a light winter's day

Winter finally made her presence known over the weekend when she caught us in a good sized ice storm. The children were able to enjoy a full afternoon of skating on the ice, all bundled up in their cold weather gear. I finished knitting a pair of wool mittens for Evelyn just in time for her to wear them into the cold. She took off with them before I could even capture a photo. Here are a couple post-worn-in photos:

Monday turned out to be a nice relief from the harsh cold with a surprise day of sunshine! As it turned out, the ice did not last long. The muck from the ice storm over the weekend melted before morning was over. All three of our cats curled up in the windows and enjoyed the bright winter sunshine that has been almost rare these last few weeks. Nova claimed the sunny spot on the window seat in the dining room garden, a perfect place to keep guard over the yard as well as indoors.

Tea, hot chocolate, and freshly baked cookies were absolute musts for the girls, even though the sun was shining. Esme proudly made her very own cup of tea in the Japanese butterfly mug she picked up for a whopping 15 cents at the thrift shop.

Snow-covered, sunny winter days spent curled up with a blanket and a good book next to the fire -- there really is not much better than that. Hopefully we will find ourselves snow-covered again soon.

the wedding

My brother tied the knot last month. Congratulations to Austen and Jennifer! The wedding itself was a lovely traditional ceremony in Columbus, Ohio, and the reception was in a nearby Italian restaurant's ballroom--and a total blast! Mother Nature attributed cold, blustery weather for the affair, but the food and guests added a cozy feeling to the whole thing.

Both of my girls were flower girls in the ceremony. It was such an honor for them. Clad in lovely green dresses with hand-knit wraps to match, they looked gorgeous. We do not yet have pictures of the ceremony, but the following are a collection of various candid shots of family and friends having a great time at the party!

The girls, from right to left -- top row: my mother, me, my cousin; bottom row: my mother's sisters.

My cousin and me.

My new sister-in-law and me! -- Self-portraits are my favorite!

Me and the groom -- my bitty baby brother, all grown up!

Little Esme, the younger daughter.

Evelyn, the elder daughter, in motion.

The party!

retreat

It seems with every season change, I am ever more aware of the ticking of the clock, the passing of another year. With each holiday, I get caught up in the joy and celebration and love of our family and friends. But once the holiday is gone, I need time to stop and reflect, to remember, to share. I want to linger in the memories and embrace the traditions we cherish. 

What sweet memories do I carry away from this holiday season?

  * Exchanging cookies with family and friends

  * Classic carols sung and favorite books  read over and over

  * Cold, quiet nights spent sitting around the fire while sipping cups of tasty hot things

  * The handmades -- dyed yarn, ornaments, hats and scarves and gloves, clothes and bags

  * Snow in time for our celebration with my in-laws -- a white Christmas

The holidays are over. Tomorrow, we all go back to the normal grind. I will miss the coziness of the house decorated for the Yuletide season. And, again, 2012, I welcome you and the wonder of the new beginning you promise us.

 

 

welcome 2012

Happy New Year and welcome to 2012!

We had a lovely end to 2011, but it went altogether much too fast. The holiday season came and went so quickly, as it always seems too.

Our family spent New Year's Eve playing Scrabble and listening to holiday music by the Christmas tree. As for calling in the new year, the children crashed out early on the couch, but at midnight, my husband and I shared a clink and a kiss. Neighbors rang bells, clanked pots and pans with spoons, and shot off a few fire crackers. It was a sweet and romantic start to 2012.

I am hoping 2012 will generously give all of us much joy and happiness! Happy New Year to you and yours!

Turkey Awareness Dye

It's that time again--holiday craft season has begun! I started my annual elving about a month ago, but I have only finished one project so far. It only took a day plus a few hours to finish, most of which was drying time, which took up Thanksgiving Day. Most people cook a turkey, but me? I cook yarn.

Using nine envelopes of Kool-Aid powder and 200 yards of wool, I made a very colorful skein of hand-dyed yarn for a friend's Christmas gift. My inspiration for this yarn came from the following image, which is a photograph taken during the Leonids:

 I took the better part of a skein of natural colored Cascade 220 and soaked it in a vinegar-water solution then laid it out in a casserole dish. I separately prepared the three blends of Kool-Aid in three individual jars.

In order to get the colors of the dye to replicate those I observed in the meteor shower, I experimented with flavor combinations. I used three packets for each third of the yarn dyed to get good color saturation. For the green, I used Lemon-Lime exclusively, and for the darker blue, I used Berry Blue. For the blue-green in the center, I combined two envelopes of berry blue and one envelope of lemon-lime.

Once the dyes were mixed in their jars, I poured them individually over the yarn, the green on the top third, the blue-green over the middle third, and the blue over the bottom third of the casserole dish.

 I put the casserole dish, yarn and all, in the oven and baked it for over an hour at 250 degrees. When I rinsed the yarn, some color bled out still, which makes me think it could have baked longer, though there is still a natural color definition between much of the color changes. Finally, I hung it to dry, and made a lovely skein.

Pattern: Quidditch Scarf

Now you can create your very own knit Quidditch Scarf to wear and support your favorite Quidditch team (or sport of any other sort, for that matter) in Hogwarts style! This reversible ribbed scarf is simple to knit. With a long, skinny design, this scarf can easily be made wider, longer, shorter, and can be worn long or wrapped around the neck.

This scarf pattern was primarily inspired to mimic the clean lines and blunt color changes of the Quidditch sweaters worn by the Gryffindor Quidditch team in the film Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (below is an image of Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley modeling the sweater for us).

In order to knit a scarf to fulfill your own personal team pride, you need to know the appropriate colors of each of the houses. Hogwarts House Colors are as follows:

• Gryffindor -- Red and gold
• Hufflepuff -- Yellow and black
• Ravenclaw -- Blue and bronze (blue and gray in the films)
• Slytherin -- Green and silver

Pattern: Quidditch Scarf


Supplies
US 10 (6.0 mm) needles
Two skeins worsted weight wool, one dark color, one light color [recommended: Cascade Yarns 220 Wool]
Yarn needle for sewing in ends

Instructions
Cast on 24 stitches in Main Color [MC]
Row 1: Knit 2, Purl 2
Repeat Row 1 for 23 more rows (24 rows total).

After initial 24 rows, switch to the Contrast Color [CC]
Repeat Row 1 for another 24 rows.
Continue alternating 24 rows of MC and 24 rows of CC until scarf reaches desired length.
End in MC.
Cast off.

Finishing
Using yarn needle, sew yarn tails from cast-on, cast-off, and color changes.

yoda, baby!

Star Wars. Well it has a following, right? Maybe just a little one. My dear husband loves Star Wars. Everything about it. He saw Return of the Jedi for the first time in the cinema when he was a boy. 

He does not know it yet, but for his birthday this year, I made him this fabulous knit Yoda hat.

I took Sunshyne Leland's pattern, Felted Baby Yoda Hat, and edited it in order to fit an adult head. Next year, I hope to sew David a Jedi robe so that he can go all out as Yoda for various costuming events. David also has this idea of making lightsaber whips, which are weapons that Sith warriors use during the Clone Wars and in some of the Star Wars novels. If he made one in green (Yoda's lightsaber is green), it would give the perfect touch.

Here is what I did to make the pattern fit an adult (see full notes on my Ravelry project page):

With US 11, CO 90. Begin decreases after 11 inches.
Ears: With US 13, CO 23 with two strands held together. Follow St st for 3.5 in inches/12 rows
  decrease row
  cont 3 rows
  decrease row
  cont 3 rows
  decrease row
  cont 3 rows
  k2tog
Decrease every other row until 13 sts left.
Follow pattern from here until end.
Flaps: Pick up 24 and continue in St st, decreasing every 4th row.