It is the season to...

Autumn, the season of cold mornings, golden leaves and hot chocolates, gets me in the mood for knitting.  I recently discovered this scrummy, chunky cushion on Pinterest (which I am totally addicted to) and decided I had to knit something similar. The yarn I am using ( Nature Spun 3ply 100% wool) is probably not as chunky as the photo, so my next cushion will be even chunkier. I am using 9mm needles. I had the joy of yarn buying from a cute and  newish shop in Hobart called The Stash Cupboard.

 

 

Slow cooked Lamb Ragu is also part of this season.  

 

 



 

Have you any favourite crafts or recipes for Autumn? I would love you to share with me...

 

 

Enjoy the sunshine in your life...

                                             Jan x

Guest designer excitement...

I made it as a Guest Designer!!! The website is an Australian scrapbooking site called  Life Paper Scrapbook. I don't know if I will ever be lucky enough to be a guest designer again so I have cracked open the champers. Check out my layout here.

I had to design a layout based on a sketch so I had fun playing with the main Studio Calico Spencer kit and the card kit from March.

The card kit contained the funkiest "light bulb" stamp and associated cute phrases made by Lawn Fawn. I saw them and immediately thought school layout.  Master J is quite an academic so the stamps were a perfect addition. I have been very proud of how he has has been as "cool as a cucumber" about the transition from the public to private system.  Learning to put on a neck tie seems to have been his biggest challenge LOL.

 

 

If scrapbooking ain't your thing I'm posting next about a new knitting project - chunky cushions. Thanks for stopping by...

                                    Jan x

 

Similar products to those used above can be bought purchased at the following links:

- wooden veneer arrows

- shipping tags

Cath Kidston kit review from the Stitch book...

The cross stitched bag which came as a freebie with the Cath Kidston's book Stitch completed and ready for your inspection. You can see my earlier posts here and here.

It really is a darling little purse. The roses are quaint and pretty.  I wish I could show you all in person but you will just have to be satisfied with the photos.  I will use it as a sewing bag for my stitching scissors and threads for small projects. 

The dissolvable canvas came away very easy in warm, soapy water. I was surprised at how it dissolved almost like glue but then washed off the thread so easily leaving no sticky marks.

Apart from not having enough light pink thread for one rose (I colour matched it with one from my stash) I had all the bits and bobs to finish the project.

The kit assembly instructions were a little confusing initially. The kit fabric came all in one piece and the pattern kept referring to the 3x pieces. It didn't actually tell me to cut them apart. So I put scissors to fabric and cut them (with my fingers and toes crossed) hoping I was doing the right thing. And yes I was!

I am beaming that I finished this kit. I am notorious for not doing small kits. Silly me always does the big projects. I will definitely stitch more from the Stitch book. Why, oh why, when I can produce a cute number in such a short time that is so functional? Are you working on a small project at the moment? Tell me as I would love to check it out on your blog if you have one.

Thanks for skipping on my garden path...

                                                          Jan x

Cath Kidston sewing kit progress...

Happy Sunday to readers and followers new and old.

Remember the Cath Kidston purse I am creating from her book Stitch? I have nearly finished cross stitching the front panel design. The crosses are made over plastic, dissolvable mesh. I don't think the stitches are as neat as using this method but it looks better the more I stitch. This came as a kit and I am slightly annoyed I have nearly run out of one colour and still have a flower left to stitch. I haven't wasted the colour so I think they should have allowed more thread. I will colour match with a different thread out of my stash.

It seems that there a few of you who share my love veggie gardens judging from my previous post. I have been giving my patch a bit of TLC lately.  Butternut pumpkins, broccoli and cabbages are thriving at the moment in this Aussie garden.

It's back to cooking pumpkin soup for me. Thanks for walking through my garden...
                                                                                                        Jan x

Sharing a cute veggie garden...

On my last blog post, here, I shared a story and photos from my great grandmother, Lillian's cookbook.  Well done Jo from Tas! It is Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management. This is the second edition. The first edition was released in 1861.  You can read more about the fascinating author, Isabella Beeton who was only 21 when she started writing the book (much younger than the she sounds). A small prize is on it's way to Jo.

I haven't shared much in the way of gardens recently.  We have just returned from a holiday in Cradle Mountain, Tasmania. Due to heavy rain on the mountain we did some touring at a lower altitude in the Meaner Valley.  We stopped for lunch at Marakoopa Café and ate delicious pork and beef kranksy sausages. The garden here was in full autumn bloom and beautifully set out. Tom ran off into areas that were roped off so I had to explore the garden further to catch him.

We stumbled across this vegetable garden that was fenced with alternating hedging plant and wood piles.   I love veggie gardens especially those on country properties.  I keenly explore them.  The symmetry, beds and borders in a veggie garden in combination with the variety of foliage appeal to me. I secretly dream of owning a sandstone country home on an estate, so a hedged vegetable garden is part of that dream.

I hope you are enjoy some happy moments. Thank you for stopping on by...

                                                                                                                   Jan x

Can you guess competition

My mother pulled this from the back of the cupboard today. Its poor condition says it all. It is missing the hard cover. Pages are falling out. My great-grandmother, Lillian and then my grandmother, Gwen relied heavily on the recipes in this book. We think its probably circa 1890s and was published in London. Can you guess what vintage cookbook it is? There is a small prize for the first correct guess.

Cath Kidston cross stitch project...

Are you like me and have a stash of freebie cross stitch that are waiting patiently to be stitched?  Well I am committing to stitching them.

When I saw the rose cross stitched makeup kit bag inside the Cath Kidston's book Stitch I knew I had to have it.  My progress thus far...

The weather has suddenly turned frosty in Hobart Tasmania after a long and warm Summer. I am off to the mountains for a couple of days with my family so I hope I find some stitching time there. My hubby is working and living in a city 4 hours away this year, so it will be a special time for the children and I to have him with us again for a week.  What an amazing experience it would be if it snowed. Even more reason to stay in front of the fire and stitch.

I hope you find lots of stitchy time this weekend...
                                                                             Jan x

Here right now...

I borrowed this from Simply Renee. Love it!

watching: Dance Mums excerpts my 14yo DD is constantly shoving in front of me
eating: Chicken wings with my fingers therefore leaving fingerprints over the keyboard naughty me
drinking: a chardie
wearing: Mavi jeans and white knit long-sleeved top
avoiding: putting my 3yo DS2 to bed
feeling: inspired after a weekend scrapbooking and crocheting (for the first time) with girlfriends
missing: my husband who has gone away for the week
thankful: for my kids as endometriosis might have rendered me infertile
weather: a cool 8 degrees Celsius this evening so have turned up the heat
praying: my Studio Calico scrapbooking kit arrives this week (it's lost like thousands of other overseas orders) and that the virus that has hit our family over the weekend clears soon
needing to: put my 3 yo DS2 to bed
thinking: I really want to start another cross stitch project (stop it brain and finish what is started)
loving: pinterest!!!

Hope you found some stitchy time this weekend.

                              Jan x

Mum, can you knit me a ...

Jack (my preteen son): Mum can you knit me a beard?

Me: A what?

Jack: A beard. They are all the rage on YouTube

After trawling the net, I found a free pattern. Jack was right - they are everywhere! I even saw an actor wearing one on a TV show. I decided to knit it in a colour (out of my scraps) that tones in with his hair. Also I only used acrylic yarn so it isn't itchy.  It knitted up in about an hour! I sewed elastic so it stays on his head.

Jack loves wearing it especially in the evenings and as a surprise for his friends. He says it keeps his face warm.  I always do a double take when I see him.  It is hilarious!

Have you knitted or crafted anything that is purely just for a laugh?

Thanks for dropping by...

                                    Jan x

Oh deery me...

Howdy friends new and old...

Oh deery me...another WIP.  But a lovely one. 

This is a stitch-along I am doing with girlfriends I met at my eldest son's school. They don't stitch as a hobby so I have taught them. Yay for me that I have created a cross stitch group!!! We even have a member, Lisa,  who doesn't stitch. Her position in the group is endorsed as her husband luckily works with vines, so she brings the wine. 

You probably recognise it is the alphabet from The Prairie Schooler design. It is surprisingly "L is for Leaves".  It should be "D for deer" LOL. I would love to do the whole alphabet on one piece of linen but I think that might end up as a UFO so I will stick with the one design for now.

 

Hope you enjoyed visiting.  Until next time, happy stitching...

 

Jan x