That Christmas post...

Well, I think this will be the last post of the year to wish all my blogging friends, readers and followers and very merry Christmas and a happy New Year.

We have a new member of the family! We rescued this darling 9 month old kitten/cat from the RSPCA. She seems to have settled in fine with the exception of the other cat who has taken an instant dislike to her and keeps hissing at her. Hopefully this will stop soon. She is so friendly and cuddly. The name she came with is April but we might change it. Suggestions have included: Brandy, Toffee, Nutmeg, Marmalade, Sandy, Whisky. What do you think she looks like? Should we change her name? Keep as is?

So are we all looking a lot like Christmas now? I thought I would share a few pics with you. It looks pretty much the same as last year to be honest with a couple of minor changes. Less pink on the tree this year and more traditional colours. I must admit, having the decorations up really does something to the atmosphere here. Everything seems calmer and an excitement hangs in the air. Christmas really does seem to have crept up on me unawares this year. I don't normally think about festivities until after my daughter's birthday in November and by then it is Advent and whooosh! it's suddenly here. I think especially now that I am working (in a school environment at that) it really does seem to come quickly. 

Bad picture but this is my stitching tree this year. I had to buy a slightly bigger tree but even this one seems too small for all my ornies. I do have one nearly finished but one ornie is a bit shameful really isn't it? If I get it finished, I will post up a picture. 

Crochet wise, I couldn't resist starting my merino from the inspired post you can find here. Please do go and take a look. I absolutely love her work. So anyways, this is where I am at with it:

I am using the Jan Eaton Willow pattern from her book 200 Crochet blocks which you can find here. Reduced price too at the moment. I am not sure of the lemon colour yet but I am going to add more colours. The colours you see above are all Rico essentials merino. The colours are much better irl as always. It is a lovely yarn to work with - very soft and smooth although it is slightly on the thin side. Here are the colours I am going to add to it:

More Rico on the left column and then Katia pure merino in purples and green. The Katia is so lovely. I will definitely be buying again. I am going to edge each square in cream before joining and I am thinking of a lacy kind of braid join. I will keep you posted about the progress.

Well, the extra merino will form part of my Christmas present from my husband. He couldn't believe I wanted wool for Christmas. I have also purchased a couple of crochet books which are still unopened in the box they came in. I am dearly trying to resist the temptation to open them so at least I will have something new on Christmas day. 

Something new on Christmas day. That for me is what Christmas is all about. Jesus came to give us his life in exchange for ours, creating in us a New Heart. There have been a lot of bad things happening to me this year - if you can believe worse than last year and so it is with certain hope that I am believing for a NEW start this Christmas and New Year and will finally draw a closure on the last crappy, few years. God has done and is still doing a miracle in our lives. A miracle of reconciliation and healing of broken hearts. I am hanging onto His very great and precious promises:

"Then I will sprinkle clean water upon you , and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh." Ezekiel 36:25-26.

So I want to end this post by giving glory to Jesus who is my "reason for the season". 

Have a very merry and peaceful Christmas and a happy New Year. 

Jeepers Creepers.....

How long has it been??? My dearest bloggy friends, I am so sorry for being away so long. All I can say is one word... LIFE! I got busy with stuff. Work, children, marriage, hobbies.... something had to give and sadly, my poor blog got neglected. Part of me wants to scrap this bog and start over - especially since Webshots did away with most of my pictures! Happily, I can say that I still have those pictures. I managed to salvage them from my last computer and save them onto USB. So hopefully one day I will get time to go through my posts and replace them. I also thought about changing my cover on my blog and making my pictures bigger etc but I am not entirely sure where to start on that one. I did ask one blogger who very kindly (cough) didn't even respond (RUDE!!!!). But I am determined that next year I will give this little blog a makeover - somehow... some way... So I thought I would just share a few bits and pieces I have been working on over the last few months and maybe do a couple of posts before Christmas just bringing you all up to speed. How about it?

So, pictured above you can see how my Elmer blanket is coming along. I love, love, love it! It is so bright and cheery and such an easy one to make. I really need to get cracking on it and get it finished as I have quite a way to go on it. I am using the Stylecraft special pack which I used for the Granny Stripe blanket. Same colours - different look.

Okay then. This one is a quick Zigzag blanket I am doing for my son. Just three colours so it is a bit biring to make but he likes it and it is a super simple one for me as well. I am quite enjoying making this. The wool was totally cheapo. It came from Aldi when they sometimes have a wool offer on. Green, blue and cream. He is such a boy boy.

This was a quick, one nighter project when I was feeling cold and really wanted to snuggle up to a hot water bottle but all I have are the pinky, red ones with no covers on! No good! No good at all and so the night was spent using up oddments of wool - nothing special. This was a Made Up on the Spot cover and so I wasn't about to use expensive yarn. I was pretty pleased with the way it turned out and I will definitely be making more of these. I made this one as a tube and then sorted the neck out - decreasing and increasing to make it fit. I finished it off with a scallopy edge and some spotty buttons at the bottom. For a first effort I think it worked a treat.

Here's another project I am working on... A hexie blanket! It might take some time this one. I am using Rico Baby Cotton Soft which is a cotton/acrylic mix which is lovely to work with. I was inspired by something I had seen on Pinterest and wanted to make a similar one. I am making up all the circles first and then joining them together as I go into their hexagonal shape. (ETA - pattern is from the lovely Lucy from Attic24. Find the pattern here.)

I also am collecting Merino yarn too. Isn't it luuurvvvellly!! I want to make something really special with it but am only collecting pastelly shades. I was inspired by this blanket:

which you can find here. So I may well do something similar to that. I need to collect a bit more first though! Well, I have finally succumbed and opened up my own Etsy shop. You can find me here if you want to look at some of my items. I really am just beginning this journey and have a long way to go. I have a lot of marketing to do and marketing is really not my bag. So it is in its beginning stages with more stuff to be added. I really hope you go and have a peek and I am open to Custom Orders. Please let me know if you see anything you like or have any thoughts or tips you can give me. I will be back soon for another update. I promise! Thanks for all who have stayed with me during my busy time. I think of you and your wee blog spaces often. Much love. xxxx