Just Two of My Favorite Gifts!!

I am so lucky!!!! I received a wonderful cardinal from Marisa and red polka dot sheep ornament from John for Christmas. They are so special.....

Ralph bought another catfish. He's enjoying this hobby all over again!

T'was a Knitter's day Before Christmas

T'was a knitter's day before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a knitted gift was stirring not even a mouse;

The knitted gifts were wrapped by the tree with care
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.....

Ahhhhh..... the gifts are all knitted, the packages all wrapped, the cookies all baked and I need a long winter's nap....zzzzzzzzz!

Happy holidays to one and all !!!! My apologies to Clement Clarke Moore.

A Chullo Surprise

Look what I found at a local resale shop. I must admit that I can't pass up a handknitted find, and this is a treasure for three dollars. It is on the small side, but nonetheless beautiful. It appears to be a chullo made of wool and alpaca as far as I can tell. It was probably bought for very little money from some seller of chullo hats or just maybe some local knitter created this lovely hat. It was in need of repair.The lower back edge of the hat was a bit unraveled and as Carol R knows I love to repair handknitted items.....particularly those that might be consigned to the rag bag.

I've repaired many a handknitted sweater or sock for friends and family. A good friend of mine wore an aran sweater so often it developed holes. He sadly thought that he would have to get rid of the charcoal aran that another friend had knit him years ago. Then came Cindy to the rescue;that sweater can be mended! I located some like colored sewing thread and very carefully picked up the loose loops and secured them in such a way to render the fabric whole. It just delights me to resurrect these knits. I suppose this delight is akin to the many behind the scenes technical people who restore antique carpets, old paintings and what not. It's my way of ordering the chaos in a world where entropy is the natural course.

Chullo Patterns can be found here and here and here.

Tree and Shawl

Marisa sent me a pic of her tree all decorated and with presents wrapped. This caused me to think I'd better get going with my tree. Yesterday R headed out to Twin River Road and found us a great little tree, and we didn't even have our annual Christmas tree fight to boot. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that I was not there when he set up the tree :). The tree now stands in a corner of the room near the window because the fish occupy the traditional tree corner. Last night it drank up a whole gallon of water. The tree smell is heavenly!!!

Marisa's Adagio shawl is coming along beautifully as you can see. She is using hand dyed yarn from our very own Sue. I may have to start another of these shawls soon.

I've been plugging away at my Regia socks and pointed hat which will be finished soon.

Here's a nifty site to knit a hat of any gauge.

Need Gift Ideas?

As Judy reminds IT happens. We only have so much time before the holiday to figure out those gift ideas.Here is a Knit Human Digestive System from tongue to guess where with
many color photos. Be sure to check out the pattern for it, so you can make one, too!
And there's a knit-along project, if anyone wants to join in...

Or perhaps you want to buy shoes......
Here is a printer friendly version ......

Much to Tell

Much has been happening this week in addition
to holiday madness that can be witnessed here
and there. Thursday provided much entertainment at our Oceanstate Knitting and Crochet Guild Holiday party held at Fina's home and hosted by both Fina and Dottie. Fina's husband nicely agreed to take our picture.








Holiday games provided us with much fun. We participated in a good old fashioned Yankee Swap and I must say it brings out our ruthless side. I kept my choosen gift which I've posted below...a lovely set of festive markers made by our very own blogland buddy, Judy. I love them and I'm sure she has more.














The last below was taken after attending our monthly R I Spinning Guild meeting. The sky was so stunning I had to run in the house to grab my camera.A number of us braved the snowy roads Saturday to share our wares this weekend. Judy continued spinning her bubble gum pink barbie fiber that is wonderfully soft. Harriet with Judy's help knitted an I-Cord edge on her sweater. Carol R. spun her purple merino while telling the sock untangling story that originated at Sue's RI Handspun one cold night.

Marie D helped a new addition to our gang, Paula( of The Black Olive fame) spin some merino on her Golding spindle. Paula told us about her use of PDA software to aid in row counting and project listing. Palmsource provides some neat tools. I have downloaded a trial version of Knitable to my PDA in the past and may explore it a bit more. Paula also worked on a lovely sock. It is always fun to meet other bloggers out there.

Surfing for Knit Content on the Web.....
I typed in " Bloggers who Knit" in Google and came of with a list of many of us! It's uncanny how we, bloggers, have added to the cyberuniverse these past few years. Keep on blogging, baby!!!

Woof Sweater is Done

Luckily the Mia's small sweater moved along swiftly! I like the pattern which can easily be adapted for a larger dog. I really like the idea of using any stitch pattern for the top of the sweater. A great experimental aspect for the creative knitter much like sock legs.I hope Mom doesn't see this sweater before Christmas!


I'm also plugging away at another mystery project for the holiday, but I can't post pics. As a matter of fact Blogger is giving me a hard time with posting any pics lately with Hello. Anyone else out there in Blogger land having this issue? This morning I received a network error message.

This morning I enjoyed taking pics of R's fish; I love the black Angels!!!

If you get a chance check out Judy's Flora
and Cathy's Grayce.
Judith's Scarf is lovely and Laurie's Requiem for a Squirrel for the not-so -squeamish.

More Fish

Woof Holiday Knitting

Last night I started a sweater for my mom's dog, Mia. She's a Shitz Su/Poodle and needs a small
coat for cold days. The gallery shows all the different variations you can knit. I'm sure the pattern can be adapted for larger dogs. I'm using my dyed wool to make this sweater for a Christmas present. I'm enjoying making this sweater with its mindless garter stitch, but you can substitute all manner of pattern stitches to suit your tastes.

Pattern Alert
While reading one of the many fiber related listservs,I discovered this site by Garnstudio with 630 free patterns. Be sure to scroll down to read the pattern and click on the diagram link to see all related charts.This sweater is wonderful. The Internet is such a treasure trove of patterns!!!

Winter's Here

Snow has arrived on the birdhouse roof. The summer and fall seasons are over. The gardens have been put to sleep and nature hibernates. Luckily, we have fiber to keep us warm and happily occupied. As much as I like to knit and spin year round, nothing beats these activities when it is cold outside. It gives more meaning to what we do. Who would wear our wooly creations if it were 60-90 degrees? That's why I sometimes feel for our southerly neighbors who must knit in cotton or other cooler fibers. Nothing beats the warmth of an aran sweater or colorful fairisle mittens not to mention handknitted socks. This reminds me of Neruda in "Ode to My Socks"

The moral
of my ode is this:
beauty is twice
beauty
and what is good is doubly
good
when it is a matter of two socks
made of wool
in winter.

Here is another pic of my cat Bennie seated upon three of my handknit shawls. He knows where to park on a cold winter's day :)

Cats and Fish Oh My!

What a lovely sight at our house.

No knitting news to report other than......the music of Les Tricoteurs (The Knitters). According to the website: "It is a portrayal of clicking needles and miles of yarn. Things proceed at a fast clip until the ending, when a series of diminished chords depicts mailles-lachées (crossed stitches)."

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