Post Christmas catch up and slow stitching

I hope you all enjoyed your Christmas break however you spent it. Ours was very quiet and peaceful. I made the decision to par Christmas down a little and so we put up the tree, but with less ornaments than usual, and the little wooden crib scene we have. In addition I bought some flowers and Lucy got some beautiful boughs of berries and leaves. which have scented the main room. Kathryn and Olly spent Christmas with friends and so it was just the 4 of us. The day was very calm and we all did what we wanted coming together for breakfast and dinner. Lucy and Richard spent the day doing a 1000 piece jigsaw and John and I read and chatted and cooked the dinner together. Scamp and Picasso snoozed most of the day but came to life whenever food was on offer.

Prior to Christmas I had planned to sandwich my new Christmas quilt but it just didn't work out that way. I can't remember what got in the way of my sewing day but something did. No problem as I can fit another day in since I'm not back at work until 7th January. Yesterday I pin basted the quilt but I am going to redo it later as I had a large wrinkle in the back. Not sure how that happened as I thought I was being so careful.

I finished my second elf slipper  and these will be with their new owner by tomorrow evening. I have the bells to sew on having managed to find where I had put them. Please remember these were a joke present and the recipient has already had their Christmas gift.

Over the last few days I've been knitting a scarf. Years ago I knitted my younger brother a very long multicoloured scarf in garter stitch. He has been using it ever since but earlier this winter he lost it and hasn't been able to find it anywhere. He asked me if I could knit him another one. Being the very obliging sister that I am I said yes. It helps that I have a lot of bits of double knitting yarn that really need to be used up so they aren't taking up storage space. All of the yarn that I will be using is left over from knitting cardigans or jumpers for friends or their children. This is easy knitting and therefore great to do whilst watching TV. I'm not sure how long it needs to be but the scarf my brother lost was about 7 foot long and styled on the one worn by the Dr in the Dr Who series. My brother was a great fan of the series.

This week I will also be trying my hand at Sashiko embroidery. John bought me an interesting book on it plus fabric, thread and needles. I still have some reading to do about the technique but I will be having a go soon. This will be the first new technique or craft I'll try in 2020.Are any of you interested in trying something new next year and if so what will it be?

I'm linking this post with Kathy for her Slow Sunday Stitching