A New Stomping Ground

Hello friends! Well, I've made it safely to my new place in Southampton. Sunday was a very busy day. My parents drove all the way from Glastonbury to help me move my stuff. They're storing most of it in their outbuilding until I find a more permanent residence. 

It was strange to see my room in Winchester completely bare. I felt a little sad as I closed the door for the last time, but I know I'm moving onwards and upwards. Plus, I know I'll see my former housemates regularly. They're not getting rid of me that easily!

I've settled into my new room here. I'm having to live out of my suitcase, but I can cope with that. I've got a cupboard and fridge/freezer space all sorted, so I'm perfectly content. I managed to get some stitching in last night, here's how Miss Peepers is looking . . .

I start my new job in just under a week. I'm quite looking forward to going back to work actually - more money for stitching supplies! Keeping within the SFS budget of course :P

Best wishes,

 

Stitch From Stash Update: June

Good morning fellow stitchers :) I'm back again for another SFS update, this month has certainly flown by. I have finished the cross stitching on White Magic, but I'm yet to do the backstitching. I unearthed a Solo project from awhile back that I'm halfway through the backstitching on. But I'm afraid I've packed up both of these projects in preparation for my move to Southampton, so no pictures to share.

I haven't spent any money this month, but I do have a new start to show. This is how far I've got with LHN's Miss Peepers, a chart I bought in my first stash splurge a couple of months back.

I'm using some of the allocated DMC colours, but not all of them. This was supposed to be a project for Southampton but I couldn't resist starting a bit early!

In other new, I got the job! I'm going to ALDI today to sign the contract and I start in about a week and a half. I'm so pleased! It's so exciting to be moving to a new city and starting a new job and finally beginning the next chapter in my life :) So yes, I've been packing up a storm. I'm limited to one suitcase for the summer, so I had to severely condense my stitching stuff. I've narrowed it down to this . . .

Box of Anchor threads so I've still got a varied choice, but it's not as bulky as my DMC boxes. A selection of fabric, a hoop and a thread holder. A cute mouse kit and a couple of other charts. Miss Peepers is in the project bag at the front, which also contains needles, pin cushion and scissors. 

This is what I've got to last me three months over the summer, before I get my own place and can move all my stuff in. Hopefully it will all last for that long!

I hope you're enjoying warm, sun-filled days, just like we are in the UK. Best wishes to all,

Phew!

Gosh, what a crazy time it's been lately. At one point, I was set to move in with another girl in Southampton. We'd signed for a flat, got really excited about the whole thing and were making plans for moving day. The next thing I know, we've lost the flat because another estate agent outbid us on rent and the other girl doesn't want to live with me any more. I can tell you, it was very frustrating to go straight back to square one. All I wanted was a modest home and a steady job, I can't believe how hard it is to achieve that. It got me down for awhile.

But things are on the up. Yesterday, I attended a group interview for ALDI (a discount supermarket) and I'll hear back about the job within the next seven days. Fingers crossed! And I now know where I'm living for the next three months too. I'm moving into Lawrence's shared house and taking up a room there whilst the girl who owns it tours India over the summer. It's literally down the road from where I will be hopefully working at ALDI. 

It's such a relief to get my life finally in some sort of order. I know where I'm heading now and I'm feeling much less anxious.

Onto the good stuff! Whilst all this housing and job madness has been going on, it's been wonderful to escape with my stitching. I've made a fair amount of progress in the last three weeks, I've only got a tiny section of stitches left to cross.

Just a few more rows, then it's on to the backstitching. It would be great to get this finished and framed before I move, but I'm not sure how likely that is. I'm just stitching whenever I get a chance. 

So today, I'm attempting to pack up my room. I was dreading going through all my stitching stuff, but then Mel said to me, you never know what treasures you might unearth! I'm off to do some treasure hunting :)

Best wishes,

 

Stitch From Stash Update: May

Wow, I can't believe it's been two weeks since I last posted. The past fortnight has flown by. I've been out celebrating my finished degree by eating meals out with friends, going on day trips with Lawrence and attending lots of parties! I've had such so much fun, but now it's time to re-focus and get my head in order. Now the real adventure begins :)

Today I'm here for another SFS update. I haven't needed to spend any money again this month. Only one project has got my full attention at the moment, and at the rate its going, I don't think it will take me long to finish it. Here's where I'm at with White Magic . . .

I hope to catch up on my blog reading in the next few days, I can't wait to see what everyone has been working on. I'm sorry for my lack of consistency, it appears I've lost a couple of followers due to lack of updates. I'm afraid I can't make promises, I just post when I can and when I have something worth sharing :)

Best wishes to all,

 

The End is Nigh

Hello friends! I left it longer than I meant to from my last post. But I'm here now for a jolly good catch up :)

I have now handed in my final assignments for University. So technically, I'm all done, although I won't officially finish until the end of term in June. It's a weird sensation to have finished with University. Of course I will be sad to leave, but I'm so looking forward to the next chapter. I'm currently applying for jobs in this area and flat-hunting as well. I'm also spending these last few weeks socialising a lot and making sure I spend as much time as possible with my Uni friends. 

I'd like to thank you all for your kind comments and emails regarding my life at Uni. You're all so generous thinking of me and wishing me well. I've been blogging for so long, I remember telling you all about results day and getting into Winchester in the first place! Thank you so much for sharing this journey with me, your encouragement means a lot :)

As a treat to myself for finishing all of my assignments, I bought an official Winchester hoody to commemorate my time here. It's really cosy!

Time for a stitching update! The only thing I've been working on recently is White Magic. I can't seem to put it down :) I have got a bit more time on my hands now to work on other projects too, but I'll just share a pic of my lovely wolves today . . .

I'm onto the third section, with only one quarter to go after that. And then it will be time to tackle all the backstitching! I think this piece will look great when it's all finished up :) You know I'll have framed pieces all over my new flat when I settle in. Hopefully, that won't be too far off in the future :)

Best wishes to all,

 

Stitch From Stash Update: April

It's that grand time of the month again. And for the first time this year, I actually have some stash spends to report! Me and my house mate made an order from 123Stitch and these are the goodies I received.

3 packs of clearance stickers to add to my Europe 2013 scrapbook. (I had to buy them immediately, in case the store ran out of the matching ones!)

32ct Light Mocha Belfast Linen

Country Cottage Needleworks - The Needlework Shop

Little House Needleworks - Miss Peepers

Just a small stash enhancement, but it really made me smile. I can't wait to get started on the new charts. So, my grand total was (not including posting and darn custom charges we were forced to pay) . . .

£21.81

Out of a total of £100 I could have spent this year, I've only spent £21.81 of it. I'd say that's a pretty good track record :) And I've still got plenty of items in my stash to work on, so I don't think I'll have to buy anything else this year, maybe just a couple of thread colours. 

Onto the stitching update!

Current WIPs:

White Magic is coming along beautifully. I'm enjoying this piece so much, I've even got into the swing of the blended thread sections. I'm nearly half way through this piece, nearly onto the second set of pages. 

Finished WIPs:

This is my latest finish - Country Cottage Needlework's The Tea Room. I hope to finish the three charts of this set that I have in order to frame them to decorate my new home in the summer. I don't quite know where I'll be living yet, but I know I'll have some pretty pieces to decorate it with!

I also finished up this cute hippo as a gift for my sister.

I'm nearly finished with my last assignments and then I've got a bit of free time heading my way. You can be sure I'll be spending lots of time stitching this summer!

Best wishes to all,

 

Our Easter Holiday

Hello everyone. I hope you all enjoyed the long Easter weekend. I had a wonderful time in Devon with Lawrence and his family. I thought I would share a couple of photos of my trip, taken with my new camera :) There's no stitching on offer today I'm afraid, so feel free to skip! :P

The view from our bedroom window.

Saturday was spent walking to Lynmouth. The sun was shining and the views were spectacular.

You can just see the rest of the group in the distance. I kept falling behind :P

Me and Lawrence at the top of the first hill - excuse our wind-battered hair!

It was so lovely to see spring lambs in the fields. 

Lawrence being champion of the world at Woody Bay.

I think this was my favourite picture from the trip. I do love being out in the countryside.

I'll be back soon with my next SFS update. I've finally spent some money, I know, shocking! I'm currently working on White Magic and I'll have a pic of that up soon too :)

Best wishes to all,