Happy New Year!

Blwyddyn Newydd Dda!

The end of 2011 has been non stop - I started a new busy full time job in September which has kept me away from crafting for far too long. My fingers have been itching to get back to making things and Christmas 2011 gave me a great excuse to get knitting and sewing to create gifts for all my family and friends.

I've made some great little pieces for people including my famous fabric and hessian shopping bags which went down really well this year. This one is made of duck egg blue fabric with leaves on the outside and a heavy creamy cotton on the inside. Tempted to keep this one for me!!

I've also been making myself a scarf in a gorgeous rust colour yarn - I've been knitting this scarf since the start of September and I'm only about a quarter of the way done. I really want to finish it before the winter is over as I know it's going to go really well with my navy coat. I think I have enough yarn left on the ball to make some gloves or a little beanie hat to go with it, but we'll see:

The best handmade present I've had this year (actually if I think about it it's one of 2 lovely handmade presents I had off friends this year) is this gorgeous hand crocheted giant circle scarf / cowl with matching hand knitted hat. It's a gorgeous raspberry pink (not girly girly) and the yarn is variegated so it goes fat then thin so gives a great texture to the piece. Zoe has promised to try and get me crocheting for 2012 - I completely failed in 2011 in my attempts and just didn't have the time to stick it out. 2012 WILL be the year I get crochet!!

*** Note: Every single picture I've taken shows these as purple. As lovely as this colour looks these are actually a fab heather / raspberry pink. Either way they are lovely and she is silly talented! Check out her new Etsy shop to get your hands on a piece for yourself***

My other mission for 2012 is to properly get to grips with the double pointed needle. It's an odd one - I've mastered most other techniques fine but there is something about the dreaded double pointed needle that has foxed me. I think I may have to enrol in a Calon Yarns short course to teach me. I'm lucky enough to live around the corner from an amazing yarn shop here in Cardiff where they sell great yarn and run classes in lots of different crafty mediums. Throw in some mulled wine, minced pies and a sofa to sit and knit on and Zoe and I were entertained for a great few hours of crafty fun. Look how cool the shop is?!

We also need to start back up our craft night. There is a group of 3 or 4 of us who mostly live locally, and like to take our minds off the stresses and strains of work and the daily grind and sit, chat, craft and munch on some tasty treats. It must have been the summer when we met up properly last - again life and ill health keeps getting in the way. It's great to meet up with friends and spend a night in. Everyone usually brings their dogs too which is always funny in a small space!

Well, this scarf will eventually get finished - not sure if it will have tassels; at the moment I'm leaning towards no. The bobbly pattern is the interesting bit and I think tassels could distract from that... Please let me know what you think on this!

I've also missed having the time, energy, mindset and inclination to write a blog post. I think it's quite daunting to start typing if you haven't done it in a while but I think with a new year and after de-stressing a bit after the holidays I'm ready to dip back in to writing again - plus I wanted to wish you all a Happy New Year!

Debs