A Gnome Story

So once upon a time, three little gnomes were designed and planned and knit in Atlanta.  They liked it there but their knitter had better plans for them.  So they packed their little bags - well, since they didn’t own anything, it was ok that they didn’t have any bags to pack.  So they just headed out the door . . . 

And down the driveway toward the car.

After a little boost, they were in the car and ready for their first ride.

Oops!  Wrong side of the car!  Who knew?  It was their first time in a car, how were they to know there was a driver side and passenger side?

They buckled up for the long ride.

Such a long ride!  They took long naps,

. . . and spent some time watching the scenery.

And finally, after the longest time, they were at the new house.  Now how to get out of the car?  That is a really long way down to the ground.

A little help out of the car and off we go!

Looks like a really nice house.

What a nice front door - nice wood!

Hmm, feels like someone is watching us!

Natives seem to be friendly at least.

The views are really nice.  We could learn to like it here.

Pretty happy here.  Time for a nice group shot.

And our individual glamour shots.

Note:  These gnomes were knit for the Nice to Gnome you knit along using the Nice to Gnome You pattern by Sarah Schira whose website is http://www.imaginedlandscapes.com/

 

Sew, starting something new . . .

I learned to sew from my mom when I was quite young.  As a child I was so proud that she made all our clothes and also proud that they cost her very little to make.  She bought the fabrics in the bargain bin and made a pantsuit (remember those?) for me for about 25 cents when I was in fifth grade.  I learned pretty quickly not to brag about that, but I was internally proud.

As a teenager I sewed a lot.  That way the clothes I got should have been more fashionable than her choices.  But I wasn’t very good at it so I did what I could and she helped a lot.  She was very good at so many things - sewing, knitting, crochet, painting, writing, and many more but she hated cross stitch, crewel and embroidery.  As a young adult, life got busy and I dropped all my crafty hobbies. I stayed close to mom though because I lived down the street from her.   Knitting was the first hobby to come back and has always and will always be my first love.  I hated sewing and never thought it would come back but it did.  I got the sewing machine for my birthday several years ago (documented on this blog Here).  So I sewed a couple of bags and then sort of dropped it other than for repairs and very minor alterations until the need for masks arose.  My now adult daughter started sewing masks for family and friends and asked for help which I gladly gave.  

Today I decided it was time to sew again.  We are sort of in the process of a long, slow move from Atlanta to Florida and the new house has a lovely little sewing nook (oddly at the end of a bathroom) surrounded by storage for my yarn, looms, sewing things, etc.  the machine has been here for a couple of months but hasn’t been used.  I bought the fabric on Etsy (Such Pretty Suppies) weeks ago and kept looking at it thinking it was so pretty.  Today, my daughter came down for a visit and we cut it out and sewed it.  It was such an easy pattern and I so love the results.  The pattern is The Runaway Bag on Etsy and I made two - one for Dena and one for me - we are both relearning embroidery for the fun of it.

So here is the fabric - purple and peacock for Dena and burgundy and fox for me.

And a Sneak peak at the pattern . . . 

Cut out pieces in purple . . . .

The bags stuffed - the yarn bag is holding about ten hanks of knit pics palette and could hole more the red is holding a gallon bag with about 70 clothes pins full of embroidery thread.  And my embroidery project and bits and pieces with plenty of room leftover.

And they look good, really good!  If I had to do it over, the only change I would make is to make the handles a tiny bit longer so the tie allowed a double knot.

So, that is something I am doing now that I haven’t done before.  I love it and I love the extra crafting time I have now.  I am trying things I never thought I would - like embroidery because I hate sewing.  But here I am, making a bag to contain my embroidery because I am enjoying it.

Have a lovely day everyone.  

Teresa

 I have recently realized what a wonderful historical archive this blog is and that has caused me to reconsider abandoning it.  It was originally started to keep my Mom abreast of what was going on on my side of the country when she moved to the other side after Dad died.  Then Facebook came into play and made keeping her current easier even if it was less information - it was quick and easy.  So we drifted away from the blog.

Ravelry kind of took over the knitting activity - great place to store a list of projects and spinning etc.  But not the detail that the blog contained.  I am in the process of moving to another state and in moving my yarn/fiber/fabric stash, I also decided to document, catalog, detail it.  I realized I did not remember what fiber was what and what or where it came from and which handspun yarn came from where or what the fiber content was.  But the blog knew.  The blog knew when I bought it, where I bought it, what the fiber content was, how many ounces, etc.  (At least it’s knew more of that than it did not.)

I really loved going back through the history and reading what happened when and what I was working on and what I thought about the process and finished product.  I even learned where a lot of things I knit went.  Ravelry does not tell those stories.

So, we are going to try reviving the blog.  I love knowing the where’s and why’s and who’s of the projects I have done and what I was thinking when starting and while working on them.  So here goes:

What am I spinning?  I recently woke up my poor wheel that has been neglected for probably ten years.  I had to replace a bunch of parts and clean up the rest but it is in working order and making beautiful yarn again.  Currently spinning this BFL from Traveling Rhinos Fiber.  It is 4.2 ounces and was a gift from my friend Laura.  It has been in my stash for a few years but I wasn’t doing much spinning.  I split the braid down the middle and spun the first half onto one bobbin.  The second half is in process but moving along. I am spinning the singles pretty thin and giving them quite a bit of twist.  This is about my third spinning project since I repaired my poor neglected wheel and I am quite enjoying it,

Bringing Up to Date

The last post was a very long time ago.

A lot has happened in the 2 plus years since the last post was made.

This blog was created when my dad passed away and my mom, Elaine, came to live in my back yard.  Teresa had spent years taking care of our parents, visiting them, taking care of their plants and ponds, helping them with whatever they needed help with.  With dad's passing, mom couldn't live on the mountain by herself.  I was so fortunate that she agreed to come and live with me.

We created this blog so that mom could see everything that was going on with Teresa and her family and Teresa could keep up with what was happening out here with mom and with my family.  A lot was about our knitting because of course, we had learned to knit from mom and it was a strong binding force.

In 2016 mom's vision was pretty much gone.  Knitting was so very hard for her and reading almost impossible.  And so the posts were fewer and fewer as time went by.

And now mom has passed.  We are almost at the end of cleaning up everything and finishing the estate.  As always, Teresa had the harder tasks, taking care of the will and the estate and the financials and the bickering.  Together we have gotten all the items from mom's life given to those that wanted them and to those that will treasure these memories.  I, of course had the easiest of jobs.  Spending time with mom, taking her to teas, and lunches, and shopping and appointments.

An era has ended and she is so very greatly missed.

Life goes on.

CucumberZest on Etsy

Darling Daughter - Girl Far From Home (who is no longer Far From Home) has started her own etsy shop. It is called CucumberZest. She is back in school (college) studying to become a teacher and working full time, but she started this both for fun and to make a little money before she found her new job.  She is just beginning but has some cute things - the pink planter is on my patio and the plant is very happy.  It is nice because it is not rigid and so can hang or sit about anywhere.  The little felted pods can be used as air plant planters or dirt plant planters (with a dish underneath) or as handy little bowls for keeping things in.  

Look if you have any interest.  Check back later to see if she has added anything new because she has some really fun ideas in mind.  Give her shop a heart if you feel like it.

Teresa

Cooking

 Maddie and I decided that we needed to do some cooking.

Those are leeks, potatoes, and onions.

I chopped the leeks and onions and cooked them in butter until they were soft. 

Then I tossed the sliced potatoes in with a bunch of chicken broth.

Cooked that until everything was soft then blended it all together and put through a sieve to make it smooth.  I added some milk, regular cream and then brought it to a boil before putting through the sieve again.  Chilled it and added some heavy whipping cream.

 Et voila!  Vichessoise - delicious!

 Then Mads and I peeled a few dozen lemons and added the peels to bottles of vodka.

The juice went towards cocktails and lemonade.

In a week or so, we will add simple syrup and this will become Limoncella!!!

Teresa 

One more bear

I have made so very many of these bears now.  Dena says I like to knit the same thing a hundred times - like the hundred felted hedgehogs I knit.  She may be right.  It feels like I have knit a hundred of these bears so far.  It hasn't been that many, but I have reached my limit for now.

Anyway, it seems that I knit them for grandchildren, strangers' children, friends' children and everyone but my own children.  Turns out that one of my children wanted one.  So this little light brown bear is for Steffie.

It knit up pretty fast.  That could be because I think I have memorized the pattern.

 The other bears in the house helped - one helped knit, another put on eyes and BearBear helped stuff the new friend.  It is quick work when you have so many helpers!

 Then we took some group photos.  A couple of the little Grateful Dead bears got in on one photo but the bigger bears shooed them away for the second photo.

Then the new little bear stole BearBear's overalls and left to go live in Kennesaw.

BearBear has no overalls but best buds have no clothing at all!

Teresa

Baby Doll

This is yet another Annita Wilschut Pattern - Jutta.

Until recently this was not available through Ravelry or in English.  

Annita is Dutch and her patterns are all available in that language on her website

Zijmaakthet

You can see tons of really cute photos of them on her blog.

I had so much fun knitting Vera bears that I sent her a message and asked if maybe she would consider translating a few other patterns, especially Jutta - this little baby doll.

She responded that she was working on a translation and looking for an English speaker to read it and possibly test knit it.  I immediately volunteered to do both.

This is my baby doll - no gratuitous butt shots, but let me tell you she has a really cute butt!

Jutta the baby finished and wearing her overalls.  Each strand of hair is an icord.  It took forever to knit them all, but they really turned out cute.  She has an alternate method for giving the doll hair that I will probably try on the next doll I knit.  I really love this doll - mine is made with Aran weight yarn and just the perfect size for some little girl to love!

Teresa

Sock Knitting

Sock knitting has been happening.

This is a pattern designed by Wendy Gaal of Knitter's Brewing Company 

to honor Anna Zilboorg.  It was meant to be embroidered and the kit came with a 

few smaller amounts of yarn in different colors for embroidery.

I really liked the cable pattern just as it was so I didn't embroider it.

I am embroidering the Anna sweater I knit though - photos of that later.

I also knit an actual Anna sock pattern.  This is Arcturus from Anna's Socks for Sandals and Clogs book.  The book is long out of print, but thanks to Anna it has been made available as an ebook through Ravelry pattern sales (in it's entirety or as individual patterns).

Arcturus was one of the original free sole sandal patterns but is done slightly differently from the modern patterns.  It is also knit in sport weight yarn rather than fingering.

 It is a fun pattern to knit and since it is knit in a larger gauge, it is a quick pattern to knit.

 I think it looks good too!

Teresa

Dogwoods in Bloom

A younger friend of ours let us know she was having a baby girl.  

She wanted a lacy, pretty baby blanket in pale yellow.

Dogwood by Tin Can Knits seemed just right and I had wanted to knit it anyway.

It is knit in blocks from the center out.

 After I knit the blocks and blocked them to shape, I decided that I wasn't going to sew them together.

I tried several knitting patterns and settled on this one - a lacy little bit to knit the two blocks together.

 Knitting together was pretty quick and easy.

Then I had to figure out the edging.

I used pretty much the same pattern around the outside for the edging.

And the baby blanket was finished and delivered before the baby arrived!

Teresa