What have I been upto?

People always say that time flies when you are having fun, but I have to be honest and say time for me is just flying!

I wish I could just stop some days, catch my breath, re-evaluate and carry on!  But that shan’t happen so I just keep going with the chaos and see where it gets me!  Most days it gets me doing quite a lot, others I feel tired, lethargic, fed up, stressed, happy, elated, loving life, oh the mixture of emotions!

So what have I been doing since my last post?

Well I have been plodding away on my other blog :- http://sharonsnotshopping.blogspot.com/ detailing my life on the Fab Frugal Challenge.  A challenge it certainly is but one I am embracing and enjoying!

I have been doing really well with my gym attendance and general exercise, I am really proud of myself,  although I am not sure I can manage 5 sessions a week, just because it sort of throws my week!  So I will continue doing Mon, Thurs, Sat at Gym with Wed being Zumba and in Sept when Luke starts Nursery I will do a Friday morning as well at gym!  To be honest I just need to really look at when I get my sessions in and the best timing for me!

Crafting, I have been doing a bit of crochet and mainly cross stitch!  I started this last week :-

  I am really enjoying stitching this, mainly because Lizzie Kate designs seem to go so quickly!  However I do struggle a bit as it is stitched on Linen (2×2) and so I really need to concentrate.  So I tend to not do it in the evenings and instead only work on it at the weekends!  that being the case it will be taking me a while todo, but I need to speed it up as I have a Christmas present to stitch that I haven’t even started! LOL!

A few months ago I bought some Drops Muskat yarn :-

As I decided I need some colour in my life, I started my Hexagon blanket!  My idea is to make 6 hexagons out of each colour, making a total of 90 and joining them in a blanket.  I am currently doing Round 1, which is time consuming but I am enjoying it and it seems to go quickly.  I will then do Round 2 and 3 and join them together on Round 4!

Not sure how long this project will take, but I am enjoying it, so I don’t really mind!

Ok, that seems to be my craft update (another one!) so I shall leave it there.

Please do go and check out my other blog http://sharonsnotshopping.blogspot.com/ as I really could do with the following!

Craft Update – July ’11

I can’t believe that I am still on track to do a project a month for the year of 2011!  I have gone slightly off my original list, but as long as projects are getting done, I really don’t mind!

So for the month of May I completed, this Father’s Day card :-

 I never managed to get all the back stitch done, but I still think it looks rather cute!

Towards the end of May I started another cross stitch, that was not on my 2011 CJC list but I managed to finish this in the month of June, keeping me on track!

Winter Wishes, this matches my Peace to All cross stitch pretty well!

So that is where I am on projects so far!

Plodding along nicely I’d say, although I am keen to start some new ones this week, so watch this space!

 

 

I have since started this project :-

 It is a lovely Lizzie Kate chart and so far it is going really well, although I wish I could focus more on it!  I tend to always think of other things I should be doing instead of stitching!  But I am enjoying it, when I go get the chance to work it!

    These are two other charts that I have all the stash for, which I am hoping to do at some point this year.  I just love Lizzie Kate!

I have also indulged in a few kits, but they were before I started my challenge, which you can follow here :- http://sharonsnotshopping.blogspot.com/  If you want to see how I am doing!  Of course the new kits are African themed, naturally and they are :-

  Anchor kit that was about to be discontinued, and I just had to get it.   The stupidity of it is, I bought this kit off Ebay but it was partially done, and I did not like the way it had been stored or anything about it, and as I had the other two in the series, Zebra and Giraffe, I decided I needed a new kit, if I was ever going to get it done, so I bought it!  The other kit, is by Maia and is this one :-

  I have been watching this one for well over a year now and have always wanted it, then I saw it at a great price, that I couldn’t pass up and bought it, again BEFORE my challenge!

So that is my craft update at the moment!

How did I spend my Monday?

Well this is the first day off I have had for ages, where I actually don’t have to do any work, and I don’t have to feel guilty for not working and it felt wonderful!  Admittedly I did send off 1 work email and make 1 call, but I can live with that!

So what did I do I hear you ask?  I was meant to go to a Beauty Salon this morning for a treatment but with the weather being as it has been, and the roads being like ice-rinks, I decided to instead stay safe and stay home!  I dropped Luke off at nursery, then came home and set myself up on the sofa, that lasted a whole 20mins before I got bored!

Having done a few chores I started preparing my charts, threads and fabrics for the Crazy January Challenge that starts Jan 1st!  Did not expect it to take all day, but it did!

All threads had already been ordered and so had the fabric, it was just a case of cutting the fabric to the required size, laminating all the charts and marking the centre of all the fabrics!

Yes, that took all day, and I loved it!  I am now officially ready to start!

Laying out the laminated charts, waiting for them to cool down!

Sorting out all the materials, fabrics, threads etc!  They will be stored in my quilt holdall, so I have all the projects in one place and can just pull them out as I need them!

Doesn’t this look cool?

So that is my Crazy January Challenge all setup and ready to go!

Tomorrow I will tackle the house cleaning and chores, or maybe I will do that on Wednesday! LOL!

Crazy January Challenge

So a friend of mine, happened to mention on her blog about a Crazy January Challenge she had signed up for!

http://kathysdesignskreations.blogspot.com/2010/12/carzy-january-2011-challenge.html

Seeing as I love a challenge and there is not size restriction I decided why not!  It may actually help me get back my stitching mojo!

So what is the challenge I hear you ask?  The idea is that on Jan 1st you start a kit or chart, and each day after that till the 15th of Jan you start a new one.  So on the 16th you have 15 WIP’s and those WIP’s all need to be completed in 2011!  Sounds easy enough doesn’t it?

I spent Friday and Saturday sorting out the charts and kits I wanted to stitch as well as a list of all the threads I need to buy.  I am almost there!  Just got a few threads I need to order, and prepare the fabric and I am ready to start!

What am I going to stitch?  Here you go!

I have always wanted to ride in a Hot Air balloon, but being afraid of heights I feel this is a dream, that will remain that, a dream!  This chart just makes me smile each time I look at it!

I just love the saying!

Can’t do a challenge like this and not have  a touch of Africa!  A large design I know but seeing as I only really have 2 large designs, am hoping I make some good progress on it!

I have a large version of Lions which is pretty awesome but for this challenge, this is going to stretch me as there is alot of backstitch!

I have always loved Winnie the Pooh, but have never stitched one!  So when I saw this and that is was the 4 seasons, I thought perfect!  However it does mean I need to go and buy the proper WTP threads!

These 4 flowers are so vibrant and cheerful that I thought I could stitch them and then frame all 4 together and create a picture that way!

Many years ago when I was in my teens I visited Holland and fell in love with the fields of tulips, so it only seemed appropriate that I should stitch this!

Lizzie Kate designs are a firm favourite of mine but I never really get to stitch many!  So when I saw this, I thought, perfect for Christmas 2011!

I just could not not have included this!  Seeing as it was designed by a lady from Zimbabwe, my home ground and of course it is the Mighty Victoria Falls, so has alot of memories for me!

Those are my 15!  I never realised that each one had a meaning to me.  Not that I mind but I wonder if this is how I make most of my choices!

So what this space, the needles starts stitching on Jan 1st and ends Dec 31st, lets hope all 15 are done in that time.  Oh, and none are changed!

Feb update!

I really need to think of more interesting post titles, mine seem awfully boring!  Hmmmmmm.

So I am not going to go into what Feb has been like, and instead I am going to post pictures and give descriptions!  So here goes, what happened in Feb!

I finished my Simple Yet Effective Shawl.  It was made from Trekking XXL and I did about 1.5 repeats of the pattern.  It currently measures 96cms wide unblocked!  Will hopefully be blocked this coming week!

My ripple blanket is coming on well.  I have not spent as much time as I had hoped on it, but still progress is going well.  I am hoping that you can see just how the colour sequence is going to be going?  It is going to large, but hopefully cuddly!  So still loving the ripple!

This was going to be a granny square blanket with different size squares, etc, however I realised that if I did that it will never get finished!  So instead I have decided to do something different and join the 2 large and 8 small, another set, similar to above still needs to be joint!  And then I am going to work rows, large squares, small squares and more rows and hopefully it makes a lovely blanket!  I realise it may all be sounding a bit strange, but all I can say is what this space!

I really must take a better picture, however here are the squares so far my Summer Blanket!  Again it is going to be a mix of big and small squares.  The yarn is Anchor Magicline and is a dream to crochet with.  I have 55balls to make up, so another LONG term project!

I took part in a Valentines Swap on the Phoenix Knitting Forum.  It was a wonderful little swap that did not take much time, but loads of fun!  Above is the picture of what I sent, and this is what I received

Cross stitch update.  This is not really coming on a quickly as I had wished, however I am still enjoying working on it when I get the chance!  It will take a while, but hey ho!

A bit more crafting!

Finally I seem to be getting into a good crafting routine, being able to do some most evenings!  January saw me :-

progress well on my Simple Yet Effective Shawl!  I am almost finished, got about a quarter of a ball left to use and I am done!  But there are loads of stitches now and so taking ages to knit, but still I am enjoying it!

 

Thanks to a good friend, who introduced me to Anchor Magicline at the bargain price of 59p / ball, yes you have just read that right, 59p per ball!!!  So I bought enough to make myself summer picnic blanket, made up of squares, which can be worked on anywhere!  Love it!  Here are is the stash and squares so far!

 

Next project I am working on is a Ripple Blanket.  Again it is so easy and loving it!  The repetitiveness of it so is mind numbing but certainly not boring!  Here is my progress so far :-

After nearly 2 years of not being able to cross stitch, I have finally picked up a kit and a needle again, and my cross stitch project for 2010 is this :-

 I saw this and just fell in love with it!  My progress so far is this :-

  It isn’t alot I know but for me quite an achievement with 20mth old toddler in tow!

So things are going well on the crafting front, the only craft I have not been able to touch is my quilt!

Roll on February and hopefully a productive month!

Has it really been almost a month

since my last post?  Oh my goodness!

So where exactly did March go?  If anyone saw it, please advise, as I seemed to have lost mine!  I think I may just update with photos as that will be easier!

 Luke finally got his first proper haircut, which just made him look so much older!  My little boy is growing up and is almost 11mths!

 My mom lovingly sewed up Luke’s jumper for me.  Believe it or not it does fit him, and he wears it back to front, as the v is meant to be the back but I let him wear it as a v-neck!

 I have been trying to do a bit of crochet and knitting and I have made loads of progress but have not taken pictures!  This is my first flora from Natural Dye Studio I am making, but need to speak to Amanda to make sure I am joining them correctly!

I have done other samples of different stitches which has been good fun.  I am currently also making a dishcloth with crochet, and am knitting Glace from Rowan.  That is coming along alot better than I ever thought and am really loving knitting it!  Cross stitch is not something I have been able to do due to a certain little boy!

So April, well we are going away for Easter on a boat with my parents and brother and am really looking forward to it.  A bit nervous I have to admit with Luke but it should be really good fun! 

Simon and I celebrate 2yrs on married life in April as well.  Although we are not doing anything special for it, but that is ok!

What else…………not sure really, so I won’t babble on, but hopefully will have some lovely pictures to post after our Easter Weekend away!

Feb 1st already!

Wow, can you believe we are already at the start of Feb!?!?!?

This post is not going to have any pictures, as I have not downloaded any still, and I needed to write rather post piccies!  So my update :-

Well as I am typing this it is blowing blizzards outside, and the snow has arrived in Suffolk!  Great, not looking forward to another week of having to go out in this weather!

Luke update – Luke seems to be doing well at the moment.  He has cut his first tooth and that caused a few bad nights, but he is good now.  I have finally taken the plunge and started cooking him food!  I know it sounds mad, but I just never felt comfortable cooking food and always thought the jars gave him everything.  But after trying it and realising it is just so easy and he loves it, there is now no stopping me!  He is getting loads of different blends and seems to love it all!  He starts another morning at nursery from Feb 18th, which will be great.  Means I get 3 full mornings to focus on work, 1 day to do his activities, 1 day to do my activities and afternoons to dabble in work if I am needed!  So looking forward to the new routine/schedule!

Craft update – I have been trying to teach myself crochet.  I need to crack it this year, as it is just nuts that I can’t do it!  So far, I seem to have mastered Double Crochet (UK) which is great.  Once I get the end of my test ball of yarn and start a new colour I will start a new stitch!  I have not really done much work on the afghan.   With Luke now crawling it is not the most practical peice to be working on when I need to get up and down all the time!  So I have been working on some smaller projects, which seem easier, quicker and going better!  Knitting, hmmmm, still there, not done any, really must get it sorted and finish Luke’s jumper!

Reading – I am almost finished the book I am currently reading, Flying Changes by Sara Gruen.  It is just fantastic and really enjoying it!

Facebook – if anyone reading this has me as a friend on Facebook, please come over and say hello.  I did go through and clear up my friends, and as awful as that sounds, I got so many who never even said hello, so I deleted them!  Now I am alot more cautious when accepting invites!

Weightloss – I am now 6lbs down from Jan 8th which is great.  Taking it slow and not being too hard on myself, but am well chuffed with that result so far!

Feb looks a busy month for me, which is just great!

So I am going to continue doing some cross stitch now, while the little man takes his nap!

Till next time………………….

So much for………….

updating my blog each Sunday night with the previous weeks happenings! 

I have finally finished the first square of the Afghan  and I am actually rather pleased with the result!  So the 2nd second square, which is the letter A has been started   I have done a bit more since this picture was taken but not alot!

I have decided that in 2009 each family member will get at least one homemade gift for each birthday, Christmas, fathers day, mothers day or grandparents day!  So I am also working on that at the moment, just a few small items!

So why did I not update last Sunday?  Well simply put, Luke was poorly again.  Much worse than ever before and was ill after his meals and was really struggling to keep anything down.  This week was tough!  He could not go to any groups and so he stayed home with me whilst I monitored him and did my best to get him better!  We are now Saturday and fingers crossed we are over the worse!  He has not been ill since Thursday lunchtime, which is just great!

Other big news, today he crawled, and not backwards either!  Yes my son is forward mobile!  It is so exciting!

Today – Saturday- we took Luke to Snape Maltings for a few hours, just let him get some fresh air, that did not involve shops.  It was lovely to just be out spending time as a family!

Not alot has really been going on, so this won’t be a long post!

Hope all my blog followers are well?

First post of 2009!

We are already 4 days into 2009, and so far so good!  Have not really done too much to say otherwise, to be honest!  I have not been out much, just staying at home and sorting things round the house and getting some cross stitch done, as well as other things!

I finally managed to go through all my old recipe magazines and pull out what I want and throw away what I don’t, which felt great, as I have been meaning to do it for years!  Yes years, some magazines were dated 2005!  Next to get sorted were the Xmas decorations!  They came down today for another year and the cards all put away, so at least the house is back to normal now!

We took Luke to get weighed on Friday and he is now 20lbs 5ozs, so growing well!

I have done a little bit of knitting but nothing worth photographing and posting to be honest!  One of these days I will actually finish Luke’s jumper! 

The afghan is coming on well :-   This was taken on the 1st Jan ’09 and this was taken on the 3rd :-  So at least progress is being made, all be it slowly!

Today I got do some stitching on The Watering Hole, not alot, but I am taking this wonderful attitude that some progress is better than no progress!

 This was at the start of today, and here is what I did today

Thank goodness is the start of the week and life can get back to normality!  So I have a week full of Luke’s activities, and I am actually looking forward to some of them!

Better go, so thanks for reading!