Another Adventure on the Needles

First things first. My November Button-of-the-Month arrived! If you recall this is a birthday gift from my sister, each month she's sending me a button for my collection.



This month's is a black cat (I love black animals), and another hand-made card:



Here's a closer look at the wee cat:



I love this button, it looks old-fashioned and spooky. Thank you Jane!

As for my adventure on the needles, well. You know, nothing can ever be simple. There was a time in my life when everything was exactly as it should be, when ideas would come to me and projects would be executed lickety split. Those days ended, I don't know when, and now, well, if it takes me a half dozen times starting and stopping a project, it doesn't seem unreasonable. Maybe I'm more indecisive now, or maybe my standards are higher, who knows?

I decided a while back that I would knit a pair of mittens for an old friend who will be turning forty in mid-December. I had made her a pair many years ago (very nice Scandinavian style in pale blue and cream) and while she was in her son's school picking him up for lunch, someone SWIPED THEM from the sled. Terrible. Worse is, I've meant to make her a replacement pair for years and never got around to it. Now, time is at hand (no pun).

I thought the Herringbone Mittens at Elliphantom Knits were particularly nice, so off I went. I bought some Smart yarn in red and cream and knit the first one:



Lovely? Yes, even without the pom pom, which I've yet to make. The only problem is they fit me, in fact they JUST fit me, and she's bigger than me. I had to abandon this half pair (they'll get finished and fit my daughter Elly quite well, so she's going to have to wear them, like it or not). So I started another pair. This time I chose Debbie Bliss Rialto in green and cream, and, you know, this yarn is much nicer than the Smart yarn and I think my friend would prefer this colour combo anyway, so perhaps it's meant to be. I'll show them to you when they're all done, poms and all.



One more item, about my cursed landing, I bought another plant for the same spot. I brought in a lovely pink poinsettia for the season. My thinking was that it only had to last a month anyway. A good idea?



Here it is two days later:



Spooky...

Dismal Cursed Ramblings

The weather has been DISMAL, I'm using that as my excuse for not blogging more frequently.

As I mentioned back in October, the leaves all fell early this year and the city has been looking quite bleak. Bits of rain and the odd dusting of snow, mostly overcast skies, it all adds up to a big drag and almost impossible to take a decent picture, inside or out. Of course, it's only a matter of time until the snow falls and stays, but I'm growing impatient for the blinding white of the deep snow. Today there was a bit falling. It was very pretty, like inside a snow globe.

I thought I'd take a moment and try taking a photo or two. Here are some vintage marbles:



I had to make them a little tissue paper nest, as our dining-room has a pronounced slope:



I really should learn more about vintage marbles. Apparently, collectors can tell by looking at a marble, who made it and it what era it comes from, and some of them are quite expensive. Not mine, they're just old.

I have a powerful affection for toys, both modern and vintage. I can't tell you where it comes from. I wasn't denied much as a youngster (compared to others of my era, not compared to kids today - my two have EVERYTHING). Marbles would have to land in the same boat as buttons for me, one needs lots and lots of them, and to turn them over and over admiringly. I love the scene in Amelie, where the title character plunges her hand into a big barrel of grain in pursuit of a simple pleasure. I feel the same way about marbles, and buttons. Wouldn't that be glorious, a big tub of buttons to plunge your hand into and swirl them all around? Oh, joy and rapture!

I have another little item, unrelated to the first. I need to confess that part of our house is haunted. The landing between the first and second floors. It's CURSED.

No matter what plant I buy for this beautiful big bay window that faces east, it dies almost immediately.



I bought this plant just three weeks ago at Shelmerdine's (a very reputable plant shop). Already it's almost finished:



And don't start thinking it's me, we have other plants that have fared well for years:



No, it's not me. It's the cursed landing.

If anyone knows how to get rid of a curse, please let me know, keeping in mind that I've de-cluttered (fairly thoroughly) and have done all the burning of sweetgrass and chanting that I'm capable of.