By Helen

a celebration of 2012….

As 2012 comes to an end, I thought that I would share with you, and celebrate,  some of my highlights form 2012, what a busy year it has been…

In January I started my New Year’s resolution, to crochet a different flower each month – something I hope to continue in 2013.  

In February the weather turned cold: and it snowed and snowed and snowed.  I love snow; nothing else can change the appearance, sound, smell and feel of your surroundings quite so well as snow.

With March came the promise of Spring, with golden Daffodils cheering-up much of York.  I just had to crochet a Daffodil…

In April I celebrated my first Blogversary.  A whole year of sharing all of my crocheting and crafting with you.  Thank-you for sticking with me!

May was a busy crochet month.  Crocheting May blossom and festival hats for my little friend I.

June saw crochet to the rescue with a quick fix for my hair…

I was sooooo very proud of July’s crochet flower of the month; I had to share it with you again.  It still makes me smile of dull rainy days!  The crochet pattern for it is here!

In August I was in for a real treat, making beautiful faabric flowers.  I hope to make bunches of these next year…

September saw Si and I start to get the house ready for re-modelling.  It also saw me fall in love with the most perfect yarn for crocheting flower brooches.  And I introduced you all to my favourite yarn shop. 

Crochet in October was given over to going out, to let the builders get on with finishing our home.  I did manage to sneak in a bit of Halloween hooky time…

Christmas started really early, in November, as I crocheted lots and lots of samples for my Crochet for Christmas course.

In December I found the cutest Christmas trees to crochet, and hung them proudly in by nearly finished home…

Yep, it has been quite a year, all good!  See you in the New Year for lots more crocheting and crafting! 

merry Christmas, yuletide greetings and seasons greetings…

Merry Christmas, yuletide greetings and seasons greetings…

Joyeux Noël

Gelukkig kerstfeest

مواسم تحيات

Buon Natale

मौसम अभिवादन

Frohe Weihnachten

ברכות עונות

sezone čestitke

Karácsonyi üdvözlet

musim salam

სეზონის ულოცავენ

Wesołych Świąt

节日的祝贺

Καλά Χριστούγεννα

季節挨拶

veselé Vánoce a šťastný Nový Rok

mevsim selam

ทักทายฤดูกาล

Feliz Natal

Nadolig Llawen

сезона поздрав

сезоны приветствия

sezoane salutări

فصول سلام

Glædelig jul

God jul

계절 인사

temporadas, saludos

メリークリスマス

I really hope that I haven’t spelt your languages wrong, I have had to rely on Google Translate for this posting.  Or if I have missed you language – sorry.  I hope that you get the sentiment and have a wonderful time what-ever you do this holiday period…

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…

I’m beginning to feel all Christmassy!  I have to admit it has taken a while this year: normally I am super excited in early November and by this point I am desperate to put the decorations up.  This hasn’t happened this year: I think that it is because I feel like I’ve lost a month to building work, so still have some catching-up to do.   Today, I am beginning to feel Christmas brewing-up inside me.  Christmas cards are made and posted.  Christmas presents have been bought: and will be wrapped at the weekend.  Christmas cakes were made in October (thanks to a strange family superstition which means Christmas cakes must be made before Halloween).  I am going to hear one of my favourite singers, Kate Rusby, singing Christmas songs.   And I have put up my first Christmas decorations.  Yes, it is beginning to look a lot like Christmas….

Last year I crocheted a Christmas tree, by stacking up Starflakes.  This year I found a really cute crochet pattern, on Ravelry, by the super talented Carol Bancroft…

The pattern is very easy to follow.  You can crochet a Christmas tree in less than twenty-minutes and in an afternoon you have tree bunting.  What’s not to love?

blogversary...

Happy blogday to me, happy blogday to me, happy blogday dear Helen, happy blogday to me..!  You guessed it, it's my first blogday or first blogversary.  By Helen is one year old.  Time to celebrate with coffee and cake...

Crochet cake of course!  I thought  that I would share some of my highlights from the last year of By Helen, so here goes...

April 2011's highlight really has to be starting By Helen.  I had often thought about, and talked about starting by blog, but last April I actually did it.

In May Si and I visited one of our favourite gardens, Harlow Carr in Harrogate,  and I took one f my all time favourite photographs.

June saw me selling my first evey crochet brooch.  This was a real sale, not to a friend or family but to a real life person who liked what they saw enough to pay for it.

July was a MASSIVE month and it is really hard to decide on my highlight, so many good things happened.  I think my favourite thing was opening my garden showing how garden and crochet are a perfect match.

September's highlight is easy.  Our summer holiday in Florence.  A wonderful week walking around galleries and architecture eating pasta and drinking Chianti.

My favourite thing from October was the witchy kitty I made for Halloween.  I was sooo pleased with how it turned out.

Each November I love to make jam and chutney, something that can last all year.  We still have plenty left to see us through to next October.

I love December, York looks so amazing this time of year.  My favourite thing from December was making Starflakes for my Christmas cards.  Best of all I shared them with all my friends.

January is the perfect time for quick crochet projects and making things that will keep you warm, like the cowl I made.  I didn't expect to still be wearing it in April!

Again in February so many lovely things happened.  I made the gargoyle that my friend had knitted for my, I visited one of my favourite abbeys, but I think that the very best things was the snow.

My favourite thing from last month, had to be crocheting Daffodils.  I am so pleased with them and they are all my own design.

This months favourite thing is really a tie between two discoveries: cardamom and Mollie Makes I just can't choose between the two.

So here we are one year on and I have a say a massive, masSIVE, MASSIVE, thank you to all of you who take the time to read By Helen.  Please keep coming back for year two.

Thank you

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx