Some finished projects!

Very pleased to be able to post some completed projects!

This is the scarf I have made as part of my brother's Xmas present. I am very pleased with it - it's probably the biggest thing I have ever knitted for starters (I am not a great knitter!). I love the pattern too - very simple but a bit more complicated than just a straightforward rib. The wool is some gorgeous Rowan tweed stuff. It is very black but has some lovely touches of red, blue & yellow in it. Hopefully it will appeal to my brother - otherwise I will wish that I had kept it for myself!!!


I have been making tote bags for a lot of people based on a pattern than I got from Simple Sewing by Lotta Jansdotter - which is an excellent resource (although strange for an English user to revert to using Imperial measurements). I have used plain white canvas for the main part of the bag & some green & blue check for the bottom panel. I have added different embellishments for different bags - this one has a crochet silk flower which I am hoping wont be too impractical. The yarn for the flower is from The Natural Dye Studio and is an absolute pleasure to crochet with. I am slightly addicted to crocheting flowers because they are so quick and easy to do & look so sweet. I finished a couple more last night to give as Xmas brooches/pins & will take a photo to put on here later on today. I also want to make another couple of tote bags like this one - it is great to have my sewing machine out again!

Whilst we were on holiday near York (you can read more about that & see some gorgeous photos in my partner's Christmas blog) I made another cutsey bag which I am very pleased with. I have numerous small girls to create presents for at this time of year (birthdays and Christmas all coming at the same time) so I have another one to do. Fortunately they are pretty quick to do & it is only really me fiddling around with different colours & embellishments that make them time consuming.

The teacosy is finished - thank blooming goodness...

And here it is:



I am quite proud of it for my 1st knit plus crochet project. It looks pretty tidy & the curly crochet flowers on the top are such fun to do. I just hope it works as a gift!

I have also been working on my 'Secret Santa' gift for a virtual friend from the best parenting site on the web. It's nearly done too, but I can't really post it on here until after Christmas because there's always a chance that she might look at this. Which is a real shame because I am extremely pleased with it. Ugh, it's frustrating to not even be able to hint at what it is... Actually, I am so pleased with it that I am thinking of making a few more for other female family members.

One of my other big loves is baking & I have also been busy today coming up with a couple of recipes for bakes to do for St Nicholas' Eve & St Nicholas' Day next week. I think I have come up with a Speculaas recipe which will hit the spot (just wish I had a speculaasplank to cook them on!) and have invented some speculaas spice muffins that I am EXTREMELY pleased with. I'll be posting them on our Christmas website in the very near future, once my Christmas Matters colleague & I get organised.

Business at our Craft Matters shop is going quite well - although it has mostly been very lovely friends who have bought from us up to now. We are trying to work out ways of listing things that will come up in Ebay searches for people who don't tick the 'description' box. I know that Ebay isn't for us in the long term, but I wish we could get it to work to our advantage just now!