Pig Cross Stitch

Cross stitch is one of those things that always seems like a good idea when I start and then a day or so later I'm like eurgh....... 

Mainly because what the heck are you suppose to do with them when your finished? Rikkis Nan puts them up on her walls and it looks really nice at her house but I don't think we have the wall space. Also we don't really have a pig themed room? Or a room a pig would look good in?

I know some people put them on greetings cards as embellishment, but that's a lot of work for something that, lets face it most people put it in the bin a few days after their birthday [That said one of our friend mums always makes Lil man cross stitch cards and we have all of them saved and sewn onto a blanket, we are pretty sentimental though!]

But apparently one awful day in winter I forget all of these things and decided to do some cross stitch. This particular kit came from the charity shop and cost me 20p it included all the threads the aida and a needle. 

And I immediately cracked on, which leads me to my second gripe about cross stitch. WHY DON'T THEY LABEL THE BLOODY THREADS! As you can see the pig is made up of shades of pink and cream and beige. All of which looked very similar and had daft names like oatmeal and biscuit and champagne? It probably took me about an hour just to try and work out with colour was which and I'm still not 100% I got it right. 

I did however come up with a genius solution to make sure I wouldn't get confused again. I wrote the name [or at least what I thought its name was] on a bit of paper and tied the threads to the paper. Which now I've typed it out seems really bloody obvious but I've literally never done it before and have been confused so many times. So yeah if your a Muppet like me give that a whirl and see if it helps. 

I also coloured in the cross stitch guide as I went, but that seems really obvious as well.........

I got stuck on the outline [Well I didn't get stuck I was just fed up] So I winged it. But I think it looks okay? 

And yeah that's it. I did find it satisfying seeing all those little stitches build up into a picture and I guess it was nice to do snuggled up under a blanket when the weather was horrible BUT its still not my favourite type of slow sewing. In fact I think I much preferred my Embroidered table cloth so I might have to con Rikki into buying me another kit! 

In other news! 

- I'm on book number 26 of this year. I'm trying to read 50 books this year so if anyone has any suggestions let me know! 

- I've finished my cutting out for my demo on Saturday! So I'm basically ready, just need to pack up some sewing bits and bobs.

- We've had a bit of a grumpy week me and Lil man. Maybe its because half terms over but it just seems so unfair. 

Basically, I wake him up in the morning which makes him grumpy, then we have to get ready for school which makes him grumpy and me grumpy, I throw breakfast at him [he doesn't actually mind this part].

 Then we walk to school which can seem like five minute journey on a summers day and four hours when it rains. Then he goes into school.

 He finishes school and is tired and grumpy and full of all the reasons hes annoyed with me that day [I.E I forgot his hat, I made him wear a coat, his dads on nights, his dad has a headache, why don't I have the car, wheres his scooter] 

We walk home , he has some tea, he's still tired and we both just want to play or watch a film but lo and be bloody hold then theirs the homework. Luckily he only gets proper homework once a week but theirs reading every night and then by the time hes done that its time for bath and bed.

It just seems like the poor little guys getting no quality of life. There's no adventure because we just don't have time. And its worrying how much pressure is being put on a kid, I mean he's got an exam in a few weeks..... AN EXAM for a six year old!

 But at least now we are both really looking forward to the summer holidays where we will be chilling out and doing whatever lil man wants to do! 

So yeah that's my whinge of the day!

Much Love

Frankie 

xxx

Cross Stitch Bookmark

I'm slowly working my way through blogging all of my pre Xmas projects. I did a lot of hand sewing before Christmas because, well, I'd tidied up and stuff hadn't I? And the last thing I wanted was extra cleaning and hoovering to do! 

I brought a cross stitch bookmark kit from my local charity shop for about £1. I thought it was complete but when I got home I found that whilst the needle, threads, Aida and sticky back plastic were there the instructions with the cross stitch pattern on were missing. 

WOOPS! Serves me right for not checking in the shop properly.

Now a normal person might have tried to find the pattern online or tried to work out the pattern from the picture on the front. But me? I decided to throw caution to the wind and just enjoy myself! 

It reminded me a lot of when we did cross stitch at primary school and we just did rows and rows of different stitches I found it very relaxing. 

[Also cross stitch lessons were just about the only part of school that I vividly remember enjoying. My neighbour Audrey used to come in once a week and teach us and I always really enjoyed it, mainly because she babysat me too so I'd already had cross stitch lessons and was pretty much allowed to do what I wanted!]

So yeah there's a lot of random stitches and pattern and really no rhyme or reason. Then after I was done all I had to do was put it between the sheets of sticky back plastic and I was done.

But I had an absolute mare trying to get the plastic to actually stay stuck around the cross stitch.

So in the end I covered it with a tea towel and ironed it, which made the plastic stick together and made my kitchen smell like a meth lab. Not that I'm 100% sure what a meth lab actually smells like..... but it was a vile smell.  

I read jaws before Christmas which shows how old this project is and I think I've read maybe 5? Books since then? My aim for this year is to read 50 books and so far I'm on number 6? I think? I'm reading bleak house by Charles Dickens at the moment [And simultaneously Harry Potter 1 for book club with my sister] I'm enjoying bleak house more than I thought I would. I've never read a Dickens book before and I was worried it might be a bit "dry". 

But if anyone does have any book recommendations please let me know! My tastes are pretty board! As you can see from this post! 

Much Love 

Frankie 

xxx

Hobbycraft Haul!

Yet again I was very lucky to receive Hobbycraft gift card for Christmas, and naturally I spent a good couple of hours trying to navigate their website [is it just me that finds it really annoying that you can't just view the whole of sewing?] and sorted myself a little delivery! So without further ado here is a £30 delivery from hobbycraft!

Cross stitch kit!  Recently my fingures have been itching to cross stitch! I'm blaming the fact that Rikkis Nan has so many beautiful framed cross stitches around her house!

Unpickers, I'm not sure how I ended up with two I think I must have accidentally double clicked! Luckily I can never have enough seam rippers!!!

Bias binding - not a clue which one I chose! This was added as an attempt to get free p&p!

Felt tip Pens -  Yet another attempt to get free p&p, I think these cost 50p! 

Safety pins, I always put off buying these but I really did need some for quilting, currently I've been using regular pins and those tricky little devils just love to fall out! 

Ball point needles, I's really enjoying sewing knits at the moment so I thought it was best to stock up!

8mm knitting needles! These have been brought for my next big knitting project, I had asked Rikkis nan if she had some and she didn't so I brought some and then lo and behold she managed to track a pair down through her sister in law! Sods law eh? 

Little scissors, I have an obsession with scissors seriously the amount of pairs I have is just embarrassing! But in my defence I only buy cheap ones so It doesn't matter if they get trashed. These are actually pretty sharp scissors and I have taken to wearing them on some ribbon around my neck!

5 balls of hayfield chunky wool, I had a bit of an issue with this actually , on the website the wool looks red but when it turned up its more of a burnt orange! Which I probably should of realised by the name paprika. Anyway I would send it back but I'm far to lazy so I'm just going to roll with it and hope it suits me! 

And that's it! 

In other news, I just had a pretty luxurious middle of the day bath and I'm feeling really zen! A feeling which I'm sure is going to go as soon as I start cleaning up!

And we have little mans birthday yesterday. I managed to hold it together this year and although he had to spend the day at school we did have a lovely meal at pizza hut after! 

Much Love Frankie

xx

Gingham Cross stitch

I like cross stitching on gingham, I think it gives such a country feel to cross stitch, I free handed this because one day I just fancied doing some simple sewing by hand. I started with the 'F' and just worked outwards from there using two different colours of thread.

Its only small and I'm still not sure what I'm going to do with it but it kept my mind occupied for a small amount of time! Ive been toying with the idea of making a matt with some pockets that i can rest my sewing machine on , something like this.

Apart from I think I'd put the pin cushion on the side and maybe make it a little bigger with a few more pockets for feet etc? And hopefully it would reduce some of the noise from my sewing machine and stop it rattling around. One of my sewing machines runs quite smooth but the other is a rattler! And I work on a glass table so I'm terrified that one day the entire thing is going to get so fed up of the stress and the strain that its just going to shatter all over me as I'm sewing!

It might not happen but it still worries me!!!

Much Love

Frankie

xxx

Keepsake bear

What do you buy a child for a christening? It was a question we asked ourselves before little knitwits christening and now we're asking it again. Yes there's money boxes and engraved glasses but i tend to think everybody thinks of those. So when we were invited to a christening we decided to settle on a nice book of nursery rhymes and agreed that I would make a special bear of some sort, well I said should I make something and Mr knitwit said yes and then I just went my own way! 

This is christening bear, he's hand knitted from a Debbie bliss pattern. The same one I used for my last bear (I think the patchwork effect is quite charming don't you? )

He has a heart on his nose, and one on his bum!!! 

And he has his very own blanket that has the name of the child, the date and the church stitched on. 

Obviously for privacy reasons I've not shown the whole thing! 

All in all I think he's pretty sweet ! And a perfect addition to our book! I finished him yesterday which is bad considering the christening was Sunday! However we couldn't make it in the end so I was glad to have the extra time to add some extra touches! And it can be sent along with various family members so I'm sure the little one will receive it , even if it's a bit late! 

Although it did just dawn on me that this post might ruin the surprise! Should one of the parents read it! DOH! 

In other news a cracking headache stopped me blogging this last night but I have plans to get back into the swing of things this evening. I'm in dire need of another pair of pj bottoms so they are first on the agenda then I thought I might trace some patterns and try and get some cutting out done! I find if things are ready to go im more inspired to sew! HEY! That's practically a limerick! 

Much love

Frankie xxx

Expanding my library!

Anyone who knows me knows I'm a huge fan of books! Especially reference books! And even better than that free books! 

These came to me this week from Mr Knitwits Nan, she wasn't using them so they made there way into my grateful hands! 

It's basically two books filled with cross stitch patterns and projects! And I mean filled! 

Lavender sachets to keep your panties fresh! (Washing as advised as well)

Oh a snowflake! I'm getting a bit snowflake obsessed at the moment! 

Various fonts! Always useful to have!

Baby booties! These are super adorable! 

Anyway it's been a while since I've done any cross stitch but at least now I'll have a multitude of patterns to choose from! 

These have been added to my book stack (I'll have to show you that another day! But it's pretty big!) 

Much love 

Frankie

Xxx

Once Upon A Time...

There's nothing I like better than burying myself in a good book. When the new Harry Potters came out I sat myself on the sofa and didn't move until I was finished. The first time I read The Great Gatsby I read into the wee hours just to see what happened to Gatsby. When there was the 50 Shades of Grey phenomenon I brought all three books one day and had finished all of them the next, I was disappointed but I finished them.

 

But recently I've been stuck in a bit of a book rut, mainly because pretty much my entire collection of books is currently living in our loft until we can find space, (Mr.Knitwit does not read and therefore does not think that space is necessary, he is wrong, very wrong) I've been reading the same books over and over again, I'm getting to know all of them by heart and was starting to go a bit book crazy. I'm sorry but a good bubble bath is not a good bubble bath unless you have a good book! But I struck lucky, Mr.Knitwit of all people came home with a new book for me, given to him by a friend at work! Which of course required a new bookmark!

 

 

I cross stitched this and then backed it with felt, its really cute , but no never again. At least not with the cross stitch fabric I have, its like 1 million holes per inch (this might be a small exaggeration) but yeah it made my eyes hurt and my head hurt and my hands. And it frayed and split and just generally wound me up. But in some good new I'm going to give this away to someone who has more patience and better eyesight! So it wont be wasted.

 

 

I wish I had more patience! It's so adorable! And I know so many people who would appreciate them as gifts!!!!

 

 

It is cute, must resist , must not try again, will scream.

 

 

This is the book Mr.Knitwits work friend gave me, I must admit I was sceptical at first, this isn't really my sort of book, I tend to steer towards the bonnets and bosoms side of things (particularly when they include a certain Mr.Darcy). But I had run out of things to read , so I decided to give it a go, that was yesterday evening and I have about a quarter of the book left to go!

 

Don't worry I wont tell you how it ends!

 

Have you read anything good recently?

 

Much Love

 

Frankie

 

xxx 

  

Plan Z

Right I'm actually going to have to cross stich this and put it somewhere prominent in my house .

 

 

I've had a right day today (knitting wise) mainly due to having an argument with this wool , and yes I did shout at it. repeatedly!

 

 

I cast on the wrong number of stitches, I used the wrong size needles, I wasn't happy with my pattern so I changed that and finally after finding the right needles and counting my stitches four times! I made a good start. only to be told my knitting was to loud to sleep through!

 

A rough day craft wise! only one finish but I'll blog about that lil beauty later!

 

Have you had a more productive day than me?

 

Much Love

 

Frankie

 

p/s I have twitter now! follow me @KnitwitsOwls 

Waga waga, waga waga etc... *eaten by ghost* bing boooowooel....

I love PacMan and luckily for me I live with a man who can only be described as a gamer nerd! So I made him something very special to make him smile!

 

  

Isn't it adorable!!! This was cross stitched onto cross stitch fabric I think its called "aida"? But I might be wrong. I see lots more nerdy cross stiches in my future! The heart was drawn freehand and the letters for the names were out of the needlework book that I got for Christmas! (But I'll show you that beauty another time!) The border was made to look like the little pills he eats! AWESOME!

 

I'm already envisioning new ones.........



This bad boy is on etsy 



 

The pattern for this can be found on pinterest

 

And this can be found at the address mentioned!

 

  Might just have to go and get my nerd on!

 

Much Love

 

Frankie

 

xxx