Happy New Year!

And so we start another year! 2010 just zipped right by.

So let me show you all the new soaps, jewelry, and crocheting I have done since my last post. :)

For new soaps, I have Christmas Tree

(Note: Click on any photo to enlarge)


Winter's Night



Sahara Sandalwood




Red Hot Cinnamon



Snow Spice



And Orange Blossom



For jewelry, I made this really pretty necklace using Bali sterling silver beads and spacers, and a bit of lapis.





And a couple of pairs of matching earrings





I've also been keeping busy crocheting. I made, for myself, a winter ensemble. A hat, a pair of fingerless gloves, a pair of leg warmers, and a cowl (because cowls are the big rage now and I wanted to see if I like them! )



I like the hat because it doesn't squash my glasses against the side of my head.



Fingerless gloves are nice up to a point. But for when it's really cold, they are kind of useless. These are nice for my morning walk, but I need full gloves when bird watching.



Woolen leggins. :) Snug around the ankles, and flare out a bit at the foot and at the calf. These go more than half way up my calf. The sides are not sewn together, the buttons hold them together so they are adjustable.



And a cowl. I've never worn a cowl before, and wasn't sure what size I would want it. This one is rather large, and I haven't used it yet. It just goes over my head and sets around my neck and shoulders.



Ray and I have been having fun birdwatching. This past weekend we went down to Whitewater Draw to check out the Sandhill Cranes. To see pics, check out Ray's blog - well worth it! We saw THOUSANDS and THOUSANDS of cranes!!!!

Sonoran Connection





And I must not forget a gratuitous Dakota picture. :)

Crochet Projects

Here's a couple of small crochet projects I have completed.

This first one is a pair of ankle warmers I made for myself. These are snug around the ankles and flare out a bit at the calf and at the instep. I can either just slip them on, or unbutton them and wrap then around my ankles and button them back up. I just use one of the spaces between a double crochet as a button hole.

(click on any photo to enlarge)


Next, a small bag that I am using to keep my ball of yarn in while crocheting. I do most of my crocheting sitting in my computer chair, so I just hang the bag off the arm of my chair in an attempt to keep the cat from pawing through the bag as if it is her own private toy! :-D



This is a little open shoulder purse. Not sure what the heck it could be used for, but ....





A book bag, or project bag. I have this one for sale in my Etsy shop (Click *here* to see listing)





A little wallet, or business card holder which I felted (click *here* to see listing in my Etsy shop)



And a couple of cell phone or IPod cozies

First Crochet Project Completed

I've started crocheting again, after years and years (about 25 or more!) of not picking up a crochet hook. I started again for 2 reasons ...

1 - I have a TON of yarn that I purchased when I was weaving. And I mean a ton! Look at all this yarn ...

(Click on photo to enlarge)


Most of it is gorgeous wool from Bartlett Yarns in Harmony, Maine.

2 - While watching TV, I realized I was wasting so much time! I LIKE watching TV in the evening, so I figured, instead of messing around on the computer while watching TV, I should do something a little more constructive.

I've been practicing my crocheting by making a few ipod/cell phone cozies. And I finally feel confident enough to start making items to sell. This is my first sellable ensemble .... a purse and a matching phone cozy. I just finished washing them and they are blocked out on a thick towel for drying.



Since I don't have buttons in the house, I crocheted the "buttons" for the flaps. Worked out good!





Opps, I see a little thread sticking out in the cozy above ... I'll have to weave that back in when it's dry.

Crocheting Some More

I've done a couple more fun little crochet projects, trying to make the perfect little droid/iphone/ipod cozy. I am finding I have forgotten a lot about crocheting, but it's slowly coming back!

Here's three little projects:

(Click on any photo to enlarge)


Starting from the left - This one looks ok from the front, but it's a bit messy in the back. My joining leaves a little to be desired at this point. I tried to think of a way to use some of my beads as buttons. Here I used a fancy jasper faceted tear drop. It works well for decoration, but when I strapped the cozy with the droid in it to my belt, I felt like it wouldn't hold very well. The Droid fits perfectly.









This next one I like! It's a little bunchy on the bottom, but not too bad. The "button" is a crocheted flower. I'm not sure how well it will hold up with being squashed in and out of the button hole. When I strapped the cozy with the Droid in it to my belt, it felt very secure. The back looks ok. The Droid fits snuggly on the sides, the cozy is a bit taller than the Droid. No big deal.









The last one is just too wide to be a cozy, so I just added a shoulder strap to it. Kind of cute, but again, a messy back.







So there you have it. And here's hoping that eventually, practice makes perfect! :-D

Another Craft?? Oh, No !!!

But oh yes! :-D

Back in the 80's, I did quite a bit of crocheting. And now I'm picking it back up again, something to do while watching TV at night. At first I thought about organic cotton washcloths and soap savers but then I thought, I have SO much yarn around here from my weaving days, I might as well use it! Most of it is wool, some linen, I thought I had some cotton but I guess not. So I'm thinking felted bags, purses, cozies. The wool I originally bought for weaving rugs. Most of it comes from the Bartlett Yarns in Harmony Maine. Beautiful stuff! So I started practicing with little pouches.

(Click on any photo to enlarge)


The red one on the left I am using as a cozy for my Droid .. a perfect fit! It has not been felted (the cozy, not the Droid!)



The yarn for the light colored cozy on the far left did not come from Bartlett Yarns. I remember weaving a rug using that and it was the softest rug! I felted this piece. It came out ok, but not great. The little white pouch was made from some wool my friend Tricia spun up. Cute! :) I'll use it the next time I ship some earrings.





The piece in the middle is the first piece I practiced on. It's made with wetspun tow linen that I had originally bought to use as a warp for rugs. Extremely strong! I did this round robin - crocheting round and round without joining. It looks like a stairwell! LOL. Work on it is messy, but after 30 years, well, ya know! After washing it, it's very supple and soft. I have plenty of this linen, and I think it will make nice clutches and bags.



I tried to really felt the next 2 pieces, but they didn't felt the way I wanted them to. They just sort of fulled. :) I think because I was doing a double crochet, which isn't a very dense stitch. And the hot water took most of the color out of the blue one.





And now I'm getting serious! I have some Dark Sheeps Gray from Bartlett Yarns that is just gorgeous! It is a very bulky homespun yarn, natural, not dyed. I'm making a bag with shoulder straps. I'm using the half double crochet stitch, which is very dense. I'll be felting it. This is what I have so far

(Be sure to click on the photo to enlarge. This yarn is gorgeous!)


It's going to be large!!!