a fine Alpine

 Just a bare dusting of snow...but plenty to see.

I love photographing snowflakes.  Some are filled out with flat ridges of ice...

...and some are all prickly shards.

You can see in the first picture how different each snowflake looks.  We are supposed to get between 3 - 8 inches of snow this week - a white Christmas!! - so I'll have more chances to find new shapes.

It's been dry, cold, and quiet here.  The front pond is frozen...

...and even sunny mornings are foggy and atmospheric.

The kittens seem to know that it's a sleepy season.  I put a small wooden bench by our front windows, for the kittens' viewing pleasure.  I decided to go one further and added a cat bed.  It seems to be a success...

...even more than our bed!

Busy busy, but I'm making time for some creative pursuits.  I'm slowly picking away at my Vintage Christmas quilt, having finished all 15-square side pieces (see left section) and the wide patchwork alternating sections (see right section).  I'm working on the middle section, blue stars made up of different styles of fabric. It's very colorful and cheerful, so I'm excited to see the finished product!

I've also picked up my knitting again.  I'm knitting this cardigan:

Deco, photo courtesy of Kate Davies

The dress is Alpine from Lindy Bop...must buy!!

I put it away for a while, because I had Christmas knitting and other time-sensitive projects.  It's knitted in an unusual (to me) way.  You make a basic vest, and then pick up the stitches around the armpit hole.  You knit in a back-and-forth fashion (short rows), picking up an extra stitch each time, until you've worked the entire circle.  This creates an excess of fabric at the top, where you need it.

Then you can knit in the round, making a tube.

After both arms are finished, you have to pick up stitches for the hem, neck, and front button bands. It's a bit confusing, and I'd chosen this cardigan as an easy knit.  But I love a challenge and look forward to conquering these techniques!

Colder weather is coming, Christmas is coming, and it's wonderful to have so many fun projects to work on in my free time...the aforementioned, as well as working hard to beat my personal post-college best for the most books read in a year.  Bring on the snow!!

Have a great week!  

twice as ice

Cold outside and warm inside, but these kittens cuddle like they're warding off hypothermia.  I love it!

even with the dog!

It's so delightful to wake up from a lazy couch nap to find a kitten curled up, too!

I don't need snuggly kittens to tell me that it's winter.  It's cold outside - really cold, which means that it's a great time to make ice bowls.   I've made and posted about these before, and they're so easy to make.

Take two bowls and nestle with a layer of water in between, then freeze.  Put a candle inside and they look so pretty and atmospheric on a porch.  I have a lamentable lack of freezer space here, so I made two shallow bowls to stack.

I think it would look really pretty with the top layer inverted, or even a really tall stack of shallow ice bowls.  We're warming up today and they will melt...but it's easy enough to make more once the temperatures drop again!

I also took advantage of the cold temperatures to make some delicious bread.  I'd ordered some 6" cake pans and Sally's Raspberry Twist Bread recipe, halved, fit into one perfectly!  I cut the cooking time to 35 minutes and it was perfect.  

Flaky layers of brioche bread with of thick jam and puddles of cooked fruit...so good.  Kind of perfect on a cold winter morning.  

Since it's only a 6" loaf, it's perfectly fine if it disappears in a day!  Next time...cream cheese glaze.  Swoon!  

I've been sewing, and working on some secret knitting projects...

...and it's full steam ahead on my quilt!  I combined my 2 1/2" squares to create 17 larger blocks.  The Vintage Christmas fabric is perfect for this time of year!

Now I'll work on the star blocks, which will be solid color and interspersed with these mini-blocks.  It's shaping up nicely!  A really pleasant winter project.

When it's cold like this, I can't sleep in a sunbeam like the kittens...

...but I can still find little ways to make it more pleasurable.  That's a key to happiness, I think!

It's been a pretty great season so far. 

Have a great week!