Tag: embroidery

Year of Projects 2022/23: Week Thirty Five

Well there has been some small progress in a few areas this week, even if only small progress.

Garden

In the garden this week I’ve been continuing to tidy up and start getting things ready for spring. I’ve cleared the last two of my vegetable beds of brassicas that seemed to rally briefly and then give up. This means all my veggie beds are ready for some topping up of compost and then they’ll be ready to go. I’ve put some black barrier fabric down to help start the process of warming the soil and to prevent any weeds getting a sneaky head start while my back is turned.

I also bought some squash seeds and Jerusalem artichoke tubers this week. I’ve never tried Jerusalem artichokes before so they’re a bit of a garden and kitchen first for me. I’m not sure where I’m planting everything yet and I think I need to sit down and work out what will be going where. I think I might have got carried away with my seed buying.

Crafting

I’ve finally started a bit of crafting this week. The only easily accessible project is my crewel embroidery kit so have gone back to that. Some of the stitching on the large blue leaf is sloppy and I’m thinking of ripping it out. It’s been fun to pick up again and I’m hoping I’ll be finished up in the next week or two.

Kitchen

We’re at the end of week four with the kitchen and we are, I think, over the worst of the rectification stage. To be fair, the builders haven’t been working solidly in that time as we’ve had to wait for bits and piece to dry out in between. So far they have taken down the dividing wall between the kitchen and dining room; rerouted all of the pipe work for the heating and plumbing; laid a new floor; dug a new drainage trench outside; fitted an outside tap; and redone all of the tanking along the back and side walls. It’s work that has added significantly to our original plans, but I’m hoping it’s really going to make a difference in the long run.

This week I think we’ll start to see some progress with the walls going back up. Once it actually looks more like a room and less like a building site I think I’ll start to feel a bit better about the whole thing.

So that’s it for this week. Hopefully there will be a bit more progress in all areas for next week’s update.

Year of Projects 2022/23: Week Eighteen

I don’t know where my mojo has gone but it has been missing for some time now. I can’t seem to find the motivation to cast on anything new since finishing up my Secrets and Storms shawl a few weeks ago. I think the (Ravelry link) There and Back Again Story Scarf will be a contender as I’ve been promising this one for a while.

Picture of crewel embroidery in round embroidery frame. Work shows two rabbits on a hill under some trees.
Slow progress, but progress!

In the meantime, since I can’t face any knitting, I’ve finally picked up my crewel project this week. I’ve done a couple of sections this week, finishing off the hills and the rabbits. I need a lot of practice but I’m really enjoying this and have started looking at my next project. I think I’ve learned quite a lot on this one, including remembering to check the instructions carefully… and regularly.

There is absolutely nothing going on in the garden now. I didn’t take appropriate care of my brassicas in the late summer/early autumn and so I have lost all those to caterpillars. There are still some root veg to use and some leeks but we’re pretty much at the end now.

That’s it I think for this week. I’ll try and make some progress on something in the next few days!

Year of Projects 2022/23: Week Seven

It’s been a scorcher of the week here, and we’re pretty cool compared to more inland regions. We’re not officially into hosepipe ban territory but we should be by the end of the week. I’m trying to only water the parts of the garden in most need at the moment, which is basically my tomatoes and courgettes. I’m still getting lots of tomatoes but the squash/courgettes haven’t been as prolific as in previous years.

I’ve been busy this week decluttering, rearranging, and decorating the spare room. It’s going to be a much more functional space now but it’s been hot work! We’ve basically had to have a reshuffle of every room in the house in order to get rid of the clutter in the spare room, but now we’ve got rid of the double bed we can put in a sofa bed and make the whole space much more useable for work (or crafting. Mostly crafting.)

All this means there hasn’t been a lot of progress this week but I have made some. I haven’t quite finished the aster stitch section of my shawl like I had planned, but I’ve made some progress. I love how the variegated yarn works up in this stitch.

I have also done a little more on the embroidery project I started earlier in the week. I’m really enjoying this and will definitely be doing more of these in the future.

These are probably going to be my projects for the rest of this month although I’m hoping to finish up a pair of socks too. Knitting feels like hot work at the moment! I hope you’ve all had a productive week of crafting.

WIP Wednesday

I’m so slow with my crafting that I don’t often post a WIP Wednesday as I have rarely made enough progress between my YOP updates to merit one. However this week I’m trying out something new so here’s a quick look.

I’ve been meaning to take a look at embroidery for a while now and so when I came across these kits produced by The Crewel Work Company I had to give them a go. I’m only on the first stitch so far which is stem stitch. I had to have a few goes at the tree trunk and although it’s still not quite right I’m calling it good enough!

I’ll make a post about the kit once I’ve made a bit more progress but I have to say I’m finding it very easy to work with so far for a complete novice and I adore the historically focused patterns.