Hello! How are you? Is it hot where you are or freezing cold like it is here?

Here it is seriously cold, that sort of cold that seeps under your zillions of layers of clothing and chills you to the bone. That sort of cold that makes it look like twilight all day long. That sort of cold that burns your skin and stings your nose when you breathe. That sort of cold that feels difficult and heavy. And to be honest I started this week feeling quite crap about it all. Winters are looooooong here and this is just the very beginning.

But then while I was driving home from school drop off and planning the rest of my Monday in my mind, it occurred to me that if I worked it out right I could have a lovely winter, we all could. Winter in fact is when a lot of my favourite things to do, make the most sense: baking, knitting, eating soup, crocheting, reading long novels, playing board games, drinking lots of hot coffee and peppermint tea, crafting with my kids, listening to podcasts in the bath, wearing thick stripy tights and getting stuck right into a TV series and watching it on my lap-top night after night after the girls have gone to bed.

With these happy winter thoughts always at the back of my mind, and two home fires blazing at all times, I think I might just be able to have a happy winter after all.


Oh did someone say knitting?

Well first I knitted Miss Jazzy a pair of slippers in her chosen colours.

Ravelled here.


Then I made myself a pair and wow I LOVE them!!


So often making the same thing more than once drives me a little crazy, but these slippers are so quick and fun to knit that I would have even been happy to knit a fifth pair. But, I was told in no uncertain terms that Miss Indi would not be giving up her uggs in a hurry and no thanks. Teenagers eh?!


After that I knitted her a beanie in her chosen black. And it almost killed me. You know how you can barely see the design in the photo? Well that's how it was to knit. I was squinting and carrying on the whole time. At one stage the stitches even came off my needles in my basket and I had to rip it out and start again from the band, ahhhhhhhhhhh. I only hope she wears it now.

Ravelled here.


Then I pulled down the basket with last winter's blanket project in it and knitted a pink square. The 43rd square in this book. I had thoughts of knitting a bit and then stitching it all together bit by bit...

....until Miss Jazzy came home from school yesterday with freezing hands and a request for some little fingerless mittens. She chose the wool I'd bought at a garage sale years ago and I found a pattern and cast on. Now Miss Pepper says she needs pink ones next.

Ravelry details here.

So that's me, happily sitting by the fire wearing my slippers, finishing off Jazzy's mitts so she can wear them to school tomorrow.

What have you been up to?
What's you best winter warming trick?

Big love,

xx