 |
| Made by Penguins 2021 Advent Calendar |
It finally arrived in the second post yesterday afternoon, having been languishing in the postal system for at least 10 days!
 |
| "Little Extras" |
The calendar came with these "Little Extras", a project bag with the Made by Penguins logo on it, crochet patterns for a heart-shaped bauble, an adorable snake, and Brian the Penguin, plus 3 colour coded crochet hooks.
Before I show you the contents of my calendars for the last week, I should update you all on how Stephen is doing since the surgery on his eye. He still has very limited vision in his right eye, as the gas bubble that they inject into the eye to hold the retina in place has not yet dissipated. However, he had a check up at the hospital this morning, and he's been told that everything is healing nicely, so it's looking like he should recover the majority of his sight in that eye. He still won't be able to drive until about February though, as he's been told that he will have to wait at least another 6 weeks before his vision has stabilised enough to be able to do an eye test, and get new glasses for his new prescription. In the mean time, he's frustrated by having to stand right in front of the TV to be able to see what's going on, or hold his phone right up to his face to be able to check the socials, and of course by not being able to play computer games at all. He's tired, because he barely made it past the stage of his recovery where he no longer had to remain in the same position all the time before my body rebelled. So he's been doing more things like walking Finn than he really should have been doing, simply because I was unable to do those things as well as the things that he can't do (I'm never keen on putting a large kitchen knife in his hands even when he's not 80% blind!)
Hopefully, we'll be able to find a balance over the next few days, and at least he should be able to sleep better now that he's allowed to turn over!
Now I'm going to do a mini-regulars update:
FO's
 |
| Christmas Dragon |
Instead of a star on top of our tree this year, we decided to have a little green dragon. To make the dragon a bit more festive, I knitted him a little Santa hat!
I didn't use a pattern for this, just made it up off the top of my head. The yarns are Peter Pan Cupcake, in the colourway "White", and Zwerger Garn Opal Uni Solid, in the colourway "Berry".
WIP's
I've no WIP's to show you today, as the only things I've been working on have been intended as gifts.
Stash Acquisition
 |
| October and November Little Penguin Subscriptions |
The same day that my Advent calendar arrived, these also arrived in the morning post. October's Little Penguin subscription yarn is the white and neon rainbow colours, and it's called "Unicorn Tears". The November Little Penguin Subscription is tonal pinks, and is called "Pink Fixes Everything". As always, both came with adorable little progress keepers, this time in the shape of fluffy clouds. Plus little yarny stickers.
Finn
 |
| Adorable Doggo/Elf |
I managed to get a photo of Finn wearing his Elf hat! Well, sort of...
Penguins!
 |
| Mini penguin biscuits |
There is a tiny part of me that feels bad about eating the penguins, but then I remember how tasty they are! Mini chocolate orange biscuits in the shape of penguins!!!
Advent Stuff
December 1st
 |
| Today you have given a healthy, hot meal to someone who might otherwise have gone hungry. |
I discovered Advent of Change 2 years ago, and thought it was the most amazing idea. Every year they choose a selection of charities, usually smaller, less well funded charities, and they donate a percentage of the price of each calendar to the 24 charities. I will continue to support them every year that I can afford to do my Advent Adventure.
The charity supported by the donations from the 1st of December was Food Cycle, who collect food that would otherwise go to waste, then turn it into nutritious meals for the under privileged.
 |
| Tea, Wax Melt, and Chocolate |
 |
| Knitting with a cuppa, chocolate, and nice smells |
December 1st's tea was called "Gingerbread Treat", and it was yummy! The chocolate had a hazelnut filling, and the wax melt smelled like mulled wine and Christmas spices.
Unfortunately, as I worried might be the case, after the wax melt had been on for an hour or so, Stephen's eye started to itch, and seemed to be getting worse over time. Fortunately it cleared up fairly quickly after I blew the candle out.
 |
| Finn in Good Boy Pose waiting for Advent treats |
As soon as the advent calendar came out of it's wrapper, Finn seemed to remember what happens when the tree and the shiny things go up indoors in winter, because he got very excited and tried to take the calendar off me! When he realised that wasn't going to work, he seemed to recall that last year sitting in Good Boy pose yielded good results.
December 2nd
 |
| Today you have helped keep our beaches, rivers, and trails clean, by removing 2kg of litter and plastic pollution. |
Surfers Against Sewage are an organisation who work to tidy up waterways, and educate people on the importance of keeping aquatic environments clean.
 |
| Teabag, wax melt, and chocolate |
 |
| Cosy |
Day 2 provided me with a tea called "Superstar Anise", which was more subtle than you might expect, but still gently spicy, and warming. The chocolate was all milk chocolate. The Wax melt was a sweet, fresh sort of scent, so Stephen decided that we should give it a go, thinking that maybe the problem with the first one had been the spiciness. Sadly, after about an hour the itchy eye problem started again, so we have decided not to use any more of the wax melts until his eye is feeling better, or at least until he's finished taking the eye drops that dilate his pupil, and seem to make his eye more sensitive.
 |
| "I'm so hungry, I've never been fed ever!" |
Finn decided to try the pathetic, poor starving spaniel approach to getting his advent treats...
December 3rd
 |
| Today you have provided a farmer in rural Uganda with a chicken, whose eggs can be sold to pay school fees, and provide food for the family. |
Self Help Africa work in 9 sub-Saharan African countries to help tackle poverty, and improve the lives of local communities.
 |
| Teabag, Wax melt, and chocolate |
The tea was called "Chai Charge", I wasn't sure if I should make it with milk, but decided not to in the end, it was very nice, but I might try it with milk if there's another of these in the box. The chocolate was a simple square of chocolate. It's difficult to tell what the wax melt smells like without melting it unfortunately, as all of the scents are a bit overpowering if you just sniff at the block of wax!
 |
| What if I hold this paw up just a little bit? |
Still working on variations of "Good Boy Pose" and puppy dog eyes.
December 4th
 |
| Today you have helped a child with disabilities feel the pride of taking part in a sporting competition, by providing a gold, silver, or bronze medal. |
Panathlon Challenge is an organisation that helps disabled children get involved with sports in ways that they would not usually be able to do, especially if they are taught alongside able bodied children.
 |
| Teabag, chocolate, and wax melt. |
"Ghostly Green" was the name of the tea on this day, and I'll be honest, I barely remember what it tasted like. This is because Saturdays are our table top role playing game days, and we're currently at a particularly intense part of our storyline, as the majority of our party are attempting to track down the assassins who infiltrated our castle, and attempted to murder the Duke, and his entire blood line, including one of our player characters, who is the Duke's half sister. My character is recovering from having used her own life force to magically save the Duke's life. I am aware that I drank the tea during this particular gaming session, but I couldn't tell you anything about it!
This particular wax melt smells amazing, so I am especially looking forward to using it!
 |
| Maybe trade my blankey for a treato? |
Finn dragged his blanket into the living room, and brought it with him when I started opening calendars. I wonder if he was hoping to trade it for extra treats?
December 5th
 |
| Today you have helped give a warm bed and a filling meal to a pet still waiting for a home this Christmas. |
Wood Green is an animal shelter and pet adoption charity. I'm a huge advocate of adopting a pet who doesn't have a forever home, rather than buying a puppy, or kitten, and thus encouraging unethical breeders who are only after the money, and don't properly care for their animals. There is so much joy to be found in giving an older animal a safe, and loving home.
 |
| Teabag, wax melt, and chocolate. |
This tea was called "Tropical Lemongrass", and it was lovely and fresh!
 |
| No more Mr Good Boy! |
Finn was too impatient to wait for his treats. Probably my fault for spending too long arranging them carefully into a little shamrock pattern.
December 6th
 |
| Today you have helped parents hear their long awaited baby's heartbeat for the first time at a specialist clinic. |
Tommy's is a research and support charity that works to find the causes of child loss during pregnancy, complications during pregnancy, and neonatal death, as well as helping parents who have experienced any of these things.
 |
| Yarn, teabag, wax melt, and chocolate. |
Woop! There it is! The yarn from day 6 of the Made by Penguins advent calendar was this beautiful rich green with flecks of white, hand dyed on a 4-ply sock yarn.
The tea was called "Peachy Keen", and was a subtle, fruity tea.
 |
| Trade a squeaky penguin? |
Attempting Good Boy pose, and trading the squeaky penguin that he got last Christmas, even though it is now permanently filthy, no matter how much I wash it.
December 7th
 |
| Today you have gifted a period pack containing sanitary products and a mini hygiene kit to a young girl living on the streets of Nepal. |
The Toybox is a charity that works with street children to improve their prospects, and keep them safe from exploitation.
 |
| Yarn, teabag, chocolate, and wax melt. |
Utterly in love with today's yarn! It's a base of pale greens and blues, with bright pink, and dark purple speckles, on a sparkly 4-ply base.
The tea is "White Wonderland", and it's probably my favourite of all the tea's so far. A white tea with a hint of winter spices.
 |
| Nom! |
I just nibble a little bit off the end of the treato?
 |
| Advent Yarn, days 1-5. |
These were the yarns from days 1-5 of the Made by Penguins calendar, which of course I opened the moment it arrived! The teal blue with purple splashes from day 1 is my absolute favourite of these. Day 2 was deep, tonal purples on a high sparkle base. Day 3 is like winter wonderland in yarn form! It is a mix of white, pale blues, teals, and purples, on a sparkle base. Day 4 is a total contrast to that, being bright sunshine yellow shades. Day 5 is a selection of pale pink shades on a sparkly base.
Just a bit for Christmas...
 |
| On my tree. |
Advent of Change started in 2018 with a small run of their original advent calendars, but in the 3 years since then they have increased their range to include sustainable Christmas crackers, candles, and baubles. I like to gift tree decorations to the children in my life, so that over the years they fill their Christmas trees with memories. This year I bought myself one as well.
Although they're hard to see in this photo, this beautiful glass bauble has 10 unique stars on it, and each of those stars represents a charity that has benefitted from the purchase of the bauble.
Just above the bauble is another decoration that is new for this year. It was produced by a tiny company of just 2 people, one of which is my friend Boo. Boo is a huge advocate of sexual intelligence, and believes that everyone benefits from a comprehensive sex education. Of course, I'm not talking about "Practical lessons" here, that would be ridiculous. I'm talking about knowing exactly how human sexual organs work, the proper names for them, the symptoms of diseases that affect the sex organs, sexually transmitted or otherwise. I have to agree with her. This sort of education would help prevent the sort of ignorance that leads to men policing women's bodies, while not understanding that a period is not the same as urination, and cannot be "held in", or that a woman's body cannot "flush out" unwanted semen from rape. Proper understanding of our bodies helps when we need to explain to a medical professional any symptoms that we're concerned about, and increases our chances of an accurate diagnosis, and effective treatment.
So what has all that got to do with a decoration on my Christmas tree? The decoration has the form of a human clitoris. Cliteracy (Clitoris, and Literacy, see what they did there?) is the name of the company. Not to be confused with the larger US based company of the same name, and similar goals.
 |
| Christmas Wreath. |
I have no real reason for sharing this, other than I wanted to show it off, because I made it myself. Last weekend there was a workshop run in the local church to teach people how to make their own Christmas wreath. Stephen suggested that I attend in order to have a bit of "me" time, after all the stress of the last couple of weeks. I had a brilliant time, and this is what I produced.
It's already been blown off the door twice, as we're getting the first gusts of our second winter storm - Storm Barra, and I've already heard the first wheelie bin bouncing down the street. I've created what I hope is a more sturdy method of hanging it now, so let's see if it survives the night...
Sweet dreams my dears, I shall be back in a couple of days with a much shorter update!
No comments:
Post a Comment