It's very difficult to get a decent photograph of your own feet.

I finally finished knitting my socks.

I started them in February. It would be fair to say I am not good at speedy completion.

Dolly sling; machine sewn by ME!!!

I made something on my sewing machine!
Okay, it's only a long rectangle cut out of an old dress, slightly wonkily hemmed all around with a couple of d-rings sewn at one end. But I made it! Hoorah!!

(Excuse Poppy's bizarre headgear - she doesn't consider herself properly dressed without 20 hair decorations and a hat.)

Finished in the nick of time...

... because no one wants a new calendar once January has already started!

It's easy to think you have plenty of time in September, when you recklessly purchase a couple of blank calendars in Lidl.

"That will make a nice Christmas present for the grandparents," you say to yourself. "I can just stick a few photos in, and embellish them a bit."

Then you have to actually find twelve photos. Preferably not all of the same child. Preferably taken at appropriate times during the past year so you can have a summery photo on the June page, and a Christmassy photo in December.
And the kids are sick through most of December and not very photogenic as a result.

And then you have to print them out, and find suitable backing papers for each page.
And then it takes longer than you thought to glue them all in straight. (Or wonky as the mood takes you.)

And you haven't got the right embellishments in your vast box of things, so you decide simple, uncluttered pages would be nice.

But eventually, on 28th December, when the grandparents have all gone home after their Christmas visit, it is actually finished.

Just have to remember to take it to the Post Office tomorrow. And hope Royal Mail can get it there before February!

It's all a bit scary...

This is my Christmas present from my husband Mark.

A sewing machine - eek!

It seemed like a good idea at the the time, but last night I opened it and I'm a bit confuddled.

There are many mysterious bits.

It took me 90 minutes to thread the needle.

I did manage to stitch a 5 cm wonky line on a scrap of fabric eventually, but I may have to curtail my dreams of producing exquisitely beautiful items and practice on square, flat things for a while.

Pompom scarves

Let's face it; knitting a scarf is one of the most boring projects going.

Which is exactly why I love this pompom yarn; knits up super fast and super easy!!

The big scarf is for a Christmas present and has been knitted two or three rows at a time in snatched spare moments, and the little scarf is for Poppy's stocking and took about thirty minutes last night.

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas...

 A greeny blue crochet star...

 ...and a pink one!

 A fluffy lavender and white bauble...
















                                                             ...pink with pearls...

...one with pink fluff (oh, how I hate knitting with that yarn!)...

...and one with star beads.

Ice Art

This was Claire's idea at Now We Are Six.

Take a container - we used some old foil takeaway trays.

Place some leaves in the tray and fill with water.

Put a loop of string in the water.

Leave outside overnight in sub zero temperatures.

In the morning remove from tray and hang up to admire your work of art.

It's -9 here this morning so I think the boys Ice Art will be available for admiration for a while!