Christmas This Year

 Is it just me or are the years speeding by that much quicker? it doesn't seem five minutes since it was last Christmas and here we are again with just a few days left until the big day. I am hosting Christmas this year, I don't know how it happened but there you go, I haven't hosted Christmas since I moved into this tiny house of mine and I'm wondering how we are going to manage it, but all the family won't be present as son number two and family will be spending Christmas with his in-laws and son number three is at present in South Korea awaiting the birth of his first child! yes you heard right my baby son is going to be a Daddy, ok well not quite the baby anymore but hey they are always your babies aren't they?  Minju my beautiful daughter in law is due at the beginning of January and.... it's going to be a girl!!! my first granddaughter😊I wish they lived closer and I wish I could be there at the birth but there you go I'm just hoping all will go well and I can't wait to see pictures/video's of her.

So there will be six adults a child and a baby spending Christmas in my tiny abode, I'm trying to push things into the garage to make more space and I'm making a plan, a floor plan and an everything else plan so it should be ok, past Christmases haven't gone that well for me as you can read in this post written  8 years ago! but now I'm going to play the old lady/bad back card and hopefully everyone will be here on time and do their bit to help, wish me luck!

The lead up to Christmas has been filled with lots of festive crafting...

Baubles Galore.

One of the ladies in my crochet group came up with the brilliant idea of using plastic pool balls as a base for Christmas baubles since then there has been no let up and bauble mania has taken hold.  I honestly can't tell you have many we have made..

from these

to these

Once you get going you get hooked literally😆Why so many you may ask? well we have been giving the Marina some festive cheer...

and of course we wanted some for ourselves, they look great strung up with my Christmas pictures

and hanging on the tree, I like my tree to have traditional colours as you can see, I knit the little santa's when I was living in Syria, they must be over 40 years old! I taught my sisters in law how to knit them too and apparently they are still making them to this day. I love how tree ornaments bring back so many happy memories don't you? it seems like the modern trend is to change them each year with different colours to match the decor, each to their own but I think I'm now to old to change.

The baubles are easily made without a pattern but there are some lovely bauble patterns out there, I used the patterns from this website and there is a lot of choice.

Christmas Trees

These little trees seem to be very popular this year you can see them on all the social media sites and I'm not surprised because they are so easy! a christmas tree made out of a granny square, I have made lots of these as well, even small ones to hang onto gifts, the possibilities are endless, I did decorate some with beads and silver charms but forgot to take a photo. I popped them inside Christmas cards to give as a little gift.

Here they are hanging with trees of Christmases past.

You can find the how to here.

Remember the Penguin I mentioned in the last post? well here he is all ready to be gifted to grandson number three, little Louis, I have a feeling that after a quick cuddle he'll get thrown on the floor but I'm sure Louis's Mummy will rescue him and put him away and bring him out each Christmas.

I have been sewing too, a little Christmas tree embroidery hoop..

There is much more, the u3a crafting groups have been making all sorts of Christmas things to raise finds for charities but more about that later.

Have a great Sunday 😘😘

Two End Of Year Finishes.

 Here we are at the very last day of the year! were did it go, it doesn't seem like a whole year since I was saying the very same thing. 

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas, mine was spent with family but it was a very tense time as my daughters neighbours house had a partially collapsed wall with the bricks all banging against my daughters home in the gale force winds and causing damage to her property, she was told that her eaves could collapse too and as you can imagine it cast a huge shadow over Christmas.  She has spent the week having workmen come to see if her property was in danger and the mixed response is unreal, one said yes her eaves were in danger of falling and it would cost £5000 to repair, another said there was no immediate danger but it needed repairing and would cost £2700 and the third has said there is nothing wrong and needs no intervention! who to believe? certainly not the first that's for sure. She is waiting for another workman to come as we speak.  

The Christmas Throw ta daaa.... 

I managed to complete my daughters throw just two days before we travelled to Qatar and gifted to her before we went, she loved it...

I embroidered this on the back

I loved making this throw it's Sonia's Holiday Mosaic by Rosina Plane, I did omit the Angels which were the last pattern on the throw as I though they looked a little scary and replaced them with the gifts tied in a bow instead.

I didn't manage to complete the other Christmas throw I was making but it doesn't matter as it will be ready in plenty of time to be gifted to a charity for next Christmas

 The Year of Doodles stitchery

I actually completed this just last night, I can't tell you how much fun I have had making this...

I am waiting for a flexi hoop to arrive and then I'll frame it properly.

I'm already getting exited to get start some new projects for 2024, my daughter-in law has asked me to make an all in one suit for her baby due in February, she loved the one I made for baby Julian here so I may make another for grandson number three. 

A male friend has asked me to make him some red and green striped socks! It's been a while since I made any, he is still wearing the ones I made him back here reading that post I don't know what I'm letting myself in for but it's good to see that he is still wearing them since 2015. At least the colours will be easier to work with, watch this space they may or may not materialise. 😂

I am eager to start another mosaic throw but I'm saying nothing more on that subject until it's actually finished I have the yarn and pattern and I'm itching to start.

I'm going to be sewing the new stitch-along by StitchDoodles 

A Year of Woodland Blossoms

 

I have ordered the pre printed fabric and I can't wait for it to arrive. 😊

So along with some charity projects it looks like I'm going to be busy.

What about all of you lovely people did you manage to finish everything you had planned for 2023 and what are your crafting plans for 2024?.

I always spend Christmas Eve quietly and am usually in bed long before midnight but my grandson Mikey and his mummy and daddy are coming later this afternoon so I'm looking forward to that.

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year and I hope that 2024 will be a good one for all of us, 😘😘

Linking with

  Slow Stitching Sunday

Wednesday Link Party  oombawka design crochet

Happy December!

My garden on the first of December what a lovely festive start to the month our first snowfall.

 I seem to be spending most of my time trying to keep up with the mosaic blanket CALs I'm busy with but I'm really enjoying the process, I could quite happily sit crocheting all day but life does tend to get in the way, wouldn't it be lovely if we could just sit with our hobbies and do nothing else.   I do tend to get carried away and it has to be said I am a messy worker especially when sewing. 

I have a few little sewing projects on the go at the minute most of them Christmas orientated. It's the decoration of things that cause the trouble I can never make up my mind, there is so much christmas bling to choose from and it's invariably the bling that makes the biggest mess, it usually ends up spread all over the place with the floor bearing the biggest brunt.  Then a friend will text is it ok if I pop round for coffee?  I know what you are thinking well if she/he is a real friend  they won't mind the mess! well, there is mess and then there is MESS. When this happens you see me hastily stuffing bits and pieces into bags and thrusting them out of the way into cupboards and then later I can't find anything.

I need to get a control of my life I know, take a deep breath and have a huge tidy up, put things in an allotted place then I'll always know where to find them, my intentions are good and I do that sometimes but strangely those items don't seem to stay in their allotted place for long I do believe that they are alive and come out to play at night. 

Anyway this is what is it I have been playing with.. 

Hearts

I'm not a great sewer, I do like to try, but sewing straight lines and getting perfectly curving edges are beyond my capabilities this wreath did test me somewhat, trying to get the hearts evenly spaced to make the circle seemed to take me forever but I think I managed it.

It doesn't need any bling because the fabric is very busy so I just added the bows and a tiny christmas tree shaped button in the center

Tree

The hardest part about making this tree was getting the stuffing right up to the top, I found that a knitting needle helped a lot. I can't decide whether to put a star on the top, what do you think?

Little Trees

These were fun to make and quite easy, in fact I may make more, they are lovely to gift and to hang all over the place really, I'm thinking about making a garland with them...

All of the above were started at my u3a sewing group, a great bunch of ladies but it has to be said there's usually more chatting than actual sewing taking place.  You can find out how to make all of the above online, in fact there is so much lovely Christmas stuff out there you are spoilt for choice.

The little trees above are similar to these here, but I stuffed mine and added a cinnamon stick for the trunk,

and finally my embroidery..

Almost there! I'm looking forward to sewing the December segment, I want to use traditional colours I'm busy sorting them as we speak.

I have lots of other things on the go but I'll leave them for another time.

The last month of the year already, how quickly this year has flown! How are your Christmas preparations going? do you put your decorations up early or wait to nearer to Christmas.  As I get older the time seems to pass more quickly and because of that I have started putting mine up earlier, it takes a lot of time and effort and so it makes more sense to me to have them up that bit longer. I don't put that many up now just a few of the things I have made over the years and if my youngest son isn't coming home with his wife for Christmas I don't even bother with the tree. Myself and my daughter are going to Qatar to spend the week before Christmas with him this year so I'm really looking forward to that.😊

I hope you all have a great week 😘

 Linking with the ladies at Slow Stitching Sunday

Christmas Crochet Mosaic Roundup

 Here we are again another Christmas and another year of stunning Christmas Mosaic patterns, as always new patterns seem to be released by the day and I will add them here as soon as they become available.

Evergreen Dreams by designer  Robin Parent

Mosaic Christmas tree skirt by designer  Susanne Toth

Poinsettias by designer Lucille Schubert

Gonk's Holiday Mosaic by designer - Rosina Plane

Sonia's Holiday Mosaic by designer - Rosina  Plane

Christmas Gnomes by designer - Anneke den Outer

Christmas Spirit by designer -  Sarah Athey

Cosy Christmas Blanket by designer  - Fiona Kirk

Arboreous by designer -  Robin Parent

Glorious Christmas by BebaBlanket

Deck the Halls by designer Lindsay Mika

Christmas Blanket

Magic Winter CAL designer - Ana Morais Soares

Click below for more great Christmas Patterns.....

A Mosaic Christmas

More Christmas Mosaic

Even More Christmas Mosaic

Christmas gifts and making a start with the Christmas Mosaic

 The clocks have gone back and I can feel myself slipping into hibernation mode, although I do love long Summer days I quite enjoy the cosiness of winter evenings as well, the ritual of locking the doors, closing the curtains and lighting soft lamps and candles, sitting in my favorite chair with my cuppa and a warm crocheted throw over my lap.  Then whatever project I'm working on sitting at arms reach along with TV remote and audio book close by. I am quite content sitting there in my little world and have to make myself get up and move around but to be honest it's usually just as far as the kitchen to get another warm drink.

What about you lovely people? I would love to know your evening ritual.  I live alone so I'm lucky in that I have no one else to please but myself.

I'm also lucky because I love to crochet with a passion and if it's a new pattern even better.  I have started not one but two Mosaic crochet CALS and to be honest I'm wishing that I had two pairs of hands.

The first is the one I told you about in my last post Sonia's Holiday Mosaic, it runs over six weeks it's amazing to think that if all goes well I'll have a beautiful blanket in less that two months just in time to be gifted for Christmas.

Christmas Crackers

Then quite by chance I came across yet another beautiful CAL for a Christmas blanket on Facebook and it's free which is very generous of the designer because there's a lot of work goes into designing any pattern but Mosaic especially because of the charts and in this case there are written instructions too.

This one is called Cosy Christmas and this the start..

The designer is Fiona Kirk and you can find the pattern here  However if you join her Funky Loops community on Facebook the pattern can be found there for free. The pattern is released over six weeks.  I would like to donate this one to be sold or raffled for a charity but I'm not confident that I will have it finished in time, if that's the case then I will put it away until next year.  I wish they would release the new Christmas patterns just that bit earlier.

Along with the crochet there has been quite a bit of sewing going on I am a member of the u3a sewing group and we brainstorm for little gift idea's for Christmas well in advance, we usually start sewing them in September, we had lots of idea's this year, just for small things to be gifted to friends who appreciate a little handmade something, this week I have made these..

Little lavender bonnets very easy to make, in fact quite addictive but I had to stop at five as I had run out of fresh lavender, they really do smell divine. 😊

Do you gift little handmade items and are they appreciated? I plan to make more little sewn gifts this afternoon the sun is actually shining and my conservatory beckons so I will say bye for now and I hope you all have a peaceful Sunday. 😘😘  

Linking with the ladies at Slow Stitching Sunday

  

Christmas is Almost Upon Us

 I hope that everyone is feeling full of festive cheer, It's the time of year when I think of all the lovely friends that I have made throughout the years and I try to meet up with as many as I can to exchange Christmas cards and good wishes for Christmas and the year ahead. I have had a very busy month doing just that,  invariably food is very much part of the equation and numerous Christmas lunches have been eaten along with a couple of afternoon teas as well.

Temptation meets us at every turn, chocolates, yummy biscuits, and don't get me started on the mince pies.  I have baked nothing this year because I usually end up eating most of what I have baked, I have have put so much weight on already and it's not even Christmas yet! I'm thinking February will be the month when I give myself a good talking to and will do something about it, I'll need the whole of January to finish off any residual Christmas goodies and psych myself up to cut out the rubbish and do some exercise.

I have done very little in the way of crafting this month but I did manage to make a few little festive crochet bits and pieces.

Little Lavender bags to hold some luscious smelling lavender from a lovely friends garden, she dries it and shares it with us.   I enjoy making these little bags and gifting them to family and friends, I left it a little late this year and didn't make as many as I would have liked.
You can find the patterns for these little bags here and here

Little decorations, I did intend to make lots of these but I found them too fiddly and only managed these, they are super cute though you can find all the patterns here

I really enjoyed making this for my little coffee table.  It's mosaic crochet and you can find the pattern here

At the moment I'm still busy with the sweater I started for myself, I'm hoping that I'll like it enough to wear it once it's finished, and I'm making cute little hats for NHAP  which I will show you once they are done. 

I am displaying my twelve days of Christmas cross stitch that I finished at the beginning of the year..

I haven't managed to complete the Festive Forest  embroidery but I will work on it slowly and it will be ready for sure for next Christmas.

I'm drinking out of this mug that me daughter gifted me cute or what?

I think I'll start a Christmas mug collection. 😊

Wishing you all a very...

Last Minute Rush and Have a Merry Christmas.

 I have decided that I work better under pressure, I know it sounds mad but I get more work done when I know that it has to be done in a very narrow time frame, that's why most things get left until the last minute, that includes last minute little gifts to give to friends and family like these cute little angels..

You can add your own little touches by adding beads, you can find the quick and easy pattern here.

I am still enjoying the Drops Christmas Advent calendar and have made quite a few of the little patterns, I love those Christmas socks and have put them on my to do list for next year. Then the other night I decided to give the Christmas tree coasters a try and I love the result, again another one for next year everyone needs a Christmas tree coaster in their life 😄

Wreaths have been made

The only thing left to do is to complete my Twelve Days Of Christmas Sampler, there isn't a great lot to do for the twelfth day but with everything else that's going on it's finding the time to actually sit and complete it.  I won't have time to frame it but that doesn't matter as long as the sewing is done I will be happy.

I hope all your Christmas preparations are going well so that you can spend sometime just to relax and enjoy the season. I'm hoping to spend lots of time with my youngest son who is visiting from Qatar with his lovely wife, fingers crossed that Covid restrictions won't affect us too much, son number two and his wife are recovering from corona virus as we speak, it has been a rough time for them both but we are hoping that the worst is over.

Christmas blessings to you all, have a safe and very happy Christmas. 😘😘