Stitchy progress

It's not all work and no play for this girl *grin* I have some progress pics to share with you, BBD Forget Me Not is nearly finished as you can see just a little to do at the bottom, it kind of got put to one side as I lost one of my skeins of blue thread ( think I left it behind at the swimming pool when taking twin 1 to her swimming lesson)

So while Forget Me Not got put on the back burner I pulled out my kit for the Miniature Needlelace Lavender Hearts by Jenny Adin-Christie, these are soo teeny and cute! Smaller than I expected and took longer to make than I expected too lol but I love them! Jenny's instructions are frankly foolproof she takes you step by step with plenty of pictures you just can't go wrong. I can see me making lots of these in odd moments they are sooo addictive and the smell of the lavender is just...ahhh....gorgeous! I have put mine on my scissors for the moment and can't stop picking them up and smelling them. I love the dotty backs, they are so cheery and make me smile.

Took a little break from making the needlelace hearts as my wonderful hubby treated me to an introduction to stumpwork class at the Wemyss School of Needlework at the end of June to make this...

For completing my first year at college. The class was taken by Helen McCook and she is an amazing teacher with lots of patience and willing to spend time showing us and explaining what we were to do, some of the lady's were quick learners and got on with the task in hand some and here I include myself in this group were not so quick lol and needed a lot of support. Helen was lovely and would come round to those of us needing help individually.
I have not done any form of embroidery since I was very young when my gran taught me but it really never grabbed me and I much preferred doing cross stitch. However I have always admired the old stumpwork pictures that you often see in old stately homes and wondered how they made them so this class really appealed to me. I can honestly say it did not disappoint. I did not get my butterfly finished at class it took me another week or so of on off stitching to complete it but I am kind of proud of it and like to think my gran is looking down and saying ' thank goodness she's finished something!' Well here it is..

The Wemyss School of Needlework is a wonderful place to hold a class, in the classroom itself you are surrounded by wonderful examples of old needlework and the windows let in plenty of light so we didn't really need to use the lamps that were supplied for our use. I was fascinated with the work stands supplied called Lowery Stands they are not the most attractive looking stands but boy were they sturdy and did the job.....no I mustn't be tempted I've got a floor stand already and I am meant to be de-cluttering!
The school is also a museum and there were examples of needlework and old photos on all the walls even in the toilet which might explain why some of us seemed to spend an age in their *sheepish grin*
We ate a lovely lunch surrounded by more examples of needlework and kits and threads, sadly I had to rush out the door at the end of the class due to fractious kids and hubby waiting in the car for me so didn't get a chance to have a good look and spend some pennies....hmm perhaps in the light of current goings on in this house that may not be such a bad thing...but I will go back. I would love to do another class it was a wonderful and memorable day. Sadly I can't share any photos of inside the school with you all as we were not allowed to take any I assume because of the old needlework and pictures, I would recommend if you are ever up this way do check out if any classes are on or to even just visit the shop and museum well worth a visit in my humble opinion!

I can now work again on my Forget Me Not sampler as I have ordered the missing thread and ordered some threads and linen to finally make a start on on Black Bird Designs SAL which I signed up for but as yet not started so no excuses now.

Finally we have had a couple of wet days (well it is Scotland) which means cool nights and I have managed to get a little more done on my socks. They are progressing but very slowly, I seem to spend as long un-twisting my needles and yarn as I do knitting! Hmmm maybe I need shorter needles, I certainly need to pay more attention to where the pattern starts on my yarn in future.  No matter these are just for me but I am rapidly coming to the conclusion I am no natural sock knitter *grin*

Thank you for popping by.

Jenny Adin-Christie and updates

I was browsing online recently looking for something totally unrelated to needlework when I stumbled on Jenny Adin-Christie website and wow! What a treat and a feast for the eyes her work is just amazing, now I don't usually do any form of needlework other than cross stitch or petitpoint and I am happy to admire other forms of needlework but that's usually as far as it goes however her kits are gorgeous and I fell in love with the Miniature Needlework Lavender Hearts kit they just looked sooo sweet .......so I ordered a kit ...mmmm naughty I know but I justified it as a wee reward for finishing my first year at college that's ok isn't it? I was soo excited when the postie brought my parcel and when I opened it the kit was beautifully wrapped in tissue paper, I don't know about you but I always feel a little bit special when opening a parcel that has been wrapped prettily. The kit itself is beautifully presented in its own little calico bag with a colour picture on the front of the finished item.

The bag will be handy for storing the work in progress and then could be easily reused for something else as the picture will easily peel off the bag. Would you like to see a closer picture of the hearts? Well Iam only too happy to oblige!

The kit comes with everything you could possibly need to complete it.

There is a list of the contents included and just look at what comes in the kit!

There is a very detailed step by step set of instructions very useful for the likes of myself who has never done any needlelace before. 

Jenny even includes all the different sizes of needles you are going to need in their very own little needlework book with the size of needle next to each one. No excuses for me using the wrong needle for the job then lol. Oh and that little scrap of material is for practising making needlelace loops and Jenny even includes extra thread to practice with she seems to have thought of everything and covered it I am well impressed!

Oh how I wish I could share with you the scent of that lavender! I do love the scent of lavender and these little hearts are going to be extra special filled with this. The kit comes with enough materials to make two hearts and if you wish you can choose which two you would like as I couldn't make up my mind cos I liked all three I left it up to Jenny to pick for me and very glad I am too those colours are gorgeous.

This shows you what is included in each little package: the materials, all the necessary threads, beads and ribbon for finishing it. Can't wait to start this now!

I haven't been slacking I do have some progress pictures to share with you to. First of all BBD Forget Me Not still loving this design and I've managed to get all of the vines stitched, will finish the pot at the bottom then back on to the flowers me thinks or maybe I should stitch some more of the alphabet hmmm decisions decisions.

I have also knitted some more of my socks.

Oh my! I have had such bother with these socks and I've chalked up yet another 'sock lesson learnt' this is the third time I've knitted the pattern part. I have ripped out twice already and all because I didn't read the pattern all the way through. The original pattern was downloaded from Ravelry and I just worked from that, however if I had read the amendment on Ravelry I would have saved myself a lot of heartache *sigh* oh well I am on the way with them now and I do like knitting both socks at the same time but........it's taking forever lol.