I did a bit more stitching last night, slow but steady progress! My birdie now has a perch and is looking quite cheery. This whole design is done mostly in a combination of back stitch and long stitches, with some added detail in colonial knots (so much more reliable than french knots), running stitch, lazy daisies and feather stitch. Appropriately.

We were (unexpectedly) whisked away to Farringdon this weekend - it's a lovely little village just outside of Oxford. We were visiting my grandparents-in-law who were, earlier this week, down in London for a family event.

I managed to get some stitching done while we were there. No TV, no pubs - just plenty of tea, great company, lots of stories, and a bit of embroidery.

If you want to stitch along with me, you can download my free "home tweet home" embroidery pattern here. Just click on the link, and then right click to save it to a folder on your computer.

I've been adding in stitched details as I go along - a few pink running stitches for the bird's puffed out breast, simple long stitches for feather details, and some simple (aptly-named) feather stitches and colonial knots for the larger feathers.



So far so good! I think that these colours may be a tad too light for the textured linen, but we'll see. The pattern worked up really quickly. I think it took around two hours to stitch the bird and all the added details, and next up is the branch and leaves, the lettering, and the musical notes - then done!

Happy stitching! x

The weather-lady said that there'd be showers and thunderstorms this weekend. She fibbed. England is still a fair isle, full of sunshine and gentle breezes. Flowers are wilting. People are suntanning. Women are walking around in strapless dresses, soaking up the sunshine as if we were in Caribbean or else on the summery shores of Cape Town. This is the summer of 2013.

It's been a while since I last posted a Wednesday work in progress. Most things have been in boxes since moving, but not this one. This one has been (very) slowly and quietly on-the-go when the soaring heatwave temperatures settle down to a light sizzle, and there's a gentle breeze blowing in through the windows.

This is going to be a Debbie Bliss Fair Isle Baby Cardigan. It's knitted entirely in Baby Cashmerino which is like knitting yarn gold, and is spun from the locks of unicorns. Okay, not really - but almost. For the price, it might as well be.

I've done the back, fronts and sleeves for my very first fair isle project. Sensibly, it's age 0 - 3 months, so at least I'm just dipping my toes in to the fair isle waters here with a teeny tiny fair isle cardigan yoke. Fingers crossed it doesn't all end up in a tangled heap.

This week, I raided my fabric stash. It's a really funny thing, dipping into one's hoard of lovely fabrics. You feel like you really oughtn't - what if you can never find it again? what if you need it for something else? But what could be more fitting a use for fabric than a new embroidery? Phooey.

I went into the Stash Box specifically looking for some really soft Essex Linen that I bought about a year ago online from The Village Haberdashery. Ta da!

This month, the EEWI ladies made their way to Walthamstow for a little gallery outing. It's our monthly "coffee morning" which usually takes place in an East End coffee shop. This month was different. We were heading William Morris-wards; tea-time, pimpernel and glorious gardens awaited.


The gardens were just lovely. The sun was out, the flowers were looking fabulous, and we took tea on the balcony overlooking the garden where we discussed London buses, bags, patchwork, credit cards, bees and birthdays.


The inside of the gallery was appealing, but the outside. Oh, the outside! I could spend days in this garden. If it wasn't so hot, I daresay I would have happily taken my shoes off and worked in the sun instead of heading back to the office.

I seem to have caught a bit of a cold. I'm much better today, but this weekend has been a blur of yuckiness and heat and sitting on the couch feeling frustrated because all I want to do is go out and play. I mean, how often do you get summer in London?

And so, instead of focusing on all the medicine, vitamin c, tickly cough syrup (I do not joke, that was the name of the medicine!), tissues and napping on the couch, I'm going to look at my spoonfuls of sugar.


We've had the most incredible weather here; it has been summer dress weather. The flowers are blooming. There are bees! The birds are chirping. The cafes are buzzing. It's really very nice indeed. I have a beautiful vase of peonies on my sewing table. I sometimes walk past just to smell them.

I've been (slowly) working on a papercut for a friend's little baby - due in two more sleeps!

It's been an odd old week so far. I worked last weekend, which means that my days all merge into one when it gets to next Wednesday. Is it really Wednesday already? good golly.

(In fact, while it is very nearly Wednesday, it is actually Tuesday Quite Late. We should savour these last few minutes of Tuesdayness, I say!)

Time to consider the works we have on the go and in progress.

My biggest project by far is the unpacking of household items and general goods. It's been three weeks since we've moved into our lovely new home in London. We're slowly unpacking when we find time - usually only after eating which, lately, is about 9.30pm. On weekends, when we're not out attending birthdays, dinners or drinks (is it everyone's birthday now?). Occasionally, very occasionally, early in the morning after a cup of tea but before the commute at 8am.

And so, all of my works in progress are temporarily on hold until I find all the missing bits. Until then...

Finding glittered flowers on a gift bag I kept from two years ago.

The one good thing about moving house is that you tend to accumulate boxes. This is good news for the average knitter - boxes mean a whole lot of blocking boards!

The weekend passed really quickly. In a flash of work and unpacking, it is suddenly Monday. I did find a moment to wander down to my new local library which is rather quite lovely. It is quite literally around the corner, and you can either choose to walk past a lovely little cafe or a pretty fabric shop on the way.

The library is small, but cosy. It has a futuristic machine right smack-bang in the middle of the shelves that works a bit like self-checkout; you put your books down in a pile, it scans them all at once, and suddenly you are presented with a printed receipt that tells you (a) you are entitled to take out 12 books at once, (b) you only need to bring your chosen books back in three weeks' time and (c) you have a nice a day, now.


While browsing the knitting shelves, as you do, I happened upon this: Tech Knits, from Retro to Space Rockets. Tempting, and very apt considering their method of book-checkout. Retro and Space Rockets earns this library my vote.

I left with a stack of bird books for a series of drawings I'm working on, and an armful of inspirational books for stitching and home-making. I judged them all by their covers. I didn't take out a single novel or "thinking book". It was all quite liberating.