Christmas crafting doesn't make for very good blog material (I don't want to ruin any surprises) so here is a picture of our puppy.

As far as the crafting goes I'm working through my list of homemade gifts and have even finished a few. Every time I finish something it gives me a little burst of confidence and I start right into the next thing with extra vigour. This is especially good because I've got one project that is going much slower than I'd hoped and each time I get one of these energy bursts I am able to work on it much longer than usual before I get tired. I still have hope it will be finished in time.

PS. The towel Abby is sleeping on is actually part of a future project. It's going to be the top layer of a quilted dog bed (as soon as I can safetly enter my sewing room without her eating everything).

We went for a walk on Sunday morning. It started snowing just as we left the house and as we walked around the lake we could see it gathering in places and drifting around on the ice that covered all the still water (moving water was still open and sounds particularly cool when everything else is frozen). We got hot noodle soup downtown before heading home again. When we got home I cast on for a knitted blanket.


It's the Hemlock Ring blanket and so far I really like it. I'm using Patons Classic Wool; it has a nice sturdy feel to it, so I know this blanket will stick around, and it's the colour of chocolate. I knitted until I couldn't fit anymore stitches around my needle. I will have to wait until I can get a longer one to finish the blanket. In the mean time I've been working on a quilt.


You have seen this quilt top before though it was a while ago. I'm really very proud of it but had never got around to piecing the backing together. I finally did it this weekend and carefully cleared space on the living room floor to lay out the quilt sandwich. I started quilting Sunday evening - just a basic stitch-in-the-ditch so far but I might add some extra lines when I'm done.

Can you have a nice horrid day? Today feels like it.

We haven't seen the sun all day and I don't think anything outside has been dry since yesterday but everything smells so fresh and earthy. There is no wind and the rain is more like a lazy mist that you run into. It is just cool enough to make you walk briskly and wear a cute hat.

Work was uneventful but the boss left early and the cafe gave us our tea for free at afternoon break.

The house is chilly but that just makes my cocoa taste better.

And I want to play with wool. Almost crave it really. I'm working on a little crochet right now but I'm still learning so it goes slowly. I think I need to start some knitting or maybe some spinning. Something earthy and rhythmic would be just right today. I'm going to go see what's in my stash.