Cranberries, Chillis, Hail Showers, and a Snowman

It's Tuesday and that means it's veg man day. He sets up his stall every Tuesday, except for the week between Christmas and the new year. Rain, shine,wind,  hail--whatever the weather, there he is under his awnings, surrounded by fruit and veg. Today he was trying to close a gap or two in the awning, because just as we walked up, the hail shower began. It was coming down hard for a few minutes and making quite a noise as it bounced around. Bill was angling for photos. I wasn't paying attention and messed one up--I was too happy to see that chilli peppers were back this week, after being absent for the last couple of weeks. I was reaching for the peppers and not paying attention to Bill, so he had to take the photo again in order to have one without my arm in it.

By the time I saw the chillis, I was already irrationally pleased because veg man had bags of cranberries. Yippee! I was able to get cranberries when we lived in Ballinrobe at both SuperValu and Tesco, but they did not show up until mid-December and they came in punnets in plastic bags--too much packaging and the punnets took up room in the freezer. Once we left Ballinrobe, I did not see them in any of the stores we went to. The ones I got from veg man today are in a bag without the punnet and there are more cranberries, so less packaging, which is good. I got 4 bags. If he has more next week, I'll probably get some more. I've put one bag into the freezer already. I plan to make cranberry jam with a bag or two. And later in the week, I will make some orange-cranberry-oatmeal muffins.

The big tree is up in Market Square. The Christmas lights are strung across the roads. Tree lighting is Sunday night. And shops windows are decorated and fun to look at. I particularly liked this guy, who lives in a shop window down the road from us.

A little while ago, we had another hail shower--they've been coming off and on for a few days. There was a festive nip in the air today. It's the most wonderful time of the year, after all!

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Fingerless Gloves Request

Before cooler weather showed up, Bill mentioned that he'd like to have another pair of fingerless gloves. I made him a pair a few years ago and he wears them all the time for a good part of the year. They do come in handy--I wear various pair a lot, too. We both get very cold hands and fingers and we find that the gloves really help a lot.

I thought a bit about which yarn to use. The other pair I made was knitted in sock yarn, so they are thin, which is good. I did not want to make them in thick yarn because I thought they'd be too bulky for regular daily use. I considered sock yarn for the new pair too, but in the end went slightly thicker--not much though.

I had a skein and a bit more of the variegated green/grey left from a hat I crocheted for Bill a few months ago.

I wasn't sure whether it would be enough by itself, so I used the forest green for the cuffs and at the top. As it happened, I would have had enough of the green/grey, but I like them with the forest green, so it worked out OK.

To make them, I cast on 48 stitches with US size 2 double pointed needles, joined and worked in the round (on 3 needles with 1 working needle). I did a 2x2 rib until the cuff was long enough, then switched to the green/grey and continued doing k2, p2 around and around until I got to the spot where I wanted the thumb hole. Then I worked back and forth, still in 2x2 rib, turning the work at the end of the third needle. When the thumb hole was big enough, I went back to working in the round. I crocheted the thumbs instead of knitting them, because I did not want to be fiddling with the dpns for such a small area.

On the thumb hole section of the second glove, I was not paying attention and was turning in the wrong place, so I ended up with one section not growing and I had to tink (knit backwards) in order to fix it. I was glad when that was done! Next time I'll pay closer attention! 😏

I shifted some yarn around today, putting away leftovers from a couple of finished projects and gathering yarn for a few more. One is on the needles, the hooking will start on another one tonight, and the hybrid project will probably be started tomorrow.

And so a new week begins! Hope yours has started off well!

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Happy Winter Holidays!

This morning I took down all my little autumn celebration bits and put up the winter celebration bits.  Some of them were newly created.

I used some of the white yarn I had left from my blanket wrap to make something for the window in the front door.

The yarn is DK weight and I used a 5.5 mm (size I in the US) hook. I picked a chart from my Pineapple Lace book and did the centre part and then did a few more rounds until it was big enough. The little things hanging from it are all either reversible or double-sided, so the design shows on either side of the window.

The other night I made a jar cosy using some scrap yarn--a variegated red/white/green with metallic thread and a white with a shiny thread held together.

I was winging this one and hoping it would be the right size. I made it sitting upstairs in bed and listening to Christmas music, but I'd forgotten to bring the jar up with me and I was too comfortable (and lazy) to go downstairs to get it. I brought it down the next day with the yarn still attached to the scrap balls in case I would need to adjust, but it fit perfectly! I wanted it for this arrangement of twigs that I received as a gift a couple of years ago from some friends--one had 4 legs and fur and the other was his servant/companion/best friend. I love the way the twiggy stuff is a Christmas theme here.

The variegated yarn in the jar cosy was left from a skein that Bill got me last year. I made a hat with some of it.

This afternoon I decided to use some of my white to add a small brim. I like it even better now!

I did a round of hdc (half treble in UK terms), then did another round of same in the front loops to 'encourage' the brim to fold upwards. Then I did one more round through both loops.

I have a small cross stitch piece to finish off tonight and then I'll have some fun deciding what to start next.

Enjoy the day!

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Still Pickin'

Bill had not been up to the garden in a while, but he went up there today expecting to pull up some plants and put them in the compost. He did that, but discovered that there was chard to be picked.

Since it's supposed to get cold tomorrow night with a chance of frost and some wintry mix for the next few days after that, he pulled the chard plants. We are deciding whether he should plant more seeds in the polytunnel, where he still has a few wee jalapenos, parsley, lemon balm, and lettuce growing. Someone grew lots of lettuce in the tunnel last winter and there seems to be no reason why the chard would not grow well in there.

People don't grow chard around here--we saw what we thought was chard in other people's beds earlier in the season, but then we realised it was beetroot. Bill said people assumed our chard was beetroot, so there was confusion all around. 😁

I used a bit of chard in the tomato sauce I made for supper tonight (along with fennel, courgette, garlic and onion) and will blanch and freeze the rest tomorrow. Our little freezer is currently stuffed full, but I will be removing some things tomorrow, so can fit the chard in then.

If Bill does plant more chard in the polytunnel, it will only be a plant or two, since we have chard in the freezer already. We also have most of the beans he grew in packets, ready to be added to soup over the winter. He discovered that he enjoyed gardening and approached it as a learning experience, since it was all new to him. He did quite well!

I have a small chocolate mint plant out back that I should probably cut back tomorrow.  It's pretty sheltered back there, but might as well get it in just in case we do get a hard freeze. And if it does get cold, a nice hot cup of chocolate peppermint 'tea' would hit the spot quite nicely.

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Christmas Blanket Wrap

Months ago, someone gave me two huge skeins of white yarn that is an acrylic/wool blend. It's about a DK weight and at 900-ish yards in each one, there was a lot of it! She also gave me a skein of forest green that was slightly thinner and not as large, but there was still plenty of yardage. A few months later, a friend brought over a big bag of yarn that included a large skein of what the label calls 'paddy green,' and skeins of red, dark red, and a green-white variegated. I had been wondering what to do with the white, because while there was enough there for a big project, I was not feeling the love when I thought about large expanses of white in an afghan, shawl, or poncho. The other colours were perfect to go with some white and I decided on a simple blanket wrap--I can use it either way. In order to avoid the large areas of white, I opted to cut the yarn at the end of each row, leaving the tails at either end as fringe. I chose to do a very drapey stitch combination of single crochets with ch3 in between. The single crochets are very shallow, so the chain 3 loops stack up right on top of each other, providing warmth while not being too heavy or bulky. The paddy green, variegated green, and the reds were slightly thicker than the white and the forest green, but it didn't matter in this project. I used a 6mm hook.

photo by Bill Burke

Since I had so much white, I used that for every other row. I had a lot of the greens, too, so I used them more often and scattered the reds around a bit more. I love it!

I did not even use one full skein of the white and I have scrap balls of the other colours left that will be used in a future scrappy project. I've cast on a hat in the white so I can try out an idea I had. I will decide some other time how to use the rest of it.

🎄🎅⛄

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This Too Shall Pass

A while back, my sister-friend and I were exchanging emails and were talking about how things happen and things pass. 'All is impermanent,' I said. 'Yes, I have to remember that saying about this too shall pass,' she said, 'I need to find a small thing that says that to hang on the wall.' You know what happened next. Ideas began to whirl around my head. I graphed out words with the intention of cross-stitching the saying and going from there. It wasn't right, so I worked on other stuff and let the whirling ideas settle and present themselves one at a time.

I decided to start with the foundation, so needle felted some black roving with iridescent threads. Her favourite colour is red, so I crocheted a red border. Then I started on the words. I tried a few different times to embroider the words directly onto the felt. Didn't like it. Ripped out, not once, but four or five times. Then I decided to try simple, small words on a scrap of aida cloth. That worked. I attached it to the felt and set it aside until the next morning. I rummaged through the sea glass and the button tin and started sewing stuff on. I remembered a shirt with a highly embellished collar that I'd picked up on the 50 cent rail at the charity shop and cut off a small metal piece to add. Finally, I grabbed a brass ring that had been baked into the Halloween barm brack and sewed it on the back as a small hanger.

I really enjoyed the process of making this and it gave me some ideas for other wordy projects I've been kicking around for a while. 😀

Hope you have some creative stuff to think about and work on, too!

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Seasonal Stitches

A friend in Maine belongs to a knitting group called the Knit Wits. Every year, on the Saturday before Thanksgiving, they hold a sale of work to benefit their helping fund, which is used to help people who have unexpected expenses or who need a bit of help. On Friday, I sent a few things for this year's sale. I just got word that the envelope arrived today, so it got there in good time. Yay!

I stayed with a winter holiday theme. I couldn't resist an Irish rose...

 ...or snowflakes

I included a couple of ornaments, one of which was a simple tree that I did not photograph. The other was a combination of needle felting, crochet, cross stitch, and French knots.

I put a couple pair of earrings in the envelope, too.

I am sure there will be an abundance of wonderful handmade items at the sale and I hope it's a huge success! Kudos to the Knit Wits for doing this every year and for being there for people who need a helping hand!

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