Stocking for Charlotte

I can finally post about the Christmas stocking I made for my granddaughter, Charlotte, who just had her first Christmas. I didn't want to mention it before Christmas because I didn't want her Mom and Dad to see it. I didn't imagine that Charlotte would be reading my blog.

I wove the fabric in an overshot pattern using 20/2 cotton for warp and tabby and 3 yarns of 20/2 and 8/2 cotton in slightly different shades of red wound together for the pattern weft. I like using slightly different shades of a color together as it gives a nice depth of color. The name was designed on graph paper and woven by pickup. I took that part out quite a few times to get it just right picking up the same threads each time and not wandering a thread or two to the side.
The back is from a red sheet I had in my rug weaving stash and the lining from a bright red silk blouse I got at the thrift store. I am really pleased with how it came out. I am contemplating making something similar for Christmas sales next year, but without the name.

Christmas Cookies

So, this is what I have been doing with my daughters and granddaughters. I frosted the tree in the upper right hand corner and the dancer in the middle of the bottom row. I love getting together with all the kids and grandkids for Christmas. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone.

Photo by granddaughter Lauren

What a Big World

Our youngest daughter, Siri, finished college at Brooklyn College, in well, Brooklyn, NY, yesterday in the Film Studies program. We are immensley proud of her and the hard work it took to do that. She's a long way from the farm and the island but maybe she has always looked out from here to the great big interesting world. Best of luck to you in all your ventures, dearest daughter.

Christmas Tree is Up

The Christmas tree is up, presents are appearing under it, the holly is up over the doors and windows to "keep out the dark" (See Susan Cooper's, The Dark is Rising). I love the lights on the tree. Being off the grid as we are and thus having to be very careful about electricity use, ours are very small LED lights. Not really bright but we can safely and with a clear conscience leave them on all night. I love getting up in the dark and seeing the tree lights.

Candy Cane Cookies

I've been wrapping presents to take to friends on San Juan island on market day Saturday and baking cookies for gifts. These candy cane cookies are made from sugar cookie dough. One half of the dough is dyed red. You roll out pencil thickness strips of each color and roll them together. I haven't made these in years. They are a lot of fun.

New Loom

I actually got this 16 harness table loom a couple of years ago but it was damaged and had been turned upside down in shipping so the harnesses and heddles had all come apart and so.....it has taken us until this fall to finally get it up and running. It is a Purrington table loom, an excellent design, and I am really thrilled to be able to weave on it. I got it warped up this evening and tomorrow will start playing with it. I've been weaving Christmas presents but realize that as my family reads my blog I'd better not reveal any secrets here.

Cold

It's one of those spells of cold dry weather. The temperature was down to 18 degrees F last night and never went above freezing today. Wonder what will be left in the garden when it finally thaws which isn't predicted to happen until the weekend. Oh, well, at least the pond is full. All the rain in the previous weeks is responsible for that.

Pasta and Pesto

We had a great meal last night with my friend, Betsy's handmade pasta, and some of our pesto out of the freezer. Good very cold night dinner.

New Yarns, New ideas

With the Thanksgiving Crafts Fair in Friday Harbor over with and the Waldron Crafts Fair as well, the pressure is off. I don't really have any serious selling opportunities for fiber arts until next May. Oh, my hats especially are in a couple of galleries in Friday Harbor and LaConner, and I will keep them supplied, but in essence our time of vacation has started. The winter garden more or less takes care of itself and I don't have to hurry up and make anything. So this is a time to think of new ideas, try out samples, read seed catalogues and weaving magazines and put our feet up and drink hot chocolate. In pursuit of that I bought a sampling of new 20/2 mercerized cotton yarns in 12 color wheel colors (I know there are only 11 in the picture, I got backordered on one of the purples). I want to explore some fancy twills in fine yarns in hopes of having some new scarves for next season. This is a good time of year even if the temperature never got above freezing today.

Early Morning Trip to Town

Joel and I both had dentist appointments yesterday so we left at first light. It was one of those cold clear winter days, very little wind. We watched the sun come up behind Orcas Island with a lovely sunrise.
Coming home that afternoon the wind had picked up from the north which in this time of year with the sun really low in the sky makes the waves a gorgeous navy blue color. We passed the mailboat on its way out.

New Product

Last spring one of my customers suggested that I should make some of the flowers I had been putting onto my hats into pins. I thought it was a good idea and I had been tossing that idea around for a while so, I did it. It took me all summer to get organized, knit a whole bunch of flowers, find good sturdy pin bases to sew on the back, and then put them all together. I had them for the annual Island Artisans Christmas Crafts Fair in Friday Harbor last weekend and now I'm working on getting them photographed and in my Etsy store. They're fun to make.

The cold is coming

It's cold and clear and more cold is predicted for this week and next. That means get the dahlias mulched, dig the last potatoes, mulch the carrots, dig the beets. The dahlias are particularly tender and the only way to get them through even a moderate winter is a good deep mulch. 'This way I can leave them in the same bed for three years until the plants are too big to work around and the deep mulch not only protects them from frost but suppresses weeds and feeds them. They don't get any further fertilizer than just the rotted down mulch.