End of year

I have found it very hard coming back here after the last post, but I didn't want to end the year on such a sad note - so I made myself come back with a final tidy up of bits and pieces I have knitted/crocheted.

A couple of months back I joined the Baker's Dozen group over on Ravelry after hearing about last years swap on an old podcast. Basically, in case you haven't heard of them, there are 13 of us in a group and each month 12 of us make a 12" square to send to the 13th member (member of the month) so eventually we all get enough squares to make a lap/snuggle blanket. We can specify colours, washability etc and the rest is up to the maker, so
November's request was for a square that had meaning to the maker, with a suggestion of girly colours (if required). As I live in 'The Garden of England' I chose this flower square.


December's request was for purple - and keeping on the theme of Garden of England I decided on a leafy square this time.
January's square is at the planning stage, I'll reveal more later.

Charity knit wise, I finished another blanket for Bonnie Babies - I must like this pattern, it's the 3rd time of making


I seem to have started a tradition of making a Christmas card for each of my 'Lace Friends' which can then be used as a decoration - this year I went for Wreaths


Finally, I felt like trying something different, so I hunted out my Tunisian Crochet hook - sat down with the internet to hand and created a sampler square - it's not perfect by any means, so don't look too closely, but I had a lot of fun and it will be put to good use as it can go off with my next batch to Knit-a-Square



And just to wind up, and purely for my own interest, I do like to keep a note of the books I read each year - much to my suprise I have read 14 in 2011, and they are

* Knitalong by Larissa & Martin John Brown
* Santa Cruise by Mary Higgins Clark
* The Dead of Winter by Rennie Airth
* A Killer Stitch by Maggie Sefton
* Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks
* Old Boyfriends by Debbie Macomber
* Yarn Harlot by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee
* Darkness and Light by John Harvey
* In for a penny, in for a pound by Tim Waterstone
* A knitter's Home Companion by Michelle Edwards
* Haunting Violet by Alyxandra Harvey
* Confessions of a GP by Benjamin Daniels
* Not What She Seems by Victorine E. Lieske
* Free Range Knitter by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

So there goes 2011 - let's hope 2012 is a Happy New Year for everyone.