Ode to Grandpa & Merry Christmas to Me!

This past week I have been much to busy to blog.  My Grandpa past away so I went home to be with my family.  The event was not all tears since my aunt and cousins came up from the States for the funeral.  We don't get to see each other very much so it was good to see them and other family members.

It stopped snowing and the sun came out just in time for the funeral and all went well.  The service was beautiful and touching, and I know my Grandpa lived a full life without regrets.  He will be missed.


While I was home my parents took me to a little sewing shop to look at sewing machines since mine no longer works.  (it was a little cheep machine that I got for Christmas a few years ago.  My parents didn't think I would use it as much as I did!)  This was not a surprise since I knew they had been looking to buy me one for Christmas.  I figured it would be a nice heavy duty used one.  I love my dad's 1970 singer.  


The owner of the store set me down at this amazing computerized sewing machine and shows me all of the different things it can do.  I was just excited to see that it threaded the needle!  My dad asks me if I like it and I reply with an " of course I like it! But I know I'm not getting it!"  Then I hear "Merry Christmas!" In complete shock I practically started to cry in the store, my machine was in the back corner all nicely wrapped with a bow.  

To make everything even more amazing I got a lesson on how to use it and I get to use it now, I don't have to wait until Christmas!

  So here is my new sewing machine.  It's made by Baby Lock called the Quilter's Choice, and came with everything seen here ( not the fabric) about 10 different feet including a walking foot which I am very excited about, I also got a quilting table top. 







I spent the entire evening playing with it and making a sewing sampler of all of the different stitches.

This is not all of the stitches it can do, I started to run out of room.

 

This is the complete list.  It has three different font types.  
I'm so amazed at everything it can do since my last machine only did 3 types of stitches. 

Finished WIPs

With Christmas fast approaching I finally decided to finish some of the WIPs I started in the summer as they are all to be gifts.  I need them out of the way so I can focus on what is not done.  Which is unfortunately most everything!

The first being a hoodie for my nephew Thomas.  I purchased the pattern this past summer while I was visiting my brother in Halifax, Nova Scotia. 

The shop is located in the Hydrostone Market which was built in 1920, to replace the area of Halifax that was destroyed in 1917, because of an explosion due to two ships colliding; one being an ammunition ship.

The area destroyed was rebuilt using large hydrostones so the buildings and houses would be livable faster than using regular sized bricks.  
Ok, so there is the little history lesson.  While we were exploring the market I discovered a yarn shop called LK Yarns  I instantly fell in love with all of the yarns and patterns available in this shop.  If you are ever in the Halifax area I strongly recommend going to this shop.  The pattern I purchased is called MinO by Purl Grey which is a local pattern maker.  

I still have to block the sweater but other than that this WIP is done!

Next on the list is this diamond patterned scarf.  A special thanks goes out to Colin and his Movember mustache for being my model.  I started this scarf LAST summer....not the summer that just passed, the summer before.  I got half way finished and became bored with it. I know it's bad to do that, but I found more exciting things to knit, so the scarf was abandoned.  But it's now finished and can be crossed off the unfinished list. 

 The next two items only needed buttons, so I found my button stash (pretty funny that I have a huge button collection since my last name is Button!) and sewed some on.


The neckie pattern if from Jimmy Beans Wool Link

The two-toned pocket scarf was given to me by a friend who wrote it out of a book that she got from the library, and she cannot remember what book it was.

Lest We Forget

"In Flanders fields the poppies blow
      Between the crosses, row on row,
   That mark our place; and in the sky
   The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
   Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
         In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
   The torch; be yours to hold it high.
   If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
         In Flanders fields."

Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae 1915

Mothers Always Know

Colin and I went back home last weekend to pick up some winter items and visit with family and friends.  The night we got to my parents house, I began to tell my mum that I thought I would like to spin my own wool and that I had done some research on spinning wheels.  Right in the middle of my story my mum pulls out a hand spinner and some cotton and wool!

 She said the week before she had gone to a spinning shop in Colborne called Spinning Wheel Repairs, Restoration and Sales with her Retired Teachers group.  While she was there she "had a feeling"  I would like to learn how to spin so she started asking questions about the different kinds of wheels, and pricing.  She even went as far a locating a wheel for me!  But she did not buy it since it had been damaged, and she also didn't know if I would want it.  How funny is that? 


After she gave me the hand spinner, my dad started to look on ebay for wheels! A wheel would be fantastic, but I don't have any money to buy one nor do I have a place to put one, so the hand spinner will be perfect.  Until I figure out how to use it that is.  I have read the instructions I'm just too scared to start! I looked on line for a video but I have not been able to find one so I think tomorrow I will spin some wool and cotton.

My First Hat

The other day while I was reading Mary Keenan's Blog Hugs for your Head, Link. I saw a hat that looked simple enough for me to make.  I have never knitted a hat before and was feeling ambitious about it.  I grabbed some yarn and began to knit.  I made some mistakes almost right off the bat hahaha, but since I was making the hat for myself I was not too concerned about fixing it.  The mistakes I made were that the cute rolled up flap ended up being on the wrong side, so it rolled in instead of rolling out.  That and the flap is in the complete wrong spot...I have no idea how I managed that!

The biggest mistake I made was getting too excited about knitting the hat, that I never measured my head.  I just assumed (and we all know what happens when we assume) that I would be a size small.  Well the hat is finished and well it turns out that my head is NOT a size small! 

My very tiny first hat!

I'm so disappointed! But I have to laugh at myself as it is my fault for not measuring.  My predicament is what to do with this hat? I can't really give it away since i messed up on the flap, and I don't want to take it apart since it is the very first hat I have ever made.....But I think that's what I will have to end up doing.  

Quilts from Christmas Past

Colin and I made a lap quilt for his mum last Christmas.  At the time my camera was broken so it was not until recently that I was able to take a picture of it. I had actually completely forgotten what it looked like it had been so long! 
We made the quilt out of scraps of fabric that I had laying around.  Colin chose what colours he liked and we both collaborated on the overall design and layout. 

Colin cut the squares, and sewed the blocks together. I sewed it all together.  Right after I had started sewing the three layers together Colin had a brilliant idea about sewing a treble clef on the back since his mum is a music teacher.  I didn't feel like like undoing what I had already sewn, so I told him to cut out another piece  of the backing and put the treble clef on that.
Colin traced and cut out a treble clef, hand sewed it to a piece of fabric and them sewed it on the back.

    It was not until after he was done that we realized it was not in the center, but I thought it was cute since Colin did all of the work for his mum.  It reminded me of when a child makes something for a parent, so much love and thought goes into it even thought it does not turn out perfect.  

Colin's mum loved it anyhow, which I was sure she would.