And here it is!

 The first finished WIP of 2026.

The first picture shows the colour much more accurately than the second one,but the second one shows the whole thing  off  while it was still on the blocking board. 

This is not, self evidently, the humongous project mentioned previously which I  picked up at the the end of November and hoped to get finished by the end of the year, thereby finishing the 2025 stash reduction on a massive high. I am still working on that and it is inching towards completion. 

This one had to be finished as a mater of urgency. I started it in the autumn as a baby gift for the daughter of a friend. For some reason I thought the baby was due at the beginning of March and that there was no hurry to get this done.  Imagine my panic therefore when said friend posted on FB at the weekend  that the daughter had gone into the maternity ward! I rootled this out and set to immediately and finished it yesterday. Today it has been packed up, along with a book and it will go out  in the  post tomorrow. Phew!

Still, a project finished in the first week of the year - not bad going.