Dragon Rambles

I just visited Vicky’s blog and saw all the wonderful stash she had bought at the show.  Seeing all this reminded me of the International stitching and craft show in Cardiff later in the year – I originally found out about this show by some lovely guys with a fabric stall at the Brisbane show.  Vicky will remember them, as I read that she visited them again.

Last year I was unable to go to the show as that was the weekend I was off in Dartmoor.  Thinking that it would be around the same time again (first weekend of Nov) I thought I’d be able to go this year.  After visiting Vicky’s blog I just went and checked the dates… they’ve brought it forward a whole month to the first weekend of October! No!  That’s when I’m in Australia.  

Another year with no craft show.  I think next year I’ll have to go to one somewhere else in the UK just in case the universe wants to go 3 for 3.  It’s a conspiracy I say!

Well those magic needles are doing their job, in just two weeks I’ve managed to finish the center of the shawl (and that is despite having to unknit and reknit over 30 rows).  I’m really quite proud of myself and now am psyching myself up to start the borders – I’m anticipating many mistakes to start with as I have to get used to a new pattern.  But here’s the center so you can see what I’ve done so far (238 rows!)

I’ve started a lace knitting project for a friend.  She is due to have a baby in November and we are having her baby shower in mid September.  So I’m knitting a blanket/shawl.  It’s a shetland lace project, one of the easier ones.  The lady who designed it said she knitted it in 4 weeks of 1-2h a day.  So in Nic knitting, that’ll mean probably about 3 months.  I’ve sit down to work out how much I have to knit to get it done in time, and it’s 10 rows a day.  Here’s the start, it’s the center section which is knitted first.

The growing of my own veggies is going well.  Some of it is trial and error, but one of the plants that are going really well are the zucchinis (courgettes for some).

I’m having a stack of fun doing this gardeing thing.  I’ve overgrown my tomatoes so they are taking longer to appear and ripen but the learning what to do is all part of the fun.  This year I started with tomatoes, capsicums, cucumbers, zucchinis, strawberries and potatoes.  Next year I have bigger plans.

And while on the topic of gardens, I have been working on Blackstone Garden lately.  I’ve managed to get quite a bit of stitching done now that I’m making a point of taking at least an hour each night.

For those interested it’s stitched on 28ct Pansy from Pictures This Plus.  The green knot is Dragon Opal (Vikki Clayton) with the outline in Moonglow (Room for Threads).  The other knot is in a custom variegated silk by Vikki Clayton with the outline in Mystic Pools (Dinky Dyes).  And all the blackwork, the colours assigned so far are: A – Rose Bay (Dinky Dyes), B – Noosa (Dinky Dyes), C – Deep Ocean (Vikki Clayton), D – Deep Blue Sea (Gloriana), G – Cabernet (Dinky Dyes).  So just the Rose Bay to finish and then two more colours to assign and stitch and it’ll be done.