my granny's afghan

My Granny's Afghan 

I have been working this week on the model for my newest design, My Granny's Afghan. I've been a little hung up on granny squares lately, using up scraps of yarn to make blankets for Christmas gifts, and thus came the inspiration for this design.  I am having a lot of fun with it.  The colors picked are even based on what I had for "scrap" embroidery floss, kind of a 'blanket of many colors' thing. 

My brother and his family were home for the holiday which was wonderful, and I found myself with some 'crochet time' while we sat around drinking coffee and sharing memories.  So I started working on an embellishment order for a customer on Etsy, and then crocheted these--

Flowers for Sharon

I have a friend that is battling cancer, and I sent her a crochet "hug" a few months back, a lap throw for her to wrap up in whenever she needed a little warm and fuzzy comfort.  I made these flowers now, and they'll go on stems tomorrow. Will package them up and they'll be on their way to her on Monday. 

Now I think I will go and warm up my tea that I have somehow neglected and see about finishing a few more odds and ends before work this afternoon.

finally made one to keep for myself...

Finally made a Super-Granny-Square-Blanket and kept it for myself. It's made with a bulky yarn, Loops & Threads Charisma and it's just yummy. I used only the variegated yarns, and just let them work as they would giving me this hodge-podge mix of colors that work perfectly in my hodge-podge bedroom.  

 

Working on a few new cross stitch designs now, although it has been slow going as I am working way too many hours at the two outside places of employment. Has cut seriously into my creative time, something I am going to have to remedy after the holidays.  But for now, head down, power through, get some financial things in order so that I can play around guilt free!

yummy yarn and pie!

As promised, a couple of pictures of what I started working on last night. While I have no idea where this is going or what will become of it in the end, I am finding that the mystery is the most fun, as each piece that I tuck between the layers ends up looking different than I expected it to before I stitched it into place! I could see a larger piece like this as a window treatment as well, and I think that the weight given by the goodies trapped between the layers would lend itself well to keeping the curtain hanging. Will have to see where my mind takes me on this!

What else did I discover today?  Tin Roof Sundae pie at Baker's Square is really quite delightful.

Website Wandering?  Calamity Kim's Blog.  She has spun some yarns that just had me giggling! And admiring, as I love the idea of spinning and am just in awe of what some artists are doing! This work looks like something you'd see in the window of a candy shop. So light and airy and textured. It caught my eye right away. Love, love!

Aren't they just yummy?!

And then there is this.... Glass Beach.

"It is not the only glass beach created by human activity.  There is another in California (Benicia) and one in the Hawaiian bay of Hanapepe. Most curiously perhaps, there is one that exists at Guantanamo Bay. They are all testament to the power of nature to correct the mistakes made by humanity." (kuriositas, see link above)

Now, off to take the chillin's to the dentist, and I think I shall stop at the greenhouse (which is right across the street from the dentist's office) and get some pretty green and growing things! Only seems right, what with it being right across the street  ;)

hey hey kool aid

I have wanted to try dyeing some of my own yarn and while I had heard about using Kool Aid as a dye for protein fibers, I had not really considered goofing around with it until a knitting friend of mine mentioned it. Neither of us were sure if it was something that would work! So after doing a bit of research over the weekend, I went and got a skein of natural wool and some Kook Aid packets and proceeded to break the skein into two hanks.  One I dyed on the stove top using a mix of black cherry and pink lemonade with strawberry...

And another I did in the microwave in more of a "hand painted" fashion...

The wool sucked up all the Kool Aid and the water turned clear, and when I rinsed the yarn, no color ran free of it.  It was really quite fun and I look forward to experimenting some more!

new year's eve

First there was booming thunder and lightning.

Then rain. RAIN!  

(I had to double check my driver's license just to make sure I was where I thought I was)

Minnesota, December 31st. 

Last year? 40 inches of snow by December 28th, 2010.

And then, just when I thought about getting the lawn chair and summer clothing out from the back of the closet...

Big beautiful wind driven fluffy wet flakes! 

HAPPY NEW YEAR! 

Things have been set right once more.

(I know, Shan...shhhhhh! be careful what you wish for!)

Productive day...finished a piece and should have it photographed tomorrow. I finished up the first draft of my novel that I started for the NaNoWriMo challenge.  Researched vendors for natural yarn for dyeing as I am going to  play around with some natural dyes in the new year. (And I think I have a couple of pals that will be willing to try out the yarn and give me an unbiased opinion as to its quality) Two new designs sketched and charted, bits of new Wichelt Imports needlework fabric sorted and a few chapters 

read in GRRM's  A Dance With Dragons.

Now its wine and The Big Bang Theory marathon. 

Blooms

I have been creating various flowers from yarn and other fibers I have recycled and rescued from various thrift stores and flea markets. The latest are crocheted, some from cotton floss and others from needlepoint wools that I crocheted then hand-felted just enough to give them a vintage-y feel.

I have attatched the cotton flowers (so far!) to stems that I also found at the thrift store. The leaves have a velvety feel to them rather than silk and suit the flowers well. They are longer, and the weight of the flowers leaves them to bend slightly and give them really nice movement.

The felted blooms are going to need a stiffer stem because they weigh a bit more, and I need to attach them with a bead. 

These have been so much fun to make, and I am enjoying digging through the baskets of threads, yarns and other fibers I have collected (and continue to scrounge around for!)

My First Unravelling Experience

This yarn is from a sweater I picked up when looking at the thrift shops for other sweaters to felt.  There wasn't a tag in this sweater so not completely sure what the fiber content is. It does not feel like it it totally natural fibers, but it does not not have that acrylic feel either. I just really liked the look of it. It was a little frustrating to get the unravel started, but once it got going, it came apart fairly easy!

Now I need to get out the crochet hook and see what I can whip up with these wonderful hanks of repurposed fiber!