New Beginnings

Hello and  Happy New Year to you all !! I hope you had a calm and peaceful, relaxing one; we did. We spent the evening on a zoom call with 5 or 6 groups of friends, we played Countdown and bingo and had a quiz: very different from the usual party we go to, but lots of fun nonetheless. There was lots of laughter and plenty of bubbly.

Since New Year our weather has been very dry but cold and I've been doing lots of walking so I've decided to sign up for another 200km this month.

I've managed to get out for a walk pretty much every day, sometimes with Pixie, sometimes with hubby, sometimes with both, and sometimes with friends.

Often I walk past "spoonville", a little area where lots of local children have "planted" decorated wooden spoons. This initiative began during the first lockdown and continued to grow all through the summer months.

A lot of the spoons are looking a bit worse for wear after being there for so long - the elements have taken their toll - but a few are still looking at least a little decorated, including the rather resplendent Father Christmas, which is obviously quite a recent addition.

A local lady has put together a "gingerbread trail" for the children to follow, here's one of the gingerbread men - actually this one is a gingerbread girl ... the trail is made up of laminated mini-posters attached to lampposts. We also had a Halloween trail and a scarecrow trail last year.  I love that there is so much for the children to look out for to help get them outside with a purpose. 

There is also a house that I pass that has decorated its front tree with lot of hama bead decorations. The lady who lives there has made them for children (and some adults!) to spot whilst walking. They certainly brighten up the otherwise bleak landscape.

 

I say bleak landscape, but there are always bright splashes of colour to be found if you look hard enough.

And some houses still have outside Christmas decorations up, I particularly like this very wintery tree with its beautiful silver baubles...

Back indoors, my hyacinth plant is looking rather marvellous .....

The blooms are so massive I've had to string it up a bit and prop it up against the window to keep from falling over. It probably needed a bigger pot but I never got round to replanting it. I think it looks pretty amazing though  actually and it smells divine.

Meanwhile there is plenty of crafting going on. As is my usual style I have tons of projects on the go and am starting a couple of new ones too. I'm just about to start a year long needlework "blackwork" project. This is where you stitch a repeating pattern, traditionally in one strand of black embroidery floss, though this particular project has muted rainbow colours - how gorgeous will this be at the end of the year.... each block is a different colour and pattern, with the patterns being released weekly by peppermint purple.

I decided that I'd do this project from my stash, and not buy any new floss for it, so I had to delve into my little wooden embroidery floss box thingammy which I inherited from my friend's Mum.

It needs a bit of a sort out, though I was able to find all the colours I wanted to use.

The other new project I am starting is the Meadow Cal from Lucy at Attic24. The first section is being released today, so I'll be working on that over the weekend no doubt. Just look at those colours - gorgeous...

And finally Gaynor, who runs my local crochet group, the Barkham Hookers, is going to be doing a chunky poncho Cal which I'd like to have a go at as well. I don't have a link for that, but when I do I''ll share it with you. Its going to involve some serious stash diving as I have a lot less chunky yarn and have no idea where it is. It could get very messy ......

I'm still working on my stitchonomy SAL ... look at the little reindeer  aren't they so cute!

... and work continues on the Christmas cross-stitch. I rather suspect t will turn out to be an Easter cross-stitch though, what with all the other projects going on. I am very far from being a monogamous crafter.

My Triana Shawl is getting quite big now ...

... I'm onto the last skein of yarn, oh I can't tell you how excited I am to finish this one and get it blocked, its so soft and gorgeous.

Well, I'm just off for another wintry walk - its very very cold today and threatening to snow - it will only be a little I'm sure, but its trying !!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend,

Jillxxxxx