Birthday Knitting Needles

A friend recently had a birthday and since she loves all things pink...and is quite crafty...I decided to try making her a pair of knitting needles to match her personality!  I looked at several ideas and after trying to whittle some out of sticks from the yard...lol...there will be no pictures of those today...I opted to take a shortcut and use dowel sticks.

I had dowels of all sizes from a yard sale find so I selected a pair and cut them off to make them 10 inches long.  Sharpened one end with a pencil sharpener to make a dull point, sanded well and put on some beeswax to seal and polish a bit.  Had some wooden beads just the right size and painted them.  Now my artistic abilities are severely limited so I warned her not to look at that part too closely.  I sprayed a clear sealer on the beads and after they were completely dry I put a little glue in the inside of each bead and slid them on.  what I found was it helped to have some extra dowels you don't mind getting paint on for ease in the painting and drying process.

After I finished my pink beads, I played around with a few others...as I said, not a lot of talent going on in the

 painting department...lol!

I have a fall planter that I usually put flower pins in at this time of year and for the day they housed a variety of knitting needles as they dried.  my husband said it looked like an alien on the cabinet

...and he says I have a wild imagination.

New Craft Room!

I've been busy rearranging and setting up my craft kingdom in a new room.  Previously I had a corner of the living room and was happy with that but really wanted to switch things up for a change.  

This room is right off of the kitchen and I love the fireplace.  This year I will enjoy it even more!

I had just enough wall space for all of my threads and a bulletin board!  I like to leave my sewing and embroidery machines set up for easy use.  Now the noise won't bother anyone watching tv in the other room.

Never far away from the action, Poppy likes to be in the middle of things.  You have to look closely to see her in this picture but she is firmly planted on the air conditioning vent...I wondered why the room felt stuffy - going to have to put a stop to that!

Moving furniture really tires her out.

Now, no excuses...time to get to work and finish up final projects for an upcomoing craft fair!

New Yarn Swift!

I desperately needed a yarn swift!  My husband jumped in to build me one!  He rolls his eyes and sighs loudly when it comes to all my crafting ventures, but his is an enabler and always steps up to help me build the tools of my obsession.

We found the instructions and a great youtube video here! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNSEXRRxOzQ  

I got some action shots...here he is getting the legs glued on

hammering in the dowels

all assembled.  Of course there was a bit more work that went on in between!  We needed a white plastic hose coupler as used in the video and they were not so easy to find.  No luck at Home Depot, Lowes or even Walmart but we finally found it at Ace Hardware!

here it is undergoing the final test!

my first yarn ball  using the swift

Spinning, Spinning, Spinning!

I love my new spinning wheel!  I am becoming more and more familiar with the wheel itself and the spinning process and enjoying every minute!

This is some Corriedale wool I got from Tonya's Cute by Design in Ralston, Nebraska.  I actually love working with it and intend to go over first thing tomorrow for more!!

My husband was kind enough to build me a lazy Kate with room for 5 bobbins!  I have decided to dub it the Lazy Katie in honor of my sister...for some strange reason she is ungrateful for this thoughtfulness.  

It is still a work in progress but here is a peek

Finally, my other corriedale!

In case you were wondering what a Corriedale is...

First Fruits

After several days of experimenting I was finally ready to do some serious spinning.  This is my first yarn!  I forgot to get a shot of it still on the bobbin.  I made a niddy noddy out of pvc pip (gotta love youtube!) and transferred my yarn from the spool onto the niddy noddy (the purpose of which is to make the yarn into a skein.)

After I gave it a quick soak in very hot water and hung it outside to dry, I realized it was a process I should have started earlier in the day.  I ended up bringing it in to hang inside overnight.
This morning it was dry and I twisted it into a skein.

To the right you have the fiiber I started with and to the left, my finished skein.  Don't look too closely...I feel like a very proud mama with a homely baby.  I will crochet with it today and see what I can come up with!

Hamish the Heedful

How did I come upon "heedful" as the description I was looking for?  Well, I was trying not to say cowardly, yellow-bellied or chicken so I went to Roget's to find a synonym for careful...so heedful it is!  

I have a little corgi named Hamish.  He is cautious about most things.  For example, if I get out the broom to sweep, he races down the hallway whining at every door for someone to give him sanctuary.  Any new arrangement of furniture and he is guaranteed to be out of sorts.  As a result, the new member of the family was met with suspicion!  It has taken me 2 days to get him anywhere near my spinning wheel!  I had to be on the floor with him and bribe him with a treat.  While I do not want him laying on it, I also do not want him to cower in terror every time it is in use!

When I tried to assure him his fears were unfounded, well...you can see his disbelief

Amazing the powers of persuasion contained in a bit of bacon

So, maybe this thing isn't the harbinger of doom after all...more bacon mom?

New Member of the Family!

No, I didn't have a new baby...at least I didn't give birth.  However, a long awaited adoption was finalized and my little bundle finally came home with me!

We have had a horrible drought this summer and wouldn't you know the day I need to transport my precious cargo we have a downpour!  I went prepared with a blanket to wrap my new little one.

Here she is...my new little Ashford Kiwi 2 (I haven't named her yet)...wrapped in her blanket and seat belted in for good measure.

First thing upon arriving home was the mandatory corgi inspection that any new member of the household must undergo.

...and the stamp of approval has been issued!

Exhausting work but very rewarding

If anyone reading this lives in the Omaha area, I purchased it at a shop called Tonya's Cute by Design  http://www.tonyascutebydesign.com/    The ladies were kind enough to put on a few coats of polyurethane and assemble it for me.  I am new to spinning and appreciate all of their help and advice!  It is still a bit tacky so I will be waiting until tomorrow morning to begin my spinning...can't wait!

Drop Spindle Designs

I love spinning yarn with a drop spindle and decided to make a new spindle for myself and a couple to share.  I started out with 5/16 dowel sticks, some small hooks that screw in and Sculpey clay.  For the clay, I found it less expensive to buy a set of colors and use a 40% off coupon at Hobby Lobby rather than trying to purchase individual colors..

I drilled a small hole in one end of the dowel and screwed in my hook.

Used a pencil sharpener to bring the other end to a dull point...not too sharp!

I am wanting to spin worsted with this spindle so I am using about 3 ounces of the clay.  I mixed a few colors together, flattened it out with a small roller a and used a glass to cut my circle.   There was a little bit of an outer ring left and I baked that as well to make bracelets for a little friend.  You could also just bag up that extra clay to use later but I had plenty so I opted to make the little bracelets.For the hole I used the unsharpened end of my dowel to make a hole in the center of the clay circle. 

I baked according to the directions on the clay package and let it cool for a bit.  while it was still warm I carefully worked it on to my dowel stick.  As it cooled it tightened and I did not have to glue it in place.  

After it was completely cooled, I painted on a clear sealer and stuck it in a styrofoam block to dry.  

Thrilled with the results!

Glass Blowing

While there are many crafts I love to do, I find that I am not the only one in my family who likes to experiment with knew skills.  My husband and daughter recently took a 3 day glass blowing class.  We scheduled it well in advance not realizing we were in for record heat here.  They were exhausted after spending 3 days in front of a huge furnace but loved every minute and came home with a bounty of beautiful things they had made!

My daughter likes to wear a bandana as a headband when playing sports so she requested a special one for the glass blowing adventure. I have an embroidery machine and was only to happy to make this one up!

An action shot!

Some of the bounty!

Filled a few of my bowls with shells.  I am originally from South Florida and love to have some of  the shells out to enjoy...great use of my new glassware.  While I did not take the glass blowing class myself, I enjoyed a lot of fringe benefits!

This vase is one of my favorites!

Sweet Peas

I like to have a a shawl on hand at all times in case one is needed for a gift.  One of my favorite crocheted shawl patterns is the Sweet Peal Shawl.  I have made it many times out of many different types of yarn and am always pleased with it!  It is a triangular shawl with scallops that begins at the largest part of your shawl and narrows with each row.  No counting or complex pattern so it is something I can work on anywhere and not worry about distractions :)

This particular pattern can be found in a book called "The Stitch' N  B****" by Debbie Stoller.  Not my favorite title and I think there are women who might not buy it because of the title.  However, I can tell you that it has some patterns that I absolutely love!  I actually just covered the front of my book with contact paper and sent a copy to my mother as well...lol.

Anyway my mother recently decided she needed needed to make a light summer shawl and wanted to use this pattern.  It has been a while since I worked it up myself so I decided I should make one at the same time and we could compare notes...by phone.

Where my mother lives there is not a Hobby Lobby close by...gasp!  She is also not someone who has a computer or internet access so I sent her some of the Hobby Lobby brand "I Love This Cotton" in white with the sparkle.  I decided to make my shawl out of a brightly colored variegated yarn with sequins  I also found in HL.

 

Once I started this one, I just couldn't put it down.  I loved seeing the colors unfold!  I finished, blocked and my daughter promptly wore it to work...she loved it!

After completing this, and couldn't help but make another!  This one out of worsted weight yarn in a light green with flecks.  This is not a great picture...actually anything would look dull when having to follow that brightly colored yarn in the last shawl, but it really is a pretty color.  

Let's get Cosy!

I have a love of all things tea!  When I first arrived in England in 1986 as a young airman in the Air Force, one of my first big purchases was a car.  I went to a local bank off base and while waiting for my loan to process, I was offered a cup of tea.  When asked what I wanted in this tea I said a little sugar would be fine.  The man who was making this offer gasped and asked if I also wanted milk.  I said no thank you, just 2 lumps of sugar.  Shaking his head and mumbling, he walked away.  A minute later he was back with an intense expression to plead his case.  He wanted to make a deal with me.  He implored me to just try a taste of tea the way he prepared it and if I absolutely hated it he would make me another cup the way I requested (he must have felt like a missionary to the barbarian).  I was happy to give it a try and once I did there was no turning back.  That hot, sweet milky tea was one of the most wonderful things I had ever tasted.

This has become the number one prescription for all that ails me.  A slow start in the morning, a scratchy throat, just feeling down...I am going straight for that cup of tea.  Just the scent of it is soothing and it warms me in winter and cools me in summer...absolutely nothing like it.  There is never an inappropriate time for tea!

When tempted to participate in  a few craft fairs, I  decided to make things that are tea-related crafts.  I love to make tea cosies or cozies (depending on where you are from) and started with those and am continuing to branch out with lots of other additions to my theme.  

I was invited to participate in a local garden walk.  It was my first attempt and was great experience in how to set up a table and what I wanted to bring.  My husband was nice enough to make a sign for me (although I made the teapot letters).  He figured out the logistics of attaching the lattice to the table and of course he was there to get me all set up.  It was blistering hot and one thing I learned is that I will be doing indoor craft fairs from now on!