miss marie's miscellany

2010 retrospective

2010 seems to have sped by with great speed, and to be honest, some of the ride has been very bumpy. But despite that, when I looked back over my photos, there were lots of good recollections and happy moments.

The weather and seasons have been quite a feast for the eyes, sunsets and snow seem to be greatly featured in this collage.

I have carried on my love affair with crochet. It has kept me sane over some difficult times this year, and it makes me really happy to see how far I've travelled since I first picked up a hook early in 2009. And I made all of these! 

I've been on a few trips to places interesting and beautiful

And last but not least, the garden has been a wonderful source of inspiration and pleasure

Thanks to you all for reading and commenting, lovely blog friends; let's hope 2011 is full of adventures and new wonderful opportunities for us all!

Happy New Year  xxxxxxx

Christmas crochet

After all the excitement of Christmas, I had a day of total leisure on Monday; absolutely nothing to do but sit, relax and enjoy watching Pride and Prejudice and Upstairs Downstairs and crochet. I have been keeping some of this lovely wool, Brown Sheep Worsted, for a rainy day, and I ended up making these wristwarmers for me.

I used a beautiful green, Kiwi, for the hand part. I wanted a bit of texture to these so I plumped for moss stitch.

Then I edged the top and bottom with a deep pink, Fuschsia; at the top I did a row of double crochet stitches and then a row of crab stitch

and at the bottom I made a long strip of rows of double crochet, working each alternate row in the back loops only to give a ribbed effect.

They are very cosy as the wool is lovely and thick; very luxourious.

 They go very well with my new pink coat too! 

 

3 good things - day 4

1) My dad phones and says he has received a CD I bought him from Amazon which I understood he wouldn't get till the end of next week. I'm glad it got there quickly and in time for Christmas.

2) It's still soooooo cold here, but the trees are covered with glittering frost and the sun makes them sparkle  - you have to stop and stare, it really is magical (and thermal underwear makes it possible to gaze for more than a fleeting few seconds!)

3) I am asked to play for the ballet - it is a piece I don't know well and I have never played before, but I take a leap into the dark and it's ok, very exciting and brilliant music :-)

Oh well, it is Christmas Eve. The state of play in this household is good - food prep well on course, the presents are wrapped, the cards are written, the wine is chilling; I'm ready for the big day.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

 

 

3 good things - day 3

1) Hmm, the first batch of mince pies; the house smells wonderful with the spice and fruit scenting the air. 

2) I meet my lovely friend M for coffee and chat; with all the hustle and bustle of getting shopping and presents bought, it's good to step back and make time to sit and catch up and wish each other a happy Christmas.

3) I made a crochet Christmas tree!

I've seen people do this kind of thing with all sorts of objects,Christmas cards and old polaroids to name a few; I used various crochet shapes I made for Christmas last year (stars, snowflakes, hearts and flowers) and fixed them on the wall in a tree shape.  I am quite taken with it, in fact next year I may do this on a grander scale! 

3 good things - day 2

1) Planning the Christmas dinner with my sister; all the party this year are all vegetarians, so we have much fun drooling over recipes and deciding what to eat. I think we are veering towards Chestnut and parsnip roulade with all the roasties to accompany and to follow ginger and white chocolate cheesecake. Yum.

2) One of my piano pupils get a great result for his first exam; I am delighted, so is he (although he tries to be super-cool about it!)and  his mum is relieved and very happy :-)

3) I got fed up sliding around in the snow and ice, so I ordered these snow boots which arrived today. They are a funky gold colour, fabulous and very festive, and they keep my feet cosy, warm and dry, in fact it's the first time for a month that my feet haven't been like 2 lumps of ice. Result!

3 good things - day 1

During this week, I thought I'd post 3 good things which have happened each day.

1) A long overdue haircut is a nice pampering treat, and makes me look human again! My hair is quite curly and once it needs cutting, can't be got under control. I don't look like Miss Frizzy anymore :-)

2) I finish off some orders for crochet stars and a hat, and am so pleased when they are delivered to happy recipients.

3) To a friend's for a mulled wine and mince pies party, my first festive socialising.........a lovely, and slightly drunken evening was had by all.

Christmas lights

Magical mist

It's good to get outside when there's a danger of cabin fever, so I went for a snowy walk in the park yesterday. I could see the trees on the hill in the park bathed in sunlight, it all looked very inviting. And even better, when I got down to the park gates, this was the mysterious scene that greeted me.

Thick mist swirling around the trees

This was the view from the other side, lovely warm(ish) sunshine, a completely different climate!

It fair took my breath away, because it was so magical and also because it was f-f-f-freezing! 

Christmas roses

I'm not sure where I found this flower pattern, I have a little book in which I jot down patterns and things I find when I'm browsing on the computer and it was in there. I thought they would make a good Christmas garland, and I think I was right :-)

They would also look good in what I call 'me' colours, purple and green, maybe with a hint of blue.....I may try that today as I will be staying put at home again. Tales of people being stuck all night in their cars on the main Glasgow-Edinburgh road and cars and buses skidding on the snowy/icy roads have put the fear in me, so it's stay here and go anywhere on foot for the time being.

Hope you are warm and safe wherever you may be.

Snowy crochet day

 

I woke up today to find it snowing again, and so it has continued all morning and into the afternoon, only stopping at about 2 pm. It's up over my ankles now! Still, it really does look beautiful

I have a few days off work, so I can enjoy pottering around at home. The house is getting a thoroughly good clean, I have sorted out piles of papers and books, done several batches of washing, made soup and cake, been out for a walk, well, more of a snowy scramble, dug a path AND have spent some happy hours doing a little hooking. A friend asked me to make a hat for his 4 year old daughter, so this is what I came up with

The effect I was aiming for was a 1920's cloche style hat - what do you think?!

I'm also making a new festive garland, Christmas roses.

These are just being blocked, then tomorrow I'll join them together and let you see them finished off.

This corsage has been a winner, I made some in this multi-coloured chunky wool for the craft fair a few weeks ago and they sold like hot cakes and I was asked to make a few more on commission too. 

It looks pretty sitting in the snow :-) 

Quiet night tonight, I think!