The joy of swaps!

Well good afternoon to you! Thanks for popping in! Very little on the knitting front to share with you I'm afraid. There has been a lot of box packing going on, and not much else. I have knit a small amount of a sock, it's an easy pattern, so it's nice to relax and do a couple of rounds in the evening when we have had enough of parcel tape and packing paper! Florence, as you might expect, is still keeping an eye on proceedings for us.

 

 

 

 

I packed up my craft room yesterday. I won't show you any photos of exactly how many boxes there are - let's just say that the new craft room will be well insulated!!

 

 

I have been busy finishing off the bunting that my knitting club has been making at school. I managed to get a few parents involved too, and the corridors are now festooned! It certainly brightens up the place.

 

 

 

 

Our kitchen is rather steamed up at the moment - here's a clue as to why!

 

 

Can you guess? No? Ok, here's another clue then!

It's Stir up Sunday, the day when traditionally, Christmas puddings are made. We make one following Delia Smith's recipe, it's delicious. It has a couple more hours to steam today and will then be packed away until Christmas Day.

 

 

I have had two rather lovely parcels in the post this week. The first was from Judi - part of the ThreeBagsFull group swap on Ravelry. We had to choose a bag from Michele's shop for our partner, and then add a skein of yarn and some goodies. Judi chose me a really cute owl bag, and spoilt me with lots of lovely treats. Some sock yarn from SweetGeorgia Yarns, a bag packed full of miniskeins for my (rather neglected) sock yarn blanket, jars of rhubarb jam and apple butter made locally to Judi, white chocolate peppermint bark (delicious and sadly all gone!), chocolate covered pretzels (saved for Christmas!) and a handmade button. Thank you Judi!

 

 

The second parcel was from Beki. She and I swapped parcels earlier in the year. I asked Beki if she could send me some of her lovely stitch markers that I wanted to give as part of another swap gift in exchange for some yarn.

 

 

 

Well imagine my surprise when a rather large parcel arrived in the post. Not only had Beki sent me three pots of colour-coordinating stitch markers, but also lots of other lovely, lovely things. Three different braids of fibre that she picked out for me at local fibre festivals, some Corriedale and Targhee fleece to work with, along with some sachets of fleece scourer, a really cute knitting bag (made by Beki herself I think) and a cat tin with a couple of badges that really made me smile.

 

 

There was an absolutely beautiful card too - from Linda Dufurrena photography. Scroll down the page and see if you can spot which photo made me go all gooey! I think that I am going to have to get some of these cards for myself.  It's called Take Love Where You Can Get It. Don't you think it's just a lovely photo?

 

 

Apologies if you have been experiencing difficulties accessing my blog. I was alerted by a couple of readers that their virus software advised them not to visit  because it was linked to another blog which might pass on a virus. I have removed all links to that blog and am happy to report that all seems to be well now.

 

 

Have a good week, whatever you are doing. xxx

Taking a break

Hello there, thanks for stopping by. I'm taking a welcome break from packing boxes. We hope to exchange very soon - I'll let you know when I have anything more definite! In the meanwhile, we are just packing things up steadily. Today Mr JK counted my scarves as I packed them into a box - I think he got to twenty (and that doesn't include the ones that haven't been packed because I want to be able to wear them!) What can I say? A woman can never have enough scarves in my opinion!! Flo is keeping a beady eye on the goings on. She likes inspecting the boxes!

 

I have some knitting to share with you - things I knit while on Skye. Firstly, two pairs of plain vanilla socks for my Uni friends.

 

 

Remember the lovely handspun yarn I won from Melissa? Well I knit a cowl for a friend as a Christmas present. The pattern is from Knitspot and is called Ivy Vines. The yarn is lovely and cushy, just perfect for keeping your neck nice and cosy on cold winter days.

 

 

I received a rather lovely parcel in the post this week from Karen. I love taking part in swaps - you make new friends and also get the chance to try things that aren't often available in your part of the world. Karen really spoilt me with 2 beautiful skeins of yarn - the green is from PigeonRoof Studios and the purply-blue is a skein of Plucky Feet. She also included some wonderful handcream and lipbalm from Burt's Bees, delicious chocolatey nutty toffee, some highlighter tape, a stitch marker holder, a knitted mitten which will hang on the Christmas tree and a furry mouse for Flo. It has been fun getting to know Karen and I am sure we will exchange yarny things again sometime!

 

 

Of course, Flo knew instantly which part of the parcel was for her, and pounced on it soon after!

I am going to chill out for the rest of the evening. I don't want to see another packing box today!  I have a little more bunting to assemble for school. So far it goes right down one corridor and looks amazing. I'll have to see if I can get a photo to show you. Have a good week! xx

Boxes

Miaow everyone! Florence here. Mum's too busy to talk to you at the moment, so I thought that I had better come and report some rather strange goings on in the Josiekitten household. Firstly though, I am sure that you are all wondering where I spent the week whilst my Mum and Dad were away on Skye. I went to stay in a new cat hotel, run by a lovely lady who I call Auntie Gloria. She was very kind to me and made a fuss of me, so I was happy to make friends with her. I am sure that I will see her again, she was lovely.

 

Anyhow, back to the strange goings on ........... Mum and Dad are busy packing things up into boxes. I'm not too sure what's happening, but I am trying to help as best I can, and am inspecting the boxes. They have even built me a little box mountain - it makes it much easier to see what's on top of the book shelves! (Only dust, tsk tsk Mum!)

 

 

 

Those shelves are quite good as little perching places, so I can watch what's going on too. I'll keep you posted when I know more!

 

 

Well all that climbing has worn me out, so I'm off for a snooze in front of the fire. You might notice my new sheepskin fleece in my basket. It's really cosy. Bye for now! Miaow miaow miaow! xxx

 

 

A Scottish Adventure - Day 7

It's the last day of our holiday today, and as we have a lot of driving ahead of us, we decided to stay close to home. There was a chilly breeze when we went out for a walk, and the mountains had a dusting of snow on them. This was the view of our cottage as we set off for a walk.......

We walked to an empty beach .......

Beautiful views in every direction .......

On our walk back home, we played 'spot our cottage'! I've made it easy for you to see the lovely place that has been our home for the last week.

A few moments later, the cottage was bathed in sunshine.

It really has been the most perfect place to stay - peaceful, warm and cosy. Inside I would describe the decor as 'shabby chic', with lots of interesting artwork, and quirky objects. Here are a few of my favourite things.

 

Tomorrow we set off on the long journey back to Norfolk. We are stopping off part way, so won't be back in Norfolk until Sunday. There's just time for one last piece of cake from Jann's - today it's a Belgian chocolate and sticky ginger cake - yummy! Thanks for coming on my Scottish Adventure this week, hope you had fun! xxx

A Scottish Adventure - Day 6

We've had another lovely day today, travelling down to the south of Skye, driving around the Sleat peninsula. Sunshine, blue skies and more breathtaking scenery. The Highland peaks were covered with a dusting of snow, giving the perfect backdrop to our journey.

We called in at the Isle of Skye Candle Company in Broadford on the way home, and bought some lovely scented candles for Christmas - Cinnamon, Winter Warmer and Ginger and Nutmeg. The whole shop had a gorgeous smell. We walked down to the small harbour in search of a spinning studio, (sadly closed until next Easter!)

A quick detour into Dunvegan to Jann's cakes before going home - today's treat was a piece of Ecclefechan tart - a delicious mixture of fruit, nuts and spices. It would make a great alternative to mince pies at Christmas. Ours had pecan nuts on top. It's our last day tomorrow, we're planning on walking down to the nearest beach. See you! xxx