Happy Solstice

Wishing everyone a happy Winter Solstice! Welcome the return of the light...

Image from http://www.freeimages.co.uk/

Blanketed 2

Those of you who've been following this blog for a while may remember a post a while back about my second attempt at crocheting a blanket. I was making it for my cousin and his wife with the main criterion being "bright colours." Well, after much time, blood, sweat, tears, and cat hair, the blanket is complete! It now covers the couch at my cousins' place, where, as they put it "everyone can see it." I guess it was worth the wait :)

Crocheting the squares is really what took forever. Once I finished them (168 total), the blanket came together relatively quickly. In the meantime I stored them in a chest we use as a coffee table/foot rest/scratching post (technically the cats are the ones who use it for that last part).

This pile of squares made one row of the blanket

Coming together...

I used a variegated yarn to join the pieces together. This one blended well with the colours I used in the squares.

It was pretty cozy working under all that :)

Shadow regularly showed his appreciation for my work by napping on it.

He's less impressed, however, with my sticking a camera in his face. Yes, he is sticking his tongue out at me.

Hoping I'll just go away. His brother, Wraith, would usually sit on my blanket-covered lap as I worked on it. And that's why the blanket got washed before I gave it to my cousins (it still probably had a ton of cat hair on it--sorry, guys...)

All done

For the granny squares I used this pattern.
For the joining technique I used the Flat Braid Joining Method (instructions here).

Christie's Antique and Vintage Show

Today was a long day that was a long time in the making.

Several months ago I was reading the latest post on one of my favourite blogs (see it here), and discovered the existence of Christie's Antique Show. Well, as soon as I saw the photo of an entire table covered in jadeite (AKA jadite, green milk glass, or that awesome green stuff...) I set the date in my calendar.

Yay antiques!

Today the big day finally arrived and the SO and I set forth to Hamilton (about an hour west of Toronto), coffees in hand and excitement rising (okay, I was excited; he was wondering how he got suckered into this). Despite getting turned around in the wilds of Hamilton (at one point we saw a valley with numerous plumes of smoke/steam rising, which led to comparisons with Isengard and jokes about Orcs), we made pretty good time to the show.

If I hadn't already pre-bought the tickets, I might just have turned around and gone home at the sight of all the cars lined up to get in. I don't like lines. Or crowds. Or small groups. But jadeite is a powerful motivator so we forged ahead (another Isengard reference for you). I'm so glad we did. The lines and crowds really weren't bad, and there was so much to see. Tons of glassware and metal signs, a surprising number of vintage wooden crates, some great furniture pieces, plenty of Canadiana. Some weird stuff too, like an actual life-size mugwump from David Cronenberg's movie Naked Lunch. If you thought those things were creepy onscreen, you have no idea (I should've stopped to ask where they got it or how much they were asking).

And there was lots of jadeite. Two places with large selections, and a few with smaller offerings or only a couple of pieces. The shock was the prices. Why didn't I start buying this stuff years ago when I fell in love with it and it wasn't super popular? Now everyone's into it and the prices reflect that. Sigh. I should probably just wait until it's out of fashion again. But I couldn't resist getting a couple of pieces anyway. I'm stupid like that. Keep reading for pictures of the show and to see what I ended up getting...

The tents beckoning in the distance...

Jadeite in all its glory, along with accompanying sticker shock

Awesome little dollhouse. Note the bird and nest on the window ledge, as well as the letters in the mailbox.

old-school gas pump

The table of jadeite that lured me to the show in the first place

The show was being held at Christie Lake Conservation Area.

John McClane would be so jealous...

Big Boy indeed--this thing was taller than the corner of the tent.

What's better than Bohemian glass?

That's right--two Bohemian glasses.

I was so excited to take the picture, I didn't notice the glass was wet. Sorry about the spots.

I couldn't resist this set of three covered dishes. All the jadeite I got today is 1940s era. Side note: the table cloth is one I got at the market in Carpentras, Provence.

Fire-King sticker still there 70 years later

A better view of the design on the lid. Not sure how the colour ended up so off in this shot.

The best part is how it glows when the light hits it

Shadow stopped by to see what I was up to and then promptly got distracted by everything else.

You can see this flour shaker in the first jadeite market shot above. I especially liked it because I actually needed something like this. It's a darker green than the other pieces too--extra pretty.

Another useful piece. I justify my magpie tendencies by at least trying to get things that are useful and not just dust collectors (although I have more than enough of those too...)

All my loot. Can't wait for the next show!

 

Oh, and we ended our visit by treating ourselves to some mini donuts, made on the spot and tossed in powdered sugar. Those were worth the trip on their own...