Father Christmas

Several weeks ago I was inspired by a fiber friend to attempt a knitted toy project. I did make a teddy bear a few years ago, but got a little frustrated with the process and haven't attempted one since. 

I have had a pattern for a knitted Father Christmas for several years and it has always looked a bit intimidating. All it took was a nudge in the right direction.

For the knitting nerds out there, this project is knit in the round, toe/foot up, with a few pieces added at the end. You also stuff a little as you go.

I ordered the yarn specified in the pattern, and used the stated needles. (If you know me, then you'll understand why this is newsworthy.) The yarn came from a family owned company in Nebraska called Brown Sheep. They have an interesting story and you can read about it here. But they only sell wholesale, so I ended up ordering through a place called Paradise Fibers. I was a little surprised that they still sold the same wool in the same colors since the pattern is at least 10 years old.

My goal was to finish before Thanksgiving, well in time for the Christmas rush.

The finished Father Christmas turned out somewhat bigger than I had imagined, at about 16 inches. I hadn't paid close attention to the measurements so was a little surprised at the size. 

I had intentionally ordered extra red yarn, to be on the safe side. (another newsworthy statement for me) So I ended up with enough leftover yarn to make two smaller versions. You can easily downsize a pattern by changing the weight of the yarn or size of the needles, but since I had the yarn, I did a little math and adjusted the numbers to about a two-third size. I also decided to add a belt and integrate the beard, fringe and hat as I knitted, so there wasn't much to do at the end except the eyes and buttons. The smaller version is about 10 inches long.

I've included a few "work in progress" photos for those that might be interested.

Merry Christmas!

And then the smaller size ones.

Frost

We have had a couple of frosty mornings here lately. The frost was so pretty I had to take some photos. Frost is like snow in that in makes everything look pretty. But it doesn't last long. As soon as the sun hits it, it's gone.

I don't have a fancy camera and just take photos with my phone. The second day of frost, I put on a macro attachment and took some close up photos.

asparagus

strawberries

carrots

the edge of the raised bed

the garden hose into the raised bed

blackberry leaves

rose bud

opened rose bud

the garden hose hanging over the deck railing

the hand rail of the back deck

a dirty trowel

the side of the truck

the side of the truck

the truck window with the sunrise in the reflection

frost across the field in the shaded places

frost between the shadows of the tree branches

 The following photos are with the macro attachment on my phone camera.

Bulbs

I've been wanting some more flowers around the house, so I thought I'd try planting some daffodil bulbs. I bought a bag of 50 bulbs at a local garden center for $24. I decided to plant them in the front of the house along the front porch. The bulbs look a little like small onions. They're easy enough to plant with a trowel in a hole 5-6" deep. I spaced them out about 6-8" apart and put two or three bulbs in each hole. You just have to make sure the roots are pointed towards the bottom.

 I noticed the other day that they're already beginning to appear.