Eight-by-Six

Hello and sorry for the long pause between my last blog entry. Sadly my grandmother Eve passed away almost two weeks ago and I had been visiting her in London after work a few nights a week. Since her funeral a week ago I've been a lot less stressed out and feel a lot calmer. Sounds odd but when you say goodbye to someone who's been in your life well all your life it's hard to come to terms with because you still want them around. But in the end she didn't want to be here anymore and we all had to respect her wishes. Funerals are sad occasions that nobody wants to have to do but my family came together to celebrate her life and to show our respects as a whole family. You see for many years our family (on my dads side) didn't see much of each other, these things happen, some silly argument 20 odd years ago and everyone is too stubborn to say hey lets just stop this and stop wasting any more years. All through my teens and into adult life after I moved to Kent I...

Why not join Her Majesty and plant your own tree for the Diamond Jubilee? As part of the celebrations Woodland Trust are creating their our own flagship Diamond Wood and are offering you the chance to plant a tree in the exclusive Woodland Trust Supporters' grove, what a great idea. The new wood is set in the heart of The National Forest; planting here gives you a unique chance to play your part in creating a lasting legacy. It is also a beautiful gift to dedicate to someone close. As part of your donation, you will receive a limited edition, numbered certificate with your own words of dedication in an exclusive souvenir gift pack. Just pop along to their web site to find out more information

It's so cold outside today... to keep you warm why not knit this  hat called Madge in a few hours (you only have to knit 30 rows!) I made one last year using Rowan Ribbon Twist and you can still get this at cucumberpatch for £1.95 a ball or you can use the suggested Rowan Big Wool. I'm going to knit another one this evening in some left over yarn by experimenting a bit. Amanda x

I finished my friends birthday present last weekend (a week or two early) I have to say I'm quite chuffed with it. Because I'd made the crochet hook version a few weeks ago the second roll was less fiddly and more enjoyable. I even added some buttons to this one to give it a vintage look. I did make the pocket a bit shorter than the pattern suggested and the overall size bigger to accomodate different needle lenghts. I plan to make one for mothers day for my mum with a couple of pairs of needles. I'm collecting vintage Laura Ashley at the moment to make a couple more cushions for my sofa or maybe attempt my first quilt. The first two cushions have had a lot of wear over the past couple of months but haven't come apart yet (which is good news!) for a while Moss kept taking one off the sofa but thankfully he's grown out of that phase! So here are a couple of photos of the knitting needle wrap/roll for my friends birthday ..... I don't think she reads my blog! ...

Hometown fabric shop in Rochester I took the day off today as my husband's car went into the garage for a minor repair. Nothing major just something he's been meaning to get done for ages. I could have taken him there then home and made my way to work, but the idea of having a day off was too hard to resist. We took ourselves off to Rochester after breakfast; I work nearby all week but I wanted to go to my favourite fabric shop Hometown , Francis Iles shop  and stop for  coffee and cake in the Cathedral tea room. I didn't spend as much time as I wanted to in the fabric shop or view the sale fabrics, probably a good job because I would have spent too much! I just stuck to my small list of essentials plus one fat quarter. But I did enquire again about quilting and crochet classes which start in the Spring, so I plan to enrole on both. The gardens at the cathedral tea rooms are lovely in the summer/autumn months (and packed) but too cold and wet to s...

I found this on the Simply Knitting website today and thought I would share it with you, how cute.

About a week before Christmas Ian finished the new room at the back of the kitchen.   It used to be his fish house for his marine tank; the tank showing through the kitchen wall like a huge living picture. Beautiful as it was it was the running costs we too high so in 2010 it was dismantled and sold.   The space was left empty for some time before we decided to turn it into a useable room; question was what we could use it for. That’s where I come in! Having taken over the dining room with my craft supplies, spilling onto the floor and generally being disorganised, I suggested we use it for a small sewing room. So here it is a little space of my own (well shared with the new fridge that sounds like a pair of pigeons cooing!) Here are some of the lovely presents I received; these are from my sister Danielle (also a crafter) she made the heart out of galvenised wire + buttons, hanging in my new room. metal heart + buttons my lovely new sewing basket I’ve also been ...