1632
Rudolph's roundup
Well, I think my big list of potential makes was a tad optimistic! An awful lot of my time (far more than I had originally anticipated) was spent knitting the rudolph jumper.
I'm not going to lie. It was a hard make. Perhaps not the best pattern to knit my first jumper from. That may be a little harsh though - the plain red bits were fairly straightforward, it was just knitting the reindeer that slowed me down. It wasn't until half way through I finally figured out how to strand properly, so inside the top half looks all neat and tidy, like this....
Whilst the bottom half looks a fine mess...
I had a few heart stopping moments though. When I reached the top of the antlers, I realised I'd forgotten to shape the armholes. The thought of having to frog 20 rows made me feel more than a little sick, and I didn't touch it for a week - I didn't want to make yet more mistakes by rushing into correcting it. And then when I knitted the neckband to join the front and back together the night before I was due to go back to my mum's, I realised that I couldn't fit it over my head, so there was no way it would fit over my brother in law's head. Rather than have to frog and reknit the neckband, mum had the genius idea of using buttons on the shoulder. This led to a last minute dash to a local knitting store with my mum (about 30 mins before it was due to close on Chistmas eve) to find some suitable buttons...
Still, it was suitably appreciated by the new owner, who modelled it with great aplomb. He even wore it down the pub on Christmas day (although, sadly no photos of that!).
OK, so there's no sleeves, but I think he carries it off! Plus, what else could his present be next year? I still seem to have quite a lot of red yarn left, so I put some of it to good use when wrapping.
I'm still loving the Christmas bunting though, and I might make some more bunting next year in the smaller size for the other shelves. Sadly the ribbon wreath didn't work out. I'm not sure if it was the type of ribbon I bought, or using a wire form rather than foam, but after adding about 20 bows, I realised it looked more like something to be used when dancing round the maypole, rather than a classy Christmas wreath. Next year, I'll attempt the felt flower wreath now that Adele has pointed me in the right direction of foam wreaths!
And while I keep thinking that's all I've made this Christmas, I also made a fair few make up bags and tote bags.
So, that's it for 2011. See you all next year!
I'm not going to lie. It was a hard make. Perhaps not the best pattern to knit my first jumper from. That may be a little harsh though - the plain red bits were fairly straightforward, it was just knitting the reindeer that slowed me down. It wasn't until half way through I finally figured out how to strand properly, so inside the top half looks all neat and tidy, like this....
Whilst the bottom half looks a fine mess...
I had a few heart stopping moments though. When I reached the top of the antlers, I realised I'd forgotten to shape the armholes. The thought of having to frog 20 rows made me feel more than a little sick, and I didn't touch it for a week - I didn't want to make yet more mistakes by rushing into correcting it. And then when I knitted the neckband to join the front and back together the night before I was due to go back to my mum's, I realised that I couldn't fit it over my head, so there was no way it would fit over my brother in law's head. Rather than have to frog and reknit the neckband, mum had the genius idea of using buttons on the shoulder. This led to a last minute dash to a local knitting store with my mum (about 30 mins before it was due to close on Chistmas eve) to find some suitable buttons...
Still, it was suitably appreciated by the new owner, who modelled it with great aplomb. He even wore it down the pub on Christmas day (although, sadly no photos of that!).
OK, so there's no sleeves, but I think he carries it off! Plus, what else could his present be next year? I still seem to have quite a lot of red yarn left, so I put some of it to good use when wrapping.
I'm still loving the Christmas bunting though, and I might make some more bunting next year in the smaller size for the other shelves. Sadly the ribbon wreath didn't work out. I'm not sure if it was the type of ribbon I bought, or using a wire form rather than foam, but after adding about 20 bows, I realised it looked more like something to be used when dancing round the maypole, rather than a classy Christmas wreath. Next year, I'll attempt the felt flower wreath now that Adele has pointed me in the right direction of foam wreaths!
And while I keep thinking that's all I've made this Christmas, I also made a fair few make up bags and tote bags.
So, that's it for 2011. See you all next year!
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The Big Bang Theory:Sheldon Cooper,Jim Parsons
Sheldon Lee Cooper, real name James Joseph "Jim" Parsons born on 24th March 1973 is an American television actor as well as film actor. Jim was born and raised in Houston, Texas and was the older of the two children. His father president of plumbing supply company died in a 2001 auto-crash. In the year 1996, he got his undergraduate degree from the University of Houston in theater and later enrolled for graduate course in the University of San Diego in year 1999. Jim Parson 6'2" made his first stage appearance in a school play at the age of 6. Jim made several appearances in various shows including role in the series Judging Amy and guest appearance in Ed. He became famous in the year 2007 with the famous and award winning sitcom "The Big Bang Theory", where he plays the role of Sheldon Cooper the great physicist . Sheldon Lee Cooper , B.S, M.A, M.S, Ph.D., Sc.D. is a fictional character portrayed by Jim Parsons.The character played by Jim Parsons is the main reason for success of the Big Bang Theory.
ROBERTSDALE, AL FIREWORKS WHSE #333
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CUSSETA, AL FIREWORKS WAREHOUSE #332
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GOING SOUTHWEST OUT OF ATLANTA, YOU WILL COME TO THE GIANT SHELTON FIREWORKS WAREHOUSE AT CUSSETA, AL AT EXIT #70 ON I-85. THIS AERIAL VIEW SHOWS YOU THE SIZE OF THE WAREHOUSE AND ITS PARKING LOT. THIS WAREHOUSE IS FULLY STOCKED FOR YOUR NEW YEAR'S SHOW.
FAIR PLAY, SC FIREWORKS WAREHOUSE #331
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BLACKSBURG, SC FIREWORKS WHSE #330
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MS GAMBLER YELLOW 12 BOX #329
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| MISSISSIPPI GAMBLER'S YELLOW BOX |
AN ALTERNATE FOR YOUR HOLIDAY SHOW MIGHT BE THE MS'S YELLOW BOX OF 12 SHELLS WITH DIFFERENT EFFECTS ON EACH ARTILLERY SHELL $27.95 FOR THE KIT. WE CARRY APPROXIMATELY 60 DIFFERENT KINDS OF MORTARS AT ANY GIVEN TIME. YOU CAN FIND JUST WHAT YOU WANT FOR YOUR PARTY. GIVE US A TRY.
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JUMBO CANNON SHELLS #327
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12 SHELLS IN THIS JUMBO CANNON SHELL KIT. YOU WILL ENJOY A COLORFUL PRESENTATION AT YOU NEW YEAR'S EVE PARTY. $20.95 PER KIT.
EVIL WARLOCK #326
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Round up of Christmas presents
Here is a little look at some homemade Christmas presents. Both the ones I made and gave away and the ones I got. For more inspiration check out my Pinterest board "Making Christmas Gifts 2011" and my blog Eddie's room.
A bag I made for my husband with embroidered (not by me) birds (he is a big bird fan)
A tray my husband and I decoupaged with maps for my little brother who is studying geography.
I made a couple of these porcupine pin cushions for my mother and sister using this wonderful tutorial from Prudent Baby
I made these Christmas stockings for my husband and myself using this free tutorial.
My sister made this vinyl record bowl for my husband. There is a free tutorial for this here.
She also made him this fab pencil case for his art pencils.
For me she made this pretty shawl which I can't wait to use.
A bag I made for my husband with embroidered (not by me) birds (he is a big bird fan)
A tray my husband and I decoupaged with maps for my little brother who is studying geography.
I made a couple of these porcupine pin cushions for my mother and sister using this wonderful tutorial from Prudent Baby
I made these Christmas stockings for my husband and myself using this free tutorial.
My sister made this vinyl record bowl for my husband. There is a free tutorial for this here.
She also made him this fab pencil case for his art pencils.
For me she made this pretty shawl which I can't wait to use.
A Book of Migrations
Rebecca Solnit's A Book of Migrations (1997) was reissued this year and classified as history/memoir rather than travel, though it is ostensibly about a month spent in Ireland. The book circles round the themes of landscape and memory, place and identity, journey and exile, as Solnit ranges across the history and culture of Ireland from the flight of the cursed King Sweeney to the bitter experiences of Travellers in contemporary Ireland. The ways in which Ireland has been viewed through the prism of English cultural attitudes are illuminated by the frequent reminders of her own radically different experiences growing up in California, with its arid landscapes and long, straight roads, short historical memory and assumptions about the possibility of an unpeopled wilderness. At the Cliffs of Moher she looks out at the sea, 'a deeper blue than my own churning gray Pacific, blue as though different dreams had been dumped into it, blue as ink. I imagined filling a fountain pen with it and wondered what one would write with that ocean.'
I'll try to convey here just one of the many interesting points she makes on landscape and culture, although I should stress that the elegance of her argument is difficult to convey out of context. In describing the sixteenth century suppression of Ireland by English colonists and its deforestation for shipbuilding and metal smelting, she also talks about the concurrent campaign to suppress the Gaelic poets, whose rhymes in praise of military successes were seen as a kind of propaganda. But 'what is most peculiar about the war against the poets and trees in Tudor era Ireland is the close involvement of the two greatest English poets of the age, Sir Philip Sidney and Edmund Spenser.' Furthermore, these were the two writers who practically created the English tradition of pastoral poetry. You might think, she wryly observes, that 'a country of wandering poets and pastoralists should have enchanted the English rather than appalled them.'
Sir Philip Sidney's father was Lord Deputy of Ireland and urged the English to 'spoil' and take the goods of any 'rhymers' they caught. Sidney himself would later go on diplomatic missions to Ireland for Queen Elizabeth. Spenser went over in 1580 as secretary to Sir Henry Sidney's successor Lord Grey and wrote a lengthy report A View on the Present State of Ireland, which recommends subduing the Irish by starving them. He took over an estate in County Cork, formerly the seat of the Desmond family, and 'immediately became unpopular with the neighbours'. It was targeted by rebels in 1598 - Spenser was lucky to escape to England, where he died later that year. Back in 1589, when Sir Walter Raleigh visited him, Spenser's home 'was surrounded with woods of "matchless height"; a few years later only bare fields surrounded the castle.'
For Solnit the shadows of Spenser and Sidney's political lives in Ireland lie across their artistic merit. 'The exquisite poetry of Spenser's masterpiece The Faerie Queene is inextricably linked to his brutal prose A View on the Present State of Ireland ... Should the magical trees he celebrated in the poem be weighed against the trees he uprooted in County Cork? Can one have the latter without the former, since Ireland's lack of a landscape tradition is rooted in its scarred landscape? Can one understand the presence of English literature without the absences of Irish literature? Are the presences in the former, at some level, bites taken out of the latter? Is England gardenlike because Ireland was prisonlike? Does the English pastoral, and the security and abundance it represents, depend on the impoverished land and people of other lands?'
Cover photo by Dave Walsh who reviews the book on his website.
I'll try to convey here just one of the many interesting points she makes on landscape and culture, although I should stress that the elegance of her argument is difficult to convey out of context. In describing the sixteenth century suppression of Ireland by English colonists and its deforestation for shipbuilding and metal smelting, she also talks about the concurrent campaign to suppress the Gaelic poets, whose rhymes in praise of military successes were seen as a kind of propaganda. But 'what is most peculiar about the war against the poets and trees in Tudor era Ireland is the close involvement of the two greatest English poets of the age, Sir Philip Sidney and Edmund Spenser.' Furthermore, these were the two writers who practically created the English tradition of pastoral poetry. You might think, she wryly observes, that 'a country of wandering poets and pastoralists should have enchanted the English rather than appalled them.'
Sir Philip Sidney's father was Lord Deputy of Ireland and urged the English to 'spoil' and take the goods of any 'rhymers' they caught. Sidney himself would later go on diplomatic missions to Ireland for Queen Elizabeth. Spenser went over in 1580 as secretary to Sir Henry Sidney's successor Lord Grey and wrote a lengthy report A View on the Present State of Ireland, which recommends subduing the Irish by starving them. He took over an estate in County Cork, formerly the seat of the Desmond family, and 'immediately became unpopular with the neighbours'. It was targeted by rebels in 1598 - Spenser was lucky to escape to England, where he died later that year. Back in 1589, when Sir Walter Raleigh visited him, Spenser's home 'was surrounded with woods of "matchless height"; a few years later only bare fields surrounded the castle.'
The remains of Spenser's Kicolman Castle, County Cork
Photo: Early Modern Whale
For Solnit the shadows of Spenser and Sidney's political lives in Ireland lie across their artistic merit. 'The exquisite poetry of Spenser's masterpiece The Faerie Queene is inextricably linked to his brutal prose A View on the Present State of Ireland ... Should the magical trees he celebrated in the poem be weighed against the trees he uprooted in County Cork? Can one have the latter without the former, since Ireland's lack of a landscape tradition is rooted in its scarred landscape? Can one understand the presence of English literature without the absences of Irish literature? Are the presences in the former, at some level, bites taken out of the latter? Is England gardenlike because Ireland was prisonlike? Does the English pastoral, and the security and abundance it represents, depend on the impoverished land and people of other lands?'
Bloghop winners ;o)
Claire --> Paula (PEP)
Janneke --> Detje
Karin --> Aartje
Marion --> Mariken
Monique --> Elise
Renata --> Anita
Sandra --> Nicolet
Wilma --> Marijke
#9 is Judith from Kreatieve
Hugs, CCWS Team
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