Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Words and Wool

It's been so long since I started a new knitting project that it was a huge treat last week to get a number of projects put into bags and ready to begin! And, I've already made progress on this lovely cardigan! (The Ramona Cardigan) I'm using Jamieson wool from Shetland which has been in my stash for a long time.


I haven't been knitting because I've been crocheting or sewing! This cozy was finished up and shipped off to a friend before Christmas.


We made these cute sheep ornaments in December. The woodcuts can be found on Etsy and then wool was found in my stash!


These plaid wool dogs were one of my favorite holiday projects. The pattern is from Purl Soho and worked very well. (I signed up for their emails and they gave me a free pattern!)


Rachel and Andrew thought these were the best sewing project! They loved their emojee pillows.


Laura received several knitting looms for Christmas and has been enjoying them!


She managed to knit this hat for David!!!


David has taken a new interest in hand sewing. He made everyone presents out of felted wool for Christmas and I received this acorn.

James spent a lot of time this fall creating this outfit for himself. Each leather tab is individually cut, punched, and sewn on. I call it his owl outfit.



 Several years ago Michael carved this bird for me with the idea that I would then paint it. I decided Christmas was the time to get it painted and re-gifted back to him!


I had a lot of fun making these granny circle owls for Christmas ornaments. You can find the free pattern here.


In December James finished his metal suit of armor. We are all very impressed. He made it all up out of his head. The clink when he walks is very authentic. You can close your eyes and imagine yourself in medieval times.


 And it's the time of year for the high school play at Rachel's school and I'm doing some volunteer sewing for the costume side of things. These were so fun and surprisingly easy!


I am wishfully thinking about many more hours in January to sit and enjoy being indoors and spend time knitting. We shall see......

As for reading, I've just put up my favorite 12 Books from 2015 here.

Here are a few books leftover from 2015 that I never posted about:


The Minute Boys of Lexington by Edward Stratemeyer tells the story of a group of young boys from Lexington at the opening of the Revolutionary War. It is well-written and keeps you on the edge of your seat. The kids and I loved it and we had to order the sequel!

A Home in the Woods: Pioneer Life in Indiana by Howard Johnson is an excellent description of life here in Indianapolis in the early 1800's. It is both interesting and informative and I highly recommend this to anyone studying Indiana history. (This was read aloud with the children who also enjoyed it.)

An Incomplete Revenge (Maisie Dobbs Book 5) by Jacqueline Winspear is my latest read in the Maisie Dobbs series. Again Britain, between the World Wars, mystery -- it's all good!

Land of the Burnt Thigh (Borealis Books) by Edith Eudora Kohl was a fascinating look at the settlement of the west in the early part of the 20th century. I learned so much about this time in our nation's history and was also challenged by the courage and perseverance of these pioneers! Highly recommend this.

Unwrapping the Greatest Gift: A Family Celebration of Christmas by Ann Voskamp was the book we used with our Jesse Tree. I loved this book and the way Ann communicates so well God's love from page one of Scripture to the end.

Trouble at the Little Village School: The Little Village School series by Gervase Phinn is the second in a series I started last year. Rural Britain, cozy village, everyday life -- the sort of easy reading genre I enjoy.

The Gift of Enough: Raising Grateful Kids in a Culture of Excess by Marianne Miller inspires parents to teach their children to learn what "enough" means and how you can learn to live with gratefulness and contentment in this age of excess and abundance. It gave me a number of ideas of things I want to communicate to my kids.

And that's all for now! You can find more ideas for knitting and reading at Ginny's Yarn Along.

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8 comments:

Unknown said...

The wool sheep ornaments are adorable. Plus, it would be something fun to do with stash yarn.

Pom Pom said...

Hi Heather! I love your knitting and the tea cozy is adorable! I love that BIG rose! I wear posies every day. Sometimes I wear two! LOVE your flowers!
Laura is so cute with that loom!

Pom Pom said...

Oh! I meant to say that the owl ornaments are the cutest owls I've seen and the sheep woodcuts with wool are adorable! LOVE! Thank you!

Anonymous said...

What an amazing amount of creativity in your family! A special gold star to the beautiful owls. I have read Land of the Burnt Thigh a few times - it's a keeper. Really those women were extraordinary. The men too, but the women more so in my opinion.

Lisa Richards said...

What a lot of great crafting going on at your house! The village school series reminds me of Miss Read. I've read all of her books, I think, so these will be fun to check out. An Incomplete Revenge sounds like it would be right up my alley, too. Thanks for the great book ideas. You guys have fun making stuff!

elizabeth said...

how lovely! your homemade things are always so lovely!!! and interesting books too! Have a good weekend!

Heather said...

We love the Minute boys series! I really enjoyed the first Gervais Phinn, I need to see if my library has any other ones.

Lynn said...

Your projects are adorable!! Those sheep are simply brilliant. Would be such a super project for little ones. And it looks like your own children have definitely inherited the crafty gene. Thanks for sharing, you are an inspiration.