Solstice Blessings!

 A mighty log, adorned with candles to burn through the coldest nights. A green tree, adorned with memories! The settings to feed however many folk might wander through on this cold night.

A fire blazing bright, to ward of the dark while the sun is gone. Perfect for passing cups of mead around! Hail to the reborn Sun!

Happy Holidays to all my readers, no matter how you gather this season. May light and love be in your house.

Sloe Gin Fizz

I have a dirty addiction - the BBC's historical re-enactments. I've watched historians recreate farms from every era, I'll stalk Dr. Lucy Worsley in anything she does, there's even a show which has Edwardian cooking tips. There goes your afternoon, you're welcome!

While watching the Victorian Farm series, I watched Ruth put together a few bottles of Sloe Gin, traditionally made with blackthorn drupes. She placed it in the pantry for the upcoming Christmas season. If there's two things I like it's foraging and booze!

Unfortunately, here in the western U.S. there is a lack of hedgerows with wild plums in them. Fortunately there is a decorative plum in my front yard! It's got rich purple leaves and bark, and makes small red plums. Not quite the same, but a decent stand in.

I put my small harvest in a jar, covered it in good local gin, and a shake of sugar. Traditional recipes call for a lot of sugar, and I prefer my cocktails less sticky. Plus, watching my weight or something..

The photo above was taken Oct. 1st, this is the end of December, nearly three months! A rich red color and fantastic fruity aroma has occured. It looks really good against that backdrop of fresh fallen snow don't it?

Now, for a Sloe Gin Fizz. A good cocktail must have at least three ingredients - mine has the infused gin, sparkling water, and lime. A Fizz is traditionally done with a whipped egg white, but I am lazy  I wanted to experience the full flavors of the gin.




Full measure of both, on top of ice, squeeze of lime, stir with a knitting needle.

Go outside into the snowy afternoon and enjoy the drink and the sparkling of the sun on the flakes.

Some research shows that sugar is an important ingredient for the chemistry of the whole mess, so I added a bit more and stuck it back in the pantry to infuse more. While it is totally awesome and delicious right now, I was hoping for a fruitier flavor. (I used good Gin, so it's hard to lose, really.) I'll crack it again in January and see how it's doing! Until then, I'll just have to drink mead...

Blessed Yule!

This weekend was a full 48 hours of lighting fires in the darkness, making an unholy racket, and praising the sun!

The word Yule (or Jul as it's often spelled) is from the same root as "yell". The ancients seem to have gathered at sunrise after the longest night of the year to make a ruckus and wake up the Sun, lest she slip further beyond the horizon. So remember, carols should be sung at top volume and with much drumming and jingling of bells!

No matter which holiday you celebrate, may it be full of light and love!

And if you're in the Southern Hemisphere, enjoy your endless sunlight you rascals...

Gnomes - Part 1 - Shirts

 As any crafty person knows, making gifts for the Yuletide starts in January. However, this is the season to kick it into high gear. I, for one, detest seeing Christmas stuff out before the first of December, but it does remind me to get moving on the making!

This year as a gift for most of my dear friends I am creating little gnomes, in the Tomte tradition of the north. We could all use a house helper no? These will be entirely woolen, the bodies felted and attached to these wee shirts.

I decided to break up the tedium, and encourage creativity by making this a learning experience. I dug out an old pamphlet of embroidery stitches, and I'm trying to incorporate new and different stitches into each shirt. I'm not sure how many I will end up with, one can cut out an awful lot of little shirts from a single piece of felt...

I've gotten started on the heads as well, they are rather more time consuming! I'll post more details as these little creatures come together. In the meantime, I'm off to leave a bowl of porridge for any wights that may be already around the house, I wouldn't want them to get involved in any mischief...

What are you making for giftmas?

Embroidered Tree Skirt

Last year I was inspired to create an heirloom piece for our Yule tree. This is, in fact, a big step for me. I have long despised the holiday season, mostly because it starts in September. I am the 'bah humbug' shouting obscenities at holiday decorations that go up before Thanksgiving, and shoving headphones in my ears as soon as the bad Christmas music is heard in stores.

But, like the grinch, I am softening back to the season. I have always loved snow. I have always loved fire. Now that Yuletide means a gathering of friends with good food around a fire on a long cold night... it's not so bad. So, for the first time, we cut a real tree in the mountains and decorated it with my odd collection of ornaments. Such a tree is worthy of a good skirt!

I decided on several traditional winter symbols - Holly, Ivy, Pine, and Mistletoe. All are noted for staying green through the winter, and thus are considered signs of rebirth, fertility, and heralds of spring.

I chose a different color for each plant, and a simple arrangement of three leaves for each. the backdrop is a linen blend trimmed in red bias tape. I had a heck of a time getting it round!

The happy kidney bean likes it!

Finds - Winter Solstice

As the longest night of the year has passed, and the sun is once again growing in strength. May the light shine from within you in this coming year!

Lovely image by MoonlightPhotography, perfect for a cold winter's night!

We burned last year's Yule Log in our bonfire, but if you need something to add to your celebrations try this incense blend from DewberrysHerbal.

It's time for new beginnings and that includes new projects, how about some lovely yarn by ValentineArts?

The beautiful colors of this glass pendant remind my of the winter's sky. From FancyAngel.

Celebrate the returning solar energy! Adorable felt doll from PaintingPixie.

I hope you all have wonderful winter holidays, let's get crafty in the New Year!

Finds - First Snow

It snowed here in Colorado, and the trees have slushy bits of snow clinging to their changing leaves. It's a welcome sign after one of the hottest summers on record, and a step towards the winter weather. Today's Finds post has Colorado artist and our favorite subject - Snow!

An early Autumn snow, captured by MistyPhoto

Fabulous hair Kanzashi from MountainMusings, imagine wearing them on a snowy day!

Great note cards with sparse winter tree branches from MichelleMach.

A brilliant piece of tactile textiles, MelodyMoneyDesigns handmade this art quilt, and I'd like to believe finished it on a snowy night...

Add your own little winter touch to your holiday decor by making a Snow Bunny Ornament, FancyTiger's kit has everything you need, and you can make it as cute as you want!

This is the view I'm looking forward to, snow capped mountain slopes in the moonlight. Can it be Ski Season yet? Lovely Painting from CreatedbyStorm

The only thing better than stuff that reminds me of snow, is stuff that keeps me warm in it... Fluffy yarn by WildeThyme waiting to be a warm fuzzy for you!

It's not full on winter yet, but us Coloradans can be inspired by snow year round - there are places that get snow year round after all. The sun will soon melt this snow fall away, but I'm looking forward to the cold dark winter. What's the weather where you are?

A-viking We Shall Go!

For Yule this year I decided to fix two problems at once. My boyfriend has no hats, and often looks rather cold. Also, there is a terrible lack of raping, raiding and pillaging around the house. Let's make some changes to that ya?!
I started with handspun gray wool, a little nubbly for that rustic look. Starting at the top I made four bands of knit on purl background. The knit bands have large bobbles evenly spaced to look like rivets.

I got to the bottom and added a band of more bobbles, then started the cast off. The front and back bands are extended to a point with an extra bobble to protect the nose... or something like that. There are ear flaps in seed stitch so that Scandinavian winds don't get in. It took a good bit of steam blocking to get the points to behave...


The horns were picked up in a circle, knit for a short while with more bobbles. I then switched to handspun BFL in a creamy white to look like bone. Short rows gave it a curl, and I did all decreases on the same side for more lean. I didn't stuff them, I wanted the hat to not get too heavy and unwieldy, but I might wire the horns to be round.

If only I knew how to read patterns, I might make a pattern for this! Everyone should be able to enjoy their Northern European heritage and go around burning villages... right?

Yule Logs and Sunshine

Last night was the longest night of the year, about 14 1/2 hours of darkness here in Colorado. Which means it's time to feast, enjoy friends and family, and light candles in the darkness!
A friend in the local Grove made yule logs, and I asked for one that was unadorned so I could decorate it myself. I had plenty of evergreen boughs and holly from my yard - symbols of neverending life, vitality, and general awesomeness. Yes, I am using a staple gun, it works.
We all lit the candles and shared in a meal of winter veggies and roast. We drank late into the night and enjoyed the snow falling outside. This morning the sun returned (not that we can see it, it's dumping snow!) and we can look forward to the cold months getting a little less cold with each passing day. I hope everyone is enjoying their winter holidays and lighting candles in the darkness!

Seasons Changing

The leaves have long since changed and fallen here. The snow is covering the piles. As we approach the solstice and prepare for the cold nights of winter and return of the sun I like to curl up inside with hot tea and knitting. On the other hand, in my family everyone enjoys some kind of winter sport - skiing, telemark, snowboarding etc. It's the time of year for rich hearty soups and baking bread all day because it's nice to hang out in a warm kitchen. The changing seasons are always hard, either leaving behind a favored time of year or entering a challenging time, it's nice to reflect on the upside that each season offers.

We greet the snow with cookies, big sweaters, and sunglasses (in Colorado cold weather does not always mean clouds!). What is your favorite part of Autumn, that you will miss as the world turns? What are you looking forward to in the dark times?