Cogs, Liberty and Socks - a September Furtle

Well, SEPTEMBER! It was nice knowing you but how did you manage to flit by so fast? September is one of my favourite months but, oh my goodness, I felt like I blinked and then missed it this year. But it was a good month in many ways and I trust it was for you too. Here's a quick burst through our doings as we furtle through it, prompted by Mini Archie .

September  was bitten into by a fabulous holiday week and the start of English tutoring again but I still managed to get some stitchy-knitty time in. My creative highlight was definitely the Edinburgh Modern Quilt Guild workshop we were lucky to have with the fabulous Jenny Haynes (Pappersaxsten) this last weekend.  It was the second time Jenny had taught us and this time she deconstructed her Modern Times quilt to allow us to create our own designs if we wished, using the various components .

Jenny's original quilt

This was an introduction to using freezer paper for me (love it!) and much needed revision on sewing curves. I had no great design in mind when I started, preferring to make a few bits and see what grew out of it. Sewing the smaller curves definitely provoked some rich language at times but I'm really pleased with progress so far.

Slow progress but so much fun.

People see different things in Jenny's design - cogs, flowers and even caterpillars- but I'm going with an abstract thistly feel and hope to make a snuggly throw-sized quilt (slowly!) for our campervan.

Watch this space!

Earlier in the month I decided not to start any new projects (save for the workshop, of course) as I have so much to finish at the moment but it came as no surprise to find myself with rotary cutter in one hand and 'The Cutting Garden Pattern' by Krista Hannbury (Poppyprint) in the other. I've loved this pattern since seeing it in the flesh early last year so reasoned that "just a couple of blocks to see how I get on...." would be fine.  So I made three ...

Pretty!

My plan is to sew it in Liberty scraps for the leaves and it will be a great project to pick up and put down. I've really enjoyed the little bit I've done so far.


Then there was garment making. Hmmmmmm. The Lark Tee pattern by Grainline is fabulous but somehow stretchy fabric and I have not bonded. My first attempt saw a rubbish on line fabric choice which was a nightmare to sew but I learned lots from it and now have a perfectly reasonable base layer to wear under fleece for mucking out this winter, so that's great!

Hmmmmmmm

 My second attempt went much better - nice fit, sleeves set in well - but something went awry with the boat neckline and the more I fiddled, the worse it got. Another unseen base layer?

But as I grabbed the neck in despair I had a flash of inspiration! In my grasp, all the surplus fabric was taken up and a reasonable fit began to emerge! I reasoned that if I put in a 'decorative false tuck' I might just get away with it. And amazingly, it worked! Yay!!

Hooray! 

So, imagination saved the day but I think I'll give the stretchy a rest for a while. All good experience ...


And socks. My autumn/winter evening comfort knitting. At one time I was a compulsive sock knitter but hadn't made a pair for a few years. I was surprised at how rusty I'd got and the second is definitely better than the first in this pair but my fingers are already twitching to get started with some stunning yarn I am impatiently waiting for the postie to deliver. You just can't go wrong with socks!

Autumn comfort knitting

Activity-wise, Boo and I have continued to be pretty full on with local hills for our Hill of the Week challenge but our highlight was a birthday trip to the Lake District for some good solid climbing and fell walking. We're aiming to bag all the Wainwright Fells over the next 2 or 3 years and our September week allowed us to get in to some of less accessible fells from home. Boo is now developing into a very competent scrambler and is definitely getting braver although I am always cautious about potential danger when we're in more exposed places. But all was fabulous and, oh, the weather!

The summit of Yewbarrow after a bit of a white knuckle climb

Kippa and Hissy tackle Pike O'Stickle 

Oooo, this gets my fingers and toes itching.....

It was very hard to come back to earth once we got home and we're already planning our next trip.

At home, September is really about getting ready for winter with hay to be bought in and stored, bedding for the ponies to be delivered and stables gutted and made ready for when the weather deteriorates and the gang come in at nights. Sometimes that can be well into November but in recent years early October has seen them snuggled down. Everyone is well although 30 year old Tara gave me a big scare last week when it turned out she'd got a bee sting in her mouth (for goodness sake!) and a horrible allergic reaction built up over the day. It really did look serious but a steroid jab and an anti inflammatory jab saw her shouting for her feed bucket within a couple of hours!

The Boss

Wild Child Jackdaw continues to wreak havoc and her latest game is to dismantle the pipe bringing the water supply into their field. We've seen her pick up  the pipe at a join so that it pops apart and water squirts in her face. She enjoys that. Strange girl ...

Wild Child Jackdaw on the left

And Murphy is Murphy. A tad fat after slobbing round the field while we were away but utterly gorgeous in a Murph type of way. He has decided that he is now scared of sheep, which is a bit of a challenge when you consider where we live. Strange boy ..... but I do reckon he's playing on it.

Murphy Muppet after a hard day's stuffing his face....

So, that's it from me. Let's see what October brings but here's me and Boo wishing you a very happy one. Thank you for reading and thanks to Mini Archie for getting us furtling.

Sue and Boo xx

@sue_and_boo