Free Gift!

Did you ever want to make mittens like these?  Well, I have!  In fact, there is a free--yes

FREE pattern waiting just for you and me--here................

Makin' Mittens on Le Tissier's website.

Happy stitching!

S L O W S T I T C H I N G.....................................................

There is a Slow Stitching Movement going on!  And Of Course!  I'm

Slow to find it!

I am definitely a slow stitcher, whether it be knitting, quilting, weaving

or stitching--so I'm very much a candidate for this 

movement.

How will this movement help me?  I'm slowly going to find out....................

JOY!

It is said that a picture is worth a 1000 words!

I agree.............

These photos bring me 

Joy!

and a sense of the reason for the season!

Hurry, Hurry, Don't Delay

Yes, hurry and don't delay--downloading this lovely shawl pattern!  It's free, in Beta form, till December 16, 2015.  You can also sign up for another free shawl pattern.

This 'confetti' yarn adds a special touch to this shawl is hand dyed by

fiber artist Rhichard Devrieze

Aroha Knits --Nakahi Shawl is still in Beta testing so sign up

for their newsletter to see if there are any errors.

The paid pattern will be on Ravelry at a future date.

Fire! One of the Four Elements!

Fiddleknits is offering another one of the four elements shawl patterns.

I really do enjoy knitting her patterns.  We have already done Water, Air, Earth.

Fire will begin end of January, but right now you can grab Fire free of charge

through Ravelry.

It will most likely be a humdinger of a shawl!

Basket Balls With Mizuhiki

Mizuhiki is a traditional Japanese paper cord that come in many colors and is often tied in elaborate knots as decoration for gifts, especially money wrappers. Cords come in many colors, in shiny mylar foil, wrapped in silk thread, or simply painted. It is said that Samurai used Mizuhiki to tie their topknots. The cords are 36” long and you can discover many ways to use them. Our favorite way to use Mizuhiki is to gather 3 or 5 cords to tie up gift packages. A simple square knot holds the cords in place, and you can even thread the ends back through the center knot to create simple and elegant designs.

Here are my Mizuhiki cords and what I have made with them.

Mizuhiki comes in many colors

Some sparkly

Here is the beginning of a 'basket ball'--I learned this technique

from the master basket maker of all time--sorry she doesn't have a 

website; but, if you are interested in these 'basket balls'

leave me a message and I'll get you to Lynn!

There are many design weavings you can do with these wonderful flexible cords!

12 Days--So Behind!

Yes, I'm so behind!  12 days of small quilt blocks seems so easy--just one little block--it measures less than 3"--and only one a day!  What could be better?

Temecula Quilt Company has featured a small quilt block the past

9 days--so I'm playing catch-up.

There are so many little quilt ideas on their website!

Shoofly

Logcabin

Pinwheel 

Journey...............................

As Advent season has begun, I'm will pause each day to reflect on the reason for the season.  During this time, I'm following along with Alive Now.  And this daily journey uses a camera--what a perfect way to make a journal of your life during Advent!

Through the dark of night, we journey to a bright tomorrow.

Pearl Harbor Remembered

Attack on Pearl Harbor

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Attack on Pearl Harbor
Part of the Pacific Theater of World War II

The attack on Pearl Harbor^{[nb 4]} was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, in the United States Territory of Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941. The attack led to the United States' entry into World War II.

Japan intended the attack as a preventive action to keep the U.S. Pacific Fleet from interfering with military actions the Empire of Japan planned in Southeast Asia against overseas territories of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and the United States. There were near-simultaneous Japanese attacks on the U.S.-held Philippines, Guam and Wake Island and on the British Empire in Malaya, Singapore, and Hong Kong.^[13] The attacks - from troop landings at Kota Bharu, Malaya, to the air attacks ranging geographically from Hong Kong to Pearl Harbor - took place over seven hours.^[13][

The attack commenced at 7:48 a.m. Hawaiian Time.^[14] The base was attacked by 353^[15] Japanese fighter planes, bombers, and torpedo planes in two waves, launched from six aircraft carriers.^[15] All eight U.S. Navy battleships were damaged, with four sunk. All but Arizona were later raised, and six were returned to service and went on to fight in the war. The Japanese also sank or damaged three cruisers, three destroyers, an anti-aircraft training ship,^{[nb 5]} and one minelayer. 188 U.S. aircraft were destroyed; 2,403 Americans were killed and 1,178 others were wounded.^[17] Important base installations such as the power station, shipyard, maintenance, and fuel and torpedo storage facilities, as well as the submarine piers and headquarters building (also home of the intelligence section) were not attacked. Japanese losses were light: 29 aircraft and five midget submarines lost, and 64 servicemen killed. One Japanese sailor, Kazuo Sakamaki, was captured.

The attack came as a profound shock to the American people and led directly to the American entry into World War II in both the Pacific and European theaters. The following day, December 8, the United Statesdeclared war on Japan.^[18] Domestic support for non-interventionism, which had been fading since the German attack on France in 1940,^[19] disappeared. Clandestine support of the United Kingdom (e.g., theNeutrality Patrol) was replaced by active alliance. Subsequent operations by the U.S. prompted Germany and Italy to declare war on the U.S. on December 11, which was reciprocated by the U.S. the same day.

From the 1950s, several writers alleged that parties high in the U.S. and British governments knew of the attack in advance and may have let it happen (or even encouraged it) with the aim of bringing America into war.^[20][21] However, this advance-knowledge conspiracy theory is rejected by mainstream historians.^{[22][nb 6]}

There were numerous historical precedents for unannounced military action by Japan. However, the lack of any formal warning, particularly while negotiations were still apparently ongoing, led President Franklin D. Roosevelt to proclaim December 7, 1941, "a date which will live in infamy". Because the attack happened without a declaration of war and without explicit warning, the attack on Pearl Harbor was judged by the Tokyo Trials to be a war crime.^[24][25]

Mariana Mystery Shawl--A Prayer Shawl

Mariana is a municipality in the state of Minas Gerais. It was the first village, town and capital of the state of Minas Gerais. It was in the seventeenth century one of the largest producers cities of gold to the Portuguese crown. It became the first capital of Minas Gerais to participate in a contest where the village that has scooped most amount of gold would be elevated to City being the capital of the then Captaincy of Minas Gerais.

“Mariana Shawl”, designed by Aloisio santos 

 is a prayer shawl for Christmas. The proposal is that we can knit this shawl sending out good vibrations for all the people who have lost their homes and need to start over

The pattern will be available in 3 clues: 
06/12 first clue 
13/12 second clue 
20/12 third clue 
The shawl is semi-circular. The techniques used are: purl, knit, ptbl, yo, k2tog, ssk, central double decrease. 

“The Bento Rodrigues dam disaster occurred on 5 November 2015, when an iron ore tailings dam in Bento Rodrigues, a sub district of Mariana, Brazil, suffered a catastrophic failure, causing flooding and at least 13 deaths. At least 16 people have been injured. About 60 million cubic meters of iron waste flew into the Doce River. Toxic brown mud flows reached the Atlantic Ocean 17 days later. It is still unclear the total impact and environmental consequences to river and its wildlife. This incident has been described as the worst environmental disaster in Brazil’s history”

Puff--Puff--Puff

This crochet scarf caught my eye--what is this stitch?  I didn't have a clue, but do not be dismayed--we did some investigation to find Puff Stitch!  And it comes on a website--crocheting for dummies!  There are a couple of videos too that will help you navigate this stitch.

Designed by BrenBoone

The following comes from Crochet Guru

Step 1: Yarn over the hook.

Step 2: Insert the hook into the stitch.

Step 3: Pull the yarn through the stitch.

Step 4: Bring the loop up to match the same height as the previous stitch. There should now be 3 loops on your hook.

Tip #1: If there are no previous stitches and the puff stitch is your first stitch made, pull the loop up to at least match the height of a half double crochet stitch. The puff stitch may even be pulled higher if you choose to do so.

Step 5: Yarn over the hook.

Step 6: Insert the hook into the same stitch.

Step 7: Yarn over the hook.

Step 8: Pull the yarn through the stitch.

Step 9: Bring the loop up to match the same height as the previous loop. There should now be 5 loops on your hook.

Step 10: Yarn over the hook.

Step 11: Insert the hook into the same stitch.

Step 12: Yarn over the hook.

Step 13: Pull the yarn through the stitch.

Step 14: Bring the loop up to match the same height as the previous loop. There should now be 7 loops on your hook.

Step 15: Yarn over the hook.

Step 16: Pull the yarn through all 7 loops on your hook.

Tip #2: If you would like to add more loops to make your puff stitch even bigger and puffier repeat steps 10 through 16.

Step 17: Chain 1.

Winter Blanket in Crochet

http://www.lillabjorncrochet.com/2015/11/about-winter-blanket-by-emma-aldous.html

This is the most gorgeous crochet blanket I've ever seen!

Needle Weaving!!

Needle Weaving

Let's do some needle weaving!  This is the way I became interested

in loom weaving!  A friend was needle weaving a baby blanket

over a large frame--I couldn't believe it!  So, off I went to

find a frame and begin.  But, here is a whole list of information

on the internet!  I didn't have anywhere to turn to for info.

Needle weaving

and oh my gosh--

Pinterest has tons of photos and other stuff!

I think I'm going back to my 1970's roots.....................

Itchin' to Stitch!

 When I stumbled (yes, I stumbled while surfing the web!) on this website--I stopped!  I took a second look!  what caught my eye?  Well this, of course................................

A spinning wheel in felt with decorative stitches--more investigative work is involved on my part.

These gals are doing fairy tale ornaments!

How cool!  and unusual!

This one is from Sleeping Beauty.  

I won't go into details why this is so inaccurate--

I was just thrilled to see a spinning wheel in stitches!

Here is Cinderella's slipper!

And Little Red Riding Hood.

Telling Stories Through the Needles' Eye

is the place for these fairy tale ornaments!

A Special Day for a Special Gal

Happy Birthday to our First Born Grand daughter!

Precious at 6 months

Fabulous at 6 years!

Outstanding at any age!  An artist!  

A shining jewel in our crown!

She is the apple of our eye!

A clown at times!  She makes the whole world sing with

happiness! 

Truly a caring, gentle soul!

A Lovely Lady!

Happy 25th birthday, dear Melanie!

Time Involvement! Or Procrastination?

Since I've been cleaning out my mother's house and our summer home, I thought it was time I clean out our regular home!  There have been binders in my studio filled with odds and ends of information  for years!  Years, I say!  Many Years!  Wonder why I saved some of these pages--from magazines, printouts, copies of old patterns, purchased patterns?  Once I've made the pattern, I don't usually go back and make another one--I'm ready to move on to another adventure--ah, here are 1,000 of pages that need to be gone through.

 of course, when you go through all that paperwork, you come across a pattern or technique you want to do again or maybe, do just because you didn't make it in the first place!!

Stacks and stacks of paper!  I don't want to even think of how much I spent on copy paper...............

or those clear plastic inserts for each of those pages!

I pulled this pattern out--maybe, I'll get it made BEFORE next fall!

and this sweet pattern--I've always wanted to knit these up for special friends

Oh my gosh, I even found a hand written pattern from my Granny.

She used to crochet these coat hangers as gifts--lovely things!

A pattern for an unique bag--must save this one--even if it isn't in English!

And I've always wanted to weave this pattern!

Okay, now that I've cleaned out the shelves of binders,

I'm ready to start on a new page--

gee whiz--I"m ahead of the New Year resolutions!

And Advent Begins..........................

What a great time of the year!  Yes, it is dedicated to refreshing our life to the reason for the season.

So, I knit--Advent Scarves--pattern is given so many rows per day during Advent.

The above scarf is from the designer, unikatissima and it is Lace llex pattern.

Oh, yes, there is another Advent scarf being knit during these days--

more on that one when the pattern is posted.

Happy Advent season!

Toe Up--NO Thanks!

For some reason, I do not like to knit Toe Up Socks!

Maybe, it's because I can never get them to fit my foot right

or 

Maybe, my brain just doesn't work that way!

Whatever the reason when there is a toe up sock pattern, and

If it's a mystery pattern, I usually wait until the sock pattern has been fully written

and I can knit them top down!

Does that make sense?

Does to me!  

Did You Shop Today?

A Day to Shop

Many people have a day off work or choose to take a day from their quota of annual leave on Black Friday. Some people use this to make trips to see family members or friends who live in other areas or to go on vacation. Others use it to start shopping for the Christmas season.

Shopping for Christmas presents is also popular on Black Friday. Many stores have special offers and lower their prices on some goods, such as toys.

What's Open or Closed?

Black Friday is not a federal holiday, but is a public holiday in some states. Many people take a day of their annual leave on the day after Thanksgiving Day. Many organizations also close for the Thanksgiving weekend.

Public transit systems may run on their normal schedule or may have changes. Some stores extend their opening hours on Black Friday. There can also be congestion on roads to popular shopping destinations.

About Black Friday

Black Friday is one of the busiest shopping days in the USA. There are two popular theories as to why the day after Thanksgiving Day is called Black Friday. One theory is that the wheels of vehicles in heavy traffic on the day after Thanksgiving Day left many black markings on the road surface, leading to the term Black Friday.

The other theory is that the term Black Friday comes from an old way of recording business accounts. Losses were recorded in red ink and profits in black ink. Many businesses, particularly small businesses, started making profits prior to Christmas. Many hoped to start showing a profit, marked in black ink, on the day after Thanksgiving Day.

A Day Of Thankfulness!

In the United States, the modern Thanksgiving holiday tradition is commonly, but not universally, traced to a sparsely documented 1621 celebration at Plymouth in present-day Massachusetts. The 1621 Plymouth feast and thanksgiving was prompted by a good harvest. Pilgrims and Puritans who began emigrating from England in the 1620s and 1630s carried the tradition of Days of Fasting and Days of Thanksgiving with them to New England. Several days of Thanksgiving were held in early New England history that have been identified as the "First Thanksgiving", including Pilgrim holidays in Plymouth in 1621 and 1623, and a Puritan holiday in Boston in 1631.^[8][9] According to historian Jeremy Bangs, director of the Leiden American Pilgrim Museum, the Pilgrims may have been influenced by watching the annual services of Thanksgiving for the relief of thesiege of Leiden in 1574, while they were staying in Leiden.^[10] Now called Oktober Feest, Leiden's autumn thanksgiving celebration in 1617 was the occasion for sectarian disturbance that appears to have accelerated the pilgrims plans to emigrate to America.^[11] In later years, religious thanksgiving services were declared by civil leaders such as Governor Bradford, who planned the colony's thanksgiving celebration and fast in 1623.^[12][13][14] The practice of holding an annual harvest festival did not become a regular affair in New England until the late 1660s.^[15]

Thanksgiving proclamations were made mostly by church leaders in New England up until 1682, and then by both state and church leaders until after the American Revolution. During the revolutionary period, political influences affected the issuance of Thanksgiving proclamations. Various proclamations were made by royal governors, John Hancock, General George Washington, and the Continental Congress,^[16] each giving thanks to God for events favorable to their causes.^[17] As President of the United States, George Washington proclaimed the first nationwide thanksgiving celebration in America marking November 26, 1789, "as a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God".^[18]