Tuesday, January 9, 2018

Crafting on Along :: Warm Things for a Warm Spell


The cold weather has washed away with the rain and now it is drippy and squishy. The ground is still quite frozen, but it is muddy where the earth swelled and thawed.  There is ice on the roads, strategically placed for those of us taking walks.  It's supposed to warm up to ten degrees above normal (or more), and I'll admit that we are glad for a little break.  Most homes are still decorated for Christmas because it was simply unsafe to be outside taking things down.

Weather report aside, I'm still plugging away on knitting, when I ought to be sewing.  These things come in moods, I think, so I am not too worried.  I have now become the Zipper Lady, and I'm a little apprehensive of my new role.  I cannot stand putting in zippers, but folks don't know so many seamstresses as they once did, so here I am.  Willow got a sewing basket for Christmas, so she happily does any household mending for me.  Her stitches are becoming so neat and it is always good to feel of use. 


But the knitting!  Yes!  There's a Two-by-Two hat for a Christmas gift.  I finished the hooded scarf, as you can see on my model.  Grey and black must be hard colors to photograph, since Willow is bleached out while the grey looks just right.  Oh, well.  There's another neck thing, this time for me, that I am going to call the Golden Leaves Scarf.  My favorite place for clothes, presently, is Gudrun Sjoden, and I have some dear family members who wanted me to have clothes for Christmas.  The color will go well with my new things, as well as the old.  And there's Roan's Knight Sweater in the first picture.  It's plugging along, mindless knitting as it is.



As for the book, I am reading Still Glides the Stream by Flora Thompson.  If you enjoyed Lark Rise to Candleford, this is another great title by the same author.  I'll share some quotes from it over the next little while.  It's got a bit more of a story and a little less nostalgia, which makes for a less depressing read (if you are the kind to mourn the passage of time away from agrarian living).  I am terribly sentimental, as much as I always have my eyes on the future and seldom dwell on the past.  There are some seasons that it pains me more than others, usually times like Michaelmas.  Something about those quarter and cross quarter days, I guess.

For more crafting visit Frontier Dreams and for my first time, the Yarn Along.

12 comments:

  1. I love the hooded scarf. Looks so cosy and very practical.

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  2. Everything looks so warm and cozy. And your knitting is so neat. :) Beautiful work.

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  3. Your knitting is lovely! I especially like the hooded scarf (and your photo!) I am trying to decide on a pattern for something similar for Elizabeth. Everyone will be so warm and cozy. Well done, Zipper Lady. ;)

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    1. Thank you! I think the main thing is to have a stitch and yarn with good drape and adequate width. This one measures (I think) around nine inches wide, with a crochet edge.

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  4. Lovely things! Guess I'd better get cracking on my sweater!

    So impressed, again, by Willow's sewing. My kids are as NOT into crafts beyond drawing/paper as I am into them! Oh well, each to our own strength, right?

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    1. Thank you! Yes, we'd better both get cracking! :-)

      Yes, to each their own. She's making a skirt right now, her first thing from a real pattern. Maybe she will become my Zipper Girl. . .

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  5. Good luck with all the zippers! Good for you helping folks out and hopefully making a bit of money for your family on the side? Zippers are my least favourite thing but I reckon the more you do, the easier it must get? Lovely knitting especially the hooded scarf. Love it! That's great that Willow now has a sewing basket and is keen to do some mending for you. Good for her. Keep up the good work!

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    1. Thanks! I'm feeling like I can tackle them soon. I guess they get easier, it's just the sewing machine and zipper feet that have minds of their own. I prefer to sew them in by hand, though that doesn't work for a coat. See? I could go on forever about the woes of zippers. ;-)

      Thank you! I have long wanted such a scarf. Willow is sewing a skirt now. I am excited to see her wear it.

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  6. Good for her! Good luck with the zippers!

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  7. I am adding the Flora Thompson book to my list. Thanks for the recommendation. How wonderful to have a helpful girl who doesn't mind the mending. I am inundated with it, and it is for that reason that I seldom have the time to work on anything extra.

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    1. I hope you enjoy the book. :-) It is very nice to have her help.

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