I only seem to post on Sunday!

Another week since i posted here, these days the weeks seem more like days to me. It's been a busy weekend for us, still trying to get organised for the Fruit & Veg show next weekend. It didn't help that i saw an advert in the local newspaper this week telling people to book their Christmas party early for their employees, it's only 17 weeks till Christmas ..... i really didn't need to be told that just yet, i'm still hoping for a bit more sunshine before the autumnal stuff arrives.

Friday evening was a lovely evening and DH decided that a nice treat would be in order. We drove out into the countryside and had fish and chips for tea. The sun was setting on our way home and we stopped to watch it on one of the country lanes for a while. Sorry the pic is not very clear, i had to use my phone to take the pic as i'd left the camera sitting on the dining room table. Only a short drive from my home and you get the most amazing scenery.

Needle and thread have been making progress on Grand Marquoir again this week, i do love stitching on this .... have i told you that before LOL.

Another 4 blocks added this week, that makes page 3 finished so we are half way with this and still well on target for a 2010 finish.

DMC thread fondling time this weekend, the next 8 colours for page 4 have been chosen.

August is drawing to a close rapidly, and i needed to get my monthly Christmas ornament finished. Yet another Shepherds Bush one this time as i really do love these. This one is from the 2009 JCS magazine and is called Santa's Flight. Those little sheep posing as reindeers are so cute!

It should have been the reveal for the monthly challenge at Stitch & Stash today, but it's been postponed until Tuesday, i'll show you that next time i post. A really quick stitch this time, but a new finish for me which turned out quite nicely and was really easy when i followed a tutorial on how to do it.

Here in the UK it's the late summer bank holiday weekend, i hope all the UK folks are having a lovely weekend even though the weather is not so exciting. It means an extra day off work for some, enjoy your lie-in tomorrow folks!!

Hope everyone else has had a lovely weekend too

A framed finish

Waving a hello to you all from a lovely sunshiney day here in the middle of the UK. After the last few days of nothing but rain showers and dullness this nice bright day is most welcome.

The framer called this week to say my Beatrix Potter was at last ready to be collected. I'm really pleased with what he did to it and this is going to be my entry into the show in a couple of weeks time for the stitching category. Apologies for the poor picture, dark dull days and the camera flash are to blame for that, this was the best one out of about a dozen.

Just in case someone wants to know more about it, this was the year long SAL that Hazel organised last year and is this year being run by Rachael, lots of lovely pics on the blog here and there is also a link to the Needlprint site where you can buy the chart. My choice of threads were Carries Creations in Wedgewood blue and bordeaux red and it's stitched 1x1 on 25ct lugana in potato (it has dark tiny flecks in the fabric).

Talking of the show, there has been a new category added this year. 'A childs toy' is the title and DH suggested i make a bunny family to enter that one. Oh no, not another one i can hear you all shouting, sorry but yes and here they are dressed in their sunday best all ready to be scrutinised by the Horticultual Society judging panel on the day.

The society have strict rules that you have to adhere to in some categories, i once had a cinderella topsy turvy doll (in her rags one end and in her ballgown the other) disqualified as i had put a cardboard dance card in her hand on the ballgown side and as it was in the knitting category it was not allowed. There was a notice pinned to her for all to see explaining that i should read the rules more clearly in future! I was so disappointed that year as it really was a lovely doll.

Feet up and needle in hand a few evenings this week and Grand Marquoir now has 3 more squares. The stitching mojo has made a comeback it seems as i've also almost completed the mothly christmas ornament for the SAL at Stitch & Stash. Fabric and thread for the monthly challenge project have also been sorted and as it's only a little design this month it should stitch up quite quickly.

Tomorrow i'll be spending the day at Amy's as the decorators are coming to finish off the bathroom and paint the kitchen after all the problems. A light at the end of a very long and frustrating tunnel is in sight - i hope!

I hope you are all having a lovely weekend and the sunshine is making an appearance for you too. Whatever you are doing, have fun and enjoy. Christine, i hope your village show was a great success yeaterday.

Olympic sized crochet!

Crochet seems to be the thing to be doing these days. One local lady is making a living from it in a really big way ...

This exert is taken from Leicester Mercury 18th August 2010

An artist commissioned to crochet a trio of giant lions for the London 2012 Olympics has finished the first sculpture. Shauna Richardson celebrated reaching the milestone this week and invited the Leicester Mercury to have a sneak peek at the sculpture. The 42-year-old, from Stoughton, has been working at a secret location in east Leicestershire since winning the £500,000 commission in October. She said she has been working up to six hours a day, seven days a week, to crochet the yards of woven wool that cover the 25ft-long, 8ft-tall polystyrene figure. She said: "I am really excited about the work. "Not only is it the chance for me to work on a high-profile project, I get to create a real world first – the largest crocheted sculpture." The project, Lionheart, is one of 12 that will be created across the country as a result of the Arts Council England's Taking the Lead competition. Shauna, who describes herself as a "crochetdermist" was chosen from 118 entries for the East Midlands. The project will be finished in time for April 2012 and, in total, Shauna will use about 80kg of wool per lion. Once completed, the lions will be placed inside a glass-sided lorry and taken on tour around the East Midlands.

There's a video on the lionheart blog of Shauna at work showing how it was constructed.

I'll definately be on the lookout for the glass lorry with these beauties in when it is on tour locally, that will certainly be a spectacle to see.

So..... who else wants to learn to crochet then, there is obvously money to be made and you can have a career using this hobby LOL

A blogs name?

What does my blog name say about me? Is it a true representation of what i blog about? I was thinking about this as i uploaded this weeks pics to show you what i've been doing.

My blog started off as Julie's Stitching Journal, thats me and it said what it was about, a journal of my stitching. A way to remind me of what projects i had done, when and how long they had taken and i was also able to share with other stitchers.

Soon i had found the knitting bug again as well as stitching especially when i started to send out lots of the bunny's. I decided on a name change then to Julie's Stitchyknitter Journal. That was ok too, there was still stitching and knitting being blogged about. More things were added to the sidebar when i was reading other blogs and found something that i thought would be a good idea to have on mine. Pics of my 'fluffy boys' brightened it up and a list of what i have been reading as well as the projects i have finished too. As my memory becomes 'forgetful' with ageing years, i added a 'reminders for the month' bit, no way would i be able to forget the projects that must be done that month. This month i've made another celebration bunny for a 50th golden wedding anniversary, that note never even made it onto the reminder list LOL

Recently, i seem to be waffling about all sorts on here, and there is not much stitching being shown at all. Is it the summer months causing the lack of stitching? or is it that i have found something else that i would rather be doing instead of stitching?

Desperate to try knitting a pair of socks, the first pair on 2 needles were a success and then more recently, a very loud and exhausting happy dance when i managed to make my first pair on 4 needles, that was really exciting.... i know, who gets excited about a pair of socks!! Now of course i've been learning something else new, the crochet project. The sample experimental granny squares started something off, my brain was keen to learn more of this.

Seeing a lot of wonderful things being created with the 'hook' and being directed over to Lucy @ Attic 24 was such inspiration, she has the most wonderful tutorials on her blog and lots of brightly coloured pics which are so easy to follow. Thanks Lucy, i was able to make my very first LUCY BAG using your pattern. I am thrilled with it, it's so bright and colourful and was fun to make.... does this mean i should have a change of blog name again to include crochet? I love these little crochet flowers and leaves, who would have thought little old me would be able to conjour up these cuties from oddments of wool with a little bit of time and effort.

This brings me to my question to you .... why did you choose your blog name? does it represent what your blog is about? how often do you change colours/style of your blog? do you mind if a blogger keeps the same design forever (yes, i know that's my blog, i'm a techno scaredy cat that gets all flustered and breaks out into a sweat with fright that i might loose everything if i altered it).

All these questions that popped into my mind as i was waiting for blogger to upload 2 little pics to show you.

I'm sure i was going to write something else today, maybe i better take one of these memory mints that DH had for his birthday on Thursday and see if i can remember what it was, never mind there's always next time...

Rambling and waffling over for today but i will just drop out one bit of good news. Amy now has a 100% fully functioning toilet! We are just waiting for the painters to finish off their work and they are scheduled for 23rd of this month. That date can't come quick enough i can tell you, then we can all breathe a huge sigh of relief.

Thanks for stopping by, if you have any suggestions that you think would improve my blog for you readers, feel free to say so, otherwise i'll just continue skipping along my own little path happily learning new things on my journey of crafting and share it with you.

Happy Birthday (number 2)

Can you remember what you were doing 21 years ago today??

I have very vivid memories of my day. 3.05am had me awake with a niggling pain and a nudge to DH to let him know i thought he had better think about getting up and calling the grandparents to come over and sit with DS. The sort of moment you dread when you need to be somewhere quickly, our car wouldn't start, but finally we arrived at the hospital and at 1.43pm on Sunday 6th August 1989 my daughter Amy Beth came in to the world weighing 7lb 5oz, a wonderful day for her dad and myself.

Her boyfriend celebrated his 23rd birthday yesterday so they held a double celebration last night with lots of their friends and tonight it will be a meal out. DH and i have spent a lovely time with her today and she has been thoroughly spoilt with lots of cards and pressies.

I had an idea to make her something special that would be one off and typical 'mumish' and i came up with this little celebration bunny. The little champagne bottle is filled with bubble mixture.

Happy 21st Birthday Amy, lots of love Mum & Dad xxx

It's been a really busy week here this week, i've felt really well, the best i have for a while and have made the most of being able to get out and about on my own. The only problem is i have not been on here or at home much at all ....

Monday was spent in the office doing the mundane work stuff, that took all day, filing is a job i dont like so tend to leave it till there is a rather large pile to sort out, so the job takes ages.

Tuesday morning was my yoga class. Its been changed from a Thursday afternoon during the school holidays as the hall is used for childrens activities. I had a very enjoyable time there and then a lunch date with an old friend i had not seen for a long time, that turned into an all afternoon event.

Wednesday was a visit to my dads elderly sister, a lovely day was spent there with lots of laughter about the 'old days'. It's such fun to hear stories of the things they used to get up to when dad and his family were evacuated here during the blitz in London. They liked it so much they decided to stay. She was off back down to the capital the next day to visit her son as he will be celebrating his 60th Birthday today. The stitching club was back on this week too but as well as the lovely cream cakes i had taken we had a very sad visit from one of the ladies daughters. Unfortunately she had passed away last Saturday, she was diagnosed with liver cancer only 32 days prior to her death! We will miss her very much. God Bless you Audrey x

Thursday was a trip into town and to the bank. A nice leisurely browse around the craft shop and i picked up a couple of balls of wool for a crochet project i have started (i'll show you that next time). A visit to the bookshop too to see if i could see the next Diana Gabaldon book, i'm a slow reader but only have about 50 pages left to read. Thanks for your input on this book in a previous post, i really have enjoyed it and will definately be on the look out for the rest in the series - only problem with a book you can't put down is that it cuts into your crafting time.

I have also received 2 more gifts for my birthday this week. Thank you Clare for the lovely pillow you stitched, i hope you have had a lovely week away at your caravan in Wales. Thank you also to Tina (no blog) for the cute Mill Hill cat bead kit and the adorable needle minder.

I hope you have had a lovely week too, and that your weekend is full of love, laughter and all the things that make you happy.

Happy Birthday

Have you all been wondering the reason why i didn't want to meet the inspector at Amy's last Friday and what i might have been doing ......... it was my 47th birthday!!!

I did meet the housing inspector first thing in the morning and it went very well, she agreed with all of our concerns and will be in touch early next week. The replacement toilet hadn't in fact been fitted on Tuesday as planned, a problem with it arriving on time so it was supposed to be done Friday evening, so i would have to return again that evening.

We headed back home as there was a pile of cards and pressies to be opened. After a nice slice of birthday cake and a cup of tea, i found the most wonderful gifts from my stitching friends. I have been thoroughly spoilt by you all.

A big box from Karen had arrived earlier in the week, DH hid it because he knows i can't resist touching and feeling something that has been sent by Karen, she knows me so well. Thank you Karen, i'd forgotten all about our chat and the ladybird. That candle smells heavenly.

An envelope from Amazon arrived with the crochet book, but there was also an envelope from Barb that came a couple of days later. This pillow is amazing and so beautifully stitched and finished. Thank you so much Barb for your kindness.

This one did make me laugh out loud, do you remember Seymour, Rose & girls, the bunny family that went to live with Barb, this is a little giftie addressed to 'Julie mum' . For those who are new to reading my blog you can see them here. Below is what was inside, who doesn't love Beatrix Potter and her bunnies.

As you all know bagpuss is my all time favourite childrens character, Karan has so cleverly made me a decoupage card with him on, he is so cute. She also sent me this super 4 seasons chart to stitch, i have admired this one for a while. Thank you Karan, i'm going to enjoy stitching this one.

Sally was kind enough to make me a lovely pinkeep, she knows my love of cats, who doesn't LOL. Such a cute card too, explaining how to have a DIY hug. Thank you Sally.

Lovely cards were also sent by Rachael, Helen, Kathy & Angi, both of these ladies don't have a blog - might have to get nagging so they do soon! Thank you ladies.

I did return to Amy's on the evening of my birthday, but that was yet another disaster in the bathroom saga. The plumber arrived but couldn't fit the new toilet as he needed to go to the dentist with toothache. He promised to come back Saturday at noon, he did, removed the temporary toilet and went to fit the new one... guess what... that was cracked on the outer so he did fit it but we are now still waiting for yet another one - this will be the 5th one! So the sage of that still goes on some 3 months after the kitchen ceiling collapsed.

I ended my birthday with a lovely meal cooked by Amy for DH and myself, and a nice evening spent with my family.

to you all for your continued visits here and for the support and friendship you give to me. I felt truly spoilt on my birthday by both family and friends.

Love and {{hugs}} to you all