Freshisle Fibers

Small Steps

There is progress on the hexipuff quilt. Really there is.

See.  It's getting bigger.  Really.

Now if I just didn't have report cards to do and curling games to play.  The curling I love, the report cards not so much.

Dusty's Favourite Season

Dusty puppy's favourite time of year has arrived.  Winter.  It's finally here.  We're being covered with snow today.  Light, fluffy endless snow and Dusty is loving every minute of it.  This is his time.  He is a winter dog.

A walk with his friends in the snow is the best.  I really shouldn't say walk.  I walk.  They run.

They do slow down for interesting smells.

I survived my first week back at school and have been curling this weekend.  We lost our game last night so that meant no curling for us today.  A little rest instead.  Between school and curling, the blog and knitting/dyeing are taking a back seat.  It's the usual time management balancing act ahead for me!

Hexipuff Love

I have been assimilated. Resistance is futile.

With over 2500 projects of the Beekeeper's Quilt on Ravelry, is it any wonder that I couldn't resist.

I have loads of little leftover sock yarn balls and thought that making a special keepsake quilt would be a neat way to use them up. The first 10 or so hexipuffs were fun, cute, and quick. Great mindless knitting when I was exhausted from school. Now that I'm a bit more rested, the cute factor is wearing off.

This quilt will be an endless project and will take forever. This I know. I also know I'll have more exhausting times ahead and these will make great knitting for those evenings when I just need a little knitting to stay sane.

I'm also knitting mittens this holiday. Slowly, slowly. I am the slowest knitter. But I have been dyeing - a lot. Our house is full of more watermelon yarn and many new self-striping skeins. Not yet listed in the shop, but coming soon!

Preparations

It's almost time for the one knit-a-long that I do each year.

NaKnitMitMo 2012

An entire month just for knitting mittens.

I might knit more than just mittens, but the goal is to at least finish one pair by the end of January.

My yarn is ready (our own softspun), my pattern is ready, my chart is ready (another of my own).

Let the knitting begin.

Best Brother-In-Law Ever

I have the best family.  The best.  They give the best presents.

Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays are here.  Oh, happy times.

I'm looking forward to a rest but these next three days are jam packed full of fun.  We have this afternoon with cousins, tomorrow with our immediate family, my father's birthday on Boxing Day, and my brother and his partner arrive from Ottawa.  There will be no rest until at least Tuesday.

I did some of my Christmas shopping online again this year and it was hard not to include little gifts for myself in the shopping cart.

I haven't had the time yet to fully read through Norwegian Mittens and Gloves by Annemor Sundbo but the bits I have read are wonderful.  So much history!

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas!

For Rob

My day's work is finally done.

Shortbread for baby brother.

Getting There

Four more school days left.  I'm getting there.

The final pair of Christmas gift socks are done.

The presents are wrapped.  Let the baking begin.

Yummy butter tarts.  A few for us for now and this bunch to freeze for later when my brother comes home during the holiday.  His favourite.

I baked with some students today at school.  Baking with a group of kids is exhausting.  A good exhaustion, but exhaustion.  Tomorrow we eat their creations.  That's the best part!

10

Most people are counting the days until Christmas Day.  I'm counting the school days left until Christmas holidays.  10 school days.  10 very full, very busy days.  10 days trapped in a building with about 200 children who become more hyper with each passing day.  And, now we have snow.  That will ramp up the excitement level considerably.

I actually love this time of year with the students.  Although they are excited beyond words, it is mostly a fun and happy time at school.  It's a time to enjoy their enthusiasm for Christmas and remember how special this season really is. 

My Christmas knitting could use a dash of the kids' energy.  There are socks still on the needles.  These will be finished in time.  I'm finished the foot and the heel and just have the leg to complete.  No problem.

But, the huge grey blob that is a vest for my father is another matter. 

This knitting in super large sizes takes forever.  Other people's blogs and project pages on Ravelry are full of finished sweaters and vests in sizes small and medium, not XXL !  I've finished the main body and have started the separating of the vest for the fronts and back.  Maybe there's hope it will be finished for Christmas.  Or at least sometime during the Christmas holidays. 

Rainy Days are for Reading

It's December and time to get thinking about Christmas.  We tried.  We ventured from our island to the city last weekend.  The really big city!  Toronto.  We didn't realize when we were making our plans that we were going on the Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend.  The crowds were amazing.  People lined up to get into some of the stores.  Totally crazy.

We shopped, we enjoyed the hotel, the meals, the city, but we were very glad to escape the crowds and come home.  The good part is that we are finished our Christmas shopping.  Done.  All that's left is to wrap the presents. 

I came home with some presents for myself.  All Wound Up by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee and A Life in Stitches by Rachael Herron. 

It's been raining all this weekend and I've been snuggled up on my couch reading.

All Wound Up is a bit different from the Yarn Harlot's other books.  These are essays, longer stories than before.  I think they are perhaps more thoughtful and better written.  The writng is still funny, still that quick sarcasm that I love, but with more detail and depth.

A Life in Stitches is also a collection of essays.  I enjoyed the glimpses into the author's life at various stages of her life.  It made me remember knitting highlights from my own life - the purple afghan when I was about 14, my first Christmas stocking at 19, the first sweater I knit for my father when I was in teachers' college.....

Dusty puppy and I are going to have a walk in the rain today.  I've read myself out and he's had enough of being in the house because of the miserable rain.  We're going out and we're gong to get wet!