in between time

days of drifting, children reading and making up songs, playing with Christmas presents, me, dreaming into new knitting books, catching up on stuff around the house, forgetting what day it is...wondering how on earth we will ever eat all the shortbread and chocolates we brought home from Christmas gatherings....doing nothing much...those in between summer days

k n i t t i n g
progress on the Vertebrae; very fond of  the twisted rib edging.

h a n d m a d e  g i f t s :

the night before Christmas Eve, I decided I couldn't let Christmas happen without at least one handmade gift.
These pencil rolls were so quick to whip up, possibly because I was a little slap dash and didn't do any measuring! The girls absolutely love them. I checked out a few tutorials online for ideas by googling "pencil roll tutorials". The pencils are Lyra Giants, our all time favourite pencils for drawing. There's an extra layer of flannelette in the middle to make them padded and the ties are wool "twisties".

o h

and here's the gingerbread shack we made for fun!

getting into the spirit...

I must admit I  have been lagging behind in the Yule cheer, personally, even though I love Christmas. However, today, even if mostly for the sake of my dear wee excited full-of-wonderment 3 year old, a surge of Christmas enthusiasm swept over me. Or should I say, I dug a little deeper to attempt to invoke enthusiasm by simply partaking in Christmas preparations.

 Star making, the intoxicating smell of a freshly cut Christmas Tree, some bling and lights and a bit of Sufjan Stevens carols and I'm feeling a lot more in the mood for the season! Hooray! Thanks to my three ever willing Christmas elves.

 

 And on the knitting front: I've started a cardi for moi. It's called Mama Vertebrae, a little frontless number for summer.  I'm using a surprisingly delightful yarn (sadly being discontinued) by Cleckheaton containing angora, silk and merino.

Tis' the Season to be Felting

After a long break from blogging, wherein I became qualified to teach primary school children...yes, I can now stand proudly in the ranks with such luminaries as Miss Beadle from Little House on the Prairie and Mr Kotter...
I return to the subject of felting, and Christmas, and how in love I am with photos of Robins hopping around in the snow in the northern hemisphere. I was moved to felt a robin of my own, to give to a dear friend, funnily enough named Robyn, who helped me through the year of madness and unprecendented child juggling.
Our Christmas Tree is adorned with many little handmade angels the girls were given by friends at school, and Chicken No.1's amazing needle felted Father Christmas'.
We have also been visited by four furry friends...new guinea pis, who we of course promptly subjected to the indignity of being in a studio Christmas Photo Shoot on their second day of life!
Am trying to read Atonement, which I am loving, yet finding hard to stay awake to get through...and listening to Loreena McKennitt's Christmas album, which is strangly alluring...