Christmas wishes ... x

 

May I wish you all a very merry Christmas ... may it be full of much laughter and love!

 

Enjoy!!

 

xxx

Yuletime Blessings ... ! x

Image courtesy of Google

Aspects of Yule

(poem by: Zephyr Lioness )

Time of deepest darkness
The God is born anew
Seedling in the frozen earth
Awaiting springtime dew.

The ground, an icy wasteland,
Though neighbors hearts are warm
We share our goods with everyone
So no one comes to harm.

Snow lies on her shoulders
Frosted mantle for her hair
Winter's Queen is giving birth
The Goddess, always there

The sun is growing brighter.

It happens every year
Promising return of light
For sod and oak and deer

Stag King, his mighty antlers
Rising from a drift
Leaps for the hunter's arrow
Just as strong and swift

He knows his time has ended
He is heading to the plain
Where joy caresses memory
Like softly summer rain

New fawn takes his first step,
The buck he will become.
After the time of knowing
A new year has begun

My little owl ... x

Hello again ... I hope your Monday has been delightful, mine has been delicious as it was our Christmas Lunch at work ... I am so full now!!

 

I wanted to show you my little owl that I created last night ... my own little design ... this is a little ta dahhhhh ...!1

 

 

Little owl and her friends arre going to be popped into crackers I am making for my family, each one will be unique and I love her!!

 

Prilly has also taken a liking to her ... so I have to keep her safe and sound up high!!

 

I hope you love her too ... I need to create others now so its time to see if the pattern works again!

 

Wish me luck!!

 

xxx



Ideas ... ! x

Hello again,

 

To today has been truly lovely, I began with a mooch around the Christmas Craft Fair at the Museum and also the monthly Local Produce Fair in the town.

 

As ever, I walked into town down one of my favourite footpaths, there is a view over the town at one point that always takes my breath away.

 

 

The view unveils itself as you wonder down the foorpath ...

 

 

Until you see all the town stretched out before you, the museum is by the church and thats was where I was headed ... the mist is following the river.

 

The Local Produce Fair is wonderful, theres the butcher and the bakers ... and even the candlestick makers! Yes, really can I introduce you to Rebecca Harris she is a self taught woodturner and did what many of us dream about in our craft. She gave up a job to concentrate on woodturning which involved learning the craft to developing her own products which are beautiful!

 

From Rebecca today I brought a lovely little woodturned snowman for my tree ... you'll find him on the above link!

 

Then after speaking to Rebecca I wondered into the Museum and into the Copperpot which specialises in 18th Century food and a delightful shop. I had to try soem gingerbread which was made following an 18th Century recipe and was delicious ... Mmmmm! So I had to by the mix to make some myself!!

And after all that a coffee and a slice of yummy cake was needed.

May I now talk about the ideas I have ...

A friend and I would love our little town to have an identity we have Ludlow locally which is known for its food, Hay on Wye for its books and we think our little town could become a destination for its craft.

I would love to develop further what I do with my crochet I would love to share the craft with others and let its popularity grow and grow as has already begun.

I would love to teach crochet.

I would love to design my own crocheted creations.

I need to be more creative.

Initially there was a possibility of having a workshop in the Museum, but couldn't commit to the time needed to be at the Museum as I couldn't give up the day job ... !

Then the idea of a craft co-operative with other like minded woolly people was mused ... an idea I have found so very exciting.

Its now where do we go from here ... we are thinking of doing crochet workshops to see what enthusiasm is out there ... and who is out there already crafting in all things wool.

And there is then the craft stalls to promote a 'Made in Bewdley' brand ... which is why I recently brought the Lucy Pack from Masons.

It is all very much in its infancy, but feels so exciting ... and even though some people haven't seemed to enthuse about the idea as much as us ... we love the plan! And surely there must be others out there who would like to be involved in such an idea.

I don't want to make my millions from crochet, I am more than realistic about that ... I just want to share the love I have for woolly craft!

Or are we just a little crazy ...???

xxx

Rainy days ... x

Hello,

 after all the frost we have had this week we had rain this weekend ...

and I had a day off on Friday.

You can see the raindrops on the window ...

I see this as good luck if it had of been frosty I would have wanted to wrap up warm and venture out and take photos ... but with it raining I am focused on the task in hand and that is finishing off some Christmas pressies I am making!!

Unfortunately I can't share with you the finished product as the friend they are for reads my little blog, but I can show the photos of the work in progress ...

I love crochet ribbing so as soon as I saw this pattern included it I knew I had to do this one

And the shell pattern is amazing ... I so love this pattern ... Oh I wish I could show you the finished product ...!!

This morning I am off to have a mooch around the Christmas Craft Fair ... which I will share with you later today.

As well as pleasure there is another reason fot the trip to the Museum which I will share with you later too. Its all very exciting ... !! x

See you all later ... xxx



 

 



A Christmas Carol ... x

I have just finished 'A Christmas Carol' ... what a marvelous book ... and how Christmassy I am feeling now!!

Picture taken from Google images

Of all the book my favourite quote was ... by the Ghost of Marley ...

"I wear the chain I forged in life", replied the Ghost.

"I made it link by link, and yard by yard: I girdled it on my own free will I wore it. Is its pattern strange to you?"

Marley's chain was made up of "cash boxes, keys, padlocks, ledgers, deeds and heavy purses wrought in iron"

I am hoping mine will be made of all things crochet ... which hopefully will be much lighter than Marley's!

The other quote I liked from the book intrigued me more ...

"compounded some hot mixture in a jug with gin and lemons, and stirred it round and round and put it on the hob to simmer;"

And so I have had to look it up ... and this is how you make a hot gin toddy ...

A Hot Gin starts with gin, lemon juice, water, sugar and cinnamon.

2 ounce gin
3/4 ounce lemon juice
2 ounce boiling water
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cinnamon stick

Pour into a heat-proof goblet, and serve.

Mmmmmmm!!

xxx

A relaxing weekend ... x

Hello, I hope you have had a wonderful weekend, mine has been fabulous!

It one of my friends birthdays this weekend which means Soo and I venture down to Bicester to see our close friend Mike ... and shop till we drop and be fed and watered extremely well!!

 

We have been to Bicester Shopping Village ... and dreamed of what we may buy if we ever win the lottery! Then onto Wyevale Garden Centre where there just happens to be Hobbycraft ... and so many purchases were made to add to those made the other week! I have managed to tick off a few presents on the list which was good too!

 

And of course ... there is always a little time for crochet ...

 

I have made a few more snowflakes, with the total now at 15 ... which maybe enough ... almost!!

While at Bicester Shopping Villages I was inspired by a snood in Jack Wills, at £70 even at a discounted price I couldn't justify buying it ... but I knew I could make it ... so after a taking a photo I skipped out the shop with another project on the list to do!!

 

The snood was constructed out of granny squares and was a total of 8 squares by 4 squares with an edging at the top and the bottom ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And this is so perfectly timed ... as ... do you remember this ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Lucy Pack I brought from Masons Wool Shop ... well I have brought another pack for a few project ideas I have on the go and so I thought I could use some of this to make the snood!!

 

Which brings me nicely to another Christmas present for those crafters in your life ... specifically this time woolly crafters.

 

A Lucy Pack of wool!

 

Lucy refers to the wonderfully talented and colourful creator of all things crochet at Attic 24. Following her inspiration in the world of crochet an number of wool shops are now selling 'Lucy Packs of Wool' be it Stylecraft Special DK or Rico Yarn the colours are fabulous!

 

This could make such a simply satisfying present for any woolly crafters!

 

My snood is not going to contain any grey it will be a colourful creation, and thankfully in softer wool than the original was created in at Jack Wills ... it was much to itchy!!

 

I need to crochet!!

 

bye, bye

 

xxx

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 





Its beginning to feel a lot like ...

Hello, oh my its December ... and it is indeed beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!

 

The lights in my beautiful little town were switched on yesterday evening! It always amazes me how many people come out to watch the lights come on, the town is packed with people celebrating the start of the festive season!

 

I began my own little tradition last year, on 1st December I began reading Charles Dickens 'A Christmas Carol' ... with the aim of finishing it for Christmas Day ... a perfect way to quietly start bringing in the festive season.

 

Picture sourced from Google

 

I loved disappearing into the book during December last year and will picking the book up again this year.

 

Are you beginning, or have you begun to make any of your presents to give this Christmas?

 

I love making presents for my friends and family, one year I made bags and spent an enjoyable day finishing the presents off, sewing togther the crocheted bags, and adding embelishments of flowers and lining them too. My front roon was awash with flowers and bags, my chair was turned to the windown and in perfect position for the radiator so I was all snug and warm.  It was hard work but so much fun, and over the years I have made ponchos, scarves and brooches.

 

Then there are the questions about what would I like for Christmas ... this bit always makes me feel a little cheeky ... I still write a list so if anyone asks I will have an idea to give them, I love surprises don't get me wrong, but to be able to answer the question 'what would you like for Christmas?' a list always helps!

 

So ... firstly to my family and friends there is a list but you all know me so well too that I would love you to surprise me!!

 

Are you a crafter thinking of ideas for Christmas or do you know a crafter and are wondering what to buy ... while I will not promise to answer the question of what to buy I hope by sharing a few of my favourite things and ideas it may help you decide what to choose ... and it doesn't have to be expensive, gift wrapped beautifully it truly is the thought that counts!!

 

So may I start with the smallest but possibly the biggest gift you could give a crafter ...

 

"Time"

 

One evening when I went to see my partner he had set up a night in front of a fire the crochet I keep there was out on the sofa and a glass of something lovely was waiting for me too.

I do pick up my crochet at his on a regular basis, be it a granny square or too, my grace shrug (that still continues to grow!) or some other project I have taken with me ... but on only a few occasions had I actually picked up the project I kept there.

So to arrive that evening to find it waiting for me, gave me the time to try it again ... and it was a most relaxing and successful evening, I got the pattern, I understood it and it was a perfect moment.

 

So, remember to always give your crafter a little time, arrange a special moment at home, set up the room perfectly around their favourite chair and a little drink whether that be a glass of something red, or a steaming hot chocolate in their favourite mug ...

 

... and it will tell them very simply how proud you are of their craft, their love of it and it will give them permission to relax for an evening.

 

So go on ... after Christmas surprise them with a little time ...

 

bye bye for now

 

xxx