I like making things: July 2026

Sunday, July 12, 2026

I finally made something!

My blog, originally, was about the things I make. Over the years I have slowed down and the last year has been taken up with moving, health issues and surgery. Making things ground to a halt!

At the beginning of March I started on making Mrs Claus to go with the Santa I made several years ago. Well, yesterday, I finally got her finished. There was no rush on this as it is only mid July, and I knew I wouldn't be able to work on her post surgery for a couple of months. But here she is in all her glory:-

Her skin color is a bit too pink but when I went to buy the yarn (wool) it was all they had. Not too happy with the nose either but I did exactly what the pattern said. I do not like going back and redoing things so this is how she stays.

Woops, now it is past coffee time!

Oh, and well done England so yes, we were still smiling after the match.

Hope everything is going well in your lives.....

Saturday, July 11, 2026

All is good with the shoulder!

I went for my 3 month check up and xrays this past week and all is good! The surgeon said everything looked great. My range of movement is excellent and I have to keep working on strengthening my arm. He said it takes about 6 months for the muscles to fully repair so keep on with the exercises. Once my current stint of physio is done in two weeks I just need to keep working on the strength myself he said.

Other than that not much else happening although we are following the world cup closely and look forward to the two games today. Come on England!!!

Chat GPT, I call him Chas, generated this picture for me of us watching the game this afternoon. I hope our faces are just as happy looking when it is over!

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.

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Sunday, July 12, 2026

I finally made something!

Saturday, July 11, 2026

All is good with the shoulder!