One Quilt.......Done

...as Gordon Ramsay would say!

The quilt I have been finishing for the last few weeks is finally finished and gifted to one of my oldest and dearest friends, who is about to undergo some gruelling medical treatment.

I started off wondering if I liked the colour and design choices I made and ended up loving it. Here's some pictures of the finished article and then one of it being modelled by the recipient of it!






If you click on this one, you can see the dedication I sewed in..




We spent a lovely day with Mary and I even went near some horses. As my daughter's godmother, they are amazingly similar, and one of the passions they share is horses. I am amazingly UNpassionate and slightly terrified of horses, but yesterday I fell in love with a small shetland boy called Panache. This is us together...



...and that's as close as I am ever going to get to anything remotely equine, let me tell you!

Well, on this last day of 2007, I want to wish you all a happy and healthy 2008. May it be all you want it to be, and filled with plenty of knitting! I have a bundle of resolutions I am planning to make, some knitterly, some not, and I shall be back over the next couple of days to share with you. Have a great time tonight if you are celebrating in the New Year and seeing out the old.

Guess what I got for Christmas....

I just had to share this with you. Ignore the very tired looking me and concentrate on what I'm holding...



Oh yes, people, I have joined the ranks of yarn swift and ball winder owners, at long last. (Thanks to Rob) x

I never realised how satisfying it would be. I never realised how fast that swift would spin round. Imagine if you trapped your hair in it....oh, no, don't imagine that.

I have wound up 5 skeins so far. I have some more to do and then I need to only ever buy skeins, not balls. That's just boring.

My knitted gifts went down well, even the present in progress, which I am currently still kitting. I plan to finish the Silver Belle and then have a go at the clapotis I already have the yarn for. I would like to incorporate some beads into the edges. If anyoe has knitted it and can think of a good spacing plan for them, let me know, and how many, and I might try to be a little adventurous!

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas. I really did. Some great gifts and all my sisters and their families here and it was fabulous.

God, my house is a mess now, though. Must get clearing up.....!

Happy Christmas!!!

OK, so the time for panic knitting is now over. Today, I'm making veggie sausage rolls, and maybe watching christmassy films. My knitted gifts are nearly done. They're all on Ravelry now, the last one went on today, except for Rob's cashmere scarf which I have decided will be a present in progress gift. I have put it in a sparkly box, on my Addi Turbos, and I shall have to admit defeat.

My problem was that I don't tend to have time to knit in the day and he's here in the evening, so knitting for him in secret was difficult. After tomorrow, I shall be able to whizz through it and finish it before he goes back to work. Hopefully. And, hopefully, it'll keep my hand out of the tin of Roses!!!!

So, I just want to wish you all a REALLY REALLY HAPPY CHRISTMAS. A calm, and peaceful and healthy christmas and New Year. We will be mainly chilling out. And eating. In the New Year, I have some knitting resolutions to share with you, my lovely blogerly friends, and I look forward to catching up with you when times are less manic.

I'll leave you with a picture of the most chilled member of this household.......

Another Parcel!

I have been taking part in the yarn colour swap in the last few months, and I have received the most lovely gifts and yarn through it. The last parcel I had was from Melissa in Australia and she sent me the most fantastic box of things. Some beautiful yarn, some hand cream, which I go through like no one's business, some papers for scrapping, which were really interesting as she had included some pages from walks near her, and some Cadbury's chocolate which I haven;t seen in the UK. And a lovely pin brooch she made. I love everything in this box, and Melissa was soooooo generous.



I'm going to find a really good use for the yarn and will keep you posted!

Christmas Crazy!

Oh, I've become rubbish at blogging. I know. I don't really have any good excuses, other than my dad is over from Norway at the moment, and I am frantically trying to get ready and knitted up for christmas. And we are doing christmas lunch this Sunday for my dad with all my sisters and their families coming and there's a lot to do. We're all in the same boat this time of year, I expect.

But I am still reading your blogs when I get a minute and I am desperate to show you all my knitted gifts if you aren't able to get into Ravelry. And I haven't forgotten you, my blogley friends.

Love you all.
x

Parcel Crazy!

I had such a lovely surprise in the post today....twice!
Firstly, my yarn arrived from Mary through the yarn colour swap at swapbot. It is gorgeous and my daughter will laugh when she sees it as it's the exact colours of her school blazer!!! There were a couple of sweet markers in the parcel as well, I especially like the car one.



Then, another one. My final package from my SP! She has really pulled out all the stops this time and sent me some (more) absolutely amazing things. She must have known that I have wanted to try spinning and to gift me a drop spindle kit is just perfect!!!! It shall be my mission over the christmas holidays to master it and hopefully in January I shall have something to photograph!! And the book will help me along. I also have a lot of different colour roving in my stash from felting, so I'm sooooo excited! I know Lily will want to have a go too. She also included the pattern from Knitty for Fetching. Have a look on Ravelry, they are gorgeous!

Thank you so much Knitaholic. I absolutely am over the moon with the lovely gifts you have sent to me. Now....just to work out your identity from the clues you gave me.......!

Peeking too soon............

I know some of you have been over to Ravelry to see what I've been knitting for presents, but I hadn't put them on there yet. Slow down.... They're on there now. Just go here and you can have a sneaky peek!!!!

I went to Maggies sale at the weekend and as you can imagine, did not leave empty handed. Here's some of the goodies I got
Some lovely yarn..


Some beautiful fabric....


And some great books....


And Maggie was selling off some of her own made quilts. These are all one offs, which she is selling to downsize into her new life and premises, and I feel lucky to own one.




I hope your Christmas preparations are going well. I am doing well so far, determined this year to be organised and not running around like a headless chicken. Yesterday Rob and I went Christmas shopping and 2 miraculous things happened.
1. We got most of what we went for.
2. We are still speaking.

That'll do me!!!

Happy shopping!!!!

Lack of Posts

I know it seems as if I haven't been posting much lately, but please don't be fooled into thinking that I am not doing much. It's just that I am knitting Christmas presents at the moment and therefore it's a little difficult to show you guys without spoiling the surprise for any visitors who might be receiving the gifts!

I did have a thought though....if I put them on Ravelry, only you guys will be able to see them as it's not in the public domain yet. So I shall endeavour to do that today.

I am off on a little spree today as there is a yarn and fabric sale at Maggie's. I'll try and get some pics of my loot on here later for you to drool over!