This week and last, Jane and I have been viewing Christmas themes from retailers, I know that sounds mad (it’s because of the lead times for magazines) and normally we wouldn’t start posting about what we’d seen until about October time. However, this weekend I went to Barnes Fair (highlight of my year) and bought this magnificent knitted nativity set (£45), from the lovely ladies (nans, every one of them) at the Rose House community centre (keen readers will know a similar set featured as the Christmas Day post last year, see related posts below). It takes them months to make and despite many people trying to persuade them with offers of large amounts of money, they only make one a year. Dedicated fair attendees (me) know to go early, I purchased at 8.45am, before the hordes descended, but even then there was a polite (Barnes) tussle over it, but I stood my ground.
“Oh well”, sighed the lady who lost out to my elbow-jabbing, fashion-sample-sale experienced, purchasing technique, “I guess I could always knit my own.” But to do that you need a bit of time, you need to start now, in fact. Here’s a pattern from Jean Greenhowe Designs.
So just in case you are interested in Christmas trends in order to be super organised and grab a bargain from a summer fete near you, I can tell you that decorations are looking animal based…see this rather charming bristle reindeer tree decoration (£5) from Heals below….
And ornately embellished, using lots of gold and a good supply of ostrich feathers, as seen at Fortnum & Mason, where our favourite were the Artifactually crystal baubles seen here…
The embroidered velvet London cabs and buses, also from Fortnum & Mason looked useful if you still have to think about small children bashing them.
As you read this we will only be half way through our festive trawl, so watch this space for more news on decorative trends. If you are like us, you will appreciate that it’s never too early to plan your baubles or knit a nativity
