Where did January go?

I'm feeling a bit ambivalent about January. Sometimes I feel that it was a good month for getting things done and then I'm thinking, 'did I finish anything? Did I put effort in to try and take a walk each day or did I spend my time being a couch potato? I think the best answer is to round up what happened in January.

First it rained a lot here in London UK and was at times very frosty but no snow.  The pond in the park froze and the ducks and swans were very happy when the weather warmed up and it melted. I enjoy taking a walk round the park and pond during my lunch break and the sun really lifts my mood after the rain.

The most exciting event for our family was the birth of our second grandson on the 16th. His older brother adores him and all the family are doing well. They are coming to visit tomorrow and we are looking forward to cuddles. I finished two pieces of baby related knitting, a blanket and a cardigan. Since then I've been knitting another baby blanket, using the basket weave pattern, to use up remainder of the yarns. I've got quite a stash of yarns that I've been given over the last few years and I'd like to use some of them up to make room for other things. The blanket has grown since I took this photo.

My Chookshed challenge for this month should have been starting my brothers quilt but my sewing machine needed to go for a service so I switched my projects around. Instead of starting the quilt for Alex I've been working on the hand stitching for the frog quilt. I finished two more stitcheries.

Currently I am working on one of the two large pieces. I've left this piece till last.

This is the one I'm working on and I should finish it this weekend. I haven't take a photo of my progress yet.

I should have all the stitcheries done and be able to make a start on the pieced blocks in February. I wonder what the number will be for the February Chookshed challenge?

This year I am joining in with the 2026 scrap challenge. I decided I'd try and make a donation quilt as I had a lot of blue scraps. I decided to make it using 9 patch blocks as I already had a lot of blue 2 and half inch square cut. I'd made some earlier in the month but by the end of this afternoon I had 25 of the 27 9 patch blocks I need. I also had some six and a half inch blocks of blue .

The top 9 patch looks green but is blue when seen in person. I need to start sewing the top together .

This afternoon I stopped sewing and went to the kitchen to make a cake, another tray bake, but this time a citrus traybake with glace icing.. I forgot to take a photo of the whole tray but here is a photo of two pieces.  The top should have grated zest of half a lemon and half an orange on it but the zest clumped together and I gave up. However the cake is delicious. So far this year I've made a cake or traybake each week and they have all been different. I think next weekend it's time I made a chocolate cake.

We had planned to go away for a weekend this month but we cancelled as the month was really busy with one thing and another. We were both pleased we cancelled as it gave us a  bit of space to do some jobs we had been putting off. Since we didn't go away we were able to go to an art exhibition and go for a longish hike. I've written about both of these in previous posts. We celebrate Burns Night last weekend with haggis and neeps and the dinner was delicious.

In February we have tickets for the Marie Antoinette exhibition at the Victoria and Albert museum.  This is what the write up about the exhibition says. 

'A complex fashion icon, Marie Antoinette's timeless appeal is defined by her style, youth and notoriety. Explore the lasting influence of the most fashionable (and ill-fated) queen in history'

I'm really looking forward to this exhibition.

Also this month there is Chinese New Year. I love Chinese food and China Town in London has some fabulous restaurants. Years ago, back in the late '70 and early '80 one of my friend's family owned a restaurant in China Town and our group of friends were always invited to join the family celebrations. It was a lot of fun.

All in all I'm looking forward to February, it should be fun.

Take care

Lyndsey

National Hobby Month 2026

So last week rather escaped from me. I was busy at work and at home and I seemed to constantly be in motion doing something. I had no problem with keeping up to date with work but I was very tired in the evenings and I didn't even keep up with reading my favourite blogs. Never mind I'll catch up today.

I've been a little disappointed over the month as here in the UK January is national hobby month. This is the perfect time to try something new or pick up a hobby that I haven't done for a while, but this year I've not had the time. However all is not lost as I have managed a few bits and pieces. One of my hobbies is baking but in recent time I haven't been doing much as I wanted to lose some weight. However at the beginning of last week I decided we had a small glut of apples and I could use them up by making an apple tray bake. When cut there are 16 slices.  This tray bake was yummy.

On Saturday I made a loaf and another tray bake. This time it was a coffee cake. Again this makes 16 slices. The topping is made with mascarpone, icing sugar and coffee. I think there is one other ingredient but I can't remember without looking up the recipe. Again this bake is yummy. In fact it disappeared faster than the apple one. Maybe it's because my family are all addicted to coffee. I'm the odd one out as I usually drink tea.

I've been knitting recently. Having finished the baby blanket for my daughter I wanted to use up the rest of the yarn so I started a simple basket weave blanket. This blanket will be a donation to a local children's charity called Little Village. By the time this blanket is finished I should have very little of either yarn left. I have a lot of different yarns that I was given quite some time ago and I would like to use up as much as possible this year. That would provide some vital space for other hobbies e.g. quilting dressmaking and embroidery.

Yesterday I finished the cardigan I was knitting for my new grandson. I'll take this with me the next time I visit but I need to block the cardigan first.

Over this year I want to try new things, e.g. goldwork, different embroidery styles or tatting. I decided I could try one new thing a month so this month I discovered how to knit using double ended needles. It took me a little time to feel comfortable with the technique. The initial few rows caused me the most trouble. Younger daughter has asked for a pair of knitted socks since I now know how to use the double ended needles.

Sewing and quilting are my anytime hobbies but for me knitting is a winter activity, especially if I'm using thicker yarn. The same is true for crochet. Holding knitting makes me feel warm and in summer definitely causes me to over heat.  Embroidery on the other hand feels perfect whatever the weather and smaller embroidery pieces are just so portable.

I finished this frog stitchery this weekend. I altered the position of the mouth so I need to remove the marker pen.

Sorry about the shadow of my phone. Tonight I started on one of the larger patterns. Here is how far I've got. I will be doing some more stitching once I've finished this post.

I couldn't decide where to start so the lily pads seemed a good place. There is this piece and another of similar size to finish up the stitching. I've already pulled the fabrics I'll be using for the pieced blocks and I may start putting some together at the weekend.

That's all for now as I want to get back to my stitching. At the moment I have a lot of different stitcheries to work on. 

Take care

Lyndsey

A visit to an exhibition.

It's only January 18th but I'm already behind with my blog posts. Thank goodness I didn't make any new year resolutions as I would have broken them already! Last Sunday, 11 January, John and I went to an exhibition at the Tate Modern in London, showing the work of Emily Kam Kngwarray. We managed to get tickets on the last day.

Emily Kam Kngwarray (1910 - 1996) was an Aboriginal Australian artist from Alhalker in the Sandover region of the Northern Territory. Her paintings are very powerful and they gained her worldwide attention. She is considered one of the most significant contemporary painters of the 20th century. I had seen pictures of her work and found them fascinating and i was excited to see them in person. She practised in batik and painted on canvas.

This was the information at the start of the exhibition.

There was also information about names and languages.

This first picture was titled Awely and painted in 1989  using acrylic on canvas.

Here is a photo of the artist.

 The paintings are based on Dreaming and here is some information to explain what it is and what it means to the Aboriginal Australian people.

This piece was one of her early batiks. This one is on silk

and this one on cotton. Both pieces are untitled.

In the next room there were several batiks on display.

The next picture is of her first painting made in 1988-9 acrylic on canvas and is titled Emu Women. 

The following are my favourite pieces on display. I didn't take photos of the titles

A close up of the long length of batik in the next photo

These pictures made me feel very happy. Listening to the people around me I found they felt the same way. The exhibition was very large and I have shared just a small number of the pictures and batiks. By the time we finished we were tired and needed refreshment so we headed to the cafe for coffee.

As we walked back to the station I looked back and took a photo of St Pauls Cathedral across the river. The views of the cathedral dome are protected and no taller buildings can be built that may block the view.

We had wanted to visit Southwark Cathedral, which is near the station on the south of the river but being Sunday there was a service about to take place, so we decided to go home instead.  We'll find time to fit in a visit some time this year. 

I have a few plans for today, I want to make some bread and an apple tray bake, I want to fit in some more stitching on the frog quilt, finish the baby cardigan do some sorting in my sewing cupboard. The list goes on and on so I know I wont get it all done but a girl can dream.

Take care

Lyndsey

Stitching and things.

The last seven days has been exhausting at work and at home. I need to get work back into the time slots it's allocated and so have some more free time. Away from work I've been spending more time with older daughter. She has been struggling a bit with the last weeks of pregnancy as she has been unwell. Fortunately she gave birth to their second son yesterday afternoon. Both mother and baby are doing well and are back home. My son in law sent us a photo of the baby and we will visit later next week. They need to get into their new routine before too many visitors descend on them.

My sewing machine still needs to go in for a service so there has been no machine sewing recently. As a result I made a decision to change my Chookshed challenge for the month. Challenge 3, was to start a quilt for my brother and I have swapped this with number 10, working on the stitcheries for the frog quilt.

I've already finished several of the stitcheries and they are fun to stitch. These are the finished pieces.

The one on the bottom left I finished on Wednesday night. since then I've started this one.

Once this piece is finished there are two larger pieces to stitch before I make the blocks.

I've sorted my green fabrics ready for making the blocks once the stitching is completed. I wonder how much I can get done before the end of the month?

Earlier this month I started knitting a cardigan for the new grandson. It isn't quite finished as I have to stitch up the arm holes and add the front bands. I'm not sure if I have any small buttons so I must look in my button box. This is the first time I'd knitted using double ended needles and the first time I joined the sleeves into a cardigan in this way. It's always fun when you do new techniques for the first time. The cardigan will be finished in the next few days.

I have also promised my older grandson that I will knit him a Thomas the tank engine cardigan. I needed to find the pattern and I think I have enough yarn to make this from my stash. I also have some knitting I want to do for myself, so I need to plan a little carefully to make sure I can get everything done.

John and I had planned to be away this weekend but we cancelled as the weather wasn't looking so good. The temperature here in London UK has dropped again and there is a lot of rain forecast. On a positive note I am already noticing the difference in light in the morning. Whilst it is still dark when I get up, by the time I'm driving to work the sky is getting lighter. I can't wait for the lighter morning as I'm bored with walking the two dogs in the dark. 

Tomorrow I don't need to get up too early and I'm looking forward to being able to take my morning tea upstairs to enjoy in bed while I read a chapter (or two) of my book. If I'm lucky I may get half an hour of peace before the dogs are ready for their walk.

Take care

Lyndsey 

Back to work and trying something new

On Monday I went back to work following the Christmas break. I had a full two weeks off which was great. It gave me time to catch up with some jobs around the house, take some walks and do some sewing. I did have some work I really needed to complete before I went back to work but I didn't get all of it done. That meant that this week has been a case of constantly trying to catch up, which was annoying and tiring in equal measures. Thank goodness for the weekend!

Over the week I managed to get the baby blanket completed. I took the final photo before I blocked it but you can still see the pattern. I love this pattern and have knitted it quite a few times. My daughter chose the yarn from wool I had in my yarn stash. She is very happy with the colour and I cleared two and a half balls to complete the blanket. I still have a ball and a half of this yarn which I will probably use in a crocheted baby blanket. I'm hoping to use more of my stash of yarns and fabrics this year rather than buying more.

Whilst visiting our local hobby craft last week I came across this pattern for a baby sweater or cardigan and I bought the pattern.

I decided I wanted to knit the cardigan and having looked through my baby yarn stash I found some that was suitable and I had enough of to complete it. I should have read the instructions more carefully because I found that the sleeves were knitted using double ended needles. As a child I had watched my mother knit socks using this method but I have never tried it. I had some double ended needles that my mother had given me years ago and luckily they were the right size. I was able to cast on but then got in a bit of a muddle as I couldn't remember back through the years and visualise how my mother manipulated the needles. No problem I just went to YouTube. I don't know about you but I find it invaluable when I'm not sure how to do something. I watched the short video and away I went. The first sleeve was soon knitted.

This sleeve will now be connected to the cardigan when I've knitted up to the yoke. The sides and back are knitted in one flat piece and then you cast off stitches where the sleeves will be joined. I'm pleased I didn't just get a different pattern when I found out the sleeves were knitted on double ended needles. It took the first part of the first sleeve for me to feel comfortable with the technique. I know somewhere I have a sock pattern that my mother used to knit and I've seen some very pretty yarns for knitting socks and I feel I can see a some pretty socks in my future.  Using double ended needles is another skill I've finally learnt and they make beautiful sleeves for baby jumpers without a thick seam in the sleeve.

Since the beginning of the year I've been trying to take a 30 minute walk everyday. It's easy when I'm on holiday but quite difficult on a work day. On Monday I took myself for a walk in the park which is across the road from where I work and I took two turns around the pond. The pond had large areas of ice on it which the coots and mallards were walking across.

Meanwhile the swans were happily swimming around where the ice had been broken. The two adult swans had 7 cygnets early in 2025 and they managed to raise all of them. The adults have lived on the pond for several years and have cygnets every year but until this year had never managed to raise all of them to young adulthood as unfortunately, foxes have usually taken some of the young.

The second adult swan and the other two cygnets were over in the swallower water.

I repeated my walk round the park on Wednesday lunch time. Although it was cold it was lovely to get out into the fresh air.

On Thursday I had an MRI of my heart. Following my surgery last year I had been having extra beats. They did a couple of investigations, echocardiogram and a 24 hour tape and decided I had a problem. They started me on a very low dose of a beta blocker and within two days the extra beats had stopped, my heart rate was back to my normal. Now they are running some additional tests to see if the problem is resolved. I think it is but I'm only the patient, so what would I know?

A more annoying problem this week was that my sewing machine is not working properly. It turns on OK but the touch screen isn't working properly so I can't change any of the settings. I think there is a loose connection and so the machine will have to go to the spa for a few days to be sorted out. I have a small sewing machine but that has also been playing up. I'm hoping it will work whilst my big machine is out of commission. Sewing machines seem to know when you have a lot of sewing that you want to get done. I think I may have to change the project I'm working on this month but this shouldn't be a problem as I have a couple of hand stitching projects I can work on instead.

I didn't make any new year resolutions because I never keep them longer than a couple of days. However I want to try some new things this year. John gave me a gold work kit for Christmas and I'm looking forward to starting it. I did a workshop on gold work several years ago and the piece we made was very small. Since the workshop was so long ago I have been watching some videos in preparation for starting. This got me thinking and my plan for the year is to try something new, maybe not every month but every now and again. I'm going to have a think about what I'd like to try and I'll get back to you with my ideas.

Somehow it has got very late so I'm off to bed. I'm hoping to get some sewing done tomorrow.

Take care

Lyndsey

Time to do some sewing and knitting.

Over the Christmas and new year break I haven't done a lot of sewing or knitting. I needed time to wind down from a really busy autumn term at work. Just spending time catching up on reading, cooking and just having fun. We also spent time with family which has been a lot of fun. Unfortunately I didn't get to meet up with my brother over Christmas as both he and his partner had flu. Hopefully the weather will be kind and we'll get to see them this month.

Yesterday older daughter and her family came to visit for a New Year's lunch. Our grandson settled down to play with some Lego and in between he stroked Twiglet, who he says is his best friend. We took the two dogs to the park with grandson holding Twiglet's lead and being very pleased with himself. Twiglet had a second lead being held by my son, just in case grandson let go.

The main project I've been working on is the knitted baby blanket. This is very nearly finished but it will need to be blocked before I give it to my daughter. I've made this blanket several times before as it's fun to knit. The changes of the pattern blocks along the blanket length mean I don't get bored with the knitting. It's knitted in double knitting and will be nice and warm for a January baby. The colour is really pretty in person.

Today I bought a pattern for a baby jumper and cardigan and I bought the yarn to knit the cardigan. It shouldn't take long to make.

I wanted to spend some time sorting some scraps and I checked out the scrap colour for January, which is blue. I want to make some donation quilts for a local children's charity and using the Rainbow scrap challenge colour of the month will help to move things along. I sorted some sets of 9 patches ready to be stitched and I also pulled out some of my blue scraps.

I didn't feel like setting up the sewing machine so the sewing will get done tomorrow. I let my mind consider the blocks or pattern I may use for my brothers quilt. For Christmas I had been given a copy of 'Quilting with liberty fabrics'. 

Instead of doing any sewing I spent some time looking at the 15 quilt patterns in the book. There were several I liked. It gives you the picture of the quilt, the fabric and cutting requirements and how to piece the quilt. I haven't chosen a pattern from the book as I'm still trying to make a decision but here is one of the patterns.

If I did make a pattern from the book I doubt I would use all liberty fabrics. I like to mix and match my own choices of fabrics and colours, not follow what the pattern tells me. I love many of the liberty designs but there are also several that I would not be using as they don't suit my taste. 

Tomorrow the machine will be set up and sewing will happen. I'm thinking I might make a log cabin quilt for my brother but this isn't my final decision. I don't think I've made a log cabin block so it would be fun.

London UK is very cold where we live but no snow, just ice in places. John and I went out for a walk this afternoon and although I was dressed for cold weather I was very pleased when we got back home and I could warm up. The bad news is that the temperatures are staying low and will get colder next week. Does anyone have any objections if I hibernate until the weather gets warmer? Whatever the weather conditions where you are, make sure you stay safe.

Take care

Lyndsey