End of December Round Up

I hope your Christmas went well and looking forward to the New Year ahead.  David and I had a quiet Christmas Day at home, though Boxing Day was a family gathering at my youngest son's so that was a busy one.  All over now for another year but it was strange having to think what day of the week it is between Christmas and New Year and it'll be good to get back into a 'normal' routine!

Apart from the cruise, which has been the basis of my posts this month I have managed some crafty stuff.  On the days at sea a growing knit and natter group gathered in one of the bars in the afternoon and while going to this I got a second sock knitted for me for Christmas.

You may be able to see that I've done an eyelet pattern of a Christmas tree on one side of each sock.  Unfortunately I didn't record the pattern that I made on the first sock which got me into a bit of trouble knitting and un-knitting the rows on the second sock. So I had to wing it and hope that I got it right but it doesn't look too bad.  The yarn is King Cole Zig Zag and the colour way is Summer but when I bought the yarn it said Christmas to me.  They fit well so I'm pleased and they were worn at Christmas!

Another thing I was working on was the November Little Box of Crochet which had this gorgeous Mandala designed by Amanda Williams (which you may have seen on my Christmas Day post part done). The photo below shows the finished article. Isn't it just gorgeous?

The design is worked into the front and back stitches so it gets dense with the layers of crochet stitches, but you should see the back and I love that too.

There was also a little sheep wooden decoration and he had a little Christmas coat.  I really liked this pattern and I might possibly have a go at another mandala in the future.

No sewing happened at all in December until yesterday and I made a postcard - black and white and .. (one other colour).  I haven't done fabric weaving in a long time so I made this

Its ok, a bit boring, but it got me back into sewing again.  I wish I put a bit more effort into it.  I'll have to think about something a bit more exciting than this.

Anyway, New Year, New Projects.  I decided to make myself a jumper from watching Tina from Simply in Stitches starting a KAL (Knit A Long) on You Tube.  I ordered yarn and needles from Wool Warehouse and I wasn't worried about getting the package until after Christmas but it came the Friday before on Christmas!    The jumper is to be knitted in Drops Alpaca yarn which is lovely and soft.I've started a tension piece for the jumper and need to go down one size of needles which now means a search for the correct size circulars! Hey ho...

On the Saturday before Christmas the Little Box of Crochet arrived for December.  We were out that day (which usually happens) and it looks lovely with a really cute Amigurumi puppy designed by Kerry Lord of Toft.  As I've recently finished the mandala and got to finish the Tunisian crochet pouch from October's box I will start then when the pouch is finished.

My room was in a mess over the holidays as our shower decided not to work.  The other side of the wall from the built in wardrobe is the bathroom and there is a pump for the shower boxed in at the bottom of the wardrobe. I closed the door on all the mess over Christmas!  But I will have to get things back in order and that can wait just a little while longer...

I hope you have a fab New Year! 🎉🎉🎉. (I'm pleased that Blogger now has emojis!)