Im dreaming of a green Christmas

Christmas for me is a chance to spend time with family and loved ones. Not a commercial event where so many unwanted gifts end up gathering dust or in the trash. So last year I decided that all my Christmas pressies had to be thoughtful and environmentally friendly! 

I set myself some rules: I wanted to give gifts that would be enjoyed, but would have little impact on the environment. So I decided that hampers were the way to go. Recycled baskets from the local opshop were filled with home made jams and chutneys (using recycled glass jars collected throughout the year).  

 

Handmade cards, decorated with beaded snowflakes (which could be reused as Christmas ornaments) labeled each basket, and exotic fruit added a touch of colour. Each basket included a hand printed linen tea towel (by yours truly). Although I didnt make the wine (thats another project on my growing list of things to do!) at least it was in recyclable glass bottles.

Ginger dipped in dark chocolate, and other delicacies  were wrapped in grease proof paper and tied with string.

Happily all the contents of my Christmas baskets were biodegradable.

This year my Christmas presents will be handmade again, and I am working within another theme. Its so much fun, but I cant give away any more.... shhhh its a secret until Christmas day x

Granny Square Addiction

A little while ago, when the weather decided to have a cold spell in the middle of summer, I decided that I should make a blanket (!?) one of my 'seems like a good idea at the time' ideas. I thought it would be a good way to pass the time on a train trip to Melbourne and back. The trip to Melbourne unfortunately didnt eventuate.... but I have lots of odds and ends from all my knitting projects, so a scrap blanket to use up these bits seemed like a good idea.

I did some google searching to get some inspiration and found this delightful idea

image courtesy of www.lushlee.com

image courtesy of posy.typepad.com

And the pattern for these groovy granny squares can be found here

Amongst my searching many blogs warned about the addiction to granny squares. Throwing caution to the wind I commenced my first granny square. It was only then that I realised that I was hooked (ha ha - excuse the terrible pun!) and was finding all sorts of excuses to create another square.

Thankfully my friend had lent me the Mad Men series and I could fulfil two addictions at once - admiring the 1950's glamour of the advertising industry and create granny squares at the same time.... ah bliss.

So far Ive created 40 little circles and completed 20 squares.... my aim is a 10 x 10 granny square rug, so I need 100 squares in total.... looks like I'd better go and watch another episode of Mad Men so that I can get closer to my target :)