A look back 2015 in pictures

December 31st

A year on my blog in pictures, it's been fun and thank you for sharing the journey with me.  Your comments and readership mean a lot.  Hope you enjoy the reflection as much as I have. 

**** PHOTO HEAVY POST ALERT ****

Sample of stiches to
be taught and learnt

January  

January saw the beginning of me teaching crochet to a group of lovely ladies for the first time ever.  I had to think what to teach, made up samples and photo tutorials so if they were stuck after leaving they had a 'how to do' booklet.  It was much fun but hard work.  Enjoyment over rode and I am hoping to host another session in 2016.

Photo tutorials galore this year

The completion 12 months ago of the cosy CAL hosted
by Lucy at Attic 24, this was my Scandinavian version,
colours and order can be found here

A matching lampshade was quickly worked up,
this was size testing before completion

Loved making the Scottie's dog, see for pattern here
(you will need to scroll down to the dog photo to find pattern details)

Met up with Amy from Love Made My Home
for the first time, we exchanged crocheted brooches,
this was the one she made me

After Christmas the kitchen seemed so plain
and dull so I crocheted a café style curtain

A different cake was made each week for the crochet course

My blog cards arrived!!
I would be delighted if you would follow me ;)

February

Crafting wise this month was taken up with thinking about Valentines day and continuing to host my crochet course.  Each week I would bake a different cake to share with the ladies too, it went down well.  Any cake recipes you can forward me for the next crochet and cake course, I would be grateful for... You can email to the above address from my blogging card in the January section!!

Mantel piece hearts

Hearts made from paper and sewn to make them 3D

A quick sewn heart card

Paper cutting became a new hobby and I
 tried my hand at all sorts

The days were still short so from greaseproof
paper I made some light covers

The cat always wanted to join in

My New Year's resolution was to knit more,
so knitted baubles for Valentines were in order

Lamingtons from New Zealand were
made for the first time

We had snow and I rushed outside with
the blanket made on the crochet course

I tried my hand again at tapestry
crochet and loved it

A few quick makes for the mini snowman

I guest blogged for  The Twisted Yarn and
make this heart bowl from home made t-shirt yarn, see here

I even edged it!

Best chocolate cake ever, for recipe, see here

Blueberry and lemon cake went down well with the ladies too

And finally we ate a
Scandinavian yeast cake 

March


Easter was soon to be upon us and as a crafters delight, I didn't know what to make first.  The longer days and fresher air rejuvenated me and I was making and crafting almost daily.  My knitting resolution was continuing well and I was slowly becoming more confident in my knitting.  March was a great month.

Bakewell tart began our cake and crochet sessions for March

I became obsessed with knitting
baubles for Easter

These quick and simple rabbits were made into everything for Easter, napkin holders, garlands, brooches
and cake decorations 

The garden began to be full of colour

Chocolate orange chick holder

We had a lunar eclipse

I taught the ladies how to edge their towels

And on pillow cases and anything else that had an edge!

Eric the hero was started
as a commission

The days begun to be longer and the skies bluer

Flowers began appearing everywhere 

The sunrises were beginning to be wonderful and earlier

I began crocheting all sorts of rings

My tapestry crochet addiction continued

I jumped on the rabbit band wagon for Easter

...and made a quick Easter door wreath

April

April saw me tackling a pair of knitted socks for the first time and enjoying the outdoors.  Crafting still took place but perhaps not daily.

Blossom began in the garden

From early April I was eating outside,
sometimes albeit with my coat on!

My husband for Christmas had made me a
sign which I found hilarious and I shared
it for the first time with my crochet ladies

He does have a sense of humour

Eric the hero was finally finished and handed over

This was the spec I was given to make Eric the hero

I began knitting whenever I could

Baking continued in earnest

Coffee and walnut cupcakes were good

I began scrap busting with yarn

...and recycling old containers

...to make spring vases

There were several visits to the capital

Lunch at the Shard was memorable

And I began knitting toilet roll covers!!!

They became addictive

Long walks were had in the countryside around the house

The days were crisp with clear skies

...and the tulips were coming out in
the garden in abundance

May

Spring cleaning began in earnest and I took several trips to the charity shop and dump.  Only problem was I came home with a couple of stools from the dump!  That was not the plan, but I had an itch to up cycle them...

Stools acquired from the local dump

The end of the month saw elderflower
cordial being made in abundance

It was the beginning of Pimms season too

A great visit to the amazing
Alexander McQueen exhibition

Glass fusing was started and was to
become a new favourite craft

I revisited old cook books and made a roulade that
used to be my go to bake after almost 20 years

For recipe see here

I joined in with Christine 'Winwick mum' in her sock a long

Socks became a great knitting learning curve,
3 pairs were made in 2015

Tulips still flowered in the garden

June

This was the first month that I did  not knit anything, so felt that my resolution was actually working well.  Glass fusing was definitely becoming a bit of an obsession though...

Learning new techniques on the glass course

Trying out different colours and layering

It was a month of making smoothies

Summer is definitely a season for bunting
and I made loads this year!

I made myself a dress

 

Up cycling of the old dressing table began

...and finished up cycling my 'dump' stools

More cakes were baked

And more glass was fused

And much bunting was indeed made

July

Glass continued to be my muse with summer holidays approaching and sailing happening it was a busy month.

 

Sailing in Arctic Norway, bringsing our boat 'home'

Garden plans began to take shape

...but it was a lot of hard work

August

August saw us still sailing and the boat was brought back to UK shores.  Glass still featured heavily and we eagerly awaited GCSE results.  All was good on the home front this month.

Made cocktail stirrers for my daughter's 16th birthday party

The boat made it to Inverness where she awaits us next year

I took part in the great Granny Square day,
hundreds and hundreds of people took part. 
Did you?  Mine from the huge array is
the bottom right in the above picture.

Birthday cake for my daughter, such fun to make

September

We host a 'regatta' every year, this being the 14th year.  Everyone descends upon us on the Friday and stays till the Sunday.  People sleep everywhere in the garden in tents, in the shed and on the floor in the house.  We all muck in together and everyone is issued with a job from the start.  Great fun and for all ages.  This year we ranged from 6 to 79. This did not mean crafting was ignored though...

Autumnal gift wrapping

Drying the abundance of fruit from the trees in the garden

Autumn colours started appearing

Lots of village walks this month too

End of September and all these flowers in the village

Beginning to think about Christmas makes
and the December daily blog posts

It was still warm enough to eat breakfast outside,
homemade tapenade, yum

Autumnal hat

Need to keep my legs warm too!

A gift for a friend

Using autumn leaves on an old gravy box to make a vase

Long strolls abound

October

A sneaky weekend away walking with my husband and lots of crafting this month both crochet and knitting being at the fore front.

This is a long term project and will one day become a shawl, I hope!

Christmas gifts being made

I took part in a daily crochet hook up on Instagram,
it was such fun, these are my stitch markers

The daily items to post for the crochet hook up.

The beginnings of a knitted bag

Even on a walking holiday there is time to craft!

Beachy Head

A Christmas cushion in the making

An Elf on the Shelf in the making

An unexpected trip to A & E with my daughter,
it turned out well, thankfully

Glass still featured but Christmas was now firmly the theme

The beginnings of a brooch

...and a small wall hanging

More Christmas gifts

Getting ready for Remembrance Day

November

This month flashed past so quickly.  I had the pleasure of joining two other blogging friends and we trained into London for a day all about Blogging, it was informative and very good fun.

The children were in a few rowing heads this month

Christmas knitting continued

We had an unexpected flood!  Oops!

And the last Sunday in the month heralded the beginning
of Advent and my favourite time of the year

December

Today is the last day of December and it has been everything I had hoped for.  My daily December posts went out and many of you have commented and I thank you for that.

Our family must make Christmas cookie bake

 

So many different Advent calendars are now in our house!

It may be December but I was still frantically making, were you?

Seven different cookies were baked as is Scandinavian
tradition, all recipes can be found on the blog

Quick gift tags were made

The tree was dressed

The table was laid

The dinner was cooked

The presents were unwrapped

And a good time was had by all

♥   Wishing you and yours a happy, healthy New Year  ♥