I like making things: November 2019

Thursday, November 28, 2019

King #1 is done

I have made the first of the Three Kings. I am very happy with him, he looks quite splendid in my humble opinion.

I just love his hat.

The grey/silver yarn has a sparkly thread running through it but it doesn't show up too well on the photos.

Now a bit of an indulgence. We got an 'elf on the shelf'. Not the expensive $30 one, I couldn't justify that to myself but a copycat one from Amazon. He is very cute and as Maggie our American Bulldog is the only thing resembling a child in the household she has been told the story of the elf and that he is reporting to Santa every night on whether she has been a good doggie. So far so good! She did get me up at 1.30am a few nights ago but that was before the elf arrived so doesn't count lol.

I have never seen the original elf on a shelf close up so not sure how this one measures up but he works for us. The reviews were excellent so I guess it is comparable.

I am going to see if I can insert some bendy wire into his legs and arms so I can better position him around the place.

Today is Thanksgiving here in the US so I wish all my American blogger friends a Happy Thanksgiving.

Friday, November 15, 2019

I made one sheep for the scene, won't be rushing to make another!

I knitted a sheep for the scene. Fiddly, fiddly, fiddly! It doesn't look that great either so won't be making any more. It involves knitting with 2 strands of yarn on thin needles for part of it and that really hurts my hands these days. Arthritis has escalated in them this year.

I have started on one of the wise men.

Had a lot of hospital appointments lately and two more next week. My husband sees the cardio physiologist on Tuesday to see what and if they can do anything to stop the atrial flutter and afib. On Monday he has a colonoscopy so he will be fasting and cleansing all weekend, poor guy.

It has cooled off here which for me is quite wonderful but we have had a few days which were even too cold for me. Thankfully, the upcoming week is not forecast to be too bad, 40's and 50's.

Today we put our purple 'No Hunting' tapes around the trees along our frontage, I saw a strange vehicle yesterday evening creeping up our driveway. Probably out of area hunters looking for good hunting land. They will have to look elsewhere I'm afraid, we do not allow hunting on our land unless it is ourselves and my husband isn't well enough this year.

Still chasing that Christmas spirit which is very elusive this year. I miss getting all excited about Christmas, now it just seems such a chore.

Housework has also become difficult because my left knee, which badly needs to be replaced, is really hurting and walking is becoming more and more difficult. I am wearing a knee support all day and using a cane. We were hoping to be moved by now and living much closer to hospitals and clinics so having the surgery would be a lot easier in as much as there would not be all the travelling to and from the hospital and rehab clinic. Also it would be easier for the nurse to come to the house for the after care. There is always next year.....hopefully.

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Mary and the baby Jesus are done

I have got Mary, baby Jesus and the manger with straw done. I showed a picture to my neighbour who in turn showed it to her adult grandson and he wanted to know if it was a baby corn cob in the manger. Cheeky I say, cheeky lol.

Anyway here are the family:-

I wish I could get into the Christmas spirit, it is cold enough and I have watched some Christmas movies and have worked on the Nativity characters but no 'spirit' yet.

I even bought this years Jacquie Lawson advent calendar in readiness, which looks to be the best one yet, but still nothing!

Maybe I am a little early this year, who knows?

Glad you stopped by

I started this blog in 2011: Ever since my Mum taught me to knit at the age of about six or seven I have made things. Back then it was doll clothes. I was also inspired by Mrs Levitt an elderly lady who had a sewing room in a conservatory type room on the back of her house. I would sit and watch her in awe as she sewed.

When I was a child living in England the school system was such that you started at 5 years, did two years in Infant School, then four years in Primary School then five to seven years in Secondary School, depending on whether you chose to stay on after fifth form to get qualifications to go to University. I can't remember much of the Infant school other than making the standard square doily thingy from fabric that had holes in it so you could embroider patterns into it. A bit like the modern day cross stitch fabric but with bigger holes and spaces to make it easy for small hands to use. I also remember with great joy getting a toy sewing machine one Christmas which sewed only chain stitch but I did make doll clothes on it and that was before I started Primary school. I do have very vivid recollections of Primary school and having sewing and knitting lessons. In Primary school I knitted gloves and made a dress from scratch hand sewing it all.

Secondary school continued on with sewing by which time I had progressed to using full sized sewing machines and was making more intricate skirts and dresses. My parents bought me a proper sewing machine when I was thirteen. I used that same machine right up until I emigrated to Canada at age forty six years.

I have always had a fascination for sewing machines and knitting machines. I bought my first knitting machine at around age twenty one from an ad in a newspaper for twelve pounds. I had absolutely no idea what one was just that I wanted one. I trundled on the bus to the address in the advert and handed over my twelve pounds having absolutely no idea what I had really bought. Fortunately it came with a manual. It was an aged Knitmaster, very basic and I loved it. I wore it out. Next was a Brother push button one which I didn't keep because it was at a time in my life when things were difficult. Later on in my life, around forty, when things were better I bought a brand new Brother punchard machine with a ribber attachment. I loved it and made many things. Life took a different turn, I moved countries twice and along the way, regrettably I sold it.

Now, through the universe's blessing I now have another machine. It is a vintage one because they stopped making them early 90's but works perfectly and I love it. So I decided to make this blog to document my knitting progress and include sewing projects.

In 2013: we embarked on a new hobby, leather-work. My husband got started with it and it drew me in. It is something we can do together. We have a workshop so have plenty of room to work. We added another workbench for me to work on in 2013. We already had one but we were tripping over each other both trying to work at it. We only make things we want to make. It is strictly a hobby. We made some things for our good neighbours who help us out a lot. I am also working on Christmas presents. So this blog now incorporates the leather-work. Knitting and sewing will always be my first love though.

Fast forward to 2023 and now age almost 75 years. I have seven sewing machines, four knitting machines, several ribber attachments and a garter carriage for one of the machines. I am blessed beyond words, but I know that I have more than enough machines to keep me going in my lifetime so I don’t think I will be adding to my collection any time soon……….unless a nice embroidery machine manifests itself very cheaply.

I am a Brit living in the USA, sometimes I spell like a Brit and sometimes like an American. Sometimes I use slang and even make grammatical errors. I blog for the pleasure of it and to record my endeavours in the event that my memory fades, as I am sure it will with more age. I will be able to look back and remind myself of the things I have made along the way. So please forgive my mistakes when reading about my life making things here in the hinterlands and I hope you get as much enjoyment from my blog as I do from reading the blogs I follow.