Holiday

I'm going away for a short break and have been busy sorting outfits. I can only take a very small suitcase with me so I have to pack carefully. Here are the outfits:

Outfit 1:

This outfit is my new brown cords (that I have been working on this week), they are pleated at the top and three quarter length with turn-ups. The cream top with peach, dusky pink and red small flower pattern was made last year. You can't see clearly from the photo but there is a faux suage and fur hooded bolero that I made about three years ago from an old coat that my daughter had, Now that its turned a bit chilly I have added the gold scarf and gloves that I knitted last autumn and o course the outfit is completed with a Fairysteps belt and boots.

Outfit 2:
A pair of denim blue skinny jeans made four years ago and a new cream jersey fabric top that I made this morning when I had the sewing machine out fiishing the cord trousers. As the top only has three quarter length sleeves I have added the rose arm warmers that I made recently and a velvet and silk scarf that I made from remnants years ago. Once again the outfit is completed with Fairysteps boot and belt.

Outfit3:

This outfit is a very long olive jersey skirt that I made a few weeks ago but didn't get round to blogging. The cream shirt was made about four years ago and used to be a long tunic top, but got reincarnated as a shirt last year. The olive and purple neckwarmer also featured in an earlier blog. Another Fairysteps belt completes the look (and the brown boots from the first picture.

Lastly I shall take a few of my home crafted bags. A brown tweed bag with a long strap that is one of my favourites and was made at least five years ago and a huge bag (made from an old curtain before a holiday last year). The large bag is needed to hold my projects that I'm taking with me.

Must dash now as I still have things to do before I go.

In progress

Dispite having a sticking bad cold, I have started the teal cardi, well more of a sleaveless bodywarmer type thing really. Its a really chunky yarn and I'm knitting it up in reverse stocking stitch with a cable up the front. It's knitted in one piece, split for the armholes, then I shall finish the shoulder seams with a three needle cast off and pick up the armhole edging with a circular needle and rib a few rows. Then pick up the sitches round the neck edge and make a hood (continuing the cable design). It will have a single closure at the neck, but I can't quite decide if this should be a button or a kilt pin ar something else.

I have also been making some prototype material slippers. My friend at work had a pair that she bought ages ago that were nearly falling to pieces and she asked if I could make something similar. So I had a bash. These are prototype No. 2, and still not quite right but they are getting there - and are currently on my feet. I took prototype No.1 into my friend on Thursday and she didn't take them off her feet all day. Not bad for a first effort.
I think I have worked out the next set of 'adjustments' but I have got to find the time to make prototype No. 3 to see if they are better. I doubt I will get time this week as I am going away on Friday (to brothers in Devon) and really want to make a new pair of trousers before I go. I have this lovely peice of brown and a new pattern I know I said no more brown - but it goes with so much stuff that I have). Hopefully will be able to cut out this weekend. I won't be able to have Sewing Sunday as I have other things to do, but I will try to make time during the week (in the evenings) to do the sewing.

busy bee

I have been busy this weekend. It stared with baking bread and ended with making pumkin risotto. In between bags were made, dogs were walked, Chill jam was made along with spicy apple cake and rock cakes. And there was even time to go to the new theatre in Aylesbury on Saturday evening to see a show called 'Circus Hillarious. I was a bit dubious, but it was very funny.

Here are a few pictures of what I have achieved

now to do the boring stuff - ironing, making beds and tidying.

Next week I hope to show my plans for my next knit ( a teal jumper) and a skirt that I plan to revamp to go with it.

Sold my soul...

Last week I heard about people in their late thirties/early forties having mid-life crisis'. I am begining to wonder if I'm having one. First there is all this bag selling stuff. I was brought up very strictly to view craft activities as nothing but a hobby, and even though I don't expect to make much/any money selling bags I somehow feel that I have betrayed this upbringing.

Then something worse happened. I have worn glasses since I was 8. I am very shortsighted with a prescription in the region of -9.00 (if that means anything to anyone). Apart from a brief dabbling in contact lenses when I was in my late teens I always had glasses. i like glasses even though the thick convex lenses make my eyes look small and the heaviness often makes them hurt my nose. Glasses are a part of me. I went for my annual opticians visit, and as always complained about headaches and as usual I was told it was because of the strength of my lenses - the glasses only had to get knocked or slip a little and I'm not looking through the correct part of the lens. They always tell me this and always offer me contact lenses. I always refuse because of the extra environmental impact and the chemicals used. However this time I said 'yes' to a trial.

So now I have lenses, and the optician was right I haven't been getting so many headaches. Everyone I know says how nice I look without my glasses. They can see my eyes (which I have now started to enhance with a little bit of make-up) and my eyes are large/a lovely shape etc. Son (aged 14) paid me a back handed compliment after I had had them about three days by saying he didn't notice before because I didn't lok weird!. This week I have to go back for a check and say 'yes' or 'no' to keeping the lenses. If I keep the lense, I'll feel that I have sold out on my principle's and if I don't keep the lenses I have to go back to having headaches and a sore nose from the heaviness of the glasses.

Everyone else is more sure than I am

Well I'm not sure how to put this, but I started an Etsy shop. I'm not quite sure what has pocessed me to do this right now, and as you can tell from this blog I am far from certain about the whole thing. I know I should be more positive, but I'm not quite sure that the world is ready for me or perhaps I'm not ready for the world. However I have been talking about selling bags for over three years and I have sold my bags before, but only to people I know. But everyone has more or less told me to stop procrastinating and get on with doing it.

The first three items are listed - all upcycled bags. I'm not sure that they will sell on Etsy (I'm still having problems with the pictures), but several people I work with are interested in them. Tomorrow I start on my real designs. I am going to take the three designs that over the years have been most popular and make several colourways in each.

Anyway without further ado here are some images of the first three items.

Before I forget, my Etsy shop is called BuckinghamGirl

Pumpkins and presents

Here are the pumkins, and thats not quite all of them. Rain delayed collection of the final few, and I couldn't quite fit them all into this picture (even though I stood on a wall to take it). Most of them will be given away or sold to raise money for the allottments - where some of them were grown.

As usual I eagerly await the next seasonal product and then after a few weeks of eating nothing but it, I'm heartily sick of it. However it's the start of the pumkin season and I eagerly spent my afternoon making the season's first pumpkin pie and stuffed pumpkin (stuffing mix made with lentils and chilli's and tomatoes - we have a glut of the later two items as well).

Enough of pumpkins, now for the presnts.

The slippers for mum are finished and have been completed with a crochet edging and crochet butterflies, I was going to add flowers but daughter said that she thought it should be butterflies. (there are two slippers but could only get the butterfly if I photographed from the side.)


There was pleny of yarn leftover and so I made a pir of fingerless gloves and matching scarf for a birthday present.




and here's the birthday card

Must add a little thank you here to daughter for being a hand and foot model for the gloves and slippers in the above pictures.