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Winter Crafting

November 12th, 2013

I’m pretty excited about winter to arrive. While I’m still spending every spare hour of daylight working outside, the sun sets at 4:30 so I have a good portion of time in the evenings. Usually I catch up on work and write my blog post, then I have a little extra time or reading or crafting. This winter I’m planning on making a quilt from old clothing and I’d like to crochet a wool afghan for the living room.
crocheting 1
I haven’t crocheted in years (except for a scarf I made Mr Chiots a few years ago), so I need to brush up on my skills. I purchased Reader’s Digest COMPLETE GUIDE TO NEEDLEWORK: Embroidery, Needlepoint, Knitting, Applique, Quilting, Patchwork, Macrame, Crochet, Rug-Making, Lacework, which is the book my mom owns and the one I originally taught myself to crochet from.
crocheting 3
To get back into the swing of thing, I’m going to be making myself a scarf. Yesterday I found this scarf pattern, which should be perfect for this lovely handspun wool lavender yarn from a farm in Ohio.
crocheting 2
The past couple evenings I’ve been practicing my stitches, in the next couple days I’ll start my scarf.

Do you have any crafty winter hobbies?

20 Comments to “Winter Crafting”
  1. Adelina Anderson on November 12, 2013 at 7:23 am

    Winter hobbies include glass working (it gets too hot in the summer for the kiln to be one constantly), spinning and crocheting.

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  2. whit on November 12, 2013 at 7:42 am

    Crafting is my drug of choice. Seems about the time temps drop and days get shorter, my hands need to be doing something with fabric or yarn. Coincidently, I just picked up the same book at the thrift. Lots of good instructions in there!

    I am working on socks now, with a laundry basket full of sheets to be torn up for my first foray into making rag rugs.

    Your lavender scarf is going to be so beautiful!

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  3. Lisa on November 12, 2013 at 7:49 am

    I’m pretty crafty. I craft from October until spring. My hubby is really handy, so he makes me lots of wooden “projects” and I prim them up (make them look old, lol). We give each family member a handmade gift each year and I make an ornament each year too. When I’m not reading during the winter months…I’m crafting!

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  4. Marina C on November 12, 2013 at 7:52 am

    Beautiful yarn from your old home state!

    I love to knit, and socks and scarves are always on the go. I also like to quilt, usually for any new baby, but knitting is my winter passion.
    It is so nice to have a winter hobby after a season in the garden.

    The garden is still with us, as now we get to enjoy the fruits of our labor.
    Cooking is another activity I enjoy in winter, I can take more time than when we are busy outside.

    You black barn turned out so lovely, by the way!

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  5. Joan on November 12, 2013 at 8:02 am

    I love to make pottery, and like to knit as well. Unfortunately I haven’t had much time for either in the past few years, but really hope to make time this winter.

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  6. Adriana on November 12, 2013 at 8:21 am

    I’m a knitter so in the winter I catch up on TV shows while knitting. I always think that I should really be knitting in the summer so we can have the finished products when we need them, but who has time to knit then? In recent year I’ve also gotten into sewing. This month, I’m thinking about a quilted advent calendar. Hopefully it will done by Dec. 1!

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  7. Pia on November 12, 2013 at 8:49 am

    I’m a knitter/spinner/crocheter all year long. I know that may change once we get a piece of land, but flat living it is for now and I’m working on making myself a handmade wardrobe. enjoy your craft time.

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  8. Bettina on November 12, 2013 at 9:21 am

    Not just winter, pretty much year round. Knitting, Spinning, Crochet and Weaving… I am thinking of taking classes in bookbinding….go figure!

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  9. Annette on November 12, 2013 at 9:28 am

    Like Whit, crafting is my drug of choice; crochet, knitting, sewing, and spinning. I look forward to this slower time if year so I don’t feel guilty about getting my craft on.

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  10. Nebraska Dave on November 12, 2013 at 9:32 am

    Susy, yup, I have crafts planned. Well, maybe, not the sit in front of the TV while knitting socks kind of crafts but crafts for me. I call them projects. It’s time to tap my cleaning abilities and begin the dreaded reclaiming of the basement. Yeah, it will probably be more than one winter task. Some remodeling needs to be accomplished as well. My wife before she died was definitely a hoarder. When she died, I cleaned up the house and anything that was questionable about keeping went in the basement to deal with later. That was in 2001. I think it’s time to clean out the basement and really if I haven’t missed it in 12 years I’m thinking I really don’t need it.

    Then there is always the looking forward to seed ordering and starting time after the first of the year. I always love to get that first seed catalog that arrives right before Christmas. It’s the best non family present of the season. Last year was my first year of raising plants from seeds. I should say my first successful year. I am anxious to do it again this year with expansion to some new plants. I learned a few things that will be helpful this year.

    So as you see a busy Winter for me. Have a great frosty crisp Fall day.

    P.S. We had our first snow flakes of the season here yesterday. There was no accumulation but it’s always great to be outside working in the winter wonderland of snow flakes as they drift down around you. Unfortunately that was not the picture yesterday. With a 25 to 30 MPH wind it was pretty nippy but still garden workable for me.

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  11. DebbieB on November 12, 2013 at 9:50 am

    That’ll be a nice snuggly warm scarf!

    I spin/weave/knit/crochet year round. My main loom is in our living room, and my spinning wheel lives in front of my chair near the tv, so I can weave or spin in companionship while my husband watches the telly in the evenings.

    My first craft was crochet – my grandmother taught me when I was 8. She had crippled arthritic hands, and crocheting helped her “work out the kinks”, so she did it a lot. When I expressed interest in what she was doing, she was thrilled to pass it on, and when I showed aptitude, she gifted me with bags and bags of acrylic yarn that people had donated to her over the years. I used that yarn for a long time, making numerous afghans for family and friends. When I turned 40, I decided to teach myself to knit (because I just knew my brain would start to atrophy without learning new skills!) and used internet videos to help with the more difficult stitches. Then I started reading knitting blogs, and some of those blog writers spun their own yarn, which started me down another rabbit hole of spinning my own soft wool yarns and learning to weave. Since I retired 2 years ago, I spend most of my day and evening either at the loom or the wheel, and I absolutely love it. I’m a repetitive-motion junkie, it gives my mind freedom to wander and think, or alternately, concentrate on podcasts. Plus I love the feel of the yarns and fibers in my hands, and I’m endlessly fascinated by watching individual wool fibers twist into yarn, or threads weave into cloth.

    You might say that handcrafts are my gardening. :)

    My favorite things to weave are dishtowels (in wild colors or neutrals, I love using a crazy collection of different towels in the kitchen) and scarves. My favorite things to knit are socks (we love wool socks in the winter) and sweaters. I keep a knitting project bag with my purse and always grab it when I head out the door – a few minutes here and a few minutes there while waiting for appointments or in line – you’d be amazed at how much can be accomplished.

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  12. Emily on November 12, 2013 at 10:03 am

    I spin yarn and knit year round, but I am definitely more productive with these crafts in the winter. Just finished knitting a pair of socks, and am currently knitting a cowl with my handspun. I would love to crochet an afghan someday. Enjoy,

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  13. Misti on November 12, 2013 at 10:15 am

    I am dying to finish a quilt, crochet, and paint. However, I have my head down as I’m trying to finish my Florida Trail book. It is nice though to be able to spend a few hours in the evenings working on it.

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  14. Jill on November 12, 2013 at 2:08 pm

    Lots of crafters out there! Now that we are in our new house and I have the space, I’m looking forward to setting up my sewing machine and getting to work on a blue jean beach blanket. I have most of the old jeans torn apart and ready for sewing…I did that pre-baby #2 lol…now almost two years later it is time to begin assembly! I look forward to seeing how the scarf turns out–I read your blog everyday–thanks for all your hard work!

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  15. Mindy on November 12, 2013 at 2:13 pm

    Not really crafting for me. I spend time on my reading wish list and also doing genealogy research.

    I love your blog!

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  16. Sierra N Hampl on November 12, 2013 at 2:33 pm

    I love reading year round, but it is especially nice to huddle under a blanket during the cold months with a good book.

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  17. Emily on November 12, 2013 at 3:33 pm

    I love sewing and knitting. My grandmother taught me to crochet when I was 8, but as an adult I have completely forgotten how to do anything more than a simple chain. Last week my grandmother gifted me a set of books from the 70’s on needlework and I have been devouring them. I decided to try crocheting again using the instructions in the book and now I am enjoying re-learning all the stitches. It feels so good to pick up a new/old craft!

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  18. Jessica on November 12, 2013 at 5:05 pm

    I quilt all year round but get to accomplish more in the winter due to the pesky weather>

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  19. Maybelline on November 13, 2013 at 12:15 am

    Embroidery. However, I purchased one of those old looms to make potholders just as I did as a kid. It’s pretty fun.

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  20. Lemongrass on November 13, 2013 at 5:09 am

    I knit, crochet, sew. I love decorating the envelopes of letters that I mail to friends. I also like collecting small stones/rocks and made designs on my front steps. They change with my emotional Spirit. I craft all year long. Now that I am living in Grenada, I am working with crafting with bamboo, coconut fiber and coconut shell. I use the coconut shell for small kitchen bowls. I made my first bowl from the calabash tree yesterday.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crescentia_cujete) It is small but I use it to keep ginger in the fridge.
    My mom thought me to knit and sew from the age of 7 and a friend from high school taught me to crochet. I have been sewing, crocheting and knitting ever since. intricate Lace Knitting is my drug of choice.
    I started the scarf pattern you posted and is enjoying the process.
    I enjoy knitting socks and and always have a pair of socks in progress.

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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