After a month of blogging every day I took a bit of a break from the computer. I didn't think it would last 4 months, but it did.
I have realized that cleaning and cooking have become my hobbies that I devote most of my time to these days (everything is better when it is considered a hobby).
I have finished a few different things over the past few months though.
Knitting -
A hat from a local raw fleece that I had cleaned, combed, spun, then dyed with indigo a few years ago. This is the second hat that I made with this yarn (I never wore the first one and took it apart).
Christmas socks with handspun yarn (a BFL/nylon blend that I had dyed).
Weaving -
Tea Towels. Mainly woven with cottolin, but also some bouclé. This was a stash busting project to use up odds and ends. The warp is a natural cottolin. The pattern is A Baker's Dozen e-Book from Webs, one threading with lots of different weaving options to try.
A scarf with a handpainted warp - something I had never tried before.
I used a Knit Picks lace yarn - Shimmer, an alpaca/silk blend, which dyed and wove beautifully.
More tea towels in a favourite pattern (Cajun Inspired Towels from the Jan/Feb 2015 issue of Handwoven magazine). These just came off the loom and I am considering them finished for me, because my Mom said she would hem them in exchange for new towels.
Quilting -
A small (18"x24") Christmas table mat. I wanted a little pad for an end table that has a lamp and other things on it, so nothing fancy was needed. I realized that since machine free motion quilting is my favourite, that is what I did (plus a little bit of invisible machine appliqué).
I haven't been sewing much because my machine needs to go in for repairs, but with COVID some things are on hold. We did take the machine apart and tried a few things which helped, but it needs more work.
Woodcarving -
More spoons, these from a crab apple branch that fell in the yard.
About 4" long.
A long spoon from a silver maple branch that fell too.
About 12" long.
Stained Glass -
Since I now have a work space for stained glass again I made a piece using all kinds of odds and ends. It was lots of fun, but it has been awhile and I can see I need more practice.
Photos from Around -
The bees did well this summer, they produced a lot of honey for us.
They are wrapped for the winter now, and we can't wait to see how they do.
A Great Horned Owl spent a lot of time around this past fall.
We harvested vegetables into October (unusual for here - we had about an extra month of growing weather this year).
Part of why cooking is my hobby, we had a great harvest with the extra month, so I did lots of canning.
Beautiful colours of Swiss Chard during the final harvest.
Molly.
Sunrise.
Molly loves to dig her ball in the snow (luckily she doesn't dig in the dirt the rest of the year).
Miss Maggie prefers the warmth of inside these days.
And how the carpet has worn out, and how our home renovations are going.
The view from our window this morning - December 31st, 2021.
-31ºC with -45ºC windchill (-24ºF/-49ºF) - a good day to be inside!
I wish everyone the best for the New Year!♥︎
