Christmas wishes

All the gifts are wrapped, my bags are packed, and Mada is (more or less) getting warm with the new company, Willy. He's my parent's cat. They are kindly providing a foster home, while I am spending a week in Denmark with my closest friends, a group of 12 people I mostly know from school times.

We've been to Sweden last year, and I'm really looking forward to cozy evenings in sweatpants, opening wine bottles at 3pm, and the most delicious culinary treats of our wonderful two (male!) chefs. I probably won't have any internet access up there. So therefor I am already wishing you a sweeping New Year's celebration, and that you may not worry too much about resolutions.

As for the autumn gift swap; thank you to all of you lovely giver's who joined this project despite of stressful times so close to Christmas. All your selfmade gifts are so inspiring, and I am really looking forward to future projects of this kind. I know, there are still a couple of presents on their way, but I'm sure they'll arrive any time soon! It's been a pleasure to watch the gifts popping up on your blogs. Here's a little summary of your handmade treasures (I'll add the last ones as soon as they've arrived);

Claudia's, Lisa's, Barbara's, Lotte's, Karolien's, Syl's, and mine.

Thanks again, and have a wonderful merry Christmas with your loved ones.
Much Love <3

Autumn swap and Christmas preparations

I had a day off today, so I had enough time to wrap and send the autumn swap gift to my gift buddy! Hope this one will make it through rushy Xmas delivery times.

Christmas is approaching with bounding strides. My dear friend I. sent me this adorable calendar, and it's such a pleasure to open a door each day. I finally put out these little handmade wooden fellas. They're made in the Erzgebirge, a mountain range in Germany, and part of a tradition for centuries. Each one of them is a little treasure. There's a bunch of this series, and every year I'm receiving another one as an addition.

Having them around always brings a true Christmas feeling. And old scratches on top of my book shelf look like trails from ice skaters...

Hope your Christmas preparations are coming along just fine!

Handmade autumn gift swap

Between work and play I've been a busy bee contacting a few fellow bloggers whose work I admire very much. I've told them about the little gift swap I've pondered about a while ago. The feedback has been so positive, and now I can't wait to get started.

The only guideline is that the gift should be handmade, and inspired by autumn. Other than that everyone is free to use their talents and imagination.

For now the gift circle is closed, but I am sure there will be more of these kind of projects in the future. Maybe when busy times around Christmas have calmed down again, since we'll probably all be very occupied with crafting things for our loved ones.

I really can't wait to see what the others will come up with. You'll probably see me linking a lot to lovely blogs in the next weeks, introducing you to some very talented gals.

Knitting and thoughts on how to spoil you

Some knit on my lap. I've started with an ear warmer for my dear friend, who doesn't like to cover her chignon with a hat. So we found this beautiful baby alpaca wool and I've been using an old vintage pattern to make it that little more interesting.

I've also been working on some wrist warmers. I still had some leftover fabric scraps from my autumn dress. And as the pattern and colors are just so divine, I couldn't resist to make some accessories with those. It wasn't enough for a scarf, but it will be fine for a couple more of these cuffs. The ones I am wearing are lined with a soft brown jersey fabric, but I've also made some with dark grey. They're so cozy and such an eyecatcher, and if you like it a little plainer on some days, you could just turn them inside out.

Making these autumn cuffs gave me an idea, since I'd like to spread the love for handmade things (and adore giving and receiving gifts as much as anyone probably does).

What would you think about a handmade autumn gift swap? Whoever likes to enter the circle has to send something handmade to another person, and in the end everyone will get something selfmade and treasured from someone else! Kind of like a combination of having a one time penpal and a giveaway. It would be a lovely way to get to know more of you crafty people, who are always such an inspiration to me.

Let me know, dear silent readers, what you think about that idea.