I had a bit of a vacation over the holidays. A few days in my hometown of Gallup, New Mexico and some time high in the Collegiate Peaks area of Colorado. I laughed with my family and friends, took leisurely walks in the desert, snowshoed in the mountains, and while chatting, doing puzzles, and playing games, I knitted. With all that time around kitchen tables I probably could have knit half a sweater. But I didn’t. Instead I made a gaggle of tiny creatures.*
The chickens were my favorite. They showed up everywhere and eventually a gang of punk-rock chickens appeared.
Chicken in a Detroit Christmas Village wood pile.
Chickens in the New Mexico desert.
Chicken jamming out on the car dash with a dancing gnome. It might have been the Charlie Brown Christmas album.
This one was spotted seat belted to a package on his way to Michigan.
Another chicken spotted in my parent’s creche, greeting the baby Jesus no doubt.
A flock of chickens huddling in the sub-zero weather in Colorado. The punk-rock contingent keep to themselves mostly.
Chicken sunning himself on a juniper stump on a nice New Mexico winter day.
One was spotted hiding in this secretary desk in a cabin from the 1880s in the Colorado mountains.
My second favorite creatures were the snowpeople. This one was spotted in my childhood piano teacher’s massive Christmas Village. He was looking for a moment of quiet while watching the kids play. He felt the train whistle was a little overwhelming and pulled his scarf up over his ears.
New Mexico Christmas village snowman
Oh those crazy snowpeople.
Sunbathing in New Mexico
Very cold snow people in front of a very frozen lake. They snowshoed in.
And an assortment of other creatures, all of which made me giggle.
A rainbow of sheep.
Granny is ready for the women’s march, 2019.
She will bring her snowman buddy since it is January and he won’t melt..
An assortment of creatures including a flock of sheep, a lion, a dinosaur, a monkey, a reindeer, and a chicken pretending the tiny sweater is a holocaust cloak for the castle keep scene from the Princess Bride. Crazy chicken!
The bunny is watching The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and trying to convince us not to binge-watch it. We didn’t. Still on episode 4. (Don’t tell me what happens!)
Below is a gallery of a few outdoor adventure photos. Click on the thumbnail for a larger version and caption. Visit online HERE if you get the blog via email.
And through all those knitted creatures, this is exactly how much weaving I did last week. That is all of it.
I know. I can’t believe it either. **
But that’s okay. I’ve made a decision about how I will use my time in 2019. I’ll tell you about it after I’ve given it a test run.
* Almost all of these creatures were patterns by Anna Hrachovec of mochimochiland.com. The chicken is from her book Teeny-Tiny Mochimochi. #mochimochiland
** Because you’ll ask, you can get that loom from Weaving Rainbow.
Twin Lakes, CO. A hidden gem at the end of a blocked winter pass, a destination for no downhill skier or snowmobiler… makes it the perfect place for me, knitting needles and snowshoes in hand. photo: Emily Haire