Hangin' With My Gnomies

I just love gnomes! Two of my favorite books at the library growing up were The Pop Up Book of Gnomes and Gnomes. My favorite Christmas ornaments growing up were a pair of gnomes that I now have and who doesn't LOVE the Travelocity Roaming Gnome (Boo-huggery!) and the gnome from Amelie? It stands to reason that I saw this fabric and absolutely HAD to have it. I decided my new nephew would eventually need a bag to take to the library and what better for a little boy than gnomes? This is Amy Butler's Swing Bag pattern.

I have had this pattern bookmarked for some time and wanted to make some little gnome shoes for my nephew. This fabric wasn't nearly busy enough for this project but I didn't care. It DID almost kill me wasting some of that fabric trying to center just one gnome on each shoe. That is the only reason they don't match because I didn't want to waste any more than I had to. I used some padded fake suede for the soles and muslin for the lining. I didn't sew the elastic together at the end --I just tied it in a knot and hid it inside the casing. I also didn't bother with interfacing either. This was a fun little project but almost too fussy for my impatience at the end of the day! I had to change the upper and bottom thread about 18 times, but my seam ripper matched!

Lello

I felt a theme coming on and thought I'd post some yellow things. My brother is currently serving in Iraq and I felt so bad that he was going to miss out on the sweet corn this year. Harrington's sweet corn was well up to the usual standard again so I bought 30 ears. Have I mentioned that Iowa sweet corn is the best on earth?

I blanched it and threw it in an ice water bath before trimming it off the cobs. I'd read that you can make 'niblet-style' or 'cream-style' corn depending on how deeply you cut it off the cob. I have never really cared for angel food cake either, but I wished at the time that I did because an angel food cake pan would have been helpful in the trimming process.

By the time all the corn had been processed, I had 2 large mixing bowls full. I dragged out my still new in the box Foodsaver and sealed up two large bags of fresh Iowa corn. It will wait in my freezer until John is home with us for a meal. I'm looking forward to it myself! Whoever heard of sweet corn in December?

And while we're on the subject of yellow, here are my sister's birthday socks. These were knit in Lion Brand Sock-Ease "Lemon Drop". I will give them to her this weekend.

Leather Bottom Bag

This is a bag I've been fooling around with. I saw this idea over on Anti-craft and was so taken with it. My grandpa was an avid deer hunter and always had the hides tanned and processed. When he passed away, I was given an entire brown paper bag full of his deer leather. I first attempted knitting a bag with a leather bottom but I wasn't happy with the pattern. It was awkward and the work didn't progress well so I ripped it out and instead crocheted the bag out of my stash of Lamb's Pride Brown Sheep yarn. My girlfriends have been working on crochet leather bottom bags too. I can crochet squares and rectangles but I can't read a crochet pattern and I've never been able to make flat circular shapes, so this is a quick way to start them.

Hat on

First of all.....yes I have a Styrofoam head! I have to say it is very handy for blocking and she is a good model, isn't she? I knit this hat out of some Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Bulky in a variegated green/brown colorway. I'd had the yarn for some time because I love ugly greens but as soon as I saw this pattern, I knew what I'd use the yarn for. I took this to our local county fair last week and it won a blue ribbon. It will be a while before I get to wear it though. Did I mention we had a heat index of 106 yesterday?

Baptism

My sister's son was baptized this weekend and we got to see our grandma and aunt and uncle and cousin from Fargo. My sister had halfway asked/suggested I make baby Erik a pair of baptismal booties and I didn't have time to knit a pair so I got out the old reliable Felt Book. I made the red pair of booties featured on the cover but I toned them down a little by making them gray with white lining. I blanket stitched the pieces together in their two layers and then and then assembled them by stitching and winding through the blanket stitches. The blue ribbon came from Ingebretsen's in Minneapolis and was just enough embellishment for them. I had attempted some bead embroidery of a shell or a dove or some such thing using freshwater pearls left over from the beaded bridal crown I'd made for Lisa years ago. In the end I was not happy with the beading and thought the simple gray felt with ribbon was enough. These have no seam allowance and they just fit a 10 week old little boy.

He's here!

My sister had her baby yesterday! Baby Erik was 8 lbs. 11 oz. and 21.5 inches long with sandy blond hair. We were halfway planning on him arriving on Syttende Mai but he was a few days early. He is such a handsome little boy.

He came so early that I didn't have time to mail him all his knitwear! I was trying to take a picture of his tweedy booties over the sink because the light was so pretty and then I accidentally knocked them into the dishwater! Oh well, a little Soak cleared right up.

You can't see the line, can you Russ?

I've been working on a pair of socks for my brother serving in Iraq. There is a pattern for "Soldier Socks" in the book Knitting To Share, but he is actually in the Navy so they will instead be "Sailor Socks". I'm using Kroy sock yarn which I've used before and enjoyed, but I ran out of yarn towards the end of the toe on the first one. These had 80 stitches around which is a lot for a sock made out of that yarn, but there is ribbing and cables which doesn't let it "give" much so more stitches are needed for a proper fit. I didn't even think about that as I was knitting and couldn't get any more of the same color to finish. I had more Kroy yarn for a tweedy pair of socks that was kind of similar and it wasn't too horribly noticeable.


Well then I had all this tweedy Kroy laying around so I knit a cap for the baby on the way. My sister told me how cute yet "manly" all of her baby bootees have been thus far and this hat is no exception. I have a pair of matching bootees out of this yarn too but I need to take pictures of them. That baby will be here in less than a week!!!

I hate seaming...

I have had these Erika Knight booties knit forever but had to seam up the sides and bottom. Her designs are so classic and simple and easy for beginners to knit because they're usually knit in one flat piece...but then seamed. I guess I'd be willing to sacrifice a little fussiness as far as construction to avoid seaming.

This is another pair of Erika Knight booties I just finished. I've been sick with swollen tonsils and sitting in my chair a lot. I knit a pair just like this for my friend Rachel last year. Both of these booties were knit out of Rowan Tapestry yarn. I just love working with it and how it gradually changes color.


To look at these finished booties, you'd never think they looked like THIS just a short time ago! This is what I mean when I say I hate seaming. Sorting out all those tails and junk at the end.

Wedding Cuffs

My cousin Christine just recently got married. She was given a bridal shower in the basement of her hometown church two weeks before the wedding and I gave her a pair of knit lace cuffs for a gift. I wrote a little note saying they were knit with embroidery thread and the beads had been cut from her grandma's bridal crown. I'd also said I didn't expect her to wear them down the aisle, but to put them in her underwear drawer or somewhere else safe and just know what they meant. After the wedding, I found out she'd wrapped them around her bouquet and instead carried them down the aisle. I'd chosen the thread because I just thought it was pretty. It is a shiny silver gray that could look purple or blue and I lucked out because bridesmaids' dresses were a grayish purple.

I always like being in that church because it has seen a lot of our family history. My mother and aunts all had bridal showers and were married there, my grandma had her funeral there, my cousins were all baptized and confirmed there, and a few years ago we had my grandpa's funeral there. My aunts and Mother still talk about the different Ladies' Circle meetings and programs that our grandma participated in. I can remember joining in my cousin's Sunday School class a time or two as a kid when we were staying in town visiting. It's always amazing to see people you remember from your childhood or people who knew you or "who you belong to". Small Town Minnesota :)

I'm Picking Out A Thermos For You

I got this fabulous stainless steel water bottle because it was so pretty and I loved the colors, but I'm not a big water drinker. You can't heat things in the bottle but you can put hot water in it so I fill it up with hot tea and milk. It holds a lot and I set it next to my chair and pour it into my my mug. As much as I love it, it is not a thermos and it gets too hot to pick up...so I knit a little sock for it! As soon as I got it, the colors reminded me of this yarn I had remaining somewhere in the stash. It is Sugar and Cream 100% cotton sport weight yarn left over from a pair of socks I knit years ago. I've never seen that yarn in a sport weight since. I just love how this turned out!

Shoes For Baby

These are some booties for my baby nephew. They are knit from a strand of Patons Silk Angora blend yarn held together with a strand of Rowan Kidsilk Haze. I have always wanted to try this pattern from the book Last Minute Knitted Gifts. This was the first time I'd ever done something with double knitting. You seamlessly and effortlessly knit a tube of stockinette by knitting a piece back and forth on straight needles and slipping stitches. You then separate the stitches onto two different needles and hey presto! These were very cleverly constructed and very simple.

We're all out of cornflakes - FO's

I haven't posted any pictures in a while. These are some socks I knit for my older niece knit from Misti Alpaca sock weight. This really is a finer sock yarn and if I'm going to knit durable adult size socks from it, I'm going to have to use size 1 or smaller needles and cast on thousands of stitches. I like using 2's and 60-68 stitches but this yarn is a little too fine for that.

These are a pair of baby bootees for my nephew on the way. My sister is holding them in front of her tummy for the picture. They are knit from the scraps of the Lion Brand Sock Ease that I used to knit her birthday socks. Now Mommy and Baby will have matching footwear! :)

These are some fingerless mitts I knit for a gal at work who'd hurt her back. They're knit from Cascade Yarns Pastaza Paints and it's actually llama and wool. I used this pattern on size 8 needles and I used about 90 yards or so. I was very pleased with them and I think she liked them. She drives quite a distance to work so I thought she could use a pair. This yarn was nice because it wasn't too busy that you lose the cables. I'd only made these in aran yarn before and they seem quite boring compared to these!

Happy Late Valentine's Day to everyone. We were able to get together as a family (minus my brother) twice in as many weeks. My nieces are always such fun and we were all able to enjoy making and decorating (and eating!) obnoxious valentine sugar cookies. My brother doesn't even like small sprinkles, so maybe it was just as well that he wasn't there!

Little Mittens

These are a pair of spiral rib mittens knit for my little niece and she was good enough to model them for me once they were finished. I finished and gave them to her over the Christmas holiday but I don't think she ever wore them outside--only in the house! They were knit from Lion Brand Wool worsted weight yarn with a pattern from Homespun, Handknit. They were the same pattern I used for my cousin's daughter's mittens but I made them a little shorter since my niece is 2 years younger.

New Ornaments

I took down my Christmas tree and put it away last week but not before I took a few pictures of the newest ornaments from this year's trip. We saw all kinds of items made from birch bark in Finland such as baskets, lamp shades, containers, etc. Many items were simply woven or shaped pieces, but we also saw several embossed birch bark boxes and hair ornaments. The 8 pointed star is very Scandinavian and I found this star ornament at the harbor market in Helsinki. The smaller one was actually purchased in St. Petersburg--which is only a train ride away--where we saw many of the same Finnish market items for sale sold much cheaper!

These are tiny leather peasant shoes that were originally sold as a brooch, but I instead hung a loop of thread through the back for an ornament. They are the traditional shoe for the national folk dress of Estonian islanders and would normally be worn over ornate hand knit stockings. We saw a woman in traditional dress demonstrating spinning with a wheel at the open air museum outside Tallinn. She was also wearing a pair of these shoes and Mother remarked how comfortable they must be for treadling. When I spin on my wheel, I always spin barefoot or with just socks so that I can "feel" the treadle. We didn't find too many English guidebooks or souvenir books in Estonia (which is just as well because Mom and I always load up on books and then have to CARRY them) but the museum gift shop had 2 nice little English booklets about Estonian traditions and dress...as well as a few actual pairs of these shoes! I bought this ornament for my tree and the shoes were 59 Euros, but Mother convinced me to buy them because I am fascinated with any and all types of traditional dress and I'd kick myself later if I didn't get them. The wearable shoes tie up with leather laces almost like ballet toe shoes.


These little dollies were bought in St. Petersburg at our beloved Nevsky Souvenirs. We'd each gotten a few babushkas, but these were more like the traditional peasant costume. The orange one is holding a tea pot and has a string with circular pretzels strung over her arm. We were told they were a traditional Russian bread and had actually eaten them elsewhere before we saw these ornaments in the store. The circular pretzels we'd eaten were just like store bought pretzels we have here, but I wonder if they are ever made as soft, bread-y pretzels. I might have to search for a recipe....

Scrub Scrub There...

Here are my 3 newest scrubs hot off the sewing machine. The dark blue one looks almost like stained glass and has snowflake motifs. The peppermint and candy cane one was just pretty, but the poinsettia one reminds me of a tablecloth or a handkerchief or cocktail apron from the 1950's! I just love it! Recently I've been putting linen water in my steam iron and used up a bottle that was citrus scented. I really enjoyed the lavender and the rose scented waters, but the citrus scented smelled like I'd filled my iron up with Sprite!

Back Burner

I have had this flannel for ages and finally got around to making baby blankies out of it. Three of them went to coworkers' children or grandchildren and one will go to my sister's baby on the way. I made all 4 of these in one afternoon and was quite tired of satin blanket binding by the end of it! Incidentally, my younger niece calls her bound blankie like this her "silky". :)

Melissa and Deedee and I got together for Crafty Fun Night the other day to make ornaments. Deedee was working on photo resin ornaments and Melissa and I finished up these cinnamon and applesauce ornaments. We'd mixed them and cut them out last week and they'd since dried, but they were so plain and boring. We didn't really have any set ideas when we began and just sat down with some acrylic paint and some irregularly shaped glitter and started to decorate them. I have to say I am very pleased with how these turned out! The glitter almost looks like coconut and they smell like cinnamon. I love too that we used cookie cutters I'd gotten at an antique store to cut them with. My mother has these exact same cookie cutters and they are what I would use for baking the Christmas sugar cookies every year growing up. We've already talked about making these again for Valentine's Day.

Farewell Knitting

Three more very dear coworkers (and friends) have left or are leaving our floor and will be sorely missed. Melissa P. and Melissa H. left us last month but are loving and adjusting to their new positions in an entirely new department. I knit each of them a pair of these fingerless mitts out of bulky Misti Alpaca that I bought at Prairie Yarns in Fargo. It was a pleasure to knit with this yarn and they knit up very quickly. I never got a picture of the other pair but they were a lovely blue-ish colorway.

Rachel will leave us next month and I knit her quite possibly the ugliest socks known to man. These were knit from scraps of the Licorice yarn from Joann's that I used for Christmas socks two years ago. They are mismatched and quite homely but are very warm. Best wishes to all of you and we miss you every day.

The Great Storm

Last week we only had a mere dusting of snow on the ground when I took this picture. These are my sister's finished birthday socks (her birthday is in July, btw) knit from Lion Brand Sock-Ease in the colorway "Rock Candy". But then...



...we got hit with a terrible blizzard on Tuesday night and got almost 12 inches of snow with freezing temperatures and terrible winds. I outgrew my apartment YEARS ago but one of the reasons I stay here is because I am so close to the hospital. Scores of employees were stranded here in town and I'm thankful that I can share my apartment with my out of town coworkers. My good friend Laura slept here after work and we rode together back to the hospital for her to work her shift and for me to collect my car as I was off for the evening. We had quite an adventure just getting IN to my apartment because there was 2 feet of snow blown into the driveway and we waded through snow past our knees to get in the front door. Upon returning to the hospital, not only did my car start, but I was able to dig it out of the parking lot and go do my shopping for the week. The stores were not busy at all that night so it was rather a pleasant shopping experience.

While I was out and about, I got a phone call from Brenda who invited me over for some wonderfully comforting chicken and noodles. We watched Julie & Julia next to a roaring fire and played with yarn. You couldn't PLAN a better way to spend a snow day! Thank you again Brenda. After a night like that, I felt like Mia Farrow in Rosemary's Baby when she said, "I hope we have the coldest winter ever."

Blossoms

These are my new favorite cookie right now and I have literally baked and brought dozens and dozens of these to work lately. It is the Hershey's Kisses recipe as published in the November issue of MSL and I just love them! I prefer using chocolate stars to actual Hershey's Kisses and I used my 2 tsp. scoop and got about 5 dozen out of each batch which is incidentally just about the number of stars per bag. The only thing I don't like about them is they have to cool for quite some time for the chocolate to firm up before you can stack them in containers, but they are definitely going in the repertoire. These are commonly called "Peanut Butter Blossoms" but that always makes me think of my cousins because they used to call each other "Fart Blossom"! Maybe I should call them that! ;P

Fabric Find

My family got together for Halloween and we girls went out and did some local shopping. We stumbled across a local quilt shop I never knew existed and then to walk in and see front and center--Kaffe Fassett and Amy Butler fabric! I told the proprietor I'd only seen KF fabrics on the rack in London and Amy Butler fabrics in Lacrosse. It was also much cheaper than I could have gotten it online so I was very pleased and will be returning. I came away with a nice little addition to the stash.