New Year

Happy New Year! Anyone fancy a 2025 CAL? Part One: January

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Happy New Year! 2025 is upon us and rather than make some resolutions I probably will struggle to maintain, I thought I’d do something I’ve been thinking about for years – hosting a crochet-along or CAL.

This New Year is a special one for me – 2025 marks this little blog’s 10th birthday (officially later on in the summer time).

It felt appropriate to mark this significant year with some crafty fun, and what better than a year-long CAL? So each month I’ll be sharing a granny square pattern which is pertinent to that particular month. My plan is to use this opportunity to use some of my considerable stash of DK yarn – Stylecraft Special DK specifically which I have left over from quite a few previous projects. By the end of the year, I am hoping the finished blanket will be a riot of colour.

A selection of CALs I have taken part in

I have taken part in quite a few CALs myself in the past with Lucy from Attic 24, Eleonora from Coastal Crochet and the special Pandemonium CAL during the Covid lockdowns with The Crochet Sanctuary ladies Lisa & Lynda-Rose. I completely take my hat off to them with their ability to get patterns out every week for a period of often a few months. I know with my schedule of work and juggling everything else that there’s no way I could maintain a weekly CAL, so I’m going to be releasing patterns on a monthly basis at the start of each month.

Each square will be themed to the month it’s released in in some way, so this month being January when it’s often very cold and frosty and we even get a bit of snow, I’ve opted for a snowflake…

If you’d like to join me, I’d love that. There’s no pressure on time, this is an open ended CAL, I intend to publish 12 squares throughout the year, and the joining method & border will appear at some point along the way. I’ll let you into a little secret – I haven’t designed all of the squares yet, so I don’t know what the finished blanket will look like. I feel very much that we don’t know what lies ahead this year for us, so in much the same way, this blanket will be a voyage into the unknown.

My pledge to you will be to release a square pattern at the start of each month and although this is meant to be a stash busting project to use up some of the excess yarn I have in my secret hiding spaces around Making Stitches Towers, I will share the yarn shades I am using if you would like to replicate the yarn I have used.

What do you reckon? Fancy joining me with a new blanket CAL for 2025?

I’d love it if you joined in. If you do and you are on social media, please tag any photos of your growing collection of squares with the hashtag #MakingStitches2025CAL as I’d love to see what people make along the way.

So, here goes, here’s the first section of the 2025 CAL!

2025 CAL Part One : January – Snowflake Square

I used: Stylecraft Special DK yarn in white (1001), aster (1003), silver (1203) & denim (1302), 4mm crochet hook, yarn needle, scissors & a stitch marker.

Tension: Tension isn’t important for this project as long as you maintain the same tension throughout the project so all your squares are the same size. Once blocked this square will measure approximately 20cm x 20cm. The stitch count of the final round of each finished square will be 120 plus corner chain spaces.

Abbreviations (in UK terms): ch = chain, dc = double crochet, dtr = double treble crochet, htr = half treble crochet, mc = magic circle / magic ring, rep = repeat, slst = slip stitch, st = stitch, tr = treble crochet.

Pattern:

We begin with the snowflake.

Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Beginning Round 4
End of Round 4

Round 1 Ch2 (not counted as a st throughout), 12 tr into MC, join round with a slst into top of ch2. (12 tr)
Round 2 Ch1, 2dc in front loop only of every st around, closing the round with a slst. (24 dc)
Round 3 work in front loop only – 1dc, 1htr, 2tr, 1dtr 4ch picot 1dtr, 2tr, 1htr, 1dc, 1slst Repeat twice
Round 4 Work in back loop of Round 2, slst ch7 slst into 4th ch to form a picot & 1dtr in first back loop, 2tr, 1htr, 1dc, slst, 1dc, 1htr, 2tr, *1dtr 4 ch picot 1dtr, 2tr, 1htr, 1dc, slst, 1dc, 1htr, 2tr repeat from * then slst into 4th ch of first ch7.

Beginning of Round 5
Completion of 3 picots on first ‘arm’
Slip stitching through two layers to join the ‘arms’
Slip stitching around the second arm
Snowflake is complete

Round 5 Work a slst around the edge of all the sts on the snowflake. At the 6 picots work 5ch and slst into the picot 3 times into each one to form the 3 ‘lumps’ on the end of each ‘arm’. Where the two layers of the ‘arms’ of the snowflake meet, work through both layers to join them before moving on to go around the next ‘arm’. Work all the way around and fasten off white yarn and break yarn. 

Now the snowflake is complete, it’s time to work on the square.

Round 2
End of Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5

Round 1 This is Round 1 of the snowflake
Round 2 With aster blue yarn, join yarn into one of the back loops of Round 1. Ch2 2tr into that first st, 2Tr in every back loop around, slst into top of ch2 to close round, (24tr)
Round 3 Ch2, 2tr, 1tr rep around, slst into top of ch2 to close round. (36 tr)
Round 4 Ch2, 2tr, 1tr, 1tr rep around. slst into top of ch2 to close round. (48 tr)
Round 5 Ch2, 2dc, 1dc, 1dc, 1dc rep around, slst into top of ch2 to close round. (60 dc)

Round 6 turning the circle into a square
End of Round 6
Round 7
Round 8

Round 6 Ch1, 1dc in next 6 sts, 1htr in next 2 sts, 1tr in next 2 sts, 1dtr 2ch 1dtr in next st to form corner of square, 1tr in next 2 sts, 1htr in next 2 sts, 1dc in next 6dc, repeat around. It’s useful to mark the first dc with a stitch marker so you know where to stop! Slst into top of first ch1 to close the round. (64 sts)
Round 7 Join white into any st, 1dc into every stitch around and work 1dc 2ch 1dc into each corner space. (Each side will have 18 sts – 72dc in total)
Round 8 Join silver grey into any st with 2ch, 1htr into every st around working 1htr 2ch 1htr into each corner space. Fasten off. (Each side will have 20 htr – 80 htr in total). At this stage it’s a good idea to stitch the arms of the snowflake into place using white yarn to hide the stitches.

Beginning of Round 9
Round 9 finished
Beginning of bobbles on Round 10
Round 10 bobbles finished
Round 11

Round 9 Join denim blue yarn into the last st of one of the edges before the corner chain space. Work 1dc in that last st, then 1dc 2ch 1dc into the corner chain space and 1dc around as before with 1dc 2ch 1dc into each corner. Slst into the top of the first st to close the round. (Each side will have 22 dc – 88 dc in total).

Round 10 Ch1, 1dc, 1dc 2ch 1dc into corner space and work 1dc into first 4 sts of the next side. Make a 4tr bobble into the next st using white yarn, closing the bobble with denim to give a clean effect (see instructions below if you are unfamiliar with bobbles). Using denim, work 1dc into next 4 sts then repeat with a white bobble, repeat this process across that edge until you have 4 bobbles and end with 4dc in denim before turning the corner. Repeat the process all the way around with 4dc, bobble, 4dc, bobble, 4dc, bobble, 4dc, bobble, 4dc on each side until you come to the last side where you work the remaining stitches after that last bobble and slst into the top of the first st to close the round. (Total of 80 dc and 16 bobbles).

To make a 4tr bobble:

Yarn over hook (white yarn in this case), insert hook into st, yarn over, pull up loop, yarn over, draw through 2 loops on hook – repeat this another 3 times so you have 5 loops on your hook and all are worked into the same st. Yarn over with denim yarn and pull through all of the white loops to close the bobble. If the bobble is poking through the back of the work, gently poke it back through to the front. If you would like a bigger bobble, try it with 5 treble stitches instead.

Round 11 Ch1, 1dc into every st around working 1dc 2ch 1dc into every corner space. Fasten off and break yarn. (26dc on each side and 104 dc in total).

Round 12 With silver yarn, join into any st, ch2 and 1htr into every st around, working 1htr 2ch 1htr into every corner space. Slst into top of first st to close round and fasten off yarn. (28htr on each side and 112 htr in total).

Round 13 With white yarn, join in any st, 1ch and 1dc into every st around, working 1dc 2ch 1dc into every corner space. Slst into top of first st and fasten off, weave in all the ends. (30 dc on each side ad 120 st in total.

Round 12
Round 13
A finished snowflake square

And that is the end of this first part of the Making Stitches 2025 CAL. If you are joining in with the CAL, please do let me know, tag me on Instagram @making_stitches_blog and use the hashtag #MakingStitches2025CAL so I can see how you’re getting on.

I can’t wait to see this blanket develop over the coming months! I hope you enjoy it too.

I hope the start of 2025 is a great one for you! Happy making!

Lindsay x

A Postcard from January 2024

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A view from my New Year’s Day morning run in the sunshine

Hello and welcome to this Postcard from January, a month of winter weather, creativity, the end of one chapter and significant birthday.

New Year News!

I started the year with a lovely delivery through my letter box – the latest issue of Simply Crochet Magazine – and it’s got me in it!!

There I am in the middle of the top row with my microphone in a special feature about crochet podcasts! It was a thrill to be asked and even more of a thrill to actually see the article! Thank you Simply Crochet!

A significant birthday

So, this month I hit a bit of a birthday milestone… and I was very lucky to spend some time with lovely friends and family.

I had a gorgeous meal out with my immediate family and had several friends call round to see me too. I was even lucky enough to have some time on my birthday with Eldest before he had to catch the train back down to London to restart his university studies.

I had a lovely chocolatey birthday cake but couldn’t resist making a calorie free crochet one too! (I’m going to write up the pattern for it soon in case anyone else fancies making one!).

I received two beautiful bouquets of flowers which you can see above and below. I feel very lucky to have such lovely people around me.

Winter weather

A frosty golf course which I ran past

It’s been a busy month weather wise in this part of the world. There have been named storms, torrential rain, snow and ice!

One morning in mid January we woke to a blanket of snow. I think I was more excited about it than the boys were! I popped out for a few minutes during a quick break from work and took some photos in my back garden.

The place just looked magical…

Even the bug hotel got a dusting!

Immediately after the snow had thawed (it lasted less than a day) we had quite a cold snap again with morning school runs that were well below zero. I don’t mind the cold though, when you get skies like this…

Two new hats

January was the month I finished my latest two projects – the hats which featured in my last post. If you missed it, you can find it here. I haven’t had the chance to wear one yet outside as they weren’t completely finished when it was super cold. There is a football match this weekend which Youngest is playing in though, so that may well be the time for one of them to make a debut!

Looking back…

My phone likes to surprise me from time to time with a throwback photo from the past and this one popped up this week. They are a few of the crochet bits I made for my first ever craft stall 9 years ago this month over in Gibraltar. Nine years on from the crocheted Jammie Dodgers and I’m still crocheting sweet treats! There was a heavy Attic24 influence to it and quite a lot of heart themed items as it was just a two weeks before Valentine’s Day on 31st January 2015.

Looking forward…

At the end of January I said goodbye to the lovely colleagues I’ve been working with for the past eight months. I had a contract to cover a maternity leave and it whizzed by. I’m now on the lookout for my next job, but am quite looking forward to having a little rest too. It does mean I’ll have more time for crochet so hopefully I’ll be able to share a bit more with you in the coming weeks!

While I’m busy crocheting and applying for jobs, I’ll be chomping through this lovely lot! This fantastic hamper of goodies was sent to me as a farewell gift from my lovely colleagues! I will really miss them, they are the best.

That’s all for this time, thank you for stopping by! I’ll be back again soon with some crochet to share, but until then, look after yourself.

Lindsay x

A postcard from December 2023

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Hello there, I hope this finds you well and doing ok. This year, more than most, I know that Christmas can be a tricky time for people, and if that’s been the case for you, I hope you are doing ok now. I have to admit that 2023 is a year I’d rather forget, but life doesn’t always take the easy path. I don’t have many plans for 2024 as we head into this new year – we aren’t always able to control what happens to us – but it’s a fresh start and time to look forward with positivity.

The first step in doing that is publishing this, it’s not been a hugely photogenic month for me to share with you, but here goes…

London in the run up to Christmas

My ‘day job’ took me down to London for the day in early December which was super because it meant I was able to meet up with Eldest for a couple of hours and get a much needed cuddle (I think I speak for both of us here)!

On our wanderings we ended up in St Pancras Station and I found myself face to face with this beautiful Christmas tree made of books. I’d seen it popping up on Instagram a few times and it was lovely to see it in real life. It was rather busy, so I didn’t get the opportunity to sit in one of the booths and listen to an audio book, but I’m glad I saw it.

On the road again…

Just one week after my trip to London, my job took me to Birmingham! In the run up to the trip my colleagues kept arranging to meet under ‘the bull’ before walking to the venue of our meeting. Unfortunately, my train got in me in after they had left, so I missed them and got to walk on my own.

It was fascinating to see the bull which had played a significant role in the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in 2022. He’s called Ozzy after Ozzy Osborne and he was the centerpiece of the games’ opening ceremony. You can read all about his life after 2022 here.

My solo walk was really rather pleasant, taking me through large town squares filled with Christmas markets, an ice rink, fun fair and over one of the city’s famous canals to the building where we were meeting. Best of all was I arrived in time for coffee and mince pies!!

Yarny things

Little Jen

Last month I shared a photo of an amigurumi head, it was the head of ‘Little Jen’ a gift I was making for my lovely friend who graduated at the start of December as an Art Teacher. I’m so proud of her for going back to University later in life and fulfilling her dream. It’s just as well I only shared her head, because Jen read my last blog post and when she opened her gift said, “I saw that head on your blog and thought that looks a bit like me! But why would Lindsay be making my head??” Well now she knows! I believe Little Jen had a trip into school to meet Jen’s pupils!

In other little crochet people news…. Meet Birthday Boy! I have reached an age when my school friends and I have a BIG birthday looming. This week, it was the turn of Steve, someone I’ve known since infant school, life took us separate ways at secondary, but he joined our sixth form at 16 and is part of the wide circle of school friends I’m still in touch with thanks to the wonders of modern technology.

Steve lives with his family in Barcelona, but came home to Manchester for his birthday celebrations, and boy, they were good!

Birthday Boy

I’m thinking about publishing patterns for Little Jen & Birthday Boy. Do let me know if you would be interested in making a ‘mini me’?

In other yarny news, work is progressing on my rainbow jumper, although it has taken a back seat in the past week. I love the colours, they make me think of a rainbow against storm clouds. Very apt given the time we’ve been through.

New Year Plans

As I write, I have about 15 hours left of 2024 and although I’m not making an New Year‘s resolution as such, I want to get back into blogging regularly again next year. My current job is coming to an end soon (it was a maternity leave cover) and I am on the look out for a new job. I don’t know what that will entail, nor how much time it will allow for fun things like this, but all being well, I’d like to grow my blog, podcast and crochet business. If you would like to sign up to my email newsletter, I’ll be sharing any news about my adventures there first.

You can sign up for my newsletter here

All that’s left is for me is to wish you a very happy start to 2024, I do hope next year is kind to us all.

Lindsay X

**EDIT!**

I posted too soon this morning – just back from a lovely walk with my boys round the Cheshire town of Lymm and spotted this beauty – which simply had to be shared!

Crocheted Christmas tree 🎄 in Lymm, Cheshire
Leafy Lymm
Lymm Dam

Sunday Postcard #18 3.1.21

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Hello and happy New Year!

I hope you have had a decent festive period, it’s been rather muted but also rather nice to be at home too with no pressure to attend events either. We now find ourselves in Tier 4 like much of England and my friends in Gibraltar are in lockdown due to a huge spike in Covid cases there after being relatively unscathed until this point. I do hope they manage to get things under control over there very soon.

I’m having an internal debate about when to take the decorations down, there’s something a bit sad about packing the twinkly lights away for another year and yet there’s something nice about having clear surfaces and a fresh start too, maybe I’ll do it tomorrow…

Anyway, here’s this week’s Sunday Postcard and the first one of 2021.

First snow! ❄️

It was a big day in our house when we woke up to this on Monday. A generous dusting of white stuff had arrived while we slept and for Littlest it was his first experience of snow ever!

It was such a treat to see and completely changed the way I look at my new garden, I feel very lucky to have a little patch to call our own especially now we are effectively back into lockdown.

It was also rather fun to sit by the window and crochet snowflakes while looking at the real thing outside!

After the snow came the freezing fog which enveloped us in a rather murky gloom for an entire day. I found it quite atmospheric although not everyone in the house agreed.

Then more snow arrived on New Year’s Eve…. and a heavier dusting.

Doesn’t it just make everything look magical?

Mission accomplished!

I set myself the challenge of completing my Christmas Eve blanket (pattern by The Crochet Sanctuary) by the end of the year seeing as I had missed my initial Christmas target (whoops). I didn’t manage to finish the border but the blanket is finished for now (last stitches completed on New Year’s Eve) so I’ll take that as a win. I love how it looks and really chuffed I managed to pull off the mosaic crochet Christmas trees too – my first attempt at that technique and I love the effect.

Party time

My word, I know how to party. A new crochet project in front of Jools Holland’s Hootenany is how I rolled on New Year’s Eve! I did have a few bubbles though curtesy of my lovely brother and sister in law’s Christmas gift hamper! Cheers!

Since New Year we haven’t really done anything of note, a bit of preparation for the return (or non-return) to school and a bit more crochet for me. I will share more pictures when and if they are worth showing!

I will leave it here for now and hope you are doing ok where ever you are and whatever restrictions you are facing. I had a look at my ‘best nine’ photos on Instagram and it’s a sign of the times that my lockdown rainbow featured, I’m glad it was filled with two of my favorite things though – crochet and Gibraltar!

Until next week, take are and thanks for stopping by!

Lindsay x

Sunday Sevens #215 5.1.20

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Hello and happy New Year! I hope you had a good celebration. Are you still sticking to your resolutions or have you decided not to bother? I’m trying to get a bit fitter and have a few plans up my sleeve for projects this year… watch this space!

In fact, I’ve even been for a run this morning so I’m feeling rather virtuous!

Here’s the first Sunday Sevens of 2020:

Leaving on a jet plane…

On Sunday we waved goodbye to Mr Postcard and Gibraltar and hopped on a plane to visit my family in Manchester. It was a nice smooth flight filled almost entirely with the task of attempting to untangle the humungous knot I’d managed to get tangled in my Scheepjes Whirl. It took until New Year’s Eve to get sorted and required help from my brother and my Dad!!

A late afternoon stroll

On Monday afternoon we took a trip to one of my favourite places, Dunham Massey National Trust Park. I was rather stunned by the early dusk compared to Gibraltar – this is my first midwinter visit to Manchester in about 9 years!! The sunset did make for a lovely backdrop for the deer though!

New Year’s Day – starting as I mean to go on…

I impressed myself for getting out for a run on New Year’s Day – not my usual view of the Bay of Gibraltar but it’ll do just the same!

A wander around Manchester

Later on on New Year’s Day I jumped on the train into town and had a wander around in the cold! I even bumped into Miss Pankhurst which was a thrill!

Hitting those New Year goals!

I have so many unfinished craft projects on the go that I’m determined to get some finished this year. First one completed was this leaf pattern scarf from My Picot. I’m ashamed to say it’s been on the go for about 18 months and been calling me from the sidelines for ages. Well it’s done, and I love it!

Homeward bound

We flew back home to Gibraltar on Friday after a lovely, if brief, trip to Manchester. It was a fabulous few days and so nice to be able to catch up with friends and family. It was a stress free flight home, and I even got time to start work on my second WIP (work in progress) of 2020 en route!

After much squinting at Google Maps, me & Eldest think it’s the Devon coastline you can see in the photo above and Dartmouth in particular.

Home!

It was a corker of a day yesterday. Just look at that late afternoon sun reflecting off the water. Just the weather for getting my washing dried (oh the glamour!).

And that is Sunday Sevens done for another week. I hope it’s been a kind one to you. Back to school normality begins at some point next week for us, which is good in some ways and less so in others. Until next time, thanks for stopping by!

Sunday Sevens was first created by Natalie from Threads and Bobbins.

Sunday Sevens #170 6.1.19

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Happy New Year and welcome to the first Sunday Sevens of 2019! We are on the final day of the school Christmas holidays here. And I’m writing this to avoid thinking about school uniforms and packed lunches! Here goes…

The sun goes down on another year…

This was the last sunset of 2018, a calm end to the year. We spent New Year’s Eve at home and ate nice food before watching the coverage of local celebrations on the TV as the clock ticked down to midnight….

Bring on the fireworks…

…and then the skies lit up all around us. Several neighbours put on rather impressive firework displays.

New Year’s Day Med Steps trip

We thought we would start the year as we mean to go on and headed off up the Med Steps late morning on New Year’s Day. It was the first time we’d taken the two youngest Postcards up there and they loved it. They did so well, especially Youngest, who has the shortest legs of all. Two and a quarter hours door to door, which is very good going I think.

All the fun of the fair

There have been Christmas Fair rides and attractions in town all over Christmas. We managed to avoid them until this week (cruel parents that we are). Fortunately ours aren’t great fans of rides so a quick go on hook-a-duck was enough to satisfy Youngest.

Unusual boat

This huge crane ship has been in our eye line for weeks. It appeared across the Bay at Algeciras before Christmas and then around New Year’s Eve, it moved out into the Bay to be serviced by some of the bunkering ships from Gibraltar. It disappeared off into the Med not long after.

Christmas done for another year…

And so, after all that build-up, Christmas has been packed away back into boxes for another year. I felt sad putting my fairy lights away though, I love it when they twinkle at night!

Cavalcade

The 62nd annual 3 Kings Cavalcade took place in Gibraltar last night. It was honestly quite a sight. A few years ago there were concerns that it might stop as fewer floats being entered. This year saw its second biggest number ever, with 17 floats in total. Some of them were amazing this year…

Well done to everyone who took part!

And so that’s Sunday Sevens for another week. I hope you’ve had a good start to the New Year.

I’m anticipating that things will be a bit busier than usual for me in the next few weeks (all good things though) so I may not be around as much as usual. I will endeavour to keep up with Sunday Sevens and Friday photos, but there may not be the chance for much else for now.

Thanks for stopping by, and until next time, have a good week!

As always I’m linking with Natalie from Threads and Bobbins for this weekly blog series.

Sunday Sevens #117 7.1.18

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Hello and welcome to the first Sunday Sevens of 2018. After all that build up, the festivities seem to have passed in a flash and we’re one week into the New Year already. Schools in Gibraltar go back tomorrow (hooray!) and life is returning back to normal. Let’s rewind a bit though and look back at New Year’s Eve…

Happy New Year!

We brought in the New Year in Spain. We ran away for a few days and did things like play Cluedo, table tennis, swimming and chilling out. It was a really lovely break. The hotel next to our resort laid on the most impressive fireworks display. We have stayed in the same place a couple of times before and in the past the only fireworks locally were a few rockets set off by families living nearby. This time it was something else.

Starting as I mean to go on!

Within half an hour of us arriving home in Gibraltar on Monday morning, I had my trainers on and I headed up the Med Steps for my first of many climbs (I hope) this year. It’s been a few months since my last visit and the first signs of spring were in evidence with these beautiful narcissi dotted along the pathway.

The view from the top was so clear, Africa looked so close!

Morning moonlight

I believe it’s a ‘wolf moon’ that we had on New Year’s Day and into the 2nd. Here it is just as it was about to disappear behind the hills above Algeciras on Tuesday morning. This beautiful image was captured by Mr Postcard on his way to work. Just as well he took it – I was fast asleep!!

Child cruelty

As the schools in Gibraltar haven’t started back yet after the Christmas break, I have had three Little Postcards at home this week. We had beautiful weather for much of it and it felt criminal to stay indoors, so I dragged them out with me and took them for a steep walk up the Rock.

We started from the centre of town and walked up to Princess Caroline’s Battery from where we could spy on the city below and watch the comings and goings at the airport. I was an awful mother, taking them away from their devices, making them walk miles and miles up a ‘vertical hill’ (their words not mine). But I did get them ice cream at the top and in hindsight they said they enjoyed it ;-).

Being tourists

Last month, Gibraltar’s newest tourist attraction opened – a viewing platform to see the entrance to Gorham’s Cave and Vanguard Cave. They are part of the UNESCO World Heritage site we have here in Gibraltar and the site of significant archaeological discoveries relating to the Rocks earliest inhabitants. We decided to pay it a visit this week and enjoyed a really informative talk by our guide. It’s well worth a visit.

Three Kings Cavalcade

Friday was 5th January and that meant it was time for the annual Three Kings Cavalcade in Gibraltar. After a decline in the number of floats in recent years, there was a lot more out in time for the 61st Cavalcade. Local businesses, community groups and even families put on elaborate floats to delight the crowds. This marvelous fish was on a float made entirely of recycled materials – what a fabulous idea!

That’s all for Sunday Sevens this week, a week in which I launched my Friday Photo Challenge and was overwhelmed by the response. Thanks very much to everyone who’s taken part so far!

I’m linking with Natalie from Threads and Bobbins for this weekly blog series.

Monthly Meet-up January : Sparkle

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Throughout 2017 I took part in the weekly photo challenges set by Nana Cathy and Wild Daffodil. This year, they have both decided to take a break from setting this particular challenge. Instead, Sandra at Wild Daffodil has started a monthly meet-up with a prompt for you to share photos or blog posts you may have which are appropriate for that prompt.

This is the first of the monthly meet-ups for 2018 and January’s word is Sparkle. What better way to start the year’s new blog series than with some sparkly fireworks from New Years Eve?

As I enjoyed taking part in Sandra and Cathy’s photo challenge last year so much, and I thought I would miss having a weekly photo post, I have decided to launch my very own photo challenge for 2018. Starting this Friday will be the 2018 Friday Photo Challenge. The first prompt is aptly ‘New Beginnings’ and if you would like to join in, just tag me in your post and I will share any entries each month as we go along.

Do join in if you fancy it, there’s no pressure to get involved each week if that’s too much of a commitment, just dip in and out if you like. The full list of prompts will be published with the first Friday Photo Challenge post this Friday.

Sunday Sevens #116 31.12.17

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Well here we are on New Year’s Eve 2017. What a scary thought, another year older (not sure whether I’m much wiser though). A year when I was lucky enough to be offered new challenges and be able to take them. A year when my blog-friends have stuck with me despite not having much time for them in return. Thank you all.

I guess if you can get to the end of a year feeling thankful, it’s been a good one for you. I know it hasn’t been plain sailing for some of you, but I sincerely hope that 2018 brings better things your way.

Here’s my end of 2017 edition of Sunday Sevens:

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve afternoon was spent at the park at Europa Point, it was unusually quiet (unlike how it probably was on Christmas Day or Boxing Day with children testing out their new bikes and scooters). We spent over 2 hours playing football, swinging on swings and climbing (well I played the football – not sure the swings were built for my age group) in the hope that the fresh air would help aid excited Little Postcards doze off ahead of the arrival of Santa. We were there so long that the sun started to set. With tummies rumbling for dinner, we headed home…

Christmas Day

The fresh air worked – they did get to sleep eventually! I’m pleased to report that Santa came and everyone was pleased with their Christmas morning surprises. The best bit about Christmas for me, apart from being with loved ones has to be the food…

Boxing Day in Marbella

When I was a child we used to go for a Boxing Day walk in the north Cheshire countryside near to where I grew up. We’d have turkey butties and a thermos flask with coffee in (maybe with a tot of whiskey when I was old enough – to keep out the cold). We’d crunch through frozen puddles or squelch along muddy canal tow-paths. I fear we are raising Southern softies…. this is where we came to on Boxing Day, an hour or so’s drive from home.

Christmas crochet

I started this project just over a year ago as a Christmas present for last year, as you can see it’s still very much still in progress. Hopefully I’ll get it done by next Christmas!!

Blue skies

We had some mixed weather over the Christmas break, some rain and stormy winds (we tried and failed to fly kites it was too gusty), but we did get a couple of days with magnificent blue skies. There’s no filter on this photo – it really was that blue!

It’s begun…

My actual weight is a secret between me and my Fitbit, but crumbs I got an unpleasant surprise when I stood on the scales this week. Well perhaps it wasn’t that much of a surprise – you kind of know when you’ve over indulged and your profile is slightly more Michelin man than Olympic athlete.

So I have begun my new regime, I have to get fitter again – less than six months ago I climbed the Med Steps five times in less than 4 and a half hours, I feel like I would struggle to do it once, something’s got to give (and it’s not my waist band).

So here’s to 2018 and health and happiness and a slightly smaller waist! Happy New Year!

I’m linking with Natalie of Threads & Bobbins for this weekly blog series.

Sunday Sevens #65 8.1.17

~ Making Stitches ~ Leave a comment

2017 is now one week old. How’s it been for you? It started with a bang here in Gibraltar – well actually it began with about three hours of them….

New Year Fireworks

I’m not sure how the pets in our neighbourhood fared with all the New Year celebration fireworks but we had a heck of a show near us. Beginning seconds after the clock struck midnight and still going at 3am. I’m pleased to report that our bunnies; Snowflake and Diamond, were none the worse for it.

First sunset of 2017

New Year’s Day was a quiet one for us, after a late night kept awake by the fireworks. We had a lovely sunset to end a chilled day.

Giddy podcast news

Ooooh I’m on iTunes!!!! Who’d have thought it? My second podcast went out on Friday. If you missed it you can catch it here  or why not subscribe on iTunes if you have it? You’ll be able to hear some of our local New Year fireworks in it!

Sunny weather


We’ve enjoyed mixed weather this week but there have been some lovely sunny moments. This photo was taken down by the water at Marina Bay on Tuesday lunchtime. The perfect weather for an alfresco lunch… shame we were only there to visit the dentist!

Another sunset…

I did threaten a lot of sunset photos now I have my new camera lens… sorry if this is getting tedious! I happened to look out of the window at golden hour on Wednesday just as the sun was going down and there seemed to be an awful lot of activity going on out in the Bay. Boats of all shapes and sizes from little fishing boats to a gigantic cargo ship were heading in and out.

Just to give you an idea of the size of that cargo ship, here’s a close up… those containers look like matchboxes piled up like that!

Cavalcade

Thursday evening brought us the 60th Annual Gibraltar Cavalvade. The parade down Main Street features the Three Kings, floats created by local community groups, families and local companies as well as marching bands and beauty queens. Normally we stand about half way along Main Street to see the floats going past but this year we stayed in Casemates Square where the parade heads out from and kind of got trapped there by the crowds of folk.

I wrote a post about last year’s event but wasn’t able to get many photos this time because of our position on the route. The float shown below was put together by a local family and they received the first prize for their efforts based on the film Madagascar 3.

Goodbye to Christmas for another year…

The Cavalcade officially marks the end of Christmas in Gibraltar, but I have one last Christmas tree for you before we pack it all in a box and put it away for another year. This lovely interpretation of a Christmas tree has stood in the entrance to the John Mackintosh Hall (the home of the Gibraltar library) over the festive period. What a lovely idea. I kept meaning to include a picture and finally remembered to take one this week before it gets dismantled.

So that’s it for this week’s Sunday Sevens, I hope you have enjoyed it and that you have had a good week. School begins again here in Gibraltar tomorrow and I’d be lying if I said I was disappointed. I think the return to a routine will do all of us in the Postcard household the world of good. Until next week, thanks for stopping by and bye for now.

Sunday Sevens is a blog series created by Natalie at Threads & Bobbins.