The end of 2016

Knitting news!
I finished my nieces patchwork Weasley socks, I have to say, I didn't love these, but I hope she does :) and fingers crossed they'll fit lol

The pattern didn't turn out how I'd hoped so I just did 1 repeat and then switched to stocking stitch.

I made my mum a tree decoration :) I used the snowball buddies pattern by Susan Claudino.

I finished my 12th pair of socks for myself :) I used felt fusion sw merino/nylon in the geeks aurora colourway :)

I cast on my Dobby's odd socks number 2, I knit them consecutively till after the heels then put them on 1 cord. I love these colours :)

Spinning news!
There is non :( soon, I hope :)
Goodies!
My awesome best friend made me some Jack Skellington baubles...

And bells :) how freaking cool are these :)

The lovely Mel bought me a personalised necklace with autism awareness charm for my 30th :)

I won a Christmas necklace from bakewell hearts and she included some minis too, very generous, and pretty, also the first dye candy yarns I can try :)

My surprise Christmas box off my mum, put together by Mel of the yarn tree. It's awesome, I love the yarn and such cute extras :)

I opened my Norah George advent calendar every day and it was so much fun.
Days 1-12

 Days 13-24

On day 25 the 100g skein was this beauty. The minis I'm going to arrange by base and hopefully make more frankensocks :)

I ordered some luxury yarn from countess ablaze, alpaca/silk/cashmere 4ply, it's ridiculously soft, definitely to be worn on the neck :) I also got more of the stardust corriedale, as my son loves his handspun hat in it :)

Hope you've all had a good 2016, and happy crafting for 2017!

Toys :)

Knitting news!
I finally made the cal & mari squid for my son, he'll now get the whale, squid and octopus for Yule :) it's kinda a giant squid due to the size difference of the octopus lol

How adorable is this wee mouse..? Pattern is snowball buddies by Susan Claudino, it's brilliant, it offers multiple options too (mouse, bunny, owl and reindeer) :)

I did have problems picking up stitches, they were very visible, so I picked up using the same colour and changed it on the second round :)

Sunny the snowman :) too cute :) I love this so much, as did my son, who tried getting to it before it was finished lol its now bugging him however as it doesn't stand up on its own...needs a weight in the bottom or something...

Spinning news!
I finally plied and wound off the China blue yarn :) 126g 188m 2ply pre-wash.

Goodies!
I bought a couple of metal tree ornaments from my sons Xmas fair to raise money for the school. I got a snowman coz that's what he was in the show and a tree coz I broke the last tree ornament from school, I should add it wasn't a metal one lol

My friend Bekki made me a hat ornament...so cute :) it's been added onto my tree along with our yearly wooden ornaments from the Manchester Xmas markets :)

My Downton abbey box arrived and the yarn is super lush :) I only got the single skein option but what a skein it is, colourway is dowager countess and it came with a flapper headband, lace choker, I ♡ Downton abbey badge & matching magnet.

Happy Crafting!

Lots of finished objects :)

Knitting news!
I finished my first antler hat (designed by tincan knits), and I love how it turned out :)

I also cast off a DK weight barley hat (also by tincan knits), this was for my secret santa at craft group, along with the maize mittens I made :)

I finally cast off the (right) reunion cushion cover (by sockmatician). I like how this looks but it did take me a couple months to finish lol

I love the buttons I selected :) and I got a feather cushion to put inside :) Hopefully my uncle will like it, even though it is only one lol

I made my first cherry rascal hat (by Joeli creates), I used two colours and was unsure at first but it grew on me :)

I also cast off my first ironrath hat (by Lisa Mutch), changed the stitch count to (hopefully) fit a 2 year old. The yarn is far too busy to show the pattern but I'm hoping the little girl will still like it.

I adore this pattern, so cute :) this is Bonnie wee mouse (by Susan Claudino), knit using left over aran yarns (the scarf is DK), it turned out so sweet, I'm a little sad to see him go :)

I finally cast on the cal & mari squid (by Susan Claudino) for my son :) I've finished all the extremities and have just started the body.

I don't like doing so many of the same thing but these weren't too bad as small and fairly fast, though stuffing them was a bit awkward.

The Weasley's patchwork socks in West Yorkshire Spinners signature 4ply. I'm not loving these but I'm still persevering, in the hopes they'll be finished (and fingers crossed fit) for xmas.

Xmas gifts for the community!
I've made a total of 3 gift packs to be distributed in the community.
One: for an over 75's male, it contained:
the antler hat, gloves, dominoes, cards, tissues, sweets and a card, also the bag is a mini jute shopping bag.

Two: for a 6 year old boy, it contained:
the cherry rascal hat, sweets, two cars, captain barnacles (from the octonauts), the train driver (from postman pat), two happy meal toys and a card.

Three: for a 2 year old girl, it contained:
the ironrath hat, bonnie wee mouse, two figures (from postman pat), a happy meal toy, sweets and a card.

I'm happy with the gifts I've put together, they may not be much but I'm hoping that they will bring some happiness to people who may not have a lot.
Happy Crafting!