Advent calendars

As it is almost December 1st, and I've been seeing so many advent calendars around the blogosphere lately, I decided I would provide you all with a little collection of my faves.  Some are very suitable for DIY.

The first is from Miss Gioia via oh, hello friend (who happens to have an excellent round-up of advent calendars).  I am in love with this one - it uses an increasing amount of buttons to indicate the number of each pocket.  Love, love, love.

The next is actually a DIY project and comes from Paige Russell via Poppytalk.  I think the stark white mixed with rainbow bright colours would be perfect in a modern home or apartment, don't you?

Here is a fun little pyramid calendar from Country Living.  I found it courtesy of craft lovely.  If you are like me and love candlelight, and prefer a matchstick to a lighter, you may just have a few matchboxes lying around.  Alternatively, you could purchase a multipack of matchboxes and store the matches in a large jar while the boxes are re-purposed.

This final calendar is a beautiful print-it-yourself project by Jen Hill (found via the ever-addictive Design*Sponge and their round-up of calendars in general).  It comes free with purchase from her shop or you can get the .pdf for $5 on her site.

If this post inspires you to make up your own advent calendar, I need to see pictures, so let me know!

Winter is here!

So, technically, Winter isn't here until December 21st, but today was the first real snowfall here in St. John's.  So I'm christening Winter today.

Today was also the first day I had to break out a hat.  My personal favorite hat.

It was knit long before this blog started.  Super quick and fun.  Love the spiral pattern of the top decreases!

And the big wooden button, of course.

If you know me on Ravelry, the project has been posted there for awhile.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but could the best part of winter be the knitted accessories?

Swift Current

Ever heard of Swift Current, Newfoundland? It is the home of Kilmory Resort. We first heard about it at a silent auction fundraiser for Haiti last winter. They were offering for auction a two night stay in their finest chalet - and we took home the prize.

[our cabin]

The husband and I finally redeemed our certificate last weekend. And what a prize it was. This is a little resort area tucked in the woods directly beside a quiet river in rural Newfoundland.  The cabin itself was well equipped with everything we needed, as well as a jacuzzi and fireplace!  To top it off, the weather was unseasonably warm and sunny.

This trip was so peaceful.  No internet.  No cell reception.  Just the two of us, a beautiful river view, the guitars (and the new mandolin).

[cabin view]

[the mandolin]

We also fit in a few hikes.  The first, at Garden Cove, was fun and quirky.  Someone had taken it upon themselves to decorate the trail with some folk art.  A few samples:

[some kind of Elk's Lodge meeting place?]

[now I get it...]

[closest we came to cell reception all weekend]

The other hike was at the former Piper's Hole Provincial Park.  For reasons unknown to us, this park had been shut down for apparently several years.  The trails remained, and before we got too scared of bears, we did a bit of walking and got a few photographs.

[old bridge circa 1939]

[the river]

[fall foliage]

What a peaceful weekend - a real getaway.  Rural Newfoundland never ceases to impress me, and Swift Current was no exception.

New mittens

It has been quite a while since I knit my last pair of mittens - way too long in fact!  So I was due for a new pair:

A trip to Toronto last month brought me into a fancy yarn store... so tempting that I couldn't leave without some amazingly soft alpaca yarn.  A pair of garter-stitch mittens in the store caught my eye and the ladies included the pattern in the purchase:  the Greyden Mitts (link to pattern page on Ravelry).

The photoshoot was at Kilmory Resort, Swift Current, NL (post on that trip still to come!).

For more of my knitting posts, click here.

6th Avenue Heartache

To add to my list of favorite songs to hear and sing... remember this one, from the Wallflowers?  Jakob Dylan (Bob's progeny) is the singer, with help from Adam Duritz of Counting Crows.

While released as a pop/rock song (and played on top 40 radio), this is actually a folk song.  According to my definition anyway.  I consider a good folk song to be one that first of all tells a story, and second of all makes some kind of comment on society, be it political or sociological or whatever.

To me, this song not only tells a story but paints a vivid mental picture of the urban homeless.  I turned to Flickr to help me share the internal images that this song gives me.  Thanks to the Flickr members who agreed to share their work.

[by Gnownad]

[by ONEant]

[by Jacobite Boy]

6th Avenue Heartache - The Wallflowers

Sirens ring, shots ring out

A stranger cries, screams out loud

I had my world strapped against my back

I held my hands, never knew how to act

And the same black line that was drawn on you

Was drawn on me

And now it's drawn me in

6th Avenue heartache

Below me was a homeless man

Singin' songs I knew completely

On the steps alone, his guitar in hand

For fifty years, he stood where he stands

Now walkin' home on those streets

The river winds move my feet

Subway steam, like silhouettes in dreams

They stood by me, just like moonbeams

Look out the window, down upon that street

And gone like a midnight was that man

But I see his six strings laid against that wall

And all his things, they all look so small

I got my fingers crossed on a shooting star

Just like me, just moved on

Heart on your sleeve

Has anyone else noticed the trend in decorative anatomy?

I'm used to seeing anatomical images at work, though usually on a poster or textbook.  It's another thing entirely to see these images as jewelry.   I love the juxtaposition when these things adorn the outside of a neck, a wrist, a finger.

[spine and pelvis necklace by Lillian Crowe via Supermarket]

[pelvis necklace by Missy Industry on Supermarket]

Now, some people just can't stomach these types of images.

[stomach pendant by TillyBloom via Etsy]

They aren't for the faint-of-heart.

[heart ring by Melanie Favreau on Supermarket]

So, if you see one of these items on a friend, just take a deep breath...

[lung necklace by Missy Industry on Etsy]

Any squeamishness is just in your mind.

[brain necklace by Moon Raven Designs on Etsy]

Try to see these beautiful pieces as I do:  art, not ick!

For more quasi-medical decoration, see my previous posts here and here.