Wednesday, March 31, 2010

New Mail Box!

The hubby put up a new mail box last week. It's a bit larger than our old one, which was falling apart. It paid off today, cause I got some goodies in there!

When I was sorting out my new room I found some material that I decided I didn't need to store anymore. At one time I thought I might want to learn how to quilt.... didn't turn out so well. I don't get along with my sewing machine all that good. LOL

 So I sent it to Beth, who I knew could use it & make something nice out of it. And just look what she sent me back! This gorgeous Caddy Sax Bag & matching Little Buddy Bag. Who knew that my material could look so good?! And anyone who knows me, knows that I love purple.... great job Beth! I love them!!

Beth's Caddy Sax bags were featured in the Spring issue of Interweave Crochet, check it out! Congratulations Beth! I can say that I knew her before she was famous. LOL
If you want your own Caddy Sax bag or Little Buddy bag, head on over to her etsy shop or her website: Blue Mountain Handcrafts.

Her DD also made me a custom Sheepie of Many Colors pin. Isn't it the cutest?! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it! :)

I also have a finished project to show too! My first washcloth with my own hanspun cotton!! I know, it's just a washcloth but.... it's HANDSPUN cotton! he he
Simple Ridge Dishcloth pattern from Bernat. (That is a Ravelry link, but you can also find it on the Bernat website) I only had about one yard of yarn left, close call!

I'll leave you with the pretty pink & purple yarn.... hope everyone is having a good week!

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Time Flies!

Wow! It's been a while since I posted anything. With the increase of my hours at work I'm having a hard time keeping up with everything non-work related. Good thing this only lasts 6 months of the year. I don't think I could handle year round madness. LOL

I do have a few things to show for my efforts lately. First up are my new Starfish stitch markers. If I can get these done they will be headed to Jessie to be included in the Phatfiber box for April.
Next I have some finished handspun cotton to show! It's a bit lumpy but that's ok, I still love it. I'm sure I will get better with practice. After all, my first wool handspun was pretty lumpy too. :)

I stared with this cotton that I cleaned & dyed...
Then handcarded into punis....
And ended up with approx. 58 yards of sport weight yarn.
I'm sure it's destined to be a wash/dish cloth. And I'll use it until it just falls apart! :)

I hope everyone has been doing good & has had a fabulous weekend!

Monday, March 15, 2010

This Weekend...

What did I do this weekend? (My weekend is Sun/Mon right now)

I think it would be easier to show you, let's just say that I'm pooped! But really happy!! I finally got the hubby in gear, got his stuff out of the room, finished painting, & moved all of my stuff into the room & organized. What you aren't seeing is the washer, dryer & laundry shelf immediately to the left of this first photo...

That's the whole room except for the laundry & the doors leading to the LR/DR & outside.

I cleaned out & washed this nifty storage container, it now holds all of the stitch markers & orifice hooks that I have for sale in my etsy shop. My bookshelf needs some new paint, but that's for another day.
I got these great magazine holders at Office Depot for .99 cents each! I now have all of my magazines in order, on a shelf, neatly. LOL
I got these great hanging storage things at Big Lots. I'm sure they are supposed to be for clothing, but they work great for yarn & fiber. I had to cut pieces of cardboard for the bottoms of the shelves so they wouldn't sag, it worked perfect.
Who knows where I got these, I've had them forever. But we got them mounted on the wall & they now hold paints, dyes & other stuff.
I now have all of my "craft" stuff in one room where I can find everything!! I just want to go in there & sit & admire everything. LOL

Hope everyone had a good weekend & start to the new week!

Monday, March 8, 2010

Cotton Candy

My first handpun cotton! A while back I purchased some raw cotton from Monica. I dyed some up this weekend. My Ashford fine handcarders finally came in & I carded some of it up.


Here are my finished punis (a cotton rolag if you will).
I spun up a little mini-skein of the purple cotton. A bit lumpy but that's ok, my first wool handspun was lumpy too. :)
Hope everyone has a good week. Back to work for me tomorrow... I'm working Saturdays for now so my Weekend is Sun & Mon. I felt like I was laying out of work today. LOL

Thursday, March 4, 2010

A "Katie Special"

Short version of the story.... I sent Beth a swap package that included a sheep tape measure. Her DD, Katie, loved it. And since I had several left I popped one in mail to Katie too. When I got home today I had a wonderful package waiting on me. Katie sent me a Thank You card with all kinds of super cute drawings inside, & a sweet handwritten note. AND she included a batt that she made just for me, even made sure that my favorite color (purple) was in there!

My "Katie Special" batt

Let me just say... I love this kid! She is one of my "kind". Check out the awesome card. Thank you so much Katie, I love the batt & the card. :)

Beth even included a sample of her Mulberry Silk fiber, this stuff is heavenly! I had to put it away so I wouldn't get it all dirty petting it too much. LOL

I also picked up a couple of pretty sparklies in Beth's vintage jewelry shop, Beth 1818 Vintage Costume & Fine Jewelry. These pins are just gorgeous. She is closing it down & everything is on sale!

Hope everyone is having a good week! I've got a long day tomorrow & should be in bed.....

Monday, March 1, 2010

I have pink hands!

Well I do have pink hands... should have worn gloves. LOL  I dyed up some fiber yesterday. I'm not much on the whole dyeing thing. I don't think I could ever make beautiful hand painted yarn or rovings, don't have the patience. But plunking big hunks of fiber in a pot & making it all the same color isn't so bad. And now that it's dry I can mix it all up on the drum carder. Hey, that's why I got the drum carder! :) 

I got a starter dye kit of Greener Shades dye from Blue Mountain Handcrafts. So yesterday I broke out the dyes & some fiber that I got from The Sheep Shed Studio. Here is the resulting colored fiber. Some of them are quite eye popping, you might need your sunglasses on for this photo.... he he

The pink was done with food coloring, super bright pink, not quite what I was after (I had in mind a softer pink) but it's all good. The rest of the fiber was dyed with the Greener Shades Dye. The yellow turned out super bright too, not looking for super bright yellow either but that's ok. Let me just say that these dyes are super concentrated!! The purple was straight dye too. The green & the peach were custom mixes. I didn't get all technical with the measuring, just kind of flew by the seat of my pants on that. I did look at a color mix chart to get the general idea of what I was looking for. I love how the peach & the green came out. Both were perfect.

The little bits up front are small amounts of sparkly icicle top. They took the dye really well too.

Minus the purple, I did that just cause I had to dye some purple fiber, LOL... these are gonna be my Juicy Melon batts that I've been thinking about. Stay tuned to see how they come out.

My busy season is starting at work... so if you don't hear from me as much don't worry, just means that I'm exhausted. :)  Hope everyone has a good week!