Souvenirs and sewing

Hello! A very quick post to show you the start I've made on my holiday embroidery, and some of the bits and bobs I brought back with from our trip to Finland and Sweden in August.

The first thing I sewed was this Dala horse. It measures approximately 5 x 5 cm so is quite small. I use chain stitch, a stitch I've been using a lot on this embroidery, and I'm pleased with the shape and colour. I needed the outline for this horse to be exactly right - they have such a distinctive shape - so I sketched a design on paper then traced it using my trusty fading pen.

Next came a small Falu-red summer house, similar to the ones we saw everywhere in Finland. You can see the progress of it below: the blocks of colour...

...then the details of window and door frames, and a log pile of course.

You can also see the purple pen outline of the trees and blueberries I planned to sew next. The running stitches between the pictures are just for me to keep the lines straight - I pull them out when I have stitched the pictures.

Here you can see the finished pine trees and blueberries, as well as a bowl of traditional salmon and potato soup.

The trees were one of the things I remember most about Finland: forests everywhere you looked. The blueberries I had not considered especially Finnish but when we flew there with Finnair we were offered a glass of blueberry juice on the flight. All the supermarkets sell it, and the berries. It was delicious. I had to mark that Lohikeitto soup in stitches because it was so good, and also because I just love stitching food. 

To this, I have just added a Finnish flag and sauna. I plan to do ten Finnish memories and ten Swedish, all on one embroidery.

I bought all sorts of bits and bobs back from our holiday. Postcards, a lot of postcards. I like to use them as bookmarks, or I prop them up here and there around the house on shelves.

That little metal sauna sign, €5 from a shop by the beach in Hanko, sits on the bathroom shelf. The black and white tote bag bag was €2 from Stockmann, a big department store in Helsinki. I picked up the Moomin socks at the airport. They make me smile every time I put them on.

I bought the blue Dala horse at Stockholm airport. It sits nicely between the white and red ones I picked up in Copenhagen years ago.

I couldn't go to Finland and not buy some Marimekko, that most iconic brand. This cushion cover came home with me.

Along with this black and white plate, bottom right. 

I completely fell in love with this green and white Stig Lindberg leaf print, a Swedish classic. A tea towel seemed like a much safer bet than a china cup for the flight home.

It's already in constant use in the kitchen.

Finally, and this was probably my biggest splurge, I bought a Kay Bojesen monkey and he makes me smile every time I look at him. I'm going to crochet a little Christmas hat. 

I printed some photos which have just arrived. I have framed a couple and others will be bookmarks or to stick up around the house.

This may be my best souvenir of all: liquorice, raspberry and caramel chocolate. Utter deliciousness. Apparently there is a shop in London called Scandi Kitchen and they sell it. I may have to seek it out next time I'm in London.

I love bringing back bits and pieces from holidays, such a nice reminder of good memories. Thank you for indulging me with all the holiday posts - normal service will resume soon with lots of every day, autumnal goings on. 

A Stitch A Day: November

November's section of my stitch a day sampler is here. I did find this month hard to squeeze in, without any school holiday giving me the chance to catch up on missed days in daylight hours, but I kept plugging away at it because that time spent sewing, either in the evening or at the weekend, is a lifesaver. Making myself stop and find some quiet time to sit and sew, when life is so frenetically busy, really keeps me on an even keel.

I always think of November as a transitional month, poised between peak autumn in October and the start of winter and Christmas in December. But there are still many things to celebrate and remember, including Bonfire Night, Stir-up Sunday, festive shopping trips and much more.

November, from the edge inwards, brought:

1. takeaway piizza
2. bonfire night
3. parkin cake
4. falling leaves
5. fireworks
6. advent candle
7. toffee apple
8. sparkler
9. yarn
10. pine
11. poppy for Remembrance Day
12. socks
13. late garden dahlias
14. fairy lights
15. hot chocolate with cream and marshmallows
16. flying geese
17. mittens
18. ribbon for wrapping presents
19. mince pie
20. woolly jumper
21. stir-up Sunday
22. flat which mushroom
23. bare tree branches
24. saucepan of porridge
25. cold weather
26. scarf
27. casserole pot
28. haircut and colour
29. gingerbread
30. Christmas shopping

Only December left to sew now, the month I have been looking forward to the most. 

A Stitch a Day: October

October's section of my Stitch a Day sampler is complete and I think it was my favourite so far. All those warm oranges and browns, plus October does gives lots of inspiration for different things to sew. As ever I am trying to capture the personal, everyday parts of my life but also the more generally seasonal things, useful for those days when nothing happens apart from work and sleep. I always start at the outer edge and work towards the centre, and we have: 

1. acorn
2. carrot
3. hedgehog (he lives in the garden under the decking)
4. toadstool
5. butternut squash
6. pine cone
7. sycamore seed
8. bracken
9. oak leaf
10. squirrel
11. sycamore leaf
12. books (ibrary visit)
13. burgers (a parents' evening well done treat)
14. toasted marshmallow
15. rake sweeping up leaves
16. clementine
17. ginger and white chocolate cookie
18. pumpkin
19. wood burning stove (first fire of the autumn)
20. roasted squash soup
21. billy button dried flower
22. boots (my new pair of Doc Martens)
23. pint of beer (London)
24. carousel horse (again, London)
25. pumpkin pie
26. macarons (bought in Greenwich market)
27. shopping bag
28. tulip bulb
29. bat (Halloween)
30. branches (from our gardening and trimming bushes)
31. popcorn (cinema trip to see the new James Bond film)

Blackbirds and Eggs

Hello! Thank you for your kind comments on my last post, helping me out with the identification of my Spiraea "Bridal Wreath/Veil", and generally buoying me up with your kindness and warmth. The Easter holidays are rumbling along quite pleasingly here. Week one was super productive as I powered through my to do list; passports were renewed, admin dealt with, trips made to post office, car garage, vets, and tedious financial jobs attended to. And now John is on holiday and his parents are staying with us for the week, and I've declared myself on holiday too.

Don't be fooled by the glow of morning light on the herbs on kitchen windowsill - while still sunny, it's turned very cold, with a sharp north-east wind cutting through any warmth in the spring sunshine. 

I spent some pleasant hours stitching this blackbird embroidery hoop last week, from the latest spring Craftpod. It's been a long time since I did much hand sewing and I'd forgotten how good it is for me, how much I enjoy the process of the embroidery while my brain can wander here and there, half listening to the radio, half concentrating on the task in front of me. Very mindful, very soothing.

I like this hoop a lot; the colours, the bird, the eggs - it all feels so cheerful and optimistic.

My good luck with second hand books continued this week, when my parents returned from their holiday with some gems for me: a copy of Tender, by Nigel Slater, and two more Observer guides to add to my collection. The copy of Tender is well thumbed and much loved, falling open on well-used pages, but this just makes me want to use it more. The most enchanting parts of the book for me so far are the photos of Slater's incredible garden. Long, narrow and sheltered, it's beautifully planted and feels more secluded than you'd imagine for a terrace in central London, and so much more grown-up than our wide, square lawn, littered with footballs and bordered with shrubs and battered tulips. 

You'll notice a few duplicates in my collection, but happily I've arranged to swap them with friends. It's win-win.

Bella had a friend from school sleep over last week. She took so much pleasure in getting everything ready, making up the beds, choosing snacks, planning what they'd do. She suddenly seemed awfully grown up.

But then I took this photo earlier today at Fort Nelson...

This museum is just a few miles away and we go there so often (it's free and ideal on rainy days) but I still love this room, the kitchen, the best. 

I'm still working on my shawl. It seems to be taking absolutely ages to make, and I think it's going to be really big when it's finished.  I'm really enjoying the pattern and colour pooling though. 

I decided recently that my Easter decorating game could be so much stronger, and bought some wooden eggs with hooks, to hang from an Easter tree. When I say Easter tree, I mean a few dusty old branches of pussy willow that I have had for about four years. I bought these smaller ones and these larger eggs. I really like them plain, as they are, but sprayed a few white and copper for a bit of variation. I might crochet a couple of eggs too, if I have time.

Angus spent £3 of his pocket money on a little travel version of Battleships last week. Every night, he and John are hunched over the kitchen table, plotting moves. It warms my heart.

I'll leave you with a photo of Ziggy and his adorable nose. This was taken in Bella's room, where he'll spend as much of his time as he can, curled up on her bed. He sneaks upstairs early in the morning and she lets him into her room to sleep on the end of her bed. It's a good thing she's an early riser.