Family Style

You may have heard the little-ist Herbert tied the knot last week (welcome to the Funny Farm, Meghan!). Between Christmas and the wedding celebration we sure partied ourselves out. Thankfully I got enough love from my little flock (and kitty love therapy!) to tide me over until next time.

XO Terez

Seven Sparrows

Family of Seven

::Today was our first real snowfall-that-stuck of the winter season. We've had a fairly mild winter--most of my scarves and mittens have stayed in storage, and there have only been a few days when my eyeballs felt like they were freezing in my head. I needed to get a few things from Coolidge Corner this afternoon so I bundled up and headed into the storm.

My neighborhood is filled with folks who keep their bird feeders well stocked, year round. Excellent for the birds, not so great for the skunk that lives somewhere in my hood nor the squirrels who frolic on my roof when I'm trying to sleep. {Well, good for them, but not for me!}

I stumbled upon a bird feeder hidden behind a sparse hedge up the street and came upon about 50 house sparrows buzzing and flapping and flinging themselves through the snow and each other to get to a full container of seed.

To the right of the feeder was a simple garden urn, with seven sparrows standing sentinell 'round the rim. I hoped they'd stay still so I could pull my camera from my pocket and take their photo, but they flittered away. I stood very still, and they came back. I kept snapping away and after about 50 shots I got the one above. Good thing because two frames later the neighbor woman opened her front door to get her mail and they all fluttered away.

I love the number seven. There are seven people in my family immediate family. It's always represented a symbol of love and hope for me. I'll take these little darlings as a sign of good things to come.

Happy New Year!

Stay warm!

XO Terez

And Cut!

PS here are the little guys one frame later, breaking their mark. I love the little guy hidden in the lattice under the porch. Can you see his little head peeking out?

Disappearing 9 Patch

Disappearing 9 Patch Draft

This year I was certain I would make Christmas gifts for most folks on my list. It seemed like a good idea in September, but not such a good idea on December 23 when I was sewing the wrong-side-to-the-right-side of some complicated items. I had to walk away, fly home, and finish the little guys on my parents' Pfaff at the last minute:

Pin Cushion Cut-astrophe

They are darling pin cushion caddies from Anna Maria Horner's Seams To Me book. In the end I was able to save them, and give them, but for now perhaps should stick to straight lines and two dimensions. You'll notice on the lower right of the photo above a half-finished pin cushion that I was making for my sister-in-law, Michele. I loved the red-white-blue combo and started playing around with some fabric I had left at my parents' house combined with pin cushion scraps. I started sewing random 16-1/2 inch 9 patch blocks and came up with this:

9 Patch-Patch

I knew all along while sewing these delights that I was going to put them under the knife, like this:

Split Patch

I also knew I'd be doing this:

Cut Into Corners

Which let me do this:

After walking away from it, and packing it up, and hauling it back to Boston, I still love it. I need to add some more darks and I have a few more patterns and solid to blend, but I'm off to a good start. I'll keep you posted.

XO! TEREZ

Kitty in the Mist

Kitty in the Mist

::Bebe
::Anna Kat
::Kitty Kitty
::Anna Wysocki
::Boo Boo
::Baby Baby
::Mon Bebe

Whatever we call her, we love her, all 19 of us (me + one HH+ one Mamacat + four brothers + three sister-in-laws + six nephews + three nieces). I took this on New Year's Eve Eve, when I noticed she was sheltering herself from the ever-present-Portland mist in a tunnel under the rhodies.

That's Portland, Oregon, by the way.

White Stag {for those of us old enough to remember!}

XO! TEREZ

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

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

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

Hoctober

Porch Pumpkin Planter

Summer Sneaks In

Saturate-Sun

From the Heart and Hands

If you stumbled upon this post you might think it was mid summer with the blooms and saturated color...but it's the second week in October. Somehow we got lucky and after a brief cool spell last week Columbus Day Weekend has been sunny, clear and in the 80s, all three days. Unbelievable. We're all enjoying it, but can't help but wonder if this is Mother Nature's way of saying she's going to wallop us this winter. 

XO Terez

There Is Only One HH

HH channeling Harrison Ford

I'm going to let you in on a not-so-secret-secret: my father is a hot ticket.

Not only has he:

Romanced the woman of his dreams, Mamacat, with trips to the beach, Friday night dates, ballroom dance lessons, piano lessons and long drives around Mt. Hood, he has...

Become the number one "Poppi" for his nine grandkids with an endless supply of animal crackers, giant pumpkin patches, a double decker built-from-scratch play house, his endless patience and his pure joy at being a grandfather. But that's not all...

For us five kids, he's been a living example of a person who is living his best life. He's the kind of guy people call on to help them move during all seasons, he stays after gatherings until everything is washed, dried and put away, he gives away his best agates and seashells to the families he meets at the beach, he shows us the value of an honest day's work and has taught us to do an excellent job and try our best all of the time--not just when other people are watching--because it's the right way to live. Because of my father I have watched three of my four brothers become exceptional fathers in their own right and I know that my baby brother will some day follow in their footsteps.

So: to the ladies, the kids, the grandkids of the world: I know HH is a hot ticket. And it doesn't hurt that he has a square jaw and a cleft chin and can channel Harrison Ford. But he's our HH, so you'll have to find your own.

Happy Father's Day, Dad--I love you!

XO Sis