holidays « Handmade Librarian

Pecans & Maple Syrup.

(from U.S. Department of Agriculture Pomological Watercolor Collection. Rare and Special Collections, National Agricultural Library, Beltsville, MD 20705)

This Friday is the fourth annual staff cookie swap at my library. Although it’s a low-key and ephemeral type of event, it has become one of my favorite work-meets-holiday moments. Not only do I collect a

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Winter Calendar.

So maybe it’s too early to think about sledding, but winter’s my favorite season–lots of time for woolly home knitting, holiday gatherings with friends, cookie swaps, and occasional hermit-like evenings spent making things and reading books. I love the anticipation of winter almost as much as I love the season itself, so

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A Bird of Courage.

“I wish the bald eagle had not been chosen as the representative of our country….The turkey is in comparison a much more respectable bird, and withal a true original native of America. Eagles have been found in all countries, but the turkey was peculiar to ours…He is, besides, (though a little vain and silly

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A Gitteryl-Inspired Turkey.

My cross stitch explorations took a hands-on turn last night. Here’s what I made:

This little turkey (he’s 3″ square) adorns the corner of a gingham napkin. The pattern (which I found in a 1910 issue of Needlecraft) was meant to be used for gitteryl embroidery, a technique that I think is a

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