Christmas prep

I'm being more organised about Christmas this year than usual.  I've already posted a couple of gifts and today we went and did a pre-emptive shop for the kinds of things that turn scarce in a few more weeks when the supermarket shelves begin to look like they've been ravaged by wolves.  DS and I did a little menu planning for when the inlaws are going to be here and now we've stocked up on treats, crackers, chestnuts, a couple of roasts and some wine.  The roasts have gone in the freezer obviously.  We also popped over to the DIY store to pick up some gutter hangers for christmas lights.  We won't be able to string the lights in the trees this year like usual, due to our ongoing problem with teen vandals, but we think we can string them up higher on our porch guttering out of reach.

I've also started a new bobbin lace project which is a bauble wrap in Torchon Lace.  This is a pattern from a Lace Guild publication I bought last winter called 'Take a Box of Baubles' which has several patterns in various laces for decorating Christmas baubles.  Hopefully it will be a relatively quick project and I'll get it done in time for decorating the Christmas tree this year.  I have a box of red baubles I got in the sales last year so I'm doing the lace in white with gold sparkly gimp to contrast with the red. I got the filling pattern wrong in the first two side triangles but now I know what to do for the rest of the wrap.  The first two triangles will be a design feature.  :)  I'm kind of proud of myself that I sort of remember how to do Torchon spiders (the oval cluster in gold) but I had to look up how to do Torchon ground stitch.

 This is the picture from the book:

I sewed another block for my 30s sampler quilt.  This is a smaller block at 9 inches square, compared with the previous blocks which have been 12 inches square.

You can start to get an impression of what the quilt will look like now that I've done several blocks but there are many more to go.  It will be quite a busy quilt, not everyone's cup of tea but I like scrappy quilts.

I'm still marking diagonal lines on the applique quilt and still struggling to achieve lines that look parallel and evenly spaced.  There are a couple of places where cumulative error is really showing, so I may have to go back and try to do better there.  I'm on the last row of the 25 blocks.

For the Japanese dollshouse, this week I worked more on the balcony/porch room.  I've decorated this one with Japanese prints on the two side walls, taken from a colouring book that was quite cheap from a discount shop.  I'm currently making the sliding windows and doors to finish off the porch.  Then it will be construction of the balcony and railings, always a bit tricky.  This will be my third set then there will be one more set left to make when I build the lefthand porch.  I've opened up to kit 81 now so the big box they came in is much emptier than it used to be, only 39 kits to go.

I also finished the second 50s style TV and made a couple of cushions for the low chairs which match the dressing table mirror cover.  This is Japanese fabric that I bought in Tokyo when we visited a few years ago.

Sadly we had more vandalism this week.  We don't know when they did it, probably at night, but they had a go at pushing over one of our brick gate pillars.  They succeeded in cracking off the top couple of feet of the pillar, but it's still being held in place because of the gate post fixed into it.  It looks terrible but I think we might just leave it that way for the winter.  Partly because it's not great weather for mortar setting plus the mortar would be vulnerable to further vandalism, and partly because perhaps if they feel a sense of achievement they might leave us alone for a while.  It's certainly encouraged us to take further measures for home security, some of which we perhaps should have done earlier like we've now installed a door viewer.  I've also ordered some trellis which we will fix at the side of the house to make it harder to climb over our garden gate wall. After some investigation I have additionally ordered a budget CCTV system which looks like it is going to be time consuming to set up and install although it has good reviews on Amazon for being comparatively straightforward as these things go.  Hopefully it will act as a deterrent. Poor old house, it's been standing since the Victorian era.  Bet the Victorians would have had better ways of dealing with ignorant teenage yobs.  Where's a good workhouse when you need one?

Coach trip

I came across a day trip by coach to the Potteries online, offered by a ceramics studio, so I swapped my days this week and booked it for a day out.  Although feeling little urge to make pots myself, I do quite like some ceramics and have various small collections, plus it's always interesting to see how things are made.  It was quite an enjoyable day.  We went first to the Gladstone Pottery Museum in Stoke on Trent, which is a preserved manufactory with bottle ovens and demonstrations. I had been before many years ago, but quite enjoyed a second visit.  We had a tour guide but you don't need one as all the rooms are well explained. It sounds like it was a horrendous life for the workers in all these factories, and life expectancy was very low in the industry. But the skill levels were amazing.

(below: inside a bottle oven showing the saggars stacked up the way they would be for a firing)

Also on site is a gallery of historical tiles with some gorgeous things, and a museum of sanitary ware.  Why don't we have gorgeous sinks like these Victorian examples any longer?

After lunch we were supposed to have a tour of the Moorcroft factory and visit their pop up Christmas shop. However when we got there, the factory was closed, the pop up shop not running yet, and the staff denied all knowledge of having booked our tour.  So boo to Moorcroft customer service!  Luckily our organiser knew that the Middleport factory museum was nearby and open so we headed over there.  I hadn't heard of Middleport but it turns out they are the home of Burleigh which I have always lusted after.  And there was a large seconds shop with everything 30% off.  So merry christmas to me, hee hee!  This is a pic off their website, I got four of these calico pattern mugs in various colours, and a few other things which I am not going to disclose for fear of looking like I have a problem.


Although there is a working factory, it wasn't open to tours when we were there, but you can self-guide around some of the historic parts of the complex and also they've let some units to other potters and artisans who have open studios there.  So it was quite a nice visit and recommended if you are in the area (and the Gladstone museum as well).  I've often thought it would make quite a nice holiday to stay in the Stoke on Trent area and visit all the remaining factory shops and museums. Unfortunately DH does not share my enthusiasm.

I haven't had any time to work on the Japanese dollhouse this week but I did manage to sew another block for my 30s sampler quilt.  This was a bit involved to construct as you had to do a partial assembly, then the hand applique, then finish the assembly. It looks a bit puckered because I sprayed it with starch afterwards to protect it while it waits for the other blocks to get made. There are 42 blocks and so far I'm getting about one done a week so it is going to take a while.

I also finished my Itineris Shawl this week.  It's turned out to be a good size and the corner that's knit in the sock yarn doesn't obviously stand out as being too different from the main body knit from the Batik Swirl cake. I like it, it's cosy to wear and feels nice.

I needed a new commuter knitting project to take on the coach trip, so I've started knitting a sock in the DK Christmas yarn I bought last year, which some would say looks like Christmas barf but I'm enjoying it.  It's acrylic with a sparkle strand in it and turns out to be knitting up as a candy cane spiral on a red background which is kind of cool. I'm just doing a plain vanilla sock to let the yarn be the centre of attention.

The broken window is all repaired now and we painted around the moulding on the outside yesterday to seal the small gaps against the weather. We also moved some plants and dug the border along the front wall, ready for 15 hedging plants that should be arriving this week.  I realised that if we can grow something up and over our low wall, it will discourage or hopefully even prevent people from sitting on it.  The plants won't be tall enough to do that yet but hopefully will establish and grow next spring.  I went with a Cherry Laurel plant which is supposed to cope with dry shade and grow reasonably quickly. I would rather have had something viciously prickly but none of those plants were assured of coping with the difficult conditions under our big trees next to a wall that casts a rain shadow.  And so life goes on...

Has anyone seen my equilibrium?

I have found it surprisingly difficult to get back on an even keel after the stress of last weekend.  Perhaps in my later middle age I have simply lost my emotional resilience.  Perhaps it is because feeling under siege in your own home is the antithesis of the peaceful sanctuary home should offer.  The gang has not been back in force but there have been a few members hanging out from time to time nearby.  Police advice was to dial 999 if they come back specifically to our house and we feel threatened, and not to confront them again.  But I find myself constantly on the alert for any noises from the front of the house, and feeling like I have to look out the window just in case.  So my day off was not a relaxing day as I happened to be on my own and I felt vulnerable and anxious.  The insurance will cover the broken window but the deductible is almost as much as the quote to replace the window so not worth claiming.  The glaziers are coming in a few days to replace the window.  M-i-l's birthday card turned up a week late but actually had the gift card in it, which is something.  Don't know where it went for several days when it had a first class stamp on it, perhaps via Scotland or something...

Yesterday I attended the Oakley Lace and Needlecraft Day, down near Bedford, and took along my Bucks Point hexagonal bobbin lace edging to work on. I sat with some friendly ladies I've met at past lace days, and it felt good to be doing something normal after all the stress.  This was the first outing for my bodged-up pillow stand and it worked brilliantly.  My back wasn't sore at all because I could sit up straight all day.  You can see in the pic below how much higher up the pillow is from table level, so I'm not having to stoop over it.  It was also the first outing for my tool bag that I sewed a few weeks ago, which also worked brilliantly keeping everything to hand and easy to get at. I got a fair bit of lace done and worked all the way down to the point of the next corner, ready to turn the pillow to work in the next direction.  I think I'm about 5/6th of the way around now so the end is in sight even though still lots to do.

This week on the Japanese dollshouse, I've been preparing the many pieces for the next balcony/porch/opening door for the right hand bedroom.  This is the third door/porch I've done.  The first one was a nightmare because a lot of pieces didn't fit together and you are just juggling too many pieces at once, wet glue getting everywhere, the assembly twisting out of true, I had to hammer some of the pieces to force them together, it was like wrestling a wet gluey octopus.  The second one went better because I did a dry test fit first and corrected all the problems ahead of time, plus did some pre-assembly.  This third one for some reason didn't want to go together very well: there were a number of small discrepancies like pieces a little too short, or a little too thick, and a slot not routed deeply enough.  This part-work must have gone on for a long time with 120 weeks, that's over two years, so perhaps the quality control started to slip in the later stages?  I managed in the end with the help of a lot of clamps, although one window opening is a bit crooked and there are some odd gaps that I had to fill retrospectively. I'm also working on another 50s-style television although I haven't done the aerial for it yet.

I haven't done any sewing this week although I selected some fabrics for the next block in the 30s Sampler quilt.  I've started trying to mark quilting lines on my applique quilt, 3/4s of an inch apart but it is taking forever and it seems impossible to get them parallel.  I should have marked the top before I sandwiched it, but I sandwiched it on the quilting frame almost a year ago before I took the frame down.  And at that point I didn't know how I wanted to quilt this top.  I want the lines to be parallel to the diagonal running through each block, but because the blocks are no longer square now that they are sandwiched, it just won't work and I'm having to bodge and erase a lot. The tentative plan is to machine quilt along the lines in white thread, and to free motion around the applique with invisible thread.  I'm a much better appliquer than I am a machine quilter, so it seems a shame to do poor quilting on a not-bad applique top, but on the other hand it will be more of a shame if it never gets quilted or used. I'll do my best.

I went out and did some gardening this morning but things are only just starting to die back, even things that should be long over like begonias are still going strong.  I cut back a few things but most of the things I would normally be cutting back are still green and some even still flowering.  I'll wait a few more weeks.

I ran out of yarn as expected on my Batik Swirl Itineris Shawl, quite near the top of the extension strip.  For the last little corner I have pulled two sock yarns from my stash which are similar to the colours in the shawl, and I'm holding them together to knit the final triangle.  Hopefully it will look alright, and holding two yarns together mimics the heather effect of the yarn.  The shawl is too big to be a good commuter project any longer so I need to find something else to work on when I'm out.  I'm thinking perhaps some socks using the Christmas sock yarn I bought last year.

Why is life so cr*p sometimes?

It's a bit sad to  re-read last week's post when I was feeling happy after a nice weekend.  This week has been a bit cr*p to be honest.

I found out this week that I've got a bit more skin cancer on my face and back that will have to be removed, a reoccurrence of the issues I had ten years ago.  The back isn't a problem and the spot can be cut/burned away fairly easily.  But the nose is a problem.  Last time I had to have surgery and a skin graft taken from my hip to cover the nose area where the cancer was removed..  When they do my back in early December, they are going to do a couple of biopsies to determine how big the new nose site is, but it may mean more surgery and another graft. And more weeks looking like Frankenstein's cousin afterwards. 

We posted a birthday card to m-i-l on Wednesday with a gift card in it, sent first class so it should have been there Friday at the latest.  It still hasn't turned up so may have been stolen. I don't think there is anything we can do about it, the card was already loaded and activated and the post office will probably just tell us off for sending valuables in the mail.

And to top it off, we've had a front house window broken, probably  by a gang of teenagers that has taken to hanging around the neighbourhood.  We've had a few confrontations with them when they trespass into our property, so the window may have been retaliation.  We've got a police officer coming around tonight hopefully with some advice on what to do.  But it's a horrible feeling to feel under siege in your own home.  I've felt really stressed out all weekend which is upsetting my stomach as well.  We're waiting to see if the insurers will cover the broken window and I've left a message for a glazier that we need the window replaced. Fingers crossed that we're insured and that the glaziers can attend promptly. Luckily DH is working from home so will be on hand to deal with things.

So it's been hard to concentrate on crafts because of the stress.  Earlier in the week I did get the Japanese dollshouse glued onto its base.  I stippled around the area where the house sits to look a bit like gravel, before I glued the house on.  The white board in the picture is the piece that lifts away, that will eventually be the garden.  It's a relief to have the house secured on a nice solid base, although it does make it slightly harder to get up close to work on the rooms.  Also this week I put together a kit for another little dressing table mirror (visible at the back of the room with a fabric cover hanging over it) and for two chairs.  I'm going to make cushions for the chairs out of the same fabric as on the mirror drape.

I sewed a basket block on my day off for my 30s Sampler quilt and this weekend I've appliqued some 30s-style flowers onto it.  I took the flowers from another pattern as I didn't like the tulip and birds suggested in the sampler pattern.  I fused the flowers and stitched around them with machine blanket stitch, then I hand-appliqued the flower centres (in this picture the centres are just pinned on).

Hopefully I'll have some better news to report next week!