women's work

Thanksgiving helped me this year to be grateful for what we have and not be sad for what we don't. With three of my five kids able to make it home, plus our friend Bill, who would have been alone, my darling husband by my side and of course owen running around willy nilly, there was far more thankfulness than sadness. or missingness. Next, here comes Christmas...I can do this... :)

I had a lovely four day weekend home from work, two if you count all the cooking and cleaning. The sun came out so i could finally get some photos of my anniversary gift. Below is what Chuck gave me, made by my friend, artist Anne Luther. This piece was part of a recent exhibition named 'Women's Work'....

Anne's show touched me very much as it honored so much of what i've done all my life, the domestic chores, cooking, cleaning, child raising as well as the skill of needlecraft. She elevated all these things to a beautiful art form. For more about Anne Luther go here.

Seeing Anne's art made me look at my own tools I use everyday. Here are the necessities for knitting that go with me everywhere. I think i've left out counters, I have three, those are super necessary. I did not take photos of knitting needles, cameras, pens (micron), paintbrushes, colored pencils, sewing machine... there are a lot of tools that improve my life and make me really happy everyday.

And then, I met a woman last week. she asked me what I was knitting (a new shawl). And we began talking. She is a knitter too, but a photographer first. She asked if i'd heard of 'Greetings from Knit Cafe' , the book.

Indeed I had! I was so inspired by the beautiful book, I made the skirt on the books cover

and then she told me, she took the photographs for the book! we both agreed it really is a small world. To see more of her (gorgeous) photos, go here.

It's cold and windy here now, perfect kite flying

(and knitting) weather.

enjoy your week ahead everyone!

♥ lori

hibernating

this was the weekend we had plans to go away,

old mr. weather had other ideas, it would not be a good idea with the storms brewing.

after wearing my grumpy hat for most of friday

i began to look forward to the next forty eight hours...

i finished up more green sleeves for my shop and gave them a holiday look, they posed with a tree and lights (miniature size). i began unwrapping christmas, for the photos. the wreath is made out of vintage balls i've collected for years and the tree pin is made with sequins and is so delicate i would never do that again, last the needlepoint is a dream, usually the only snow we'll see each year.

'green sleeves' are all ready for holiday gift giving and for the month of december, post free. they were featured in an etsy treasury for gifts under 25.00, because limits are a good thing. if you'd like one they are over here.

yes, i sewed each teeny bit on one at a time (what was i thinking) , and what doesn't show is that it's two dimensional and another layer is underneath, with just one seam down the middle holding it together. i used to wear it to my children's holiday open house at school and they liked that. i can see the gold star on top is a little floppy now.

i worked through the night, even running outside between raindrops to see the almost full moon (and to apologise to old mr. weather, i'm not mad at you anymore).

saturday morning i woke to this and a phone call from my youngest, hannah, in nyc. first, isn't this gorgeous? i love those windy clouds after a good rain, and look how green the mountains are! hannah had a request. 'please mama, i never thought i'd ask you this, but can you make me an apron? and please give it not one pocket but two?'

'and one more thing mama, could you please match the color to my work, you'll find it on their website.' see above (pretty good eh? it wasn't me that was the super matcher, my friend and shop owner kathy found the perfect material).

in under an hour i was to the shop and back home, armed with enough fabric and began sewing at once.

one for hannah and one for her friend and coworker, peter. because he's nice to her.

they are reversible, maybe i should have put blue on both sides?

two pockets in front

and one secret one underneath. hannah's request came because she had all her tips stolen. she had been putting them in a box, in the back. at the end of her shift she found one bill when there should have been many. now she can carry her money with her in her not two but three pocket apron.

(sold) ((thank you!))

oh dear these are out of order, and ought to be up above with the other etsy shop items. however, i am too tired now after this long weekend to do any more. please visit my shop if you'd like either of these scarves, i'm going to go put them in there now!

there is the cowl i'm loooving. off to go knit now, catch up on your blogs too, just as soon as i clean up the mess i've made.

have a lovely week ahead!

♥ lori

warm apps

foggy stormy cold weather came to town

trees disappeared behind a curtain of fog. in the hundred year old building where i work, there is no heat or insulation. i was cold cold cold.

i searched my 'sounds of nature' app and found this: a fireplace!

as it got progressively darker and colder

i snuggled up with a cracklin fire in my lap. and felt much more cozy. it sounds so real! hahaha!

i finally cast on for a cashmere cowl ... HEAVEN. a sublime experiance... the yarn in my hands, like butter, and the pattern, just enough interest, easy enough to memorize, a soothing knit. it's a mock cable, super tiny and delicate...i'm knitting in slow motion so it won't end too soon. It'll be some time before i get my hands on a hank of pure cashmere again (it was a treat i bought last summer when i visited here). maybe it'll be a christmas gift, maybe not. the fireplace app doesn't really keep me warm.

;)

♥ lori

smile please

it's the morning, let's take a walk

let me take your photo, okay owen? someone would like to see how much you've grown.

look here dear

please, just one where we can see your face?

there you go, almost.

ah, yay! there's a good boy. thank you darling. go play now!

look what we found! there are heart stones, but i've never seen a heart in a stone. till today :)

we didn't find any seaglass (the above beach is where i found a goldmine last spring), but soon it'll be time for it to reappear again ( i hope). this is a photo of my treasured collection, my best pieces. finding marbles makes me jump up and down.

in the afternoon, finishing up a pair of fingerless gloves. knit with more of the super soft and warm alpaca i have. these are from a pattern called toasty. but i added one small extra design.

a pocket

with a button closure

for my nyc girl. see? she can carry her subway pass here, or some money (even her cell phone) . a j.i.c. (just in case) pocket.

and one more thing. a photo she requested. ( little tiny photo made instantly with this!)

i hope these make her smile. (owen will help with that) and that they keep her warm.

♥ lori

i'm sorry i've not been blog visiting much, i have a lot of christmas knitting and making to do, did you know it's only 41 days until santa comes?! i'll be by soon though. have a wonderful weekend everyone!