Hat rooms, crochet and card making........

The 'hat and shoe room'.

So finally all the windows are in , the blinds tinkered with and rehung and the curtains met a similar fate and now we can close the door on that chapter. My now 'spare' bedroom has again become my hat and shoe room, which gives them a little more space and me somewhere to go and ooh and ahh, perfect stress relief. Now looking at the picture I can see it was more about the new window than the room contents !, the pink lampshade is now hung , the hat boxes are stacked under the stairs to the left and the shoes are on the right. I am leaving the bubble wrap on the furniture as both the desk and chair are painted, the chair also having a new pink check seat which I did some time ago, thus keeping them protected and saves me dusting them in the meantime, they can remain ready packed for next summers move.

Light weight summer blanket.

Too much wool to be a mobile project.

My current crochet project is a small light weight blanket, perfect for keeping off the chill on a summers evening when its still to perfect to come in side, I am using lots of odd balls left over from previous projects,plus a few which  have been found in the 'sale' basket and would have felt far too sad to have left them behind unwanted, thus making it a bargain blanket. I am in no hurry for this one, so pick it up as and when, have plenty of time between now and next summer.

Cross stitch and card making.

Birthday cards for a mum and a dad.

Last night was stitch and bitch, roughly once  a week we try and get together and sew, knit , cross stitch etc in company, it is a very informal arrangement, and numbers can vary a great deal as there is no set night [due to my work commitments], last night was less about sewing and more about card making...something I only do for christmas.

Card potential

Excellent gift tags.

More card decorations.

So last night I set about my card preparation for christmas, those that will not make good cards I make into gift tags, I cut them down to an image I can reuse and decorate, I have several mini drawers of ribbons,peel offs, lift offs and glitter, stage one complete.............christmas is coming ........

Winding down ready for work, everything in its place .................

Button heaven, these are my most recent finds waiting to be put in their button tins and jars.

Pattern boxes and magazine files.

Thread boxes and fat quarters.

Button tins and jars, stuffing and crimble fabric.

A sense of harmony has been restored to my work area, I have managed to shred 2 black bags of incriminating paperwork which is now suitable for the bottom of Alvin's [my pet indoor rabbit] cage. I have also recycled  a selection of boxes and 'odd' magazines where I only required articles and not the 'whole', plus of course all the non incriminating paperwork, where does it all come from?, I have very few paper bills these days , unyet I seen to have more paperwork with my personal details on in the post than I ever used to get.

Evil twin '2' in production.

Opal sock wool.

Tidy shelves =tidy mind?

3 Empty chairs.

Having a good tidy up and clear out, gives you an oppertunity to see and remind yorself what forgotten treasures you have have hidden away in paper bags and at the bottom of old boxes, it also is a good reminder of things that are not quite finished, but should be .

So now I have a new to do list, the Opal sock wool was a treat when I was away a couple of weeks ago, I have never used 'sock wool' before, so will be very intrested to seehow much better it will wash and wear , rather than using 4ply etc. Have several patterns to choose from, but think as the wool itself  is rather colourful I may go with a plain pattern.

The Floral cross stitch is the 'evil' twin to one I completed a couple of months ago and needs  rinsing, pressing and making up into a cushion cover ready for the 'new' lounge.

Evil twin '1'.

And next is to make up my lists of whom is getting a homemade present this christmas, but before I get carried away with these I must finish adding all the buttons to my completed baby knits . The main problem I can see with this christmas's production is the fact that I will be unable to share the finished items with you , as the receiver may be taking a sneaky peak here to have a look !. And of course there is the christmas card production to consider, I dont make my own cards during the year as have so much on  on a day to day basis , but I do like to make as many of my christmas cards as I physically can, I think it makes them more personal, plus it eases the lack of personally made gift, as would have to dedicate my entire year to Christmas if I was going to make everyone a present .

So I guess thats me organised for a few weeks at least, have cleared some chairs so I can of course have some company whilst stitching, stitch and bitch [a small local sewing group I hold at my house when my shift pattern allows] can begin again from next week, I have buttons to sew, crochet blanket to finish, cushion cover to make up , socks to experiment with and crimble production to start..............of course and life to fit in ........family , work ,pets etc etc ...........