A New Beginning

Have you noticed my new address?! I finally got around to changing my blog's address to reflect the content. When I started blogging, way back in 2005, 'Flossie Knits' was totally appropriate as I was returning to knitting with a vengeance and discovering other knitters, both online and in local knitting groups (I was living and studying in Newcastle at the time). I'm not sure I've ever written about why I use 'Flossie' as my crafty name: Florence was a name my parents loved, but my Grandma hated it, so I ended up being called Alice, however, my Dad has always called me 'Flossie' and my Mum 'Flo' or 'Floss', so when I came to naming my blog all those years ago, Flossie was definitely going to be part of it; I guess she was my alter ego!Over the last couple of years, my crafting interests have broadened again. As a child, I was always making something and loved trying different crafts: lace-making, cross stitch, knitting, painting. Do you remember Dryad craft kits? I loved them! 'Hart Beat' with Tony Hart was my favourite programme and I loved the 'Blue Peter' craft segments. If my Mum wanted to keep me busy she'd give me a pile of empty boxes, yogurt pots and pritt stick and I'd be occupied for hours! While knitting will always be my first adult crafting love, since buying my sewing machine a couple of years ago, I've really become hooked on sewing. Part of this is down to the sewing blogs I've been reading, they're so inspiring. The availability of beautiful, fresh, modern fabrics has also been a contributing factor; I'm lucky that my local John Lewis now stocks fabrics by Amy Butler, Joel Dewberry and Liberty, among others. Even better than that is my proximity to a lovely quilting shop, 'Creative Quilting', just across the river near Hampton Court. I guess until very recently I didn't think of myself as a 'sewist', I was just a knitter who sometimes did a bit of sewing, but I've had an increasing number of compliments on things I've made and I think I need to accept those and make the most of them!So, here I am, at 'Flossie in Stitches'. I think the name perfectly suits where I am right now in terms of my crafting, embracing knitting, sewing, quilting and the embroidery that is next on my list to (re) attempt. Anyone who knows me in 'real' life will know that I spend a lot of my time laughing, giggling and chuckling; basically, I spend a lot of time 'in stitches'! The projects throughout this long and rambling post are a few of the varied projects I've been working on recently. I'll be posting about each of them in turn soon. I'll also be giving my blog a fresh new look soon, but for now: Welcome to my new home!