Howdy folks, how are you all? Are you alright? Have you had a nice Christmas break?

It’s been a bit odd at the KCACO.UK house as on the first day of the holiday break we were woken up by my six year old running in to tell us that she was going to be sick…and then her promptly being sick all over the floor! That certainly wakes you up quickly! Since then we just haven’t been able to shake this sick bug but I hear there’s a lot of it going around. Either the baby or, more so, the big one has been sick (usually at 3.30am – what’s with that!) so it’s been a bit of a subdued Christmas and we’ve had to cancel quite a few of our plans which is a shame. Even I haven’t been feeling great – the only one with immunity seems to be my husband, which I’m very thankful for because it would be even more horrendous if all of us were ill at the same time.

That said even though we may not have got dressed on Christmas day, Santa came and brought LOADS of presents for the little ones and some nice stuff for us grown ups and we did manage to have a semi nice day. And luckily we happen to handily have lots of crochet blankets around for snuggling under and some new Christmas movies to watch so we’ve taken some time to rest and try to recuperate.

Looking on the positive side of things I got some FABULOUS yarny gifts! Anyone would think I like crochet or something… 

Firstly I got this absolutely gorgeous Scheepjes mango wood yarn bowl which is just sooooo lovely. I absolutely adore wooden things and really wanted a wooden yarn bowl so I was very pleased with this. It’s so smooth and tactile and just super yummy! I love it and I’ve already been using it.

I also got the new Scheepjes Yarn Bookazine ‘Dutch Masters‘ which is also gorgeous (I need more adjectives for gorgeous don’t I; splendid, sublime, delightful – they all work!).

I shall have to do a review of these bookazines for you at some point because after I had my first one from the lovely people at Black Sheep Yarns (the Tropical edition) I had to have them aaaallllll! Glorious patterns, stunning photography and really interesting articles – what’s not to love! So I was really pleased to add the Dutch Masters edition to my collection which came out in October this year.

My other yarn related gifts were some really useful retractable snips, a Stylecraft Batik Swirl in colourway Poppyfields, which is super pretty and not something I’ve used before, a James C Brett Fairy Cake, in colourway FC03 which is lots of blues, very fluffy, and again something I’ve never used before. I was also lucky enough to get the Beetles, Bugs and Butterflies book from Lalylala which I reallllllyyy had wanted so I was super happy to find that under the tree – so look out for reviews of all these once I get round to using them. 

And finally I got a joint present for my wedding anniversary and Christmas present; a days pass to visit the Crochet Sanctuary in Cheshire (not that far away from me) in February which I can’t WAIT for! A day off to relax, unwind and crochet – hooray!!! Haven’t I been a very lucky girl! 

I have been crocheting off and on throughout the holidays but I can’t show you any of my finished objects as they are Christmas presents still waiting to be given in the main. Though I can share these… I had this idea that I really wanted to make a special amigurumi for both children using the TOFT DK yarn I bought at TOFTfest. If you remember when I went to TOFTfest then you’ll know I started these amigurumi’s back in 2016 so it’s rather disgraceful that it’s taken me this long to finish them but I actually kicked myself into gear and finished them off for Christmas. I made Little G Jack the Macaw from Edward’s Menagerie: Birds and I made Little Miss; Georgina the Hippo from the original Edward’s Menagerie with a tutu accompaniment pattern I got at TOFTfest.

I love how they came out and both children loved their special present from Mummy. I’ll try and do a review of both of the TOFT books in the new year too for those of you that are thinking you might like to make either some animals or birds (or both) of your own.

I’m already busy working on some secret commissions for 2018 – there’s some really exciting projects coming up in the new year that I can’t wait to share with you all.