Merry Christmas

Hi Everyone 

Merry Christmas to you all. This is my last blog of 2018, I’m taking a break for Christmas. I will be back on 2/1/2019. 

This week has been a tricky balance of getting things sorted for Christmas at home and completing last minute Makes. Mostly, the house has suffered and I must spend a few hours today clearing up and getting all my Christmas stuff in place. None of this matters but it’s down on my list, therefore it must get done !!

I had a lovely time wrapping family/friends gifts yesterday with the Robin tags (shared yesterday on the blog). Each year, I make a new tag design and it’s part of my personal Christmas thing but this year my Robin tags have been the most successful tags for some years, I love them. They were very easy to produce and look very cute on the presents under our tree.

                        

                      

This morning, I have a Knit Group meet which will be lovely. I’ll spend some time clearing up later and start, officially, to enjoy the beginning of Christmas. Hope you all have a lovely break and enjoy the holiday, whichever way you choose to celebrate.

Bye for now.

More Robins

Hi Everyone 

I’ve got more Robins to share today. Sadly, the planned Robins from yesterday are still under construction ! Progress has been made but various work commitments intervened. I did, however, start my Christmas gift tags and somehow they are Robins ? I didn’t especially plan to make Robin gift tags but it just seemed to happen. I’ve completed the majority of the tags and will add a gem eye and a coloured thread to most of the Robins, some Robins may get extra embellishments. Here’s a quick look at the Robins :

                  

I’ve used various Christmas papers with a thin white card layer for the birds. I’ll write my message on the white card/ back of the Robin. The shapes have been die cut using a Sizzix machine/ die Plate. I also have extra little wooden trees and Christmas themed shapes which may come together with the Robins. However, I think, I like the simple approach. Hopefully, I will have a little time to give to the Pom Pom and felted birds from yesterday’s chat.

Thanks for calling in today. I’ll be back tomorrow with more Christmas Making stories.

Christmas Robin Decorations

Hi Everyone 

I’ve managed to get our Christmas decorations underway over the weekend. I’m a little behind on Christmas decorating this year. The basics are there ie the tree and various little traditional (for us) garlands and festive embellishments but I’ve a few additional things to do. As I was organising things, the theme of The Robin seemed to be something which keeps turning up ! There have been a number of Robin making workshop sessions this year, so this is a little round up of the new Robins/Robin plans as well as a Button Robin from a few years ago.

             

I have a fifth Robin to be, it’s a felted Robin from last year which didn’t quite get all his features !  He has been waiting and almost forgotten but I’ve planned to finish him later today. I’ll share the finished Robin number five tomorrow and get him on the tree. The pompom Robin above is an inspiration example (Pinterest) for a new Robin and will be Robin number four. I’ve started already and have two pom-poms attached and ready for trimming. I will add dry felted wings and bent wire feet, already prepared. The felted Robin (above left) as you can see, is already living in the Christmas Tree.

Thanks for calling in today. I’ll be back with more chat tomorrow as well as an update on the Robins.

Jewels : under development

Hi Everyone 

Today, I have a number of little jewellery projects under development. The little gems in my photo story are Swarovski crystals. They are very pretty and will form three pairs of earrings. I’m using a simple sterling silver wire to create a balloon hoop style hook. The plan is to attach the crystals directly from the hooks, although this could change depending on how they look and feel. I may need to add extra jump rings ? The gems are small, the blue and mustard/yellow gems measure just under 1cm., the larger tangerine/pink gem is approximately 3cms long.

              

I’m hoping the mustard/yellow gems (bottom right) will be for me. They will compliment a lovely velvet dress I’m planning to wear on Christmas Day.

This little project is a small job in terms of time so I should have my earrings before the end of the day. However, I’ve a long list of things to do today.

Thanks for calling in.

Knitting Update

Hi Everyone 

It’s a few days since I gave an update on the Advent knitting project. I can’t quite believe it’s Day 17 ! I’ve been knitting the Tiny Tassels shawlette, a free pattern from Loop London see the pattern here. It’s a great, simple knit which is particularly suitable for the Advent knit idea. I’m up to 334stitches already. The aim (in the pattern) is 337, so I’m almost there. I’m not quite sure when to finish ? Today’s yarn is a grey colour. 

At the moment, I think, I’ll go for a slightly bigger shawl. The little Tassels feature (of the design) will need to be taken into account, so my decision is to start making the Tassels after today’s knitting. This will give me a chance to use all my yarn but also make sure I have lots of Tassels for my shawl. There are seven more little bags of yarn and I’m hoping I can have tassels in all the colours. I’ll share my thoughts in a few days, after making some Tassels. I’m really enjoying this little project and will definitely choose a similar idea next year.

                   

                        

My second current knitting project is the Red Robin Socks. This is a lovely pattern fromHelen Stewart and the last of the Curious Handmade Sock Society Knits. I’ve chosen to knit my version of the socks in grey and red colours. I’m using grey for the ribbed cuff and the rest of the sock will be red. The pattern is easy to remember and the resulting texture is very pretty. I’ll be taking my time knitting these socks, knitting a few rows each evening. I don’t have a finish date as such but I’m sure it will be a few weeks, so I’ll  be knitting over the Christmas break.

Thanks for calling in today. I’ll be back tomorrow with more Making chat.