I’m dreaming of a cold Christmas! It’s countdown to Christmas thread 5!

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Wooo!!

Oh not sure what happened there. Most strange.
Anyway ds had a severe pnuemonia which has led to 2 weeks in high dependancy followed by a third week on the childrens ward.
They have been trying to sort seizures at the same time to no avail so may be back in again but fingers crossed they can treat him as an outpatient.
Anyway dear daughter has been popping in to watch an episode of pride and prejudice on the ward every evening this week ( bbc version a la colin firth ) so we have just watched the last one at home and i have enjoyed the snowy wedding scene and i am in christmas mood again.
I just love autumn and winter months . Definitely seasonal affective disorder in reverse!

Glad you're home at least, flapjack

This is my effort at the Attic24 snowflake. It's actually pretty simple and I knocked that up in about 15-20 mins.

Ooh i am impressed. Never mastered crochet myself

That looks really good Firefly. I'll try it later and see how I get on. The Attic24 pattern look very easy to follow.

I find it easier than knitting. Spent a while on YouTube watching, now I can do simple things.

Attic24 is a good site, but don't look at her wreaths... I cover them! I've been trying to make a Christmas wreath, but think I need less cherry red... It actually looks better on that photo than in real life (and yes, I hate doing the ends!)

*covet. I covet them. Darned autocorrect!

Firefly these are the two wreaths I made. I like the darker red flowers (Stylecraft Claret I think) and the dark green leaves (Stylecraft Bottle I think). I also added mini baubles which were bought from Wilko from the wrapping paper section as decorative bits and bobs. I also bought some jingle bells from my wool shop and some Christmas shaped buttons.

Too late! I've already looked at the wreaths and saved the link to a few of them. They look like a LOT of work but so beautiful.

Woolly They look great!

Thank you AnotherShirt.

I meant to say yours looks fabulous Firefly. The darning in is definitely the worst bit. I do one end and then use the other end to attach to the wreath.

I'm doing a stripy blanket for Woolly Hugs and I think I'll have approximately 120 ends to darn in. I'm trying to do them every 20 or so but I'm lazy

Oh flapjack at least you're home for now. That sounds exhausting for your poor ds.

I would love to make a big wreath, it's been on my Christmas to make list for a long time (along with a Christmas tree skirt, blanket, a decent sized garland and a Christmas tree). Never seem to get around to it though.
One of my favourite makes was a pattern I made up (I posted it on a different thread) - a Santa Clause washing line. It was fun to make and didn't take long.

I am thoroughly enjoying my afternoon. I have The Holiday on, a Yankee candle burning (no idea what scent though as DH has annoyingly removed the sticker) and have dug out my red notebook to officially start my Christmas planning / lists

Firefly & Woolly your wreaths are amazing!

flapjack that is so tough. Everything crossed that you'll both be home soon.

I agree that other thread is so mean!! People can be so rude on here, people are allowed to talk about anything they want!

We are just watching the first Harry Potter and they're celebrating Christmas at Hogwarts. Making me very festive!!

Wow I am so impressed with everyone's creations!! Are they all crocheted? I have just started crocheting - this is my first project 🙈😆🙈 it's meant to be a scarf 🤔🤔

Sorry forgot to post picture!!

I'm very of everyone who's crafty with wool / materials etc. I'm only any good at food-related crafts! I'd love to be able to do both. I love seeing everyone's amazing Christmas creations.

Flapjack, that sounds really tough for you. But at least you're sleeping in your own beds tonight. That will assist recovery, I reckon. ❤️❤️

I am not crafty at all! Love looking at all your creations though

Fluffy can I ask for some of your culinary expertise?

I have about 2-3lbs of redcurrants in the freezer after the DC went to the fruit farm a few days ago. I've found a recipe for redcurrant gin that I want to have a go at and a recipe for redcurrant and mint jelly. The jelly recipe requires a non-reactive saucepan - my pans are stainless steel. Am I going to bugger them up?

I think it would possibly taste odd due to the metal of the pan taking against the ingredients. However, we (DH and I) both think that SS pans are fine. It's more to avoid copper etc.

TheWoollybacksWife stainless steel is fine.

Aluminium pans are the worst. Acidic foods like fruit will react with the metal.

Brilliant. Thank you both. I can see a trip to Dunelm coming up.

Evening all
I am not crafty either Wreck and Fluffy but l love other ppls crafts and so appreciate the effort that goes in to make them , the wreaths are gorgeous !
Well done LALA l am very impressed l cannot crochet to save my life.
Great job Fluffy on the blackberry picking they look wonderful.
Flapjack thank God you are home for a night , bless you my dear you have been through the mill and back. I love P& P (the one with Colin Firth in )
Crazy that is just gorgeous l love your washing line
Woolly l love the wreaths you clever girl! Firefly l think yours looks amazing!
Have been visited by the sister and her hubbs and their GC , so we are exhausted lol now for tea and telly , Countryfile, Antiques Roadshow, Fake or Fortune and the last Epi of Unforgotten ....YAY!!
Have a lovely evening all

Crazy I saw that washing line on the other thread and have been researching Pinterest like mad ever since. Out of interest are yours 'proper' clothes (like doll's clothes) or are they one layer? One layer would be soooo much simpler to do. Also I've put tiny wooden pegs on my Chrismas to buy-list

We've made a massive batch of chilli jam from homegrown chillies today. It's got one hell of a kick to it! 🌶🔥😂

And now we're going to have Apple and blackberry crumble with custard. Hmmmm! 😋

I've never tried chili jam. What do you eat it with? Yours look beautiful by the way, Fluffy. Such a gorgeous colour.

Anything cheese-based is good. Cold meats. Prawns. It's sweet chilli jam, so goes with loads of stuff. Even chunks of tiger bread and butter!