The Weather Outside is Frightful

 We are getting rain, snow, ice, freezing rain, wind, just about every form of winter weather. This is extending over a large part of North America. It is a perfect day to stay home and knit!

Bear, my favourite fashion model, has been feeling neglected lately, so I got him to model for me today.

He is ready for whatever the day brings. Of course, teddy bears don't really have necks, so he is wearing the neck warmer as a sweater.

The hat is finished.

The pattern is called Bankhead, and it can be found here. I modified it with a k2p2 rib to match the neckwarmer. The yarn is Brave Stripes by Knit Picks and I made the set with less than 200 gm.

I actually got to do some selfish sewing yesterday (why do we think it is selfish if we make something for ourselves?)

I got a new phone, and it was a tight fit in my current clutch, so I saw a new pattern and thought it was just the right thing.

The bag is called Findlay Phone Wallet by Hold It Right There Designs. I added a crossbody strap since I like my hands free. Just beside Bear's head, you can see that I inserted some of the lining fabric into the strap. The flap is cork fabric from a sample pack I bought from MM Cork.

The bag has card slots in the front phone pocket.

It also has a zippered body, to keep my mask, keys, etc.

The fabric is "Not Ameowsed" by Dear Stella. Do you think anyone will notice that my bag is Christmas fabric, in April?

Two finishes on the same day!

Closer to Ready

I managed to get many things done last week.

I did a lot of baking, which is all gone now.  I filled two boxes and sent them off on Thursday, to points west. 

I made 12 bandanas for my granddogs. I forgot to take a picture before I mailed them but this is what they looked like while in process.

I hemmed them all on my serger, I might do a fancier job if I planned to sell them but the dogs don't care. I kept a couple for Doug. He modeled one for you.

I also finished a pair of mittens to go with the neck warmer from last week.

The hat is currently on the needles.

Over the last 10 weeks or so, a quilt ladies from the church have been in overdrive to produce some Advent banners for the church. It was a monumental project, 10 banners with two for each week of Advent and two for Christmas.

I still go to church virtually but my spy took this picture yesterday. The fabric came from multiple stashes. The other side of the church has the same banners in mirror image. My role in making them was largely putting on a couple of bindings. I think the quilters did an excellent job.

The weather has turned cold, and seems to be here to stay this time. It started to snow, late Thursday and by Saturday morning, we had this.

There is a bird feeder under there somewhere. Emme is disappointed that her friends, the birds, have been hiding.

I guess I need to make some cookies for us, this week. And finish that hat!

Christmas is Coming - Ready or Not

 So I am baking and making, and decorating, and ... I have two deadlines, one to mail stuff across the country and one for those of us who are here. 

The tree is up.

Of course, the bins are not put away, because there are still some things that need to come out.

Emme would like you to know that she helped.

You can see what a great help she was. 

In the evenings, I knit and I managed to make a neck warmer in a couple of evenings of Hallmark movies. Neck warmers have replaced the long scarves of my youth, in the school yards. Safer and less likely to get lost.

I need to work on centering my pictures. Note the festive table covering.

I was asked for the "pattern" so I will share it with you, too. 

I had a 100 gm ball of worsted weight yarn (acrylic so it can go in the washer), and I cast on 88 stitches, loosely, on a 5mm 16" circular needle. I did a K2P2 rib until it looked long enough (about 6") and cast off using a stretchy cast off. The cast off caused the bottom to flare, and I liked it. It is done and it fits over an adult head, so it should fit somebody in early elementary. I used just over 40 gm of yarn, so you can get 2 from the ball. Presto, winter warmth. I suppose it needs a matching hat.

Mosaic Reindeer

 Every now and again, I need to remind myself of skills that I have learned. I was looking for an idea for a door decoration for a dear one with a new apartment. The Passport to Christmas give away came along last month and I saw the perfect pattern. 

Mosaic Reindeer was designed by Kristy of Quiet Play Designs. I starting pulling fabrics from my stash and came up with these.

I used the batiks and sadly put back the poinsettia fabric. After several hours and some frustration (trimming the wrong fabric or sewing the piece of fabric upside down), I finished this.

I think it came out rather well. I did machine tying instead of quilting, since it is not going to be very stressed. This morning, when the sun was out briefly, I found a bunch of jump stitches that I had missed on the back side.

Obviously, the bobbin thread was a good match for the backing fabric. The backing was a fat quarter, again from my stash, of unknown age, that was a perfect match for the front. I even got my poinsettias that I wanted.

I bound it by wrapping the backing fabric around to the front. I was reminded of this technique by Sandra of  MMM Quilts. Her tutorial is at the link.

I used the same stitch that I tied the quilt with to stitch down the binding and it went very well.

It is in the mail now, off to the "wet coast" . 

Your trivia for today: In Canada, reindeer are called caribou. The males shed their antlers in the fall, but the females shed theirs in the spring. So my reindeer must be Vixen!