A Hard Copy

Yesterday the hard copy of the Winter/Christmas 2020 edition of Punch Needle and Primitive Stitcher Magazine arrived! 

I was in the middle of the videochat with my Monday morning stitching group when the FedEx deliverer rang the doorbell. I got to open the box on the chat.

It took some doing to get the magazine. My friend, Francey in Colorado, ordered it for me from the Fat Quarter Shop and had it shipped to her. Shipping to me in Canada from FQS was going to cost more than the magazine! Francey then sent it to me. I'm so happy to get my hands on this particular copy with my stitching on the back cover. Teresa's pattern, Frolicking on Fern Hill,  starts on page 82.

And for those who are new to this blog, this is what the fuss is all about (the purple arrow is my addition - LOL).

Our Monday morning stitching group had a nice long chat yesterday - longer than usual. It was nice seeing what everyone's been stitching and how everyone spent their Christmas in solitude. Thank goodness for our regular chats during this pandemic,

Then at 4pm, I had a Zoom chat with Francey, Lorna, Sue and Erin, and MaryWinn. We hope to connect once a month on the second Tuesday at 3pm Eastern. 

I purchased Arne and Carlos' bonus 9 Christmas ball patterns last night and in a flurry of email deletions this morning (over 5000 dating back to 2008!), I deleted the email with the link to the pattern. I have emailed them asking for a re-send so I can put them on my hard drive.

Yesterday I made it to the liquor store to get the fizzy wine for our New Year's celebration. I was in and out of there in 5 minutes. How nice, as I expected to see many more folks out and about. Our 4 week lockdown started on Saturday at 12:01am so I guess folks have already stocked up. After picking up a couple of chopped Subway salads, I made it home after only 20 minutes out of the house.

Happy New Year!

Scissor Keeper

I hope you all had a nice Christmas if you celebrate that. In our home it is a secular holiday and one I enjoy being home for and spending time with loved ones. This year it was just Skip and me but it was very relaxed and enjoyable.

Before Christmas I found this cool video on YouTube for making a scissor keeper. Several of my crafty friends are quilters or sewists and I thought they'd appreciate something to keep their fabric scissors safe , handy for transport to retreats (when we get to go to them again), and away from folks wanting to use them for other purposes.

In the description box below the video there were links to the materials required and the pattern template. I printed out the template and checked it against my largest fabric scissors and decided to enlarge it 5% to make sure they'd fit.

I had everything in my stash - the perfect lining fabric and appropriate exterior fabric so I set to work. I first cut out the pieces and quilted the outer fabric to the batting. Then I added the zipper, topstitched, then sewed it together with the lining.

The steps are exactly the same as making any zipper bag. On some of them (when I remembered) I added a piece of ribbon for a pull tab.

Scissor lining!

My favourite, easy quilting pattern is using the 30/60 degree quilting lines on my cutting mat as a guide. I line everything up then use masking tape beside where I want to sew. It's quick and easy and I don't even have to mark the fabric.

I also added a charm with a lobster clip onto the zipper pull. On this one, I just did a wavy quilt pattern.

I'm really happy with how they turned out. Of course I kept one for myself. The recipients seemed to like them, too.

Winter Wonderland

 I knit another Arne and Carlos Christmas ball the other day. It's the December 17 ball in their 2020 Advent calendar and is called Winter Wonderland.

This was one of their more challenging balls because each side had a different building on it. The photo above from their Facebook page is the church side.

Because I like to get things done quickly, I scaled down the design to fit the mini ball size and knit it up with DK yarn.

One of the sides has a Christmas tree so, of course, I had to bling it up.

One side has a house like this on it and the 4th side has another house that is slightly taller.

I have enough of the DK yarn to make one more ball - unless I find more in my stash.

I got the gingerbread cookies baked. I had to have a nap while Skip was preparing dinner. Tomorrow they're getting decorated.

Lots Going On

Things have been busy for me these past few days. I've been crafting a lot and I started some Christmas baking yesterday. This morning I made gingerbread dough and made a ton of mistakes whilst doing so.

I've been watching The British Baking Show and got all cocky and thought I'd try weighing my ingredients instead of measuring them out with measuring cups. So my recipe called for 3 c of flour. I looked up the weight of one cup and multiplied it by three which brought it to over 700g. I even got out a sieve and sifted the flour. It seemed like a lot to me but I trusted the recipe I've used for years. Then I sifted in the spices. 

I stood back and again thought it looked like an awful lot of flour so I got a measuring cup out and much to my horror I had about twice the amount of flour mixture than I needed. Turns out that I had mixed my liquid measures (mL) with dry measures (g). 3 cups of liquid are 711 mL NOT 711 grams. OOPS!

I then scooped out 3c of my sifted ingredients into the mixer bowl and realized now my spices were halved as well so added a bit more. Crisis averted. I threw out the remaining 3 cups of flour mixture because I wasn't in the mood to make a double batch. The remaining 3c were put into the KitchenAid mixer bowl.

I measured out the butter which I had previously cut into chunks. I used the displacement method, filling a 2c measuring cup with 1c of water and added butter pieces until the water level increased by the 3/4c - the measure of butter that I needed. So far so good.

I then read the next instruction - to whip the brown sugar IN THE FOOD PROCESSOR until it was very fine then add the butter. Well, crap, I forgot I use the food processor and not the mixer so I had to get another bowl to dump the flour into, wash and dry the mixer bowl, put the mixer away and haul out the food processor.

After that, things went pretty smoothly and I got the dough all mixed. I re-read the recipe card only to note the dough should only be mixed until the ingredients are just incorporated. Oh no! I'd left it all whirling about for about a minute. My cookies are probably going to be hard as rocks. Oh well, it's gingerbread. Maybe if they're decorated cutely, who'll notice?

The dough is now cooling in the fridge and I'll cut and bake the cookies this afternoon. Tomorrow, I'll decorate them.

I got a cool thing in the mail the other day. It was the sea turtle bracelet I sent away for from the Wildlife Collections in conjunction with the Sea Turtle Conservancy.

I have become quite interested in sea turtles since Fred and I saw a bunch of them released  on South Padre Island 5 years ago. There is a wonderful Sea Turtle Rescue place on the island and they had taken in dozens of turtles that were stunned by the sudden cold snap in the area. When the sea turtles get stunned by the cold waters, they can't feed or swim. It can be fatal for them if they don't get to warmer water or they get  help in some way.

Anyway, the bracelet came with a bio of a sea turtle that has a tracking device glued to her shell and her position is tracked every day. Here's Hope's bio:

She started out near Jupiter FL back in May. She swam up the coast to the waters off southern New Jersey then back down to N Carolina before heading out to sea.

I guess she'll float around the tropics all winter. I'm interested to know where she'll head to to lay her eggs. She was rescued in Florida but I don't know if that's where her eggs get laid.

On the topic of sea turtles, the sea turtle paint by number set I ordered arrived this week as well. Heaven knows I needed something else to do. 

I also have the sea turtle cross stitch kit that arrived in the mail earlier this fall. 

Now I must find the Handel's Messiah that is streaming and find my score to sing along. 

Wish me luck with my gingerbread cookie baking.

Merry & Minty is Finished and Yet Another Christmas Ball

I finished the Merry & Minty StitchALong on Sunday and  instead of French knots, I blinged up Santa's string of lights with my 'bedazzler' (HotFix tool - available on Amazon).

It's slightly too big for a 4" x 6" frame so I've got a 5" x 7" one in my stash that will work. It's on my 'to do' list. 

I also knit another Christmas ball but haven't blinged it up yet.

I'm totally addicted to knitting these mini balls. Good thing I'm running out of red and white DK weight yarn,

At tonight's guild meeting we had our ornament exchange. We drew names last month and delivered our ornament to the recipient by the first week of December. Most of us waiting to open our ornaments at tonight's meeting. 

I got a very cute ornament from Meagan.

It was great fun seeing what everyone got. So many talented stitchers. 

If you want to see what everyone got, go to the guild's website.

Christmas Balls

I have thoroughly enjoyed Arne and Carlos' Christmas Countdown on YouTube. They published a new set of 24 Christmas balls for Advent 2020. The pattern can be purchased here for a mere $8 US. This has been such a fun activity during these grey days as we head to the Winter Solstice.  Every day at 1pm ET I look forward to their daily vlog which includes a little story or memory which inspired that day's design and the big reveal at the end when that day's ball is hung on the tree.

 I have only knit one of the 2020 Advent balls, though. 

I used sock yarn and 2mm needles so it wouldn't be too big. The finished size with these materials is 2.5" in diameter. With the called-for materials it would be almost twice the size.

In other years, I have knit others of their design, again with sock yarn and 2mm needles.

A traditional 8-petaled Nordic flower.

Snowflake

The traditional Nordic Yule goat is usually made from straw and in modern times wrapped with red ribbon. The history is quite interesting and dates back to the Norse god, Thor, who rode a chariot through the skies pulled by two goats.

However, I have been using the sock yarn on my sock yarn blanket so I didn't want to deplete my supply of red and white. 

I also did a Fair Isle ball, not concerned at all about using Christmas colours. I just used random sock yarn remnants. I just realized it is upside down because right side up the stitches should look like 'v's. Oh well. 

Then A & C did a vlog about the mini-Christmas balls they did in 2012 for Schachenmayr - a yarn company that ran a line of Arne and Carlos designed yarn. That sounded like less knitting for me so I bought that set of patterns, too. Schachenmayr sold the patterns in a booklet in the shape of a sock. I guess the contract with them has expired and A & C are now selling it on their own. It, too, is $8.

I have been using DK weight yarn from my seemingly bottomless stash: Peer Gynt red and Smart superwash white. Both are by Sandes Garn, a Norwegian yarn company. Myrtle Station Wool  in Brooklin (Ontario) has a vast inventory of their yarns. 

A traditional Nordic pattern,

and moose.

This one is hung upside down so the crosses would look like Fleurs-de-lis.

This is to emulate the folded paper hearts - a Christmas craft and decoration from Denmark.

What are those sparkly things, you ask? Inspired by Arne and Carlos' Swarovski crystals and my friend, Jeanette's, HotFix bedazzling tool, I had to order a 'bedazzler' of my own. I blinged up as many of the ornaments as I could within tasteful parameters.  They really do glisten when the lights are on when they move a bit.

These all turned out the same size as the regular-sized ones because of the thicker yarn and bigger needles (2.75mm) that I used.

I have enough of the DK yarn to knit a couple more.

A Fun Christmas SAL (Stitchalong)

Brenda Gervais from With Thy Needle and Thread is hosting a stitchalong for a very cute Christmassy piece. I found it on her group Facebook page.

On 36ct the 65 x 84 piece's finished size will be 3 1/2" x 4 5/8". This link was our first clue and had the floss colours and DMC substitutes. I dug some 32ct Belfast linen out of my stash and decided to wait until I saw the first part to commit to doing it.

On Monday the first part was released. Once I saw it I had to do it. I got the reindeer, some snowflakes, and the candy cane border just below the reindeer done that day. I decided to save the other two candy cane borders until other motifs were placed closer to them so I wouldn't have to count as much.

On Wednesday, the second part was released. There is quite a bit more stitching in this segment. The tree, poinsettia band, and more snowflakes. This is the little photo clue Brenda gives us. 

I'm already thinking of how I will bedazzle this when I'm done. As there's not a lot of contrast between the reindeer and the tree, I'm thinking of outlining the reindeer with one strand of backstitching and a darker floss colour.

I have quite a bit of stitching to finish for this segment.

Good Mail

This arrived in the mail today.

I don't even remember how I got into this screening program but every year or so I get a letter to go for a mammogram, Pap test, or do a fecal occult blood test (colon screening) so I go and get them done. Then a few months later I'm fortunate (so far) to get a letter like this in the mail from Cancer Care Ontario. A copy also gets forwarded to my primary care physician.

Also in today's mail came a parcel from Teresa Kogut with a couple of patterns I ordered and a new stitching assignment - a Halloween silhouettes design with witches (silhowitches) cats, owls, pumpkins, etc. It's 40ct dark orange brown by XJuDesigns and two colours of Weeks Dye Works floss. I'll be stitching 1 over 2. 

I also got Peaceful Snow for some future stitching.

And want to do more more punch needle because it goes so fast. This is her book celebrating 15 years of converting her designs to needlework.

All her designs are available from her Etsy shop.

Yesterday a bedazzler kit (HotFix tool on Amazon) arrived in the mail. It is a hot iron and thousands of faceted 'jewels' backed with an adhesive that is activated by heat so the jewel can be attached to almost anything.

I bedazzled a couple of things on the Christmas tree:

Rudolph's nose and the o's,

the centre of the Nordic star - an Arne and Carlos design from years ago,

and several on the heart ball from their collection of knitted mini Christmas balls.

The 'jewels' sparkle with the light as the ornaments move.

I also took some pics of some of my other ornaments.

I have stitched this a couple of times - correcting the key signature each time (once a music teacher, always a music teacher). It's from one of the Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornament issues. I liked that the beads of the notes are actual beads.

I stitched many of these little stockings since the 90s. I tucked a little greenery and red berries in this one.

This one was from last year or the year before. I am partial to sheep ornaments.

This is a flatfold finish which I learned to do from Vonna Pfeiffer's (The Twisted Stitcher) FlossTube instructional video. It is like a little sandwich board and it sits nicely on the bookshelf in our family room (where our big Christmas tree is).

This design is also from a JCS Christmas ornament issue from a couple of years ago. It was a really quick stitch and I also finished it as a flatfold.

This little Hardanger piece hangs on our powder room mirror. It just has a piece of ribbon running through each lettered piece.

I'm not sure how much more Christmas ornament stitching/knitting/bedazzling I'll be doing. I want to get started on Teresa's piece. I hope to have it finished in a month or so as I suspect she will want to release it in the spring at Market in Nashville. For 2021, it has been moved to May. I hope COVID rates have improved drastically or a vaccine becomes widely available to Americans by then. I know I'll be getting the vaccine as soon as possible so I can resume regular activities in person.

Lots of Crafting

Our days are getting shorter and shorter. It makes me want to sleep late and be lazy all day. As usual I've been watching lots of YouTube videos. This one on making a scissor keeper made me want to make one for myself right away.

I had appropriate vintage-themed fabric in my stash and a bunch of zippers.

and scissor fabric for lining.

I used the template from the video but enlarged it to 105% to fit my long scissors. I also topstitched through both the quilted outer fabric and the lining.

They fit perfectly. 

The whole thing fits in my Bionic Gear Bag so no one will be tempted to use my fabric scissors for any other use.

I also watched Sit and Knit for a Bit with Arne and Carlos' First of Advent special. In this video, Carlos attempts to make a lighted Christmas star while Arne videotaped it. It was painful to watch Carlos fumble with trying to put the screwdriver bit and drill bit into the cordless drill, and then operate it. I wanted to yell, "Give it to Arne to do!". 

However the finished result hanging from their barn was excellent 

and I thought I'd enjoy making one of my own. So off to the big box lumber store I went to purchase two 1 x 2s (under $2 each) and a string of indoor/outdoor mini lights.

Back home I cut each of the 8 foot lengths into 3 equal 32" pieces. I only needed 5 pieces so set one aside. I pre-drilled the holes 1" from the ends and centred. This helps avoid splitting the wood with the screws. The 5 pieces went together quickly. There was some arranging of what piece should go over or under the adjacent one so the last piece could be easily attached. I then wrapped the 100 mini lights around the outer arms of the star.

I decided to hang it up in our bedroom window. As luck would have it, it fit perfectly.

And after dark...

I also got our new the tree up yesterday and mostly decorated with ornaments I've fashioned over the years.

I'll do a tour of the tree in a later blog post.

I also got the wreaths on the front doors.

I made them back in 2009 on a crafty day with a couple of friends.

I had seen a similar wreath at a Starbucks the year before and wanted to have a couple of my own. 

I bought the wreath frames at a craft store, as well as styrofoam balls of various diameters, globe ornaments of various textures and sizes and a few small glass ornaments. I wrapped the styrofoam balls with enough yarn to cover all the white and glued the yarn in place. There was a LOT of wrapping as each wreath had 8 of those balls. I then glued them to the wreath, trying to duplicate the pattern on the second frame as well. They hang on the glass door with a suction cup. I also attached a couple of red-dyed grapevine balls.

I've used these on our front door every year since then.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.