A Knitter's Dream

I had the pleasure of attending a trunk show at Another Yarn in Winchester, Massachusetts this weekend.  Despite a New England snow storm, the show was well attended.  (Nothing can keep a knitter from her wool.)  Sarah Dimond (The Plucky Knitter) was there with her gorgeous yarn.  I felt like I was meeting celebrities.  I became all shy and couldn't speak.  I don't know how I got the courage to ask if I could take a photo, but somehow I did.

(Christine and Sarah)

There were so many beautiful colors to choose from.  It was a real exercise in restraint to not get one of each.

One of my favorite designers, Cecily Glowik MacDonald (Winged Knits) was there with her books and patterns and samples.  She was really sweet and signed my copy of Weekend Hats.  She was wearing her latest design - Oakwood.  It was gorgeous. 

(Cecily)

Thea Colman (Baby Cocktails) was there with her patterns and samples too.

(Ann Weaver and Thea)

The trunk show inspired me to pick up the needles again.

It was a knitter's dream. 

Dress to Impress Project

I was recently contacted by Suz Stevenson of the lifestyle bog Well to do You. She asked if I would be willing to donate a scarf from my Etsy shop to her project Dress to Impress.  She is hoping her project will inspire and empower women who are returning to the workforce.  She'll be wearing the same LL Bean Signature Islesboro Sweater Dress each day in the month of January, but changing it up with different accessories.  She'll blog about the look each day and at the end of the month all the accessories will be donated to Dress for Success® Southern Maine, a non-profit organization whose mission is to promote the economic independence of disadvantaged women by providing professional attire, a network of support and the career development tools to help women thrive in work and in life. Of course I said YES.  I wanted to share the link to the project with you.  

                                                                        

source

It looks like a fun project to follow. There are only a few scarves left in the shop, but I'll be adding more over the next week.


Sharing with Chatty Chics and Southern Product Queen.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to you! 

I wanted to tell you about my new project for 2012. I started a new blog dedicated to decorating our home on Blue Hill Bay in Maine. You can read more about it here.
(I will still continue to blog about knitting on Lucky Knitter.)

Wishing you all peace and joy in the New Year!

Giacomo's Baby Hat

The only knitting that was done this Christmas was a hat for my grandson.  I found this sweet pattern from the Purl      Bee website. If you've ever wanted to try Fair Isle knitting this is a great beginner pattern.  It is just four colors and the pattern is only 19 rows.  I actually  knit the hat twice, because the first hat ended up being too small.  I used larger needles for the second hat and it fit perfectly.

Details:

Pattern: Giacomo's Baby Hat from the Purl Bee

Yarn: Plymouth Yarn Suri Merino (55% Suri Alpaca, 45% Extra Fine Merino)

Colors: Blue, gray, light blue, and dark green

Needles: US 6 and US 7

I used a small Clover Pom-Pom maker in size 1 5/8" for the bigger hat and 1 3/8" for the smaller hat.  The directions were confusing, but I found a YouTube video that helped a lot. 

I thought I'd share my husband's handiwork for a change.  His craft is working with wood especially exotic woods.  He has made some beautiful furniture pieces.  He designed and made this rocking horse for our grandson.   

Sugar Cookies

"While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads..."



This sugar cookie recipe was given to me by a woman in a church organization I used to attend many years ago. Her name was Doris Melvin and she was a wonderful baker and shared many of her recipes with me. This sugar cookie recipe is simple and makes about 5 dozen, so it is perfect for a cookie swap or bake sale.



Ingredients:
1/2 Cup Butter, softened
1/2 Cup Shortening
1 Cup Sugar
1 Egg
1 tsp. Vanilla
2 1/4 Cups Flour
1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
Additional Sugar for Rolling
Icing Recipe and Sprinkles (optional)

In a medium size bowl mix together flour, baking powder and baking soda. Set aside. Cream together butter, shortening and sugar. Add egg and vanilla, mix well. Gradually mix in flour mixture. Shape into 1 inch balls and roll in sugar. Place on greased cookie sheet. Flatten with the bottom of a glass to 1/2 inch thick. Bake in a 350*F oven for 10-12 minutes until slightly browned. Remove from cookie sheet and cool on wire rack.

You can roll the cookies in plain or colored sugar before baking, or ice them after thay are baked and cooled.

Icing Recipe:
1 Cup of Confectioner's Sugar mixed with 1 Tablespoon of milk and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla.



Sharing with Censational Girl's cookie party and It's Overflowing.

Paper Trees

I was inspired to try my hand at making paper trees after seeing these trees in the December issue of Cottages and Bungalows Magazine.

Source

They look like they are made out of pieces of birch. Aren't they beautiful?

There are several versions of paper trees out in blogland (I noticed after making mine) and each one is slightly different. I'm not trying to reinvent the wheel (or tree). This is just my version.



Here is how I did it:

Supplies to make one small (9") and one large (12") paper tree:

One 3 7/8” x 8 7/8 “ Styrofoam cone, one 4 7/8” x 11 7/8” Styrofoam cone, eight 12” x 12” sheets of scrapbooking paper, tree topper template, low temp glue sticks, glue gun, pencil, ruler, scissors, pinking shears or paper edgers.

1. Mark wrong side of 7 pieces of scrapbooking paper in a 1” inch by 3” grid. The small tree takes about 2 ½ sheets and the larger tree takes about 4 ½ sheets. The two tree toppers can be cut from one piece of scrapbooking paper.



2. Cut center line with straight scissors and then cut each half down the middle with pinking shears. Each piece of paper will have one decorative edge and one straight edge.



3. Cut each strip at the one inch marked lines.



4. Using a pencil curl each strip by pulling it across the pencil right side up.



5. Starting one inch up from the bottom, begin gluing paper strips to cone overlapping each strip a ¼ inch so that none of the cone shows. Continue in this manner all the way around the cone moving up a half in each time and ending with the last row even with top of cone.



6. Trace the tree topper template onto the scrapbooking paper and cut bottom edges with pinking shears and use straight scissors to cut side strips. Curl strips using pencil. Roll into cone shape overlapping a strip or two and adjusting to how you want it to look on the top of the tree. Glue edge of tree topper and once it is set glue it to the top of the tree.



That is all there is to it!



The instructions and template can be downloaded from here or the sidebar under Free Patterns.

Sharing with Censational Girl , It's Overflowing and Beneath My Heart.

Decorating with Candy Canes

Not having my Christmas Decorations this year is really making me think outside the box. I'm really trying to think of ways to make it look like Christmas around here, but also trying to incorporate what I already have on hand.



This Christmas tablescape was made by using candy canes and bakers twine.



I used the dried hydrangeas I had on the table, but made them more holiday friendly by adding candy canes around the vase. I've seen this done with lemon leaves and asparagus, so why not candy canes. I put a thick elastic band around the vase to hold the candy canes in place while I slide them under the band and then tied them with a bakers twine bow.



For candles I used egg cups filled with crushed candy canes. I then nestled a tea light into the crushed candies.



At each place setting on top of the napkin there is a monogrammed gift tag tied around a candy cane with bakers twine.



The napkins are on sale at Anthropologie for $3.95 and could be used all year. The green placemats are from Ikea for only $1.99. It took 4 boxes of candy canes at .99 each. A simple and casual tabletop for entertaining over the Holidays.

I'm sharing this idea with The Lettered Cottage and It's Overflowing.