Winter Walk

 

After being stuck in the house for what felt like weeks,

well, it actually has been weeks

 

After endless snowstorms and sub zero temperatures

 

 

It finally warmed up a bit today

 

 

enough to melt some of the snow and make puddles

 

 

enough that low tide heaved up big blocks of ice that broke free

in the river

 

but most importantly we could go out for a walk

 

 

down to the marina with all of its land bound boats

 

 

climbing up mountains of snow on the way

 

 

admiring reflections in the crystal clear snow melt

 

 

  oooh, hungry ducks...wish we had brought some food along

 

 

whiskey on ice....hah

 

 

we were a little happy to get out

even Peppermint the Elf cam along

 

the marina is closed up and quiet

and will stay that way for a while longer

 

even the geese are tired of the cold

 

 

see that warm sun

 

a forest of empty slips

 

and an icy river

and an icier parking lot

 

Peppermint appears to enjoy the snow

 

for now, by tomorrow morning the temperatures will have dipped below zero again

too cold for kids and elves alike

Little Chef in the Big Kitchen

Somebody got his own cooking supplies for Christmas

 

 

So we made pancakes for dinner

side by side 

 

He did all of the dancing.

dancing is a very important part of cooking

 

so is love

 

big pan. little pan

that is his pile of pancakes on the back burner

 

And it was delicious!

Snowday Sewing Projects, Updated 12/28/14

I have been a little obsessed with looking at layered clothing on Pinterest....I should be obsessed with my Christmas knitting since Christmas is next week....but I used a coupon to get this amazing fabric from JoAnn's for 60% off, with free shipping!

I bought two yards and thought I would make a jacket but the back side is slightly ribbed and polyester.....eeeew, a winter full of sleeves getting stuck.  So I am going to fall to one old standby, a simple wrap poncho.  I have made a few of these out of medium weight knits and wear them a lot.  This fabric is soft and has a nice drape while being winter ready.  

There is my daughter wearing one of them.  Super comfy, and very much inspired by Alabama Chanin, I have three and they are wardrobe staples.

For the rest I am going to make a top I saw on Pinterest,  basically a long tube with armholes that can be worn a bunch of different ways....I am going to adapt it to an a-line asymmetrically hemmed dress.  

I have fabric, I have notes, needles, and thread.  Beads if I feel like it, not to mention all of the things I already own that I know will go....

But back to knitting.......until that elusive magical wonderful thing known as a Snowday!

A favorite dress, I used this to make the pattern. I laid it out on muslin and traced it out, leaving out the sleeves and extending the neck to make a modified funnel neck.

                                    "Are you sure you know what you are doing?"

Working so hard I broke a needle in half.....

Finished!  One lagenlook inspired, very warm, soft, and cozy

quilted tunic.

Thus was a super easy project. I sewed the side seams up from the bottom, used the x stitch on the front of the arm hole, continued sewing up to the neck, felled the seam on the outside going back down, x-stitched the back of the arm hole, continued with felled seam to the hem.  the side seams, the hem, and the hem on the neck are all a simple running stitch. I used heavy duty hand quilting thread.  This makes very strong seams that hold up well, felled seams add a nice sense of structure.

The View From the Cave

Still all about Outlander

Or Voyager

One of the most haunting images from this book, one that always sticks with me

is that of Jamie's time alone in the cave.

Here is my ode to outlaws and rebels and loneliness

A shawl the color of sunlight through bracken and fading leaves

Simple garter stitch in chunky yarn

Trimmed with bits of fabric salvaged from trips home

Old and worn but still filled with the warmth of home and hearth

Like the arms of a loved one wrapped around your shoulders

Hoping for the day their touch will be real and not imagined

Longed for

What unimaginable loneliness and sorrow

Clinging to life and hope and memory

the Faire

I had to give up knitting for a bit and do some sewing,

Very important sewing...

Joe's first Ren Faire experience,

And Nellie's first time back since she was tiny

Cloudy provides quality control and measuring assistance to all sewing projects

Joe and Hershey liked their new cloaks so much they put them on straightaway

And fell asleep in them.  Sewing success!

(Cloaks are half circle construction...found on google,

Half circle Hobbit Cloak)

How do you put a cloak on over your fairy wings?

This was my big challenge

Solved by making a hole to slip the wings through,

We'll patch it up with some pretty fabric later....

It will go from "hole to accommodate wings" to "design choice"

And so........

 After several days of manically sewing cloaks

It was finally Faire day.

One and a half hours of driving through beautiful

fall filled scenery we arrived

Myself , my two youngest, and honorary auntie, Tammy.

That's Tammy with Nellie

And me with my not so little little ones....

There was chili in boules, pizza

And enormous turkey legs

(And warm honey mead for me)

And fire juggling, jousting, hand cranked carnival swings,

Pirate boats, rope ladders,

And more jousting.

Too much fun for picture taking

Fun, lots of fun and cozy warm cloaks to keep us warm

because fall was being very fallish

So let your freak flag fly and hit your local 

Renaissance Faire.

You'll be glad you did....

We were!