Friday Favorites: The Holiday Season

I really do love the winter holiday season.  Yes, it comes earlier every year.  Yes, it's a lot of rushing around.  But I love the decorating, the food, and doing something special for those you love.

Here are some crafts, gifts, and recipes to make your holidays a little more merry :)

1.  I made this needle felted reindeer decoration (above) for my knitting group's handmade ornament exchange (we had a blast).  It was my first time needle felting, and I enjoyed it.  I've posted my notes and instructions here.

2.  Knitty.com has a great list of gift ideas for knitters.  These gifts include storage containers (always needed and appreciated), magazine holders, and design materials.  These ideas are items you don't always think about, but every knitter wants and needs!

3.  In case you missed it, I've just posted a new FREE holiday-themed knitting pattern for my Reindeer Tracks Cowl (I must have reindeers on the mind). 

4.  I always love it when someone gives me something I can't splurge on myself.  Here's a review of the much desired and beautiful A Stitch in Time (Vols. 1 & 2) knitting books.  Any vintage knitting fan would love these books!

5.  What would the holidays be without food and entertaining?  Here are a few of my favorite recipes for parties and little get-togethers:

Warm Eggplant Parmesan Dip (so good!)
Easy Meatball and Pepperoni Pasta Bake
Quick Salsa Cheese Dip

Hope these ideas fill your heart with warmth and cheer!

And the winner is...

My Textured Fingerless Mitts pattern!!  Yay!  My pattern won the Rising Star competition on Hubpages!!

And what did I win, you ask?  A "virtual" trophy! And bragging rights for a little while :)

Thanks SO MUCH to everyone who voted!  I really appreciate your support!

Check out my Hubpage for more free knitting patterns and craft ideas!

Thanks again!

Please vote for my pattern!!!

Yea! My free pattern for my Textured Fingerless Gloves or Mitts (by purl3agony) has been nominated as a rising star on Hubpages!!!  I really have no idea what this means but please go to http://hubpages.com/topics/arts-and-design/2 by Wednesday, Dec 5, and vote for my pattern (pretty please).  If I win, then we'll all find out what this is all about :)

You don't have to sign up to vote, so vote early and often!!  While you're there, check out my other free patterns and craft articles at http://purl3agony.hubpages.com/

Thanks!!!!

Friday Favorites: The Lust List

Or "If money grew on trees..."

photo by Genevieve Williamson on etsy

1.  Polymer Clay Bracelet by Genevieve Williamson on Etsy - This bracelet is beautiful! I love how she formed and colored the polymer clay to look like old, worn pieces of wood, stone, I don't know, something else. It's - at the same time - both very architectual and organic. Really cool.

photo by Zach Medler on etsy

 

2.  Pittsburgh Mug by Zach Medler on Etsy - He doesn't currently have this mug in his shop, but I love this design. I love how he uses stamps to create a Pittsburgh-like landscape on his mugs. I lived in Pittsburgh for 9 years and loved it. This mug reminds me of Pgh - the heaviness and colors of this piece remind me of the industrial past and hardworking roots of the city. Plus, I always love a great handcrafted ceramic mug!

 

 

photo from elvafields.com

 

3.  Handmade Necklace from Elva Fields - I first heard about Emily Wheat Maynard's beautiful jewelry in an article in Country Living magazine and just fell in love. It's hard to pick a favorite among all of her beautiful pieces. Emily recycles/upcycles vintage jewelry into new pieces with a great modern look. I love bold necklaces and really like how she maintains the femininity of the vintage pieces while updating them to a very current and cool look.

 

 

4.  The Photographs of Sarah Szwajkos - We saw an exhibition of her really large photographs recently at the Chocolate Church Arts Center (I'm not making this up) in Bath, Maine. I can't seem to copy any of the images from her website to share on this blog, but believe me, her photos are amazing (follow the link). Her photos of indoor spaces capture this wonderful sense of stillness, beauty, and mystery. You feel as if the occupants have scampered off, and left the details of their daily lives to be examined like an archaeological dig. Really fascinating.

 

With the holidays coming up, I hope this list gives my husband some ideas :)



Knitting Pattern: Reindeer Tracks Cowl

I recently posted this new knitting pattern for my Reindeer Tracks Cowl on my Hubpages.  You can find this FREE pattern at: http://purl3agony.hubpages.com/hub/Free-Knitting-Pattern-Reindeer-Tracks-Cowl.

This is a pretty quick, so it's great for last minute holiday gifts :)   The pattern uses slipped stitches and is knitted in the round.  I designed it to show off the colors of variegated yarn, but I think it would also look good in solid colors.

Hope you like it :)

Friday Favorites: Non-Traditional Quilts

"Christina's World" quilt by Luke Haynes

First, I don't quilt.  I don't even really sew.  But I enjoy looking at quilts and I admire the work and creativity that is involved.  I love how color and texture are pieced together to create an interesting composition.  I particularly like non-traditional quilts where either a) traditional materials are used to create a non-traditional pattern or image; or b) non-traditional materials are used to form something the resembles a traditional quilt pattern.

For this Friday Favorites, I am highlighting two non-traditional "quilt" artists.  A little surprising, both are men (I'm not really sure what that says about anything, but it's interesting to note).

Luke Haynes

"American Gothic" from Luke Haynes website

 

Amazing. What else is there to say? His cloth photo quilts are so detailed in their piecework - just beautiful. And I love how he uses traditional quilt designs as background for these images of daily life. I really can't imagine having the patience to put these together, but the color and composition make you forget that you're looking at a quilt and just draw you into the image itself.  Again, amazing.

 

Nathan L. Winkler and the Steel Quilt Company

 

"In School" by The Steel Quilt Company

 

Nathan Winkler uses wood and recycled barn tin to create these "barn quilts" that mimic traditional quilt patterns.  I love the rustic marriage of the rusted tin and worn wood in his pieces.  He seems to have a great eye for picking just the right background color to interplay with the pieces of recycled metal and how to create visual interest.  His barn quilts manage to be "country" and yet still be very modern.  More information about the Steel Quilt Company can be found on their facebook page.

 

from the Steel Quilt Company

Hope you enjoyed seeing these amazing quilts!  do you have any favorite non-traditional quilters?

Top Ten Local Yarn Store Names

logo for Ball & Skein from their website

I love to visit local yarn stores (LYSs) when I'm traveling. Its always great to see the different products that different stores carry and how the merchandise is displayed. I particularly like stores with great names. I lean toward LYSs with cute and clever names, and I love a good play on words.

I've put together a list of the best names I've come across. I'm not receiving any compensation from listing these stores. I don't have any relationship to any of them. In fact, I've only been to a couple of them (which I've indicated with an * ). These LYSs are on this list solely based on their names. I've included links to their websites if you want more information about them.

Top 10 Local Yarn Store Names

 

1. Knit and Stitch = Bliss in Bethesda, MD

2. Yarnia in Portland, OR

3. Ball & Skein* in Kennebunk, ME

4. Knitorious in St. Louis, MO

5. (tie) We're in Stitches (no website) and We'll Keep You in Stitches, both in Chicago

6. Yarntopia in New York City

7. TheTaming of the Ewe in Gadsden, AL

8. Yarnivore in San Antonio, TX

9. Strings& Strands in Atlanta, GA

10. Purl's Yarn Emporium* in Asheville, NC

 

Honorable Mentions

Twisted in Portland, OR

String in New York City

Bad Woman Yarn in Seattle, WA

I have a dream (more like a daydream) of opening a yarn store in Maine when I retire.  And I've already got a great name for it!  But I'm keeping it a secret :)