from the north country : ten finger workshop

Staying warm : a few crafts from the snowy north

This sweater mitten tutorial from five green acres changed my life this winter.  I've made about 20 of them, for friends and family.  They are satisfyingly quick, economical and most importantly warm.  This set was for a family who has an annual camp out on a frozen lake, I have yet to participate but I thought their digits could use some extra protection.

Insulated Curtains ,  a must have for a drafty old house that sees 4 months of  winter winds that come from the north. 

These curtains were really simple to make too.  Heavy Ikea fabric and a quilted mattress cover, that had been torn by the washing machine, made for an simple panel curtain.  Made a bit longer than the windows so it can be tucked on the sill to keep drafts down.  Not the fanciest thing I've ever made, but it has made the most difference.  

 

Minor improvements every year keep us treading through winter namely a netflix membership and lots of wool.  I hope you stay warm too.  
Thank you meg for letting me guest post for you this week, come visit me at ten finger workshop. 

details - long winter days pt 3

We had epic winter storms this week that forced us to stay inside.  Staying in our pj's,  turned the oven on and enjoying another long winter day together.
We roasted the rest of our sqaush & pumpkins from the root cellar .  Filling the depleted freezer with puree,  and our shelves ready for empty canning jars, waiting for next year. 
Welcome February, and one month closer to the growing season.  

art table - long winter days pt.2

 It seems like soooo long ago when I moved in the art supplies from the front porch for the winter.  What ended up being a vintage metal assemblage of furniture is our art table.  A wide trough held paper, stickers, crayons etc. ready whenever the mood stuck the boys.  I tried to clean it up, move supplies through every once in a while to keep it fresh but too often it just became another cluttered mess.     SO,  enter in another vintage piece of metal furniture. 

 This tall organizer has been in my studio for about 10 years,  holding....who knows what.  Time to give it up, haul it upstairs and give it over to the family's newest artists.  It gave the table top more space,  more supplies with less clutter and hopefully inspiration.   With a blizzard on the way I'm hoping this updated art table get's some more use.  sooo now what?

penguins - the long winter days pt 1

I had stashed this cool wooden model from a recent craft store raid a few weeks back.  When reading Casper the Ghost comics exhausted itself this afternoon I stumbled upon this.  So while the little one was asleep, Felix & I dove into figuring this thing out.  It was so fun, I felt like I had finally found a project that was at his level, fun and we stayed friends throughout building it.  The result is a sweet pair of penguins.  A mama and a little guy,  how perfect. 
score one for the tired mama......now what are we going to do???

the long winter days

 

These days come every year,  cold, still & snowy.  The wonder has worn off, no celebrating or gift giving, now it's just a waiting game.  It's too early to think about spring, but we can start to dream about the garden.  We knit, bake and watch movies, try to make plans and only a few happen. It's the perfect space to be in my first trimester,  with no energy to do much of anything, but dream about the summer.    and a baby. 

in the new year

hello friends.  I don't have much happening on my end at the moment besides cleaning up, purging & making my 2011 list.  Here's how it stands:
- get lenses for my awesome new wooden glasses
- take a page from elsie marley, simple, organized & cool.
- give this midwife some business
- organize my studio, again.
- do more yoga
- make homemade cheese somehow
-  give these children some breakfast. 

happy new year all of you. 
Lily

making a bit of christmas magic for a friend.

Hello all you holiday makers,  we're gearing up just like you are for all the festivities later in the week. While my lists are done,  I got a chance to help a good friend this week by making her boys some stockings to hang for Santa.  I had been making mittens using old felted sweaters and this fantastic free tutorial from Five Green Acres ( and Mary Jo's old sweaters too! ) .  These stockings were simple to make using the scraps from the sweaters.  I used an old stocking as a pattern and than cut it into 5 pieces.  Using the pattern I tried to make a white, blue & green stocking each embroidered with the sweet boy's name.  I like the cozy handmade look of them,  maybe I'll make some for my boys next year.      there's always next year rite?! 
Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays to you all. 

Cheers,  Lily

homemade cocoa

 

Here's a simple homemade gift for your neighbors & friends.  

Hot Cocoa mix:

 1 cup cocoa + 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

or if you like it a little bittersweet reduce the sugar to 1 1/4 cup. 

We mixed them together with a whisk and carefully packaged them into jars as gifts.  

Add one tsp cocoa mix for every cup of milk, heat, serve & smile.  

here's to getting a bit of the holiday spirit, 

lily & oscar

after the first snow

knitting for my dear sisters

Advent candles, one for each boy, found them .here

recycled sweater tree garland inspired by meg

 We Wisconsinites got our first snowfall yesterday.  It was perfect,  only 4 inches or so and on a Saturday.  I had been thinking about starting to unearth the Christmas box and this snow storm completely got me into the holiday spirit.  Here's some views from around our house this weekend.

Simple snowflake ribbon wrapped around a wreath. 

I found this amazing vintage felt appliques thrift shopping,  I'm happy I got to finally use them.

Finally a tree for the boys room.  I think this is the year they will reallllly get into the holidays.

 

 

and he is 5

 This once tiny boy is 5.  We had a very full week with new work and preparations for a celebration.  For sanity's sake ( yes, she flew over the house for a moment last week) I did NOT do the crown, the hobo lunches, the t shirt or a  extravagant cake.  Without intending on having a theme it turned into a circle party.

 Vanilla cupcakes with vanilla frosting and sprinkles,  I was told that is what kids have at their birthdays, not cakes.   I did make hobo gift bags filled with dollar store gifts.  They were simple and fun,  a simple place mat construction with loops on 3 sides and a long rope on the 4th.  Polka-dots were on the outsides of all, in case they take them to ride the rails.

 We made pizza's, ate a ton of veggie sticks and cantaloupe.  The kids ran wild & the adults drank too much coffee, it was a nice party for a Saturday afternoon.  To finish off the birthday weekend we all went to 'Strega Nona the Musical' today, a favorite book.

When I get a moment to reflect on it all I am astounded at this past 5 years, I can't even fathom what is next. 






( felix 2 months old & me  26)

a musical break

Our good friend Steffan Jonsson from Sweden.  He came this spring to pick up a guitar made by another friend Devin. As always in our home, a safe haven for musicians, a shop party in their honor made for some amazing music.  Here's a taste.  Have a great week.

tiny acorn hat

Ta Da!!
my first try at a hat,  a teeny tiny hat.  I modified this free pattern on ravelry called swell.  Since my kids arn't surfers I thought an acorn pattern would be cute.  Even though they look more like Chinese lanterns than acorns I'm happy with the result.  And while there's no one in our home to fit this tiny hat I'm sure I can find a little person to give this too before the winds blow. 

Now to cast on for one double this size for my guys. 

acorns again?  we'll see. 

stone cowl

hello
  
here's the quick update:


-made this cake for my mom & LOVED IT!!
-got a new job at my old job, hopefully leading to a less hectic life
-the show was a great success.
- I wrapped myself into a bunk bed frenzy but now it's up & I can move on to sewing new curtains. 
- I've got the knitting bug, badddddd. But not in that sweater or sock kind of way,  I'm going for the simpler quicky kind of way.  My first project is this cowl last week, and I absolutely adore it. I made it using a cheapo cotton & acrylic yarn I got from Michaels because I liked the color so much.  On the needles now are some hats for the boys. 




I hope to be back sooner rather than later, oh &  I've missed you too. 

until next time

whoa.  getting ready for my opening next week,  tending to the tomatoes that need to be canned, laundry, apple butter, building forts & working FT,  let's just say I'm totally overwhelmed. 
Be back soon with links, updates, photo's of squaredances & the like. 

ta ta
L

deck to landing : before & after

It's always been in the back of our minds to redo the back porch/deck/jail cell one day.  So we designed, talked to friends and started to hoard materials.  A few bricks here,  some flagstone there, and what seemed like a snails pace project now is DONE!!!  Take a look see.









The old, thankfully rotting, deck.  With it's high railing and small stairway oriented not to the yard but the driveway instead.  Sure we had fun out here, and it was functional but it always seemed apart from the yard rather than an extension of it.





This is the new patio & deck ( sorry for the dappled light, it's just been so damned sunny lately)  We built a cedar landing with wide large steps, going to a brick & flagstone patio.  We wanted it to act as a space where kids & friends could come & go.  Eat, play music & shuck corn or have coffee on those steps.   Be in the yard. Here are a few more in shots of the progress















designing the shape & size the materials we had would allow.









Another reason I love my handy & patient husband, he built the stairs on the nights that I worked.  That means these two were happily helping out too.