Wool on Sunday...

My Wool on Sunday post this week is about my new ( and very appropriate for me!) Christmas ornament  that my friend De made me. De was my Secret Santa at the Sunday Stitchers Christmas party last Sunday. 

It just so happens that I was taking random photos of Sandi, who had stepped up for the role of Santa's helper at present unwrapping time...and she was actually carrying my gift at the time.

And here it is and I love it!!

De has wound yarn over a styrofoam ball and made knitting needles from skewers cut to size, with beads glued on the end and then sprayed. Such a thoughtful gift. 

Our Secret Santa gifts this year at SS were an ornament ( which could either be handmade or purchased), and a bag. This is the gorgeous bag that De made for me...

So now a little bit more about our final gathering for 2016...

Setting up the room. As you can see in the photo a lot of the ladies brought along Christmassy themed projects to decorate the room. It gave the room such a lovely 'feel'.

Gifts too of course...this is my 'haul' from the other ladies...noting this doesn't include the Secret Santa gifts!! 

 The Birthday girls...each month those who have celebrated a birthday receive a fat quarter from everyone. Last Sunday we had both November and December birthdays. 

After the birthday parcels were unwrapped, the Secret Santa gifts were put on that small table ready for distribution after lunch.

Mentioning lunch...this year we used some of the money in 'the kitty' to have lunch catered by the local IGA. It was a lovely lunch but I only remembered to  take a photo after we'd filled our plates...

And what is Christmas party lunch without bonbons and paper hats! 😉

And these wonderful friends of mine also have been very generous to the less fortunate in the community. Last month they collected and donated sweets for K4BN's mini Christmas stockings project and again this month, I was given some more lollies. And 2 of the ladies had also made some mini stockings! These, plus some stockings knitted by a friend at Sisters of Stitch, meant that K4BN received 76 filled stockings on Monday. 

Linking with Janine over at the Rainbow Hare blog for Wool on Sunday. Janine has knitted a beautiful jumper but unfortunately one of her 'nearest and dearest' has made the following comment which I don't agree with by the way...“That is horrific! It’s the worst Christmas jumper I’ve ever seen!” 
 

Christmas Swap

This year I again signed up for the Christmas Secret Santa Swap over at Chooky Blue's Blog.

My partner was Denice who lives in Michigan, USA...

Chooky's Swap has 2 parts; firstly a handcrafted gift which has involved some effort on behalf of the maker and this gift is not opened until Christmas Day or Christmas Eve as is the tradition in some European countries. 

The second part of the swap is a parcel containing a Christmas ornament which can be opened immediately. Well the other night I received an email from Denice saying she had received my parcel and had opened her ornament parcel. So now I can share what I made...

A little tree decoration made with small hexagons...

And in the middle, a special button I had...a Christmas Angel teddy no less! 

I also included a painted wooden bird ornament that I bought at some Christmas markets last month. When I was stalking Denice's blog looking for clues about her likes and any dislikes, I found out that she loves birds! 

The other gift I won't be able to show you until Christmas Day or because of the time zone differences will actually be Boxing Day here in Australia.