Playing with machines

penguinpals1
Originally uploaded by lalheg

I was inspired by fellow ravellers and their penguin friends this week.

I tried to use my lovely Singer, but she was having none of it, so over to my trusty Viking and I was soon happily looking at these two little penguin pals who are about 2 - 2.5" high

I used reverse applique and free machine embroidery and loved their quirky characters

Then I was asked to make another tiny one so used applique techniques as I thought that there would not be room for the reverse applique to work

I am really pleased at how these have come out and my mind is buzzing with ideas for more creatures and pictures that I could make

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A new love

I've been gently chided by a kind friend that I've been neglecting my blogs.  I have, there's no point denying it.  I'm in a bit of a funk - maddened and despaired by my current job situation - so I've not been posting.

However, there are so many things to be grateful for in my life.  One of these is a new love.  It's OK, my lovely hubby has not been deposed.  I am talking about yet another vintage sewing machine.  As some know,  DD has a hand crank.  A few weeks ago I found a sewing table for it and it's lovely.  I was therefore ecstatic when someone advertised on freegle that they wanted to pass on another machine in its own table.  I was lucky enough to have it gifted to me:

So I am now the proud owner of a mucky, chipped and well used Singer 319k with all of its attachments, cams, plates and a couple of spare bobbins.

I was a bit scared of all of its jiggery pokery - so much to fiddle with.  I can't get the stop on the stitch length regulator to budge yet, but I'll work on that.

Poking around on the Internet, I was a bit dismayed to find out that these machines work on a different needle system.  I was therefore horrified when I broke the needle when testing it.  Friends on Ravelry found me UK and USA stockists.  I was perturbed when the UK stockist told me to buy as many needles as I could if I ordered from him as they weren't made any more.  I spent the afternoon sulking and wondering if I should just pass the machine on and save myself future heartache.  Finally, at about 5pm I had a brainwave.

Tentatively I fitted in a normal needle - a Klassik sharp that had come in the biscuit tin of attachments.  I gently turned the wheel by hand to see what happened.  By rights this should have been a disaster as there's a length difference with the needles and so the timing of all the gubbins inside the machine should be wrong. It seemed OK, so I tried a test sew - bang - needle broken.  I took a deep breath and tried a different brand of needle.   It worked going forwards, but not backwards - that broke the needle.  I fitted a third and resolved to just sew forwards.  Lovely, lovely, lovely.  Then, in a fit of not quite knowing my controls yet and thinking I'd adjusted the stitch length to zero, I accidentally sewed backwards with great success.  So, I now just need to stock up on Pony needles or experiment again with other brands.

I don't know why these needles worked - they shouldn't have done.  I looked at the bobbin case and it's not had the cutaway mod.  Maybe the previous owner had got the timing adjusted?  It was definitely a 206x13 needle in there originally as it had the groove down the centre.  Whatever, I am just so excited to have this machine to play with

Now to think what I want to sew on it!

Promises, promises

Image by reb via FlickrI am here, I will blog, but first I really have to go and get my run done.  Yep, you read that correctly - I have started running!  Inspired by various friends, I have been following the Couch to 5k programme for the past 6 weeks.  Today is the start of week 7 - from here onwards there are no intervals of walking, just straight runs.  This week it's 25 mins at a time - shocking to me that I can do that as 7 weeks ago I found it hard to run for a minute at a time.

I won't babble on about it too much here - I've been blogging away about it on http://artygalfindsherway.blogspot.com/ but have been quiet about it until I felt confident enough in what I'm doing

More on lots of things including another giveaway win when I get back.............

Luckily quilts never go off

I'm just about to start some hand quilting on a lap quilt that I labelled as soon as I pieced it.  I started quilting it then got distracted by paper crafts and knitting, so it has been sitting in my WIPs since June 2002.

Time I got on with it I think!

Picking up the reins

I have a lot of things I want to blog about, not least of which is a wonderful giveaway that I won.  I've failed in getting my photos of that one so far (too busy using a lot of what I won!) so I shall post that one another day.

Today though - a fun day.  I started off with an interview - still waiting to hear on that one, so shh, no tempting fate.  Now I could have gone straight back to the train station and gone home, but instead I walked from one side of Nottingham city centre to the other, up to a new wool shop that's opened - Knit Nottingham.  On the way I walked past a wee lad in a fancy dress costume.  I waited until I was almost level, then just at the right moment and volume, gasped 'Ooh, Buzz Lightyear', then floated down the road to the sound of his delighted, secretive giggles.

I found the wool shop without any problems - it's only a hop and skip up from the Victoria Centre - close enough to town to be buzzy, far enough away to make you feel as though you're in a lovely community and supporting a truly local business.  All the time I was there, people were popping in-  for sales, advice, details of upcoming workshops and even just for a friendly chat.  I really enjoyed the inclusive, welcoming feel that Eleanor, one of the co-owners is building - to the point where I happily sat, knitted and had a cup of tea with her.  Definitely not the treatment you get in larger establishments, or my nearest craft shop come to think of it.

The shop itself is quite small and as I described it on Ravelry is a good range of basics spiced with some fabulous artisan makes, mixed with vintage and served with a great slice of friendliness.  I saw some beautiful handspun / hand dyed and great handmade crochet hooks - all mixed in with good value acrylics in shades that your usual Wilkinsons etc don't carry.  There was a good variety of wools for the size of shop - I was a bit mind blown by my interview to remember makes etc so apologies!

I was frustrated that I had no money in my purse - they are still waiting for their chip and pin machine so that might be worth bearing in mind if you visit.  There is a fee charging cash machine nearby and a free one about a 5-10 minute walk away, but by this time it was chucking it down so I resisted temptation.  I did scrape up £1 to buy a pack of knitters finishing needles - finding them is like hens teeth sometimes so that pleased me!

So, in summary - a good addition to Nottingham's wool shops that I hope is going to grow over time

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Comfort food

Comfort food is different to comfort eating.  It's not about putting a wrong right, rather it's about feeling cosy.  Recently we had a dark, miserable rainy day so, being in the mood for gentle indulgence, we sat down to the most delicious corned beef and potato pie with beans and fruity sauce.

We've been watching The Great British Bake Off and my pie might not have won their accolades, but boy it tasted great and the pastry was short, crumbly and a total delight.  My family had always told me that they didn't like pies, but this converted them to the point where they were flinging pie ideas at me left right and centre. 

Since then I've also made a minced beef and onion pie and I've even bought new pie dishes to bake them in.  Next on the list is chicken pie and then of course there are all the fruit pies......  If anyone has ideas for fillings for savoury or sweet, I'd love to hear them.   Looks like this autumn/winter could be pietastic!

Waving frantically - again!

I am here, I promise - just catching up now that the kiddos have gone back to school.  I have things to mail, subjects to write about and so many things I want to make!  Now where did I put that cloning kit?

Image via Wikipedia