This Christmas did not get off to a good start. After spending Christmas Eve in rather a lot of pain, I checked into our local Emergency Department. Christmas Morning was spent undergoing various tests including an ultrasound scan. It turns out that I have gallstones. They sent me home with painkillers and I’m now waiting for an MRI scan and a surgical consult. We were home by lunchtime and set about opening presents. I thought I’d share my crafty Christmas gifts with you.
I actually got a gift on Christmas Eve. Since an amazing holiday in Iceland some years ago we’ve embraced all things Icelandic (well maybe not the fermented shark meat delicacy). There is a lovely tradition in the country where gifts of books are exchanged on Christmas Eve – you then spend the evening drinking hot chocolate and reading the books. It’s called Jolabokaflod (literally Christmas book flood) and I was given this.
Wilderness Knits by Linka Neumann is full of the most gorgeous Scandinavian-style knitting patterns, with stunning photographs and pattern charts. Where to start!
Back in September I upgraded my Electric Eel Wheel Nano e-spinner to the bigger, more robust EEW 6 and I love it. The new machine does everything that the Nano doesn’t. My Christmas gift from K was a rechargeable battery pack so I can now spin with the EEW 6 anywhere without having to rely on mains electricity.
A few weeks back he also found me the perfect bag to take the new machine out and about – it was designed for fishing gear (K has an obscene amount of fishing tackle) but it’s just the right size and has plenty of compartments for all the extra bits and bobs.
There’s even a zipped mesh pocket on the front that’s just perfect for the new battery and lead!
To feed my spinning addiction I got the 12 Days of Christmas pack from Hilltop Cloud – it contains 12 individually wrapped packs of the softest superfine merino and silk fibre in a rather nice project bag. The larger brown paper package contains a larger braid, the red packs hold smaller amounts of combed top. The colours co-ordinate and are inspired by Welsh folk tales. Details of these and the colours they inspired are on the fascinating blog written by Katie Weston, the proprietor of Hilltop Cloud.
The individual packs are marked with the dates (25-31 and 1-5) . Of course I got that wrong and assumed they were labelled 1-12 so I’ve just realised I’m out of sequence!
I also wrapped up a rather unusual gift for K that is not unrelated. It’s a packet of woad seeds. At the year’s final meeting of my local spinning group, one of the lovely ladies who attends brought a large quantity of the seeds that she’d harvested from her own bumper woad crop. K is the gardener, so I’ll see if he can get the seeds to grow into the plants that I can use to dye my fibres in shades of woad blue!
Medical issues aside, I’ve been very lucky this Christmas!
What crafty gifts did you receive?
Stitches by the Sea 