Bears

I have fallen in love with the Teddy Bear.

I made a pattern and cut a Bear out of an old felted wool sweater.

In the evenings I am stiching Bear by hand.

Her body is finished and ready for stuffing.

I chose two buttons my Great Grandmother made for Bear's eyes.

Tonight I will begin making Bear's face.
I will give her a nose and a mouth.

I will sew up her ears.

She already has a heart.

I have requested a few books from the library.
 I need the patterns.

Learning to make stuffed animals
is very fun.

Right now I am head over heels in love with Bears.
As soon as she is finished I will take photographs.
I hope to make many Bears from old felted wool sweaters.
I do not mind Winter any more.
 It is Bear season.

Candlemass

The blizzard has moved east.

We received 12.3 inches of snow.

It is bitterly cold but it is sunny.

The forced bulbs bring cheer to the living room.
I am so glad I did pots of them for February flowers.

I checked on the birds first thing this morning.

They were fine.

We have had hundreds of birds at the feeders.
They are good at waiting their turn.

I think the birds are beautiful.

The groundhog saw his shadow
at my house.

I shall wait for Spring.

I made candles this morning
with the left over pieces of candle wax

I have saved this past year.

I am always making something.
My kitty pillow I made many years ago
from some pretty rose chintz a friend gave me.

I brought up the dress my Mother made for me
when I was 13 years old.
She painted roses on it.
I treasure her talent.

Collars and thoughts

I have been thinking about clothing lately.

I am thinking of making a few Spring things.
I will need to get some patterns.

I finished my collar.

It is the first knitted piece I did a couple of years ago.
When I chose my yarn I chose an all natural fisherman's wool.

Once I finished knitting the skein I machine felted the piece. Last week I decided to make my piece into a collar for a sweater or jacket. For my collar I folded the piece lenghtwise and hand stitched the edges together using a brown satin cord for trim.

I sewed one of my Grandmother's coat buttons on the point.

I machine felted an old wool sweater. 

I think I will make a headband out it.
Something soft with a bit of elastic.
I save pictures of things I like when I look in the catalogs
that come in the mail.
They inspire me.

In January I celebrate
the Japanese culture.

I admire the way threads become art.

When I study different cultures
and their hand crafts

I am inspired to create.

The way of the Japanese culture is very wabi sabi.

I am saving all my scrapes

 for quilts and rugs and balls.

When I think of Japanese culture 

I always think of their amazing papers,

their washi.

The honored tradition

 of the origami crane

has come to represent peace.

I have brought my knot board up
to the living room.
I want to work on learning my button knots.
Maybe someday I could knot a butterfly.

The Twelfth Night

My daughter sent a yarn bowl for my birthday,
 made by an local artist in her city.

I have it in the living room by the windows.

Just seeing it brings me much delight.

It is time for me to work on my Chinese Knotting.

I brought up my knot board and my cords.

Hopefully this January I will learn how to do one of the basic knots.

We celebrate Luna New Year in January. Our house is decorated with an nod towards Asian influence.

My husband and I were born in the year of the rain dragon. We have dragons hanging here and there.

It is very fun to bring out the January things.

I am aware of the placement of our decorations.

I practice less is more.

After my Victorian Christmas

January is refreshing.

Painted fans and silk embroidery  

help to set the mood.

2011 is the year of the Rabbit.

We have plans to attend an early Luna New Year

celebration at the art gallery.

I am listening to 

some of my favorite music.

It is Twelfth Night, 

Christmastide ends tomorrow

with the Epiphany.

I have many projects to do in 2011.

There are many days to celebrate.