I'm Still Standing......

.......having survived the apocalypse that never was. Must admit there is a very tiny piece of me that is just a little disappointed - now I'll have to cook Christmas dinner!  We had a hilarious present-opening frenzy at work yesterday half an hour before the end of the world was due, just in case we were going to be obliterated before Christmas!  It's raining heavily again today - perhaps the end of the world will come about as we all just quietly float out to sea......

Anyway, due to life carrying on, last night I finished these cozy wristwarmers which are a present for someone special who moaned incessantly last year about the tightness of the thumb-hole in the last pair I made. Ingrate! What's wrong with your thumbs turning blue?  These are my own design, so should fit perfectly.

Very frustrating time of year for creativity - I have a painting I want to start and it is in the back of my mind constantly but due to prepping for Christmas, I have not had any time to sit at my desk.  Hopefully in a few days there will be plenty of spare moments in which to get it down on paper before withdrawal symptoms start to drive me totally crazy!

One of Our Reindeer is Missing....

No, I haven't really kidnapped and decapitated one of Santa's reindeer!  This is a very last minute Christmas commission which is to wing it's way to the USA today - will it get there in time for Christmas?  Who knows, but I gave it my best shot, knitting it within 24 hours.  Come on Santa, lend my parcel a bit of magic dust to speed it on it's way!

I've also knitted five pairs of owl wristwarmers, wrapped all my presents and iced the Christmas cake - can I have my medal now?

Oh Christmas Tree....

I have to confess that this year Christmas has crept up on me and I felt even less prepared for it than usual.  However, today I wrapped the final packages to go in the post and found the perfect Christmas tree then realised that perhaps I am actually almost ready. 

We have a very small house indeed and usually the tree has to be squeezed in to a corner by the patio door where a vast bird of paradise plant usually resides..and then I have to find a space for the plant which is very heavy so I can't do it without help.....  This year I am pretty much on my own in the run up to Christmas - my son has gone to Finland for the weekend, my partner is not home until next weekend and Stacie is not much help when it comes to heavy lifting!  So when I saw this little tree (four feet high) with very flat branches on one side, I had a bit of an epiphany - it could go on sideboard instead.  It fits perfectly and has the added bonus that up there I don't have to worry about the dog knocking off any glass baubles - so this year I have thrown all my favourite ornaments on it!

Now, we need a goose......

Christmas Stashbuster....

As usual it is a mad panic at the last minute as far as Christmas is concerned - I just never seem to get it organised in October like some people!  However, I think the majority of the present buying has been done and just awaits wrapping and dispatching, but there are a few people I want to give a little something more personal to.  I found this cute little pattern in a back issue of a magazine (although Molly Makes has a version in their current issue too) and found it very quick to knit up.

The little owl design is really clever, using a few simple cables and a bit of moss stitch - I think there will be a couple more pairs of these knitted up before Christmas!  Plus it gets rid of a few of those balls of yarn that were bought just because they were pretty!

On the needles this week - a policeman's helmet....yeah.....

If you look in the shops at the Christmas edition of the TV Times (out yesterday) all the Christmassy borders were designed and digitally painted by my son - see them here. 

Ready To Go!

Meet Sydney, the last of the four knitted lurchers.

He's raring to get going!

In fact, all of them are.  This was such a fun commission - I wish I could show you the photograph of the actual dogs but my meagre technical knowledge does not allow me to...sigh! 

That's the last of the Christmas commissions - still plenty of work to get on with but no mad deadlines (still time for a quick one if you live in the UK though!)  Which gives me a little time to play with my birthday present.....

It's not my birthday yet, but as my partner will be in Belgium next weekend, we decided to have a pre-birthday.  I was taken to an unknown location (somewhere near Portsmouth) and into a massive guitar shop where this baby was waiting for me!  I've had a hankering to play the banjo for a long time....no musical ability whatsoever, so this could be interesting!  Still, in two days I have managed to tune it all by myself and learn three chords.  Not quite ready to take on Duelling Banjos yet though....

Swanley.....

Swanley is the third in this commissioned collection of lurchers, and has edged ahead to be my favourite.

I am so enjoying this project - once again, as soon as her ears were sewn on there was the 'ahhh...' moment as she took on the look of a real dog.  It was interesting finding the right combination of yarn to make a shaggy lurcher - this time it was plain white acrylic mixed with white eyelash yarn which then had to be given a trim when the dog was finished.  Despite cutting the 'fur' over a newspaper, I still ended up covered in white fluff.  Definitely worth the effort though.

Swanley will have a red coat to match her collar and has joined her pals waiting for the fourth member of their pack.  It's a Woolpack.....no?  Only me found that funny?

I took this photo last week - it's one tiny lone rose in our front garden that was rimed with frost.  We woke up this morning to find snow on the ground - that wasn't mentioned in the forecast yesterday!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas....

...and as usual I am trailing behind in the readiness stakes.  Once I get today over and done with, it will be all systems go for Christmas shopping and preparations.  Today sees me double-booked - that's what comes of having to submit entry forms months in advance.  One one side of town I have paintings in the Fleet Art Society exhibition and was supposed to be demonstrating a bit of painting in the afternoon; on the other side of town I have a stall at the Tavistock Christmas Fair....whoops! A bit of dashing about will be involved.....

Because of the fair, my Etsy shop will be shut for the day, but just to let you know that the above mini knitted stag head trophy has been listed as a custom order - if you feel an overwhelming need to possess a very small deer's head for your wall, you can pre-order one and I will knit it up for you.  Do be aware that it will take a few days to make and if you live out of the UK, sending it by post at this time of year may take longer than usual.