A New Chapter!

I'm an avid blog reader! Blogs about knitting, quilting, food, gardening and more recently rug hooking I really enjoy and have some favourites that I visit daily. Time consuming, yeah but fun! The reason I now have the time is because I retired about six months ago. This also means I have more time for those crafts I love and so hope to post more frequently.
One of my retirement goals was to start rug hooking. Sure I had dallied at it a bit years ago making a small coaster or two, but now have the time for the real deal! I find it a perfect activity for those moments when you have some spare time but don't feel like finding a pattern or putting together tools or materials. It is there and ready to go for a few moments hooking!
I have accomplished quite a bit at a weekly hooking with friends and so a peek at my current work is below. Mind you, like knitting and hand quilting you need to develop a rhythm for even stitches or loops in this case which isn't quite there yet for me, but will come in time. I call this my practice rug. It is an old pattern which I really love.

 

 

  The early April weather is still chilly here in Nova Scotia. Spring bulbs are starting to show and last week I planted tomato seeds. Hoping for a bit more warmth soon!

Very excited to hear George Canyon at a concert locally tonight!

 

Happy stitching and hooking!

 

Joanne

Proof!

Just to prove I did actually felt my first ever felted slippers, I took a quick photo and here they are! Yes, I do need more practice in sizing, although in real life they look closer in length than in the photo.

Late Winter blahs!

Spring is almost here, and to support that theory, I saw four white tailed deer nibbling on a tiny bit of green the other morning after a heavy rain. That's a sure sign! Food is getting scarce in the woods and they are desperate for some fresh greens.

The blahs in my title is related to my on again off again bouts with cold type viruses since early December. Knowing many family and friends with the same affliction has been a bit comforting. We have all suffered together.

On the knitting front I have had a busier than normal winter...what else can one do when mostly house bound with a nagging cough and cold? So, after many months I finally finished a cherished, moderately complicated sock pattern- Marilinda by Cookie A. I just love her sock designs and hope to knit more in the future when I feel the urge for a more challenging pattern.

Recently a little experiment with Kool-Aid dyeing resulted in these socks knit in a basic three and one rib...a very comfortable fit for me with some stretch. I used Bare Superwash wool, from KnitPicks in white. Fun and easy to dye and very nice to knit with. Another skein is sitting in a corner, just waiting for attention. I'm not sure just yet what shade I will attempt next.

The process I used:

Skein in hot water. Simmer, add mixed Kool-Aid Skein drying

Cherry and grape used

Felted slippers were another project I completed. The wool is Patons Classic Wool. These were finished for my daughter.

Confession! My first pair of felted slippers knitted eons ago- would you believe a year ago- were felted at the same time and turned out nicely. Felted slippers should be added to my to-do list for gifts as i have seen some very pretty ones recently especially for little folks.

Pre felting stage!

Back to stitching!

Happy New Year!

Better late than never....you know how it goes. The new year blew in so quickly with a huge snow storm and I suddenly find myself in the middle of January. New year brings to mind resolutions....well I have tried to avoid those personal health improvement resolutions in recent years due to failure....yes I'll be honest- FAILURE! It seems the middle of January is a pretty difficult time to maintain a resolution...with dismal cold weather, and storm after storm, it's just plain depressing! How is one expected to cheerfully keep up that jogging plan of 10 km per day? Perhaps riding a stationary bike for ten minutes may be closer to the truth, anyway you get my drift! So the closest I may come to a resolution is to post in this blog fairly regularly (open for interpretation) and spend more evening time on leisure activities such as hand work- knitting and quilting and less on work prep! There! I have made a commitment of sorts.





On a more positive note, I have been busy knitting and completed the Clown yarn sweater for my grand daughter J. Here it is after blocking.












With J in a stage of constant movement however, it has been very difficult to get a clear picture
of her with the sweater on! My apologies, but this is the best I can do for
now. Hopefully I'll get a better picture soon. I love this yarn purchased at Have A Yarn and may pick up some for another project in the future.

My current project is knitting a Rolled Brim Hat with SISU Fantasy to match a pair of mittens I knit last spring for my grand daughter T......hanging head in shame. I used an online calculator to develop the pattern. It was my first use of these calculators and pretty easy to use for this simple pattern.

It was a weekend of cold snowy weather that encouraged staying inside and cooking so I made a favourite veggie burger recipe from A Veg*n for Dinner. Tracey's blog is hilarious to read and she spends a lot of time developing recipes for her family who are fairly new vegetarians, making the transition through eating foods of veggie and soy bases similar to meat type dishes- burgers, "meatloaves" and such. I have tried a number of her recipes and they have been very good.

Keep those needles clicking.....

And the sun is shining....

I'm having a lazy day today....home alone and lots of free time, so I decided to upload a few pictures! Earlier this month at work we had a Cookie Exchange. It was fun and we each took home a tray of delicious holiday cookies!

Nova Scotia weather is so unpredictable! Snow plus rain equals lots of slippery ice. That sums up most of our winter weather. Holiday travelling is always iffy. We missed one family social in St. Margaret's Bay due to weather, and now New Year's Eve is promising another mess. Last evening we had some of our local family for dinner. It was a pleasant evening!

Now some belated news on my Christmas knitting. First are the Briggs and Little Tuffy work socks I worked so hard on to have as a surprise for DH. At some point, he saw them in my knitting bag but pretended not to! Eventually I figured it out though. He never looks in my knitting bag- how did this happen? Sometime I must have made a slip, or left them out.

Then I knit face cloths to add to a bath gift for my two SIL's. My daughter was very impressed with the Breast Cancer awareness design (I'm a survivor), and she has a birthday coming up in February...so hehe a great birthday idea!

I used Bernat Handicrafter Cotton for both cloths. It makes a very soft face cloth.

On the new knitting front, I've started a sweater for my grand daughter J. She's just seven months old. As soon as I saw the pattern and yarn at a local yarn shop, Have a Yarn, I knew I had to make it. So, with Christmas knitting completed, I have a start on the back of the sweater. The yarn is Clown by Marks and Kattens. She is growing quickly, so must get this project done.

I dabble at vegetarian cooking and to my delight one of my Christmas gifts was a vegetarian cookbook. One of my New Year resolutions will definitely be to experiment with more vegetarian recipes and maybe move from a goal of 1 vegetarian main meal per week to 2.

Happy Holidays.....

Merry Christmas!

Amazingly another Christmas Day has quickly arrived and is almost over here on the south shore of wind blown Nova Scotia. In October this special date seems so far away, but it creeps up quickly. I especially enjoy the pre Christmas preps excluding the shopping of course- I'm not one who enjoys shopping. Making some gifts, baking, and a few social events are the preferred activities to get in the Christmas mood. We have enjoyed all of this, even got gifts wrapped a few days early to reduce some of the last minute stress. An activity which I have heard about, a cookie exchange was one I partook in this year. It was lots of fun and it was interesting to see the variety of goodies everyone brought to the event.
Last night we spent a pleasant time with my husband's families and enjoyed great company and a delicious lobster chowder. This evening has been pretty quiet after helping prepare a delicious turkey dinner with all the trimmings for about 24 of my family members at a noon meal. There didn't seem to be a need for an evening meal after all that feasting.
My Christmas knitting projects were few, but well received. Now it's time to start a new project. I have supplies for a sweater and a couple of socks. The sweater requires a pattern search but I would like to get that done quickly for a grand daughter so it can be worn during the cooler months.

Merry Christmas!

One Year!!

I certainly admire people who are able to maintain their blogs on a daily or even weekly basis. Can't believe a year has passed since I posted. Life gets in the way and posting gets a spot low on the priority list for me I guess.
I shall attempt to update a bit. Actually I've done more knitting in the past year than for quite awhile. A couple of pictures today to get started, then I'm back outside to enjoy yet another beautiful hot summer day.