Chilly Old January

I put together the new notebook I started making. I wanted the cover to be quite sturdy but flexible so I combined the old, hard notebook cover and some leather. It can take the knocks of being carried around everywhere, it opens flat and has room to expand when I add things. Really pleased with it, it’s A5 size.

As I was having a little bit of a rearrangement after Christmas I found a rather dusty basket with Temari bits in.

I made quite a few of these in the past. The only two I can find now are rather sorry for themselves. I can tell by the state of the blue one that they have mostly been lost to Willow the dog who does love a ballie but mum wasn’t alert enough to put things out of the way when she first arrived but I did give lots away.

In fact I can date when I was in the Temari mode as the red one was probably the last one I stitched and I was doing so when we went over to the Isle of Wight to pick up a car in 2009! The dust in the basket is that thick.

Anyway I didn’t know what I was going to do with them, it seems a shame to just throw them away. They’re fully wound and have the rattles in and everything. Having seen what Wild Daffodil was doing with childrens play balls I thought I could have a fiddle with something like that. In fact I have a little more ease as the thread wrapping gives me a base to stitch into.

I have a box of leftover yarns and threads from tapestry and cross stitch kits so dug some of those out to use.

I started just stitching with the threads, only random couching and block filling, another with fishbone stitch leaves. I’ve also add pieces of silk to another and stitched over that. As I’m doing them, they’re great to fiddle with while listening to books or podcasts, I’m thinking of other things I could do. This morning I came across bit of embroidery I did in a class in 2011. It’s in a drawer still in the 8 inch hoop and I think I will try and wrap the white ball with it. Why not.

So I have 4 balls underway at the moment and I’m waiting for other lightbulb moments to strike.

Evenings I am still knitting so started something that Elsa has been mentioning for a few years. When she was small I made many Jean Greenhowe bits including the Nativity set. We no longer have that so I looked for another Nativity set to make instead. I’m making two at a time and Mary is nearly done. They’re a lot more in depth than the old lot! I’ll leave it up to you to decide if I’m late for last year or very early for this!!!

It’s also still quite cold out and for my dog walks I made some flip top mittens. So much more practical when fiddling with leads etc!

So that’s me all caught up for now. I can get back to my ball juggling and trying to stay warm.

Stay safe.