High Tea Holidays

High Tea with Hailey

Mamacat and I made our annual pilgrimage to the Heathman Hotel for holiday tea:

Terez by the Tree

It might be after December 25th but the decorations were just as lovely, and the real tree we were seated near scented the air delightfully.

Treat Tower

The menu didn't change too much this year--old friends: opera cakes, scones with marscapone cheese, smoked salmon and chicken salad and cucumber sandwiches were back. As were our favorite treats, the mini jam and honey jars:

Mini Marmalade

We had to box up the top layer of desserts and bring it home.

Pink Dishes and Pearls

My niece is just old enough to be enchanted by the idea of a tea party. We decided to have our own this morning, complete with jam sandwiches, shredded wheat biscuits and tangerines:

Tea for Three

Lily Belle isn't quite ready to drink out of her own cup but next year I predict we'll have another one at our table.

Cheers!

XO and happy new year!

Terez

Mamacat's Palette

Mamacat's Palette

I hope she lets me take the Mt. Hood study!
XO Terez

Christmas 2011

Stitched by Mamacat, 1989

Merry Christmas, all!
XOXO Terez

Saturday Stroll

Starling Sitting

Lunch Buddies

Canadian Invasion Formation

Too Shy for the Camera

After finishing some Christmas errands I decided to walk from Park Street to Hynes through the Common and Public Garden. I was treated to a show of starlings gobbling up red berries and Canadian Geese participating in a glamorous synchronized swimming performance. The ice skaters cutting away at the Frog Pond looked a little out of place with the green grass and balmy temps. Will we have another record snowfall this year? {I hope not!}

XO Terez

Old Shale

Old Shale Stitch

For as long as I've been stitching, I've wanted to make a chevron or ripple blanket. I have tried, many, many times to learn to crochet properly because I thought it was the only way to make one of these fascinating yarn-stash-busters:

Great Grandma Ripple Blanket Modeled by Anna Cat Bebe

But behold, the knitting pattern Old Shale:

Hail the Old Shale

This is my first attempt. I read about it on Ravelry. I knew I could do it--I knew it.

The pattern is so easy--it's just a repeat of four simple rows:
Cast on 20 stitches
Row One: K 20
Row Two: K 1, P 18, K1
Row Three: K 1, [K2 Tog] 3 times, [K1, YO] 6 times, [K2 Tog] 3 times, K1
Row Four: K 20

That's it! It's just the right combination of mindless knitting and purling for three rows and one row of increasing and decreasing. It's worked in multiples of 18--I added the single knit stitch at the beginning and ending of each row to help decrease curling. I watched a very helpful YouTube video by iknitwithcatfur (??) that helped me get the groove going.

Corner Curve

I have 840 yards of Malabrigo Worsted Noviembre yarn that I'm thinking of doing a tiny shawl or wrap with in this pattern:

Malabrigo Noviembre Test Shale

I knitted up a test swatch this afternoon and I think it will work nicely.

But first: I must finish Christmas sewing. There are not enough hours in the day.

XO!
TEREZ

Cotton Constellation

Cotton Constellation

My little quilt galaxy is complete!

This weekend I completed the final two "test blocks" of the Texas Star template and pinned them to my shades in the back room for a colorful constellation. A few things I learned:

Allowances

The seam allowance contraption was incredibly helpful at keeping the seams to 1/4". Training wheels, I suppose, but well worth it.

Get to the Point

Sewing on the bias is tricky. Much easier if the fabric is starched and precisely pinned. I also learned you can burn starch, and in turn, burn the fabric. Following the written instructions are important; someone took the time to write and illustrate them for a reason. On the last two blocks (the green and blue and blue and yellow two, on the left) my seams were much straighter and the blocks went together a lot easier when I followed the pressing, pinning and sewing directions.
 

Reality

I am a messcat. This isn't news, but I had barely finished trimming, pinning, sewing and installing before my work table was a complete mess. My next two projects are scattered about, waiting impatiently for me to get on with it.

Three Wishes

The experiment was a delight! Now I'm ready for the real thing, with some favorite fabric pieces. Stay tuned!

XO Terez

Walk to Work Wednesday

A Little Birdie Told Me

Golden Path

Between the Rails

Asphalt Applique

Renegade Bunch

The leaves have finally started to change but it feels more like the tail end of summer than the middle of fall--upper 60s today and plenty of sunshine. The steam radiators in my apartment don't know the difference: still clunking and spurting out heat despite the balmy air. Such a treat in November makes me wonder if we'll pay for it in February: a squirrel is already trying to build a den in my ceiling and it's not even freezing at night yet.

XO Terez

Golden Afternoon

Golden Afternoon Selvege

The Chez Terez studio's state of affairs has been in a sad state indeed.  My workroom, lucky enough to contain four Northwest facing windows, is flooded with full-sun from June to September and it's simply to hot to work in there. Instead it has become a repository for every craft supply I've bought or scavenged and after a terrible attempt to move large pieces of furniture by myself yesterday, it looked like this:

Buried Treasure

I was in the middle of moving that metal drawer of paper crafts and I was too lazy to move the Scrabble dice game to safety, and well, you can see how successful that was.

Solo Stretching

Mid-clean spree, I decided to put the extra leaf in my work table. Alone. I re-enacted it in the photo above to give you the full experience.

After four hours, the place was back in business. Tonight every craft item is sorted and with its proper neighbors. Stamps with stamp pads, fabric sorted and folded, beads and pliers stacked neatly, printmaking inks stored properly, rulers hung on the wall. It is a thing of beauty.

I started working on a star quilt:

Start of Star Quilt

I still don't have a proper design wall. I found a piece of white felt, some clothespins and a spare curtain rod and rigged this up:

Star Quilt Test

Which worked great until I knocked into it while rooting around in the closet:

Star Quilt Fail

That only strengthened my resolve. What good is one star quilt when I could be making three at the same time? But forget the design wall, I'm back to basics: a freshly made bed will do just as well to test the layout:

Star Quilt Redo

Stay tuned. I should have a spectacular constellation to show and tell next week.

XO TEREZ

Walk to Work Wednesday

John, Andrew, Paul and Matthew

Sneaky Sunlight

The Breakfast Club

Beacon Street Water Works

Mini Mums

How did it get to be November already? Autumn this year has been less than spectacular--the leaves are stubborn and refuse to change or fall from the trees. We've already had a snow storm--and still many people are without power. As for the temperature change, I don't mind...too much. I sometimes wish the summer away--the heat and humidity are worse in my mind than the bone chilling temperatures we're expecting in a few weeks. Fall and winter means Mamcat's-Not-So-Secret-Anymore-Hot-Cider Recipe, pot roast, Jane Austen, knitting, purling, quilting, Baileys & Cocoa, snowy Sunday dinners with friends, the Nutcracker, down comforters, holiday handmade gift making and purchasing (and sometimes keeping!). By February I'll be through but for now I'm settling in with a mug of tea and already enjoying the incumbent holiday season. And finally...finally...my fingers are itching to create some new baubles.
XO Terez 

Herbertpalooza 2011

The Menu

Sing A Song With Uncle John
(Baby Marching Band)

Get Some Candy With Uncle Andy

Have A Ball With Uncle Paul

Toss A Hat On Uncle Matt

Poppi "Dunk Tank"

Swedish Fish Toss

Gone Fishing

Gone Fishing Reel Big View

The Zoo