What Have I Been Up To?

Christmas knitting and night shift have been dominating my world that last few weeks. This is some of the things I got done. Others I didn't get pictures of, I'll work on that over the next few weeks.

These are two pair of Target Wave Mittens from Norah Gaughan's book Knitting Nature. I made a pair for each of my nieces. This was an interesting knit, the construction is intriguing as are all of Norah's patterns I'm attracted to. The second pair went together a little better after I got my brain around how they worked.



This is a pair of plain men's socks. Pardon the pic, they really are too big for me. They are off living with a friend now.



This is a pair of Anemoi Mittens, pattern by Eunny Jang. These, I've actually had done for a while and they're for me. I've gotten tonnes of compliments whenever I wear them. The yarn is fun, the brown yarn was a present that a friend brought back for Copenhagen for me. The blue is reclaimed yarn from an old cardigan of my Grandmother's that she brought back from Edinburough. So, they have already seen the world and I've just started wearing them.



More to follow.

Wow, it’s been a whirlwind month hasn’t it? I have so many projects I can show off now that they are living with their new owners. For those of you who come here for pretty things, I’ll get to that soon, I promise.
For tonight, I want to point every one over to the Yarn Harlot’s blog for December 25th because, as usual, she has summed up the emotions and the stress that can come with this time of year with grace and poise.
I truly am blessed, surrounded by people that love me and an excess of food and gifts. I just want to thank every one of you for being part of the last year and being with me on this journey. Take a second, have a look around and appreciate how good we have it. Then maybe, consider supporting Doctors Without Borders, there are a lot of people out there who aren’t so lucky.
The very best of the Season everyone.
Bea

Wait For It.....

Late Friday Post

Check out one of the fun little bags I got done earlier this week.

New Stuff

I'm enjoying making some new bags for a few reasons. They are like doodles for a sewer, what looks fun together, challenge your finishing skills and a great way to use up all those small bits of fabric that are just too good to throw away. Of course, even though I have a small bag problem of my own I can't keep all of these so they are all destined my Etsy shop. If there is anything you like, drop me an email and I'd be happy to discount you shipping as a bonus as a blog reader.

Christmas Knitting

I can't show you almost all of the knitting I've been doing, it's all Christmas knitting. Most of the people I love enough to knit for read this blog. This one ought to be safe though, if not, you are all in suspense!

Wisp, a soft breath of a scarf that really does have a lot of possibilities. Have a look at the pattern to see the wearing options. The buttons are vintage from my stash, and the wool is Elann, Baby Lace Merino.

ps.... sorry for the mediocre pic, I figure, that at least is better than nothing.

Old Can Be New Again

First, I feel I need to introduce this post with sharing my thoughts on fur. I know that horrible, horrible things are done to animals in the name of fashion. Things that anyone with a soul could never condone. The thing is, there is another side of that coin. Fur has a history and a heritage that is part of our culture. I come from a family of hunters who treat the animals we kill (and food we consume) with respect and as much humanity as possible. Fur and leather is part of that food web that cannot be ignored and should be treated with the same respect. I don't want my meat served to me on styrofoam or full of chemicals, I should consider that as well when I am clothing myself.

That said, my friend came to me with her Grandmother's fur coat recently. She and her mother had kept it for years and years, knowing that it would never fit them but not sure what to do with it. Her Grandmother had loved her coat so much and it was important to her, to discard that seemed disrespectful. So she asked if I could make it into pillows so that it could be out, used and enjoyed. I thought that was a great idea.

I've never really worked in fur before but why not. I stripped down the coat, wow, things just aren't made like that anymore. It's interesting to note as well that the hides were all stamped with union stamps. No offshore child labour was used here. While I was taking it apart the cuff gave up some long stored confetti, this coat had seen a good time! So the confetti was put it into one of the new pillows, no point in stopping that journey just yet. Now from that coat there are three new pillows that will be enjoyed way more than an old coat in a closet ever would be.