Walking in Northumberland

Posted on May 28, 2021 by craftycreeky

Last week we had a few days in Northumberland, we stayed in the same cottage as last year. It’s called Whistlestop as it’s an old railway cottage in Redesmouth. It’s prefect for us, it’s comfortable and well equipped and they allow dogs…

The weather wasn’t brilliant but it wasn’t bad. It rained most days but usually in the afternoon so we walked in the morning and only once got a bit damp.

We drove up to Kielder which is a huge reservoir and forestry commision land, there’s lots of footpaths and signposted routes. This time we went up to Kielder village and walked a bit in the forest and then down to the viaduct just a short distance down river. The viaduct isn’t used anymore by trains so it’s been turned into a footbridge. The view from the top was lovely…

The following day we walked round Hadrian’s Wall, this is the Roman wall started in AD122, it runs for 73 miles from the east coast to the west coast. A surprising amount is still intact. I say surprising (apart from the fact that it is 2000 years old,) but also because for centuries it was a useful source of stone for housebuiling. There is even a village called Wall of which many earlier houses are built with stone from the wall.

We parked by Housesteads Fort and did about a 5.5 mile walk.

The geography of this area fascinates me with it’s steep escarpments…

The views were amaing, I find up her that you feel quite high up from what feels like a small hill. I think the topography is undulating so you can see a long way. Just as an aside, I read up at Keilder that from one of their nearby fells you van see both coast of Britain.

I’m trying to get fitter at the moment, lock-down and operations have taken their toll, so I bought myself a Garmin watch, it’s not one of their fancy ones but it does what I wanted (plus lot more!) It tracks my walks and then uploads the to my computer and Strava. It does give you a bit of encouragement to see the mils add up.

Anyway, I thought I might do a regular weekly slot on walks, maybe call it Wandering Wednesday. Some weeks I might have been somewhere intersting, other times it might be round my neighbourhood. We’re walking up Buckden Pike on Monday.. so watch this space!

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On a Roll

Posted on May 27, 2021 by craftycreeky

I’m trying to keep my New Year Resolution of making up the cross-stitch smalls as I stitch them, so far so good. However I still have a couple waiting to be made up so whilst I was in a finishing smalls mood I decided to finish another.

I stitched this little wren just before Christmas, it is another one of my Fido Stitch Studio makes…

Isn’t it cute! I decided to keep it square so I chose one of my soft green cottons for the back. I like to make cord from a couple of the colours in the stitching, as this was like twenty shades of brown I chose a creamy thread and a mid brown. I stitched the cord on using some darker than usual pearl beads.

I felt it just needed a little something extra so I had a rummage in my button drawer and found three little light green buttons which matched pretty well.

I’m getting quite a collection of little birds now from Fido Stitch Studio on Ebay and there’s a couple more calling my name…

Posted in cross-stitch, embroidery, kits, Serendipity, Smalls of the Month | Tagged , , , | 9 Comments

A Little Sunshine

Posted on May 26, 2021 by craftycreeky

This one was a pretty quick make, I started stitching on Thursday as I waited for my physio appointment, finished it on Sunday, and made it up yesterday. It’s another facebook destash pattern!! The pattern is an old one (2008) from Shepherd’s Bush called Scatter Sunshine, it’s a nice happy design and quick to stitch too. The pattern calls for overdyed threads but they do give DMC alternatives which is what I used mostly.

Isn’t it pretty? It’s also meant to have nine tiny buttons on of bees, flowers, bugs and birds, I’ve got a couple of what I thought were tiny bee buttons by JABCO but they looked enormous so I embroidered the extra bees and just left the others blank. JABCO (Just Another Button Company) buttons are gorgeous but here in the UK they aren’t easy to get hold of and they are very expensive. There’s a lady on Otley market who sells buttons and jewelry so she’s going to have a look if she has anything suitable.

I found a pretty pink floral cotton in my stash, initially planning to have the cotton just at the bottom. I added a length of rickrac, but when I stitched it up I thought I liked it better with a little bit of pink on top too…so I undid the two ends and restitched them with a top border…

…then I didn’t like the rounded sides, it just needed something else!

After a good rummage in my trimmings drawer I decided cream mini pom-pom trim would work. I stitched it straight on to the sides. It’s not a brilliant finish but the alternative was to take it all apart and stitch a new back on and I didn’t feel it was bad enough to warrant that! No ones going to look at the back anyway!

Posted in cross-stitch, embroidery, Serendipity, Smalls of the Month | Tagged , | 10 Comments

A Small Kingfisher

Posted on May 25, 2021 by craftycreeky

A couple of weeks ago I finished another kit from Fido Stitch Studio on Etsy. I think this is the fifth kit of theirs I’ve stitched. They’re only small but they have plenty of detail. These are my others…

The kit I stitched this time was of a kingfisher. I’ve never seen one here in the UK, I saw one once in Yugoslavia – and that’s how long ago it was!! The colours are stunning, I think a lot of the time here you just see a flash of orange and blue, unless you’re lucky enough to see one sitting on a perch. There’s meant to be one just a bit further up the river from here, so I keep looking out for one.

Isn’t he gorgeous!

I’m trying to stick with my New Year resolution of finishing off the cross-stitch smalls straight awy rather than popping the cross-stitch in a box and out of mind. So at the weekend I set about finishing my small. I had a good rummage through my scrap box and found this perfect kingfisher blue batik. I looked at having a narrow orange flange next to it but I couldn’t find one that was the right shade of orange. Instead I decided to embroider an orange line. I actually used my stitch wheel to choose a stitch to use! I chose heavy chain stitch as it was a bit thicker than other ones. After I had stitched it I felt it was too bright and dominating so I whip-stitched it with a bright blue which worked perfectly.

I used the same two DMC colours to make a cord, couched it round whilst adding tiny beads on each stitch and then made a tassel for the top corner. There’s actually three beaded cords there but two of them are hiding!

I haven’t any more Fido kits at the moment but I’m sure these won’t be my last.

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Monday’s Meander Round the Garden

Posted on May 24, 2021 by craftycreeky

We’ve had a lot of rain recently so the garden is growing fast…including the weeds! We’re tackling our perennial weed problem differently this year, rather than waiting for them to grow big enough to apply weedkiller (which I rarely get chance to do!!) we’re just pulling up as much as we can as it appears with the hope of weakening it. All this rain has brought the bindweed and marestail out in force so I’ve been busy digging up what I can, I’m just working my way round the beds steadily.

The white cytisus by the patio is glorious at the moment, covered in tiny creamy white flowers. I bought this a few years ago at the Harrogate show, it was one of those plants which when you’re carrying it round the show people keep coming up asking where to buy it! Once it finishes flowering I’ll give it a prune. I’ve probably not planted this in an ideal spot so I think I’ll give it a fairly hard prune to keep the size down.

There’s a couple of pretty aquilegias in flower at the moment. I tend to have a bit of a soft spot for aquilegias, there used to be a stall at the Harrogate show who sold beautiful tall ones, I bought a few over the years but I seem to have lost a few when I’ve had to move them. I’m keeping my eye out for some more.

The acer in a pot by the patio is looking beautiful, this is the one I bought when James was born so I’ve had it 26 years now! The other acer up in the autumn garden needs a bit of a prune as a few branches have succumbed to the late frosts this spring. Ithink I’m going to have to move my water feature to the front as it’s not getting enough sun so the ‘fountain’ is just doing little spurts! Unfortunately this entails emptying it again as it’s too heavy to move.

The old lilac behind the summerhouse is looking glorious, the photo was taken with evening light and it really doesn’t do it justice. I’m not keen on the scent of lilac but the trees look beautiful.

I think my favourite vista at the moment is through the arch to the patio. It’s already looking fairly full and with geraniums, aquilegia, iris, violas, brunnera…there’s plenty to look at whilst I sit in the arbour with my morning cup of tea.

Posted in Garden | Tagged | 9 Comments

The Leafy Tree SAL

Posted on May 23, 2021 by craftycreeky

It’s three weeks since I last posted about my Leafy Tree embroidery, this is a design by Mary Corbet of Needle ‘n’ Thread, it comes as an e-book which works pretty well, I’m not a lover of reading books or magazines on line but I just printed off the basic pattern and key and I check the book if there’s a stitch I’m not sure about.

Last time I was just over half way with the leaves just about to turn autumnal…

Whilst we were up in Northumberland I managed to stitch a few more leaves. I had been working them in numerical order as that made it easier with colour changes but I realised there was now a cluster of the big (fancy stitch!) leaves. I stitched a couple of these but then I started with some of the little ones to fill in the gaps…

So there’s some battlement couching (less successful than the first one, I think I stitched the initial lines too close together) wheatear, long and short stitch, and fly stitch with the centre whipped or straight-stitches inbetween and split tips. The little leaves are mainly fly stitch or fishbone stitch.

The blending to yellows and oranges is developing nicely now. I love the effect over the whole tree.

I’ve got about thirty leaves left to stitch, so hopefully it will be finished soon. I’m really enjoying this project and it’s been quite a good one to do after the stitchwheel sampler as it’s giving me a bit more practise at some of the stitches.

This stitch-a-long is organised by Avis from Stitching by the Sea, we post our progress on a hand embroidery project every three weeks, just enough to keep our motivation going! Please follow the links and see what everyone else has been stitching.

Avis, Claire, Gun, Carole, Constanze, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Megan, Deborah, Renee, Carmela, Sharon, Daisy, Anne, AJ, Laura, Cathie, Linda, Helen

Posted in embroidery, Stitch-a-long | Tagged , , | 16 Comments

Blackbird Lampshade

Posted on May 22, 2021 by craftycreeky

Last Sunday I shared my latest Raggedy Ruff design, I’m particularly pleased with this one as I only had the pattern, not the kit with all the fabrics in. I’ve done several of these kits now and I save every little scrap of batik left over at the end of each project. These were perfect as so many of the applique pieces are seriously small…one sneeze and you’ll never see them again!. This was my initial layout…

I had stitched round each shape with a basic soft brown thread, mainly to hold it all in place…all I had to do now was the embroidery!

I started with the female blackbird and the flowers on her side and then moved over to the male.. Once I concentrated it didn’t take too long. I even managed to breathe at the same time – always a bonus! I’m getting a bit more confident with each kit that I stitch, I’m also very happy that my sewing machine has an automatic thrader as there is an awful lot of colour changes!

I love all the detail on these designs, there’s about eight different flowers to stitch, I particularly like the cornflowers, the other ones are cone flower, forget-me-nots, buttercup, salvia, tree blossom, dandelion, and finally sweet peas.

I ordereda lampshade kit from Etsy and it’s already here, I just need to wait until I have a crafty visitor who will help me make the lampshade!

If you fancy having a go her patterns are very reasonably priced and her kits are great as they include everything all neatly labelled. Just follow the link to Raggedy Ruff Designs.

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A Medieval Pincushion

Posted on May 21, 2021 by craftycreeky

This afternoon I cracked on and finished the flowery pincushion, yesterday when I posted I had two flowers left…

I stitched the cone flower in bullion knots and the allium in irregular cross-stitch. It was nice to learn last night that as a medieval pincushion it is accurately inaccurate! I gather the manuscripts and paintings from that time are not known for their botanical accuracy so I can just enjoy the stitches!

This is the finished embroidery just waiting to be made up..,

Making it into a segmented pincushion wasn’t tricky, just fiddly! I gathered all the way round the pencilled circle with a strong thread and then started to pull it in and stuff at the same time. This is where I needed about six hands! Once it was stuffed firmly I pulled the gathering threads tight and tied a double knot. I trimmed the threads, this was a big mistake…I squeezed it a bit to even out the stuffing and the gathering thread popped and I was back to the beginning again!

Second time round I enlisted the help of my OH to tie the knot and then overstitched the loose ends too. I then used the strong thread from the kit to form the segments and stitch on the button. Once it was all secure I covered a cardboard disc with some fabric and ladder stitched it over the bottom.

I’m quite chuffed with this one, it’s rather pretty.

I’ve just discovered that this kit is now available on Etsy, the designer is Sheila Knight, here’s the link to her Etsy shop, SMKembroidery

I’m linking up with Kathy’s Quilts for Slow Stitching Sunday.

Posted in embroidery | Tagged , , | 24 Comments

A Medieval Pincushion

Posted on May 20, 2021 by craftycreeky

We’ve just had a few days away in a little cottage in Northumberland, it’s the same cottage we went to last September,it’s an old railway cottage called Whistlestop in a little hamlet of Redesmouth, it’s relaxed and comfortable, well equipped and allows dogs! Perfect for a few days R&R…

Of course I took a few hand sewing projects to do in the evening or when it rained, I actually took four different projects, so at least if I found I had forgotten something for one I still had something else to work on…well that’s my excuse anyway! In the end I simply worked on a different project each day, a bit of variety is good!

I started this medieval style pincushion a couple of weeks ago. I’d bought the kit some time ago on a facebook destash page, it looked a bit different and rather pretty. It’s one of those pincushions where thread is pulled tight to form six segments and it has a different flower in each segment. I’m enjoying stitching it but getting a bit frustrated by the botanical inaccuracies!!

The design was already drawn on in pencil. I started with lavender, the flowers are stitched with detached chain stitch which is simple but effective. The leaves however look more like foxglove leaves, big glaucous affairs in fly stitch.

Next I stitched cyclamen, the leaves for this one were much more realistic, they are stitched with a buttonhole stitch. The flowers are stitched with detached chain stitch again, but with two or three inside each stitch to fill it out. I wasn’t keen on using chain-stitch as a filler when I made the stitch wheel and I’m still not keen, however in their defense I couldn’t think of another stitch to use instead as cyclamen are an unusual flower shape.

Up at the cottage I started doing my own thing a little bit, so when I was stitching the lilac (which is meant to be buddleia but is much more like lilac!) I used fishbone stitch for the leaves in a DMC variegated green thread. I rather like this one.

Next I stitched the roses, I used a variegated thread again for the leaves as some of my roses have a lovely bronze/purple tint to them. I used fishbone stitch again, this is becoming my favourite stitch for leaves! The roses were stitched with french knots in the middle and bullion knots around them. I’m pleased with this one too.

I’ve just started the allium and the cone flower. I’ve stitched both sets of leaves, you can see them on the photo with the cyclamen. Again the allium leaf bears no resemblance to reality and the cone flower one isn’t brilliant either. My one consolation is that the leaves will mainly be underneath I think when it is gathered up into a round pincushion.

I am enjoying stitching this pincushion, I think it will look very pretty when it’s finished…I just wish the designs were a bit more botanically correct!

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Wednesdays Wander Round the Garden

Posted on May 19, 2021 by craftycreeky

Every time I go out in the garden there seems to be something new appearing, the mixture of sunshine and rain has brought lots of growth.

The first iris flower has opened. I’ve quite a few irises, both the bearded ones that grow from corms ( and the dutch ones which grow from bulbs. This one is right next to the conservatory window. You can see some of the big iris leaves on the photo below.In the background is a camelia and a large clump of camassia.

In the forefront the spiky heads are from pasque flowers. They have gorgeous bright flowers but I also really like their seed heads, these stay for quite a few weeks, depending on the weather. You can just see an allium coming into flower, a couple of aquilegia and the brunnera Jack Frost is still flowering.

Up in the Amber & amethyst garden the perennial cornflower is starting to flower. It can be a bit of a thug in borders, but I try and keep it in check with a bit of pruning once it has flowered. The geum is just starting to flower and the bright pink you can just see further back is a tulip! The peony in the middle has beautiful bronze leaves. The rose on the obelisk is covering nicely.

Over by the pond the brunnera at the front is a mass of flowers. The iris and hostas are starting to push their spikes up. The foliage from the snowdrops is starting to look a bit past it but it will soon be covered by the geranium leaves.

Hopefully over the week-end I’ll manage a bit of time in the garden – weather permitting of course!!

Posted in Serendipity | Tagged , | 7 Comments