Stitch watch -- Pincushion

Here's a little pin cushion from a Vari-Galore kit that I finished tonight. I am very proud of it and so pleased to own something so beautiful. Katie keeps looking at it enviously.

I thoroughly enjoyed making it -- the instructions leave enough freedom to make it good fun, and the hand-dyed threads are gorgeous.

I picked up the kit at a show at Ally Pally last Autumn. I've been checking the Vari-Galore catalogue and wondering what I should order next. I'd quite like to try some turkeywork... and also ribbon embroidery. And more stump work.

List of items to do with moving house

boxes

worry

dust

lost items found

items lost

cups of tea

money concerns

nostalgia for old house

regret at leaving

excitement about new house

breakages

lifting

smell of cardboard

relief that it's over

learn to love your boxes

one box a week

chaos

irregular meal times

worries about parking

stress

newspaper and bubblewrap

newsprint

lorry's engine running

trip to the dump

Champagne

discovering lovely things I'd forgotten I owned

fear of theft

a fresh start

change of address notes

new things

logistics

ditching

unwanted

dead tired

break from routine

wondering if the day will ever end

sound of cardboard tearing

tape and the smell of tape

sound of ripping tape

things put together that are not usually together

Embroidery watch

This is the sewing I keep at work. Sadly, we're not allowed to listen to streaming internet content, so no BBC7 in my lunch hour. I may have to buy some sort of MP3 player. Don't ask for better pictures -- there are none.

Short list of words that I will be consciously asking if I need to write this week

almost
nearly
really
quite
some
very

Things that happen when it rains

• There is a rush to get everything inside
• A curious emptiness
• Damp clothes
• Clamminess
• Drips off umbrellas
• Constant noise
• Cars swooshing
• It's not so bad once you're in it
• Wanting to be indoors
• A drop falling off a leaf
• Rushings in gutters
• Scallop shaped waves run downhill
• Blurred light reflections on the road at night
• It gets dark early
• Bruised flowers and soft fruit
• Wet shoes
• Dust puffs up where the drops hit it
• The smell of wet dust
• Wet and muddy footprints near the door
• Dirty floors
• Long columns of water
• Uncertainty about how long it will last
• Sheep go to shelter, or do not go to shelter and we think it means something
• Fish jumping
• Chills and coldness and aches
• A dripping nose
• Wet hair
• Whispering as the rain falls on the ground
• Streams of water in places previously dry
• Mud
• Lying in bed hearing the rain falling on the roof
• Worrying about things left outside and about water getting into places where it should not be
• Puddles
• Being splashed by cars
• Clots of dead grass in drains
• Squelching on a lawn
• Soaked trouser cuffs
• Slippery surfaces
• Landslides and floods
• Rain diamonds on grasses
• Spray
• Deciding we don't have to worry about the watering
• Accidentally standing on a snail
• High winds lashing rain against the windows
• Feelings of safety and security because the weather can't get in
• Stamping in puddles while wearing wellies
• Making damns and streams from a mud puddle
• Falling rain showing up in the light of a streetlamp
• Longer stopping distances while driving
• Not being able to dry clothes