a reasonably priced option.

First I made the 'sailing Sweater' for dear little Hannah...

Then the 'Sunday Brunch Jacket' (oh, I love the names!) for Zosia...

...and the bonnet to match...

I've got my eye on the 'Vintage Car Coat' now...

But I am being a good girl and NOT buying more wool till I've knocked another few works-in-progress off my list.  (This is NOT a New Year's Resolution - more of a shift in attitude that may, or may not, remain with me!)

This is next to be worked on...

Based loosely on a pattern in 'Cross Stitcher' magazine, but using only red thread as I didn't have the required colours when away!

Hoping to link up with Lakota's 'Ta-Dah Tuesday', over at Faith, Hope and Charity Shopping.  But even if there aren't loads of Ta-Dahs to look at, it's worth hopping over to read her celebrity resolutions.

Are you a 'finisher' or an 'eternal starter' like me?

Back to some kind of normality...

So the decorations are down and carefully packed away, the post-holiday ironing pile has been dealt with (much of it by folding instead of actually ironing) and Miss U-t-B is back at school...

{Though with Post-Christmas-Decoration Depression setting in, I decided Rudolph would stay for a while at least. The greenery has gone and he's got a floral-sprigged nose cover so he can be more incognito!  I am adopting the idea of having some winter decorations, it seems.

Mr U-t-B is not keen, but I am going to try to convince him my 

deer head + woodburner + skates + cosy chair combo 

is as close to a 'ski-lodge' as he's ever likely to get, 

and see if Rudie can stay awhile. }

It's time to get back into the swing of things...

No, no, not like that!

No - with Mr U-t-B now sort-of retired, I think our 'swing of things' is in need of a bit of re-assessment.  

Time to organise my blogging-time, my stitching-time and my work-time to allow for time together, broadening our horizons.

It feels like it might be a bit of a juggling act to start with! We'll see how many balls we can keep going!

What's-on-my-Bookshelf-Wednesday - Biscornus et Pique-Aiguilles

Here's a lovely book I bought when I was in France in the summer...

Available through Amazon

'Biscornus et Pique-Aiguilles' or 'Biscornus and Pincushions' 

A biscornu is a clever little thing constructed out of (usually) two squares, then oh-so carefully sewn together to arrive at this shape...

Photo courtesy of Save the Stitches by NordicNeedle where you can find some very good  looking instructions for how to create a biscornu

I had never heard of a biscornu until I started reading blogs - ah, the educational power of the internet!

Look at some of the lovelies from the book...

Two-square biscornu

They can be used for pincushions, but also as decorations (small ones dangling from a sparsely decorated Christmas tree would be lovely) and for keyrings, scissor fobs and the like.

Fifteen square biscornu

Lots of sweet charts...

Elf?  Pixie?  Who cares - I love the little peeps in the book (there are quite a few)...

Charts for large and small squares, so you can chose depending on your level of patience and how much time you have available...

I haven't yet managed to get started on any of these, mainly because I can't choose which to do!  But when I do, you know you're likely to see the results here!