Osterley Park's 7 swans a-swimming ...

I'm almost there ... I've almost got everything sorted for Christmas. It's been busy, but I feel as though I'm finally cantering up the home straight. Emi's been off on his Christmas holidays for a week now, and together we've got everything sorted from last-minute presents and Christmas cards, to hair-cuts and dental appointments.

And, powered-on by this new and relaxed sense of completion, we took the Wonder Dog for a gallop round Osterley Park this morning, where we met this lovely chap:

Aran scarf

It seems to have taken me forever to get this baby off the needles. Aran patterns take time with all those intricate cables and designs, but when you’re done they’re totally worth it.

I don’t use traditional weight Aran wool as it bulks up too much for my liking so I downsize to something closer to a double knitting weight. On this occasion I’ve used some wool from my stash: SMC Super Fine Merino Opera wool, which is now an obsolete product line. I must have bought it a couple of years’ ago at the Ally Pally Knitting and Stitching Show. I’d totally forgotten about it and, when I  found it squirrelled away, I decided that Aran with a few winter sparkles might work in the run-up to Christmas. I rather like how it’s turned out, and there’s a part of me that regrets not having enough left to make some sort of cardigan that would look cool over a party dress. Instead I may have to think about a sparkly beanie to co ordinate with the scarf for a dash of après ski chic.

I added some faux fur(ry) pompoms, also resurrected from the depths of my stash, for a slightly more decadent look, but this scarf would look really lovely with a long-tailed fringe made from the sparkly wool along both ends.

My scarf measured 137 cm/ 54" in length and was 20 cm/ 8" wide. On the aran pattern this worked out as an average tension of 41 stitches x 30 rows on a 10 cm x 10 cm swatch, and I used about 650 metres or 707 yards of wool, which translates as 4 and a bit 50g balls. 

If you’d like to make one for yourself,  just read on for the pattern.

Happy Birthday ad hoc labels ...

Today my baby turned 10. Ten! He's in double figures.

And to celebrate we had a special birthday lunch at a sushi bar close to Mr B's office, and then he and Emi headed off to Brick 2015, where they appear to have passed a very happy afternoon indulging in one of their greatest shared passions ... Lego!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I've been busy wrapping Christmas presents. I ran out of parcel labels to match my wrapping paper and improvised with these:

Christmas wreath ...

Deck the halls with boughs of holly
Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la ...

Yesterday I had a very merry morning over at Osterley Park doing a Christmas wreath workshop with the lovely folk at the National Trust. And this is what I produced:

Popcorn and cranberry garlands ...

Gosh it's been busy over here at Talk-a-Lot Towers.

We had a trampoline party for Emi's birthday on Saturday. I can't believe that my baby is about to have his first double digits birthday - 10! Whaow!

Yesterday was our wedding anniversary. Emi's birthday is Friday and Mr B's the following Thursday. Everything seems to happen in December. The rest of the year is a little bit dull by comparison.

But somehow amidst all the other stuff that was going on I've got the tree up, decorated and illuminated with Ms. Angel on top. Emi has named her Annabeth. Not sure where that comes from, but we'll go with it for now.

By way of extra garlanding Emi and I spent a merry hour last night threading popcorn and cranberries onto a length of twine to add the finishing touch. The Wonder Dog is very keen on popcorn - so it's fifty/fifty whether this genius touch will actually last until Christmas.

If you want to make a garland like this for your own tree it's super easy-peasy. All you need to do is air-pop the popcorn so that it's not greasy. I do this in the microwave in a brown paper bag. Toss the corn in, zap it on high for a minute and a half - or until all the popping stops. Leave it overnight to sit in its bag so that it's not so brittle when you thread it. If it's fresh it'll be very crumbly, and you'll be busy with the hoover when you're done.