Wednesday, 11 December 2013

Orts and All

Turns out, tidying up all those granny squares produced quite a few wool bits.  I learned long ago, thanks to my crossword dictionary that these leftover remnants of wool or thread, can be called orts.  It's a great word to remember for Scrabble and it does come up in the occasional crossword puzzle; in that case sometimes the clue is leftover scraps from dinner.  You can buy very cute little containers to hold your orts for you while you work.  Nordic Needle has a variety of thread holders some made of wood and others of cloth. 
I usually save all my bits and put them outside in the spring for the birds to hopefully use in their nest building.  I know they do use materials found close to our house because I have seen many nests with Rex's hair incorporated into the construction.  That mouse in the birdhouse I told you about had a little ball of Rex's hair covering her babies.  German Shepherds do shed a lot especially in the summer time. 
I went through my linen drawer and took out all the Christmas cloths.  Here is one I worked from a kit several years ago...
The second photo is much truer to the real colour of the embroidery.  I also used gold metallic thread for the stars and deer antlers.  That was a pretty embellishment and made the finished product look Christmasy. 
Stars are very bright in the night sky...going to be very cold overnight...-20 c.  Brrr  Hope you are warm and cosy wherever you are.

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