Will this dreadful year ever end? Thank goodness for the Zen of String.
In Winnipeg, talking (aka complaining, bitching and/or ranting) about the weather is not small talk. It’s an all-important preoccupation. So please bear with me…
I am pretty sure I don’t need to tell you what a colossally anxious year-end 2016 has been. And added to that, my yearly resurgence of feeling crappy has made it even worse. It seems to be dark ALL of the time. Here’s today’s: Dec 26 – Daylight. 8:26 am – 4:33 pm 8 hours, 6 minutes. But of that there was only 3 hours of sunlight because of cloud.
May Biewe, the Sami Goddess of the Sun, Spring, Fertility and Sanity, who restores the mental health of those who go insane because of the continual darkness of the long winter, bless us all with strength, light and sanity. I think we are going to need it! (My fervent wish for all of us)
I have trouble with my circadian clock anyway, but this month it has been spinning around wildly. The upside? Lots of quiet middle of the night crafting. Here’s a quick round up of December’s projects.
Crochet
Brenda’s Rectilinear Home-spun Scarf: This is a scarf I made for my mom out of my handspun yarn. She watched me use my new tiny lace-weight Turkish spindle to spin and ply the yarn…and then skein, soak, stretch, wind and crochet the yarn into a lovely little scarf for her. Completed 12/2016, Fibre is hand-dyed fair-trade merino from Manos Del Uruguay in the colourway ‘Wildflowers’.
Alpaca Coat Of Many Colours + Matching Scarf: Also, while my mom was here, I made a crochet alpaca coat of many colours and a matching scarf. There was no pattern, it is just an elaboration of a circle vest but I am very happy with it. It’s light but warm and I have been wearing it a lot. It took a bit more than three days to crochet and the beautiful multicoloured yarn that inspired the whole design came from a stitch’n’bitch buddy, Linda L. Thank you Linda! The scarf was made just to use up the last bits of yarn, but it turned out amazingly well. It uses arrow stitch, a cabling stitch I had never tried before, and it’s a new favourite.
Arrow Stitch Fingerless Above-The-Elbow Gauntlets: After finishing that scarf I thought I’d try a little more arrow stitch so I made some loooong fingerless gauntlets. It’s such a great stitch! It looks like a difficult knit cabling stitch but it retains the essential laciness of crochet. And it’s much easier then it looks.
Crochet is a perfect middle of the night craft because it’s so quiet. Spinning is good too, and my new little laceweight Turkish Spindle has been getting a good workout.
Darning and Mending
I have enjoyed doing a bit of mending for my loved ones. A favourite cardigan of my sisters and some much-loved jeans for my youngest son are back in business again. Needlewoven darning is especially satisfying! Make Do And Mend my friends!
The embroidered piece, ‘Rescue Cat’ is finally finished!
WIP: And lastly, I am almost finishing Bre’s Crochet Peacock Feather Afghan. I am just appliqueing the feathers to the blanket now.
And that’s it for this month (so far), may the next one be a better one!
Love,
Baba StringThings
Beautiful projects and lovely photographs as well..I am in love with the alpaca coat of many colours xx
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Thank you Nicola, and Happy New Year! 🙂
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Can’t decide if I love those gauntlets or the coat more! I hope the splash of colour in your house helps a little with the darkness outside. Longer days soon to come! Hope you’ve had a good holiday season too and a happy New Year!
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Thanks! They are both coming in handy right about now, we’re still snowed in from a boxing day blizzard.
Sigh.
At least I am getting caught up on blogging! Happy New Year to you too! ❤
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