Anyway, as usual, a little late but I hope you all got nice xmas prezzies and it occurred to me that I'd never posted a pic. of my xmas tree...
(and no, it doesn't fit on one photo!)
It's actually a darn sight tidier than previous years 'cos I got my eye on these red shiny flock baubles and bought bucketloads back in October from B+Q. Hence the lack of red tinsel (need to get some more in different colour) as it's what usually gets thrown into the mix.
It also gives me the opportunity to show you my favourite decoration, bought with two others at the Christmas Shop in Salzburg, Austria many years hence...
The tree topper was from there too, it has the words to silent night in German. I always enjoy putting these out, they were expensive (well, they are hand-blown glass!) and I breather a sigh of relief when they come out of storage unscathed each year.
Santa may have brought me a prezzie or two, here's my favourite yarny one...
It's a kit for the Hanne Falkenberg Mermaid Cardigan in the colours shown. I was torn between this one and a brighter version but on reflection, this was more versatile to be dressed up or down. 'Sides, now I have the pattern, I could knit it again in 4ply yarn. I will show you the rest of the crafty goodies when I have more time including thr new books, the cute sheepy purse from mel, the lovely batt from Debs...
I have not exactly been idle during the festive season, whilst it's true I don't have to cater for the masses or indeed cook Christmas dinner or Boxing day buffet, I put my llimited energies to other matters...
...This is a brand new bookcase reserved online and purchased from the Bromborough Argos on Boxing day lunchtime to be carted home, assembled and then the painstaking process of filling ensued.
To explain, my books are downstairs in my cluttered (to put it mildly) back room. There isn't room to put an extra bookcase there hence this one is upstairs in the (slightly less) cluttered back room. So, there was a couple of hours of lugging armfuls of heavy hardbacked books up the stairs then painstakingly ordering them according to height in the appropriate shelves. What's really scary is that. apart from the paperbacks on the top very short shelf, they're all my knitting books/magazines with a wee sprinkling of spinning, dyeing and crochet thrown in for good measure! And I still need to track down a few extras...and put some form of organisation into what's there...But on the plus side, when people ask me for a book, I'm much more likely to be able to lay my hands on it!
I haven't laid my needles aside during this festive period, in the evening and quieter days with laptop handy, I have been doing this...
In a spectacularly thought out KAL from Moni (she of Dem Fischer Sin Fru shawl and many others), this Christmas special began on Christmas eve with a second clue on Christmas day and a third on Boxing day. Not too big and whilst I haven't finished all of clue 3, the next one is only due today with the fifth on the 31st to give people who work time to catch up. Then they go to weekly on a Friday and it's been great fun so far. The second and third clues had an easy-to-remember repeat section so the charts are not huge but the pattern is still entertaining. I will let you know if this pattern becomes available for sale if you're interested because I have really enjoyed making time for it. The yarn is a much-abused skein bought from ebay, originally in a Fiddlesticks knitting kit so most likely Zephyr laceweight. It was the only thing wound at the time I was casting about for a suitable yarn at 9pm on Christmas eve and meant I could get started straightaway but I'm loving knitting with it. As it's a pale green, I anticipate a paint job at its completion...gentle of course!
And as that project's not exactly portable, the Hug coat's at that crucial non-portable stage and the new Galaxy cardi is having sizing teething problems, I cast on something new...
Originally a non-taxing self-designed slip stitch pattern that wasn't going particularly well, I frogged it back to the rib and hunted for a pattern in one of my new books, namely, Knitting Socks With Handpainted yarn. It should have been halfway down the leg by now but unfortunately, I was seduced by a two-row pattern that in my opinion is EVIL!!! I mean, how hard can it be? Two rows, ten stitch pattern, I have spent an average THREE HOURS knitting two rows! Still, fingers crossed, I have kicked the curse, I am now on the third row (but keep your fingers crossed for me....).
And with that I will leave you for now to return sometime in the new year where if I make any resolutions at all, they'll be alterntive as I'm not sure I've actually completed any from this year!
1 comment:
Your mermaid cardigan looks like it will be gorgeous! I look forward to seeing it knit up. I love the colors too. Is that the colorway you got?
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