All about Eve...

Let me introduce Eve to you. She is our friend Yuri's 11 year old daughter and she stayed with us for Christmas along with her dad and her brother Max who's 5.

We first met Yuri in Tomsk (yes , there is a womble named Tomsk!) in Siberia back in 1992 as part of an exchange trip with the British youth organisation Woodcraft Folk and a youth 'Hobbi' centre in Tomsk. Since then he moved to Missouri with his wife Olga to work for a charity. We were thinking it was going to be a quiet Christmas with my sister spending it with her potential in-laws, when Yuri confirmed that they could come to the U.K.

It turned out to be a great Christmas and all the better for having children around. Max is brilliant, always chatting to you, 24/7! Eve has a very soft, gentle face and this is very much like her character. She seems wise beyond her years. One of my presents for her was a small skein of boucle yarn from 'The Natural Dye Studio' purchased at their pre-Christmas open day, and some needles. I found it really hard to demonstrate how to cast on, but she picked it up very quickly and had a small square by early evening!

This picture was taken by Felixstowe beach walking along the front, the day after Boxing Day. It was a chilly,windy day but there were plenty of people about taking a post-Christmas stroll. The walk was finished off by some very tasty chips and an ice-cream.

Felixstowe is where mum, Gwen and me went to last Saturday after a tip-off of a great remnant shop there. Compared to today, which is gorgeous and sunny, last week was miserable, non-stop rain. We found a lovely little tea-shop on the corner near the library and indulged in a scone before exploring the shop. It's a fantastic place, packed with fabric, ribbon, buttons, wool and friendly staff and also pretty bargainous. As you can see from the picture, I picked up some great trimmings, the fabric has lavender sprigs on and I'm itching to make something with it but not sure what yet! The velvet ribbon has come in handy with finishing off some purses made from linen remnants found cheap on etsy.