Christmas Socks for MrNifty

Life has been quite strange lately. We bought our "forever home" back in August, but it needs a lot of renovating and for one reason and another the building work is taking forever.

It's been hard to settle to anything or feel inspired to knit, so I was pleased to be asked to be part of Debenham's DebsKnittingChallenge. I was asked to knit something for "the man in my life" so was able to hand over the decision making - he chose this lovely self-patterning yarn for me to make him a pair of socks. The yarn creates an almost fairisle effect in simple stocking stitch, but no such luck - he wanted a mock cable!

The sole is stocking stitch though, see what I mean about the pattern?

One sock down, one to go... last time I knitted socks with a multicoloured I missed a trick that I remembered this time. I unwound yarn from the ball until I found the same place in the colour sequence to cast on, to create a matching pair. It worked!

Here's MrNifty toasting his toes in front of the fire, 

I shall have my work cut out getting them back to wrap!

 No time to knit? Debenhams have gifts for men - and a big thank you to Debenhams from me for sponsoring my Christmas knit.

Me-time at Christmas!

This year I decided to give myself a gift - a stress-free Christmas. I closed my shops early enough so that there was no danger of last minute buyers being worried about their parcels being delivered, and so that I could spend some time not-knitting!

My christmas cake this year has a string of baubles over some (bought in) robins sitting on chocolate logs, and the robin theme continues with my very first attempt at felting, a big robin sitting on a big chocolate yule log.

The mince pies are now sitting in the freezer, ready to go straight in the oven to warm up again.

This also serves the purpose of preventing MrNifty eating them too early ;-)

I've even made myself some Christmassy shooting star earrings (that's not my ear though!)

Have a wonderful Christmas break - and I'll see you all after the holidays. In case you have an urge to spend those holiday gift vouchers at Niftyknits, my shops are all open again :-)

Zibbet, Etsy, Folksy.

Christmas deadlines!

Royal Mail are optimistic as always, so I've put an extra week into my own deadlines to be sure your orders arrive in time for gifting (though you could always keep them for yourself!)

Please allow extra time if I need to "knit to order".
Christmas at zibbet
Christmas at etsy
Christmas at folksy

Wednesday 27 November	Asia, Far East (including Japan), New Zealand
Thursday 28 November	Australia
Friday 29 November	Africa, Caribbean, Central & South America, Middle East
Monday 2 December	Cyprus, Eastern Europe
Tuesday 3 December	Canada, France, Greece, Poland
Friday 6 December	USA
Saturday 7 December	Western Europe (excluding France, Greece, Poland)

time to start building an Ark

Some of you may have wondered why I've been so absent...

The house we live in has water courses on three sides. The water is usually pretty low and nothing to worry about. I took this photo just now, you can see the bridge across to our neighbour from the road and his pebble-covered decking.

Saturday before Christmas though it had rained all day, and we'd been anxiously watching the water level creep up. We weren't worried too much because we know the Environment Agency actively monitor and maintain all the water courses.

The water reached the beam below the bridge, crept up the bank, reached the base plank of the decking and then crept towards the white line on the decking...

I saw the Environment Agency chap in the lane and chased after him for an update, it was 3 pm by then. He said that by high tide at 6.30pm there was a "strong probability" that our house would be flooded.

I took a final photo before it got dark...

You'll notice I'm further back! The position I took the other photo from was underwater...

The rain continued to fall. We went out regularly with a torch, the water crept relentlessly forward and we started carrying as much as we could manage upstairs. Our 70s vinyls, the photo albums, bedding, Christmas presents from under the tree, the contents of the Christmas cocktail cabinet (priorities!!) and the computer. We phoned the family, told them they might not be able to come for Christmas after all.

I met an elderly neighbour whilst tracking down the environment agency chap. She's been flooded twice before and lost everything. An additional problem with the area is that there is no mains drainage because we're too low-lying. Consequently, floodwater includes the contents of everyone's cesspits which means houses are contaminated, not just wet.

Happily the rain stopped, the various pumps set up by the Environment Agency started to take effect and we did NOT flood. Our cesspit filled with rainwater (yes, landlady dear, it DOES leak) and needed an emergency empty on Sunday...and AGAIN on Thursday. It should take around 6 weeks to fill, not four days! Christmas was saved - but each time it rains now, we worry. Well, wouldn't you?

I know we got off lightly, many others in the UK really did get flooded and I feel their pain, it's not something I want to go through again.

Today the letting agencies are once more open after the holidays and we are house-hunting with a vengeance. I've just looked at the clock - 5 minutes till they open and we start phoning!

Christmas Cake 2012

Look what I've been doing this morning!

I made my Christmas cake months ago, they always improve by being stored and "fed" with a spoon of brandy every now and then. It's a traditional rich fruit cake, similar to Delia's recipe. I covered it with marzipan last week and today have rough iced it with royal icing to give a snowscape, and then used readymade fondant icing to shape three polar bears. I got the idea for the polar bears from this site but posed mine differently.

This little guy sprawled on his back is my favourite!

If you look carefully at the bear in the front above you might see I've had to skewer him through the neck! I wanted him to look as if he was about to slide down the side of the cake...and he tried to do just that! He'll stay in place once the royal icing has set firm though.

Next up - the mince pies. I always set aside the egg yolks left over from the royal icing to use in my sweet flan pastry, a favourite recipe which makes really soft and melt-in-the-mouth mince pies.

Even more Christmas

I was lucky enough to win a giveaway from Etsy seller ElectronicGirl, isn't it fun? The light transitions between red, green and blue in a fairly random sequence, I can see us placing bets on what colour will be next! Other variations still available, they're not just for Christmas so why not check out ElectronicGirl's shop

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas

Oh my poor neglected blog! Life has been very busy lately but I have finally started to get ready for our family Christmas.

In the previous couple of years I was frantically knitting and posting parcels right up to the last minute, but this year I decided it was more important to relax and enjoy my preparations. The world will not stop turning due to a shortage of knitted meerkats!

I'm not the best seamstress in the world, but even I can make bunting. As our current house is an unusual shape with double height ceilings and exposed balconies it seemed an ideal solution:

Now we just need to get the tree! My cake is marzipanned and ready to ice (I'm molding polar bears to go on a royal iced snowscape) and the mince pies will be made any day now. Bring it on!

Christmas sherry, anyone?

I spotted this vintage cocktail cabinet (60s?) in a charity shop for £45 and brought it home. We are sadly lacking in cupboard space in this house, and I just fancied the idea of MrNifty serving Christmas beverages from a cocktail cabinet!

If you're wondering why I didn't clean the mirror....well, I did. But then I spilt some sherry!

I really like that the original lemon squeezer and cocktail sticks are still there. 

Don't think I fancy using them though, I'd never be sure they were clean!

The opening "flaps" are hinged together which is clever, although disconcerting if like me you're prone to dumping stuff on any available surface...because as you pull the flap down, the top moves too!

 I like the weathered appearance of the knobs, but in an ideal world I think I'd rather like something a bit more steampunky... like these from LumberJackLad on Etsy

I had already bought some glass straws from VortexGlassWorks, also on Etsy

So we're all set! Sherry, anyone?

Warm toes for MrNifty!

It's not often I knit for family, so here's a rare example!

Don't just sit there, MrNifty, chuck another log on the fire!

Now, knitting meerkats from my head is easy for me - but socks? Not so much. I used a pattern by Kim Goddard available here (thanks Kim!) and an excellent tutorial for Kitchener stitch available here (thanks to Theresa Vinsen Stenerson)

Having allowed the poor man to pose for photos I'm now taking the socks away again to wrap in Christmas paper - he'll be SOOO surprised when he opens that package!

Teeny tiny Star Trek stockings

I knitted each of the original series crew a tiny Christmas stocking for their party photo. If you're thinking it's time you rehomed Kirk, Spock, Scotty, Uhura or Bones then now is the time - the next time each of these crew members goes to a new home they'll bring their own exclusive stocking. Don't worry, they're VERY small so you won't need to put much inside! I only knitted the 5 stockings you can see, so when they're gone they're gone.

Trekkies at Etsy  or Trekkies at Folksy

Christmas Last Shipping Dates

It's that time of year again, when online sellers enter a state of panic, worrying that parcels won't arrive in time! I know a really good way of making sure they arrive - it's the technique known as BUY EARLY.

Royal Mail have issued their optimistic dates for last shipping for Christmas arrival, but my experience is that they mean "it'll probably arrive by December 24th" and that is just not good enough. So I'm going to give an extra 2 weeks for international parcels...which means that my last recommended shipping dates will be:

Wednesday 21st November : Asia, Australia, Far East (including Japan) New Zealand

Friday 23rd November         : Africa, Caribbean, Central America, Middle East and South America

Monday 26th November      : Canada, Eastern Europe and USA

Wednesday 28th November : Western Europe

Thursday 6th December       : UK

I will still ship after those dates if you buy - but it's down to you to do the worrying :-)

I will be removing "knit to order" items from my shops within the next few weeks, so please please please buy early to avoid disappointment - or buy a gift card from my Etsy shop so that your gift recipient can choose for themselves. 

Niftyknits at Etsy

Niftyknits at Folksy

Making a list, checking it twice

Hmmmm, where did I put that outfit? Oh here it is:

Better see if it still fits

Well, trousers are OK, that's a relief. Bit of a struggle getting the tail through the hole, but then I've always been proud of my tail girth.

Beard's fine.

Hmm. Slight problem with the jacket, excuse me a minute, just need to get some padding. 

It's a bit hot with that padding under my coat! Can't have a slim Santa though, can we?

If you know someone who's on the "good" list, it's never too early to shop for a handmade Christmas!

Niftyknits @ Etsy

Niftyknits @ Folksy

Niftyknits @ Zibbet

Moving on...

Many of you will know we've been trying to sell our house and relocate to the seaside - well, today is the day we finally give up on that dream for now.

It's been 7 months, we've had two "definite" buyers who have each dropped out. The first lost their own buyers, and the second was wooed away by another (slightly bigger) house in our street suddenly appearing for sale at £15,000 less than ours. Frankly, I'd have chosen that one too! After such a long time of keeping the house spotless, being relentlessly positive and finding somewhere to buy (twice!) we need a break. We'll try again when the market settles down (hollow laughter)

So - we're whistling along with the Monty Python boys "always look on the bright side of life" (nsfw)



I'm also concentrating on getting ready for Christmas! There are still plenty of meerkats in stock in each of my shops: Payvment Zibbet Etsy Folksy

and ... I've been knitting teeny weeny stockings, so until I run out all meerkat orders will come with a stocking for him/her to hang up for Santa!

Last Posting dates!

It's official - the Christmas rush is underway! I only have the one pair of hands, so if I need to knit to order for you, the earlier you order the better, you can find my shops here :-)

According to Royal Mail, the last dates for shipping from the UK in time for Christmas are as follows (but PLEASE allow longer, especially if you need to ship your parcel on again to the lucky recipient!)

Mon 5th December: South & Central America, Caribbean, Africa, Middle East, Asia, Far East (including Japan), Australia and New Zealand

Fri 9th December: Eastern Europe, USA and Canada

Mon 12th December: Western Europe



UK - 20th December but I expect my fingers will have been worn to the bone long before then!

A handmade Christmas

As I'm taking down the decorations, I thought I'd share with you some of my handmade festive lovelies:

This is probably the oldest made-by-me decoration, I embroidered these pictures around 20 years ago I think. They're not my own designs,they're from a book. Each round picture is about 4 inches across (10cm).



One of my favourites, this bauble is at least 3 inches across and is handpainted on the INSIDE. I can't get my head around that, painting the topmost detail FIRST and the background last. It doesn't show in the photo, but it's translucent glass and the fairy lights shine through making it glow. A pupil gave it to me back in my teaching days, a lovely memento.



Complete contrast! I made this a few weeks before Christmas. I only recently learnt how to knit with beads already on my yarn (instead of sewing them on at the end) and wanted to see what I could create. I might make more next year, but with better quality beads (these were from the bottom of the stash!)



These cute little ice skates were made by Daisy and bought from her shop on folksy, Daisy and I competed for a prize in Folksy's Christmas competition and the skates were her entry - I had to have a pair! I won, but where my photo has gone is a mystery to me. From what I remember, I made a hanging decoration with lots of tiny parcels made origami-style from recycled Christmas cards.



Santa #1 came from Erica, also known as Littleworm on Etsy. We first "met" on a mad rhyming thread on the forum there. You could promote anything you liked, as often as you liked - but it all had to be in rhyme!



Santa #2 is from Creations by Gena on Zibbet - is't he gorgeous? Gena had to investigate international shipping for me, and I'm very glad she did!



We also had some handmade gifts of course!

I created the pigeon for my daughter (she's 23!) because she loves the book. Behind him you can just about see some handmade body scrub from my son's girlfriend - thanks Helen, it smells wonderful!



My son wore his hat-and-beard combo pretty much continuously although for some reason he unbuttoned the beard and removed it before we went outside.



My older son and girlfriend made me a Meerkat Nativity apron - such a surprise! They must have thought Mr Nifty deserved some help in the kitchen this year!



Finally - the Christmas cake. It's a tradition to decorate our rich fruit Christmas cakes in the UK., although I've recently learnt this is one tradition that has not crossed the pond to the States.



Only (how many?) days to go till next Christmas... but in the meantime, don't forget to enter my giveaway!