Giveaway and Latest Book Purchases

Is time really speeding up or what! I intended to do this post early part of the week but here we are and it's Friday again - I can't believe it! Anyway, welcome to you all and I trust that the week has gone well for you - I've been trying to keep up with all your posts that have been happening but I think I'm a wee bit behind again - so much time spent on the computer but I do get a kick out of seeing all your pics of wonderful makes and lovely blooms and places, and I love hearing of your adventures in daily life, thank you for sharing! I also thank each of you for your lovely messages - you know I thrive on them!

I have had a couple of lovely surprises in the past week or so - I am very fortunate to have won two lovely giveaways - the first surprise news came from Judy   and her lovely gift is 'winging its way to me' even as I type, but it does have a long way to fly - and then a day or so ago I heard from Deb regarding a gorgeous pattern that will also soon be mine! I can't show you these yet but will do when they arrive; thank you so much lovely ladies, I feel very blessed by your kindness!

At the weekend I was taken with an urge to knit something for a little girl, and at the same time thought it would be a nice thing to do for a giveaway, so I did! There's love in every stitch of this little garment for I really wanted to do it and really enjoyed the whole process!

I think that most of us have a little girl in our lives somewhere - whether she be daughter, niece, grand-daughter, friend or neighbour ... ...  so if you feel you would like to have this cardi for your little sweetie then you are welcome to join in the fun. Just leave me a message and I'll draw a name from a hat, on say, Sunday 20th of October at 5.00 pm Australian time! I'm happy to mail this off overseas or locally and will notify the winner and ask for mailing address when the time comes around.

The yarn used is 100% Australian pure wool in 8 ply, and is machine washable (gentle of course) and measurements are: 54cm chest; 32cm length; 20cm sleeve length (underarm). It's supposed to fit a 12-24 month child but I'm sure it would easily fit a 3-year-old. Of course children vary in size too so - who knows!

Right, what's next! Ah yes, I haven't shown you any of the book purchases I've made in the past few weeks so here we go - I know it looks like a lot of money has been spent here but not really, I did find a couple of bargains among the bunch:

You probably know by now that I have an ongoing love affair with fairies, and, as I'm also  interested in trying out ribbon embroidery, (sometime when I can find more hours in the day), these two books looked like a good idea. I'm not disappointed in the least, they are really lovely and will be very beneficial when I can set the time aside to concentrate on them. Front covers in first pic and below that you see the back covers of both.

I also found a Cath Kidston book, which a lot of you will probably be familiar with already, as well as a lovely publication by Alice Butcher and Ginny Farquhar:

I'm not doing 'real' reviews of these as it is easy enough to look them up on Google if you are interested in learning more about them, but I did just want to say that each of these books is full of inspiration and could be most helpful, especially at this time of year when we are looking for ideas with Christmas gift making.

 Having said that, I am showing you quite a few pics of 'Little Sew and Sew' by Christine Leech which I found only yesterday, and which I absolutely LOVE! Inside the covers of this lovely publication are  quite a few ideas that I'd like to adopt for the Sunday Stitchalong which I've been so enjoying, along with Chrissie and other friends. This is a very very sweet book!!! 

Alright, that's the books done with and now for a couple of little blooms to cheer you on your way! We had an empty pot that was crying out for a new plant so Hubby went off and bought a lovely new rose  aptly named 'Blushing Knockout' - and isn't she sweet!

And this bloom is the Clematis, but, although she gives us a beautiful bloom once or twice in the season, she just doesn't seem to grow or make any other progress, so we are always excited to see her showing off. This gorgeous flower has actually got bigger since I took the pics, but she was past her best before I had opportunity to snap her again - mainly due to the weather! Enough said on that subject!

Have a lovely weekend all you lovelies out there, and I'll be looking forward to hearing from you again soon.

❤Joy xo