Sometimes on a Wednesday afternoon you just need a cute animal fix to get you through the rest of the day. Am I right? I think I’m right.
Well today’s cute animal fix comes in the form of a cat and bird. No, it’s not Tweety and Sylvester. It’s a cat and a Russian-speaking budgie. I watch this video with glee, since I think all cat owners have been where the cat is and it’s nice to get a little pay-back in the form of a determined bird. Watch and see what I mean!
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Tagged video
Partially inverted
- by Joan -
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Tagged black and white, clouds, New York, Photographs, sky
First, the facts:
Title: >Green Gables Knits: Patterns for Kindred Spirits
Author: Joanna Johnson
Published by: Slate Falls Press, 2013
Pages: 46
Type: Patterns
Chapters: No chapters, just patterns.
The In-Depth Look:
It no longer surprises me that just about everything that comes out of Joanna and Eric Johnsons’ Slate Falls Press is a treat to look at. The three previous books this husband-and-wife team have produced before this (links below) were wonderful children’s stories supplemented by knitwear and truly gorgeous illustrations, so the fact that this slim book is strictly knitting patterns is new for them.
But that’s all right. Even if the hand-painted characters of earlier books are missing, this collection of eight knitting patterns is still a treat for the eyes. This book is just beautiful to look at. It’s small–just 45 pages and conveniently sized to fit into your knitting bag without weighing you down–but you can tell it was put together with real affection, both for the patterns as well as for the inspiration.
Joanna obviously loved the Anne of Green Gables books as much as I did, because not only does each pattern perform an act of homage to the characters in the book, but the photos are beautifully atmospheric. The models are just enough in character that you can immediately identify them without their being too real (or fake), trying so hard to be authentic that they take away from the patterns. But, really, how often do you find photos in a knitting book so lovely that you’d want to frame them and hang them on the wall? Because, seriously, beautiful photos.
Which isn’t to take away from the patterns. There are eight of them: Anne’s Carpet Bag, Matthew’s Vest, Marilla’s Apron, Diana’s Hat, Rachel’s Table Runner, Miss Stacy’s Shawl, Anne’s Sweater, and Gilbert’s Scarf. I might quibble that Marilla wouldn’t have been likely to wear such a frivolous confection of a lacy apron, but this is a solid collection of patterns that fit. Nothing too fancy or too impractical for the practical inhabitants of Avonlea, but still beautiful enough to satisfy Anne’s craving for lovely things. (And I’m betting the handle of the carpet bag isn’t wonky enough to require a special knack for carrying it, either.)
To round it all out, there are also archival photos to help tie the new patterns to their inspirations–pictures of Lucy Maud Montgomery as a girl, the house she grew up in, and so on. Just enough to remind us of what Anne’s world might have looked like.
Really, for such a slim book, this is filled with a lot of charm. You can find your copy at Amazon.com or your local yarn shop.
Want to see bigger pictures? Click here.
This review copy was kindly donated by Slate Falls Press. Thank you!
My Gush: Lovely and now I want to re-read the books for the zillionth time.
Other posts for this author:
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Tagged Joanna Johnson, Pattern Books
Now, not everyone is a shawl knitter, like not everyone is a sock knitter or sweater knitter. But I think most of us can agree that shawl pins can be beautiful works of art! And Nicholas and Felice make works of art! They’re one of the most popular jewelry makers on etsy, and once you visit their shop, you can see why. In fact, I got quite lost in there, and that was only in the shawl pin section!
Nicholas and Felice are a duo who met in Guatemala. 25 years and a couple countries later, they are settled in Oregon and their etsy shop is filled with ready to ship jewelery, shawl pins, and even ornaments. They works with a few different metals – aluminum, copper, and sterling silver – to create these lovely pieces. I’m going to focus on the shawl pins, since they’re perfect accessories for the knitter or crocheter in your life, but there’s lots of good stuff in the other sections, should you be looking for a gift for someone not as craftily inclined.
This Madonna Swirl Aluminum Shawl Pin is named such because a customer saw a mother holding her child in the twists of the metal. What a lovely image! Aluminum is a great lightweight metal, which is great so that it won’t weigh down your shawl.
Celtic Loops and Spirals, in brass, has beautiful swirls. Brass has a lovely patina that forms over time, but if you want to keep your brass (or copper) shawl pins looking shiny, homemade recipe instructions are included on the listing.
One great thing about these shawl pins is that they can also be used as hair pins! This Long Celtic Braid in aluminum caught my eye. I think it might be a little better suited as a hair accessory than a knitting accessory, but maybe you have the perfect shawl for it!
I couldn’t help but be stopped by this Unfurling Tulip Flower. It can also be seen as a heart, lyre, or even a scepter! This one is aluminum, so again it’s nice and light!
This Little Tree copper shawl pin is designed specifically for light, lacy, fingering weight knitting. It’s smaller than the other pins, so if you want something a little more delicate, look for the “Little” Series.
You might notice that I’m a bit partial to the silver and aluminum shawl pins. I’ve always been a fan of silver (even my wedding ring is silver) because my father was a silversmith. I grew up around silver and always found it beautiful. This Sterling Silver Celtic Shawl Pin is no exception.
Lest you think that all Nicholas and Felice do is Celtic designs, this Little Treble Clef copper shawl pin will prove you wrong! What a great gift for a crafter who is also a musician. I could think of several of my musician friends would like to receive this and who would wear it proudly!
This Looping Celtic Crossed Knots shawl pin features one of the most recognizable Celtic knots for me and it’s definitely one of my favorites.
There’s also an alternate style which features two prongs instead of a stick. It works equally well as a hair stick or a shawl pin.
Because Nicholas and Felice only stock things in their Etsy shop that they have on hand and are ready to ship, it’s possible that if you click on one of the links, you’ll find that item is sold out. However, if you convo them, they’d be happy to make another for you, so don’t despair! It might also be available in a different metal, so don’t forget to do a search!
GIVEAWAY
Nicholas and Felice are offering a Fleur-de-Lis shawl pin in aluminum for our giveaway winner!
After numerous requests and a lot of experimenting this is our interpretation of the Fleur-de-Lis as a shawl pin.
We hammered and swirled 9 gauge aluminum wire to make this unique shawl pin or hair pin. Aluminum makes it a lot lighter than it appears. Really! We smoothed all the edges so that it will not catch on your shawl.
The pin measures about 2 3/4 – 3 1/4″ (7 – 8.3 cm) long and about 2 -2 3/8″ (5.1 – 6.1cm) across the widest part. The stick pin part with the spiral on top that slips through the main swirls and curls design to secure the pin is about 4 – 4 1/8″ (10.2 – 10.6 cm) long.
We’re adding a ball of Findley Dappled in color # and our 2013 Findley Dappled booklet with 11 amazing designs by Corrina Ferguson.
This prize package is worth over $60!
To enter, go to Nicholas and Felice and tell us what you’d like from their shop. There are lots of great options and more than just shawl pins, so be sure to check everything out.
To get additional entries, share this post on facebook or twitter and them come back and leave another comment letting us know that you did. This giveaway is open to folks from all countries and is open through Sunday, December 8th ending at 11:59p eastern time. Check back on the 9th for the winner!
Don’t forget about our Grand Prize Giveaway or the other several giveaways we currently have open!
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Tagged Giveaway
If you’ll recall, way back in 2012 we were losing chickens at a maddening rate to foxes, and we had a particular group of free – rangers who would NOT stay in their pens, despite our many efforts. We built them a Fort Knox-style enclosure and dubbed it “the chicken prison”.
We still call it that. The residents are still “the prisoners”.
We had one mishap there shortly after the prison was put to use: a fox had reached through the wire, dragged one chicken out and slashed another’s throat. Her crop had been torn open and food was contaminating the entirety of her wounded breast. But after many hours it became apparent she was not ready to die and I ended up getting my hands on some sutures and sewing her back up.
That chicken’s name is Fleur, and she is still with us.
Which brings us to last night.
Around one this morning, Emily heard a disturbance coming from the front coop (lots of squawking and thumping), so she ran out; but cautiously. Two weeks ago the same thing had happened and she discovered a giant possum. This time, something large was heard crashing away through the trees, dogs barking wildly after it.
No intruder was discovered inside the coop, and no one was missing; but Lenore was suffering a deep gash in her throat.
I was in no condition to perform hen surgery at one am. And the wound looked significantly worse than Fleur’s had been. I told Emily to put her back in the coop, close it up, and if she lived until morning we’d sew her back up.
Not only was she still alive, she was full of piss and vinegar. She gave Emily a terrible time trying to catch her. She was also still scratching and clucking around, nibbling on food and bugs.
It turned out that though the wound was much larger, it had missed the crop entirely and had only torn the skin open. We thanked our (or Lenore’s) lucky stars and I cleaned out the area with saline, cut away some of the feathers, and sewed her up (I have a supply of sutures now, thank you very much).
It wasn’t the prettiest surgical job, nor even the most complete, but at least it will make healing more likely. She got a nice spray down with Blue Kote to protect it from infection and flies, and a good shot of antibiotics for good measure.
See what I did there? I spared your sensibilities by not offering a “before” picture.
What happens from here is up to the great poultry gods. I’ll keep her wound clean and give her meds to fight infection, but that’s about all I can do.
From now on, that front coop gets secured at night, guard dogs or no.
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Tagged Farm, Pets, Uncategorized
Since we have so many new readers — Hi Y’all! — I thought I would repost last year’s most popular holiday DIY. These sheep ornaments are super easy and they look fantastic on the Christmas tree. Enjoy!
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Ah, the holidays! That magical time of year when we take on way too much because everything must be perfect!
I don’t generally have themed Christmas trees, but this year, I had a very clear idea in my head of what I wanted my tree to look like. I came up with this project thinking it would be incredibly simple to pull off and that the results would be okay. Instead, it was the complete opposite: it was a lot more work to get it done than I expected but the finished project is fantastic!
I had it in my head that I would easily be able to find wooden cutouts shaped like sheep. There are such cutouts available at Michael’s and Hobby Lobby, but the sheep was very cartoon-y and not at all what I wanted.
This was not the look I was going for.
I enlisted BY HAND’s Build editor, Paul Kocurek, to help, since power tools would be involved. On Paul’s advice, I purchased birch crafter’s plywood at the craft store. To get the shape I wanted, I trace the edges of a photograph I had taken of one of my sheep onto card stock and used it as a template. Paul cut the wood into equal-sized rectangles, which he stuck together with double-sided carpet tape. I traced the sheep design onto the top piece of wood and we were off to the races.
Once all the sheep were cut out, I filed down the rougher edges. I wanted the sheep to be slightly primitive, so I didn’t go crazy it.
Once my sheep were cut out, it was the work of minutes to wrap them with scarp yarn. Simply start at one end and tuck the ends of the yarn in when you’ve got the look you want. This is a great opportunity to use up some of those pieces that are too long to throw away! I played around with a different colors, weights and textures, but ultimately went with a natural, monochromatic palette.
Rather than drilling a hole in the sheep, I used green ornament hooks and slipped them right under a piece of the yarn. Easy-peasy!
Since finishing my own Christmas tree, I have found a few realistic, laser cut wooden sheep available for sale online here and here. To be honest, I think I like mine better, but they are a great alternative if you don’t have access to a band saw. Another option is to cut the sheep out of mat board with an Exacto knife, which gives you the option of mixing and matching the colored mats with colored yarns.
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Tagged By Hand Magazine, Features
Have you ever heard a knitter or crocheter say that they have too many project bags? NO, you haven’t. Unless they’re strictly monogamous to their current project, knitters need multiple project bags for their projects on the go. And although any bag can work, a bag designed for yarn management with a cute print will make pulling out your current project all that more enjoyable.
madbird has TONS of project bags in a wide variety of styles to choose from. A classic is the regular sized project bag. You really can’t go wrong with this. It holds a couple of skeins of yarn and is 9″ tall. madbird has a couple of features of their drawstring project bags that are unique. For one, there is a square base to the project bag. This means that it will sit nicely so you don’t have to spend extra time futzing with your bag while knitting. Another is that they are all reversible. So if you’re bored with the fabric on the outside, you can take out your stuff and turn it inside out. This also means that there’s nothing for your yarn to catch on, as the project bag is smooth inside and out!
If you need a slightly larger bag, the medium sized bag is the next size up, at 13″ tall, it has all the same features as the regular-sized project bag, but it also has a handy handle for carrying, so you can keep it open and use it more like a tote. This is size great for shawls.
But maybe you still need a larger bag. Maybe you’re working on a large shawl or a sweater. Well, madbird’s large sized project bag has even more features to go along with it’s increased size. It’s 15″ tall, with a wider base. It has three pockets on the inside, so it’s easy to keep track of your needles and notions. There are two yarn guides and they are snapped into place, so if you change colors mid-ball or want to take your yarn out of the bag mid-project you won’t need to get the scissors out!
In addition to their project bags, madbird also has zip pouches, which are great to keep your notions in. Or pens and pencils. Or crochet hooks or dpns. Or sewing accessories. Or travel make up kit supplies. Well, you get the idea. Pouches are handy for all sorts of things and all sorts of people, not just crafters! 
madbird also offers needle cases. I definitely got tired of digging all around to find my needles, so my needle case is a lifesaver! There are all kinds of needle cases designed for different kinds of needles and hooks. So be sure to be specific when you put this one on your Christmas list!
In 
I haven’t even really started talking about all the different kinds of fabrics madbird has to offer! They’ve put together all the winter selections right here to make it easy if you want to get a wintery project bag. (Which would be a solid choice since most knitting is done in the fall and winter.) But there are a bunch of other fabrics. If you see something you like in the above photos, click on the photo to be taken to the specific page. The fabric name is in the title, so you can find it in different categories. The fabric world is a little different than the yarn world; new fabric comes out every 6 weeks and is quickly discontinued, so if you see something you like, you better snatch it up!
GIVEAWAY
madbird is giving away this clutch project bag. This is one of the bags that I haven’t even mentioned yet! (And there are a few other items on the website, so take time to explore it!)
Sometimes the occasion calls for knitting (or crocheting) on-the-go. A wristlet-style project bag that is compact & secure is the perfect solution!
Our handmade project clutches are awesome for toting around only what you need for the project you’re working on. This project bag will hold one ball of yarn, some short needles and your work in progress. Great for socks, mitts, or other small projects!
Perfect for commuters; just slip the loop onto your wrist, unzip the bag a bit, and knit/crochet on-the-go!
And, we’re giving away one hank of Sabine in color #1 Fettucini with the 2013 Sabine pattern booklet, which includes 8 fantastic patterns by Tabetha Hedrick.
This prize package is worth $50!
To enter, go to madbird.net and find something that you would like to receive for Christmas from them. Tell us what it is that you like and be sure to include the fabric choice so that when you share this with your loved ones they can get you exactly what you want!
To get additional entries, share this post on facebook or twitter and them come back and leave another comment letting us know that you did. This giveaway is open to folks from all countries and is open through Sunday, December 8th ending at 11:59p eastern time. Check back on the 9th for the winner!
madbird is also donating a regular project bag to our Grand Prize Giveaway, so don’t forget to enter there and in our other giveaways that are currently open! (There’s a list on the sidebar to the right.)
COUPON
madbird is also kind enough to offer our readers a 10% off discount on their order! To get it, use coupon code WINTERBIRD when checking out. It will last through December 12th, so don’t delay getting the project bag of your choice!
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Tagged Giveaway
Modern building reflecting old one…
- by Joan -
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Tagged architecture, black and white, Canada, Photographs
I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and is having a wonderful Hanukkah! I took a couple of vacation days on top of my holiday time and spent lots of it with family and friends (and some knitting).
My sweater is officially done and blocked and I am so happy with it.
It is bittersweet in a way since I started this when my daughter was very tiny and it has been growing along with her. She is far from “done” but has grown and changed so much. I looked back at the sweater photos along side the baby photos in my phone and it was a wonderful look at the past nine months. I have no idea where 9 months have gone! She has started pulling up and will take steps if you are holding her hand. She has not started crawling, so I thought I might have more time, but I better get on the baby-proofing pronto!
After the whole thing was finished and blocked, I decided I liked the neckline as it was so I did not need to rip out and redo it (Yipee!).
I think if I were knitting this again, I would take the time to do more measurements and math and start at the bottom rather than using the provisional cast on method and knitting the moss rib last. It worked and I got the length I wanted (double the length the pattern called for due to my long torso), but I think a bit more time at the planning stage could have saved me some time in the knitting stage. Other than that I am totally happy with the pattern and have some skeins of my 2012 share yarn in Ojai leftover for another project. I am not sure what yet, but I have been on a cowl kick lately, so a cowl is a definite possibility.
One thing I tried differently this time was a method of spinning my project dry. I got the idea from this post. I used my salad spinner (the sweater JUST barely fit) and it really sped up the drying time, without damaging the sweater. This will go in my regular washing and blocking routine now.
I very rarely work on one project at a time. Last week in addition to finishing this sweater, I managed to make a pair of Stay Put Baby Mitts for my daughter out of a small portion of my 2013 share yarn that I opted to get natural and in DK. OMG! That stuff is like knitting with clouds. And they really do stay on.
If you have not yet bought a share of JMF yarn, I encourage you to do so. It is always exciting to watch the sheep throughout the year and then to get this wonderful package of farm fresh yarn. If you are not a fiber artist, this would also make a great Christmas gift for a loved one.
Jessica lives in the cesspool of sin (aka: Asheville, NC) with her husband and Superbaby. She enjoys knitting, spinning, hiking and has recently become obsessed with Downton Abby and True Blood. She continues her search for a way to keep work from cutting into her crafting time.