Knitmas Pt 2 - being spoiled

I was the very lucky recipient of my own Knitmas swap parcel. My very generous secret elf sent me a variety of gifts including yarn, different chocolate, tea, notions and the most amazing cabled snowman.

Please excuse the dodgy artificial light in these photos; winter is not my favourite time for photography!

This needle gauge and KPI tool are made of bamboo, and I just love the wee sheep illustrations.

The cabled snowman has been living on the mantel since he arrived at his new home. Sadly still nameless, but definitely creating a festive vibe. I adore the cables!

The amazing C even went to the trouble of knitting me a pair of socks. They are comfy, cheerful & they even fit!! I am saving them for slouching about the house; they are too lovely to hide under winter boots.

My wonderful parcel also included a cross stitch kit, an owl-covered diary, two types of yarn, some polka-dot bun cases and four different types of chocolate!
I feel so spoiled; thank you not-so-secret-anymore-elf C!

Knitmas pt 1 - making Knitmas

While planning for the following projects, I may have been imagining a knitting & textile themed version of this song.

This year, I used the Irish-based Knitmas gift swap on Twitter as an excuse to exercise my sewing muscles. I've been intending to make some bunting for a while.

I used a pattern from 'Quilting in No Time' as a basis, and enjoyed making the bunting, but vow I will never again do anything as unnecessarily fiddley as turning in the raw edges for bunting. I do enjoy sewing but sometimes find it frustrating that I seem to spend ten times as long pressing the fabric as sewing or cutting it. In spite of this I have intentions to make more bunting.

I also used this as a perfect opportunity to make a new project bag, based on this tutorial. I enjoyed matching the fabrics & would love to make more similar bags, eventually, when the 48 hour day kicks in....

Of course the bunting didn't quite fill the project bag so I had to fill it up with some yarn, a wee knitted duck, some notions and some sweet treats. Hopefully the recipient feels just a bit spoiled