But it's my best toy.......

When we were little a bit before Christmas we were made to sort out our toys and put aside the ones we didn't want anymore. It was amazing how precious something you hadn't looked at for months became as soon as parting with it became an issue.

About a 2 years ago I was sent a plant in a box and my youngest cat Electra(17)immediately took the box as her own, she has played with it for cat hours on end, a bit like when a child prefers the box to the present.

This afternoon, looking at the living room with a virew to getting ready for Christmas, I said to DH do you think we could get rid of that box? So while she had her afternoon nap we removed it, we put it in the hall. When she woke up one of the first things she did was go and sit where the box was. The expression on her face seemed to say "What have you done with my box" eventually she found it in the hall and immediately took possesion we could hear her playing with it as though to say "You see I play with it all the time" Needless to say it is back, I think I will have to wrap it in Christmas paper.

This is MY box!!!


If you feel like an extra bit of silliness I came across this piece on "Stashbusting" .Thanks to Vicki Welsh for the link

Cable chain knot....

Oh I like this one, I liked the cable chain and this is just chunkier, it follows a curve so easily. Lovely texture. The photograph doesn't do it justice but it the stitch shows off this metallic thread beautifully.



Continuing the festive theme my good wishes to you all in your preparations.

Fairy feet....and new challenge

In this months issue of Stitch there is an article on making fairy shoes by Annette Emms. A couple of years ago she wrote a tutorial on Workshop on the Web at the time two friends of mine were performing in a musical play about the two little girls who claimed to have actually taken photographs of fairies, you can see the pictures and the story of the Cottingley Fairies here
This is one of the pairs I made.



Sharon Boggon is devising a new challlenge for 2008. I have so enjoyed the Take a Stitch Tuesday (apart from Oyster stitich and chain braid!!!!) and the new one sounds as though it will fit in with the things I have been promising myself for next year. She has called it Take it Further and you can find the details here
Take it Further
It will be just once a month so should be easier to keep pace.

I want it...

Often, very often because there is so much talent out there,you come across a post showing something you would like to touch, or own or you wish you had made. I have just found this something which fits all those criteria, made by Susan of Art in Stitches. If you like altered books go take a look.

How could I forget............Cranford......

No copyright breach intended.
What a joy, we sat there hanging on every word and drinking in the wonderful period detail. No simulated sex, no violence and no bad language just one hour of riveting acting and an already gently enthralling story and, as someone pointed out today, issues that are still relevant today. For those of you beyond these shores I hope it will come to a small screen near you soon.
As you know I frequently have my disappointments with the BBC and am not backward in coming forward but when it comes to adaptations of the classics they are unbeatable.The BBC website has some interesting background information as does this site which tells of the filming in Lacock, the village we visited in October.What joy for the next few Sunday evenings.
I add two extracts from the Englishwoman's Domestic Magazine which I was luck y enought to borrow from a friend some time ago.


(If you double clock they should come up large)
A different world indeed!!

Busy, busy

I do apologise for the lack of content around here at the moment. I am still working on my project and my Christmas cards but I did find time to complete this weeks TAST. What a gogeous textural stitch this could be, taking Sharons' comment that it was a great stitch for representing trees I give you this little seasonal offering.

It's the time of year.....

As I flip round through my bloglines the same phrases keep appearing, "can't show you what I'm doing because it is a secret" and I'm in the same boat myself, I am working so hard on my project that I still don't know will work, all I can tell you is that it has involved a whole lot of machine stitching, oh all right then, just a peek as I am fairly sure the person it is intended for rarely looks here.

Also in spite of my often voiced "I don't even think about Christmas until after my brothers birthday" (four weeks to the day) I have to confess that I have started making my cards.
TAST this week stitch is Thorn stitch and I will play later in the week but Sharon is also looking to start a new challenge for next year and is asking opinions in a Design challenge and a Getting Things Stitched, full details are on
In A Minute Ago. It will be interesting to see what is chosen.

And finally for all you cat lovers out there, you may have seen this but it I have just come across it and I loved it, didn't dare play it too loud though in case my two joined in.
Talking Cat
If someone can tell me how to get the actual video into my blog I would be grateful.

Happy Anniversary.........

On Tuesday the Queen and Prince Phillip will celebrate their 60th Wedding Anniversary. I remember listening to the wedding on the radio (no television for us until the Coronation in 1953). On the oficial site there is a look behind the scenes, did you know that the then Princess had to save up her clothing coupons for the material and that the fruit for the cake was a gift from Girl Guides in Austalia. It is worth a look for a world that is no more. The most moving part of the site for me is the letter from King George VI to his daughter the day after the wedding. Not King to future Queen just a father to his beloved daughter.

Yes dear......

Overheard in Mark and Spencer Food department yesterday.

SHE "Shall we have eclairs?"
HE "Do you wanrt an eclair?"
SHE "...or Custard Tarts?"
HE "Do you want a Custard Tart"

last seen looking for the scones........

I love overheard snippets of conversation,

Speaking of Marks and Spencer, (that store where they play dreadful music....)
have you seen the Christmas advertisment (my pop up blocker won't allow so here is a still borrowed from the site)



Well that's my Christmas list done then!!!!

Chain braid

No wonder the alternative name for this stitch is Gordian Knot stitch for, like the famous knot when this stitch goes wrong the only way to solve it is with a pair of scissors!!
This, for me, was the most difficult stitch of the TAST challenge since Oyster stitch way back in April..
My first mistake was choosing a design with corners, you will see I had to cheat on those....then I don't really like working with a hoop and then or course there is my inability to be neat and this is a stitch that needs neatness. I can see in the hands of a skilled embroideress it would be a wonderful tool and I am very glad I have attempted it but in future I think I will probably buy the ready made variety.
So here it is, warts and knots and all.

Pearls before.....

When I shared a joke with Susan of Art in Stitches her reply rang little memory bells. I remember my mother saying that pearls should be worn or they would lose their lustre. Google found me this entertaining discussion which shows my mother was not the only one. In the very unlikely place of the Department of Computer Science I found me these wonderful pictures of some very formidable ladies wearing pearls.
This is Dame Nellie Melba the opera singer.

And of course Queen Elizabeth the first always seemed to have a rope or two about her person.

Finds....

Thanks to Jacqueline for the link to Dianas Zeug - Design Blog, unfortunately I do not read German but this is what I call eye candy!!!

One of the joys of blogging is when you come across someone whose life is completely different to your own. The Pioneer Woman certainly fits that bill. A different sort of eye candy!! Another world. Marvellous. Incidentally if it's comfort food you want checkout her recipe for mashed potato!

Andrea of Up to Late as Usual posted this video of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra making a beer commercial. The conductor liked it.

My weekend wasn't entirely mis-spent I have added another page for my fabric book.

We will remember them............

I watched the Ceremony of Remembrance at the Cenotaph in London. One of the most moving parts was as the veterans marched some had an expression on their face which suggested that they were marching not down Whitehall but in another time with other companions.

How sad, that inspite of all these sacrifices, we have not learned to live and let live.

Yesterday I found these very moving Christmas cards by Barbara on her blog Rainbow. A message for Christmas, today and always.

Pekinese stitch or .......

more excitingly, Forbidden stitch. Well that is apparently another name for this weeks TAST stitch. This immediately brought to mind the Forbidden city, so I called up Wikipedia what an amzing place it is. This Ming Dynasty painting was just what I need for inspiration for my TAST example(I was dertermined not to fall behind again).

and here is my own little palace.


Can you tell I'm am quite proud of myself. Incidentally this is the first time I have used counted thread material in the TAST challenge but decided it was they only way I was going to get the stitch even, as you can see I didn't quite succeed. Should have worked it on a frame as well. Heigh ho, one of these days I'll learn.

TAST double......

I have been very naughty and missed a week on my TAST samples. This is why I have tried all along to complete them each week because I realised that it would be all to easy to create a backlog. (sings ...I know me so well)
This is my Drizzle stitch week 43, I am not quite sure it is right as I think I may have reverted to Cast On stitch (week 31) but I like the texture.


And this is rejoices in the title Zig Zag Knotted stitch, it took me a while to work it out but then I liked it so much I made a little piece of silk tops paper especially for it.

Something to do with a close friend......

Sparing no effort to find you something to do , I found that Marianne of Heegeldab has this link to making a dress form. Can you imagine the giggles.

That's what I call a good day out.........

which started with a visit to the London Graphic Centre for some(non)essential supplies, with just a short stop at the Bead Shop for some more(non) essentials I met my friend, who is also god mother to my daughter, for lunch. Lots of lovely catching up chat over lunch and then a quick trip to see the Mellon collection at the Royal Academy . The exhibition was just the right size and had many pieces which I liked, I wanted to stroke the Zebra by George Stubbs.

(Image from the RA website no breach of copyright intended.)
Also on display were books of prints and artists sketch books.
Outside the RA there is this amazing Three Legged Buddha by a Chinese Artist Zhang Huan, I only had time to take a couple of snaps as it was beginning to get dark but would like to go back and take more, as you can see there is a lot of detail and the copper colours are just yummy.



We then zapped across the road to Fortnum and Mason's, just because it's there, unfortuately the windows were being dressed for Christmas so there wasn't anything to drool over but I was told that they will be spectacular. We had tea, at a more modest establishment and then went to see Mary Poppins which is a truly delightful musical.
Lovely day!!

Nothing to do?......

I found this link on U-handblog
this morning, just in case you have nothing to do between now and Christmas!! A list of things that you can make for presents, links to tutorials on the Sew Mama Sew Blog. Something new every day for the month of November.

Look what I found......

Today I was looking for a little organza bag that I thought I had somewhere, as I seached the likely boxes I heard a little giggle and I lifted a box of beads and yes there were the pages of my little holiday book where they have been hiding for the last few weeks. I wagged my finger at them, in delight, and went to put them with the last page......oh yes! you are ahead of me aren't you. I CAN'T FIND IT!! My only consolation is that I know I didn't throw it our, just put it in a safe place in case the others ever turned up. It's just not in the safe place I thought it was. So next time I'm looking for something I should find it, the only problem is where to put these pages until then.

This is the page for Monacute House complete with tiny sampler that I made to represent the wonderful samplers which are on show there.


While I am here, thanks to Susan for the comment on my previous post. Take a look at here pieces, Archeology Project and the Collector on October 28th if you haven't seen them.

Just to show the American teams what they missed on their wet whirlwind visit here are some pictures I took at Wakehurst Place on Tuesday