Christmas Stash Goodness

Did Santa bring you all everything you wanted then? Apparently I must have been "A Good Girl", as I received some wonderful knitting and stitching gifts from family and friends. The girls gave me these two wickedly subversive knitting books (Dominknitrix and Punk Knits),  ~ complete with a dayglo pink post it note detailing which items they'd like me to knit for them first!!!


Clare sent me a Thornton's chocolate reindeer (yum) and a pair of  matched hand dyed perle and stranded cotton threads in a beautiful blue and aqua colour combo, perfect for some colourful Hardanger. Sorry about the dodgy photo but I was trying to include the twig reindeer Eloise made, and he kept falling over everytime I went to take the picture. Clare also sent me a  lovely crochet booklet for my Birthday.

Karan sent me this fabulous assortment of purple silks, and an adorable gingerbread penguin. I shall have to put my thinking cap on to figure out what to do with them (well, not the penguin, I pretty much know what to do with him already)
I got a fat quarter of cream evenweave as my final gift in the Needlecraft Haven advent exchange, 

and Pat (no blog as far as I am aware) sent me this super gift in the VSCyberstitchers Christmas Exchange, a Sweetheart Tree kit for the sweetest little holly biscornu, a set of DMC variegated threads and a simply gorgeous angel statuette/ornament, who may just stay on my mantelpiece all year round.
Thank you everyone, I feel thoroughly spoiled.
Back soon with an update on the Travelling Pattern and all the crafty things I've been getting up to lately...

Happy Christmas

I'd just like to take a moment to wish you all a Very Happy Christmas

and look at that, actual berries, on the holly from my garden. It's only taken it ten years!

A TARDIS, advent and half a summerhouse

That's right, I have half a summerhouse, and yes, I do realise it's the middle of winter, but we've been waiting ages for it to be delivered.
Hopefully the roof will go on in the next couple of days, then we can do something about the desolate swamp in front of it. It used to be a lawn once.
By summer it is going to be lovely (she said hopefully)

Here are my most recent gifts in the secret advent exchange on Needlecraft Haven. 
I received a gingerbread cookies scented candle, a handy notebook, a diary for next year,  two propelling pencils, a mini flexi light which will be ideal to clip to my embroidery frame, and some adorable giraffe slipper socks. 
I'm enjoying this exchange so much.

And finally a TARDIS.


Because I am weak.


And sad.


And a geek.


And I saw it and had to have it.


You can just see the top edge of the Golden Snitch ornament in the bottom of the picture, and the dalek one at the top, and I have decided that the brass one with the stag is definitely Harry's Patronus. There is even a matching doe on the other side of the tree for Severus and Lily. I might just have the world's nerdiest tree. 
Anyone know where I can buy a glass Millenium Falcon?

Yet another ornament

Surely this must be the last one for this Christmas...


This one is Joy of the Snowflake by Little by Little, from this year's JCS Ornament Edition. I changed the colours around (brown snowflakes just weren't working for me), and went with this lime and orange combo and trimmed it with lime pompoms, which I thought went well with the retro feel of the piece.

And here are my next four gifts from the Advent Exchange, a winter berry scented tealight,  a cosy fleece scarf in a soft lilac colour, a bath mitt and a lemongrass scented candle. 
I hope the person I sent to is enjoying her gifts as much as I am enjoying mine

Advent Days 9-12 and a Challenge

Here are gifts 9-12 from my Advent Exchange, a hand towel with a stitchable band for personalisation, a set of handy highlighter pens for marking off charts, knitting patterns etc (if the girls don't pinch them), a packet of assorted emery boards and some lovely hand cream and body scrub. This exchange is so much fun.

I can show the ornament I sent to Melanie in the Gift of Stitching exchange now, I killed two birds with one stone and used the design from the Nov/Dec Challenge on Needlecraft Haven so I couldn't show it until Reveal Day which was yesterday.
Our challenge was either of these two designs from Log Cabin Needlework. I chose the Noel design and stitched it in WDW and Thread Gatherer threads, it is finished with a flamboyant bow that started life on a box of Thornton's, and is backed with the vintage fabric shown (Rag Rescue again). I really love this one and may have to stitch it again for myself.
The album is here and shows what a difference thread choices can make to a design.

Invasion of the daleks and an advent exchange

There is the very slightest outside edge of a possibility that I might be a teensy bit of a geek...
Here is what I made yesterday.
I drew him on plain cotton fabric with a black sharpie (still getting that slight bleed problem), then couched the mini string of Christmas lights down and stretched him over mountboard.

He is now sitting in the tree practising his extermination techniques on unsuspecting ornaments whilst waiting for the Dr Who Christmas Special.

Meanwhile I've been opening my gifts in the Needlecraft Haven Advent Exchange. So far I have received a handy mending kit, some snuggly stripey socks, a mobile phone usb adaptor set (very useful), pot pourri, a handbag keyring, hair clamps, two skeins of yummy thread and a lovely photo frame, and I'm feeling rather spoiled, so a huge thank you to my secret benefactor.

and I couldn't resist the temptation to include my selection of vintage baubles somewhere in this post.

The Travelling Pattern, Another Ornament and a Golden Snitch

I've been lucky enough to be chosen as the next stitcher for the Travelling Pattern. I'm hoping to get it stitched up before Christmas, so watch this space...
In the meantime I've finished up another ornament. This one is from this year's Christmas Ornament Issue of The Gift of Stitching magazine. Those little reindeer just crack me up.
And then she went on Pinterest again... 
Don't all groan at once!
This time I found this tutorial from Tiny Apartment Crafts, for making a Harry Potter Golden Snitch ornament, and in no time flat I was up to my eyes in glue and glitter.

The original tutorial mentioned some problems getting the wings to stick to the bauble, so instead of making them individually, and sticking them on I made the pair from a continuous piece of wire with a little circular loop between them, then when they were dry I popped the ferule off the top of the bauble, dropped the loop over the neck and stuck the ferule back on. Clear as mud? I should have taken a picture halfway through. Anyway here it is, my very own Golden Snitch.
Off now to try and clean the holographic glitter off my keyboard!

Ornaments, apples and hooky

And here we are in December! Hi to anyone who has come over here via the Advent Calender on Jo's Blog. A Christmassy post for you all.


The Needlecraft Haven Ornament Exchange finished last week. Here is the ornament I sent to Mary (no blog as far as I am aware)
This is He's a Flake by LHN, stitched on  hand dyed linen from The Crafty Kitten, and backed with the vintage fabric shown, which I bought from Rag Rescue (well worth a visit), and finished with a few pompom "snowballs".

And here is the one I recieved from Barb. Thank you Barb, I totally love it, it is so pretty and delicate and stitched entirely over 1.
It also came wrapped up in the Christmas fabric it is sitting on, which was very thoughtful.

I've also taken part in an ornament exchange via The Gift of Stitching, here is the beautiful ornament I received from Melanie (Don't know of any blog for Melanie either). It looks like a real vintage glass ornament doesn't it? 
Thank you Melanie, its just lovely.
I can't show you the one I sent to Melanie because I used the Monthly Challenge design and it's not reveal day yet, I'll bore you with that one later ;D.

And what about the apples and hooky I hear you ask. Well ta da!
A snuggly little apple cosy a la Mollie Makes.
I've wanted to make one of these since the fabulous Mollie Makes was first launched, and Eloise has been desperate for a cosy to keep her poor neglected little apple safe and warm on it's perilous journey into college.  I mean the girl has literally been pining for an apple cosy. 
If you've been following this blog for a while you'll know that crochet is something I struggle with but last week I bit the bullet and had a go and just like Eliza Doolittle "By George, I think she's got it!"
OK so attempt one was more like a grapefruit cosy, but, 
Look. At. That.
Can you tell I'm excited?
I suspect I may have found a new addiction. Ho Hum.