A Christmas card from me to you.

Wishing you all a germ-free, stress-free and hopefully flood-free lovely Christmas and a very Happy New Year.

A Prey to Temptation!

I have been very naughty and bought several hanks of this gorgeous yarn to make a cardigan/jacket.  I know it is not the time of year to be treating oneself but I saw the pattern months ago and fell in love with the yarn more recently.  I have visited it in the shop two or three times, given it serious thought and finally succumbed yesterday.

I am assuaging my guilt and extravagance with the knowledge that I am supporting the work of artisans in Uruguay who produce these beautiful hand-dyed yarns.    This one is a blend of merino wool and silk, and will be treated with the respect it deserves.   It is lovely to handle and a joy to knit with.  I just hope it fits when I have made it!

I can't remember the last time I found a pattern which was perfect for me.  This one comes pretty close, but I shall make it three or four inches longer and not have a zip fastening - I'll knit a ribbed band for each front edge to finish it off.

Trying to get in the mood!

An excessively overdressed tree!   We bought it years ago thinking we were saving real trees from being cut down.  Now, of course, it is considered greener to have a real tree but hopefully ours will serve us for a few more years even though bits have already started dropping off.  The sun was shining when I took this photo and much of the colour is lost.

The new tree lights are rather cold looking but I am gradually getting used to them and in reality it all looks better than it does in this pic.   There is a rather nice golden angel on the top but I seem to have cut her off.

There are still a few days to go, so hopefully I will have shrugged off my hibernation mood and feel ready to have a good time.

Testing, testing...Broadsword calling Danny Boy!

Owing to the fact that there is a picture here, we may have success with sorting out the gremlins.  And as you can see, the laptop has not been kicked out the window.  Jolly dee!

No pretty pictures .........

........ maybe I could resort to colourful language instead! 

 With my daughter's help we deleted half of my posts - nearly 300 - in order to free up storage space but still ended up with the same message.  It looks as if I shall have to buy more space even though we can't figure out why this should be necessary.  We have emailed Blogger for an explanation and advice and must wait for a reply.  I just hope I can post on my other blog or I really will have a problem - I am ready to post my latest batch of work.

The drawing has gone better than I expected and I have done all that is required for the present and am feeling more relaxed about it.   They are all simple line drawings so far and the next step is to add tone, then after that the detail is added.  Not nearly so scary when the whole process is broken down into these stages and an excellent way to learn. 

I did a bit of gardening yesterday and cut down plants that have done their thing for this year.  I know that they look beautiful when sparkling with frost but they also look dreadful when soaking wet and blown about by strong winds.   There are still quite a lot of leaves to drop and we are continually sweeping them off the paths or vacuuming them up off the floor when they have been brought indoors on the soles of our shoes.   Someone is not as good at wiping his feet as I am!

I wish I didn't want to learn to draw!

I am exhausted and have only done two of the several drawings I need to do for my current batch of coursework.  I am enjoying it really, but drawing doesn't come easily to me and I have to concentrate so hard.  An awful lot of puffing and blowing goes on considering that drawing is such a sedentary pastime.  Maybe I should do some relaxation exercises before I start the next lot.

I had a little respite this morning and made a sticky gingerbread loaf and my Christmas cake both of which turned out far better than the drawings, so that was encouraging.  I had hoped to post a picture of them but am still being told that I am out of space and have used 100% of my 1GB quota, though my daughter checked things for me and doubts this.   I can load the photos from my camera onto my laptop, but it wont let me post them on this blog.   I shall have to consult my technical assistant again.

I don't know where the time goes at present and mentally feel as if I am back in September - can't believe it will be Christmas in just over three weeks time!   I hope it doesn't come as a shock!!

Hope to be back here soon and with photographs next time - fingers crossed.