The months go flying by....

So summer has gone ... no blogging due to various things like work, and holidays and oh yes I had to move out of my flat because the one above me went on fire and living in a smokey, ceiling damaged place is not a lot of fun... So here's a quick catch up of summer '10! I spent two weeks with mum, which we spent walking on the beach... eating cake...making cakes (don't try to eat these ones!) ... making felt (and a mess) in the kitchen ... mum liked this wee bowl...

I took a stall at the Stranraer show... my sister turned 50 so we had a party (and more cake)...

Keep on socking!

And the birthday socks are done - yay! I left them toeless til he could try them on but the length was fine so I could have been braver and finished them off last night! So one pair of nice thick chunky manly socks which he rather likes so that's good. The wool is a mix of one strand of North Ronaldsay aran and Jamieson's dk blue- so very Northern Isles.This pattern is a great way to mix yarns to get a thicker sock and use up bits and bobs so there might be more of these on the way!

A sunny day!

Love these sunny winter mornings - it's nice and peaceful to get yourself up and sit in the sun with a cup of tea and some knitting, and know that even though it's cold outside it's like a little conservatory here! So that makes me feel a bit better this morning. And the blanket is growing apace, very addictive knitting this. Think I'm going to add in some Shetland Soft, oyster which should match in well. I've already used up 230g and have 680 left of the Heather naturals but think it would be best to make a really nice big snuggly blanket so using up some of the shetland soft might be the answer.And Happy Birthday to mum who loved the needle cozies that royal mail delivered today.... though it took a suggestion from brother in law before she realized what they were! But she loves them and I can't wait to see them all displayed full of needles!

Birthday card and cozies

I know it's still wintering out there, but it's my mum's birthday tomorrow and I felt that with all this illness and wintery weather we could do with something a bit cheerier and almost spring like - so did this card for her. I don't do that much embossing but it does make the stamps stand out better so think I'll keep on with it. (And just try not to get too messy...) And I wrapped up all these felted cosies to keep your knitting needles all snug and tidy - they're from Cat Bordhi's Second Treasury of Magical Knitting, which is a great book, though I still need to learn how to do the whole Moebius thing... maybe next week! Anyway hope mum doesn't see this til she has guessed what they're for!

Birthday cards keepsake book

No, that's not a self-portait on the cover (and since it came from my nephew I hope it wasn't meant to be either!). I decided to dig out all those old birthday cards my family have made over the years and put them into this book, bedeck it with lots of purple ribbons, the odd flower or two and some pretty paper. Great fun to do, and it makes a great keepsake album. And there's still space for more in there (just in case the family are reading....)

More minibooks!

This one is very pink, I know, it has to happen sometimes. My sis and I have birthdays 9 days apart and younger nephew's is only two days before his mum's so as I was going down to their's with pressie for Andrew we decided just to make it a birthday weekend and sis and combined out birthdays into one big cake fuelled experience .... here's the pics! You can tell how much I enjoyed the BPS Doodle all day class, eh?

Birthdays all round

We had a birthday weekend in our family. The youngest nephew was 8 on Saturday, my sister had her birthday on Monday (better not say what one!) and mine is next Wednesday. So we combined it all into a couple days of cakes and pressies, and lots of games and fun. These piccies of me and my sis blowing out our candles were taken by elder nephew. Well done John! Both Fiona and I got Bind-it-alls and other scrapping stuff so here's to lots of minibooks from now on.... And Fiona made me a Gingy cake - after my all time fav character from Shrek. Andrew got a castle cake and you can see it here (for some reason I don't have any piccies, probably cos it was half eaten by the time I got there!)