Holidays

Hello.

Hope you are all having a lovely holiday.

We woke up to beautiful sunshine on Christmas Morning, it looked stunning in the snow.

I got that digital photo frame that I was after and I've loaded it with pictures of holidays, friends, family and the garden. Now I need to get scanning in photos that are pre the digital camera.

We didn't go wild on present buying this year, DS' best presents were probably a fire steel (to start a fire when you are stuck in the wilderness!) and a Swiss Army Knife and DD's a flappy ski hat.

Not made by me I'm afraid.

A few finished bits to show you. Firstly a triangular shoulder shawl with an eyelet pattern.

This is Drops Fabel sock yarn in a colour called Candy Mix.

I would recommend this yarn ~ it's £2.20 for 50g so you need 2 balls for a pair of socks. It's available from Scandinavian Knitting Design in Reading and they are very quick and efficient with orders.

The other thing I have to show is my stripy waistcoat. This is made in King Cole Riot and that green button that B sent looks great with it.

Finishing these things left me in a bit of an in pass, I couldn't quite decide what to start next. Another Baktus? a sock? a jumper?

In the end I've plumped for this scarf.

I got this roving yarn at Alexandra Palace last year. I'm making a crochet mesh scarf with it and I will then felt it in the washing machine. I've been promising myself this for a long time so it is nice to be making something with it at last.

That snow is starting to go, slowly turning into slush, the temperature now being above zero degrees instead of below.

Right I'm off to have a go on Wii Dance 2, so wish me luck!!!!

Bye for now.....Clicky Needles.

The Candle has Gone

Hello.

The advent candle has all burnt away.

We've had a lovely day, finally getting to see Harry Potter. I enjoyed it very much, but didn't want it to end! We now have to wait for the last part.

*sigh*

I laid my table today ~ the 'tablecloth' is some fabby glitter wrapping paper that I found in WH Smiths last Christmas ~ so sparkly!

So now we wait for Santa to come.

If you don't know the folks at NORAD track Santa as he delivers his presents. As I type he is in Taunggyi, Burma. This is a fabulous service and it's good to know they use their satellites for other things.

Lastly may I wish you a lovely, lovely day tomorrow, I hope you get what you wish for.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS.............Clicky Needles.

All Ready!

Hi there.

The snow is still deep and crisp and even here 'up on the top' and Mr Clicky Needles and me having been wrapping presents today. It took a few hours but was greatly helped by this brilliant selotape dispenser, I can't recommend it enough. The selotape is just where you need it and no letting go of the parcel!

I always use last year's Christmas Cards for tags, doesn't this one look nice?

Here are the presents piled up under the tree, an exciting looking bunch, I've caught DS

having an rummage on the quiet.

DS made the Yule Log ~ well, I say made, I really mean iced, and I celebrated with a glass of pink sparkles ~ any old bubbly with Creme Du Mure added ~ a blackberry liqueur, first discovered at Les Cerisiers last February. Mmmmmmmmm.

I've been making sure the birds have been well fed and watered we're getting lots coming in at the moment in this cold weather.

Only 2 sleeps to go ~ waaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!

Bye for now ...Clicky Needles.

The Postie Knocks!

Hello.

The snow stopped eventually last night and although we're now being rained on by 'ice lumps' the postie managed to get through today.

He brought a card from my Mum and Dad....

Mum added ......and Knitting, inside,

and another card from my lovely friend B.

Enclosed in the card were some buttons....

...what a lovely unexpected gift. I think the green one will be going on my Riot Vest which I have nearly finished. Thanks so much B.

These two cards sum me up really well.

As promised, some more pictures of the decorations.

The main tree in all it's pinkness...

....some of the new pink baubles.

I particularly love this glitter ball!

The windowsill in the kitchen....

...and lastly the 'children's' tree in the hall.

There are stars in all the downstairs windows and hanging in the kitchen.

I have just about finished and I'm now walking with a little spring in my step.

The kids are outside playing in the snow and Mr Clicky Needles and me are tucked up by the fire ~ he's reading and I'm knitting.

Contentment!

Bye for now......Clicky Needles.

Nearly There!

Hello folks.

The (very) eagle eyed amongst you will notice a slight change to my age today.

Yep it's my birthday.

We had planned to see Harry Potter which I'm really looking forward to but............

more snow!

It started snowing at lunch time and now (5.oo pm) it's still going.

Anyhoo I've had a nice pottering sort of day.

Mr Clicky Needles has promised me "wooly' type things for my birthday pressie. I now need to think about what I'd like. Do I need more yarn? Not really!!!!!!!

The postie didn't manage to get to us so I've not had many cards to open but that really doesn't matter.

I started with the decorations on Sunday but my 'new' colour scheme for the tree didn't go well, the turquoise blue really wasn't that great.

I changed my plans last minute to black/pink/purple but the few pink and purple decorations I had weren't looking very good, I was feeling very meh, which wasn't good as putting up decorations usually makes me really happy.

On Monday Mr Clicky Needles suggested we went out and got some more, so we warmed up the trusty 4 x 4 did a food shop and dropped into Homebase. They had fabby pink baubles and pink ribbon, so when we got back I had so much fun.

The mantel piece now looks lovely and pink!..........

.........I'm particularly pleased with the vase on the end.

Today I've adding more bits and pieces ~ this is the hallway.......

...the top of the bookcase in the hall.

and the little Nativity in the kitchen.

Anybody spot the llama?!!!!!!

There is still lots more to show ~ I'll get more piccys tomorrow.

Me obsessed with decorations?

YES.

YES.

YES.

Here's my waistcoat with the button finally added.

Knit in Stylecraft Life Super Chunky on 12mm needles. I made in one piece as I didn't want bulky seams, the pattern was from a book called Knitting in No Time which I got cheap from the book club at school. Cosy warm even though it has no sleeves!

Well, the snow still falls but we're all cosy, hope you are too.

Bye for now, Clicky Needles.

A Huge Sigh Of Relief

Phew.

End of Term.

We've had parties, carol concerts, nativity and much festive fun and now it's all come to an end.

I 'undecorated' the classroom on Thursday as snow was forecast at night.

School was shut Friday due to ice and dangerous roads.

I got some handmade goodies from the children.

Christmas biscuits ~ I can confirm the ones on left were very nice ~ not had the others yet....

and a super Christmas cake which is great for Mr Clicky Needles ~ me and kids don't like it so I never make one!

We had our staff night out last night and the homemade secret santa went down very well. Our secretary got my scarf and was very pleased with it.

I got some ready to mull wine. Apparently it's potent!

I also received a lovely parcel through the post ~ Santa's Washing Line! This was the small Christmas Swap on the Phoenix Forum from Squirrel. It's very cute.

As we thought, we woke up to this today.

It's still snowing at the moment.

DS and me went and bought the Christmas Tree yesterday from a local nursery as we weren't sure what the weather would do. Thank goodness! We'll be getting it up later and the decorating will begin!

Lastly, Mr Clicky Needles' scarf is finished. It needed a jolly good blocking, as it was curling up, but is now looking really good (even if I do say so myself!)

Making it lengthways in the stripy yarn has given it a lovely effect and it's really thick and warm.

I may make some more to use up odds and ends and leave tassels on the ends.

OK so now I'm off to get those decorations up ~ expect lots of sparkly pictures!

Bye for now Clicky Needles.

P.S. Hello to Tickety-Boo great to have you on board!

Squeaky Blanket Ta-Dah!

Yaaaaaaayyyyy.

The squeaky blanket is complete.

I am very, very pleased with it.

According to my Ravelry projects page I started on the 8th October, and I finished it yesterday.

Considering all the other things I've been doing as well, I think that this is pretty good progress.

I opted for four rows of double crochet (or single crochet for peeps across the pond) as the border.

It goes very nicely on my new(ish) Poang Armchair Cushion bought on the fantasy shopping trip to Ikea with B in October. This pic doesn't show it that well ~ but the green of the chair and the green of the cushion match perfectly!

With DS being ill ~ we have now offically called it 'flu rather than 'just being under the weather' I've been at home with him and doing 'stuff'.

My garden twine bag which must be about 3 years old was a bit the worse for wear ~ the handle had stretched and was about to break......

...so I took it off and added a new one. Sadly I didn't have any more purple twine but I think the repair looks fine. Another 3 years service coming up!

I've started a double crochet (sc) scarf for Mr Clicky Needles in Rowan Tapestry. It's made lengthways ~ I love the woven effect of double crochet and the pattern is really coming out nicely with the variegated yarn. Did I mention the yarn is from STASH. No?

I'll say it again then.

YARN IS FROM STASH.

Yaay.

DS is slowly getting better ~ he came downstairs today saying that his legs had stopped aching so I think he'll be back to school on Monday. When I spoke to his school they said lots of students are away with the same thing.

My school went to the Pantomime on Thursday ~ oh no you didn't, oh yes I did ~ which the kids just loved. I'm not all that sure about the adults and trying to guide 100 kids through Christmas Shoppers is always a bit trying but we managed not to loose anybody.

I may post again tomorrow ~ my long waistcoat just needs a button (uh oh!) so we'll see. I'm in a right finishing off mood at the moment.

Despite some people (you know who you are!) trying to tempt me into starting with that lovely Jojoland ~ it sits on the side and I keep squishing as I walk by ~ I'm trying to resist. (It is sooooo soft.)

Hope your weekend is a good one.

Clicky Needles.

P.S. I need to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Josiekitten for yesterday ~ I hope you had a good day despite your trials!

A Lovely Parcel

Hello.

I got a super scrumptious parcel today.

it was the Jojoland Sock yarn kindly given away by JosieKitten.

I'm not sure how she could give it away ~ it's really lovely and soft.

Will this be a pair of socks?

A~B~S~O~L~U~T~L~Y N~O~T!!! far too nice.

Thoughts for this yarn will be flying around in my head tonight.

Thanks again JK.

It has warmed up slightly in these parts ~ so sadly the trees don't look like this now. I say sadly because the ice and snow is making me feel really Christmassy and I'm quite enjoying it, although I'm not sure everyone would agree with me!

Poor DS is still ill ~ sleeping all day ~ he has no energy at all.

I hope he gets better soon ~ it's not nice.

I made a Hollygog Pudding yesterday ~ if you haven't heard of it I came across it on thequincetree. Sue says it's like eating a hug, I can confirm it's rib sticking. Mr Clicky Needles and I really enjoyed it ~ although the kids weren't so sure!

I'd like to say a Big HELLO to the few new followers I've got (thanks!) and I've managed to fix the comments thing as well. You can now leave a comment as 'anonymous' without the need for an account. Let's hope this works!

Bye for now.....

Clicky Needles

Ice Day!

Hi there.

Not snow day but an ice day.

Apparently the roads around school are treacherous so I am at home pottering around. I not convinced I could have got off the drive this morning even in my 4x4, there is a sheet of ice glistening menacingly.

Unfortunately DS is ill as well so we're tucked up by the fire, watching films, we're currently on Madagascar.

I have ventured out the back door and took these in the garden.

My favourite.

My trusty Sony Cybershot never ceases to amaze me with the quality of photos. All of the above pictures are taken on the VGA setting which is very low resolution and

e-mailable, but still come out looking great.

Whilst watching the film I've also been winding some laceweight I got a while ago.

As you can see there is one lovely, neat and beautiful little yarn cake.

Not so with skein number 2. I very stupidly knitted a tension square straight from the skein (I was very excited to have it) and in the process I've managed to get it a bit tangled, so every few turns of the swift I have to take the wound yarn off the winder and feed it through a loop. How long is the skein? 600 metres. I am resisting the temptation to attack it with a pair of scissors........this could be long evening.

I hope you like the new look of the blog.

Keep warm.

Clicky Needles.