Category Archives: totally spoiled

“blooming cat” puzzle completed

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Above is a photo of the box . . . this is a puzzle I received for my birthday last month, from my daughter, aka Lindashee.   It’s a 1000 piece, with irregular shapes, so it proved to be quite tricky to do . . . but what lovely colours!  The design is called “Blooming Cat”.

zoom in on cat’s head

close up off the flowers

80cm x 41cm finished size

It’s not quite the standard shape for 1000 piece puzzles, being 80cm wide.  Usually, once I’ve finished a puzzle, I take a photo before breaking it up and putting it back in the box, but this time I’m going to make an exception. I plan on gluing this one and having it on display in the house where I can enjoy those vibrant colours.

Now I can look at my very healthy puzzle collection and decide which one to tackle next!

 

colourful – yarns and “blooming cat”

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I haven’t been very chatty on my blog of late, mainly because I’ve been busy with other things. Still sorting and  trying to organise in the house.  Getting rid of lots of books and other stuff, which means I’m making space on bookshelves and in cupboards. Which, in turn, means I can have a bit of a move-around and get rid of some bits of furniture.  With Spring on the way, I’m also thinking ahead to when I’ll want to be sitting in the veranda . . . and treated myself to a new sofa cover.

Original colour of the sofa is the plain green of the cushions and around the base . . . but the original cover is grotty and from what I can make out from the label, it can be neither dry cleaned nor machine washed . . . so it’s now hidden from sight.

I also, very naughtily added to my yarn stash again.  I had nabbed a bargain on @m@zon recently, with these yarns, which I showed you last month

being sold as 5 x 100g packs for approx 16€, which is less than half RRP.  Tension gauge on labels had me a bit worried as to whether I could use as DK weight so I knitted a quick swatch.

And I am reassured. It can, indeed, be knitted to DK tension. That opens up a whole world of possibilities for summer tops.  And, even though I’m currently working on a mid-season cardigan, I went ahead and bought in yet more colours.

2.5kg of loveliness

above is the entire haul, including the 2 packs from previous photo).

I’ve also been enjoying some very colourful puzzling.  My daughter sent me this 1000 piece for my birthday last month.

I have begun.

And I’m seriously thinking about gluing this one together when it’s finished, because I think it would look rather nice on the wall.

I had a birthday

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It happens to all of us. Every year, we have a birthday, and notch up one more year . . . I’m a February baby, and this month I turned 62. Not something I made a song or dance about, but I did receive a few surprises through the post, and I also treated myself to a few things.

I received a couple of birthday cards.  The “bananas” from the Tattoo family, and the cross stitched Husky dog (a design by Hélène & Mahélia) from Claudine.  Plus 4 very cute (and fake) succulent plants from my daughter, Lindashee.

Lindashee also sent me a puzzle.

I’m looking forward to doing that, it has such gorgeous colours.

treats to myself

Treats to myself were . . . the (fake) bamboo plant in the wicker basket because I am really enjoying my fake greenery around the living room, and (yes, even aged 62) I treated myself to a cuddly teddy bear for no reason other than that I’d seen him in the shop since way before xmas, and on a recent shopping spree he begged to come home with me. I’ve named him Hubert, a fairly old-fashioned, French name, but which is pronounced U-bear lol.

And, last but not least . . . some gorgeous colour for the yarn stash.

couldn’t resist

That’s two packs of 5 x 100g of cotton, taking advantage of special 50% off price on-line. When I ordered, I was convinced it was DK but label has it at more “sports/baby” weight, so it’s not going to be easy finding knitting patterns to make something. I don’t want to make scarves. My plan is to knit a couple of pretty summer tops.

scarlet macaw (ara macao)- 1000 piece

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gift from my sister

I received a surprise parcel in the post the other week. From my sister. She said I didn’t have to wait until xmas to open it.

Inside, a 1000 piece puzzle of a scarlet macaw and (a first for me) I noticed the back of puzzle was printed with letters from A-F. I deduced this was to make it possible to puzzle in segments, so I thought I’d give it a try that way.

1/6 done

That was the first section . . . and I noticed a piece missing on the border, top left, but wasn’t terribly concerned. I figured I hadn’t sorted pieces correctly, and that I would find it sorted in a different pile.

2/6 or 1/3 done

4/6 or 2/3 done

By the time I’d got this far, I was getting more concerned about that missing piece. The puzzle is looking gorgeous. Colours are vibrant, and pieces are slotting nicely together. I did a bit of detective work, checking out feedback for this particular puzzle (and company) on @m@zon . . . disappointed to read some negative feedback and learn that other people had received puzzles with several pieces missing.

finished

And sadly, that missing piece never showed up. I checked everywhere. On hands & knees under the table with a little torch. Such a shame because the picture is lovely.  After a photo crop and I suppose I can consider myself lucky that the missing piece was on the border, not smack, bang in the middle.

 

a bit of this & that

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Starting March with a bit of this and that . . .

First . . . I was a very lucky girl in February, and won a giveaway!  Anu, of Le Petit Monde d’Anu, makes the most beautiful things and I won this gorgeous card. I’ll need to think long and hard, about who is special enough to me that I want to part with this!

 

Had a bit of a production line going on in the sewing room, with special stretch needle in Juki and bobbin full of pink thread.

and made some stretch cotton trousers for little Miss Tattoo. The advantage of her not quite being 2 years old . . . with only 50cm (x bolt width) I was able to get not one, but 2 pairs of trousers out of my fabrics.

Crochet hook has been getting a work out.

I know this little chap looks rather like a penguin for the moment, but he isn’t.  He’s a Niffler – or at least, he will be once he’s finished with hands, feet, tail and his belly pouch!

And the hens have been productive, with all three gals laying an egg a day until last week . . . when Esme was killed (we think by a bird of prey).

Won’t be seeing any more pure white eggs in the nesting box (those were Esme’s) but we do enjoy a rich brown (that’s Elsie) and a pale blue (courtesy of Emma).  And, I’ll be picking up two new gals later this month to join the coop.

totally spoiled (and too bad about the yarn stash!)

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I had a birthday recently, received some presents from family members, and also used my b’day as an excuse to buy in more yarn . . . totally spoiled by others, and totally out of control with yarn buying . . . here’s the haul.

from the husband

Dolls house furniture, from the husband. Lots of pieces he found in a local shop that does house clearances.

A very special pair of socks from the Tattoo clan – unique, because Mrs T submitted a photo of Le Bleu, and chose purple background, for this lovely pair.

Screen shot of a xstitch kit that Mr Viking kindly bought for me on ebay.uk. That’ll be another one to stitch and join the cat-themed wall.

hair wefts

Mrs Lindashee, bought me some hair wefts:  4 very pretty colours, to encourage me to start making doll wigs.  And I treated myself to the boxset of DVDs.

Then I completely fell off the wagon, and my yarn diet went to the dogs.  A couple of visits to ACTION (a local discount store) where they had some new colours in, of the Alison & Mae yarn I so enjoy knitting with.

oh dear – how to resist?

This yarn is somewhere between a DK and Aran in weight. 100% acrylic, 238m on a 100g ball, and costs only 89 centimes a ball.  I bought 7 x 100g of the beige, 7 x 100g of the greeny-blue, 6 x 100g of the powder blue, and 6 x 100g of the pale lilac. So that’s 2.6kg in.

And, if I hadn’t been naughty enough . . .

no stopping me

I added a further 8 x 50g of a lovely sunshine yellow. That’s Mayflower brand, a cotton/acrylic blend, and was 69 centimes a ball in a different discount store, Noz.

That’s a total of 3kg in . . . yarn diet, completely out the window . . .

and yarn stash back up to 27.065kg.

I do love a book!

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In this age of pdfs and ebooks, to read on screens, I’m possibly in the minority when I say, I do love a book!  A “proper” book, printed on paper, with pages you can turn, with pages you can flick through, one you can pick up and put down, whenever the mood takes you.

I have come to appreciate the ease with which I can click and download a pdf pattern, and follow on my tablet, thus saving paper & ink, but I really do think books are best! They don’t have to be brand new. I’m more than happy to buy second hand, and quite often do, when it comes to crafting books.

For xmas, I received quite a few.

novels – 3 new and 1 secondhand

The above, for bedtime reading.

hobbies & crafting, 3 secondhand and 1 new.

And a nice selection for hobbies and crafting. I did have a copy of the  “animal heads” book a while back, but bought the French version by error so I donated that to our local library.

a knitty happy dance

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I’m having a little happy dance after knitting up a small blanket – made because I received some yarn for xmas.  Which means you get to see what other presents I received too.

Lots of books this year: the Scythe trilogy from the Viking family (I asked for it in French so I can then lend to non-English speaking family members afterwards); first 3 in The Wheel of Time series, from Mrs & Mr Lindashee; and “Le livre sans nom” (the book with no name) from Mr & Mrs Tattoo.

More haul was: two sets of acryllic paint markers from the husband (you’ll find out why I asked for these later in the year).  “Under the Dome” DVD mini series from Mrs & Mr Lindashee; “Ralph 2.0” DVD and two packets of googly eyes from Mr & Mrs Tattoo; and two yarn cakes of Lion Brand yarn & a sweater from SIL & family.

And . . . there was even more . . .

SIL has taken up machine embroidery recently and surprised the husband and myself with a gorgeous set of 3 cushions.  Made completely from scratch, including invisible zips and a very cheerful yellow cotton.

A zoom in on my favourite one.

Anyway . . . title of this post is a knitty happy dance because, I decided to cast on with the Lion brand yarn straight away, rather than letting yarn simply become more stash.

And knitted a blanket.  I only had 2 balls so, in order to make the most of yarn and make the blanket as big as possible, I started with a 5 stitch cast on, and increased by 1 stitch every row (with a yarn over) until reaching the end of the first yarn cake.  Then joined yarn (but working second cake from the centre out) and decreased by 1 stitch every row.   I haven’t weaved in my yarn ends yet, but I have a pretty, albeit small, blanket – it finished up at 30″ square so more of a lap warmer but at least it’s a finished item and not just more stash.

another un-birthday (and more)

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It’s just as well we don’t grow another year older each time we celebrate an un-birthday, because I had a second unbirthday celebration in September.  Thanks to Angèle, the second time with more lovely gifts.

Angèle sent me a denim tote bag, that she embroidered with cherry blossom, two pieces of fabric, 2 skeins of embroidery thread (the white DMC one is a “glow in the dark”), a pretty card, and a pins badge.

So a big “merci” to Angèle for all those lovely goodies!

I feel very spoilt, and I’m not the only one!  Ziva has got more toys than she knows what to do with now after I had a quick sewing session.

Using a couple of fluffy dusters, some ribbons & rick rack, toy stuffing and “cat grass”, I made some very simple toys for her to chase around and practice her hunting skills on.  I didn’t even try to make them look like mice, or anything, just sewed pouches & stuffed.   We’ve got cat toys galore in the house already but Ziva tends to lose them under the furniture.  Hopefully these new ones should be bright enough to spot easily.  She enjoys playing with them already, throwing them up in the air, carrying them around in her mouth.

And when not sewing cat toys, I managed to sit down and finish the back of my poncho.  Which has gone from this

to this

Now to cast on and knit the front which will be more interesting, since this will be my first ever cable project. Just a band of cable up the front centre, like this.

I’m not using the recommended yarn because (as I tend to do) I shopped around on-line looking for alternatives, and am knitting with this. Midway between DK and Aran, but I’m making it work to Aran tension for the purpose of this project.

 

my unbirthday in Sept (and more)

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I am a very lucky lady.  Postlady dropped a plump envelope in the  letter box the other day, with an un-birthday gift from Jacqueline.

Jacqueline is a very talented needleworker who also makes lace.  I feel very honoured, because it must take forever to do and need very good eyesight.   I was sent, my intial in silk thread, a bookmark in cotton thread and an embroidery kit .  Many thanks!

Also feeling lucky because I nabbed myself a vintage bargain at the weekend.  A local family were having an “everything must go” sale, selling contents of their mother’s house. Rest assured, not deceased, but moved into a nursing home where she can’t take all her belongings.  Anyway, I went along and saw this.

Couldn’t resist, and paid 30€ so it could come home with me.  It was made by a local furniture-maker, late 60s/early 70s.  I love the style, and the legs. Reminds me of the furniture my parents had during my early childhood.

And before I sign off for today . . . I’ve been busy knitting and xstitching, but also sticking a few drills on my fox DP project every now and then. So I’ve progressed from

to