Pumpkin Spice

My aunt recently told me she once saw these cute little knitted or crocheted (she wasn't sure which) pumpkins in a store with cinnamon sticks as the stem. She wanted to buy them, but when she went back, they were all sold out. I told her I would take a shot at it. I am very happy with the results. I improvised the whole thing, didn't write anything down pattern-wise, but I know I can duplicate it pretty easily. We all loved it!

Christmas Village

We added a few pieces to our tiny Christmas village we erect every year. This year, it seemed a bit sparse with just the Hogwarts castle, the Quidditch pitch, a tiny village scene (which we like to think of as Hogsmeade), and a green house. So this year, we picked up a few trees (one illuminated), lit lampposts, a clock-tower, and I had to get the get the quilting and knitting supplies shop. My son wanted to have something moving this year, so we got the train. We love it!

Winter is Here!

Unbelievable.  Last Tuesday was 16°C.  The next day, the temperature fell over 10 degrees and stayed there.  The snow started coming in on Saturday.  Now people are scrambling to get their winter tires on.  I was afraid we would get an early winter this year; I guess I knew it was coming because we had a few flakes of snow on Halloween.  Knitting warm woolies started earlier this year for that and one other reason.

My son had his first trip with the school for 3 days away from home to Camp Muskoka (http://www.campmuskoka.com/) in the first week of November.  He had a great time.  Being north of Toronto, they already had snow up there.  In preparation for that trip, I made him a very simple hat and cowl.  He requested no patterning, just his favourite colour, blue, and the cowl had to have buttons. I used Bernat's Glow-In-The-Dark yarn again.  Simple is good; it gets done quickly.  I know he doesn't look it in this picture, but he was actually quite happy with it.  Now his sister wants the same hat in purple.  Happy knitting!

Winter Princess Leg Warmers

I can't believe it's been a month since I last posted.  The hubby and I have been crazy busy with work, I've even had to miss some karate training.  Somehow, in the last week, I managed to pull off creating a pair of crocheted leg warmers for my daughter.  I was considering knitting them but then realized I didn't have the appropriate sized dpns (double pointed needles) to do it.  I thought, oh well, I can crochet quicker anyways so that is exactly what I did.  I'm very happy with the result.  I used Bernat's glow-in-the-dark yarn in blue and purple for it as well as Bernat's Bling Bling for the fur trim.  The kids and I love the glow-in-the-dark yarn.  We were very pleased with the way it turned out.  The glow-in-the-dark picture didn't turn out as well as I would have liked, but you get the idea.

New Knitting and Crocheting Instructor at Michaels

I am thrilled to announce that I am the new Knitting and Crocheting Instructor at Michaels starting October 1st.  I got a call from the Instructor Co-ordinator yesterday telling me that they were losing their Knitting and Crocheting Instructor at the end of this month and would I be interested in taking over.  I jumped at the opportunity!  This was what I had wanted all along.  I'm still their Jewelry Instructor, too.  It will be an interesting feat of co-ordination trying to teach it all while doing my job as an engineer, practicing karate, and allowing time for my family's various extra-curricular activities.  I know I'll love it!

Back to School and Work

I finally completed a necklace that I had started before my trunk show in July.  It took me this long to figure out how I was going to make a closure for it.  This was quite a departure from anything I had ever done before.  Here was my starting point, a ball and chain (sorry, couldn't resist saying that).

Utilizing the versatility of a crochet hook, I came up with this.

Close-up

And here is the closure I agonized over so long.  I decided to use a bead (recognize it from one of the previous necklaces I posted?) and crocheted loop type of closure.  I am very happy with the way it turned out.

Back from - was it a holiday?

Hard to believe.  We've been back almost 3 weeks and this is the first chance I've had to sit down and write.  We've been working like crazy; even through our vacation.  The trunk show in High River went very well and I'm very grateful to my in-laws for giving me that opportunity.  My children were great assistants in the show as well.

It also never fails that while we were away, the garden ran amok.  I had to cut the cucumber vine off the cable wire and garden hose wheel.

Needless to say, I haven't had time for knitting, jewelry making, or much of anything else.  I hope it won't be too long a hiatus before I post again.

Mitered Square Purse

During the past week and a half, I was inundated with engineering work, which was great! Unfortunately, my art had to fall to the sidelines and I didn't make anything new. I got back today to posting past knitting projects on Ravelry, some of which I will be taking to the trunk show next week.  I made this purse many years ago from my stash. Using the same yarns, I created a twisted cord to use as a drawstring for the purse and another one to be used as a shoulder strap.  One month, the knitting guild I was part of at the time had a night on beading embellishments for your knitting, so I added a beaded fringe to the purse that night.  I was very pleased with the results.

I will be posting more of these older projects in the near future.

This Week's Jewelry

Here are a few things I've been working on this past week for the trunk show in High River at Chinook Fabrics.

New Trunk Show Designs

Here are some pictures of my latest trunk show designs.  More coming in the near future.

In the Garden

We were having dinner in the backyard when one of these beautiful butterflies landed on my lilac bush. In the 14 years we've been in this house, I've never seen these here. Yet today, 2 were in my front yard when I was bringing my daughter home and now one on this bush. It was very cooperative and let me get nice and close to get many pictures, a few of which are posted here. I think it's a male Eastern Tiger Swallowtail from the markings, even though they are not really seen in Ontario. The hubby thinks it's a Canadian Tiger Swallowtail, but I think the markings are too different. We can both agree it's a beautiful butterfly. In other news, our clematis plants have started blooming!

Latest Jewelry Creations

I just finished a 3 hour Open House at Michaels to promote my jewelry making classes.  It went pretty well.  I brought some of my latest creations to show off.  I will also be bringing these items to display at Chinook Fabrics in High River, Alberta on July 16th as well as giving a knitting session (topic to be determined).

Knitted wire and bead bracelets:  top - tiger eye, middle - fluorite, bottom - amethyst

Pharaoh Watch Pendant and Necklace

Here is my latest creation.  My husband gave me this gorgeous Pharaoh watch pendant on a necklace many years before the kids were born.  As years went on, the plating on the chain came off and I reacted to the nickel content in the chain.  For a couple of years now, I kept meaning to make a new necklace for it.  I gradually gathered beads I liked and decided to go 3 tiers on this one.  I’m very pleased with the results.

New Tudor Roses and Teaching at Michaels

It's been really busy lately.  I just started last week as a jewelry instructor for Michaels in Oakville.  I gave my first demonstration on Friday night.  I had planned to make a necklace, but I finished it too quickly, so I improvised a coordinating set of earrings.  I'm very happy with the way it turned out.

I will be teaching classes Tuesday nights from 6:30-8:30 in June and July.  I still have to determine more classes beyond that and perhaps come up with some summer classes for kids.  I have launched a Facebook page now (https://www.facebook.com/Francesca.Gougeon.Designs) for Françesca Gougeon Designs to cover both jewelry making and knitting.  Françesca Gougeon Designs on Ravelry is only for my knitting patterns.

Other exciting news, I got the newest Tudor Roses!  I'm so thrilled!  It's a gorgeous book and I love the bits of history in it.  I thought it fitting to photograph me holding it while wearing the Katherine Howard sweater I knit from the first Tudor Roses.