It's a.......

Little boy beaver!

That is what the Mystery Knit-a-Long turned out to be.

The head was the most difficult part--getting the eyes, 

ears, nose and mouth parts all in a good place. 

Here is the beaver's tail. 

Pretty clever pattern--staying in pattern with increases and decreases.

Now he is off to dam something up.

See ya soon!

Brambly Catalog

My post about the Country Mouse/City Mouse brought about a comment about Jill Barklem and her Brambly Hedge stories. This reminded me about a little project I got up to in January.

I thought that the inhabitants of Brambly Hedge needed a catalog in which to order their goods. 

I started sketching up some pages for the catalog. 

So who wants to go shopping? :-)

Stuffie Surprise Knit-a-long

So far, so good!

I am participating in a knit-a-long over at Barbara Prime's Fuzzy Mitten.

Every Friday we get an update to the pattern with more pieces to the final product. 

What do you think it is going to be? 

It has a long head--but it is rounder than the picture shows.

I have left it unstuffed so far.

I am waiting for the final picture to aid me with any necessary shaping.

There are at least three other patterns for the design on the sweater.

I used KnitPicks, Wool of the Andes, worsted in Almond for the body.

It is various KnitPicks palette yarn in fingering weight for the sweater.

Country Mouse or City Mouse?

This is an illustration from a book published by Platt & Munk called 

"Folk Tales Children Love" edited by Watty Piper.

This story is the classic City Mouse and Country Mouse.

It is a shame that the illustrator is not named. 

Does anyone know who drew this?

These mice look like rats to me..... 

These, of course,are illustrations by the incomparable Richard Scarry for the same story.

I would love a house in a tree, wouldn't you?

I ought to do a post just on illustrations of houses in trees that have fascinated me since childhood.

I am impatiently waiting for spring, which is taking a long time to show up.

Fairy tales help to lift my sagging winter spirits. :-)

Happy Easter Time

Easter is so early this year and we have had a chilly spring break.

Yesterday we cleaned and re-arranged Em's room--yikes, the dust bunnies!

Em has a bird feeder right outside her window 

and the birds kept us company as we gathered three bags of trash and giveaway. 

I moved our dining room table as well, under a window, just to get it into a different spot. 

Somehow that room--really just an extension off the living room has never been right.

It is a thruway and is hardly ever used, dismal ambiance.

Now we have a better view from the windows and more room.

I put out some knitted eggs in a dish for Easter.

I made them from leftover sock yarns with a couple of different patterns from the net.

Knitted Vest for Maggie

Here is Maggie again. :-)

Alicia Paulson has pinned her to a Pinterest board showing 

some of the fabulous Maggies that have been completed from her pattern and kit. 

The little vest I made up for her is not a very complicated pattern. 

The link for it is HERE.

Please let me know if you have any problems with it and enjoy!

Maggie's Done!

Well, here she is!!

I finished the kit for Maggie Rabbit from Alicia Paulson.

I am so pleased with how she turned out and the kit was a breeze to follow.

I made the knitted shawl that came with the kit 

and was inspired to design and make up a wee vest for her as well.

I can hardly wait to see the patterns for clothes that Alicia comes up with. 

Maggie Rabbit!!!!!!

Oh, sweet day!

The cutest rabbit pattern I ordered from

Alicia Paulson of Posie Gets Cozy

is here!!!

I was so lucky to go to her site early enough last Friday to order.

 She sold out of all the kits in less than a day.

(she is going to restock) 

The kit I ordered has Liberty fabric in the Claire Auld pattern.

Yummy!

And like a geeky groupie I'll be keeping the personally signed thank you card.

I can hardly wait to see the other clothing patterns that she comes up with for her 

Maggie Rabbit.

Chaos

When we moved into our house 3 years ago some of the wiring was a bit sketchy.

We have just finished getting it properly fixed.

 Even though things are still messy, everything still pushed around and disorganized, the workmen are gone.

It was horrible having the work go on while everyone in the house had a nasty cold, 

drilling and loud banging doesn't mix with a head cold very well.

We got to adios the shop lights we had down there. I was so happy to see these go away.

When I get my little art area back in order

 I will share pictures of the drop lights I now have over my workbench.

There is still work to do down there in the basement 

but it such a good feeling to have it safe.

Catching Up......

I have been meaning to update this blog for ages and January slipped past me. 

I kind of wish February would right now. I'm in the midst of a little cold that has me feeling all in a fog.

Anyway, I made this felt babushka in December. I was practicing embroidery stitches. She is meant to be an ornament so she still needs a string and next year she will hang from our greenery.

Take Care! :-)

Wishing You

Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Eve

A small tree in my studio space in the basement. 

We had snow fall on Friday. 

 Stacked wood looks so cozy--those lovely fires in the woodstove.

A house waiting for spring. 

We are snug in our beds awaiting Christmas morning!

Tis' the Season

Yikes are these things delicious! There is a holiday fest in our little town and this is one of the booths.
Is everyone thinking that Christmas is rushing in really fast?

Follow me.......

I've joined the crowd over at Pinterest! It is a ball, I hope you can join in. You can find me by clicking on the button on my sidebar or searching for Gingerbread Cottage within Pinterest.
(image credit: Laura of 52 Flea blog)

One More Tin

I'll bet you didn't think I would post again so soon!

This tin came into my hands this summer.

While on vacation and strolling through an antique mall, I spotted this tin from across the room and almost mowed down a couple of people to get to it. 

Love, love this pattern and are you ready for the ironic part?

It is made by the very same company as the tin I showed you yesterday.

I looked through Etsy listings for tins and for specifically Daher and there are a lot of tins listed so these aren't rare by any means but golly I love this pattern! 

And a bonus!!! This tin came with sewing odds and ends. I am totally a sucker for these odd bits.

One Tin Box

 There was an estate sale near our house yesterday. I found this tin and was curious about who had made it. It is marked "Made in Belgium" so I assumed it might be a chocolate box.

 I found out that it was made by a company named Daher in England which is now The Tin Box Company in NY. Love this tin and you will see in my next post that it is an ironic find.

 In a small box at the same estate sale I found a bunch of quilt squares. SCORE!! I am loving the fabric. A real mix of mostly older cotton with graphic or floral prints. I've tucked it into my new tin box for now.

Here is some "cheater" fabric made to look like quilt squares probably from the 1970's cause it looks like Holly Hobbie style prints and colorways. :-)

Before Frost

Our fench line has really blossomed this year.

I'm glad that I was convinced to add a coral bells plant.

TIMBER!

We are sad, like this tree to have to cut it down. 

This massive pine had to go as well.

It was killed in the terrible storm at the end of June this summer.

The wind twisted it so much that it tore the bark and inner parts that lead the sap up.

Garden Visitor

A garden spider is gracing my flowers.

The ladder on her web beneath her is elegantly wrought, don't you think?

Dibs and Dabs

Some lovely threads and yarn gathered up yesterday. 

My mom was cleaning out her stash and allowed us to make away with some really pretty yarn and threads. Hoarders galore in this family!!

Lovely

A gorgeous early-blooming daylily from my mom's garden.

A start that she gave me last year.

Lovely,

 just like her!

Happy Mother's Day!

Granny Stitch Cowl

I finally finished something crafty!

I made a warm wooly cowl--now that we are having summer-like temps I thought I would finish this for my winter wardrobe--ummm--just a little out of step with the season I think? :-) 

I love the colors in this yarn.

It is Liberty Wool, color #7865 from Classic Elite Yarns.

The technique for this cowl is from Meg, HERE and Attic24, HERE.

The stitch is from Attic24's Granny Stitch blanket and the cowl idea is Meg's.

It is long enough to go around my neck twice to be snuggly warm. 

Geranium Cranesbill "Johnson's Blue"

Overnight

The promise of fresh flowerbuds...... 

We had thunder that woke us at 4am. 

Everything is fresh and dewy after the rain.

Rhody Love

Pretty rhody flowers that take forever to open up all the way

--but so worth the wait!! 

I love the dark pink edges to each petal.