and it is August;

after a very brief mini heat wave a couple of weeks ago, 

the weather has settled to what they call "normal for the time of year", mostly quite pleasant. 

Which means some quality stitching time in the garden.

This week I made another (no 13) block for Quiltmania BOM quilt,

and finished sections 7 & 8 (out of 18) of Bohemian Rhapsody wrap.

For those new to my blog, this is a crochet design by Mary Lena Lynx, for Renaissance Dyeing, using their Merino Lace yarn in 75 shades and no 3mm crochet hook - yes, a long job.

The garden is looking great now, with sunshine and the odd rain, it has managed to catch up.

Even the figs are growing.

This is where DH and I are spending lots of our time.

When it was too warm for stitching, I was doing some reading, and the one book I really would like to recommend, is this one, All The Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr.

It is a beautiful story, so well written, I just could not put it down.

Shane wrote about it on her blog earlier this year; thank you Shane, for the tip.

The author is new to me, but I like his style of writing, and 

found a couple more secondhand books by him.

I look forward to reading them.

Do you remember our new garden acquisition earlir this year, a selection of violas?

They have come on beautifully, quite a show.

They are so pretty and some of them have a lovely scent too.

Have a wonderful week!

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2016

more of Bohemian Rhapsody

Firstly - welcome to my blog, specially those of you who have found my blog for the first time!

This week I finished parts 5 & 6 of the wrap,

and this is how the first 6 parts look joined together - about 50 cm in length so far.

When I was laying out the lunch table for the family "get together" yesterday, I remembered my spring patchwork table centre, which I made about 4 years ago. 

Just the thing to brighten up the table.

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2016

Les Fleurs du Mardi 1 & 2, and Bohemian Rhapsody

What was I up to this week, besides keeping warm in my kitchen?

I finished second (no 1) block of "The Tuesday Flowers" BOM by Quiltmania, just ready for the next two blocks to be released next Tuesday. 

2 blocks are being published every last Tuesday in a month - free to download from Quiltmania website .

I also finished units 3 & 4 of the Bohemian Rhapsody Wrap,

ready to be joined to units 1 & 2,

and started to work on unit 5 (of 18 in total)

Happy stitching!

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2016

I have made a start

on the Bohemian Rhapsody Crochet Wrap and I finished the first unit (or block).

There will be 18 units all together, 

crochet in lace weight fine lambswool,

using hook size 3mm.

It is wonderfully soft to the touch.
For more details about the wool and pattern see my blog post on the 19th of May.

It is a long time since I did any crochet, so it took me the first square to get back into it, but I am well away now.

Unit 1,

not yet blocked out or pressed.

The squares are joined together as I go along, which means that there is not going to be any sewing together at the end,  I like that.

It is the last day of May, a confused month, which thought it was April, judging by the weather we had.
Today is not much better; we did well to have some sunny spells during the week.

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2015

slow month, but a new challenge is here

Being spoilt by warm April, we are now shivering in cold winds and heavy rain showers and only dreaming about stitching outside. 

When the sun comes out, it is wonderfully warm, but only short lived. 

It looks much better looking from inside out.

My stitching has slowed down also. 

Oh, I have plans and intentions, but just can't get going.

All that rain has made our little garden look very green, 

but now we need to add some colour to bring it alive.

When I finished my Afghan Knit-a-Long, one of my lovely followers said that she too always looks forward to finishing a project, but then she miss it.

And that is just what has happened to me this time; not having knitted for some time, I forgot the enjoyment of handling good wool. The Afghan was a large project and I surprised myself how quickly (for me anyway) I finished it. I still have another knitting piece on a go, but I have arrived to a rather boring part, which is not so much fun, so the going is slow.

But a new challenge has arrived in a form of a parcel from France, from Renaissance Dyeing,

"the home of naturally plant dyed yarn and threads".

I bought embroidery threads from them before, so I knew how lovely they are.

This time I decided on a rather large new project, and a true challenge -

 crocheted "Bohemian Rhapsody Wrap" .

The design is using all 75 naturally, hand dyed shades of very fine, beautifully soft lace lambswool,

and crochet hook 3 mm.

I used to crochet quite a bit, but that was years ago. Now well out of practice, this is a real challenge for me, so don't hold your breath, it will take some time!

The design is by Mary Lena Lynx and you can read more about it on her blog .

How is your month going?

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2015