I was spoilt by my Secret Santa this year:

15og of soft, springy sock yarn.

Jeans sock pattern byAndrea Bogdon.

Stitch markers

A slab of chocolate covered almonds which mysteriously vanished by evening.

Yarn given together with a pattern is a lethal combination and I cast on as soon as I got home. I sometimes think that the saying "I can resist everything except temptation" should be my motto! Consequently, I still have to knit the sleeves of the Durrow sweater and sew the zips into Teva Durham's zip-off color-block yoke sweater.

Twelve years ago, I found an article about Gingerbread houses in a Christmas special from Australian Women's Weekly. Inspired, I decided to make one with my eldest son who was then five years old. It was to be a fun project. We would enjoy time together and get into a festive mood.How hard could it be? Very, as it turned out! After several hours,much cursing and a few tears, we achieved a slightly lopsided house held together with pounds of icing. You think I would have learned from this experience but no. This stressful event has been repeated many times over the years and made more tortuous by the boys deciding to design churches or luxury mansions. One collapsed minutes after completion under the weight of jelly tots, smarties and silver balls. This year we cracked it! The answer is CHEAT! I was Aldi when I saw a Gingerbread House kit; I had to buy one. The gingerbread pieces were all pre cut and there were holes in the base which were filled with icing and then the house sides slotted into the holes. Brilliant! In the past we'd balanced the pieces around a small cardboard box. Another useful tip was to make the icing with 250g of icing sugar, an egg white and a few drops of vinegar. This produced stiff, sticky icing which was easy to pipe but perfect "cement." Aldi, I salute you.

About five or six years ago, in the early days of the Foyles knitting group, Pauline did her best to persuade everyone to create a blog. Some entertaining and successful blogs emerged as a result of her enthusiasm but there were three members who remained immune. Perhaps its no coincidence that we are roughly the same age. After more cajoling, Jen finally caved. That is when the guilt set in, my ally joined the bloggers; my shame was complete.......but I still didn't cave.

During its time, our group has shared a divorce, two marriages, two babies, exams, job interviews, visa problems,illness, the loss of a parent and a lot of knitting. Tuesday mornings have become a major part of my life. Inevitably, other commitments mean people move on but the blog remains. So here it is, my blog. My Christmas present to you Jen and absolutely nothing to do with your ability to bully me from another continent!