a new chapter

I haven't disappeared! Things have been quite busy and there has been a bit of chopping and changing in my life- from little things like training myself to get up even earlier in the morning for work (I am by no means a morning person), to an upcoming change of flatmates (and the expense of kitting out the flat all over again).

My crafting hasn't stopped- I am making good progress on my embroidery, and am fussing over the little details- these are, after all, what really makes an embroidery.


I have fixed up the sun, which in it's previous bespectacled state looked kind of lame- I was intent on balancing out the fact that the moon had a face, and so, therefore the sun had to have one too. However the sun ended up looking annoyingly albino like. So I decided to unpick the face and stitch tiny circle over the surface, and add some gold thread detail, which has done the trick, and I am so much more happy with it.


I then added some small creatures- a bumblebee with a staggeringly large pot of honey, and a little spider in a silvery web. I am yet to add a couple of little grey mice climbing up the "Miouw" to the side.


And best of all, I now have a winning suggestion (courtesy of my sister) for the hole in the embroidery- a jumping Jack Russell pup- Miss E's favourite dog. You can't have enough puppies around this little girl!


I am taking a break from my embroidery for a while. It has been eclipsed by my mustard yellow winter scarf that I started last Sunday, which is proving to be an addictive item to knit. (the photo has not done the colour any justice at all- it is far far brighter!!!) I haven't knitted anything since I was little- and even then it was always a half-hearted attempt. I managed to teach myself moss stitch- I really like its nubbly texture, and it works a treat in mustard yellow- there is something vaguely 70's about it (I don't know if thats a good thing or a bad thing...) What I like about knitting (at the expense of sounding really pretentious) is that it is an organic process as you are creating the fabric itself. You skip this step when you sew garments, so it is lovely to see a garment (even a simple scarf) literally grow. I am at that odd stage where I am trying to figure out how many balls of wool I will need for this scarf- so I will be checking my scarf length vs. the amount of wool left. Pedantic, yes.

Last night I started a silversmithing course at the Peter Minturn Jewellery School, and am starting to create a simple silver ring. Next week we are moving on to a more interesting pendant assignment, so I will be planning my design soon- it will be great to be able to wear your own jewellery. I am so far finding the course to be challenging- its as if I am learning to sew all over again... Will keep you posted on this one!