This Saturday we had a blast. As the sun finally decided to show her face after weeks of absence we decided to hit the town and catch a ride on the merry-go-round.

On our way over there we past a beautiful design shop with an even more beautiful display window. Yes, it's Christmas soon folks!

Yiha! Check out the beard on that sheppard... and the lumberjack getting in position to chop some wood. And aren't those sheep just so woolly and cuddly? Hard to believe they're ceramics...

They charmed the pants of me. Yes, even the camels...

I actually went in to check out the details as I could see this Christmas scene sitting quite comfortably in our home. However, the first draw back was the price. Design is never cheap but my wallet complained that I couldn't even have this out and about the entire year... a bit too pricey for a month or so each year. The second draw back made the first easier to swallow though... as I watched the display for a minute or two, there were already three people of the very posh and fancy kind who bought entire sets. Kinda like "Oh, and you can put in a star as well, and some kings... oh and don't forget a dozen of felt trees and the camels... and should we get an extra set of sheep?.. well, yes why not, an extra set of sheep please". My wallet ached under their order! Anyhow, the idea that this scene would be sitting in every hip home in our close vicinity made it easy to just leave it in that pretty window display.

But they are really cute, right?

We suffered our very own tragedy here last week. 

Ursa Minor the beloved teddy ice bear of my 5 year old daughter started to fall apart. Literally that is. As we got out of the car at the supermarket last week I noticed that his nose was just about to fall of. The stuffing was already sticking out of it. A flood of tears was the result of this and this flood was unstoppable.

You see, for the past 4,5 years my girl and this ice bear have been the best of friends and have spent day and night together in a tight hug. all that cuddling left him already furless but now the actual fabric was coming apart. 

An emergency operation was performed as soon as we put the shopping on the shelves but even the needle and thread that meant to repair him nearly caused the fabric to disintegrate at places.

So the hard decision was made to make Ursa retire on his owner's bed and to dress him in a sleeping bag in order to prevent further terminal damage.

But the tears kept flowing as his presence in the daytime was a reassuring resting point for her overactive mind. You can't underestimate losing a friend of that proportion. 

And that is why we went out to look for a new friend to adopt. This new friend had to be a long lost family member of Ursa in order to be accepted into the inner circle and this was no easy condition I can tell you. They stopped making our particular ice bear way back in 2003 so there wasn't much family of his left. But in the end we stumbled over this cute cat who was looking for a home. Also no longer produced since 2006, she really could have been a product of the same assembly line.

Meet Felis!

The flood of tears has transformed into a radiant smile and I've been informed that this cat was actually a long lost niece of Ursa and that Ursa is just so pleased that she now lives with us. 

Yippie, trauma averted!

And to make Felis feel really welcome I was summoned to knit her a small gilet to keep her warm this winter -apparently all that fur just doesn't make the cut-. A tiny sweater from some leftover récup yarn.

And oh yeah, I am informed that the house shaped button actually depicts our house. Only that's not really blue. Not really.

The weatherman just let me in on a secret... an autumn storm is brewing and heading our way. Everyone will be wet and cold he warned.

Except for me that is. Because I just finished a cozy warm blanket to wrap myself in. And combined with a good solid roof on the house, I'll be warm nor wet this week!

The blanket is crocheted in squares which have been joined together as I crocheted along. I preferred this method of working to the traditional sewing together of pieces for two reasons. One, it's more satisfying to have an entire blanket ready for use dangling on your needle as you take the last few stitches. And two, this technique lines the edges of the squares with a pretty eyelet motive. Pure wool has been used for this blanket and I tried to combine different colors in order to give it a bit of a retro and vintage feel. And finally I hooked a lovely and simple picot trim all along the edges of the blanket.

It's soft, it's warm and oh so cool.

- And if you'd like to warm yourself in a blanket like this, there's one up for adoption in the lovable goods section.-

As I sat and put the finishing touches on this new companion of our sofa, my oldest offspring put the finishing touches on herself...

"Look mum, I have the same colors on me that are in our new blanket!" There's no accounting for good taste, is there?

One may argue that having a passion for crafting is wonderful, or therapeutic,energizing, soothing and so on and so on. But without any doubt it's also productive.

You craft, therefore you make and therefore you own... some new lovable goods.

But when you stumble upon something exciting to make, you usually make more than one. Especially if the result is rather catchy to the eye.

And so you craft some more and therefore you make some more and therefore you own... even more lovable goods.

And then comes the point when you need to decide: will you extend your house or will you find some new loving homes for the lovable creations you've made?

Here at Himiko no Sekkai we've gone for the latter and we're proud to present our new rehoming scheme. If you feel you could offer these lovable goods a loving home then feel free to contact us for more practical info -prices, payments, shipping and all that infinitely interesting stuff- on how to become their proud owner.

So, off you go to check out our gallery!

So early in the morning -hence the pj's- on a foggy Allsaints, we set up to draw a lucky winner.

Then the innocent hand was asked to rise to the challenge.

Unfortunately the designated innocent hand, a 3 year old right hand was rather fever ridden and delirious and had no clue as to what was being asked. We blame the medication for this lapse of brain activity... So, the back up hand was called forward. Somewhat less innocent, 2 years to be precise, but also somewhat more conscious this right hand meant business.

First, it gave the participating tickets a good swirl...

Then it drew a winner...

Massive drum roll... Pierre du Coin!

Mexican wave for the lucky winner!

So Pierre du Coin, just leave us a note with some address details (which we'll keep strictly confidential) and you'll have one less Christmas present to worry about this year.

Thanks to all for playing along. And don't feel too depressed about not being lucky Pierre, we'll do another one of these giveaways for sure!

If the weather stays gracious over the weekend, we'll be wandering off to some nearby woods.

The local wood crafted by my local youngest girl in kindergarten has made us determined to see some real gnomes for a change. We'll be trying to persuade some of them to come live in our garden and do some light garden chores for us. I think we're in with a real good chance!

So what are your plans?

Oh this must be a case of self fulfilling prophecy. We put a scarf around an ice bear's neck in preparation of winter and what do you know.... the following morning this is what the window in the skylight looked like:

Ice in all it's beauty. This morning we had some more icy flowers and leaves patterns on the window. Mind you, apparently autumn has decided to make a reappearance and temperatures should improve shortly. Oof.

Brace yourselves for winter! It'll be a cold one! How do I know this?

Well, first there are a bunch of meteorologists who claim winter will be of arctic proportions. Mind you, summer was going to be a Sahara-type of season and apart from a couple of weeks past boiling point, it mainly rained. And that's not very Sahara like now is it?

But more importantly, I know because Ursa Minor -my 5 year old's dearest cuddly ice bear- is getting chilly. Granted, she is effectively cuddled bald but still, when she gets the shivers, frost is heading our way. So her owner put together an appropriate winter outfit. 

Notice that beautiful and cozy scarf? Well, two weeks ago when I was Florence Nightingaling my way through the week and the sick little one was getting back on the road to recovery, she decided to give finger knitting a try. And behold, she made an entire scarf!! I think she might just have inherited that creative gene, don't you?

It is that time of year again. Secret Santa time! 

And this year I'm in with the initiative that Tess took. Oh yes. 

However this initiative is very local and many of my readers are excluded from it on geological grounds. And that doesn't sit well with me and my " t'is the season for giving" spirit.

So, the following magical idea came to mind. I'll do a second Secret Santa of my own. Besides from participating in the local Secret Santa, I'll send one special Christmas gift to one special reader of this blog. And I don't even want anything in return!

If you would like that special reader to be you, leave a comment below this post before the 31st of this month (that is October... making sure.... I keep forgetting dates these days). On November 1st an innocent hand will pick a lucky reader and I'll make sure to get in touch with him/her for some further contact details.

Please remember, whether you live local or international, whether you already participate in secret santas or not, anyone can participate here. And if you feel the "t'is the season for giving" spirit too, why not give someone else a chance to participate here by blogging about it over at your place!

And so the waiting game begins.... not to mention the guessing game..... until Christmas. What will I send , to who will I send it and when will it arrive? 

Well, that's for me to know and for you to find out. So come on and play along! I'm looking forward to crafting something for you....

And for those who are wondering, these lovely Christmas sculptures in Playmais are the result of a successful artistic collaboration between the oldest daughter and the husband of this household. 

So, where do you get all that alpaca wool from, Himiko?

Well, this is it.

Straight from Mrs Lama herself!

Or...how I wish...

Curiously enough, rather large groups of lamas are scattered all over our village. This particular one resides just across the street from my girls' school. And yet there are no yarn shops selling her wool in the entire village. Well, there are no yarn shops at all in this village. Neither are there in the vicinity of this place. Instead I travel half the country....

Is the knitting universe sending me a message here?