Episode 319 Advent Calendar DIY

Listen here or use the Flash Player on this site for current and past episodes. Flash Player is not compatible with Internet Explorer. Try a different browser like Safari. Or jaunt on over to iTunes to find the show there.

This episode is sponsored by Quince & Co and Knitcircus Yarns.

Knitting Pipeline is a Craftsy Affiliate. Craftsy offers affordable online classes and supplies. When you use the link in the sidebar before purchasing I receive a small percentage of your purchase at no extra cost to you. Craftsy Unlimited is now called Blueprint. Thank you!

Show notes are found at www.knittingpipeline.com. You can find me on Ravelry as PrairiePiper and on Instagram and YouTube as KnittingPipeline. There are two groups on Ravelry, Knitting Pipeline and Knitting Pipeline Retreats. Come join us there!

You can also find me here:

Ravelry: PrairiePiper Feel free to include me in your friends.

Instagram: knittingpipeline

Twitter: knittingline

Pinterest: Paula Emons-Fuessle

Ravelry Group

Knitting Pipeline Retreats Group.

Pipeliner Notes

Welcome to our newest Pipeliners who have said hello to us on the Welcome thread or to me in a personal message. Lady OC who is Laura in OK, NightOwlCrafter in IL, PamHerman in IN, Peanut15 who is Susan in Arlington TX, Krafting who is Kim S in ME, and Sebringgal who is Jane in Effingham IL.

 Remember to introduce yourself in the Welcome thread if you are new so I can recognize you on the show.

Thank you for your star ratings and reviews on iTunes. Every single star rating and review are appreciated!

Events

Links to retreats and registration materials are in the Knitting Pipeline Retreats Group on Ravelry. There is also a sticky thread with all upcoming retreat dates.

I’m speaking at the Madison WI Knitting Guild on December 10, 2018. Thank you to all who made suggestions. I am having fun with the talk. Going through old knits such as Elizabeth Zimmermann’s Three in One Sweater, Saddle Shoulder Sweaters, and lots more. I’ll have a display at the talk.

Holiday Open House

Le Mouton Rouge Knittery Dec 1, 2018. 10 AM to 5 PM

Ph: 309-319-7692

Address: 1206 Towanda Ave,Ste 1

Bloomington, IL 61701

Needle Notes

Close to You by Justyna Lorkowska

PrairiePiper’s Close to You

Dyabolical Lovely Sock Gasoline Rainbow

Good projects for newer knitters:

Crazy Eights Dishcloth by Julie Tarsha

Leafy Washcloth by Megan Goodacre in both Stockinette and Garter versions.

Knitting Tip

Magnetic Advertising Card words well on metal chart keepers.

Nature Notes

At the Eagle Crest Retreat we woke up to a snow-covered landscape. This was the second snowfall of the season and since then we have had two more measurable snows. Usually our first snow occurs after Thanksgiving, most often in the first few days of December. At Eagle Crest we were out before breakfast taking photos of beautiful sweaters and beautiful people in the snow. If there is a better backdrop for woolen sweaters, I do not know what it would be. This was the perfect snow…enough to be beautiful but not so much to impair driving. The temperature dropped down to 16 degrees F which beat our previous record low at Eagle Crest of 19 Degrees F. That is cold by most standards but there was little wind in the early hours so it didn’t feel that chilly.

Outside my window today most of the trees have lost their leaves. The oak trees are hanging onto some of their brown, leathery leaves. These are the ones that my husband does not like to rake up in the yard. All the branches and some tree trucks have snow on them so it’s quite lovely right now. A red fox squirrel, quite chubby, slowly ambles underneath the platform feeder looking for black sunflower seeds. Bob put suet out last week and it has been a big hit with many birds. Flickers, which we see occasionally, are visiting the feeder for the fatty suet. A distinguishing feature of a Northern Flicker is its large size and the black feathers below the neck which looks like a bib. All woodpeckers seem to be partial to suet. Among our other visitors are small flocks of Blue Jays, Black Capped Chickadees, Cardinals, Juncos, Red Bellied Woodpeckers, Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers (mostly Downey), Tufted Titmice, and Goldfinches. The goldfinches are now in their subtle winter plumage. The birds are quiet but at night we hear coyotes howling from the other side of the ridge and the occasional call of the Barred Owls.

First stanza of a very old hymn. The words were penned in 1844 by Henry Alford.

Come, ye thankful people, come, 

raise the song of harvest home; 

all is safely gathered in, 

ere the winter storms begin. 

God our Maker doth provide 

for our wants to be supplied; 

come to God's own temple, come, 

raise the song of harvest home.

Blethering Room

Eagle Crest Retreat—so relaxing. Peaceful venue. Remote. Not very good cell service or internet. Food much better than previous years. People came from coast to coast!

Show and Tell

Mug and Rug swap thanks to Seashore Sharon. I got a Tulsa OK mug and quilted mat from fun4Tracey.

Shawl closure workshop that Jo did in the teaching style of Leslie Wind.

Jo helps Kathy make her shawl closure.

Shawl pin action!

Jo with some of the shawl button closures.

Mittens donated to Threads Hope and Love. Thank you!

Advent Calendar DIY—organized by Jo

Knitter’s Advent Calendars have become wildly popular! Who knew?

Participants brought approx. 200 g of yarn, scraps or skeins and 4 small treasures. Jo brought Altoid tins and I brought small white paper bags that I purchased on Amazon. Some folks numbered their bags. Others did not. Each person wrote a note and put it in the Altoid tin to be opened on Dec 25.

We are giving away one of the Advent Calendar DIY bags! Christine from Vashon Island Washington put it together. Also, Christine donated a beautiful skein of wool from New Zealand, which is her home country and I’m going to include that in the package. Black Hills New Zealand Wool. Natural coloured undyed. 100% New Zealand Wool. Thank you so much, Christine!

Due to the weight and size of the package I am going to limit this drawing to the United States. Also, since the kick off for the Advent knitting is December 1, I will leave the drawing open for only a week (Nov 26) so that there is a chance you will receive it before that date. We have a thread in the Knitting Pipeline Group for possible projects. Please only enter if you really intend to participate.

To enter the drawing please comment in the special thread for the Advent Calendar DIY Giveaway with a way that you like to bring in the Advent season or what you would like to knit with the Advent Calendar.

In The Pipeline

Knitting

Rodeo Drive Poncho by Staci Perry in Quince & Co Phoebe Cynus colorway

Kid Silk Haze Wrap

Zig Zagular Socks by Susie White

Reading

A Birds’ Christmas Carol by Kate Douglas Wiggin.

Happy Thanksgiving to our Pipeliners in the US.

Edgar A Guest was born in England and emigrated with his family to the US when he was a child. Known as the People’s Poet.

Give me the end of the year an' its fun 

When most of the plannin' an' toilin' is done; 

Bring all the wanderers home to the nest, 

Let me sit down with the ones I love best, 

Hear the old voices still ringin' with song, 

See the old faces unblemished by wrong, 

See the old table with all of its chairs 

An' I'll put soul in my Thanksgivin' prayers.

Edgar A Guest