Tis the run up to Christmas and I wanted to make some slightly alternative gifts.  I plan on doing some amigurumi humbugs for those who might not be quite in the spirit, but before I got embroiled in ‘just how do I make that shape?’ I thought I’d try out the stripy pattern.  The second thought was to make the swatch into something useful and so the humbug mobile phone case was born!

I like the end result so much I feel inspired to make it larger and perhaps create Kindle or iPad covers!

WIP - Christmas tree decorations

In more sparkly mode I’ve been playing with beading wire to create snowflake tree decorations.  My original plan was to thread beads onto the wire before crocheting but this made the final snowflake more of a snowball, so I left off the beads, although I did add one to a small circle and place it into the middle of a snowflake.  I’m pleased with the result – they look very effective when the light catches them.  I’m also thinking of making some napkin rings using the beading wire and wine glass charms.  More soon!