Second Snow

On Friday we had our second snow of the season (the first being a dusting the weekend after Halloween), but it now being mid-November, this one is the true harbinger of winter.

We've shifted our clocks back, I've pulled out my sweaters, and generally speaking, the first snow comes right around Thanksgiving, so it's all in good timing. We're acclimating LMC to snowpants and boots and mittens (which are tiny and adorable), and planning on more indoor time.

My most recent take on the Geranium dress, made out of some lightweight shot cotton, is mostly inappropriate for the weather, but I bought the fabric back on vacation and cut it out months ago and we can always layer, right? In any case, I cut it long in the hopes that it'll still fit come warmer days, which are now very far away for Maine. I've got a second dress cut out in the same fabric for her still-nudist doll, which I hope to have done by Christmas.  Because there's nothing like November to kick-start a slightly dormant crafting bug.

Do you have any Christmas crafting plans in the works?

And the Ornaments Too!

We got our live tree at just the perfect time this year. Picked it up Saturday morning without incident, including my first attempt at strapping it to a car (thanks bungee cords!) and set it up just in time to head to the third almost-annual ornament swap with my knitting group. I made the needle-felted winter scene and took home the snowman head, which went perfectly with my non-breakable/no-hooks-needed theme for this year's tree. Once again, I was super impressed with all the ornament makings (though I still can't get my brain around how the pom-pom ones work).  Our timing was also perfect since we got about a foot of snow the next day. We did make a first attempt at sledding with Little Miss C, and while the snow was tasty, the cold and snowsuit and the dog in her face was all a little too much and big tears were shed about .05 seconds after that last shot was taken.  Good thing there's a cozy warm house and pretty lighted tree to return to.

First Snow

Looking out at her first snow this morning!

A Bit of Snow

For those in the US, you might have heard that up here in Southern Maine, we got a bit of snow over the weekend.

How much is a bit?

About 30 inches (76 cm for the metric folks)

I'd like to say "oh just another Maine winter," but this was actually record-breaking.

That said, aside from a lot of snow, it was a fairly uneventful storm. There were some strong wind gusts, but because the snow relatively dry and therefore lighter, we avoided any power outages, which meant that for someone like me who didn't have to shovel, I just got to cuddle down inside for a couple days.

I got some knitting donw, and some sewing done. All in all, not a bad weekend.

But yeah, there was a lot of snow.

Introducing: Bradac

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned here before that I learned to knit from a teddy bear kit in 2005 and many of the first things I made were another bear, an elephant, and a flying pig. Though I moved on from my initial focus on knitting softies, stuffed animals are still knitting comfort food to me.

While my usual excuse for knitting an animal is an impending birth, Bradac is just for me. I got the notion in my head to knit a Polar Bear and I went to Purl Diva in search of some yarn. I wanted a slightly off-white, superwash wool and the Lambs Pride worsted from Brown Sheep fit the bill perfectly.

Named for a college roommate who's fond of the creatures, Bradac is knit seamlessly in the round from nose to tail.  Most details, like the ears, are worked in short rows, while the legs are knit with scrap yarn and then picked up and worked in a similar fashion to an afterthought thumb or heel.

The bear is stuffed as you go and measures approximately 12 inches from nose to tail and takes 200 yards of worsted weight yarn, plus some additional contrast yarn for the face and scarf.

Bradac is available for purchase for $5.00 USD

or you can queue it up on Ravelry.

To find out about pattern releases and sales right as they happen, sign up for the mailing list or follow me on Twitter. Sign up for the mailing list by Dec 15th and get access to an exclusive free pattern.

Return to FunSpot (Lent Day #14)

Whenever I log into Wordpress to update this blog, it shows me a list of the most frequent/recent search terms people used to find my blog. The list usually looks something like this: ms cleaver chronicles, ms cleaver, chocolate chip cookie ingredients, abercrombie and stitch, chicken satay, s'more pie, smore pie, ms cleavers chronicles. (You'd think I post way more about cooking than I actually do - though if you're interested in that see the Recipes page.)

One time the list included the following: "knitters who love pinball"

I have no idea who searched that, but I wish they'd left a comment, because I'd love to know who they are, and why they were searching it (presumably they are also a knitter who loves pinball).

In any case, I'm an accurate return for that search query and proven by this post on a trip to FunSpot last year.

Since Mr. Cleaver's currently on spring break we took a return trip yesterday.

The drive out to New Hampshire was lovely, as all the trees were heavy with the previous evening's snow.

Though the initial "wow" from the previous trip had worn off, FunSpot is still a lot of, well fun. Even if both Mr. Cleaver's and I favorite machines were out of order.

I got in a variety of pinball action.

Mr. Cleaver played a lot of Tetris.

Mid-day we took a break and ate lunch at George's Diner down the road in Meredith. My burger was okay, but the onion rings were delicious and the fries tasted exactly like In-N-Out fries. I got a few "you're not from around here" looks entering the diner, presumably because the folks in Meredith don't typically sport magenta nylons.

But if you're not going to wear magenta nylons to spend a day playing at an arcade, when are you?

Praying Mantis Tee: local artist, purchased at Ferdinand in 2005.

Purple Tank: Gap outlet

Skirt: Ann Taylor Loft, gift

Tights: Target

Boots: Naturalizers, Macys.

Snowpocalypse 11:30am or the Joys of Home Ownership in New England

In case you haven't heard - it's snowing a lot here in New England. We're expected to get 14-20 inches today.

I'm working from home today and Mr. Cleaver & I have decided to attack our shoveling in batches. Here's go Number One. (Note, the piles are accumulated over several storms - we're running out of places to put it all)

First Snow

There is something magical about the first snow of the year, so Mr. Cleaver and I went out to play:

First Snow

Last night was our first real snow of the season in Portland - around 6 inches.

Between the snow, seeing the Nutcracker Friday night, and the balsam pine scent of our $8 roadside wreath, I'm starting to feel very much in the Holiday spirit.

Only 19 days left to go!

Snow!

With somewhere between 8.5-10 inches of snow on the ground outside right now, I thought this was as good as time as any to post some belated photos from my Christmas in Maine.  

Some serious icicle action, on a lovely red house.

I grew up in California, I have an entire childhood of snowball fights to make up for.

Make a little birdhouse in your soul.