handmade christmas: a scarf diary for Ben

I decided to make Ben a scarf for Christmas (another bit of secret present making). He had mentioned before that he liked the knitted diary loop scarf I made for myself a few years ago so I decided to make one for him.



I picked out some colours that I thought he'd like and swapped colour for every day of knitting until the scarf was complete. It added up to about a month and a half of knitting in total, with some days missed due to the lack of opportunity for covert knitting.



It turned out really well. I was happy with the colour choices and Ben was really pleased when he opened it on Christmas day. Perfect for keeping cosy on winter walks.

And here he is modelling it this weekend on a trip to Rye.



Happy face.

walking and windmills

On Friday we walked in the sunshine along the coast path to Rottingdean, and then back over the hilltops, via the windmill.

It was a lovely time.



Oh, apart from the hayfever attack on the way home.

double sketchbooks

We did it.
A drawing a day until the sketchbooks were full.



It's very satisfying to see all the images laid out together like that.

There were a few wobbly/slapdash/drawing under the influence pictures (a couple were drawn on an aeroplane in near darkness), but I think we did pretty well to manage one every day. It has definitely made me want to keep drawing more often, and Ben has already started a second book.

Maybe he'll let me share some more pictures?

Here's a flickr set of slightly larger images if you'd like a closer look.

a drawing a day

Ben & I started some sketchbooks on Friday to practice our drawing.
50 sheets of paper each. 50 days. 100 drawings.
Let's see how it goes...

floral

There are flowers everywhere at the moment. Everything has bloomed all at once.

I'm finding it hard to resist bringing some home with me every day.
Not so great for the hayfever...

a Venn diagram

n. A diagram using circles to represent sets, with the position and overlap of the circles indicating the relationships between the sets.

Galah

To chase away the January blues I have booked myself a flight to Australia to stay with my brother. I leave in 5 weeks. AMAZING.

If anyone has any suggestions of nice things to do/see/visit in Melbourne and the surrounding area then please do send recommendations my way. I think we're going to hire a camper van and drive the Great Ocean Road....

Just the ticket!

fishing on a friday

Last Friday I went fishing with my friend Steve. December isn't traditionally the best month for a pursuit like this, but it was a long term resolution of mine to catch a fish and I was determined to complete it before the end of the year. And now I have!

And I caught four! Two whiting and two rockling. Success!

It was very cold, but we had the sun on our faces, and some mince pies to snack on, and it turned out to be a lovely day (after it was almost abandoned due to early morning rain clouds).

Now I have to get thinking about next year. Maybe a BIG art attack? That would be a challenge.

the festive season

It's the first of December - YEAH!

warm days

Summer seems like such a long time ago now.
November is traditionally my least favourite month of the year.
Let's see how it goes...

signs of summer

There are colours everywhere.

I found one of the blue envelopes from give mondays today. It was a really sweet surprise - I'm going to keep it in my bag until a worthy cause presents itself.

balloons

This week has been a week for celebrations - with 4 birthdays and an engagement to toast!

People everywhere seem to be in good spirits. Today on the bus I saw a man do a little skip as he walked along the road.

wildflowers don't care where they grow...

 This is a pretty time of year.

sunset featherball

I went on a lovely camping trip in sussex at the weekend with a great bunch of people.

We had barbecues for dinner and breakfast, night time (and daytime) bonfires, games of plate frisbee, and a lot of sunshine.

I hope we can do it again soon...

two scoops

I'm currently working my way through all the different flavours of ice cream at Marrocco's. Yesterday I had a combination of blueberry sorbet and cheesecake ice cream, which was great for a warm summer evening.

















I'm trying to make the most of where I live at the moment so I've been having meals on the beach, evening ice creams, and strolls by the lawns. Tonight I even ran along the seafront to the lagoon. There was a lovely sea breeze. My face is very red now though...

stamps

There are lots of nice stamps to be found in Japan - in museums, at train stations, and on the ferry.

oxalis triangularis

On Saturday I'm flying out to Japan for two weeks to see my good friend Yumi.
I can't wait!

eggs & eggs & eggs

It's far from Easter. In fact, it's not even Lent yet, but I am sure I have already exceeded my annual mini egg quota. I've eaten two bags of the (lovely, tasty) things since Monday.

I'm sure doing an hour of water workout will have worked off a lot of that egg content though...no?

1 Whitehawk

There was a strange vibe at work today. Everybody seemed quite glum - I can't explain why. Luckily, Rosie's playlist is boosting my spirits this evening.

Recently I've been spending a lot of time on the bus and have lost my cycling enthusiasm. This won't do. On the plus side, it gives me some time to read a good book or two.

It's not so great when you get to a sad part though. Weeping on the bus is not a good look.

a little chili

After a knitting evening a few weeks ago Emily kindly let me take home a couple of mini chili peppers from her flourishing plant to add to my supper. They heated my sausage casserole up a treat - good for winter warmth.

Whilst I was preparing my dinner I decided to try and keep the seeds from inside the tiny chilis and see if I could encourage them to grow. I put them on some damp tissue, sealed them in a sandwich bag and hid them under a blanket (which is the closest it gets to a warm, dark place around these parts).

When I checked back a few days later there were beginning to sprout. What luck!

I've now potted them up, and noticed at the weekend that some shoots are beginning to show above the soil. Let's hope it continues to flourish - enchiladas next year maybe?