Tiny flowers

I finally made a cloth for the palm's pot yesterday. I took some unbleached cotton and sewed the edges on a sewing machine. Then I chose a small embroidery pattern from one of my vintage craft magazines and then I embroidered them on the corners of the cloth. I used silk threads from my stash. I also added a green running stitch. It's nothing glamorous, but it's not plain either :)

Quick stitching update

I'm on to part 5 in the Winter's Eve SAL with Nicki.



I've also been stitching a bit on the autumn needleroll.

Crochet

So I started the crochet thing on Saturday and on Sunday evening I was done. Well, almost. I really enjoyed crocheting again! It's been a while since I've done that. And now I think I'm going to have to find some time to do some more :)

My plan was to do four small squares and join them into one big doily to put under the pot of our new palm tree. I was thrilled to have it nearly finished and went to show it to DH. He said it was far too pretty to be put on the floor under a pot were we won't see it at all (only the very ends of the corners would be showing).



After a while I kinda agreed with him and instead of joining the squares together I decided to use them as individual smaller doilies. I put them under the flower pots on our desk. The miniature rose and the two African violets we've had there forever.



They are a perfect size for this job. And I've been meaning to crochet doilies for this purpose for a long time now anyway. Now I've just got to come up with a new plan for the palm. I'm thinking something involving embroidery... I hope I find the time this week to make it into a reality :)

What I've been doing lately

I've baked. I made granola (again) and this lingonberry pie.



I've read. Currently I'm reading this great book by Daniel Pool. I really enjoy books from the Victorian era (and earlier), and this will help me to understand them even better. It tells about the habits and customs people had then as well as the etiquette and things to do with everyday life like money and measurements. On the background on the floor you can see my cabled cardigan. It's progressing quite nicely.



I've also taken my little pumpkins out. I bought them last year and managed to dry them so they are still good for displaying.



Today, DH and I went shopping for plants and came home with a mini rose (is that what these small potted roses are called?) for the study.



And a cyclamen for the living room. These are my favourite plants to buy in the fall. The colors of the flowers are so bright and beautiful! According to my house plant book, you should be able to grow them year round indoors, but I've never managed that. I think the most I've gotten out of them is about three months before they have died. And that was in a different house. We'll see how long this one lasts.



On the right you can see the third thing we brought home. A rather large palm (my dictionary gives two English names for it: areca palm and golden yellow palm). I love, love, love it! I've wanted one for a long time now. The pot is on the floor and naturally it needs a cloth underneath it. Since I have some crochet yarn and a hook, I figured I might as well make it myself, rather than spend time and money looking for one from the stores (or eBay) :) I've already started it.

Weekly stitching update

Time for an update, I think. Last week I stitched on Titania and this is how she looks now. Getting close but not quite there yet.



Yesterday I stitched on Winter's Eve, as I usually do on Mondays. I think next week I'm going to get to start part 5. I'll have to do the beading at some point though and there are a lot of beads in this one!



Apologies for the bad pictures, the lighting was far from ideal when I took these but I just didn't want to wait until tomorrow.

New Stash

The first sign of Christmas arrived today!



Every year I order this magazine and every year I'm just as excited to receive it. I though the issue this year was really good. Just by flipping through it, while having my afternoon tea, I saw many ornaments I want to stitch! I'm sure a closer perusal will show me many more. I was also a bit embarrased to realize that despite my best intentions, so far, I haven't gotten many ornaments done this year... Well, I still have time, right?



I also got this chart, Words to Live By by With My Needle.



And this, which isn't exactly what it was supposed to be. I meant to order Awake the Dawning Day (same designer), but this is what I got. I immediately went to see the order comfirmation I'd gotten when placing the order several weeks ago (I pre-ordered the mag) and sure enough, there it was too. I don't get how after carefully thinking about my purchase, I still manage to click on the wrong chart! And then let the order confirmation just sit in my inbox without even glancing at it! Oh, it would have been soooo easy to just read through it and correct the mistake before my order was sent to me. I'm quite angry with myself. The shop will let me return it, but I have to pay the postage for sending it back and for the new chart (naturally since it was my mistake) plus a restocking fee.

Don't get me wrong, this is a very pretty chart as well, but I want to stick with my new stitching philosphy of only getting charts I'm absolutely positive I want to stitch and have a place in mind for the finished project. Does anyone have the Awake the Dawning Day they don't need (or won't need after stitching it)? Would you want to do a swap? If not, I'm not sure if I should return it or sell it and by the other chart later on.

New knitting projects

Finally back to feeling normal! While I've been away, I have done the occasional stitch (I did take part in the Monday SAL with Nicki), but got so little done, it wasn't worth photographing. And I've been knitting a bit too. Here's the beginning of a cabled cardigan.



And here's what I will do after I have it done. Long gloves. Yes, I did cast on already, but it was only to test the yarn. I'm honestly not going to work on it until the cardigan is done! :) The yarn was a find from eBay. It's 100% cashmere! (So, you see, I just had to try it!)



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I'll try to catch up with everyone's blogs in the next couple of days :)

I'm here!

Just a quick post to let you know I'm still here! Another week has gone by without a post. We've had overnight guests twice during the past week. And I have been slightly ill and still am. I have really enjoyed these past few weeks (apart from being ill), but I have to admit, I'm starting to feel a bit tired and miss my crafting time. I also want to get back to posting more frequently and having the time to keep up with everyone else's blogs.