Catching up at last

Thank goodness that's February done and dusted. It must be the most miserable, if shortest, month.
Hopefully now that half term holidays and chickenpox are behind us I can get back to my hobbies at last.

I have a couple of knitting finishes to show and a few blocks of my Medallion quilt so without further ado……Meet Peppa Pig!

Peppa was finished the evening before Isobel's first birthday. I bought her a scooter for later on in the summer so I wanted to give her something else to open on the day.
Peppa cost nothing but a bit of time and effort but she turned out to be a favourite present.

The birthday girl looking a bit bemused.

and the final ta dah is Isobel's Playful Stripes cardigan which she wore for her birthday lunch. Looking quite solemn in this photo.

Since I've returned from Birmingham I have started a waistcoat for my Mum with wool I bought at a show. The yarn is Sirdar Softspun and I'm not sure if I like it at all. I love yarns at the more expensive end of the spectrum and usually choose 100% wool. They tend to be softer and cuddly. This is a mix of 51% nylon, 25% wool and 24% acrylic. The colour is lovely- a silvery grey. It's a DK but knits up less chunky. I'll have to see how it goes.

I'm linking up with Wool on Sundays with these.

Yesterday I had to catch up my Medallion quilt blocks. I had neglected my homework from class last week because of my childcare duties and we were given the pattern for our corner blocks and the central medallion on Thursday. I had a wonderful quiet day cutting and sewing in the conservatory. I am lucky to have a Victorian boardroom table in there and it's a great height for cutting.

Each block set by our lovely teacher Sue has a new technique to master. The corner blocks featured lots of HST practice.

These were the fabric choices for the central medallion. The paler plain fabric in the middle is an Oakshott cotton from the Italy range called Perugia. I love the slight sheen of this fabric and it makes my star look slightly twinkly!

The main background to the quilt blocks is a plain grey but the central medallion and corner blocks have the Lynette Anderson pale grey print. I laid the blocks I have completed so far out on the table in the conservatory to see how it was coming together. There will be two blocks between each corner block. I have decided to re-do the Lily block with a grey background to balance the quilt. There is quite a bit more to do on the central medallion. I have shown Sue's quilt with the middle detail below my layout.
Please excuse the photo. I should have removed the table cover first.

Sue's quilt

Right, I'm off to do some more FPP for Lexies Hummingbird quilt. Sunday lunch is in the oven. It's Jamie Oliver's 6 hour roast pork and smells delicious in the kitchen. The photo is Jamies, not mine!
 Only another 3 hours to go so I should get a few blocks done.

Enjoy your Sunday.

Catherine

Knitting WIPS

Hi everyone,

I'm dashing around instead of having a restful Sunday morning. I got back yesterday from my Cascading Logs class and was too tired after a full days sewing to put everything away. This afternoon I'm driving up to my daughter's house in Birmingham to look after my grandchildren one of whom has chickenpox so there's no nursery for them and Grandma to the rescue. I remember having calamine lotion put on my itchy spots as a child but I think treatments have now improved since those days.

This is just a quick post to link up with Wool on Sundays and an almost finish for me, at last!

I have had Isobel's cardigan on the needles for ages and all I had to do was graft the underarms with Kitchener stitch. The problem is that I hate grafting and kept putting it off. I found a video on Youtube showing how to do Kitchener stitch by knitting and not sewing. It's the same technique but with a third knitting needle and not a tapestry needle. The end result is an (almost) invisible graft between the two pieces. I think I'll need to practice again but I was satisfied with the result and finally sewed on some lovely pottery buttons that were made in South Africa. The cardi is now washed and blocked and drying in the airing cupboard to speed up the process. All ready for Isobel's first birthday on Wednesday. I must just remember to take it with me.

Ta Da!!!!

(Please excuse the photo, the light was quite poor)

I have not had much time for Peppa Pig so I am going to hunt out the toy stuffing and some black and white wool to finish off the project before Wednesday. I bought Isobel a scooter for her birthday so she can start to use it in the summer but I want to finish Peppa for Wednesday too so I'll try to finish her in the evenings when the children are in bed. The red is a bit bright but I am hoping that will add to her appeal!

I'm looking forward to seeing everyone else's projects on Wool on Sundays. Enjoy what is left of your Sunday.

Oh, nearly forgot. I thought I'd post some photos of our trip last week with my oldest grandson and his sister to Boscombe Down Aviation Collection at Old Sarum in Wiltshire. If you have children to amuse during the holidays its a great way to pass a few hours. My grandson really enjoyed clambering into the cockpits to 'fly' the planes. I loved seeing the biplane as my dear Grandfather George had joined the Royal Flying Corps (the predecessor of the RAF) in 1917 at the age of 18 and worked a mechanic on these very planes.