Tuesday at the Sewing Machine

January is turning out to be a month of serious crafting.  After spending Tuesday morning catching up with all sorts of paperwork and online reading/banking/bill paying, etc., I headed up to the sewing room to do some work on our double quilt.  The previous day I had cut lots of strips of fabric to make up the front of the quilt and I'd pinned a few strips together.  I wanted to get straight on and start sewing them together as the sooner it is finished, the sooner we can get the benefit of it.

All was going pretty well until I broke my last two machine needles, having completed two thirds of it.  I was a bit annoyed with myself, as it would have been great to have actually completed the top, but it was not to be.  I duly sent off for some needles from eBay, as I had a few pounds in my account to spend.  Delivery was estimated for Monday next, so sadly for now I will have to stick to hand sewing for the remainder of this week so the Christmas lap quilt will be getting all of my attention for now.

Talking of which, it is progressing pretty well.  To take a long term view, I made the decision to try to complete at least 4 blocks per week.  This means I could feasibly complete 200 over the year if I needed that many, but I really don't think that I will need this amount.  A couple of hours in front of the TV at night and I can complete one or two and attach them to the blocks already sewn together.  It makes it quite enjoyable that way, to see it physically grow day by day, week by week.

Finally, on the subject of making, I treated myself to some wool from Lidl this week, as they had some on offer.  It was £3.99 for 4 x 50g balls and it is beautifully soft and chunky, which is just what I was looking for to make a new snood and hopefully some more fingerless mitts.  As there is supposedly enough here to make a short cardigan, I'm hoping there will be enough for the above.  It's a lovely dark grey colour and although 60% synthetic, it is also 20% New Wool and 20% Alpaca wool.  As I very rarely buy wool I don't know if this is a good combination or good value, but it seemed so to me.  The proof will be in the washing, which you can apparently do at 30 degrees.  Here's a photo of it.

I had seen some lovely large chunky balls of wool in Hobbycraft which were big enough to make a snood, but I would have needed to pay £5 for one, plus another few pounds to get some 10mm needles.  As I currently have some 7/8mm needles for this wool, this was a slightly cheaper option.  Hopefully, it won't be one I regret.  Perhaps my February make can be a knitted one to add a bit of variety.  I'll keep you posted as ever.