October 2008 Archives

This large piece of tie dyed goodness is from Vivid Earth.  It will be one of my son's Christmas gifts this year.  Last year (or the year before, I forget), I got my son the t-shirt version of this guitar motif.  I'm tossing around the idea of making this new piece into a bed cover or quilt but that's still up in the air.  Here's the postcard they gave me with the purchase (it shows the guitar in a clearer view):

Next up, some smelly stuff.  Some good smelly stuff.  From Country Cottage Scents.  I've purchased from them before also.  My suggestion on how to use it is to get one of those coffee cup warmer gizmos that plug into an electrical outlet.  Place a tempered glass dish (I use a small votive holder) on it, add water and a small spoonful of this goo.  Turn the warmer gizmo on and let the sniffing begin!  Be sure to top off with water when it gets low and don't forget to turn it off before going to bed (ask me how I know).

I selected the Country Christmas and Caramel Creme Brulee.  Definitely recommended "flavors" but they may make you hungry as you inhale the goodness.

This jewelry caused my mind to wander back to my childhood years.  As long as I've been alive, my father has worked for the phone company (well, not now, since he's retired).  He used to bring home super-juiced-with-color electrical wires for my sisters and I to play with and to use in our creative jaunts.  That's what this artist uses to makes his "beads".  Of course, I gravitated to some of their most colorful pieces.  The item in the box is a pin.  It will look good pinned to a handknit sweater (I'm thinking my "Teal shrug" that I'll show you in a minute).  I don't think this artist has a website (I searched, couldn't find one) but they called their business "Conversation Pieces".  Oh, and here's the closeup:

These 2 pendants are made by a woman who does soldering work.  She sells some other cool stuff on her website, Tommi Crystal Designs.  To get a better idea of the sizes (since the photo is so honkin' large), the domino piece measures almost 1 1/4" from the outer edges.  The longer piece says "We all scream" on the flip side.  I'll add them to chains and my mood will determine which side I show to the outside world.

Here's the only pair of earrings that made it home with me:

They are delicate semi-orbs of glass, all dichroic'd up.  Depending on the way you hold them and the lighting, they range in color from bright coral to deep magenta.  Nice!  I don't think this artist has a website either but her name is shown on the card above.

When I say this is the only pair that made it home, I'm not saying it's the only pair I bought.  I lost another pretty set of earrings, again of the dichroic glass variety, but I think they fell out of my bag when I shuffled things around trying to grab a water bottle.  I was sad to discover it happened.  I hope someone found them who will appreciate them.

The last item I came home with is this most green-of-all-greens basket:

It's definitely something that cheers me up when I look at it.  And it will look even better filled with yarn.  Here's the backgound info on this Bolga Basket:

So that's it for the craft fair goodies.  Here's some pics of my finished "Teal Shrug" (that's the name from the magazine):


That's my witchy hat up there, setting the mood for soon-to-be-here-any-day Halloween fun.

I was so excited when my LYS got it's shipment of this yarn in.  I was able to swatch it up with a shop sample and that's when I fell in love with it.  It's called Cloud 9 by Cascade Yarns and it's made of 50% wool / 50% angora.  It's not a bouncy blend but lovely to work with none the less.  As far as getting the fur up my nose, in my eyes or being covered with fuzz when working with it, I'm pleased to say, its not bad.  I've only once had to fish a strand out of my, there's no easy way to say this, nostril.

I chose this pattern from a vintage booklet I've had for years.  After my recent move, I started leafing through my collection of leaflets (yeah, I meant to say that) and thought this was cute.  It's worked from the top down but the original version is supposed to have a zipper at the back neck area.  I'm skipping that and working it totally in the round--I'm sure it's going to be big enough for me to pop my head through there.  The main modifications will be a mock neck instead of a full turtle and I may do 3/4 sleeves and shorten the length of the body.  I don't think I have enough yarn on hand and I don't know that I can get more of this dye lot.  Since it's top down, I can try it on as I go.

I'm also finishing up this sweater.  It's from the premier issue of Love of Knitting.  It looks to be a promising magazine--not too trendy and modeled on people who look like you and me (no offense if you're a supermodel).  This sweater is called Teal Shrug (turn to page 17) designed by the Berroco team.  I couldn't get my hands on the yarn they called for so I'm substituting Ecological Wool (shade 8020) by Cascade Yarns.  I'd like to mention at this point that this yarn is quite the bargain.  This sweater is using no more than 2 skeins (okay, they're 250 gm skeins, but still) which in the end cost me about 30 bucks plus tax.  Not too shabby.  Yes, the wool is rustic but I'll use the sweater as a layer, not next to my skin.  I mean, who'd wear a cropped wool sweater like this without somethin' underneath?  The collar and front bands still need to be done but that's it--except a touch-up steam block.

Now's the time I want to share some cheap yet helpful hints.  See those clippies holding my side seams together up there?  Those are those tiny hair clips you get at departments stores.  Probably cost me a couple bucks for a tidy batch of them.  Another item from the hair-doo-dad isle are tiny rubber bands.  Here's what I use them for:

When I made my sleeves (2 at a time, hey that's another helpful hint), each time I made an edge increase, I put a rubber band at the beginning of that row.  It's keeps me from having to use a stitch counter or tally sheet.  And I have to say, it makes my project a little more cheery with all those bits of color mixed in.  I'm thinking about adding some colorful buttons on the front bands of the sweater when I get that far along but I haven't decide for sure on that yet.