Mystery Solved!

So another week has flown by, which is scary as it means Christmas will be upon us before we know, and as usual I am not prepared. I am not panicking however, it always comes together in the end, right? And I have started the most important task... list making. Yes that's half the battle, working out who I have to buy for and who to send cards to. I just need to act on it now!
But where is the time for that when there is all this crochet to be done? Thursday signalled the release of the final mystery crochet-along clue. I was very excited in the morning, but had to wait for those Americans to get up! I went out for a play-date with little P to pass the time and then made my way home thinking 'this is about the time the last clues were released!' only to find that the internet was down in the house. No explainable reason other than the supplier was tinkering about with services again! So I waited. My friend kindly informed me it had been released, just to rub salt into the wound!
Eventually, service resumed (it wasn't actually that long, just seemed it!) and the final clue was on my screen. Obviously, I whizzed through it to see the pictures of the end result. And it was...

... a dog.

OK, so my initial reaction was of a little bit of disappointment, just because I'm not a dog person and it would be way down my list of things to make. But he does have a lovely face! I then though about the mystery project as a whole, and realised it had to be something 'common' as a more exotic animal would probably be a dead giveaway. In terms of mystery, it was 10 out of 10 for FreshStithes. I did not have a clue even once all the pieces were in front of me. The way she planned the shapes and putting together was very clever and certainly made it a really fun project! So I feel bad that I feel disheartened that it is a dog, but that's just me, I'm sure loads of people love dogs!

So yesterday a new yarn store opened up in town, but I had no time (and it was snowy!) to get there for grand opening so I paid it a visit this morning. My friend and I went to suss out the place, wondering if it would be an old fuddy-duddy type wool shop or a bit more up our street. We were pleasantly surprised. It offered a nice range of more 'upmarket' yarns in a variety of colours, including a lot of bright, cheerful colours. I often find in wool shops that a lot of the stock is brown, grey, purple and completely dull, so to see yellows and blues and pinks staring at me was a complete treat!
I didn't want to go overboard on yarn just before Christmas, but with a little encouragement from my friend, I filled my arms up (literally) with wool and made my way to the till. Here is what I came away with...

Sirdar Click chunky yarn to make little P a blanket for dolls and toys...

And Stylecraft Inspiration chunky to make a tree skirt at some point (for next Christmas me thinks)...

So I'm now going to sit down and continue crocheting my new project... a stripy elephant for a new arrival due in the new year, and eat this lovely chocolate my friend gave to me from her weekend away in the Cotswolds. It looks super pretty and tastes pretty yummy too!

Yes, that IS chocolate!

In other news, probably the most important news of the week, Ronald the Fat Little Reindeer made his was into this week's issue of Gathered by Mollie Makes. For anyone who hasn't come across it yet, it's a digital craft magazine for iPad by the makers of Mollie Makes. It's a lovely little magazine packed with craft ideas and projects and I'm really chuffed they liked Ronald enough to put him on the Show and Tell page. I'm such a proud Mummy!

And, there has been a little bit of progress on the rainbow blanket too...

So , now I must continue crocheting, squeezing as much in as I can before the little P arrives home!