This year has really flown by, and I can hardly believe it's December 23 already. Tomorrow is Christmas! (The Germans get an early start, and we get to open our presents and start Xmas properly on the evening of the 24th... so for us, it starts tomorrow.)

The year 2015 has been a wild ride, with publishing the Beast, making the gold embroidery book and kit, a scarf kit together with Margit, several fairs that I had a booth at, and of course the redesign of the website and blog. There was an amazingly productive Textile Forum in November. Plus all the other, smaller, things that have happened this year. There was also time spent with friends watching films, going paddling, drinking tea and playing games. The cat was cuddled an incountable number of times... I'd say 2015 was a very good year.

And as it draws to a close, it's time for me to take my traditional winter break. I'll be spending more time with family and friends, celebrating the slow return of light in our part of the world as it hurtles through space twisting around itself (as you do when you're a planet) and winding down. I'll be enjoying well-loved traditions (to my great delight, we did manage already to watch "Love Actually" and another very traditional christmassy film, "Drei Haselnüsse für Aschenbrödel" with the friends that we always try to watch them with in the season), and good food, and generally hanging out having nothing to do but spend time in whatever agreeable way that offers itself.

I'll be back on the blog on January 11. To all of you, and all of your loved ones - I wish you some nice days full of happiness, whether you have already celebrated your season's festivity or whether it's still coming up or even if you don't at all, and a wonderful start into 2016 - may it bring wonderful and excitingly positive developments for us all!