What's going on

The past month or so has gone pretty quickly.  We've had some actual summer weather which was fantastic and life is continuing on as before.

The Paisley 1930s panel is completed and we are just waiting for the exhibition at the Scottish Parliament next month.   

The final panel looked this.

I'm really looking forward to seeing it all together in one place.

The past few weeks have brought some challenges too. My ongoing hand issues have turned into something a little more serious and just over 4 weeks ago, I was found to have a prolapsed disc in my spine.  Thankfully no surgery is required but the cure is time, rest including no exercise and painkillers.  I'm a fairly recent convert to the whole gym/exercise thing but the not being able to go the gym is some thing I'm finding tough, largely because it worsens my insomnia. Things are gradually improving and I'm hoping to be back at the gym in about 4-6 weeks.

Of sewing, secret knitting, splints and framing

The past couple of months have been quite busy with an annual stitching weekend away with friends, Knit Nation and just general life busyness.

Prior to Knit Nation, I had agreed to test knit some lovely new sparkle yarn from Old Maiden Aunt yarns, ready for it's launch at Knit Nation. The yarn is merino sparkle in the shade Dreich and the pattern is Undine.



Another thing that has been taking up my time of late is sewing. I grew up with a Mum who made a lot of my clothes. My mum spent many years working in clothing factories as a sewing machinist. I have sewn clothes in the past with her help but I decided recently that I'd like to try to sew on my own.

So far I finished a Wrap style blouse in some very basic black fabric. This was my testing garment to see if I could do it.

Last week, I moved on to a tunic top with a concealed zip. The pattern is Juliet tunic by Serendipity design studio. It was a little tricky as I had to adapt adjust the skirt part of the tunic to fit my hips and lengthen it. The having to lengthen the skirt section blew my mind as I'm really not tall, only 5ft tall. Usually I have the exact opposite problem. But it now fits really well.

My most recent finish was another wrap blouse from the same pattern. I've altered it somewhat at the arms and shoulders so it fits better.

I've also managed to frame up a recent cross stitch that I already had the frame for.

The only downside lately has been a further recurrence of my previous hand problem so my right hand has been strapped up in a splint for the past month or so and I'm currently having more physiotherapy to try and resolve it. Thankfully it seems to have improved over this weekend so I'm feeling a bit more hopeful about it that I was last week.