Tulips (but not from Amsterdam)

I have literally just finished the tulip scissor keep by Sue Hawkins!! I took it to my parents' house as planned, finished the main stitching areas on Friday night, made the cord, tassel and started stitching it together on Saturday then... not a lot!! I'll explain why shortly!

I had a lovely weekend. Friday night we ate at home, and chatted in front of the TV. Saturday mum and I left the men in front of the rugby and headed in to Lincoln for a spot of shopping. I needed some tops and jeans another size smaller (yes, I've now got to the point in my weight loss journey where I've run out of smaller sizes in my wardrobe - this is going to get expensive!!). I work out my current size in Monsoon, my favourite shop. I started out struggling to fit into a size 22 top (US size 18), and a comfortable size 22 bottom (always needed a larger top, shall we just say I'm quite well endowed?). Anyway, I tried on (and fitted in) size 16 bottoms (US size 12) and size 18 tops!! I even found a size 16 tunic that looks great - I suspect a size smaller fits because it's baggy though. I should stress this is Monsoon sizes, I'm a size 20 top elsewhere still. BUT I've not bought ANY clothes in a size 16 in maybe a decade. I dutifully put the £45 jeans that looked fabulous back on the rail, and bought a pair for a tenner in New Look :)

That evening we went out for pizza to celebrate my Dad's birthday. Pizza Express in Newark doesn't really live up to their usual high standards, and the upstairs section has dreadful acoustics - you can hear the conversation on the table opposite perfectly, but not the person next to you... Made for an interesting evening, especially when my Dad and Eddy started to talk about the table opposite to see if they could hear us!! Nutters.

Saturday Eddy and I went into Nottingham and did a little more shopping, did a few errands, including a brief visit to Eddy's flat and his work before heading back to Leeds. Thankfully with Eddy in tow - when we got back we discovered the back door had expanded badly in the damp and it took 45 mins to chisel and pull bits of wood off the bottom so we could shut it. So Monday morning we had to order a new door before heading off to work (it's very rotten). Last night I did a few stitches in a second ornament for the TWCOE. So I didn't finish the tulip scissor keep until tonight. And here is it in all its glory:





I really enjoyed stitching this piece, and might have to buy another Sue Hawkins piece next time I see her at a needlework show (Harrogate perhaps?).

Thanks for popping by my blog - I've been looking at the stats recently, and am amazed how many people seem to pop by my little corner of the internet!