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Category Archives: Sunday Sevens


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Sunday Sevens #115

Linking up with Nat from Threads & Bobbins for this week’s Sunday Sevens – sevenish photos of your week showing what your life looks like outside of the blog.

1. The Mollie Makes Comic Relief magazine arrived in the post earlier in the week. I plan on hosting another fundraising ‘Crafternoon’ again this year, as the last one was a huge success (and great fun). Everyone is welcome – it will be 11-3pm on Friday 24th March at my home in North Cheriton, Somerset.


2. One of my students forgot to buy fabric for her next project so I had to improvise with some felt scraps I had to hand. She made this cute little flower brooch in her hour long class.


3. Mr H-L and I went out for lunch to The Grosvenor Arms hotel in Shaftesbury, because sometimes a pub lunch just doesn’t cut it.


4. I just love this little shaker-style egg collecting basket that No.2 Daughter gave to Mr H-L for Christmas. Far too aesthetically pleasing to be hidden away in a cupboard, it sits proudly on display on the dresser.


5. A corner of our house that has never been shown on the blog as yet, for obvious reasons – a neglected shell of a cupboard which is soon to be transformed into a downstairs cloakroom. The builders plan to start in a couple of weeks and hopefully it won’t take too long. I know it’s just a loo, but I want to give it a distinctive look. I just haven’t decided what, yet.


6. The ‘Yoga Jumper’ has been completely finished, ends woven in and everything. It is currently being reshaped .whilst damp. How exactly DO you block a hood, anyway?


7. No.3 Son picked up his abandoned knitting and enthusiastically worked on a few rows before noticing he’d gone wrong. I frogged it back to the mistake and then he lost interest again. I don’t mind – it’s all about encouraging them when they’re in the mood, isn’t it?


8. A gift for a little girl in the family in the making. It’s going to be a fold up, portable doll’s house – a ‘travel doll’s house’, if you like.

That’s it for this week folks!


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Sunday Sevens #114

Time for another Sunday Sevens instalment – linking up with Nat over at Threads & Bobbins.

1. Mr H-L was working abroad for a few days and needed a new suit, so we went to Clark’s Village and had breakfast at Tamburino Village afterwards. No, I didn’t manage to eat it all – it was a huge breakfast!


2. Bekki, from The Dartmoor Yarn Company, set herself a UFO challenge which spurred me on to sew up the hat I made for No.1 Son before Christmas so he could finally wear it.


3. Lovin’ using the blue lidded dish I found in a charity shop a while back. This time it contains homemade smoked salmon pâté.


4. Talking of food, I’ve found my appetite is changing and I can no longer manage three meals a day (an age thing?). Mind you, with breakfasts like these, it’s not surprising I don’t want to eat again until supper time!


5. Does anyone else subscribe to The English Home? I love this magazine and immediately sat down with a coffee to enjoy reading it when it popped through the letterbox.


6. Apologies if this makes you choke on your toast, or if you’ve already seen it on IG, but I’m dressing up as Dolly Parton for my sister’s 50th next month and tried on the wig for a laugh. The fabrics and sequins have arrived and my aim is to recreate Dolly’s Glastonbury outfit, as it is a Glastonbury Festival themed party.


7. So proud of my students’ achievements – Ellie made this adorable little outfit for a baby girl, over the course of a couple of months.


8. Blocking my Teal ‘Yoga jumper’ before sewing it up and starting on the hood. This has been my Winter project this year and I’m pleased to be near the finish line as I have plans for my next project already.


9. Three day’s worth of washing in our house which they all groan about when asked to sort it out. Bearing in mind it’s all been washed and dried for them and the fact that the sum total of my laundry amounts to the pile of knickers on the floor in front of the basket, I’m damned if I’m doing it!

10. Morrison’s café has just reopened after refurbishment, so I took The Boys in there for supper one night after they helped me with the shopping. It’s a vast improvement and, after saying as much to the staff, it seems that they love it, too.


11. I finally found the right shawl pattern for the yarn that Claire hand dyed for me as part of this year’s Stitching Santa gift. It’s the Eyelet Neck Scarf by Allyson Ryan on Ravelry – and it’s free!


12. Couldn’t resist this cute pair of ankle boots from Heavenly Feet.

13. Finally, on Saturday night we went to watch Snow White, a pantomime by the Shipham Players, in which my brother-in-law is heavily involved. It was ace and the seven ‘dwarves’ stole the show as far as I was concerned – head dwarf ‘Grouchy’ being about 6′ 4″!


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Sunday Sevens #113

Sunday Sevens is a weekly blog series started by Nat at Threads & Bobbins to show seven(ish) photos of your week outside the blog.

1. A really cold start to the week with heavy frost and lots of fog. I wish I’d taken pictures of the stunning Hoar Frost, but I only though of it after it had thawed.


2. Some friends were visiting from Australia where they emigrated to six years ago and we went to Stourhead for the day. These two photos were taken before and after the house tour, just an hour apart!


3. A friendly little Robin hopped close enough for a quick snapshot on the ‘phone.


4. Mister’s boxer shorts turned out so well that I’ve made several pairs. (On the blog soon)


5. I ordered a pack of extra labels for that ‘designer’ touch. They came within a week all the way from Canada, which I thought was pretty good going.


6. I cut out another Coco, with another Art Gallery fabric called “Moon Stories Spark”. I love their fabrics with a passion but can only buy plain jerseys from our local shops. Thank goodness for online shopping!


7. This is why Mr H-L likes working from home:)


8. We thought the hens had stopped laying for the Winter – until we discovered this hoard of 46 eggs! It makes we wonder why we went to the trouble of providing them with a warm, dry, cosy hen house and nest box!


9. We went for lunch with a dear friend mid week. The photo I took of him was much better than the one he took of me. Do you think he likes to see his face on my blog, by any chance??


10. Impulse purchase – two lovely books to work through with The Boys. They might even come in handy in the sewing lessons.


11. Below zero temperatures have given way to cold, wet weather. Fifi has spent most of the week here, either in front of the fire or on the actual hearth. She sits there every morning and barks at us until we light it.

I’m hunkering down this afternoon while The Boys are at football. It’s cold, wet and windy outside and they’ve just presented me with a pot of Kusmi before they go. 


That’ll be me on the sofa, feet up with some knitting, while I try to make some headway into the 30-odd episodes of ‘Escape To The Country’ that are currently clogging up the storage on our Sky box.

Life is tough:)


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Sunday Sevens #112

It’s been a few weeks since I last did a Sunday Sevens round-up so, rather than recap on all that’s happened in that time, I’ll start afresh with this last week or so. Linking up with Nat at Threads & Bobbins.

1. Well, except this one – No.1 Son turned 24 a couple of weeks ago and we had a family get together at my mother’s.


2. I was gifted a button box – what treasure!


3. I procrastinated for too long over this fab cocktail cabinet in the charity shop. Went back to buy it, but it had been sold:(


4. A rare pic of my four beautiful (I’m biased) children. Didn’t manage to get them together with my step-daughters at the same time, unfortunately.


5. I’ve been nipping over to my daughter’s new home to do a bit of painting whilst she’s at work. This is the first home that she has bought with her boyfriend, so we’re trying to help where we can as there’s not much money left after the house purchase to buy anything. 

Luckily, the previous owner left lots of solid furniture which just needs updating with a lick of paint. This table has had its first coat.


6. Horse riding selfie! I’m wearing the knitted, sequinned hat that Claire (Mollie & Claire) made me in my Stitching Santa parcel. 


7. Mr H-L bought us matching number plates for our His ‘n’ Hers Mercedes. Cue the mid-life crisis jokes……!


8. Continuing my Teal Phase, my yoga jumper is coming on a treat. Check out the neat raglan sleeve armhole!


9. Sunday Sewing today – I’m making some boxer shorts for Mr H-L from this wicked jersey featuring different ice cream flavours.


10. I NEVER trace patterns as a rule but, as the pattern is sized from young boys up to extra large men’s, thought it would be worth the effort in case I decide to make some for The Boys too.


11. I don’t know about you, but when I’m ‘in the zone’ sewing, time flies and all thoughts of cooking meals go out of the window. Mr H-L rose to the challenge and made a lovely pie from a pheasant that I boiled up last night.


12. Just one last photo to share…..I’ve lusted after a Mulberry Bayswater handbag for years now but could never justify spending so much. Mr H-L only went and surprised me with one for Christmas! If you’re a handbag fiend yourself, you’ll understand:)


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Sunday Sevens #111

As with all of you, I’m sure, these last few weeks have been hectic and I’ve been offline for a large portion of that time. I hope to find time this evening to catch up on some blog reading and see what you’ve all been up to but, in the meantime, here’s my Sunday Sevens.

1. I found this great book in TKMaxx and bought it based on the cover photo!

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2. I’m still at the stage where I want to keep my car spotless. Not sure how long that will last.

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3. Managed to squeeze in lunch and a bit of shopping with my sister. Tambourine Village in Street again – lush!

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4. Our new sofa arrived from Laura Ashley! It’s cranberry crushed velvet and so much cosier than the old leather ones.

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5. It sits opposite the one we got off eBay a few weeks ago. I know, I know – I don’t do minimalism:)

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6. Our village Christmas supper went down very well as usual. Even though I came off the committee in March, I still seem to get roped in to organise things as before as I just can’t say no to people!

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7. We took a ‘plane to Scotland……


8. …..and went to see a pantomime in King’s Theatre in Glasgow.


9. We stayed in a hotel overnight before getting up at 4am to catch another ‘plane to Lapland to meet the real Father Christmas! A separate blog post will follow – eventually:)


10. Back in Blighty a few days later, they opened their new pyjamas. New PJs are a bit of a tradition now at Christmas.


11. For some reason a selfie is a mirror image on my ‘phone, hence the text being back to front, but it’s a pattern review I did for Sewing World magazine.


12. Another Christmas present finished, to be blogged about on Wednesday for the Minerva Crafts Blogger Network.


13. More yarn – I have to make another one for her little sister for Christmas. I foresee a VERY late night or two….


14. Friends joined us for an impromptu evening playing Christmas ‘Hangman’. Cheese and drinks aplenty were consumed.


15. Both of my Stitching Santa parcels arrived! Mine are both posted now, too, so I can relax a tiny bit as another deadline has been reached by the skin of my teeth.


I’m loving seeing all your Stitching Santa updates on blogs and Instagram – keep them coming!
 


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Sunday Sevens #110

1. I bought Mr H-L some festive pyjamas although he always swore he would never wear any. Here he is fast asleep ‘watching’ TV wearing his new PJs. This has been the scene every night since!


2. A crocheted Poinsettia brooch was whipped up in an evening and found its way into one of my Stitching Santa parcels.


3. The reason I straighten my hair – ’nuff said.


4. I went to Amsterdam for a couple of days with hubby on a business trip and had arranged to meet a blogging pal who lives there. Marianne, from marrose-ccc.com, was so lovely and we had a wonderful day going around the yarn shops in Amsterdam. More on that in a separate post.

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5. Mr H-L turned 50 on Saturday, so we had a bit of a party at home with about twenty-five family and friends. This is a quick snap taken before everyone arrived as we forgot to take any photos later on! 


6. The dog’s bed was put as close to the fire as possible but, even with her coat on, Fifi decided it wasn’t close enough and sat on the hearth instead!


7. The Boys are enjoying their advent calendar again this year. Here they are secretly putting Candy Canes on car windscreens for the kids in the village to wake up to. There are less than twenty children in our village, so we could leave an anonymous treat for all of them.


8. Another day, their task was to write a letter to Father Christmas, which they did on headed paper before sending it up the chimney. Can you guess where we’re taking them next week for a few days? It’s a surprise so they have will have no idea until we get on the ‘plane.


That’s it for this week, folks! If you want to see how Sunday Sevens works or maybe have a go yourself, just visit Nat at Threads & Bobbins.


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Sunday Sevens #109

Time for another Sunday Sevens, a weekly blog series dreamed up by Nat at Threads & Bobbins.

1. It seems mini matchbox-sized toys are ‘in’ at the moment, so I’ve made this miniature rabbit and am working on a matching mini bear as gifts for little ones.

2. A little bit of needlefelting has been completed and will be blogged about soon. I used luxury silk tussah which shimmers in the light – beautiful!


3. A sneaky glimpse of another Stitching Santa gift, made entirely from leftover scraps of fabric and ribbon, so is a ‘free’ addition to the parcel.


4. We’ve decided to invest in some of these outdoor fairy light trees for our driveway. Why the wires are only ten metres long is beyond me though, as it means we can only do the bit by the house and I had visions of a dozen trees lining the length of the driveway.


5. Fifi has taken to climbing inside the dirty laundry basket while we’re out, comforted by our smell, I suppose. Because she’s deaf, she can’t hear when we return, so I managed to snap this image of her still curled up fast asleep. When she first did this, we couldn’t find her at all until Tess showed us where she was!


6. A nice pic of No.2 Son after his riding lesson, cuddled up to one of the stable’s many dogs.


7. Bath Christmas market! 


8. Our 22nd annual Christmas shopping trip to Bath, and my daughter and I were joined by No.1 Son’s girlfriend this year. We started with Eggs Royale and Hot Chocolate Orange for breakfast.


9. Mulled wine helped the festive shopping along…..


10. ….and Prosecco with supper in a pub finished the day off nicely.
11. The next day, the two of us popped into Shaftesbury for an hour. You’ll recognise this view of Gold Hill from the Seventie’s Hovis advert.


12. We had coffee in a hotel, where I just had to take this photo of me wearing my Stag’s head Coco dress underneath this ENORMOUS pair of antlers!


13. To top off a fab week of Christmassy stuff, hubby spoiled us both with new cars. Here’s mine – a Mercedes SLK convertible and, no, the novelty hasn’t worn off yet!!


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Sunday Sevens 108

Sunday Sevens is a weekly blog series where you share some moments from outside your blog. You can find out more about how to join in at Threads & Bobbins.

1. My niece is at University so I sent her some money for her birthday (seeing as she is now a poor student!). I wanted to give her an actual present to open as well, so I knitted this bobble hat.

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2. I’ve been working on Christmas gifts this week and have started (and finished) quite a few. This will become a pointless-but-fun dog bandana. Because all dogs should have one.

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3. A couple of hours were spent on a bit of fair isle knitting in Christmassy red and white.

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4. This is the finished thing – a cute little stocking which will go into my #stitchingsanta parcel, the first thing I’ve made as yet. The pattern is a free one by Julie Williams on Ravelry and one I wanted to make last year but didn’t have time. Hopefully, I’ll have time to make some more because they are a joy to knit and quick, too.

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5. Talking of #stitchingsanta, this skein of lace weight baby merino wool is also destined for my recipient. 470 yards should be enough to knit a shawl. I was drawn in by the lovely Autumnal colours and can’t wait to see it made up.

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6. My Winter “selfish knitting” project – a Sunday jumper, for lazy days at home. (I’ve practically lived in my Stag’s head dress since I made it!)

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7. I borrowed this pattern from my sister in law and am substituting with Drops Nepal, 65% wool, 35% alpaca for softness as the recommended Debbie Bliss Cashmerino was too expensive!

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8. I waved goodbye to Mr H-L at 8am this morning, as he is off to London with a 7.5 tonne truck to clear his parent’s flat which has now sold. Sad times, but time to move on.

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9. Ending on a cheerful note – Fifi turned 14 and had a birthday haircut. She didn’t stop shivering the first day, so I nipped out and bought her a festive jumper to keep her warm. She loves it and hasn’t shivered since. And looks totally adorable, to boot!

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Sunday Sevens #107

1. Woke up to another beautiful frosty morning – this is the view through the French doors from our bed.

2. We went to a Christening – the baby slept through being baptised and The Boys were given sparklers by the vicar!


3. The shawl has been sent to its new owner at last! I will do a short post on it in the next couple of weeks but, suffice to say, it was very well received, thankfully.


4. Mr H-L and I went to Clark’s Village to buy him a new piece of cabin luggage for his regular business trips to Amsterdam and, obviously, we had to have lunch whilst we were out.


5. Lunch was fabulous……..but not as amazing as my other purchases:)


6. A fun shot of one of my kids’ sewing classes – yes, we really do have that much fun!


7. Another Christmas commission was completed and sent across the pond to the USA.


8. I found time to help Mum with a commission that she was struggling to find the time to do – a personalised cushion for a baby girl. Definitely girly, but not too babyish, I think.


9. You can’t tell, but this is me having a G&T in our local pub. Fifi likes to sit on a coat on a stool and watch the world going by out of the window.


10. I had some leftover Stag’s head fabric from my Minerva Craft sponsored project and made a cute little hat and leggings for our granddaughter for Christmas. Can you tell that I’m a bit of a stickler for pattern placement?!



11. We went to stay with my brother for the weekend and missed the Remembrance service so watched it on TV instead. This is a photo of our local church in its Autumn dressing. I know – random.


Sunday Sevens is a weekly blog series thought up by Nat at Threads & Bobbins, in which anyone can join. Visit her blog to find out more.


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Sunday Sevens #106

Sunday Sevens is a weekly blog series started by Natalie who blogs at Threads & Bobbins.

  1. A good start to the week – a tidy and organised office!! With Mr H-L, No.1 Son and myself working from home a lot, space to work in comfort is a must.

2. Hallowe’en – The Boys and Fifi went Trick Or Treating. Our village is so small with so few children that we haven’t had a single Trick Or Treater knock on our door in ten years! They went to a nearby town instead and came back with a basket full of goodies, largely due to the cute dog dressed up in a ghost outfit, I suspect.


3. We took an old friend out for lunch mid week.


4. The first frost of the season arrived on Thursday in our corner of Somerset. The heating has now been turned on!

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5. We took Mum out for a pub lunch as she was down for No.2 Son’s birthday.

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6. No.2 Son is now eleven. Homemade carrot cake anyone?

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7. Lovely hubby cooks supper while I teach ’til 6pm on Mondays and Thursdays.


8. Guy Fawkes night was spent in our Village Hall with about thirty others. A short firework display was followed by supper and a quiz and three surprise guests needing a bed for the night!

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9. After a mad week, hubby and I managed to sneak out on our own to buy him a new ‘phone and laptop for his new company.

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10. The Baby Shawl has been sent at last – here’s a pic of it being blocked and a blog post will follow shortly.

11. Commissions all completed and in the post means it’s time for some long overdue selfish sewing! How about this for a dress – mustard jersey with stag’s head print.

I’m now working on the somewhat complicated task of assigning swap partners for the Stitching Santa, albeit a day late. When you get your email, would you please reply so that I know it reached you? Thanks!

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