Animal Swap

I've organised a swap for the Knit Love Sock Club over on Ravelry. It's been keeping me rather busy and I can't yet put anything up here about the parcel I'm sending off because its all hush hush!

It has an animal theme open to interpretation with the aid of the questionnaire reply from the allocated swap partner. So, here's what I've made to send off this week:

Nothing to see here I'm afraid, not until 'she' gets it!

Nice Stash Prize

Lucky, lucky me... this is what I reecieved in the post recently as a prize for my Advent Challenge win (the recyled birds). It's a very nice skein of walkers sock yarn in a soft heathery shade of lilac/greyish which I shall now deliberate over to make something lush from.

Another Hat

After all those hats, I decided to make myself another one using some Colinette Art that was sitting looking at me. It was an entirely made up as I went along job, but this time I made some notes as I went along. I intend to write them up as a pattern at some point soon. I was after something that would  show off the wool which seemed likely to disguise a complex pattern. So this is what I came up with:

Hats and More Hats

I've been knitting hats for my SIL who is battling her way through Chemo. It seems a vaguely useful thing to do when there's frustratingly little that you can do. The good news is that she is just over hjalf way and things are looking good. She is a tower of strength and very much a lesson to all of us.

This first one is a Tretta Hat knitted in some beautiful Skein Queen Opulent cashmere which was very kindly donated to me by a fellow Knit Love club member.

This one was a lovely pattern to knit: a cotton Coline

and finally a Pi Topper in some nice silk yarn which between them should cope with all levels of chemo induced sensitivity I hope. This then led on to further hats emerging:

A Woolly Wormhead Brownie, sized up for my daughter and minus ear flaps

A further Tretta with beads for my mum

and finally a made up as you go along style hat for me. 

Knit Love Club - Crowley Socks

Alice's final installment of the Knit Love Club 2010 was a quick cabled sock which fits really nicely. While I did nearly come to blows with winding up the yarn (which was the biggest mess ever and took three evenings and a few curses to unravel) I must say that it won me over in the end. A Verb for Keeping Warm's

Annapurna Cashmere Yarn is a great yarn, soft, but strong and I suspect it will wear well.

 

Recyled Christmas Birds

These were my first go for the Advent Challenge. Three little birds made from an abandoned cardigan back that I was making, felted in the washing machine and left over scraps from my material and button box. They were not quite Christmas Robins, not quite Three French Hens:

Amazingly they won, which was such a lovely start to the New Year.

Fused Bag Christmas Decoration

There was an advent recycling competition in Ravelry, each person creating some kind of ornament from recycled materials during the advent period and putting it up on the allotted day. There was a really brilliant innovative response from everyone- some great uses of materials and ideas.
I made this out of left over fused plastic bags (see how to here), which were cut into chunky strips and then sewn together.

After fusing I cut the strips so that there was one small strip, then three pairs of strips that were progressively longer than the last pair.

Using a thimble I sewed them together at the top ordered large to small and then out to large again. I secured them with large, odd buttons.

Holding the bottom all together produced the curved shapes which were then all sewn together in a similar fashion.

I then added a string of beads made from broken necklaces/ bracelets and hung it up with a long loop and button on the end.

The Annual Gingerbread House

Each year my daughter and I make a gingerbread house in the few days leading up to Christmas with the final decorations on Christmas Eve. The one above was the first one that she actually participated in as she got old enough. It always proves good fun, with me under general instruction with the icing bag and her being in charge of what goes where and sticking on/ eating leftovers.

These are versions from past years:

The playmobil santa making its first appearance, along with the discovery of battery powered lights.

Last year ambitions were high as she decided that she wanted a castle.

This year we made Santa's grotto with an interior filled with a tree, fire, parcels and decorations, outside Santa was waiting just about to set off on his sleigh:

Of course one of the best parts is breaking it up on Christmas Day and eating it.