Happy Christmas - Iorek Byrnison

Iorek Byrnison: Can is not the same as must.

Lyra Silvertongue: But if you must and you can, then there's no excuse. 

Wishing a Happy Christmas to everyone who has visited my blog over the last year. Thank you for all your comments. I hope you are all enjoying being with family and friends, eating and drinking a bit too much, and having a thoroughly good time.

I am working on a new idea, inspired partly by looking a polar bears for my little model bear. Also because I am a big Philip Pullman fan, and love his character Iorek Byrnison. (Pullman beats Rowling hands down. Ooh - I bet that is a bit controversial and a few of you don't agree.) I should really have put him in a suit of armour. At the moment I am just playing around with a few ideas.

 

Fair Isle Gloves

This is one of my Christmas knits, which I probably shouldn't be showing yet, but I am pretty sure that the recipient isn't a regular viewer of my blog. If she is then hopefully she won't guess and they will still be a nice surprise.

They are knitted from a free pattern on ravelry by Cailyn Meyer called Wintergreen Gloves. Some of her other patterns look lovely, so it may be time for my second ever pair of socks.
 

I knitted on double points, and rather just grabbed some wool from my stash that I thought would look nice together. After the first glove I realised that I might not have enough of the purple colour for the second one, so that knitting was a bit stressful. But in the end it worked out that I did have enough, but only just. I love fair isle knitting, as the end result is so pretty, but there were a lot of end to run in. The good thing was that they are knitted in the round so no sewing up.

The pattern was really easy to follow, with instructions and charts. Although I did think I might have to enlarge the chart on a photocopier. That isn't a criticism though, just a reflection on my eyesight. The pink wool I used was a bit thicker and fluffier than the others, which I think is why those lines have puckered a bit. I knew I shouldn't be using it, but I thought the colour was great so just went with it.

Sylvanians Do Billie Jean Dance Routine

My daughter has got in the habit of making little videos, using my camera and iMovie. I thought I would put a few on over the holiday, partly because I wanted to see if I could upload a movie. Camera work, choreography, etc. were all done by her. This one does end rather suddenly. 

Some of the others are very funny: for instance the film trying to persuade us that she really needs more pocket money. This one is more of a straight dance routine.

Linking to Saturday Snapshot, which I hope is OK as I realise this isn't a snapshot as such, but a series of snapshots linked together with music. Enjoy

A Polar Work in Progress (and a Poem)

Polar Bear in there

There's a Polar Bear
In our Frigidaire-
He likes it 'cause it's cold in there.
With his seat in the meat
And his face in the fish
And his big hairy paws
In the buttery dish,
He's nibbling the noodles,
He's munching the rice,
He's slurping the soda,
He's licking the ice.
And he lets out a roar
If you open the door.
And it gives me a scare
To know he's in there--
That Polary Bear
In our Fridgitydaire.

  by Shel Silverstein 

I've been working on something new, although I am not quite there with it yet. Still something not quite right yet about the shape of the head, muzzle and nose in particular. Perhaps the back should be a bit less curved? The legs could be stronger looking? the neck wider and a bit longer, I think?

What keeps you from sleep? Sadly these little details are the things that are keeping me awake at night ....