Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Angora


Ruby had a haircut tonight.  Most people think Angora rabbits are cute, but they do not know all of the work we do to remove hair prior to spinning it.  Angora rabbits do not like the heat.  You can probably guess this since they have the thick coat. I like Angora to spin with, but I find that one ply of Angora and one ply of a soft wool, such as Merino work best.  If I just use Angora, it tends to be too fragile and does not hold shape well.  I hope everyone enjoyed the rains today.  Maybe it will fill up the lake.  LOL  Have a great evening and many blessings to you all!  Dawn

Thursday, February 23, 2012

A Cat In The Hat Walking Stick


A few months ago I developed a motherly friendship with a young girl.  When you work in an apartment community office, you become the mother of the residents.  This girl's mother moved out of town and she was very lonely so we saw her more often than most residents.  Music is much of her life, but she is just now developing her talents in other areas.  She has become totally enamored by wood.  You see her rendition of A Cat in the Hat walking stick in these photos.  What a hoot!  Blessings to you all and thank you for sharing my blog with me.  Dawn

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Who is Winning?

Crafters are always talking about their stash.  I have a stash of fabric, yarn, spinning fiber, soap making materials, toilet paper, etc.  Yes, people make fun of my supply of toilet paper, but that is one thing I do not want to run out of.  Do you have a stash?  They say that the person that has the most when they die wins.  Now exactly what do they win?  The family does not win when they have to sort through a mess when they go through your belongings.  God forbid my family having to sort through my things.  I am not a hoarder by definition.  It is someone that collects and never gets rid of or throws away things.  I pare down a lot of my things and then buy new and better things.  LOL  I give away and donate many things.

bottom 6 cubes

Top 3 cubes

Overflow

More Overflow.  Can you tell I like the color pink?

I have been organizing my fabric and placed it on cards, rolling it up and organizing it by color and theme.  I started buying little cubes and putting it in the cubes.  That did not work since I ran out of room and I bought 9 of them.  I saw some cheap bookshelves at Wallie World and if I embellish them with some trim boards, etc.  I think they won't look too bad.  The shabby chic ones at Target are already embellished, but the cost per bookcase is $179.00.  I think the 29.99 will win out, even with the trim board, they will be much lower in price.  But, the shabby chic ones are so pretty.  LOL
 
I have also purchased a ribbon holder to help remove the clutter and ciaos.  I had a re-purposed ribbon holder but it took up too much room and it did not handle all of the ribbon.  With the little pieces of ribbon and lace, I have devised a way to store them.  I want to say that there are many clever ways to store them out there.  I read up and looked at many a blog.  I tried to cut pretty shapes out of cardboard and glue pretty paper and fabric on them.  The cardboard was hard to cut and the tags were difficult to make.  The plain old fashioned manilla labels were not formal enough.  I like the look of old or worn tags, but even when I know that the stains are tea died, I do not want to touch them.  Am I the only one that feel that way???  Well, I finally decided to laminate some rose sticky notes I purchased around Valentine's Day.  I placed the small ribbons and lace around the roses and they all fit nicely into my red rimmed enamel bowl.

Ribbon storage in progress.  Can you tell that I like pink?



Thursday, February 16, 2012

That One Thing You Were Put On Earth to Accomplish

Tonight, as I was sewing an edging on a baby quilt my grandmother Mary began, I started thinking.  This is going to get deep, so put your boots on.  I think all of us are put on this planet for a reason.  I haven't figured my reasons out, but I hope something I did, (which was positive), will outlive me.  People may be placed on this planet to give birth to someone that will become famous or infamous.  They may be here to build something important, or to lead a nation, or to preach the gospel to millions, (I know we are all to spread the gospel, but that is another blog post.), maybe to teach children in school, or be a Sunday school teacher.  I think you get the drift.  Well, I have put off finishing a baby quilt for nearly 30 years.  This quilt  was for my little brother.  My grandmother started it and I was to finish it.  I wasn't in a hurry since my brother never married nor had children.  We thought.  A few years ago, I found out that he may have a child out of wedlock, but we are still not 100% sure since he will not do the DNA tests.  His son is now around 28 years old.  I visit with my nephew on the telephone from time to time and we have exchanged pictures.  He has some of the family traits and looks a lot like myself.  Now, back to what I started blogging about.  (Sorry, I know when it comes to stories, I take the long way around and get lost a time or two.)  I was wondering as I was sewing this quilt if this is the one thing I was placed on this planet to do.  If so, this may be one of the last acts I do.  LOL  This quilt is soooooo adorable.  It has more character than any other quilt I have seen.  It is made from with fabric squares which are about 2" X 2" and made from scraps saved from old clothing.  Most of the seams on one row do not match up with the seams of the next row.  One I found was inside out.  One had a seam on the front in the square.  Grandmother was in her 80's when she made the quilt top.  She was the best hand quilter.  When it came to sewing and putting together quilt tops, she had the philosophy of "Get er Done!"  I am a lot like that.  My mother is able to sew perfect seams effortlessly and quickly.  I have to work at slowing down and doing the seams right.  I hope my little brother hangs this quilt on a wall and enjoys it just as I have.  It was lovingly made and I am enjoying every little square!  I will display the quilt once I stretch it onto the frame and as I progress toward the completion of it.

Thank you for reading my blog.  I wish you and yours many blessings!  Dawn

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

New projects with hand spun yarn.

I find myself viewing so many photos in Pinterest.  They may be decorating or remodeling ideas.  Food is always a big interest of mine.  Craft projects are always fun too.  I noticed a fingerless glove/cuff made by a lady in Germany.  She used a beige colored yarn and knitted a cuff.  Then she placed a lacy crocheted top to the cuff which was lined with a baby pink mohair stockinette stitch, (knit one row, purl one row), piece which extended the glove/cuff area about 4 inches.  You can view hers at:  http://schnuddel44.blogspot.com/2010/09/elf-clobber.html  If you would like my pattern you may obtain it free from my website.






I decided to make one similar to this, but use my lumpy bumpy rainbow died hand spun kid mohair yarn.  I used a green color hand spun and lined the top with an antique colored light green mohair and silk blend manufactured yarn.  I crocheted the cuff by crocheting in the back loop of the stitch which gives the crocheting a ridge.  Instead of making an intricate crocheted top to the cuff, I just made chains of 6 or 8 stitches and single crocheted around those chains.  A fancy pattern would not even show up with the novelty yarn.

One of the reasons I made this fingerless glove/cuff is to show others that you do not need large quantities of  hand spun yarn to add a lot of interest in a garment.  Even though I used a chunky bottom, the delicate top says I am all woman!




My second project is made from angora from my angora rabbit, Ruby.  I hand dyed the yarn after it was spun.  I tied pieces of fabric on the yarn in random places just before it was placed into the dye pot in order for it to have lighter areas.  One color, without some variation or texture is too plain for me.  I plied this yarn with a soft wool died with the same colors, but I dyed it prior to spinning it.  Then I made squares in the modular knitting style.  This is a cowl, a collar, or a head band.  Wear it any way you want to wear it.

Thank you for reading my blog.  I wish you and yours many blessings now and in the future.  Dawn


Saturday, February 4, 2012

Ruby is helping me spin.  She has blue wool fiber on her chest.  See how big she is.  It is mostly beautiful hair and soon to be angora yarn.  Blessings!  Dawn