The temperature dipped low enough for a fire a few weeks ago. The 9th, to be exact. Low 20's F overnight. It always feels good to light a fire for the first time of a season. The enveloping warmth and coziness brings a smile to my face. In the spring it feels like winter will never let go and I wonder how much more stoking the fire I can take. But in the autumn, it's just the opposite; full of romantic notions and the joy of fulfilling basic needs.
Twist and Vibrations
Sunday, November 17, 2024
Preparing for the festive season and cooler temps
Wednesday, November 6, 2024
Reflections on an election
Pity the nation whose people are sheep and whose shepherds mislead them.
Pity the nation whose leaders are liars, whose sages are silenced, and whose bigots haunt the airwaves.
Pity the nation that raises not its voice except to praise conquerors and acclaim the bully as hero and aims to rule the world with force and by torture.
Pity the nation that knows no other language but its own and no other culture but its own.
Pity the nation whose breath is money and sleeps the sleep of the too well fed.
Pity the nation – oh, pity the people who allow their rights to erode and their freedoms to be washed away.
My country, tears of thee, sweet land of liberty.
Tuesday, October 29, 2024
Spinning for a cardigan
Was greeted with this carpet yesterday morning when I went out to fill the bird table. Unexpected preview of winter. It was 23 F overnight last night, Thursday is supposed to be 74 F. Boing!
I have settled upon a kitting project: A cardigan. I've wanted one for some time so I've started spinning for one. The pattern I have chosen is called "Ship Shape Cardigan" by Heidi Kirrmaier. Pattern can be found on Ravelry: Ship Shape Cardigan . I won't be knitting it in stripes, though.
I got inspiration for knitting this pattern from Kate at The Last Homely House YouTube channel. She has recently made a video about her adventure knitting it in a solid color. I love the way it looks on her.
I need DK weight yarn (11 wraps per inch) and I've been auditioning some mixed wool I bought from Wellington Fibers in Canada years ago. I've spun up a bobbin full and plied it 2-ply to knit my swatch with. I'm getting about 11 wpi but my swatch stitches are just very slightly too big, so I'll have to spin a bit thinner than I originally thought.
Friday, October 25, 2024
Album: Our Home
I walked up the trail that starts a few hundred feet from my driveway this afternoon. I am told the trail is the work of someone who once had a cabin way out back, but it has also been used as a logging road. The land, almost 1000 acres, is in conservation and we are free to hike at will.
There is a junction at one point where the trail meets Hog Hill Road, now a defunct thoroughfare. It's because of that I was going to name my place Hog Hill Homestead, but there is a multitude of ferns growing at the edge of the field/forest behind my house so I decided to name the place Fernwood.
It's an absolutely beautiful walk and there is so much texture in autumn's outfit. And so quiet and peaceful. At times, only the sound of the babbling brook is heard; some times only the wind flowing through the baring trees. Highlights of the walk were the milkweed seed heads all burst open, sending their progeny to establish themselves further on, and the brook, of course. Glimpses of it meandering at the bottom of the bank, and at times out of view.
I walked as far as the water fall--about 3/4 of a mile--which is barely a trickle now. But after downpours and in the spring, it's a proper water fall, all gurgling and gorgeous. The solitude, and step away from modern life steers my mind to pondering the Native Americans who at one time roamed these lands. The sense that this is our home, this beautiful planet earth, is vivid in these moments.
Sunday, October 20, 2024
Crazy
Well the month is flying by! To be honest I'm glad election day will soon be behind us, even if the bedlam isn't over after election night. I never thought I'd see things go so badly in the US, but here we are.
The crazy quilt pillow is finished and I'm well pleased with it. I'm feeling inspired to make a full sized quilt now. It could happen. This was a good practice piece to 'get the hang' of it.
This will go on the bed, solely for decoration. The insert is a $5 pillow from a big box store that I opened up to un-stuff a bit and re-sew it shorter, to fit my cover. Works a charm.
Work on the Christmas runner has progressed well. It will be finished soon, probably this week.
Last Sunday's Harvest Festival in a small, nearby village was great fun. I had my three spinning wheels and took them in rotation, demonstrating from 10 am to 3 pm. I also had a couple of my quilts hanging up as backdrops and they got lots of good comments. It's great to see people taking an interest in how wool is spun. My friend from high school had an antique corn shucker that he was demonstrating just outside the door of the barn in which I was stationed. That was also popular.
I was surprised to see how many artisans were displaying and selling their wares. For such a small town, it puts on a good show. Craftsmen and women from all around. A very good turnout as well. I had a very nice, lengthy conversation with a woman from Virginia! And another from Maine!
I made a batch of soap about 3 weeks ago; something I haven't done in quite some time. It should be ready in early December, just in time for the holidays. I scented it with cedarwood and balsam. A small batch, just 6 molded bars.
Friday, September 27, 2024
New projects
Moving on from the quilt, albeit it needs quilting as does last year's, and they will be started soon. But for smaller projects, there are a handful to work on this autumn before the holidays come around. Three of them are wool appliques and one is crazy quilting.
But first, I've finished the two valances for the dining room and I think the fabric looks good. These are entirely hand sewn. The second will be hung tomorrow as I had to run to the store this afternoon to purchase a curtain rod.
Sunday, September 22, 2024
Making Valances for the Living Room
One of the projects I wanted to get to after the quilt top was done is new valances for the living room windows; three of them. The windows in my house are not standard size, they are squat and wide at 44.5" wide by ~41" tall, measuring from outer edges of trim. There's a bit more than a foot of wall space above the windows, and in the living room there are beams above that, abutting the ceiling. To give the illusion that my windows are taller, I've been meaning to make valances that hang from the bottom of the beams to just below the tops of the windows. Adhered to mounting boards with hook and loop tape, the effect should be clean and effective. The mounting boards can be screwed to the underside of the beams.
Mounting board in place with hook and loop tape stapled to the edge |
A few weeks ago I went shopping and found a suitable fabric of good weight, on sale for $5/yard. Four yards gave me enough for the three windows plus a new curtain for the bird room window. Getting all matchy-matchy. I also found some gold fringe on clearance--to add just a bit of bling to the bottoms of the valances. All-in-all, not a big expense.
The mounting boards protrude 3" from the wall so I sewed a 3" border onto each side of the valances. Since I don't have a serger, the seams were done in the French style, except for where the seams fall within the hems; they were simply butterfly pressed open.
The spot where the top and bottom hems meet the French seam were simply clipped almost to the sewing line so they could be pressed open. I sewed double hems for top, bottom, and sides by hand, using chevron stitch.
Then I sewed the fringe to the bottom edge and hook and loop tape to the top edge (before turning the hem) using the 1940s White Rotary machine.
The above picture is the first valance I made, and I sewed the hook and loop tape in the wrong place. It was supposed to be at the very top edge. Next time I'm in the shop I'll get more hook and loop tape and re-do this one, but it's OK for now.
The effect is just what I wanted.
You can see how this one is sitting a little too high because the hook and loop tape is in the wrong place.
I like them so much, and I found an eight yard bolt of fabric at the thrift shop the other day, so now I'm making 2 valances for the dining room as well. $15 for 8 yards of good quality, heavy fabric, what a bargain!