Merry Christmas from the Great Not so White North

Merry Christmas to All

Needlework Tuesday - Last Minute Gifts

My shopping was done long ago and I found some time to do a bit of stitching.  Last minute presents.  Over the years I've made dozens of boxer shorts and my family never tires of getting a new pair.  I use Pattern 1672 from Kwik Sew.  The gorgeous inukshuk fabric is by Northcott.   these are for my niece who is visiting from overseas.

 This pair is for son. I've run out of time, so daughter's will have to wait a few more days.

Needlework Tuesday is a regular weekly post where I share the progress of my various needlework projects over the past week. I enjoy the encouragement that I receive from my readers and in return visit their blogs and cheer them on with theirs. You are welcome to grab the cute little mouse and create your own Needlework Tuesday post. Leave a comment with a link and I'll be sure to visit with you.

I almost have these ruffle scarves out of my system.  Daughter had several balls in her room before she went to University and I've been stitching them up.  The two on the right are made from Bernat Twist and Twirl. both are made with 6 stitches.  New colours are now available.  The scarf on the left is made from Ruffelina, which is now discontinued. It has the look of poodle curls. If you have a ball of this in your stash, cast on at least 8 stitches.

This is my last Needlework post of the year.  i'll leave Mister Linky up until the new year so you can show off your stitched Christmas gift whether you gave them or received.

Cold Storage, Alaska by John Straley

This audio book was wonderfully entertaining and I kept making excuses to keep listening.  At first I thought it was a story of good brother versus bad brother.  As I kept listening, I realised it went a lot deeper than that. 

Clive McCahon has served his time for dealing drugs and now wants to return home to remote Cold Storage, Alaska to open a bar/church.  His brother Miles, the town medic, is unaware of this until a state trooper, bent on re-arresting Clive, fills him in.  Fishing is the largest industry in Cold Storage and trooper wants to ensure that Clive doesn't bring any of his drug dealing ways with him.

From the moment Clive and his uniquely ugly dog step foot on shore, all plans seem to take on a life of their own.  The arrival of ones of his pre-jail associates complicates matters, though not in expected way.  A series of comic mis-adventures doesn't hurt either.

Cold Storage is a remote community with access either by water or air.  City people can't envision themselves wanting to stay here, but it has a knack for getting under their skins and they find it hard to leave.  Perhaps it's the sense of caring practised by the residents.

Author John Straley has turned a cold, isolated community into an inviting yet funny family. 

This audio book was read by Stephen R. Thorne. 8 hours 9 minutes.
Cover image courtesy of Blackstone Audio.

Splattered Blood by Michael A. Draper

Johnny thought he had the perfect job  as Chief of Internal Security for the New England Highlanders basketball team, until he committed suicide.  His wife Roseanne couldn't believe that he would choose to end his life and pushed for an investigation.  Along with her brother Graham and friend Randy, they carried out their own probe.

The story is told from Randy's point of view.  He's been a friend of the family for many years since selling them their first insurance policy.  His job has given him many opportunities for investigation, but never as in depth as this case promises to go.  At first, I felt a little unsettled by Randy's story telling, but then I realised he was telling the story from the present rather than the past tense as I expected.  Once I had read a few chapters, that unsettled feeling went away.

Their investigation proceeds at a realistic pace, at times stalling for days and at others moving ahead in leaps and bounds.  This kept me guessing as to what would happen next and when it might happen.

I enjoyed the assortment of characters involved in the plot.  Detective Chuck McElroy never quite welcomed the three as he felt it was safest to leave the investigating to the police, but then again, he didn't run them out of town either.   It didn't matter that I knew little about professional basketball, it is a backdrop to several characters, one of whom plays an important part of the investigation.

This is definitely not a cosy mystery, it contains a fair number of gruesome deaths, though Mr. Draper has not gone into glorified details, rather he has confined the descriptions of the bodies to that needed for the storyline and not gone beyond to gratuitous gore. 

Thanks to author Michael Draper for creating a good book with more than a few interesting plot twists.  Mike's latest book Three Strikes and You're Dead is now out in print.

Cover image courtesy of the author.

Tangled Thursday - Negative Space

It's been far too long since I tangled anything.  Diane has nudged out group back on track by challenging us to use negative space.

I tried this once before and was unhappy with my results.  I didn't outline my space and then the tangles I selected had too much open spaces with in them.  This time I outlined my space with a black pen and then tangled away.  I am happy with the results though I have some ideas on how to improve next time.  Always a learning opportunity.

Thanks to Diane for the challenge.

My post from yesterday is looking for photos of your Advent or Countdown to Christmas Calendar. 

Mister Linky is waiting below for a link to your current Zentangle related post or a negative space tangle from a previous post.

The Great Advent Calendar Hunt

When I was growing up, it was so exciting in December when one of us kids got to open one of the doors on the Advent Calendar.  Hiding behind those doors was a tiny piece of chocolate.  Since there were four kids in my family, I didn't get to open very many doors.

I decided that when I had kids, they would each get their own calendar.  Well, it didn't quite happen that way, instead, I bought a calendar with pockets that I could fill myself.  We have used it for the past twenty years and my kids still look forward to seeing what I have hidden for each morning.  I'll give you a hint, it's always chocolate and more chocolate.

I bought this from Avon about twenty years ago. The little Santa, currently in #9 moves from day to day.  The pockets are large enough to hold about 6 Hershey Kisses.  The first year I used it, I got the great idea of filling all the pockets ahead of time and then hanging it on the wall.  I had no sooner left the room and there was quite the crash.  The calendar was so heavy that it pulled the picture hanger out of the wall.  From that day forward, I just fill one day at a time.  The tree is about 25 inches tall and 23 inches wide.

This year, my sister sent me a surprise in the mail, a new style calendar.  This one is a magnetic black board with twenty five little tins, each of which contain a chocolate coated cookie and one contains a gift certificate.  Hmm, wonder which that might be.  Measures 12 inches on a side and is from Starbucks.  Thanks sister, you are terrific.

Christmas tree skirts are the feature of this post from 2012.

Homemade ornaments were featured in 2013.

This post and the earlier ones all have open Linky. you are invited to add a link to your post that features Advent Calenders, Christmas Tree Skirts or Home made ornaments.  It can be a new or previous post.  Advent calendars and tree skirts can be either bought or home crafted.  Thanks for joining in the fun.

Needlework Tuesday - Inspiration Takes Time

 I traded for these blocks in 2000-2001. I was quite excited by all these 9 patches arriving in my mailbox.  Then they sat and sat and aged and I still didn't put them in a quilt.  Last week I showed you how I updated them using a disappearing 9 patch method.  The first photo shows my original layout.  I alternated blocks that had light or dark at the outer corners and left space for sashing.  Too busy.

Needlework Tuesday is a regular weekly post where I share the progress of my various needlework projects over the past week. I enjoy the encouragement that I receive from my readers and in return visit their blogs and cheer them on with theirs. You are welcome to grab the cute little mouse and create your own Needlework Tuesday post. Leave a comment with a link and I'll be sure to visit with you.

 Next I put the light corner blocks in the middle and the dark corners to the outside. It's a little more defined, but still not what I wanted.

Add another round of sashing.  Now it's heading the right direction.  This seems to tune down the busyness.

 Since this was a 50 State swap, I wanted to emphasis that it was American. First I selected the 9 blocks with light corners that were mostly red, white and blue and put them in the centre.  The blue fabric with the tiny white stars for the sashing was bought years ago.  The cornerstones with the fussy cut blue stars was an afterthought that I am very happy about.  I am still undecided about a border.  Perhaps 3 or 4 inches if I can find a red and white stripe.

Last evening I put some decorative stitches on the Christmas stocking.  I used a fluffy yarn to duplicate stitch a couple of snowflakes. The pattern is one that I purchased many years ago and is no longer available.   Now my stocking are all ready for filling.

Tomorrow I'll have a special post of Advent or Christmas countdown calendars.

I'd love to see what you've been stitching on. Mister Linky is waiting below for the link to your current needlework post.