Getting there

Hello...bright and sunny morning here in my patch and I am feeling brighter and sunnier too. Did you know it is nearly Christmas? I mean almost Christmas? Yikes! Where did 2010 go? Well I have been preparing. I made my Christmas cake last night, fed it and put it to bed. I will unwrap it and feed it again a few more times before it is decorated by my very excited 7 year old!

This was the yummy dried fruit mix soaking up brandy....mmmmm

And I have actually finished another gift........

Yay! The zig-zag stripe is finally finished. You know I almost ripped this as I just wasn't enjoying the colours...and even up until I did the edging last night I wasn't sure. But I love it! It is cosy and soft and full of colour.

Ooo it feels fantastic to finish something after what seems like an age! Still have more to finish though....my Gretel beret by Ysolda has had to be put on hold until I finish Christmas gifts. I have made some progress and am really enjoying the pattern....

And I have bought myself a little treat to attempt to make some socks!!!

Aren't the colours fab-u-lous?!!!! xxx

Autumn

I always struggle with autumn. Something about the sadness of losing summer, and something about the dread of the long, cold, dark winter months to come. It usually takes me a good month to accept that summer is really and finally over. By that time, I come out of mourning and start to look around and realise that autumn is really a beautiful time of year. I do this every year! Leaves display the most gorgeous, warming colours and berries appear on shrubs.

Autumn is a time for taking stock and for getting all the stuff in the garden out of the way before winter sets in. I have a very big garden, and this can be a bit daunting. Especially the hedges! You can see below a fraction of  the hedge around the garden. Where are Boy Scouts when you need them!

Autumn is also a time for cosying down and planning woolly project for the winter months. This is the fun bit. I am still searching for a fair isle pattern but have been inspired by some things I found on the web. Like these....

I'm also planning to make myself an aran jacket this winter. My mum has a stash of about 50 vintage aran patterns so will be rummaging. However, I have found this....

This is a cable jacket from a fantastic booklet by Sirdar called Favourite Aran Knits 2.  It has a really gorgeous range of chunky, bobbly, cablishness!

I also recently found a wonderful source of Scottish dk and aran yarn. I ordered some dk and absolutely love it. It has a real rustic, flecky sort of charm and is soft and good to work with. The colours are quite muted but enough of a range to make up a fair isle pattern. I also really like the idea of using Scottish yarns for Scottish form of knitting.

The supplier is New Lanark Mill and can be found here....

http://www.newlanarkshop.co.uk/shop.php?view=page&page=1