Christmas in glorious Technicolour

It's been a drab, dull grey day today in this corner of the world. Yep, we've had it all- bitingingly cold winds, thick, grey cloud, drizzle, rain turning into sleet and finally wet, cold snow. So I decided to look at these nice colurful photos I took earlier in the week when the sun was shining through the bay window into Inverleith. The morning light really brightens up the place, don't you think? So here are some of my Christmas decorations taken with my proper camera. I need to learn how to use it properly really, I haven't worked out how to get the best colours and stuff yet, but I'll sit down one day with the laptop open and take pictures and upload them to check on my results. Anyway, here is the Christmas twig decoration inspired by a lovely idea in December's Country Living magazine. The purple blob behind the deer is Jesus. Yes, my own personal Jesus (ha). He is purple and glittery and makes me happy. I feel I should have the glittery Mary to match though.


Here is the tree in the daytime. The sunlight has rather bleached out the colours on offer here. It's mainly red and green with some straw wicker decorations (quite Scandinavian, don't you think?) and some little wooden folk I bought YEARS ago in (can you believe it?) Poundland! I love the shadow on the wall behind the tree. And my beyoootiful bass guitar D bought for me last Christmas.

Here is the scene above the fireplace. I have strewn some Habitat 'Millenium' lights around the mirror, and hung my snowflake garland across, which is just lovely in the evening with the lights twinkling behind it. The gold NOEL letters were from Tesco.

Here is my Christmas 'welcome table'. For me, Christmas should be a time of abundance and indulgence, so I love to welcome people into my home with food and home-made treats. As you can see by the empty cake stand the mince pies went down well! I stacked a load of Habitat baubles from Christmasses past into the wire cake stand and bought some little battery-operated lights from Paperchase, and the whole thing looks very cool when lit. The colourful tealights are from Paperchase in Habitat glass tealight holders.

Oh, and here is what I have been up to this week....hooky time! Here is a little Christmas adornment in production...

And here is the finished article...a little Robin Red Breast! Thanks Lucy at Attic24 for yet another wonderful tutorial. I plan to go on and donate to her yarn fund as I use so many of her patterns around my home. I really think Attic24 brightens my day, every day. Little Robin here was worked up in Bonus DK yarn-cheap and cheerful. The beak was actually made from Sirdar Luxury Soft Cotton, and the buttons were purchased from a vintage fair.

MMMMMMmmmmm colours! They're mouth-watering, aren't they? More acrylic yarn here- Stylecraft Special DK and a couple of Bonus DK. Here's my current project- a scarf for a Christmas gift. I wonder who will be the lucky recipient?

And here are some other lovely Christmas gifties! A gorgeous afternoon crochet project. I *heart* these so much- some scrumptious wrist warmers. I made up the pattern from various blogland inspirations, and came up with the kind of sloppy scallop edging. I always manage to invent some edging when I make a blanket and never bother to write it down. Perhaps I'll post a tutorial for these when I make another pair for my sister-in-law's Christmas present.

And here they are in progress. Poking out from behind my knee is Albie's cheeky face! The little dude has been decidedly off-colour today. Poor little man. He has been very quiet, sleepy and has lost his appetite completely, not like him at all. He has steadily got snottier, coughier and the eyes have got redder, head has got hotter...you get the idea. His first cold! The magic power of breastmilk has kept him sparkly and healthy until now so it's worrying when he gets sick. We dosed him up with Calpol to bring down the fever, cough syrup for his throat and vapour rub before bed. He promptly threw up after the application of vapour rub but he had a milk refill and has gone to bed with some trepidation. We're looking forward to a long, long night of waking up and comforting him a lot.

So, you likeee? Me likeee. VERY much. So much that I feel very sad about giving these away as gifts. Once I have completed my pre-Christmas crochet-a-thon I will make some for myself in these very colours to match the granny square scarf. The colours for these, the granny square scarf and the vintage stripe scarf are as follows (from top):-

Stylecraft Special DK 1218 Parchment

Bonus DK Shade 829

Stylecraft Special DK 1061 Plum

Stylecraft Special DK 1023 Raspberry

Stylecraft Special DK 1302 Denim

Stylecraft Special DK 1065 Meadow

Bonus DK shade 891

Bonus DK shade 884

(back to the teal Bonus DK 829 then...)

Stylecraft Special DK 1029 Copper.

I do like the Stylecraft Special DK. The Bonus DK is a little bit cheaper but you can tell the difference for sure. It's slightly coarser than the Stylecraft yarn. Stylecraft Special is great for an acrylic yarn. And BARGAINOUS too. I can't always afford posh natural fibres. I took a trip to the new Hobbycraft store last Thursday. My oh my, a wall of wool awaited me! I stood, agasp at the choice. Can't wait to get stuck in there I can tell you now. Last week was also great as on Friday night I got up to some of my pre-baby shenanigans; namely DJing with my lovely friend Amy. Every month we put on a band night at the pub with local bands and us girlies on the desk, all for a local magazine called Panic. I used to be the editor of Panic, but gave it up when I was pregnant. It sure took up a lot of time. Instead now I get to discover new bands and enjoy them once a month while forcing everyone in the pub to listen to my music and prove how much cooler (ahem) I am than them... But Amy and I are totally freaking awesome on the decks and got a real dancefloor happening on Friday night. Yip! Also, it was her birthday so I got her this book, as she taught me how to crochet. I love this book. I want it for myself. Me me me. As my other half would say, there's a certain Christmas coming up...