Some time to myself today

I've been a bad blogger over the past couple of weeks but I have been keeping my hands busy with lots of Christmas projects. There will be stuff to see soon for those who are interested, including my second idea for those little Christmas cottages (see below). But to prove I have created something recently, I'm showing off a couple of projects here.

I finished this Cedar Leaf Shawlette for my sister's birthday at the end of October. I'm really pleased with how it turned out and will be making one for myself after Christmas. Its a gorgeous pattern I purchased and downloaded from Alana at Never Not Knitting. I love the way she presents her pattern PDFs - they are a pleasure to knit from. I've plans to knit her Shawl Collared Cowl for my nieces for Christmas.

And for any other knitters out there, I'm sharing this sweet image I used for the card at the top of this post. I made it for the birthday of one of the girls in our Knit & Natter group last week. Its another copyright-free image from one of my Dover books. Very suitable for any knitter you might need a card for. I've also used that lovely Hero Arts wreath stamp that everyone seems to have in their stash at the moment, and the knitted stitch background stamp from Claire's (Waltzingmouse Stamps) Faux Fun set - perfect for presenting all my knitting and crochet projects!
Had a few hours to myself this afternoon, so I demanded the car from my son and nipped down the valley to our local seaside town for a couple of things I can't purchase here. Its been a lovely bright day and the high wind we've had over the past few days has disappeared, so I decided to walk on the beach and watch the sunset. I love the beach like this, empty of all but a few dog walkers and the sea birds searching for their suppers.
I'd have stayed longer but it was almost dark and getting cold. I think there will be a frost tonight.