What to knit today

So I'm not a huge knitter.  But I like it.  And more importantly I like, or rather love, yarn. All colors, textures, kinds.  I know two stitches.  Knit and purl.  If you can do a knit stitch, you can do a purl; they are opposites of each other.  However, this is not a knitting lesson.  If you want to learn to knit, use youtube.

I have discovered the square.  Yes, the square.  If you can knit a square, you can make all kinds of cool things.  Two squares together and you have a bag.  Two squares with a rectangle between them and you have another bag.  Take a square and fold it in half and you have a hat (after stitching up the sides)..I would recommend it for a child... take the same square (well actually a different square, but whatever) and fold it in half again and stitch up the sides leaving a hole and wa-la you have fingerless gloves.  Several squares together and you have a blanket.  Use one square and sew it to fabric and stuff in a pillow. Heck, use two and forget the fabric.  Seat cover, book cover, glasses case, Nook case, laptop case.  A really long one into a scarf.  Sew the ends together and it is an infinity scarf.  Make a skinny one and you can put it around your Starbuck's coffee to keep your hands from burning.

The possibilities are endless.  Now get knitting!

Coldmeal

This is apparently NOT a new deal.  For me it is.  I found the original recipe on Pintrest, but have since branched out.  We call it coldmeal at my house, (Cold Oatmeal) and I know there are several other names for it.  We made blueberry and maple syrup, chocolate and banana, and craisen.  The blueberry and craisen we by FAR the favorites of the group.  The chocolate was *gasp* too chocolaty.  Next up is chocolate and peanut butter.  Sounds yummy.

Anyway, these are super easy, inexpensive and fun to make.  Great, fast, awesome breakfast for busy families.  And whose family isn't busy?!

1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup regular (Not steel cut or instant) oatmeal
1/4 Greek yogurt (I used vanilla)
 Shake up these ingredients in a 1/2 pint mason jar.  After it is mixed, open the lid and add either a tbls of maple syrup and blueberries, or craisens, or bananas and cocoa.  Re-lid the jar, put in the frige and enjoy in the morning!  Super Yummy!

Mouse in the house

Here's hoping that I have discovered my inner muse...or perhaps I should say mouse?  I really would like to try and blog regularly and about crafty things that I care about.  So, here goes.  I decided that today was the day.  I am going to be crafty for me and no one else.  I love to make stuff, see my creations come to life, get hot glue on my fingers (a little creepy, I know) .  

Why should a doorstop just be a doorstop?  Ugly and clear, or worse yet, uglier and brown.  Yucky.  So, I busted out the leftover wool, and covered my door stopper with it.  In fact, I turned it into a mouse.  Now, I know we generally don't invite mice into our homes, but I thought this was a cute little mouse complete with whiskers and a sparkly tail.  And he is not going to get into my food.  Or leave little surprises in the pantry. 

Give it a go, it is super easy.  

1.  Find a door stop

2.  Gather some left over fabric

3.  Hot glue fabric to stopper

4.  Wa-la you are done and your plain, old, boring door stop is now spruced up!  

 

Origination and Development of Pennsylvania Dutch Hex Signs

 I became interested in the Pennsylvania Dutch, both their furniture and their painting, when reading and studying the Asheford material on this matter.  I found it fascinating that there were certain colors used, coupled with the utilitarianism of the furniture.  How typical of humans that we take something that we must have, a barn in this case, and make it beautiful within the bounds we are capable of.  Thus developed a love and interest of the specific painting to this region of people.  The origination and development of Pennsylvania Dutch hex signs seemed the logical choice of an AIA essay.

When researching the Pennsylvania Dutch, one of the first discoveries is that there are several names referring to these people.  One, obviously, is Pennsylvania Dutch, but they are also called Pennsylvania Germans, and possibly the best known, “fancy” Dutch.  (folkart.com).  Thus called to distinguish them from the “plain” Dutch or Anabaptist’s who did not assimilate quickly or easily into American mainstream (wikipedia.org).  We would call these people Mennonites or Amish.  

The Germans began to make their way to North America in the late 1600’s to escape what seems constant war and destruction in Germany and Switzerland.  Most emigrated to England first; of these, over half were sent to Ireland to bolster Protestantism there.  The rest were sent to North America.  Eventually, many from Ireland also emigrated here as well.  

When established, finally in Pennsylvania, the Germans employed farming techniques learned in Europe; these were astonishingly successful in their adopted land.  With most of their time dedicated to farming, and no extra money, painting and decorating was by necessity and practicality not necessarily for looks.  As their lives developed and paint became affordable, look and comfort became more important.  To accessorize their barns and homes, they turned to their quilts; there they found the shapes and colors they preferred; the logical next step was to apply these same shapes and colors to their buildings (wikipedia.org).

There was little painting prior to 1830, as the cost was astronomical, so the development of hex signs didn’t really get started until shortly thereafter, around 1860 or so (amishnews.com).  The Pennsylvania Dutch tended to stay with shapes they were familiar with and that had meaning for them.  Some of the symbols were Distlefink, Double Headed Eagle, Tulips, Hearts, and several geometric shapes, the oldest most likely being the Rosette.   Each of the symbols possessed a meaning as well.  See the following list:

• Crescent Moon:  the four seasons
• Distlefink:  good luck and happiness
• Doves:  friendship, peace, happiness, purity
• Eagle: strength, courage
• Heart:  love, true and everlasting; love for others
• Oak Leaf:  long life, strength, endurance
• Pineapple:  welcome and hospitality
• Raindrops:  water, crop abundance, fertility
• Rosettes:  good luck
• Scallops:  smooth sailing in life
• Stars:  good fortune, hope, love, fertility
• Tulips: Faith, hope, charity, and trust (folkart.com).

As with shapes and symbols, colors also held significant meaning.  Blue: protection, peace, calmness and spirituality.  Brown:  friendship and strength; green, growth and fertility.  Orange meant abundance and purple sacred things.  Red dealt with emotions and white, purity.  Yellow represented health, love of mankind, and connection to God (folkart.com).  Due to the age of the Hex Signs, the colors were ones that would be found in nature.  
While the term hex means many things, within our frame of reference it most likely is not negative.  There are several thoughts associated with the term Hex Signs.  One is the Pennsylvanian Dutch word ‘hex’ which in fact means witch.  This is probably not the original derivative as Hex Sign wasn't applied to this decoration until after 1924 and Wallace Nutting’s book Pennsylvania Beautiful was published.  In this book, Nutting wrote that barn signs were used to ward off evil spirits.  A second thought is based on the 1929 coverage of a witchcraft-related murder in York County.  The news media introduced the word hex to the American public at this time (ancestry.com).  
Yet another interpretation is “Chust for nice” in the local dialect.  As stated by amishnews.com, “the meanings we find in the hex signs are ethnic identity, ethnic pride, and the pure joy of colorful decoration.”  A popular belief stems from the previous idea as well; as the state of Pennsylvania tried to dissolve the German language and culture, the increased display of hex signs with the result.  Yet another thought follows the idea that a favorite symbol of these paintings were of the six sided star; the word six in German is “sechs” which sounded like “hex” to the English speaking neighbors (padutch.com).

With all of these varying interpretations, we will probably never know the true roots of the Pennsylvania Dutch Hex Signs.  My guess is that it is probably a combination of several

of these theories.  Part of the beauty is the mystery behind where they came from.  If we
knew without a doubt, they would without a doubt, be less popular and certainly less fascinating.    

 

Dansk Cast Iron Tiny Tapers

Ok, so today I decided I have another love.  I have so many treasures and so little time!  I love to collect. Anything vintage...and today it is Dansk Cast Iron Tiny Taper Holders.  While the name is large, the weight even worse, the size is not.  These are little, black, and awesome.  Can't you just see a whole collection stashed in super cool vintage cupboard?  Then bring them out for a dinner party, grouping them all together or separately and see the light go crazy!  Check out the pictures and see if you don't agree!

Let me know where you found yours, and what you are in love with today!