[Image from Graphis Annual 56/57 (by Sandi Vincent) via tumblr]

Just a quick post to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. See you in 2011!

[Image via Tumblr]

Following last week's ticket giveaway for the We Make London Christmas Craft Wonderland, on Saturday I popped over to Chelsea Town Hall to take a look at the fair myself.

It was a suitably festive occasion, complete with carols, fancy dress and tasty Christmas treats in the cafe. Stalls displayed a wide range of work from over 80 designer/makers, including jewellery, homewares, ceramics, clothing and limited edition prints, largely at very affordable prices: great for finding unusual Christmas gifts, not to mention a little crafty inspiration.

Whilst we were there, we also joined in with a fun Christmas decoration workshop, led by Aimee Waller of Chateau Velvet. Aimee showed us how to make some paper Christmas decorations - as well as feeding us with Quality Street - thanks Aimee!

Here's a few things that caught my eye at the fair:

Sausage dog badges by Mary Kilvert

 

Ceramics by Cecily Vessey

 

Writing sets by Nancy & Betty

 Brooches by Custom Made

 

Ceramics by James Ward

I hope that all those who entered the giveaway for free tickets enjoyed their visit to the fair...

Look what I made! My very own hand-knitted ruby slippers - perfect for keeping toes toasty warm on these chilly winter afternoons.

As an early Christmas gift to readers of a crafty bent, I thought I'd share the pattern I used to make these. It's so easy and quick, and ideal if you're a beginner when it comes to knitting. You can make it with any DK weight wool you have to hand, although I have to admit that I quite like the idea of making some with sparkly red yarn for the full-on Wizard of Oz look.

The basic pattern for the slippers is based on paperandglue's ridiculously easy mary jane slippers, which you can also find on ravelry here. Here goes:

Follow the Yellow Brick Road Ruby Slippers

You will need:

Any red DK yarn.
4.5mm needles.

To make the slippers:

Cast on 30 stitches.
Knit for 18cm in garter stitch. Bear in mind that you may need to increase or decrease the length here depending on the size of your foot - I wear UK size 4/5 shoes.
K2tog for two rows, keeping in pattern.
Cut off the yarn, leaving a long tail which you can then thread through the remaining stitches like a drawstring.
Using the tail of yarn, sew the two edges together for about 7cm to make the toe of your slipper.
Sew up the vertical seam at the back to make the heel of the slipper.

To make the bows:

For the main bow:
Cast on 7 stitches.
Knit for 8cm in garter stitch.
BO in pattern.

For the loop:
Cast on 3 stitches.
Knit 4cm in garter stitch.
BO in pattern.
(alternatively if you prefer, you could make a 4cm piece of icord instead)

To complete the bow, wrap the loop piece around the centre of the main bow, and stitch it together on the back side. You can then stitch the finished bow to the toe of your slipper.

To finish:

Tap heels together three times...

 

[Jimbob Art] 

 

[London Clay Birds]

[Emma Lewis]

 

  [Mr Wingate]

It's that time of year again... Christmas is fast approaching and it's time to start thinking about the dreaded Christmas shopping. I'm planning to make some of my own gifts this year: at the risk of sounding like Kirstie Allsopp (a somewhat terrifying thought) there's something really special about receiving a handmade gift - and what's more, making presents at home in the warm is infinitely preferable to the usual high street shopping hell.

Alternatively, when you're short on time (and realistically there's no way I'm going to be able to make all my Christmas presents, nice idea though it may be) but are looking for something a little more distinctive for your gifts, there's always the various Christmas craft fairs that take place around this time of year.  I went to one at Craft Central in Clerkenwell this weekend, which proved a little on the pricey side for me (I'm afraid that no one will be receiving £400 bespoke silver necklaces or jugs in the shape of sea-urchins from me this year) but I'm much more hopeful about this weekend's We Make London Christmas Craft Show.

We Make London was formed two years ago by a group of designer-makers who were prompted into action by a lack of cost-effective places to sell their products. They work together to champion the underground craft scene and promote the idea of buying handmade as an alternative to the monotony of the high street -  or as they put it 'something unique and timeless in today’s fast-paced, throwaway world of mass production'.

Their Winter Wonderland fair takes place this Saturday, 4 December from 11am - 5pm at Chelsea Town Hall on the Kings Road. There will be loads of great designer-makers there selling lovely things like those above - just a few of my favourites from the full list. There will also be festive delights including a fancy dress competition, Christmas tree decorating for kids and a cafe serving seasonal treats - I'm sure it will be the perfect place to find a little handmade Christmas inspiration.

What is even better, We Make London have offered 20 Follow the Yellow Brick Road readers a free ticket to the fair. If you'd like to go, please do leave a comment below. The first 20 comments will receive a free ticket!

I've been absent for a while: a beautiful snow-white Christmas has been and gone, and now, all of a sudden, it's almost a whole new decade. December has been an insanely busy month for me: I spent most of it either being ill or working on completing my masters dissertation, which I finally submitted on 23 December. Hurrah!

Now the dissertation is at long last completed, I'm anticipating a delightful 2010 including lots of lovely and frivolous things, and not much reading of serious books or indeed learning of any kind. And I'm also looking forward to spending more time here.

Hope everyone has had a jolly holiday - and happy new year!

[This lovely festive illustration is by J.P. Miller and comes via Grainedit]

... wrapping last-minute gifts in red paper and silver string, with the sound of carol singers and laughter outside my window. In the distance, the ringing of Christmas bells.

OK, I've changed my mind... I do like Christmas after all. Especially when I'm on holiday, and there are mince pies, and Christmas songs, and sparkly trees with lots of twinkly lights. And most especially when I have nearly (at last!) finished my Christmas shopping.

However, I am a little disappointed that these photographs of our newly-decorated Christmas tree and our cat, Mim (doing her best cute-cat-on-a-Christmas-card impression) are such bad quality - I had to take them on my mobile phone because my camera decided today that the Christmas period would be the optimum time to break. I am especially disappointed about this, because one of my neighbours back in Manchester has amazing fairy lights in their window spelling out 'BAH HUMBUG' and I really wanted to take a picture.

If you are in Manchester this week, the special 'festive edition' of no point in not being friends tomorrow night looks like it will be a good one. Unfortunately I'm not there to go along, but there will be readings from Nicholas Royle, Socrates Adams-Florou (reading from his new chapbook) and the lovely Emily McPhillips amongst others, plus surprise presents AND Christmas cover songs.

I have another little something up over at a handful of stones today, which seems particularly appropriate for the winter solstice.

Right, now I'm off to eat another mince pie.