It has been a pleasant week here with some rain and some sunshine, a trip out and friends visiting.

First up though my Stitch Journal for the week and I have been playing with blanket stitch variations.

I have given up with the scrappy squares knitting project - having tried various needle variations and not getting the effect I wanted I am not wasting any more time on it. So I have been concentrating on my crochet jumper and my socks in the evenings.

For my Chookshed Challenge this month I am working on this kit that was passed to me a couple of years ago.

When I opened it up I was suprised to find that the pattern was printed onto black cloth and I was not supplied with the calico and pattern to trace as the instructions said. However, the threads are vibrant and I think that they will look good on the black.

And I have been working on this but it does need good light as it is fine!

We had a clear day this week and headed out to visit Dunster castle, however we hit roadworks and a large traffic jam so we diverted to Watchet another of our favourite places to visit. We found a new to us antiques shop and spent a while browsing as well as in the community book shop. Watchet has a 40's weekend this weekend and all the shop windows were decorated with a 40's theme. Then we walked across to the East Quay arts centre for lunch - a delicious bowl of spiced sweet potato and coconut soup. It was not a cold day but it was overcast and a bowl of soup seemed apropriate. Then a walk out along the quay past the marina. 

The tide was out but this lock holds water in to the marina.

I always love seeing this Samuel Taylor Coleridge quote from The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner.

Despite being an overcast day you could still see across the channel to Wales and Steep Holm (that black dash to the right on the horizon).

Walking back you get a great view of the arts centre which was opened within the last 10 years and has become a busy local centre with galleries, workshops and paper mill and which runs events and craft workshops.

There are also three accomodation pods - the three units in the middle with sail like roofs. Look carefully and you can see the bathroom of the centre one which has a splendid view of the marina and town.

Happy stitching and I will see you next week.

September - meteorological autumn

 It does not really feel like autumn - more like the summer we should have had instead of all that mega heat. Anyway with schools back it has been nice to get out and about again at a reasonable temperature - even taking a cardi, just in case.

We took our lunch to Dunster Beach one day. A really clear day with great views across the Bristol Channel to Wales. The tide was going out and there were plenty of birds on the shore line for our binoculars to focus on. After lunch I took a walk along the almost deserted beach purposely leaving my camera behind so I could concentrate on the views and the atmosphere. Of course, I picked up lots of shells - there are always lots along this beach although never very big.

The beginning of the month so a new 'page' in my Stitch Journal has begun.

And a few pictures of August.

With no Chookshed Challenge to work on and awaiting a yarn order, I took the oportunity to finish off this bit of crazy quilting I worked on earlier in the year. It is a gift for someone I am seeing next month so nice to get it finished and ready.

And also made a start on a new pair of socks as a back up project for when all else is just too much!

These are for me - can't remember where I bought the yarn but I fell in love.

Once my yarn order arrived I had another go at the scrappy squares knitting. 

The pale pink border yarn is a thicker 4ply than the one I used before and is better but I think my problem is swapping to stocking stitch which is changing the overall tension. My next experiment will be with using larger needles for the garter stitch frame and swapping to smaller ones for the stocking stitch. It's last chance time - one more try and then I give up!

No plans as yet for the coming week but no doubt there will be a trip or two out. I hope you have nice plans as well and a happy stitchy week.

A Grand Day Out

 It was a lovely day yesterday - clear blue sky but not too hot. Perfect for a day out and fortunately we had arranged to meet up with friends at A La Ronde which is on the South Devon coast at Exmouth. The original house was built by Jane and Mary Parminter, cousins who had been on The Grand Tour of Europe with Jane's younger sister and another female friend. They were away for several years and on their return Jane and Mary decided to set up home together and they purchased the land where they designed and had built the house that they were to live in - A La Ronde. This is the entrance to the house with the view of Exmouth harbour.

The house has 16 sides. There is a central octagonal hall with wedge shaped rooms leading off it all around the building. It was designed so that you could follow the sunlight from room to room around the house during the day giving the maximum light for reading, sewing etc. No space was wasted and there are cupboards and bookshelves built into every nook and cranny.

I did not take many pictures inside the house as the lighting was not very good. But it is full of treasures collected on their travels along with family heirlooms. However, I soon homed in on some embroidered pictures! I first spotted this stumpwork piece.

Sorry about the reflection and the angle - it was just slightly above my head height.

These two pieces were nearby.

The house is most famous for it's shell frieze around the octagonal gallery at the top of the house. Having recently been cleaned, the National Trust decided that the frieze is now too fragile to allow visitors to view from the gallery so we had to make do with glimpses and there are films of it to view. The staircase up to the gallery is blocked but you can see up - as in these not so brilliant pictures.

You also get glimpses of it from the octagonal hall and mirrors are thoughtfully provided for getting a slighty closer view.

Shell collections are everywhere, mostly behind glass but this one in the fireplace makes for a great display.

The house sits in it's own grounds with the lovely view of the sea.

This is the side of the house facing the sea.

Now a quick recap of my weeks sewing. It was the end of the month so Stitch Journal pictures of June.

And the start of July.

I have added a couple of flowers to my hexie quilt.

And finished a sock.

Thank you if you have made it to the end of this post - I shall be back next week. Happy Stitching.

Cooling Down

After a very hot June week - here in Somerset we broke the UK record for the hootest June day on Thursday although that was beaten by somewhere else the next day - it is feeling much cooler here this Saturday afternoon. We have hazy sun and a cooling breeze at times which is very pleasant.

We ventured out on Tuesday to an air conditioned restaurant and my Pilates class on Wednesday - in our village hall which is new and has efficient solar powered aircon/heating - was also a pleasure. Otherwise we have mostly been indoors drinking loads of water with a fan trying to keep the air moving.

Although I have done some sewing - and knitting - I have also been reading and got through two of Louise Penny's 'Three Pines' books and have just started a Salley Vickers book called ' Dancing Backwards'. I do love her books and am always happy to find one I have not read.

My Stitch Journal is up to date and records our hot week.

And I have been working into my tea and rust piece.

Sadly the sparkle I added in the way of beads and lurex thread does not show up in the picture. I am at the point of sitting back and trying to decide if it needs more stitch.

Also I have been knitting away and am up to the heel turn on this pair of socks which is using a WYS sparkle yarn.

These are for a much smaller foot than the last pair so coming along that bit quicker.

Looking forward to pottering about a bit in the garden this week as it gets cooler - maybe even having a day out! Happy stitching.

Heatwave Incoming!

 It's pleasant here today, even a sprinkling of rain but from tomorrow temperatures are set to rise to the mid 30's during the week. Thankdfully not the 40 degrees plus that our friends in France will have but still a tad too hot for us. It is going to affect the whole of southern England with London and the East getting higher temperatures. Our new conservatory roof is going to get a good work out.

This last week has been pleasant and some tidying has happened in the garden. I have picked the first tomatoes (cherry), cucumbers and mange tout peas - plenty more to come. I suspect that anyone who visits will be presented with a cucumber (no sniggering please) as there seems to be a glut forming already.

I have been working on my Stitch Journal of course. Here are this weeks offerings.

And the socks are finished.

These were made using Stylecraft's Head Over Heels, Colours of the World, Sacred Earth and I do love these colours. I have completed the cuff on my next pair - there is a lot of cricket and football around!

I have dyed the white panel I showed you last week.

I think I was a little over ambitious and used too much tea and rust but however it's fine and will probably (thanks Julie) fade in time. I dyed it flat sandwiched between some sheets of paper which I had not tried before and found on this video which is excellent.

So, the results.

This piece of paper went on the bottom with a few leaves scattered on

and I will definitely repeat without the rust as there are some lovely prints in there.

Next the fabric and then another layer of paper with the butterfly and a snowflake on.

Then two thinner sheets of paper with a few screws in between.

These will be cut to page size and added into my sketchbook. For the time being though I need to stitch into my panel and have some beads and threads ready to go.

I finally got to the Roger Fry exhibition in my local museum this week. Roger Fry Which I enjoyed very much. I think this was my favourite painting because of the colour and design

but there were many different paintings in differing styles from throughout his life.

I am ashamed to say that after 4 years here in Taunton it was my first visit to the Museum of Somerset but I shall definitely be going back! The gallery where the exhibition was held was excellent, plenty of space and air con (might be worth another fiver to go back for the air con next week). Good lighting and plenty of information about the artist and the paintings. The whole place looks very swish so I will be back again soon to browse their collections.

Well, I think that is all for now, have a good week.