Seasons Greetings!

Some 'makes' and inspirations from 2011 - not as well documented as I'd like but a little snippet! So much enjoyment and experimentation - not all commercial successes (little time for that these last few months!), but a lovely journey all the same :)

I'll be continuing extra office duties in the first month of the New Year, and then back to 'normal' crafty hours - pheeeeeew! Thanks for bearing with me these last few months where commercial work had to take a back seat, but on the plus side I learned to crochet - way hay!!!! There's always a silver lining to every story - I hope you have a wonderful festive season, I will 'see' you at some point in the New Year when I will be back on 'crafty' duty :)

Time for a lovely family break now - which I will be very thankful for :D

Nollaig Chridheil agus Bliadhna Mhath Ur bho Tweed Delights!

(Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from Tweed Delights!)

Alison x

Better Late than . . .

Sorry, much later than anticipated I'm revealing my bunting - all FIVE flags! (it's very short bunting and would be more suited for hanging along a mantlepiece) - I'm pleased how it turned out, but that gold lurex thread still irks me and it's yet to be hung permanently. I hung it here for the sake of taking a photo, against the backdrop of one of my brother's pastel drawings which hangs over my mantlepiece . . .

. . . I prefer the uninterrupted view of my landscape picture so the bunting hasn't yet found a permanent home! Very enjoyable to make though, and I'm looking forward to making more along the same lines - I really like the traditional plaid effect against the tweed (minus the gold thread of course!!!) . . .

It's been a bit hectic here between a coughy, spluttery husband and other events which seemed intent on scuppering my Christmas preparation plans, but I think I'm on track now - too late to panic now in any case! I have one last gift to make, if I'm lucky I'll make it today. My crochet cushion was finished off, but I cheated and used cream tweed for the backing - I'd still quite like to add a lace crochet border but time is running out . . .

I really wished I'd been able to make more of my own decs, and other handcrafted goodies, but other events have taken over - I bought these cute ones at work, which were made by students with learning needs. They had a lovely stall and had oranges decorated with cloves and ribbon, but I kept mine on my desk at work - to remind me of what I could be doing if I was at home!

Never mind, soon be Christmas - later-gaters! :)

Kitsch . . . and even more kitsch

I'm always trying to capture the little robin redbreasts that seem to pop about our garden (all year round it seems!) - but to no avail. I eventually resorted to 'stealing' one of Little S's Xmas decs from the tree, just to get the effect you understand, hehe:) . . .

Here is our little fluffy friend in his 'natural' glittery habitat (he also 'tweets' a little tune when you squeeze him - just thought you'd like to know that!!)

Leading on from kitsch Christmas decs, my 'festive' binding arrived yesterday, and is more 'kitsch' than I had hoped for - it has a gold lurex thread through the tartan which is NOT what I wanted - ah, well it looks like the 'kitsch' theme is following me whether I want it or not! Here it is . . .

. . . never mind, I'm going to enjoy using it for some festive bunting - hope to show you the results later in the week!

Bye for Now :)

my creative space . . . playing around

I'm a little late with My Creative Space today . . . in fact I didn't even think I'd be participating, but severe weather warnings kept me at home - I made the most of it of course :)

I'd ordered some bias binding from E-bay at the weekend, to get me going with some bunting-making - the 'festive' bunting hasn't yet arrived but a lovely, pretty daisy print one came yesterday and I couldn't resist playing around with it, just a little bit, hehe! . . .

. . . I'm not actually using the tweed I initially intended here, I just grabbed the first thing I saw - you know how it is, you get a notion to do something and all sense of reason goes out of your head! I sort of like really zany mixes though - colourful plaids and delicate prints - nothing is sacred here!!

I was so keen to get going with my bias binding I just leapt in with Size 10 feet (I don't acually have size 10 feet - don't worry!!!) - cut out a cardboard template and had a little play around . . .

. . . I might actually find some use for some woven labels I ordered recently - they're FAR too long for my usual 'makes' - I thought the 'handmade in the Hebrides' would be in itsy-bitsy size text but alas, not! In the back of my mind I thought I'll have to come up with some 'elongated' makes . . . and then 'bunting' came on the scene - sometimes I really think there's some divine intervention going on :D

Well, I hope the weather abates a little by the morning, otherwise I'll be out of a job and be labeled as an unfit mother to boot (the boys stayed at home today too) - I wouldn't have sent a dog out in the rain and gales that lashed against our kitchen door today!! More creative 'tails' here :)

P.S. Claire over at Sweet Birdy Love is having a fab 'too-whit-too-whoooooo!!' giveaway right now - she's been such an inspiration to me this year - her creativity seems to be boundless! Go give her a visit, she's very welcoming hehe :)

P.P.S. Unfortunately I've been having some unsavoury 'spammy' issues over the last two days and have had to enable 'comment moderation' - something I did NOT enjoy doing - I hope this won't deter comments, it's merely to keep the nasty 'spammy' peeps at bay till I figure it all out!! Apologies for that - bye for now! x

Snowy scenes . . . and polka dots

We woke up to some beautiful snowy scenery this morning . . .

Let's hope it stays like this for Christmas - finger's crossed! :)

Sorry I've been a little absent of late - busy finishing off a couple of Christmas gifts - any left to make will be done at leisure now as they're for local family relatives, I'll be crocheting on Christmas Eve at this rate, hehe :) So many things I want to make at the moment - some will have to wait until after the festive season is over, when I'll be back to my usual office work schedule.

This weekend, I've been thinking about bunting, bunting and more bunting, after purchasing this little book from Amazon. A very cute little publication which has got me really inspired to make some of my own - I'm imagining my house covered in the stuff - great fun! To me, bunting sounds like Christmas decorations that you never have to take down - way hay!! :)

I've just sat down on the kitchen floor as I was going to take a pic of my shiny new oven to show you (strangely two days after I'd been on my work trip our old one died!!!???) However, I noticed that I was wearing my new polka dot socks with ribbons on them - I think they're probably more interesting than my new oven (much as I love it!!!) - socks aren't usually something I get excited about but . . .

. . . if you have to wear socks, I think you should make a statement, no??

As with EVERYTHING at the moment, I'm thinking I would love to CROCHET a pair of socks!!

Right now I'm 'dreaming of a white Christmas' . . . and some more crafting time!

Have a Happy Monday :)

Bats and Beanies . . .

I had to take a little trip to the mainland (Scottish) at the end of last week - work-related, but quite nice all the same! It's good to be back though, even if after spending a night in a "posh-ish" hotel it reminded me of how much I have to declutter my little home - I've spent the day clearing the decks and trying to get my house looking like a little hotel-ish LOL!! It hasn't really worked, but it looks a little better now, hehe :) If it ever does look like a hotel, I'll definitely take photos and post them here!!!!

'Little S' was a little bored on Saturday afternoon/evening so he decided he wanted to make the 'bat-cookies' we'd left over from Hallowe'en - I was shocked that he didn't want to decorate them so I had to decorate my own one!!! (I copied the picture on the packet-mix - ooops!)

He was a bit 'miffed' that he was the only one in the house without a crochet beanie and asked for a black one - who am I to argue!!! Here's the beanie in progress - it's in a bowl because I was using the wool 'doubled up' as I thought it would be too thin and lacey-looking otherwise - it turned out really thick and warm but a good fit so he was happy enough!

I'm almost finished my present-making list for Xmas, and I want to spend some time making my home looking nice and cosy and Christmassy - I ordered a little booklet from Amazon on 'bunting-making' - watch this space! You never know I might manage some Christmas bunting, but it's a long shot!!

Back to a four-day week this week (but there are noises about a strike at the office-job - are you allowed to stay at home and crochet during a strike??? - it doesn't sound very militant, he he!!) Bye for now :)

A re-draw . . .

Sorry I'm a little later than planned getting back to you re the Giveaway - unfortunately the original winner didn't get back to me so I got my Other Half to draw a new name out at the weekend which was Fiona! Congratualtions Fiona - I will be in touch with you very soon :)

I'm still busy with extended office hours and gift-making - well I started, so I'm going to finish!! I'm having a ball really - lots of experimenting and playing around with different yarns- it's an excuse to have some fun to an extent, and hone my crochet skills too of course :) It's a 'win-win' situation - not sure what the recipients will think though, hehe :) Anyway, my eldest (16 year old) is wondering about the house wearing the new beanie hat I made for him over the weekend - I'm overjoyed that he likes it so much! (sorry, no pics - he's a teenager - enough said!!)

I have no crafty pictures of my own - so here's Little S's crafty 'makes' from school this week - they had a crafty 'masterclass' all this week at school and made a drawstring bag . . .

. . . a squishy fishy pin-cushion

. . . and a cute decorative celtic-inspired wall decoration

That's all from 'Little S's' blog this week, hehe! I'm going to have a hectic week this week for one reason and another so maybe absent until the weekend at least - have a lovely week y'all :) Cheerio an Drasda!