It has been a bittersweet season in Connecticut, with the loss of the children and teachers in Newtown. We are reminded through them of what matters most -- each other. So I hope that wherever you spend Christmas, that you will be surrounded by those you love, with lots of good food, laughter, and happy memories. May you experience the peace and hope of this season, and may we all have a bright new beginning in 2013.
...I caved and started to knit some beaded ornaments as gifts.
Once I pre-string the beads, they knit up quickly. You can find the pattern details on Ravelry here. Are you making any Christmas gifts? How are they coming along?
How are your holiday preparations going? This past weekend, I was feeling so far behind. Normally we put up our faux Christmas tree the weekend after Thanksgiving, and the other house decorations shortly after. But this year, we wanted a real Christmas tree (I love the smell of pine!) and decided it was best to wait a few weeks so the tree wouldn't dry out and lose all its needles by Christmas.
Yes, those are trash bags under the tree, skillfully clothespinned to the base to keep Tim out of the water bowl. Cats! The tree skirt will go on over them tomorrow.
The plans were all set to get the tree on Friday night, but it rained. Thankfully, we had a dry spot on Saturday to pick one out, and by Sunday night, I had the lights on. Tomorrow night we hope to finish decorating it, and then we'll address our Christmas cards. At least the shopping is finished. I like to start early so I have time to enjoy everything. I'm not sure what happened this year.
The minilights have been a real challenge. I used to be able to swap out the dead bulbs and make the light strings work. But in the past year or two, I've had whole sections of lights go dark, and changing the fuses does nothing. I found a website on how to repair the lights -- I'll spare you the details -- but generally it seems they are designed to fail and be replaced. I'm now researching other options; there are C7 and C9 lights that look like modern versions of the old, iconic lights people used to use in the 1950s-70s. The individual bulbs screw in and out, and the set looks sturdier than the minilights, especially for outdoors. Have you tried these sets -- do they last more than 1-2 years?
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As you continue to enjoy the season and all its fun with your family and friends, please don't forget the animals this Christmas. I know we are barraged with requests for help; there are so many deserving children & families, soldiers, and medical charities that it can be overwhelming to know what to do. But if you have a pet, or your life has been touched by an animal, I hope you can donate a bag or a few cans of dog or cat food, a few toys, or even some used towels and pillowcases for your local shelters. Many also need laundry detergent, dish soap, and paper towels, which cost next to nothing. Rescue groups in the NY/NJ area are in desperate need of supplies; shelters were destroyed, and many animals were found homeless after Hurricane Sandy. Thank you in advance for anything you can do to make a difference for these wonderful pets.
This girl is clearly spoiled now, but we think it will be Lexy's first real Christmas this year. Last year, she probably spent Christmas outside, huddled under a bush somewhere. The Santa Kitty has got her back, and he'll be giving her a huge pack of toy mice to play with...shhhhh.
Though we live in a shoreline town, we were thankfully not in the evacuation zone for Hurricane Sandy, and our basement stayed dry. We did lose half of a V-shaped tree at the end of our driveway.
It was uncomfortable living without power, heat, and water (we have a well) for a week, but compared to the destruction in other places, we consider ourselves very fortunate. NY and NJ are still suffering from the damage.
I'm working on a secret knitting project, so unfortunately I can't share any photos of that. Instead, I'll show you what I hope to work on once the secret project is done.
I bought this yarn and pattern pre-blog when we were on vacation in Cape Cod one summer. It's a simple ribbed turtleneck, and dark green is supposed to be one of the popular colors this fall and winter, along with burgundy. The pattern (I want to make the dark green sweater on the lower right) calls for a separate front and back, but I don't see any reason why I can't knit it in the round up to the armholes.
The Knitty surprises are out, and I love the crescent shawl Beithe. I have some special hand-dyed yarn that I'm hoping will work with the pattern. I also want to find a cowl pattern that will work for the sportweight hand-dyed yarn in the photo below. I don't know if it will pool, so a textured pattern might be best. If you have any suggestions, please let me know!
What are your weekend plans? Will you be getting ready for Thanksgiving? What knitting projects are you working on?
For my friend M's baby L, I knitted the Baby Sophisticate Sweater. He's a boy, so denim blue yarn and train buttons it is.
The pattern's gauge is a little wonky (the designer noted on Ravelry that knitters were reporting it runs small), so I knit the larger size. L will fit into it in a few months, right in time for winter.The pattern is otherwise easy, knit from the neckline down in one piece, with armhole stitches picked up for the sleeves, and the shawl collar knitted last.
I'm working on one last gift, and then I hope to start on a sweater for me!
Fall is not my favorite season, but I've got to admit the scenery is absolutely beautiful this year. Last weekend, Chris and I took a little road trip, and stopped at one of the tourist attractions in CT, Gillette Castle.
It was built early in the 20th century by William Gillette, one of the most popular actors in his day. He is most famous for playing Sherlock Holmes in the theater, but dabbled in many other areas as well.To celebrate his great success, he built a stone home on an estate on the Connecticut River he called Seventh Sister (referring to the surrounding hills). Today we know it as Gillette Castle.
Although we didn't take the tour this time, I have been on it before -- it's a rite of passage if you attended a nearby public school or belonged to a local scout troop. The castle is filled with Gillette's little inventions and quirks, such as mirrors positioned in such a way to spy on the servants or guests before entering a room, and locks that can only be unlocked if you know how to solve the puzzles that form them. He also had a railroad that ran along through the large property. It was dismantled but the engine is still visible in the visitor's center, and rumor has it that they may re-install part of the track on the property in future.
The castle sits high on a bluff overlooking the river. Here is the view from the "backyard." And here's what it looks like from the ground below -- actually the ferry that we rode across to the other side of the river:
Visiting the castle as an adult made me appreciate it more, want to know more about the eccentric-- and, I suspect, lonely--Gillette. He married in 1882, and only six years later, his wife died from a ruptured appendix. He never remarried. We will probably never know why; upon his death in 1937 he requested that all his personal papers be burned. There is only one biography available for him, written recently by a local man, and the only research materials available seem to be second-hand stories and news articles.
I wonder if it's possible for today's celebrities to be as mysterious as Gillette, given all of our technology?
Several blog posts and articles I've come across lately recommend being a tourist in your own local area, and discovering or re-discovering what it has to offer. I hope to do more of this with Chris -- we had a great time that afternoon. What places have you visited lately?
If you are new to my blog, I want to recommend my Facebook page, Shoreline Writing Services, and my Twitter feed, ShorelineWrite. I'd love to see you there!! Feedback is very much appreciated. Have a good week!
What are you doing this weekend?
I've started some new knitting projects. The one in the photo below is almost complete now; if you'd like to know what it will be, check out my Ravelry page for details. Once it goes to its new home, I'll post an FO photo.
Saturday we went to the House of Decadence Book Barn with family. I was super disciplined and only came home with three books this trip:
Several years ago, I posted about trying to decide on a color to paint our front door. I kept going back and forth between a cranberry red and a blue, but on a trip to Cape Cod this summer, I noticed all of these gray houses with sea blue doors, and fell in love. Chris painted on Friday and, with a new set of house numbers, gave our front entrance a much-needed makeover.
It may need a slightly grayer shade; the blue looks different depending on the time of day, or whether you see it through the screen or glass. In the spring, we'll freshen up the white too. But for now, it looks so much better than it did before.
Do you watch Castle? Chris and I have just started watching the series on Netflix, and I am totally addicted. Watching murder mysteries on TV is fun, when I'm not reading them in books. :)
Hope you have a great week!
It's finally done!
A happy accident that my outfit coordinated so well with the scarf! What are the chances?!
Pattern: Rose by Louisa Harding
Yarn: Thalia by Louisa Harding; Kimono Ribbon for rosettes
Pearl buttons from JoAnn's.
I always like to take Finished Object photos at the beach for the beautiful scenery, and always forget that Chris has to manage harsh sunlight, and the wind does interesting things to my hair and skirt. Today I thought we'd be clever and take the photos inside the pavilion, but that didn't seem to make too much difference, except that I didn't get sand in my shoes this time.
A close-up. The colors are pretty accurate here.
The pattern tells you to make 48 rosettes total, 24 of two colors each. I decided I could do 24 total, 12 of each, and think it works fine. The hardest part for me was to attach them "randomly." I'm obsessive, and though I pre-pinned the rosettes to be sure they were spread randomly, in a somewhat even fashion before I sewed them, I still keep looking at the scarf and thinking I should move some of the rosettes around: too many on one side? Not enough over here? Are the light pink ones too close together? I keep telling myself "Random! They're supposed to be random!" but it's not helping.
This scarf should work well with my jean jacket, and then my winter coat. The pattern photo shows the model wearing it with a skinny-strapped dressy blue dress, in a very stylized vintage look, but I think the yarn is too thick/rough for that.
The library function on Typepad hasn't been working, but I *have* been reading. I loved a fiction novel called "The Season of Second Chances" by Diane Meier, about a professor who packs up her things from NYC, moves to Amherst, and makes a real home and real friendships for herself at last. If you love old houses or "makeover" stories, you'll savor all the restoration details. I also recently finished Death in the Garden by Elizabeth Ironside. The story seemed to start slowly, and I didn't particularly adore most of the characters. But Ironside unfolds a 1920s murder mystery about a female photographer named Diana, her husband, and her bohemian artist friends, with a unique psychological twist. I love the way she mirrors that story in Diana's great-niece's life; she has some interesting things to say about a woman's need for independence to explore her artistic talents or career, and how relationships contribute to and work against that talent. The great-niece, Helena, is on a quest to prove her aunt's innocence in her husband's murder, long after most everyone has died, and through that process, she sees her own relationships from a new perspective. Much more going on here than in the mysteries I usually read.
Now I'm on to Happier at Home by Gretchen Rubin. In this, her second book on happiness after "The Happiness Project," she focuses more closely on changes she can make in her home life. Have you read her books? If so, did you like them?
Our leaves are just starting to turn their fall colors here, and the mornings and evenings have a new chill. While I'll never turn into an autumn fan, I'm enjoying walking through the pretty scenery, noticing the animals making winter preparations, and making the shift from thinking about baking with peaches and berries to pumpkin, cranberries, apples, and cinnamon. We had our first fire in the fireplace last night, while watching the first episodes of Castle. It's a great time of year to knit, and read, and drink more tea. How are you enjoying the beginnings of autumn?
(And if you're lucky enough to be enjoying the first flowers of spring in the Southern Hemisphere, please give them an extra sniff for me. I'm trying to forget that autumn = frost = no more garden for six whole months!!)
Pearls!
I really appreciate everyone's input, particularly since my question was apparently more confusing than I had intended. I meant to ask whether colored buttons vs. pearls was the better choice, not which of the two colors (cranberry & lt. pink) worked better. I didn't have the pearl buttons at the time of the last post to show you that option either.
After my allergy haze subsided long enough for me to finally make a decision, it seemed that the colored buttons were too close in color to the rosettes. I think the pearl buttons stand out more, and pick up the silver threads in the yarn. I hope to finish my final rosettes and then start attaching the pearl buttons & rosettes to the scarf this week.
Once I finish this project, I have to get going on a few gift items, though what I really want to do is start a sweater!
On Sunday we made another trip to the Book Barn with our friends. I am on a book fast, but there's always the exception when I find something I didn't know I needed, and it happened five times this trip. :)
The Rilke and von Arnim have been on my want list a long time. I didn't know about the Lewis, didn't expect to find the Benson, and, when I picked up the Collins and read a few lines of his poetry, I had to have that too. I'm really loving poetry again, trying to read a few poems a day in this book, and enjoy discovering new poets I've not met before. Do you like poetry? If so, who do you like to read?
What projects, knitting or otherwise, are you working on this fall?
I'm nearly finished knitting the rosettes for this scarf, twelve pink and twelve magenta. It's time to choose buttons that will fasten them to the scarf and serve as the flower centers.
In a cold-and-decongestant-induced haze (Hello allergy season! Are you here so soon?), I looked at what seemed like a hundred different buttons in the craft store before I narrowed it down to these...
...and pearls, which the store didn't have in the size I needed, so hopefully you can visualize them.
Which do you prefer? I think I know my preference, but would love your opinion. I'll include a pattern photo so you can get a better idea of the finished look.
Have a great weekend, and if you are in the U.S., Happy Labor Day. Hope you've got something fun and relaxing planned for our last day of summer.
August is just flying by! I'm trying not to get too sad that the summer is nearly over. I wait for it all year. The September issues of all of the fashion magazines are out, and it's hard looking at dark colors, thick furry coats and sweaters, and boots!
While I'm starting to think about possible fall projects, I'm still working on my WIPs. My pink skirt is still in the mix, though it's too cumbersome to work on in the car. I started the embroidery:
I'm finishing up the bottom white stripe (these photos were taken earlier). Three Two more white borders left to do:
The crocheted border is giving me fits:
I took it to the LYS because I'm not experienced with crochet. I simply cannot do 19 single crochets into the hole below in the first row, and neither could the LYS owner. Jodi was more helpful, and sent me some suggestions, which I will try.Then I have to do the fold-over waistband, and a million embroidered daisies, and it will be done.
For about two years now, I've been writing articles on cat care for my local Examiner.com page. I've never seen any payment (they pay .01 per two views of the article, but you have to hit a minimum before they send out a payment of any kind!). While I'm all about education and providing helpful information to cat owners, and having an opportunity to publish my work, I've just about decided that I'm going stop writing for them. I'm curious to know if any of you read any Examiner articles at all, by any person on any topic, and what your impressions are of the site. All feedback is helpful! Here is a link to my latest article, if you are not familiar with the Examiner.
Have a wonderful weekend! What are your plans?
The Pecan Pie Scarf is finished.
And my dad is home from the hospital. He responded well to his treatment. Thank you for your healing thoughts and prayers.
What knitting projects are you working on? What book(s) are you reading?
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