...warm and cosy

• I finished the Norrland hat for my Mum a couple days after Christmas, but struggled to find a good location in which to take a picture of it before giving it to her, as the light was so poor and my house was still awash with festive detritus, cluttering covering every surface. In the end I settled for a spot on the kitchen counter (complete with a reflection of the orchid on the windowsill) as it offered a more accurate rendition of the colours used. Such a beautiful pattern! I am definitely going to make another just for myself.

• Almost as soon as the Norrland was finished I embarked on a 'make it up as you go along' project for my husband's grandmother, who is in her late 90s and still going strong. When we visited her after Christmas she was complaining that her hands were always cold, and I noticed that she was keeping them wrapped in a shawl for warmth. I decided to design something cosier and brighter to make her more comfortable and cheer her up, so when I got home I set to work on a kind of elongated muff. I knitted a 35 cm tube using Sirdar Snowflake fleecy yarn, and then continued for a further 35 cm using assorted DK oddments from my stash. I turned the fleecy half  to the inside and finished by grafting the live stitches to the cast on edge. The fleecy lining was soooo soft, and the rainbow stripes were soooo cheerful, and the double thickness fabric was soooo warm! I popped it in the first class post, and received a phone call the following day from a very surprised and happy Grandma, who said it had made her feel really special. Well worth the effort!

• The XXSCat dog is the Queen of Warm and Cosy, especially now she has inherited the old snuggly blanket from my daughter's bed (she got a new one for Christmas). Doesn't she just look the picture of contentment keeping a sleepy eye on things from the corner of the armchair?