Fabric Scrap Sorting (again), A Giveaway and George's Cowl

After the hustle and bustle of Christmas, I'm enjoying a few days relaxing, watching movies and sorting my fabric scraps!

 

 

We walked into town earlier today to return a game to Blockbusters. We took Spencer, of course, who enjoyed the walk along the canal.

 

 

 

The restoration has really progressed since we last walked that way.

 

 

We had lunch at the Lockkeeper's Cafe.......

 

 

 

I had a Stilton and Mango Chutney Panini - Mmm absolutely delicious!

 

And then home for more fabric scrap sorting!!

 

 

 

Thought you'd like to know there's a fabulous New Year's giveaway going on over at Amanda's blog Crafty in the Med.

 

Especially if you like crochet and yarn :)

 

Look! You can win this crochet book or this gorgeous yarn stash!

 

 

 

Click here to pop over to Crafty in the Med and enter!

 

 

...........And last but not least!

 

You may remember just before Christmas, I showed you a cabled cowl that I had knitted.

 

Here's a little reminder!

 

 

Well, I knitted one for my son, George, for Christmas, in a black and grey fleck yarn. He was really pleased with it so much so he even let me take a photo of him wearing it!

 

 

 

The cowl is really enjoyable to make. I'm halfway through another one for my other son, Will.

 

You can find the pattern here on Amy's lovely blog, Fearless Homemaker.

 

 

That's all for now.

 

Happy Holiday Crafting!

 

Happy New Year!

 

Maggie xx

 

Dog Christmas Tree on the Common

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas!

Whilst walking on Rodborough Common a few days ago, in the distance we spotted a tree decorated with festive tinsel.
Chris said he thought it was the 'Dog Tree' that he'd read about.

We went to investigate and found the tree had been decorated by a local animal shelter. There was a box where you could leave a donation to help to care for the animals.

Apart from the pretty festive tinsel, the tree was also decorated with cards and photos of dogs that have enjoyed walking on the Common.

 

Enjoy the rest of the holidays!

 

Maggie xx

The Frozen Common

The start of last week was extremely cold.

 

Rather reluctantly, we left the warmth of the woodburner and ventured up on to the Common to give Spencer his daily scamper around.

 

Wrapped up in my winter coat (and several layers underneath), hat, gloves and my new cosy cowl, I prepared to brace myself against the icy blast.  I was ever so slightly surprised to find our familar walk looking even more beautiful than usual.

 

So much so that I hardly noticed the freezing temperatures!

 

I took some photos so I could share it with you.

Maggie xx

Knitting and Cows

I've been busy knitting again....in between the Christmas shopping, dog walking, making baby quilts....

 

I love it!

Here are the moss stitch hand warmers I mentioned last time....

They're really nice to knit and didn't take long... you can find the pattern on the CreativeYarn blog here.

 

You may recognise the yarn - it's Robin Paintbox - the same yarn that I'm using to make my poncho (WIP - haven't picked it up for a while!)
 

 

 

After I'd finished the moss stitch hand warmers, I decided to try to make a cowl. I found a lovely chunky pattern on Amy's lovely blog, Fearless Homemaker. I'd been wanting to try cables as I haven't done any for years and this pattern looked just the job....

You can find the pattern here.

 

 

It's lovely and cosy for this cold weather and I love the self patterning chunky yarn.

 

Thought you might like to see this....we were walking down the lane the other day and those cheeky Belted Galloways are back in the field...

Enjoy the rest of Sunday!

 

Maggie xx

Knitted Mitts and Handwarmers

Firstly thank you so much for your kind birthday wishes!

I've been off radar for a week or so as Chris and I have been feeling poorly with rotten colds. We managed to paint the hallway and put the curtains up at the front but haven't got much further than that. I promise some photos as soon as we've finished!

Whilst I've been feeling under the weather, I've been enjoying knitting some more fingerless gloves. I've also sewn the seams on the pairs I made during the summer - was it that long ago?!

So I though you might like to see them....

My lilac stocking and garter stitch fingerless mitts......

And my pink ones from the summer are now completed.....

This is a very easy and quick pattern which you can find here.

 

 

I've been trying a new pattern with moss stitch.....in lilac...

......and a lovely flecked yarn.......

You can find this moss stitch pattern here.

 

 

And I just had to show you these gorgeous wristwarmers and scarf knitted by the lovely Mel of Brawlbin Crafts....I treated myself to them...they looked so pretty and they're so soft and cosy too!

 

 

You can visit Mel's Etsy shop here

And not forgetting these lovely handwarmers, I treated myself to earlier in the year.....knitted by the lovely Bebby of BebbyJumpers....

I wear them indoors as my hands always get so cold....

 

You can visit Bebby's Etsy shop here.

 

I've just finished knitting one mitt from a different moss stitch pattern which, if I've finished the pair, I'll show you next time.

 

It's just the right weather for sitting and knitting!!

 

Maggie xx

Birthdays and Horses' Shoes

It's been our birthday week!

 

Mine on Monday and Chris' on Wednesday.

 

We've taken the week to just relax and do some of things we love doing :)

 

Lunching out, cinema (the new James Bond movie), walking with Spencer, a spot of shopping.....

 

And now we've started decorating the hallway!

I've just finished the second coat of paint on the ceiling whilst Chris has been preparing the walls for painting tomorrow.

If it turns out as planned, I will share some photos with you soon!

 

Earlier in the week (and I know this is a bit random), I looked out of the window to see the farrier attending to our neighbour's horses' shoes.

 

 

 

 

It's things like this that make me love where we live!

 

Maggie xx