One last project for 2013

One last project for the year.  Make teddy bears out of my dad's old sweater and wool trousers.

One bear was done before Christmas for daughter. Three will be delivered to nieces  this weekend weather permitting and I'll keep one. It will be like a hug from Grampa.  I used the buttons from his sweater to attach the arms and legs.
I'm using a pile of batting scraps for stuffing I may have a couple more feet of space in my closet.
Projects completed for the year: 
10 quilts
19 pairs of socks
3 sweaters
4 pair reading mitts and mittens
2 pair slippers
1 hat and scarf
61 books
  Wow I really got a lot done in 2013.  Hope the year ahead is equally as productive. 

Glory to God in the highest heaven, 
Who unto man His Son hath given; 
While angels sing with tender mirth, 
A glad new year to all the earth. --Martin Luther  
Happy New Year and Happy New Projects  --Ann--

On the needles

 Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. I think those receiving hand knit gifts were pleased. My brother liked the gray Lovikka (click) mittens and oldest son really liked the  felted clogs (same click) and they were the perfect size. Second son tried them on and liked the fit better than the slippers I knit him last year (click) so yarn has been ordered for birthday clogs for him. And hope sister-in-law like the blue green socks, (click) brother says her feet are always cold.

I have made a little progress on these socks and darling hubby gave me some beautiful yarn for more socks and reading mitts and a needle case for all my needles.
linking to Judy's on the needles.
--Ann--

Away in a Manger..........

Rejoice!!  Joy to the World!!!  Merry Christmas
--Ann--

another vintage

My childhood deer. Some day my daughter's beanies will be vintage. They don't stand up as good as my old deer.
--Ann--

Books

I treated myself to a couple books both by Fannie Flagg. Her books are all so uplifting. The first  The Redbird Christmas was about a guy from Chicago who moves to Alabama for his health the busy bodies of a very small town are a new experience for him but he also learns that people in a small town really do care, the twists and turns of the story are all part of the fun. Then I read  The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion I couldn't put it down it had short chapters so of course there was time to read just one more then one more until I was done. Its about a proper southern lady and her proper but crazy mother and the daughters of a Polish family from Wisconsin who were stunt pilots then flew during WW II.  Fannie Flagg brought a chunk of neglected history to life in a delightful story.  I saw a quote that said Take a break from Reality, Read. --Ann--

smiles everyone

Squeeze together, everyone look at the camera............smiles.............needlepoint Santas I have stitched beginning in 1989.

"tell Klaus to take off his hat" "Arnold, put the book down"  "I'm checking the list"  "Sven, the goose"  "watch the candle"..............and the hand carved that I have been collecting since........equally as long.

And to all a good night..........--Ann--

On the needles

The slippers are felted and more stockings are started. Its always nice to have a couple little to go projects that get done row by row. --Ann-- Linking to Judy's On the Needles with hugs and prayers.

More Vintage

 Crepe paper Santa I remember him taped to a door in the house and surprisingly it has green label tape in a couple spots. He is 18 inches tall.

 The cut outs are from the late 1950's or early 1960's. The book is early 1900's.

 The pages are in pretty good shape but the cover is falling apart. So sad.

Isn't that beautiful handwriting!!?!
--Ann--

The Cat on the Doverfell

A wonderful comment from a wonderful reader inspired this post. I miss reading picture books to my kids they grew up. Sometimes I read children's  books when no one is looking. The Cat on the Doverfell by Tomie dePaola is a favorite and sadly out of print. Who's That Knocking on Christmas Eve by Jan Brett is the same folk tale with beautiful illustrations but without the humor that Tomie dePaola puts in his illustrations.
The story is about a man from Finnmark taking a white bear to the King of Denmark and stops at a cottage for the night.  Halvor, the cottage owner and family are ready to leave for the night because the trolls are coming, the man with the bear stays anyway. The trolls come eat, drink and make a merry mess then a troll sees the "kitty" under the stove and pokes it with a sausage, "kitty" roars and the trolls flee. The next year Halvor is out chopping wood for Yuletide when a troll hollers at him and asks if he still has the same "kitty" Halvor says he does and she has seven kittens bigger and fiercer than she is. And the Trolls never bother Halvor again. Savoring Christmas memories....--Ann--

Vintage and not so new

Just sharing some favorite decorations.......................--Ann--

On the needles Finish it Friday

Over the weekend I knit a pair of felt clogs pattern from Fiber Trends. They were monsterous in size but once through the washer and extra cycles in the dryer with bath towels they are close to the right size. They might be just right, they might get soaked and go in the dryer after Christmas then they can be shaped to the owners feet. My name brand clogs are in the picture to provide scale. I will defiantly be knitting more clogs.

Mittens and reading mittens are also finished, the reading mitts look like teapots without a lid. And another pair of felted slippers. The front load washing machine don't agitate the  slipper enough to  felt the wool (faint red line in photo above shows how much the clogs felted in the wash) the most shrinkage happened in the dryer so I soaked the clogs again in the sink and squeezed out as much water as I could then back into the dryer for a couple more cycles, which is how I plan to felt everything in the future. Before I soaked the slippers and scoured with soap and agitated in the sink and rinsed and scoured some more until my hands were all pruney.

Check out the knitting at Judy's On the Needles.  Happy knitting! --Ann--

Snow at the North Pole

I pinned my tatted snowflakes to my Welcome to the North Pole Quilt I like them there. --Ann--

tatted snowflakes

The tree is trimmed, the, house is decorated all the clutter ends up in my sewing room so now the baking begins and I am cutting back this year. At least I keep telling myself I will.  Today I'm sharing my tatted snowflakes. A few years ago when I was still a newly wed my Grandmother gave me a pair of pillowcases with a tatted edge. I was intrigued by how the edging was made so Gramma showed me then handed me a shuttle to teach me. It is one little knot on a loop sometimes with a little loop to make a picot. The trick is flicking the knot from one string to the other so that the series of knots slides on the loop. I made all these at least 30 years ago I can't remember if I could make one in an evening or if it took 2 evenings to make one snowflake depending on how complicated it was. Then they were starched and pinned straightening out each little picot.

I used to hang them on the Christmas tree with snowmen and white lights. I haven't done the snowman tree for a long time most of the playdough snowmen have broken or turned brown with age.

The biggest are about 3 inches across and the smallest 1 and a half inches. The things I did before children. May all your snowflakes be made of cotton string.--Ann--

Design Wall Monday

Nothing has changed on my design wall since a couple weeks ago, I'm still basking in the afterglow of finishing sewing all the curves of  After Image. I typically don't sew much after Thanksgiving until after the New Year. Its time to slow down and enjoy the season.

 We had more snow over the weekend it came down like sifted sugar. And really cold temps, it didn't get above 0 F a couple days. Brrrrr  And I have son's dog again so I had to bundle up to take her for a walk a couple times a day. Just short walks to get the necessary done. I found a pair of snow pants don't know if they belonged to one of the boys or I bought them for daughter or me but they are a medium in mens. Did you know that girls and womens snowpants have a lot less insulation than boys and mens??!! Which is why I would have bought them.   Anyway I put the snow pants on and can get it zipped  and after adjusting the straps I can breath and I don't feel as crushed and I'm not that big on top. There was a magical age when my years equaled my bra size. So I put on my down filled coat, scarf and hat then to put my snow boots on.....just try and bend over or sit down to lift my foot high enough to get my boot on let alone tie it. In the end it was easier to put on my winter clogs and stay on the path. They are fine walking in  less than 2 inches of snow. Mittens on and hood up, I'm feeling  guilty getting all bundled up to go out when the poor dog is going out in her pajamas. But she takes to the snow like a yellow lab in winter. Oh that's what she is. No need for me to feel guilty just glad we didn't have freezing rain if I fell I would never be able to get up. More tatted snowflakes tomorrow. Check out the design walls at Patchworktimes.  Hope you are staying warm. --Ann--

On and off the needles

 Much knitting was accomplished over Thanksgiving, amazing how much can be knit while riding in the car for four hours. Not so much after dark on the drive home. Cozy warm toesies!!

 More mittens and reading/texting/knitting mitts are on the needles and they are knitting fast with only 34 and 44 stitches on the needles.  Eight more stitches were cast on for the adult guy mittens than the ladies pair. I wish I would have knit a plain row between the decrease rows at the end of the mittens to make them a little longer. I have time I can think about and rip if I really want to.  The reading mitts called for a stretchy bind off, I tried that on the first pair I knit and ripped I thought that was too stretchy so I bound of the way my mother taught me by knitting a stitch and slipping a stitch over that stitch then knit another and slip the previous. It stays tighter around the fingers. I keep coming up with more ideas for hand knit Christmas gifts and I'm going to run out of time.  Note to self think earlier next year. Check out the knitting at Judy's on the needles and be inspired.--Ann--