Little Cotton Rabbits

Happy New Year

We've mostly had a busy and fun Christmas - hope yours was too. Christmas day wasn't the best, as we were all sick with a 24 hour tummy bug - of all the days in the year to go down with it! Still, we've postponed Christmas dinner until New Year's eve when it will hopefully taste just as good. We did manage present opening on the day which buoyed Amy up for a while and the rest of the day was spent sipping water, running to the loo (and finding someone was already in it - houses SHOULD NOT be built with only one loo!) and lying around groaning on the sofas. Once we recovered, we got together with family and caught up with the Christmas spirit. While I was staying with my Mum & Dad for a few days I rediscovered some books from my childhood that had been squirrelled away in the attic. Turning the pages was like journeying back in time. I love the illustrations and the stories are just as good today. I'll be working my way through them with Amy in our regular bedtime reading slot.

The only knitting to show so far is Billy who I finished for my friend's new nephew. I have lots of toys in progress and once the kids are back at school I'll be finishing them off and popping them in the shop - more news on them to follow.

Wishing you all a fun time on New Year's Eve and a happy, peaceful and prosperous New Year.

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas...

...and my dream just came true! I'm an emotional person but even so it's not often that I'm moved to tears over unexpected kindnesses. This morning though, I was blubbing like a good'un as I opened an unexpected package to find this from Raspberry...

How do you find the words to really thank someone for such a spontaneous and generous gift? I feel quite overwhelmed by warm feelings of goodwill and a lovely sense of the goodness that some people have at the centre of their being. I've only been blogging since September and yet through blogging I've felt part of something special - a collection of warm, honest and creative people with big hearts and quick wits and this is embodied by Alice and her generous, beautiful gift. I had admired this piece greatly - it's so beautifully subtle and evocative and I'd asked about buying it. I thought that she had sold it and then today it arrived! Thank you so much Alice, whenever I look at 'Snowy Fields' I'll remember how I feel right now and know there's hope for us all and the world in which we live. Have a very Happy Christmas everyone and especially you Alice.

 

Christmas is coming...

Well, the tree is up and the little bells are doing their job of warning me when Toby starts a-climbing! This year he has a new thing too - licking all of the baubles - I think he likes looking at his tongue reflected in their surfaces and the smoothness of them! I finished 4 stockings for us, have yet to slip 4 mini tree pressies inside but at least they are hanging on the tree. We've also got a small tree for Amy where she's hung the decorations that she's collected over the last 5 years.

I'm on the ball with presents for the teachers too - didn't quite get my act together to do as beautiful job as Domesticali (she and her boys made home-made treats and home-made packaging - looked great) but I did manage to make little bags and tags for some shop-bought chocs. Another thing to tick off the list!

Temporal rifts

I don't know where the time has gone this week - suddenly it's nearly over and there's still so much to do - maybe I slipped into a temporal rift in the space time continuum (see, I just can't shake that star trek thing) or maybe it's just  Christmas. Amy has had a busy week - becoming a Brownie, doing her school play (she remembered her lines well despite being horribly nervous, poor kid!) and the general atmosphere has upped in tempo - by the time we reach non-uniform/Christmas lunch/fun day next Tuesday my good humour may well be flagging! I've still managed to resist putting the tree up as it's a magnet for Toby who seems compelled to climb to the top! The plan is to put it up on Saturday - a balance between pleasing Amy and having to be on constant alert for Toby starting his ascent - I always hang little bells around the bottom so that I have some audible warning of an imminent assault on the north face!

On a knitting note I have a box full of heads, legs bodies etc all ready for sewing up over Christmas. I'm enjoying working with some gorgeous new colours in 100% alpaca and baby cashmerino and am having fun with bears and monkeys as well as bunnies. Have completed my first panda - yet to be clothed but you can have a peek here.Have a great weekend all and if you're venturing out to the shops, good luck!

WIP friday

Heads I win, tails you loose!