Twelfth Night Becomes Mardi Gras Season

As the twelfth night of Christmas rolls around, I should be finished with my 12 days of Knitmas--well, not...................I pooped out about 5 days in--it's become another UFO in my stash!

You can bet your bottom dollar, I will participate in Carnival season with King Cake!  Oh yes, the delicious once a year 'bread' that lasts for the whole of Mardi Gras--which means bakeries will be producing lots and lots of King Cakes until Fat Tuesday eve, February 25, 2020.



Here is a video on how to make your own King Cake--but, I'll be visiting many local bakeries to pick one up for our enjoyment.  For our January Spin-in, the person who receives the baby is asked to bring King Cake the next day--as we meet for five days--we have lots of King Cake!!

"Epiphany" or twelfth night is known to Christians--the word comes from Greek that means "To show" just as Jesus showed himself to the three wise men and to the world on this day.

• The king cake is a tradition brought to New Orleans from France in 1870.
• It’s an oval shaped cake that tastes like a cross between a cinnamon roll and a french pastry.
• It is decorated in the colors green, gold and purple. Green is meant to symbolize faith, gold is power and purple which represents justice.
• It is supposed to represent the crown of the three wise men who visited Jesus.
• A plastic baby is hidden in the cake to represent the baby Jesus. Whoever finds the baby in their cake, is named “king for the day” and is supposed to host the party the next year.

Maybe, you'll have King Cake at your festivities this year!  

Book of Psalm 23 in Stitches

What a lovely way to begin January 2020--stitching one of my favorite

Bible verses?  Jenny offers these free patterns to all that would

come to her website and partake.

You have the opportunity to complete all thirteen stitcheries; one on the cover and twelve inside on the pages. Nine of the pages are the complete passages from Psalm 23 and the other three are pretty 'extras' without scripture.

Here is the first page of the book--Jenny has numerous tutorials on her

blog to assist you with your stitching--this stitch along runs from January

to October.  

I'm thinking this will be a great gift for my mother, who is turning 100--

there isn't much you can give her,

but this would little book would be perfect!

Happy stitching!

INside Out--Challenge for 2020!

Happy New Year!  Welcome 2020!  I love the sound of 2020--it means each day is a new adventure--a chance to make a difference in my life or someone else--to be kind--encouraging and feel blessed!
And best of all--to learn new skills--e.g. like:

the challenge of knitting inside out!  Say what??  fascinating knitting term--

This is a mystery sock beginning today!! and it's free!

Designed by KnittyMelissa, who has her own Youtube channel

and you can find the pattern on Ravelry

Below is her instructional video Knitting Inside Out

The name is inspired by the Robert Frost poem “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening.” These socks would be perfect to wear as you take a moment to stop and watch the woods fill up with snow.

Materials:

• Fingering weight sock yarn – 48 (52, 56, 60) grams main color (MC) and 38 (40, 42, 44) grams contrast color (CC). The charts are written for a darker MC. It is recommended that MC be solid. The CC can be solid, speckled, tonal, or very lightly variegated. There should be good contrast between the yarns and no overlapping colors. Note that yarn usage is dependent on gauge and foot length. For tighter gauge or longer-than-average feet, you may need more of each color.
• One US size 1 (2.25mm) circular needle, 32” or longer
• One US size 1.5 (2.5mm) circular needle, 32” or longer (optional for colorwork)
• Locking/removable stitch markers & tapestry needle

This pattern is written for magic loop but can be adapted to your preferred needle type.

Four Sizes:
Small - 60 sts (Medium - 68 sts, Large - 76 sts, XL – 84 sts)

Gauge:
8 or 9 spi (stitches per inch) in 2-color stranded colorwork

• At 9 spi, the sock will be 6.7” (7.5”, 8.4”, 9.3”) in circumference.
• At 8 spi, the sock will be 7.5” (8.5”, 9.5”, 10.5”) in circumference.

Preparing for 2020

How do you prepare for a new Year?  Make resolutions?  Goals?  Challenges?

Here is my goal for 2020:  to finish at least two (yes 2) UFO's before I begin a new UFO!

My UFO's are known!  Here is another new UFO to begin--I've gathered my reds, pinks and whites
for this fun sew along.

Fort Worth Fabric Studio has a Valentine adventure beginning 

Monday, January 6--and I love the fabric colors

I have a bunch of reds ready for Valentine hanging--they are

UFO's for another project that I didn't manage to do--I'm covering

two goals with one-- :-)

And to begin the twelve days of Knitmas, I'm knitting along with

Nomadic Knits--they had two choices of yarn groups--naughty or nice--

believe me, I have plenty of those yarns.  

Each day for 12 days after Christmas, we receive a clue--

I'm happy to have something else to work with my hands while i

wait for January to begin....

January--knitting adventures begin

Sometimes January can bring on the blues--

and you go into a slump after all the festivities

of the holidays

Not when you are planning new knitting adventures!

Find at Ravelry!

Key Features

• This cowl is a tubular shape, knit from the bottom up with fingering weight yarn.
• Heather’s sample measures 24” (61 cm) circumference and 14” (35.5 cm) tall.
• Stitches Used: Most stitches are based on knits and purls with some variation to challenge you (nothing super hard!). There are videos for stitches that can benefit from further explanation.
• Difficulty: Adventuresome Beginner through Advanced Knitter
• Clues will be sent to your library as automatic updates on January 1, 5, 11, 14 & 20 by 9 AM EST (-4:00 UTC)

Materials Needed:
Yarn: Fingering weight yarn, 400 y (366 m).
This cowl has been tested with single ply & plied fingering weight. The cowl will look best in solid, soft tonal or gentle gradient yarns. Variegated, self-stripe or speckled yarns will hide the beauty of your creation. Lace weight yarn held doubled may be a bit of a challenge. Using multiple colors of yarns or scraps may compete with the stitches in the cowl.

Needles: Size 3 (3.25 mm) circular needles (16 - 20”/41-51 cm length)

Gauge: 26 sts = 4” (10 cm) in stockinette stitch, blocked—Exact gauge is not crucial, but it will affect the size of the cowl & yardage requirements.

Notions: BOR st marker, tapestry needle, optional beading tool.

Optional Beads: 68 6/0 seed beads.

Another great year of knitting by one of my favorite designers--

Toni Lorenz--4th year "Knitting in the Loft" Ravelry group

Never mind I didn't complete last year's Japanese knitting--

I'm still in for this one!  Always a learning time!

Another favorite!  Yes, Elizabeth Ravenwood designs

awesome patterns.  This is a year long knitting adventure

This pattern is found on Patternvine

Finished Size: Approx. 9"/ 23 cm wide and 75" / 190 cm long Materials: 460 yds / 421 meters fingering weight yarn Size 5US / 3.75mm circular needles Size 5US / 3.75mm double-pointed needles or short, straight needles (optional) 2 stitch markers Size 8/0 or 6/0 beads (optional) – the number of beads will depend on the glitz you want

Mark Your Calendars NOW!

Here we go--another year of great sewing!

Pat Sloan is hosting 2020 Out West BOM!

This begins January 3rd and you can find the information

on her above website.  Several of us did her last BOM--

she gives great instructions--sew along with us!

Erin Russek does such lovely applique work and

she is hosting 2020 free block of the month with

different applique blocks of her design.

You can purchase the center medallion now on her

website or you can just skip that center and do the 

smaller free quilt, beginning January 15th

To participate in the Quilt Along, tune in to Sew Fresh Quilts beginning on January 13th, when the quilt size options and fabric requirements will be shared. Then, every 2 weeks beginning January 14th, instructions for all of the individual blocks will be shared. 

Bloomtopia QAL 2020-- featuring Summer Sweet by Sherri and Chelsi for Moda Fabrics.  Make A Wish Fundraiser Starting February 1, 2020, we will release two patterns each month for six months here on the blog. Simply follow along on our blog to download the patterns as they are posted! Also, we’re pleased to announce that Sherri and Chelsi are filming the free complementary videos for each pattern.

Melva Loves Scraps plans for a blog series that will feature the patterns and the letters from former German Officers held at the POW camp located in Trinidad, CO.   C&T Publishing granted permission to scan and share the collection of Kansas City Star quilt patterns that my Grandma Schleich had. 

Check out Busy Hands Quilts in 2020 to see what other

projects will be available to sew--

The name of the sampler quilt is “Sisters;” there’s a Big Sister 12″ block and a Little Sister 6″ block of each patchwork design. So each month you’ll make two blocks – a 12″ and a 6.” The quilt measures 68″ x 75.”

Check out this site if you wish to look at other Quilt Alongs and 

Block of the Month

Down The Rabbit Hole!

Just one click and I'm down the rabbit hole and lost for hours!  If you are bored or just plain want something to do--visit Top 110 Quilting Blogs of 2019!  I don't know how I got started but I just couldn't stop--There were the usual blogs and then the ones I wasn't familiar with.  This blog, of course, is not listed.

Be sure to stop by and vote for your favorite!

And, there is ranking of knitting blogs!  and book blogs!  Oh my!  I'll see y'all later..........................



HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND MERRY CHRISTMAS!