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]

Pat Sloan's Mystery Begins

Well, we can't let the year end without having another

mystery BOM (Block of the Month)

from Pat Sloan 

I'm still working on 2015 pattern Vacation Time!

Maybe, I'll finish in 2016! 

Check out her website to sign up for notifications

Looks like we're going to busy! 

Four Is Enough?

Since I have sold my 8H and 10 H looms, I'm back to only 4H--

oh, so sad I say to myself.  Than I see something like this post from

Unraveling and I know--you used to weave 4 H weave structures all the time;

so, what's the big deal?!  Meg is planning this graph to weave some

cashmere--well, I say, I think I'll try this too!

Happy treadling, y'all!

Bonnie Hunter Mystery Time!

The colors and sights of Tuscany have inspired Bonnie to combine what she experienced into a very cool quilt that you will love hopefully as much as I do!

What does Allietare mean?  To GLADDEN!  To REJOICE!  To become CHEERFUL!  It’s the perfect name for this quilt, it made me so happy to watch it come together.

We will begin November 27--check out her website  to see the fabrics and

get suggestions on color

We're Sewing for our Military

Mystery Quilts for Military --join up at Yahoo groups.

November 2015, 2015 Designed by: Alycia Carmin Mystery Quilts for Military

Clue #1 has been posted so we're sewing!


Fabric Requirements: Based on 40 inch wide fabrics ( most I find are still 42 inches, but just to be safe)
Blue: 2 yards
Red : 1 3/8 Yards
White: 2 ¼ yards Binding: ½ yard ( You may want to wait and see, and use up some of your leftovers)
Backing: Approximately 4 yards
Tools Needed: Companion Angle – They come in 4 ½ and 6 ½ - Both will work – I usually go for the bigger ruler, it has more options later Easy Angle Ruler:
Straight Edge Rules Rotary Cutter I have made two of them so far – t

Snowdrift........................................

"Snowdrift

A snowdrift at the highway – not nice and even dangerous.

A snowdrift in the mountains on a sunny morning after a stormy night – what a sight to behold! Lines in the snow forming different patterns, sparkling in the morning sun…

A phenomenon in nature that has a dark and a bright side! And like this, our this year’s KAL project will be: a shawl with a dark and a bright side. But both sides will be pretty in this case! The only danger may be that you don’t want to stop snuggling on cold days.

We will knit a large asymmetric shawl in Brioche technique. This makes the shawl completely reversible and you will have the choice each day which side to use."  from the website of Dibadu!  

Let's knit this!  Did you see that description?  Brioche technique!!  I'm excited--this one begins November 27 and runs through Advent with this free pattern till Jan 1-2016!

I can see lots of knitting in my future during those dreary days of winter!  Join me!

Hoo! Hoo!

I was so excited to receive my Owl Festival quilt back from quilter, Sandy!  This was a fun one to make--such variety of owls--I worked on it for a year with patterns from Sindy of Fatcat Patterns.  I love her sense of humor and her design work!

Whoo!  Whoo!  Isn't this fun quilt?

I'm sure I can find someone who is into owls or birds..........

and I was so happy to have found this owl backing fabric!

Sindy always offers a free BOM each month--you can also purchase the complete 

pattern for a small fee.  Check out what she has now on her website.

Let's Fly a Snowflake Kite!

Here is one of the designers I love!  Crabapple Hill Designs has designed

this cool crayon stitchery pattern for the Christmas Blog Hop.

I've downloaded one for future reference--

how about your?

Back Tracking!

Oh yeah, I totally missed the boat on this one!  With our packing, moving, traveling--I've been

out of it!  And these blog hops are much fun 

with each host offering interesting ideas

and this one had recipes for the holidays!  

Okay, so I'm back tracking--

that's the nice thing about the internet,

you can usually pick up where you left off

or in my case, where I didn't begin in the first place.

Hop over to Buttermilk Basin to see if you can pick

up on some of these delightful Christmas ideas.

That's where I'm heading now!

Fleurs de Lis for Paris KAL

We do not know what to do!  We are dishearten by the actions of a few on so many.

Here is one way you can show some love with this 

 free KAL (knit-along) of a ‘Fleurs de lis’ design, rewritten from a Victorian era ‘counterpane’ square.

West Coast Fibre Arts will be writing a few lines of the pattern each day.  

Check the blog each day for the pattern.

May we knit in peaceful prayer.

Expatchers Gather!

It was such a joy to be with my ex-patcher friends!  We haven't had much time to visit or spend some quality time together.  That one special Tuesday was a blessing for us all--a chance to laugh, share stories of life events, hug, enjoy each other's company.

Lucy was in from CA--love seeing Lucy when she's in town!

She saw this adorable pattern and had to make it--

who wouldn't love this princess quilt?

There was some discussion between the long arm quilters--what design would look the best?

I know one grand-daughter who is going to love this!

Lucky gal!

Judy M adorned her quilt studio with her latest finish--this wonderful

snowmen lodging in the snow!

Snowflakes falling!

We all liked this so much!!

Her other creation in progress was the Cardinals

She is working on the border

Some ready!

Linda showed off her wonderful king size South African fabric quilt

absolutely smashing!

and love the quilting!

Too bad Karen wasn't there (no, she was having fun in CA!)

Here is her latest quilt finished by Sandy

what fun this is--all in batiks! 

Brenda is working up this kit for her new grandson due in December

Elephants must be a trend for new babies, but this one is 

so interesting

The rain, diagonal lines on the pattern, is to be this braid-

much discussion on how it should be done.

And Karen's pillow shams!  oh, wow!

Sandy had done the quilting on these too.

And on for the road--a finished baby quilt made by Karen,

quilted by Sandy--going to one of our expat friend's 

new baby boy!  Great pattern!  

,