Green Gates and The Green Man

In 2008, writing about honeysuckle and hummingbirds this was a picture of our back garden gate that leads to a larger garden area down wooden stairs.  This is what it looked like three years ago:

Unfortunately, we had some very cold winters that killed off the honeysuckle vines.  We took down the archway, cut back the dead branches, and were left with just the gate that looks bare and in desperate need of a face lift.

So I went looking for garden gates that were green in color, hoping to find something I liked and would inspire me to repaint the wooden gate.  Here are some pretty gates that I found while doing an internet search:

from madeitonmonday

 

from pinterest 

(from dreamstime)

Using oil paint from a tube, paint thinner and a linseed oil mixture with instructions here, this is our newly refurbished stained gate:

This is the gate yesterday prior prior to staining:

What a difference a little paint makes!

This is a Green Man, cast in iron, similar to one that I just ordered to attach to the fence:

The Green Man

...is that spirit, energy, presence, inherent in every cell of the vegetative realm, and transmitted to the animal/human realms through the foods we eat, the flowers we smell, the trees we hug. He is Pan.

Kilkenny Cowl

Several months ago, Paula the Podcaster at Knitting Pipeline,  mentioned that she was knitting a different sort of cowl.  The name of the cowl sounded Irish (the Kilkenny Cowl) and I thought it might be one I would enjoy making and wearing while in Ireland this fall.  And then on her podcast yesterday, she again mentioned finishing it for her future daughter in law, and showed the pretty cowl on her website.  So I, too, will share this pattern and the end results.

In early July, I shopped online at Quince & Company and ordered the pattern and the yarn to knit this cowl.

(The pictures of the Kilkenny and the pretty girl are from the Quince website)

Yes, you too can order the Kilkenny pattern and yarns here.

The "chickadee" yarn in the color nasturtium, in 100% made-in-America wool was purchased and knit over a few weeks, resulting in my rendition of the Kilkenny Cowl:

Remember those beaded glass bracelets I made to go with it?

Thanks, Paula, for the suggestion of a fun knit project with cables and lace making that was not too difficult.

(More Kilkenny Cowl knitting information can be found here on my Ravelry page.)

Therapy Dogs International and a New Scarf

Last night was the third Friday of the month Sew-In party hosted by Heidi.  She gives away a couple of door prizes, and everyone shows off  their sewing projects they finished on the night of the virtual party.  Then the "partiers" show off their finished objects on their blogs the following day ... which happens to be today.

And yes, I was late to the party.  But it did give me the incentive to quit looking at that scarf that has been lying pathetically on my sewing machine for more than a few weeks, just waiting for me to do some cutting and sewing and applique.  So I joined the party yesterday and finished my sewing project last night.

Details:

• 1) A red Therapy Dogs International (TDI) scarf that belongs to Libby the Therapy Dog, aka Dr. Libby, aka The Corridor Chaplain at our local hospital.  The scarf is HUGE, the dog is small.  Hence, Libby never wears it because the size of the scarf would literally envelope her like a blanket.
• 2.  A small piece of watercolor fabric remnant that was too good to throw away.
• 3.  An inspiration to "save" the emblem of TDI, incorporating it into a smaller kerchief.

After cutting out the emblem and finessing it onto the scrap fabric with interlining and applique, we have a finished product that is wearable by a 10 pound pup.

Results:

Friday Night Party Wrap-Up:

• Sometimes it is handy being your own best friend at a party that only you attend.