Poncetastic Mark 2

[Trumpton]

Just starting the new thread in haste .

Brilliant news Holly, hopefully you can both relax a bit now.

I've finished the leg of the first stocking. It's slightly smaller than the pattern suggests it should be but I suspect that is because dk does not equal worsted weight yarn in US terms as my google search suggested it did 🙄 Still, I'm pleased with it so far & hopefully there's enough stretch for the bits that are to go in them!

First wreath up . It’s one I made last year at a willow wreath workshop ,just re-jigged for this year.
Spent yesterday morning making dgd a new dance pinny as we are folk dancing at an old people’s home on Saturday ( we have no restriction here as we are completely Covid free )
Also managed to finish bunting and started some homemade cards .
I had a lovely poncetastic day .
Hope you all do too .

@goose1964 I hope he’s well now!

It was a heart attack, in my DH’s case. He’s had 3 stents put in. Quite tricky to do apparently, took much longer than expected.

They took such good care of him, I’m so grateful.

I wish my iPad took better photos...here’s one of my favourite bits this year - my little Georg Jensen & Royal Copenhagen display. On Christmas Eve we will light the little candles (because that’s when Christmas is celebrated at home, in Denmark🇩🇰).

Oh totally forgot to say the wreath is lovely! I have some simple floristry/greenery wreaths which I was going to do something with but haven’t actually got any little bits for them with everything that’s been going on...but I might just make at least one with little paper birds or something.

Also the stocking looks gorgeous!

@RugsEverywhere - for an eco friendly alternative could you use bees wax wraps? Then they recipient could re use them too? 😊

great poncing, all!

I knitted a basket for my wool stash. Well, for a wee tiny bit of it, anyway. It was a test, and now that I've done it I can adjust to size, or stiffness or whatever. Fun, quick knit.

All of this poncing to do is making it hard to work :)

Well, all the thinking about decorating Christmas dinner day tables & it's a week earlier than usual this year...meaning me & dd2 will still be isolating :(

I'm on with the heel of the stocking but packing up for tonight; I'm tired & keep making silly mistakes so will pick it up again tomorrow.

I plan to spend an hour scrolling Pinterest for ideas to present vouchers so they're a bit more exciting than just 'here you go...'

Oh no what a shame!!

Oh Lucysmam, that is such a disappointment.

But the stocking will be wonderful.

My paperwhites are blooming beautifully It's my first time, so next year I'll tackle it a bit differently! Hopefully they'll still be going in three weeks...

I have a question, though. I planted them in four different hurricane vases (not realising how tall they get). In the biggest one, with the most bulbs, they're almost all blooming. In the medium one, about half are blooming. And in the two smallest, there's only one blooming out of four bulbs in each. So is there something about being in a bigger group that makes them bloom faster?

These are my Paperwhites . I have moved them into a cool room to slow them down a bit .
I don’t think the amount of bulbs in a container makes any difference to the blooms .
To stunt the greenery without affecting the flowers i tip the plain water away when the stems are about 3 ins high and replace with gin watered down to a ratio of 1:7 ( I guess vodka would do )
The research was done by Cornell University . HERE
It’s fascinating !

Lovely @Trumpton. My narcissi are not growing enough so I'll have to buy some for mum's Christmas present in the lantern. At least the others will be something to look forward to in January.

Pleased to hear your husband is on the mend Holly.

I have had quite a productive couple of days. Made some cards with my Noolibird stamps and started the wrapping. I also pickled some leftover beetroot on Friday and did far too much vinegar so I think I'm going to try pickling some pears.

What's everyone else up to?

Loving all the paperwhites. I am doing a bit of wrapping today and planning to strain and bottle the gin I added the crab apple jelly to, fingers crossed it will be drinkable. Also going to ribbon and label the apple and plum chutneys. I would love a quick and easy savoury option to balance the two sweet ones if anyone has a version that doesn't need weeks to mellow please? I had all the ingredients in over half term to do red onion and of course couldn't find my jars so it went by the wayside, found them now tho. Have a gorgeous soy wax melt burning and some christmas music on for atmosphere, ho ho ho everyone 🎄🎄🎄

HoHoJo I really like your cards! Maybe I need stamps

noodle I know precisely nothing about chutney but tomato is my absolute favourite if that might be quick enough? 😋

I'm stocking making by stealth today The main part of the first one is finished but there are a couple of ends to sew in & the girls keep appearing for a chat, so I'll do that tonight once everyone's settled for the evening. Just the cuff & hanger for that one to do then. I've attached a photo but it looks really dark.

I made a Christmas pudding on Friday.
Made wreath and Garland with kids yesterday.
Got tree today.

Also did very late soaking of fruit for Delia’s Creole Christmas cake. I figured that as it has so much alcohol it will help it be ok at Christmas without as much feeding?? If it isn’t we will wait and eat it in January/February. It has loads of alcohol- rum, port, brandy and bitters. It smells amazing.

I'm making my baby great nephew a crochet Rudolph hat as a gift and I'm hoping that I'll have enough yarn left to make his big brother a matching one too. I'll post a photo when I'm finished.

My wreath kit arrived from the florist earlier this week. I'm quite happy with the result.

@lucysmam your crochet skills are amazing considering you were a complete novice a few weeks ago. Your stocking is beautiful.

Aw, thanks Woolly, I'm really pleased with how it's turned out! Even more pleased the girls haven't guessed what it is, and I have time for a second though.

Oh mama mia, the crab apple jelly gin, phoawf, better go easy on that one its GREAT. Lucys mam I did a tomato and pepper one last year and it was not to my taste at all when just made but delicious after 8 weeks in a dark cupboard.

Thanks lucysmam I'm really pleased with the stamps- solves my usual card making problem which is that my artistic talents don't match up to my artistic ambitions 😂

The stocking is looking great. Really impressed with your progress.

Loving the wreath as well woolly. I've got plans to make mine next weekend.

Haven't decorated or made the cake yet- starting to feel the pressure. Can't believe we've only got two weekends left!

I ordered sheets of beeswax to roll candles with the dc but they don’t smell very nice. Last year we had lovely beeswax with a gorgeous honey scent but this is sort of Smokey and not at all pleasant. I’m not sure what to do with them now. I don’t think beeswax takes scent well so I don’t think I can even disguise the smell.
And it would cost me what they’re worth to post back. I hate it when crafts go awry and end up costing much much more than planned!

HoHoJo I think I had the same issue this year .

I did find some nice colour-your-own cards earlier on though; they might be a nice something to do with dd2 once we're done with school on an afternoon...maybe...

Woolly I have wreath envy! I've put our old one, that I repaired last year, on the door again. We're in the sort of area where someone would wreck a nice one two doors up though :( maybe something to think about for next year.

noodle I've never tried tomato and pepper, do you happen to have a recipe handy?

Stealth stocking number 1 is complete; I'll go back and add the pompoms once the second is done.

Dd2 has asked for a cup cosy thingy for her pet orchid mantis's little enclosure - I'm considering just using the pattern for the stocking cuff; it'll need to be slightly shorter but I think it'll work ok. (I did consider a crochet wiggly worm like the draught excluders but not sure that'd be a good idea with the heat mat 🤷‍♀️).

Love all the crafting going on! That stocking is a thing of beauty lucysmam