I was very lucky and received some lovely gifts this year. I love getting new books and these were among the highlights. First up, "Creative Machine Embroidery" by Linda Miller.



This is full of helpful tips for machine embroidery and it also has examples of Linda Miller's own work - I love her birds! (Thanks Alan)

Next, I got "Celtic, Viking and Anglo-Saxon Embroidery" by Jan Messant.



This is a really sumptuous book and I'm looking forward to reading and looking at it in more detail. (Thanks Jan)

Then there's "Plants and Places" by Angie Lewin.



This isn't an embroidery book but it is stuffed full of beautiful wood cuts. (Thanks Mum)

Finally, I received a book on modular knitting.



I like knitting but I'm finding that the finished results don't always look as good as on the pattern, so I'm going to try a new approach to knitting in 2011. (Thanks Anne)

One of the best presents I got wasn't a book or in any way related to stitching - the complete boxed set of Father Ted DVDs.



Brilliant! Father Ted never fails to get me laughing. (Thanks Alan)