LONG TIME NO SEE.....

Hello there! I know it's been a while, but that's because here at chez Snoopydog we have been having to get used to getting on with life without our dear, beloved 'leader of the pack' Mr Snoops; dearly loved husband and soulmate, Dad, Grandpa and Gramps! He passed away very suddenly in the early hours of  February 28th from acute bacterial meningitis, after nothing more than feeling a little under the weather for the previous two days.  He was only 62! Needless to say it came as a massive shock for something so sudden and unexpected to have happened. We are missing him very, very much, but in true family Snoops fashion we have surrounded ourselves with family love and supported each other through the last almost five weeks. My pal Josiekitten (Helen) has been a huge support at what is still a very sad time for her also. 

Gradually, each of my elder two children and their families have resumed their jobs and family life and today, the younger Miss Snoops has returned to her flat and job in London. We are a close family and are usually in  daily contact, even though we live in different parts of the country, so it still feels as though everyone is nearby!

Very little woolliness happened for two or three weeks, but little by little my beautiful Advent Calendar cushion has slowly been completed. It is bright and cheery and makes me smile. I love it so, so much! 

Everyone is coming home again for the Easter weekend and I have some sewing planned with Josiekitten and a couple of theatre visits during the Easter holidays, so life is gradually picking up on it's new pathway. 

Normal Sunday postings have hopefully just been resumed!

GRANNIES........

It's been a pretty relaxing half-term week here chez Snoops'. There's been time for knitting, time for crocheting and time for sewing. Whoohoo!

I finally managed to complete the Opal Advent calendar project, with the twenty-four mini skeins making six colourful socks and forty-nine small granny squares (one extra using up a few remnants). I've made one more from some other remnant Opal yarn so that fifty squares will make a lovely five by five square cushion front and back. 

I've just loved working with the array of colours and pattern mixes and never tire of wondering what the next little bit will turn out like. I have to say I haven't been disappointed with any of the outcomes. Some of the mini-skeins seemed to work seamlessly into the next with little obvious evidence of colour change, whereas others needed to make a statement as they made their entrance!

Choice of colour for the borders and joining was the next consideration and after trying a blue, red and grey, I finally settled on this Opal neutral solid to best show off the beautiful colour pops. So far, it's looking good. 

This little grannies are so, so pleasing I could go on forever with them. I'm about halfway with the edging, so pressing on over the next few days with a little bit of hooky here and there interspersed with little people fun and play.

 There's also been time for another contact print cushion. To say I'm a teensy weensy bit hooked on these would not be the whole truth. This is a second cushion for my youngest daughter; the first one having been very well received! ;-) I'm liking the introduction of larger spots this time!

 It's also been a week for occasionally photographing my feet!

The pair above were the first ones I made when I began knitting again in 2008, 'encouraged' by Josiekitten, who had already spotted the future potential of some very, very beautiful yarn online and across the pond! I used some Opal sock yarn and......... they're still going strong!

These 'Monkey Socks' by Cookie A were my second pair. I'm guessing the sock bug had already bitten as these were also completed in 2008. The yarn is also by Opal and, as you can see, they are still very much in the prime of their life.

In 2010, these were my first pair of Magic Loop. I'm still not the greatest fan of the technique I have to say and still turn first to my DPN's for sock knitting. 

It's been lovely to relax and not actually have too much planned for the week! Happy, happy!

SOCK DRAWER

Good evening! Sorry to have missed you last week, but I spent a very lovely weekend in Manchester visiting two of my children and their families. I have to say there has not been an awful lot of knitting going on chez Snoops' over the last week or so. My Advent socks are almost there, with just the last sock to complete. I'm loving the great colour match between yarn and needles! 

I've been dipping into a rather unusual read this week. It's a surprisingly interesting read by Marie Kondo, called 'The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying'.......... hmmmmmm! So, in true Marie Kondo spirit, I gave my sock drawers a makeover. I'm rather liking the fact that you can see every pair, as you make your selection for the day.

I've also managed to make space for a few more pairs!!!

We woke to a reasonable covering of snow this morning, that had  fallen upon us silently overnight. It has been bitterly cold and rather dull and miserable today, so a very rare stay 'indoors day' materialised.

There was time to get some sewing organised and started. So, a bit of measuring and a little cutting and the pieces were ready for another contact cushion. I really must move on to try other things, but at present I really love making these gorgeous covers.

I played around for a while with the colourful squares, but still change things around as I began the sewing together.

Here we go! This will be a second cushion for my younger daughter's flat.

It doesn't seem at all possible, but this was the photo taken when Oscar first arrived in our lives seven years ago today. He was the sweetest little pup on the planet and I can't begin to tell you how much joy and love he has brought to our family over the last seven years. He is smart, playful, loving and such a beautiful boy! 

This week has also seen me trying to choose a replacement tree for our back garden. Our magnificent Weeping Willow sadly died last Spring, after contracting HoneyFungus. The tree was enormous and very old and succumbed after being pollarded the previous year; essential for such a large tree in a city centre garden. I felt ridiculously sad about it's demise, but cheered at the prospect of another lovely tree gracing it's spot. The new tree has to be of a variety that will be unaffected by any fungus left in the soil and so, I think my choice will be this beauty. It's a Malus (Crab Apple), but just look at that beautiful blossom. Roll on Springtime!

JANET CLARE CUSHION .....

With all the busy chaos and excitement of the Christmas and New Year period, I completely forgot to show you my latest sewing endeavour. Having learnt to make my first patchwork cushion under the expert tutelage of my pal Josiekitten, I have now made two on my own. The very bright spotty dotty cushion shown two or three weeks ago, was a Christmas gift for my younger daughter, whilst this very contrasting colour scheme will work wonderfully well in my elder daughter's sitting room.

I have only recently re-discovered my love of sewing and along with it an absolute adoration of the fabric designs of the very talented Janet Clare. She uses one of my favourite colour palettes and has produced some wonderful designs. My favourite has to be her 'Hearty Good Wishes' prints, but alas, these seem to be no longer available. You could say, I've missed the boat!

Running a close second, comes the 'More Hearty Good Wishes' collection; again using the same colour palette and very similar designs. I have managed to snaffle a couple of charm and mini-charm packs for future 'stitchy' indulgence!

For the cushion, I have used the 'Nocturne' collection of prints. Everything is so understated and muted. I just LOVE them! I've learnt to keep a close eye on the seam allowances in order to maintain the same length of strip. This is essential if the cushion is to arrive at 20" in diameter and with the squares lined up precisely. Practice certainly is the way to go!

The actual pattern order is a time consuming job. Any amount of re-distributing, swapping around, starting again and turning around takes place before I'm finally happy with the layout of the squares.
Then it's sew, sew, sew!!!!! I love it!

LOOKING SPOTTY!

Well, what do you think to this little beauty? I know I really shouldn't be telling you how totally thrilled I'm feeling with myself, as well as just a teensy weensy bit proud, but I am! I can't contain my  pleasure. I just love sewing these little beauties. 

This is my first attempt at completing one completely on my own. I used a charm pack for the coloured squares and have to say, it took almost as long deciding on the arrangement as it did on actually making the cushion! 

I used my new overlocker for the first time too, having never used one before. Luckily it was threaded up and ready to go, so after a quick little practice I was ready to go too. It makes such a difference knowing that the project that has been so carefully considered and sewn, also gets to be properly finished off. I'm certainly loving my return to the sewing machine. Long may it continue!