crafts & knitting · general stuff

back to familiar routines

Mittens

 

Berries

 

Frosty

 

Twigs

 

Kale

 

Lego time

 

Tobyplay

 

The Christmas and New Year break was a good one here. We spent lots of time together watching family films and eating nice things which makes for the best kind of Christmas holiday in my book, especially as Amy is usually out or cloistered with her computer in her room and it was lovely to have a little more of her company. Toby loved his new lego and has been busy chewing it as usual. He's becoming well practiced in the teenage art of long lie-ins and though he's still up each night playing musical beds he was coaxed back to his own bed in the morning with a tray of toast and ginger biscuits and happily snuggled there with his books 'til almost lunchtime while I got on with household chores. Return to routine is always welcome however, Toby copes so much better when things are as he expects them to be and when he copes better we all do. So today feels good as the school term has started and I'm sitting here enjoying the quiet while making lists and getting organised.

The mornings have been cold and frosty here this week so it seemed a good excuse to start the pair of gloves above. They're from a Kate Davies pattern called Snawpaws and I'm knitting them in the unbelievably soft Tynd yarn from Woolfolk which I bought from Loop. They're knitting up nice and quickly so I'm looking forward to wearing them by the weekend.

Well, I'm off to write some more lists and ease myself back into work mode. As usual there's a rather large number of emails in my inbox awaiting a reply so if you are waiting to hear from me hopefully you'll bear with me while I work my way through to yours.

Thanks for dropping in, I hope you've had a good start to the year where you are x

 

 

crafts & knitting · general stuff · in the woods

Mid December days

Wee chip

 

Scarfgrey

 

Greyscrf

 

Greyscarf

 

Socky

 

Well, I'm not doing well with my plan to pop in here more frequently am I? There has been productivity to my days since I was last here though; I'm scribbling notes and testing ideas for a new pattern and have been knitting lots of new animals from the existing patterns too. Having made two recent batches of finished animals has really brought home to me how much I love making them and how I'd like to make more next year, probably seasonal batches with a little theme, so I'll keep you posted here about progress.

There's been so much knitting in my December days, it's the perfect antidote to all of the planning, shopping, preparing and general business that comes with the time of year. The little bunny at the top there was made as a gift for a friend and I'm making a few more as stocking fillers (pattern is my free teeny tiny toys pattern)

I've finished and am wearing the scarf  above, knitted in the beautiful Blend No. 1 from Ysolda. I do love the softness of this yarn and it is wonderfully warm and soft next to the skin. The pattern is the Flora Cowl by Carrie Bostick Hoge but I've made it into a long scarf instead of joining the ends to make a cowl.

Also in my WIPs basket under plenty of bunny bits are lots of personal projects, a pair of mittens, 2 pairs of wristwarmers, a shawl, a scarf, a crochet blanket and 3 pairs of socks – I seem to have finally succumbed to the charm of sock knitting. Goodness knows when any of these will get finished but I'm not in any hurry.

As well as finding peace and contentment in knitting I've also been seeking out silence and solitude in the woods. It's such a perfect place to find calmness and I always come away feeling refreshed. The pictures below are from walks over the last few weeks in Cowheath wood, a mixture of pines and birches bordered by ancient oaks and hornbeams.

 

Woods

Pines - Copy

Bootswoods

Fronds

Frond

Mossy - Copy

Toadst

 

 Well, I'm off to knit a little before the chaos of the weekend descends. Next week will be all about the build up to Christmas, so I expect it will be a busy one for us all. Here's wishing you some peace and calm amongst the chaos and success in ticking off most of your to-do list! See you soon x

 

crafts & knitting

December already!

Christmas mailer

 

If like me you are feeling that December has come around far too quickly this year then you have my sympathy. It's such a crazy busy month stuffed full of plans, preparations and dashing about. I hope that your month goes well and that you get everything done that needs doing with some relaxation time sprinkled liberally in there too.

Weeks have gone by here and I keep meaning to sit down and write a post but something always seems to get in the way. Still, here I am at last and I'm writing today because I've at last finished a small batch of seasonal animals. I've just pressed send on an email to my mailing list so if you've asked to be included in that then you should be receiving it shortly. If you've asked to receive emails and you don't get a copy then it means that your server has blocked my email and you'll not receive future emails from me so will need to subscribe via my 'sign up form' over on the right there if you want to receive future updates.

Five of the animals are up now on my shop blog where as usual they are being sold via random number picker. I'll be closing off comments on monday evening and aiming to get them all posted off by Wednesday 7th December.

 

On blog

 

I hope to be blogging a bit more frequently in future – it's one of the things I have on my vague list of New Year's resolutions and all being well I'll pop back again next week with some of the other projects I've been knitting. 'Til then thanks so much for dropping in, keep well and warm and see you soon x