around 60 meatballs

I made a little dish called Wedding Soup today. This was a recipe kit that we received as a gift at our wedding. The gift tag had fallen off of it though, so I never did get to thank the giver of the gift properly. They just received a "thank you for the gift" card after our wedding. It sure made a good meal, mysterious gifter. You obviously have a sense of humor.

I don't know anything about the history of Wedding Soup, but its the kind of name for a dish that just begs a story to be made up about it. I told myself that this is a good luck soup today when I was making it. I made myself believe that for as many meatballs as I made for the broth that's how many years I'd be blessed with my marriage. I made a lot of meatballs, that's for sure!

I dug out all of my embroidery floss and organized it today because I'm using it for some projects. I thought I only had a few colors, but I kept finding hidden stashes amidst my craft supplies. I really have a thing for all shades of the color magenta.  The apron above was a gift from my mom, she made it from one of her old skirts and I like to wear it around the house even if I'm not doing anything in the kitchen.

My husband caught me around the waist one day a few months ago when I was wearing it and he said "You'd be perfectly happy as a 1950's housewife, wouldn't you?" And, well, give or take a few important changes that have happened for women over the last sixty years I had to respond with: "I can't believe you're just noticing this now, honey."

Have a good week everyone. (Just wear your pretty aprons . . . even if you're not cooking!)

anniversary (#1)

Work in progress. (The sweater too.)

I made this dried flower arrangement with with dill and poppy blossoms from my garden. I added some sparkles to catch the light.

Handmade wedding presents that bless our married life each day. The quilt from my sister and the embroidered pillow cases from my childhood neighbor Louise.

The baby sweater is coming together nicely. I still have to decide on the buttons.

Garrett and my anniversary is this upcoming Monday, but it was a year ago this weekend that we got married surrounded by our family and friends in my hometown. When I think back to that day I remember the light through the stained glass windows of the church, the feel of Garrett's hand holding mine, the giddy (completely satisfactory) feeling of being in the perfect place with the perfect person at the perfect time. (Sigh.) I've tried very hard not to overload this entry with photos from my wedding.

My grandma fell and broke her hip last week, so I spent today with my mom and cousin visiting her. She's in good spirits and healing nicely. I'm very grateful for that. From there we hit a major sale at the craft store. I got some supplies, so you'll be seeing some different types of projects here on Tendril & Twine. I've been thinking a lot about my great-grandma Leona lately. She made many many blankets, quilts and pillows. I'm going to try to re-create some of the gifts that she made for my sister and I when we were little girls.

Hope your weekend is filled with fulfilling projects and activities.

baby sweater

A tiny project started and finished in less than twenty-four hours.

New Year's resolution collage: yoga, fun and games with family, fiber time and long walks collecting natural artifacts.

A drawing of my mother's given to me on my graduation.

Something tasty for a New Year celebration.

Back to work today, after a long stretch of days off playing in my studio with yarn, paper, words and paint. Snow started to fall this morning at about the same time that I was getting off my train downtown. I watched the fluffy flakes fly outside the window of my office as I was working. The flakes got caught in the updrafts from the traffic and they swirled, paused and plummeted to the pavement to melt under the bootprints of the pedestrians. (I couldn't actually see all that . . . but that's what I imagined.)

This is a new project that I started on Monday and finished on Tuesday. (More photos to follow in subsequent posts.) The pattern is easy to follow and a fast knit. I only had one skein of Blue Sky Organic Cotton so I cast on fewer stitches and did fewer repeats than the pattern called for. It's a very soft, plush knit. Any mama would be tempted to put it on their newborn . . . which sometimes isn't the case, I feel, when it comes to wool. I'm biased toward wool, however - but it's always fun to knit with something different every once in awhile.

It's almost been a year since Garrett and my wedding. The sparkly bits in the bouquet have kept well - so have the memories. 

new socks new year

I spent today on all fours elbows deep in cardboard boxes as I sorted through my collection of magazine clippings, art paper, and a decade of correspondence - letters and cards - that I'd saved. The letters were mostly from my mom and my sister.

Within the letters scraps of poems caught me by surprise. My sister, a lover of poetry, is the worst - or should I say best - culprit. What need do I have to buy poem books, when all the inspiration I could ever want I have in the stack of colorful letters that I've collected from her over the years?

I used to make my own journals and sew the bindings together with waxed thread. The tiny one above is from my honeymoon. It's filled with snippets of memory and small watercolor pictures of seashells. I've decided to keep my box of magazine clippings and scraps closer to my desk, these images are as old as some of the letters I rediscovered and I must have kept them for some reason so many years ago . . . so maybe they will serve me well again now as I follow new creative paths.

Isn't it funny how our creative life is cyclical? We think we're done with one idea or mode of creating and then we circle back to it and discover new and richer ideas mixed with the old ones?

Finished the socks in a heroic sprint to the finish this morning and coaxed Garrett into taking some pictures. An addicting and easy pattern with a beautiful and entertaining yarn. We're hoping to get some colorways in our shop soon, but if you're the adventurous type, you could purchase the natural colored yarn and dye it yourself.

Hope you all have a safe and happy new year!

teapots and poppies

Playing around here tonight at tendril & twine. Garrett's out playing with snowmobiles (trying to get one running) so I'm in the kitchen chopping up vegetables and making my first ever pot of split pea soup with leftover ham and the ham bone from the Christmas dinner. (Thank you, Jennie.)

I soaked the peas while I was at work - so for about ten hours - but as I write this they are still hard little pellets in my beautifully fragrant broth that has been simmering for about two hours. It may be a long night, I guess. The right things better get mushy here, or dinner could be a bust.

Hope you've got something simmering on the stove and you're having more luck than I am on this crisp winter night. Cheers!

sun rose

A pause this morning in the middle of all of the holiday travels, feasts and celebrations to look at the sunrise and rest. Over the past seven days Garrett and I have been up north and out west and we'll be heading back north again before the week ends for another family Christmas celebration.

In the midst of all of this hustle and bustle and frantic finishing of handmade gifts some knitting has occurred. I find I like to take a little project with me when we're visiting relatives, that way I can find myself a cozy spot, take out my knitting and still have a conversation with the people around me.

Only five days left of 2012 . . . hang in there everyone!

winter walk

We got out of the city and drove up to the farm yesterday for my mom's birthday. My mom and I went out to the woods for a long walk along the snowy trails. We took our cameras in an attempt to test them out and see what kind of photos we could get. As you can see we found a lot of scenes to snap images of.

The sheep came out of the barn and allowed me to capture their growing bellies and fleeces. Come March we'll have a flock of baby lambs and piles and piles of soft wool.

Later on that night family came over and we celebrated with a prime rib, fried fresh fish and German chocolate cake dinner. Frosted pumpkin cookies and pad thai popcorn were also on the menu. I think my favorite part of yesterday was the quiet walk in the forest with my mother.