And it's a wrap!

 My Chookshed Challenge #3 is complete. This was my January challenge, the little Sue Hawkins scissor stand kit.

I finished it mid week and am very happy with it. It stands just over 2.5" high and is 1.5" wide.

I had left the veg garden until last and the bullion knots were tricky as I was sewing through the canvas but I got there without damaging my hands which was a miracle!

From left to right - cabbage, carrots, cauiflower, radish and courgettes.

Here are the other four sides.

Now I am looking forward to learning the challenge number for February. In the meantime I have been crocheting away and am now about halfway through week 3 of the CAL. Week 4 arrived yesterday.

And of course my Stitch Journal. We are now at the end of the month and the first section is complete.

It has still been raining. Another storm passed through Monday night and on Tuesday a major incident was declared for Somerset with unusually high flooding in Taunton and the surrounding area. Thankfully it is all receding now but it is raining today and there is another warning for heavy rain on Monday.

I walked down to the river on Tuesday morning thinking to get some pictures of the floods sparkling in the sunshine. However, sods law decreed that by the time I got there (10 minutes walk) the sunshine had turned to rain and all I got were some dull pictures of turgid waters!

I walked along the main road and above was the view from the bridge to my left, below the view across the meadows to the right.

Here you can see the river which is nipping along at a pretty sharpish pace.

Although we are not far from the river we are fortunate that it floods on the side away from our village and out onto the meadows.

So that is all the news from here - have a great week everyone and happy stitching.

Rain Rain Rain

 Well yes, it has been a wet week here and we have just had a warning for heavy rain again on Monday. Today we have Storm Ingrid bringing more wind and rain. As The Levels are already flooded as are many roads around Taunton it does not bode well. However, as an area prone to flooding, in fact The Levels flooding relieves the pressure elsewhere, houses tend to be built above flood levels. But of course the run off from these new developments just adds to the problem elsewhere.

It has therefore been a quiet week at home and everywhere is a little cleaner than it might have been! I would have done a lot more to my Chookshed Challenge and crochet had it not been for the latest Cormoran Strike novel. Having started it I just couldn't put it down!

Here however is my progress this week. My Stitch Journal was worked on every day, there is just one more week to go on this section and I have reached the original embroidery which you can see top left.

My Chookshed Challenge has progressed and I just have the vegetables to add not to the top of the box and the little fob. On track for a finish next week.

And I have been crocheting while watching TV.

I am about 3/4s of the way through last weeks instructions. The new colours arrived yesterday and hopefully I will get as far as them this week sometime.

So that is about all from me today - happy stitching from a soggy Taunton!

UPDATE - I have just been online and seen how much damage has been caused along the south coast by Storm Ingrid. Including the railway line at Dawlish being damaged again - they have only recently completed the repairs from the last big storm to hit it. And sadly the loss of the pier end at Teignmouth, an irreplaceable structure.

A Quiet week

 It is taking longer to get over this cold than I had hoped. And that, combined with Philip catching it and the cold weather means we have hardly been out this week. Which means one positive thing! - yes, plenty of time to sew.

My Stitch Journal is well under way - day 10 already!

My main focus this week has been my Chookshed Challenge - the Sue Hawkins kit. Having investigated further into the envelope I was given I found this picture of the finished scissor stand - much clearer than the one I posted last week.

Having spent about 10 minutes trying to unpick what the previous owner had started, I gave up and pulled a new piece of canvas from the drawer to work on. I have made really good progress as you can see.

So far I have done the top and two sides. I have decided to complete all the background stitching before adding the raised vegetables and flowers so that I can avoid catching them with stray threads while I work. I cracked on with this project because I knew that with the Attic 24 CAL starting on Friday I would be turning all my attention there for a while.

The first set on instructions for the Wildshore CAL arrived yesterday and I made a good start.

If I want to keep up with the CAL I will need to do about twice this amount before next Friday but I suspect that I will lapse to concentrate on other projects. I am very happy with how it is looking so far, the Yarnsmiths merino is lovely to crochet with and the colours gorgeous. I love Lucy's shell pattern too.

You can find the instructions for the shell pattern on the Attic 24 website under Wildshore CAL if you fancy trying it out. It is quick to work and if you can count to three then you are good to go!

So that is all from me today. I has been a beautiful sunny day but back to the rain tomorrow. Have a lovely week.