A Stitch or three in time…

I found some yarn in Michael’s that I just fell in love with. I suppose it would be considered a novelty yarn. All I know is that as soon as I touched it I knew I had to make something with it. That something turned out to be a shawl that I found the pattern for in a small book in the store.

AS soon as I find the label I’ll edit this and put down the yarn I used. I can’t find it right now, (blush).  It’s a bulky yarn that is kind of like a chenille on steroids. Fuzzier and much softer but with that sort of look. It’s totally lucious to touch and you really just want to sink into it.

This is the shawl I made. I had to learn how to do a Broomstick Lace stitch. It was a very odd stitch to understand, but once I learned it I loved how it looked. The shawl is soooo warm! The color reminds me of Neopolitan Ice Cream. I love how it came out.

When the van first broke down, as it always seems to be the case, it was during that week that we barely got above 0 degrees even during the day. My poor sweetie was out in that all day trying to fix the van. For 4 days he froze his bits and bobs off, and his face was practically numb it was so cold. I decided to try my hand at a helmet liner, or balaclava.

I found lots of patterns online. I started one and it was going great until I got to the part where the opening is. I couldn’t figure that out for anything, so I found another pattern and used that one for the opening. There was a bit of tweaking, but it worked out. The only thing I didn’t like was how short it is. It looked a LOT longer in the picture, even though I know I measured it and made it to the size they called for. Next time I would make it much longer and do it with a bigger hook so that it was more of a dickie look before moving into the neck part.

Still, it fits the sweetie fine and he LOVED wearing it the other day while spending hours snowblowing after the storm. He said his face was actually hot. yay!  The yarn is Cascade 220 washable wool in a dark green.

I’ve been wanting to try learning to make baskets. I’m always looking for something different to make to add to my things for sale at the store. I looked at a lot of basket patterns and got the general gist of how it works and set down to make my first ones. These are made out of tshirt yarn that I salvaged from the sweetie’s old tshirts. I like the rag rug look. I’m going to stiffen them up and put a bowl in them to get the shape to really set, but I don’t want them too stiff. Just enough to add a little body to them. I like how they came out overall. I’m thinking of weaving some ribbon in to dress them up a little.

Since I’ve been making nice warm wristers for others and my hands are always cold at my computer, I finally sat down to make myself a pair. I bought this really pretty pattern for a set of cabled fingerless gloves and a cabled headband. I started them last night and one glove is about halfway done, even with having to rip it out and start over.   They are going to be soooo soft and pretty and really warm. I’ll get pictures of those up when they’re finished.  I’ll also show you my newest earrings, which are made with crochet thread and look like tiny doilies.

Talk to you all again soon!

New Items I had at my show at Red Apple Farm

Heya all! Sorry I haven’t been as active lately. I had my big show at Red Apple Farms this past weekend and it went well. The weather was gorgeous and only a bit cold. For November in NW Mass though it was spectacular. The crowds were good and everyone was having a good time. Now I have a little breather before my last show of the year. I have enough stuff for that one, so I can give my self a little break. I made some new things for the last show and here is a couple pictures of those items. This little bell ornament was made for 12 baskets that were given to the musicians that volunteered their time to come and play throughout the day.

This is the first of my new items I would like to make. I love some of the crocheted jewelry and have decided to diversify a bit and combine both the fun of making jewelry with my love of knitting and crocheting. I hope to have a line of items that will include necklaces, wristlets, chokers and rings.

 

These are something totally different for me. A little while ago I posted about a large laundry hamper full of wooden cutouts I found at a yard sale. In that basket were 5 scarecrow patterns. I thought they would be cute for the show and here’s how they came out.

 

First Toe Up Socks

Hiya all! I’ve been a little slack in getting this post up. Blame it on gaming… Guild Wars 2 came out this week and I’ve been playing that. <winks> I love games.

Anyway…

These are my first successful Toe Up Socks. Now that said… I think I like the wide toe. First time doing that kind of toe. I’ll see how it is in practice, but I think I might like it. Not crazy about this particular heel style. It’s almost like a fake heel. It’s just not the type of heel I prefer, but again, we’ll see. This is only my third pair of successful (meaning wearable <grins>) socks, so its not like I have a ton of experience in different styles. The first two socks I ended up giving away for presents. lol. This pair is mine. <grins>

I love the yarn I used. Its very easy to work with and VERY stretchy./ It’s acrylic and nylon and its self patterning. I got it actually in the baby section so its very soft. It feels really soft and luscious on the feet. All the wool knitters are feeling faint right now because I said the “A” word, (acrylic), but I really liked this particular yarn, so pfft. <winks> Fear not, I also have a number of balls of Tofuttsies and other more respectable sock yarns. lol.

I don’t have sock blockers, but I’m making two with some really thick cardboard  tomorrow.

Oh and if you try this method take the time to learn that invisible, stretchy bind-off. I figured I could do a regular bind-off and just do it loosely, but it really didn’t work. I may try to take out that last row and fix it or just chalk it up to experience. They are a bit tight to get over my heel, but not impossible. Trust me… learn that bind-off. LOL

I think I like the toe up method. Definitely comes with a learning curve, though. I’ve done dpns, double circulars and now this. I think I’m probably going to use dps and this method. The only reason I didn’t like dpns was because I didn’t like getting one sock at a time done.   But a friend came up with a solution to that, which is probably embarrassingly obvious to most of you by now, so we won’t belabor the fact that it never occurred to me. <grins> I also have only been knitting maybe 3 years and not experienced enough to translate patterns and since some of the ones I want to try are on dpns, I’ll use that method, too.

The next socks are a Scandinavian pattern from this book, Knitting Scandinavian Slippers and Socks. I can’t wait to try these. Most of these are with a worsted weight and with a ww wool, these will be beyond toasty this winter. I’m going to try my first pair without a pattern since learning the pattern will be challenge enough. Time to pretty it up later. I really love the way these socks look, I have to say. So wish me luck!

Of Fall Leaves and Cribbage Boards

Yep, it was that time. Time to give the blog a facelift and a more “fallish” look. The welcome sign in the middle is a sign that I have in my kitchen. I love it and thought it would make a pretty header image. A little tweaking of color and I made a background image to match the fall leaves behind the welcome sign. I really like how it came out. How is everyone enjoying the Eagles’ songs? I turn it on and just let it play in the background while I’m working in my room.

This is a cribbage board for those unfamiliar with the game. I found a pile of them at a yard sale a while back and forgot about them. I have 8. They seem to be made out of red oak and are heavy for their size. I think they must have been made for a school or something as there were a lot of them. They all have pencil marks for direction on which way to go and a shallow groove every five holes for easy counting.

What I have in mind is to sand them down to get the pencil marks and any surface dirt off then maybe stain them. They are a beautiful oak so perhaps oil them and then just seal them. I need to make pegs for each one which shouldn’t be too hard to figure out.

I also thought maybe I would make a felted bag for them with a little pouch to hold the pegs so they don’t get lost. Might be looking for help on that one.

What do you guys think? Have any other suggestions?

Mini Daydream Catchers!

These are small dreamcatchers perfect for your car mirror or anywhere else you want a little whimsy. The centers are crocheted and they each have various types of beads or decorations added to the front.

Dreamcatchers, Hats and Dragonflies

What do these three have in common? They are all making appearances in my house lately! lol. Ok, it wasn[‘t profound, but I never claimed to be a genius.

We are, however, totally inundated with dragonflies lately. I don’t mean just a few flitting about. That’s normal. But SWARMS of them. It’s wierd to stand in your yard and having dozens and dozens of them flitting all around you. Sure am glad they don’t bite or sting! I keep trying to pin down what colors they are or what kind, but they move too fast to get a decent look. I read that having dragonflies means you have a healthy ecosystem. It also means there are a lot of mosquito and mosquito larvae about which is their favorite food. If you have had a lot of rain or have standing water or slow moving creeks you will find them scarfing down the mosquito larvae. A lot of people actually make small water features just for attracting them to the yard. We’ve had a drought most of the summer, but a LOT of humidity. Way more than usual. We finally started getting a little rain, but there must have been enough humidity in the air to make the mosquitos hang around. The dragonflies are eating like mad.

I just came in from painting my front door the same blue as my shutters.  That door is scheduled to be replaced, but in the meantime it will match better with some paint on it. Not sure doing it in this heat was a great idea. You couldn’t hardly stand to keep your hand on the door and the paint was drying as I tried to spread it. I got one coat on though and hopefully the second coat will help a little. As I said, it’s going to be gone. so just trying to make a cursory change to hold it for now.

So there I was in Michael’s Arts and Crafts picking up various odds and ends that I needed. I just HAD to wander down the yarn aisle. Anyway, there was this gorgeous ball of yarn that positively screamed out at me. It was a super bulky wool, but it was so soft it was hard to believe it was wool at all. It had that really soft roving feel to it. The color was called Harvest and it was really lovely. It had a pattern for a cute hat and only took 1 ball of yarn so I got it. I couldn’t wait and did it up right away. The flower was my idea, not on the pattern. I’m still not very proficient with cables so I was really happy with how it came out. They sure don’t leave you much in the way of extra yarn though. It goes almost right up to the end. I was really sweating it. I may look for a little better flower but we’ll see.

I’ve been hunting down doilies and embroidery hoops at yard sales lately. Having found some I started working on another project I’ve been wanting to try. Dreamcatchers generally have more of a Native American feel to them, but I wanted these to have a little more victorian/country/cottagey feel to them. These are my first two. The first one has pearls, a small
pearl angel, a little glass bottle with fairy dust, a tiny glass teapot and pretty clustered beads. It also has a ribbon of pink woven into the crochet scallops around the outside of the ring.  The second one has a square of taupe in the center which I attached at the center and around the bottom two sides. The tops drape down, giving you room to tuch whatever you want inside…flowers, vintage hankies, whatever. I put silk flowers into it. It also has a small pale pink square pouch in the middle which will have lavender in it when I get some lavender. The bottom is a simple fringe.

So whatcha think so far?

 

While I cool down from painting outside, I’m going to be working on mini-dreamcatchers to hang from your car mirror, or wherever you want something small and pretty. Photos will follow.

Enjoy!