LOVE, the chubby kind...

"Love" is another of my new designs for June 17th's issue of The Stitchery Club.

And of course, love is exactly what I feel when sweet chubby 10-month old Cully May wraps her arms around my neck and leans in for a kiss. She can even say Nana now!

Can you believe she's already 10 months old? Blossom can't. I can't. It seems only a few months back that Blossom and Ross welcomed this precious little girl into the world.

Today she came fabric shopping with her mummy and I and thought it was wonderfully fun to ride in the trolley and 'look after' the fabrics we'd  chosen.

With only two months until her very 1st birthday I decided to knit Cully May a little bear with various outfits she can swap and change.

I've had the link to Mary Jane's Tearoom in the 'sewing and crafting blogs' list on my sidebar for ages because I adore her designs and knew one day I'd give one a try.

Aren't they adorable?

I'm knitting the pink and brown little girl bear.

To keep the stuffing from popping out these bears are knitted with 8 ply yarn on tiny 3mm needles (US 2.5 or UK No 11) for a snug finish.

One leg stitched between Monday night and Tuesday afternoon...

I love to knit but can only do an hour at at a time as I have never had the same dexterity in my fingers since an operation on my right hand seven years ago, and that is why I've given myself a good length of time to complete the wee bear and her wardrobe. 

Second leg half stitched on Tuesday evening...

This could be addictive!

So I guess you understand the inspiration behind my "Love" design, right?

Miss Cully May indeed!

Once again I embroidered onto flour sack (another recent addiction) because I think this fabric adds warmth and homeliness to my new designs.

The other patterns for June which have been stitched on flour sack are...

The closing date for membership to The Stitchery Club in time to receive these patterns is June 16th. You can join HERE on the Club page, and receive a wonderful joining gift too.

Have you signed up for my newsletter yet?

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That's enough from me today because I'm sure you have wonderful things planned away from the computer. May they bring much joy to your precious heart and perhaps inspire you to sing a song or two...

hugs

Finish one, begin another...

Continuing with my new habit of closing the office door at the weekend and partaking of a different pastime I was able to complete my thickly knitted woolen polishing cloth on Saturday afternoon...

...and just before sunset that same day (during a leisurely drive north to Cardwell with Mr E) began a much finer knitted piece which will become something different that I can't tell you about at the moment because it's still at the idea-forming stage inside my head.

Both knitted pieces feature the "old shale" pattern which is very similar to "feather and fan" but knitted on an 18 stitch repeat. 

The blue piece will only have short sections of old shale, the rest interspersed with simple garter and stocking stitch. Hopefully my idea will evolve nicely. If not? A nice washcloth. 

I can only knit for short bursts due to a hand injury/surgery but those bursts are rather satisfying.

Cully May came to visit at the weekend too and this was definitely a highlight for Mr E and I. 

She laughs and laughs, crawls everywhere, and generally fills our 'happy tanks'. 

Yesterday I stepped back into the office to begin the new working week with a stack of pattern writing. 

Ten hours, one coffee, two cups of tea, some chocolate, and a hearty bowl of leftover Shepherd's Pie  later all seven patterns for the March issue of The Stitchery Club were written, checked, corrected, and emailed off to my proof reader Allie who blesses me month after month doing this.

My Shepherd's Pie is a favourite around here and I always make lots so we can have leftovers the next day or later in the week. You might like to try it?

Download the Shepherd's Pie recipe here.

 

Memberships close at midnight on the 16th March if you'd like to join in time to receive the new issue of The Stitchery Club.

You'll find all the membership information, photos of the seven patterns inside the March issue, plus the bonus "Herb Pillow" project here on the Club webpage.

Each issue of The Stitchery Club arrives as a PDF file via email on the 17th of the month so you can become a part of this fun stitching club no matter where you are in the world!

I'm off for a long overdue hair cut this morning then back to my desk where I'm going to prepare something lovely I'll be sharing with you in April.

Have a joy-filled week and bless others with your beautiful smile,

hugs

A slower pace...

The last couple of years I've been 'listening' to the almost daily conversation two of my daughters have about babies, husbands, health, home and the future. Living more than 2,000 kilometres apart our little 'messenger' group keeps the three of us in touch with what's happening in our day to day lives. 

Our chats can run from teething and nappy rash to losing the car keys at the supermarket and choosing to stay calm with two toddlers who just want to go home now, or offering recipe advice and cleaning ideas, a sounding board for future plans, or a safe place to collapse into armfuls of loving encouragement when life is a tad overwhelming and only a mum or sister can understand. 

My girls inspire me with the women they have grown into, indeed the women, wives and mothers they are still becoming. I love that they ask my advice, but I also appreciate that they are there when I need it too. This giving and taking, sharing of what we have learned and what we still would like to know is such a gift and the fruit of it is mutual respect for each other, a trust and honesty which has been built over time. 

Though their lives are somewhat hectic with little ones to care for, there's also a slow simplicity and 'joy in the moment' which resonates through both of their personalities. The delight they have in their family, their husbands, their homes, is beautiful...and last week it reminded me that I may have begun to rush again, not intentionally, but enough that I'm not taking time to enjoy my ordinary moments as often as I should. 

This needed pondering.

Working backwards I discovered my return to rush and busyness coincided with the increase in migraines the past couple of months. My neurologist has me keeping a migraine diary now and it's quite clear three weeks along that I try to do twice as much work on my good days to make up for my bad days.

No wonder the sense of bustle and hurry follows me.

This weekend I decided not to sew. Now believe me I thoroughly enjoy stitching, but it's work and I rarely sew anything that's not work due to the many hours my designs take (from drawing board to the end process of pattern writing)...so I made the choice not to do any Elefantz work until Monday morning. 

Instead I baked, read, did a little housework, went for a wonderfully long and relaxing drive in the country with my husband, and I knitted.

It's been a long time since I knitted anything, and it was only going to be a plain garter stitch dishcloth at first, but you know, that's because I didn't think I had much time for anything else.

So now, valuing the slowing of weekend time, I decided to play with a stitch design from long ago (Old Shale), one all my children have worn in little cardigans when they were babes. 

It will be a pretty woolen polishing cloth when I'm done, and my fingers are sore because they're being used in a different way, but my it was a delight to be knitting again.

And the baking. 

Rosie Heather came for a visit on Friday and I played around with a recipe in my head which turned our beautifully (blueberry & lemon ricotta muffins).

Sunday afternoon I baked for Mr E, a moist apple chocolate cake, also delicious. In fact it's a recipe you make in a food processor and my beloved husband had bought me a new processor for my birthday last month but I've been 'too busy' to use it. Isn't that sad?

Returning to a slower pace is good for my soul, it's a blessing to my family and it's better for my health and state of mind.

I knew that as soon as the decision was made to separate work and the weekend...as though I needed to give myself permission to have two days off and enjoy other things. 

I know it's great to work from home and I'm blessed to do so given that with migraines as prevalent as mine working outside the home is not a possibility, but it also has it's drawbacks because work is always there right in front of you and there's truly always something to be done.

I'm so very grateful for the insights into my own life which God brings about through the conversations with, and between, my dear daughters, and this insight especially because it has given me what was needed to step off the busy-go-round and choose the slower path once more.

Are you needing to slow down or step back a little?

hugs

The tea cup of my dreams, with wool...

I found it. 

My "indulgence" tea cup. 

Gingham and roses - honestly, is there any cup and saucer set more beautiful in all the world to capture my heart?

Blossom, Cully May and I found it at The Tea Centre on my birthday. It's an over-sized tea cup and saucer, unusual for me as I like dainty cups, but it has a lovely slim lip for easy sipping and will hold two of my normal cups of tea so I won't need to get up and down for a refill during my afternoon indulgence time. 

It makes tea taste even more delicious than usual and I feel wonderfully domestic just holding the cup and looking down at the soft green gingham saucer, as though I should be planning a new apron or browsing the pages of a spring bulbs catalogue.

Indeed, this is the tea cup of my dreams.

Just in case you're wondering the maker is Roy Kirkham Tableware and the design is called Eleanor's Roses. 

I mentioned the other day that when Blossom and I were at Spotlight shopping for her fabric supplies it completely slipped my mind that I'd intended looking for suitable yarn to knit dishcloths or washcloths, so this morning I decided to go it alone and see what I could find while the store still has a big sale on all their knitting and crochet supplies. 

Shez mentioned in her comment on Tuesday's blog post that she uses dishcloth patterns to knit polishing cloths and I thought that was a brilliant idea! Merino Superwash Wool was half price at Spotlight and the colours were sublime so I came home with 11 balls which will be plenty for polishing cloths and washcloths (or flannels as my Nana called them) and should keep me busy for a couple of years at least being that most of my hand work is taken up with embroidery.

I also discovered some $2 balls of yarn that looked interesting as they had a free scarf pattern included and to my eyes seemed fairly quick to make because you only need two balls per scarf.

You're probably aware we don't get much use out of scarves in the tropics, but I did think one each for Blossom and I to throw around our necks with a thin cardigan on cooler winter evenings might be nice so I bought enough of the silvery grey and a tealy blue to have a play.

Of course, it may not be this winter we wear them...but it's nice to have a project 'there' for when I feel like doing something different and easy.

Another $2 sale bin which caught my eye held Perle #5 skeins of DMC thread.

I gathered these four lovelies and quickly walked away before being tempted to purchase more...

My final fling into the shopping bag was this beautiful decorator fabric...

...which will be used to recover two white chairs.

The chairs were originally an awful yellow and about 9 years ago Blossom painted them white. Since then I've recovered the cushioned seats twice and now it's time for another freshening-up.

Simple knitting will be good for me. It reflects a lesson in life about giving concentrated time to things that require more effort (my stitchery designs) and then relaxing to enjoy the simpler things that have no deadlines or business involved. 

Next Wednesday (March 1st) I'll be sharing block 2 of "The Love of Home" with you.

Would you like to see how I'm putting my version together at the moment?

You'll receive the free stitchery pattern to use any way your heart desires, but perhaps you'll gain a little inspiration from how I display my block too.

Not long and all will be revealed!

Read more about my 2017 free BOM here.

Block 1 is still free to download here.

Now I think it's about time for my 20 minutes of wonderfully refreshing afternoon indulgence. I have a new magazine, some banana and date loaf, and a very pretty tea cup waiting.

Is it time for your indulgence too?

hugs

Yarn and a yarn...

My Nana was a knitter. I never saw her do any crochet, but come autumn she'd have the knitting needles out and a familiar click-clack would sound through our flat each evening as we watched the telly or sat in the kitchen listening to the radio.

Mostly she knitted socks, scarves, vests and balaclavas, all to be worn by my dear Pop in the cold night hours whilst loading cargo off and on ships at the Newcastle Port. To my knowledge she never knitted any other clothing, but there was an occasional tea cosy made to dress the pot when it's old finery had worn thin. 

I was reminded of Nana and her seasonal employment with yarn when a newsletter from Eco-yarns arrived in my email inbox one day last week. I bought a few skeins of Eco-yarn as a gift for a friend last year (and it's absolutely beautiful) which is why I receive their newsletters. I do swoon over their natural dyed wool but it's too hot here nine months of the year to take knitting or crochet seriously so I swoon a while and then delete the email. 

But in this latest newsletter they'd included a lovely, simple washcloth pattern of which I think I'll knit at least one if I can find some suitable yarn here in town. 

It's garter stitch for the washcloth with an option to crochet around the edge when you finish. The pattern is free and you're welcome to make it too by clicking on the link above the photo.

Make your own Simple Beauty Washcloth 

So that's the first 'yarn' in my blog title, now on to the other 'yarn'.

A yarn is what my Pop would call a chat. He'd say, "I was having a yarn with Joe at smoko..." or "Jennifer, come and have a yarn with your old Pop and tell me what you've been up to today..."

Whilst looking at that photo of the washcloth above I realised for the first time just why a chat was called a yarn. Because a yarn is lines of conversation interwoven from one person to another, back and forth, round about, creating a story, making something permanent - be it only a memory - out of mere thoughts.

Just like we use woolly yarn to weave, crochet or knit - in and out, round about, back and forth, creating something tangible, something more than an idea.

Nana and Pop had many yarns while she knitted with her yarn.
I usually sat nearby and just enjoyed being with them, eating bread with butter and jam and loving how right everything was in our little world in the poor side of town.

Thinking about the yarn and the washcloth also got me thinking about my favourite domesticity  book, in fact the book which inspired my year of gentle domesticity in 2015, a year that ran over into 2016 and is still giving me food for thought and joy in my ordinary today. 

Tell-tale signs of a well loved, well used, and generally read cover to cover and back again book...

The author, Jane Brocket, adores yarn.

She knits socks, lots and lots of socks.

In fact when I bought another of her books (The Gentle Art of Knitting) what was the very first pattern in that book? Socks.
I tried knitting socks...let's not relive that experience. 

I do like her cable knitted hot water bottle cover, though. When my children were little I knitted many cabled cardigans, vests and jumpers (sweaters) for them, spending many a contented hour click-clacking away on wintry Melbourne nights. 

Sadly we've had no need of a hot water bottle since moving to the tropics in 2009, but I do think one might look rather nice just lying beside a stack of Jane Austen classics, a vase of carnations, and a notepad. 

In Jane's knitting book, which I'm sad to say has not been read cover to cover, nor have I made one single thing from it, she also has a simple washcloth pattern which if memory serves me right I did intend making a while back??

(the red and white caught my eye, something Nana would have made...love it)

Fortunately washcloths and dishcloths all serve a purpose no matter what the weather or where in the world you live so I DO intend making at least one this year, perhaps even before my winter (which is more like a springy autumn) begins in June. 

And I do think that red and white is rather charming. Or is the heart ribbon wrapped around the dishcloth adding a touch of sentimentality that's got me romanticising? Mmmmm.

Today is my birthday and I spent most of it with Blossom and Cully May. We had cake and coffee at a nice cafe where for the first time Cully May was introduced to a high chair, which she "loved" almost as much as my lemon syrup muffin.

Afterwards we roamed our local Spotlight store so that Blossom could choose fabric and supplies for her fledgling baby and toddler clothing design business. I had plans to check out their yarns section for my washcloth/dishcloth plans but in the excitement of being the centre of Cully May's attention for those two hours I completely forgot!

There's always tomorrow.

When I arrived home mid afternoon my exhaustion level was on extreme, but my happiness meter was overflowing.
To top it off Mr E arrived home from work half an hour later with the biggest bunch of flowers and the whole house smells amazing!

We're going out for dinner tonight, then I will need to rest and recover all day tomorrow,
but for the blessings of today it's all worth it.

THE GIVEAWAY WINNER!

Thank you to everyone who entered my Splendid Giveaway.
There were 560 entries!
I asked my husband to choose a number between 1 and 560 for the winner and he said -
"Number 1, first in, best dressed."




You can visit Sheryl's blog here. I met her in Melbourne a few years back and can honestly say she's a really gorgeous lady from the inside out.
Congratulations Shez!!

Bless you all, and may your day be especially happy too.

hugs