Massive update

Things seem to be a little hectic around here lately.

Last Wednesday-into-early Thursday (Thanksgiving) we got our first significant snowfall of the season. Southern Maine, where I live, got about 12" of snow. Luckily for us, we lost our power for only 1 and 1/2 hours. Some areas of Downeast Maine were still without power yesterday. That must've really messed up many Thanksgiving dinner plans, which is a shame.

The storm was a pretty one, though, as are all snow storms in my book! If I were the one doing the plowing, the snowblowing, and the shoveling, I'm sure I'd change my tune.

The four new lambs are done and, at this moment, making their journey to Georgia. I hope I haven't dressed them too warmly for the Southern climate. I'm afraid I was thinking of them as Maine lambs when I knit them and their attire.

I can't seem to get this photo (NOT taken by me but credited to the photographer in the lower right corner), to move below the photo of the lambs in their shipment carton.

But anyway, isn't this a gorgeous photo of Nubble Light House in York, Maine? On my Bucket List is exactly this: to see Nubble Light during the Christmas season some year.

(I originally typed "Holiday Season" but corrected it to Christmas Season because, darn it, I get tired of being politically correct.)


 Last Monday night I suddenly developed a sudden itchiness all over my body. By Tuesday it was worse; by Wednesday morning I was almost out of my mind.



Ken took me to the emergency room at So. Maine Medical Center and, lo and behold, I was allergic to a sulfa antibiotic which I'd stopped taking (once the prescription was finished) a few days earlier. I'm back to relative normal now.

When Ken hasn't been plowing snow, shoveling snow, moving the outlet for the new kitchen stove we're about to welcome, repairing the washing machine (because I got the pump terribly plugged while felting some knitted bowls), he's been painting our front hallway. As you can see, this is no easy task. He painted the ceiling yesterday and is painting the walls today. Next will be the living room, but that can't wait until after Christmas.

Yesterday I knit an owl. It's supposed to be an owl, anyway. I fear it closely resembles a penguin. It's a gift for a friend who loves owls, so I hope she'll see it as just that. The pattern is, once again, from Fuzzy Mitten. For weeks, literally, I've been trying to find a good owl knitting pattern on the web, only to realize a couple of days ago that I already had a good owl knitting pattern in my packet of purchased Fuzzy Mitten critter patterns!

That's what's been going on around here.

Knitting update

I haven't done a knitting update recently, so here it is...

I've shared the knitted owl puffs with you already. Now a pair of socks has joined them. The socks are for me. I swore I wouldn't buy any more sock yarn until I'd used up the stash I have on hand, but then I went to AC Moore and this pretty striped yarn kept whispering my name. What could I do but  put it into my shopping cart? I always use the Yankee Knitter sock pattern. It's well-written and results in a nice sock.

The yarn is Kroy Sox by Paton's. I do love that sock yarn: 75% wool, 25% nylon.

The "Wisp" scarf or shawl on the left is for a dear friend; the "Easy but Looks Difficult" scarf on the right is for...I'm not sure whom. Both knitting patterns are free on Ravelry. The yarn I got at the Maine Fiber Frolic this past June. It's by Dirty Water Dyeworks. Strange name but lovely fingering weight yarn. (I just discovered the owner of DWD has a great knitting blog. You might want to check it out.)

More knitted critters! I wasn't planning to be knitting more animals so close to Christmas, but I received a request for four lambs, so there you have it.

As you can see, one is still as naked as a jaybird, but her peach cardigan is well underway.

These lambs will be on their way to Georgia in a few days.

That's my knitting update, in case anyone who's a knitter reads my blog.

More owls

Unlike the owls in my last post, these owls are of the salt dough variety.

Violet spent a weekend with us recently, and our project this time was salt dough ornaments.

I mixed the flour, salt, and water, divided the dough in half, and the two of us kneaded our halves to the consistency of bread dough. (You can find the recipe I used by clicking on "flour, salt, water" above)

Then we rolled out the dough and used cookie cutters for the shapes.

Supposedly the dough will dry in a warm oven (200° or so) after a few hours.

I guess I cut the ornaments too thick, because my half of them took about five days to dry, most of that time beside our wood stove.

Violet took her half home with her. She probably has them all painted by now.

Once they were finally dry, I applied 3-4 coats of Mod Podge to seal them nicely. They are now hard as rocks and should last for years. I think I'll use most of mine as name tags on Christmas gifts and as place names for my Christmas dinner table. I'll use a permanent marker to hand write names on each ornament.

Have you ever explored Pinterest? I love that website. It's chock full of creative ideas. Whether it's cooking, bread baking, gardening, family history, photography, jewelry making, knitting,...the list is endless,...Pinterest has clever ideas to share with you. Once you get to the website by clicking "Pinterest" above, type into the search bar the topic you're interested in. Better do this only when you have time to spare, though, because you'll become captured by all the clever ideas and you might not come up for air for several hours!

That's where I found the idea for these salt dough owls.

I mixed another batch of flour, salt, and water, did the usual kneading, rolled out the dough and cut it into circles. Here's where the magic happens: By using the edge of a pen's cap to create the "feathers," then by folding the dough, you are left with an owl staring up at you. Almost staring, that is, since you now need to add the eyes. Again, the trusty pen cap for the outer circle of the eye, a toothpick to make the inner dot of the eye, and voila! But don't forget to use a straw to make a hole in the top of the owl's head so you can hang the ornament on your tree.

My next salt dough adventure will involve making "star fish." I love the look of dried starf ish used as window ornaments, but the really nice ones are very expensive. I found directions on Pinterest for making salt dough star fish, though. No one will know the difference!