Alafoss Lopi Button Bag

Ah, to bring a little colour back to the blog. . . you see I really am a green person. This photo does the button bag justice because you can't see how I totally messed up the bottom of the bag where I increased. I don't know how many times I re-did it too! That's supposed to tell you something! If you have to re-knit, and it doesn't seem to be working, then you're reading the instructions incorrectly. Somehow I thought by going through the wash it would magically repair itself! But I do love this colour. . .

In The Archives

I recently found some funny little drawings I did oh, twenty some years ago. These are a few that I particularly like. My mom, (who is an artist) told me, if you're not sure about a drawing, put it away for a little while and once you have some distance you can re-evaluate it. I don't think she meant twenty years!

Anyway, I'm pleasantly surprised with myself, and I'm excited about getting back into it! Now I want to draw tea cups and sock monkeys, balls of yarn and little vintage toys. . .

Let me know what you think.

Real men don't knit, they crochet!

I've stalled on these socks. I'm not really thrilled with them, they're a little thick, (I don't think this was proper sock yarn) a little too bright, oh, just not quite right. I'll finish them up though, because I recently bought yarn for two more pair. . . And! . . . It was my birthday recently and boy, did I get spoiled! Yarn, more yarn and fabric! Pictures on the way soon!
Oh, by the way, see the bit of cream crochet blanket in there? Well, my sweet heart keeps asking if I've put any pictures of his crochet projects on the blog. We call this blanket the sleepy blanket (anyone who puts it on immediately falls asleep). It's huge, it took two kilos of Red Heart. That yarn comes from the endangered, wild acrilacks, which is why I think some people look down upon those who use it.

Girlfriends

I love this quilt I found in the March issue of Country Living magazine, which, by the way, focuses on woman entrepreneurs. The fabric is from Sis Boom, which I ran across a while back, but had forgotton about. Has any one else come across this fabric line, called Girlfriends? I think Amy Butler fans would like it.

Favorite Thrift Score

If you've read my previous post you'll know that I'm a participant in a swap.
One of the questions Elizabeth asked us, was, "What was your most favorite thrift score?" (and to add a picture, if we wanted to make her jealous) I thought this was a great question and should make the rounds in blog world. This was my answer.
Favorite thrift score? It wasn't a thrift score, but I found, in an alley, a beautiful, curvey, antique, wrought iron bed, all pieces included! I never thought of taking a picture of it, but now I will. Also, at the same place, got a steamer trunk, tin, wooden slats, good condition, original paper inside! I RAN home, got a dolly, prayed they would still be there. This was before cell phone days, well, for me anyway. The bed is in my daughters room.
When I was a teenager I used to go to thrift stores before anyone did. This one particular place, I would leave with a green garbage bag full, pure wool, cashmere, satin ball gowns, beaded sweaters, you name it, rhinestone jewelry coming out my ears. When you asked how much something was, some sweet little old lady would say, "Is 25 cents too much dear?" Yah, so you youngsters talk about thrift stores now-a-days, sheesh, I still have dreams, actual dreams of that place called Second Hand Rose.

Vintage

I've joined the vintage vixen swap hosted by Elizabeth at My own lil Space. I get a kick out of things like this.

I got the little tin recipe box the other day, alas, no recipes included. The tin pail was from my neighbor, and my daughter brought home the basket which is lined in lovely red gingham.

"Salty and Peppy" have been living on my stove for eons. I would never get tired of them, or the little love birds.

A little set up in front of a childs painting . . .

Gifted and thrifted materials

This is a little purse I made a little while ago, inspired by some of the Japanese, mixed fabric creations. I bought a tiny, turtle neck, knit vest, strictly for the colour, thinking I might make a little pillow or something. I was given the pink and brown fabric, and had enough of it to make a skirt (almost complete) and had a bit of scrap for this project. The closure is conveniently taken from a shirt with snaps. It's lined in that same fabric too. Cute.

My Cat

I've been so busy with work, I haven't really had creative time, oh, and temporarily losing my camera put a damper on things too. So I've barely had time to do my own thing, let alone find time to vacuum my cat! Seriously, he just sat there. That's his happy look.

Downsizing The Magazines

I've made it a habit to go through my old magazines and tear out pages that have something I like, to save on space. Since I'm moving into a smaller apartment in about a month this especially makes sense. Anyway, when I saw how great the Inspiration Collages that Cassi did over at belladia, she inspired me to dig into my stash. I will definitely do more of these . . . .




Thanks Cassi

Little Quilt

I pieced most of this little quilt, a long time ago, when my daughter was small. It may have been intended for her. The fabric was scrounged here and there, mostly from clothing. I was finally encouraged to finish this quilt because of my new found blogging hobby, so a big thank you goes out to all of you knitty, crafty bloggers.


The border fabric was purchased recently ( for apron fabric stash enhancement) and made it into the finished piece, and looks at home, I think. I really like this simple pattern, and I think I'll do a full sized version, in different colours, for my self. Despite it's obvious flaws, I'm happy with it, and it has taught me to be more patient when cutting and piecing.

Pink

We've had 27 consecutive days of rain, and guess what? We missed breaking the record by one measly day, and to top it off, we're back to a rainy forecast!

Well, to cheer me on, and any one else in the Pacific North West, here is a little ray of pink happiness. This is the third pair of socks I've knit. My second pair are in their new home, with out having been photographed first. These were also done for a very good friend of mine. They're Fleece Artist, and as you can see, I use four needles. I'm perfectly content (for now) with this method, in fact, I love it.

Since this is a pink post, I thought I would add a picture of this house that I stumbled upon the other day. (our one and only sunny day) Someone's not afraid of colour!

Pie and more pie

This blog is really about documenting things I make. Down the road I won't convince my self all I've done with my spare time was watch TV. Things I've made are going to include food, probably pretty food. I don't think I'll be showing you any stew. I missed taking pictures of my Christmas cookies so I think that gives me an excuse to make something fancy for Valentines. Anyway, one thing I like to make is pie. So . . . . ta-da, here's the pie!

And more pie . . . . mmmm.

Rain, rain go away!

I have several new projects that I want to post, but because of the dark, dreary rain and not wanting to resort to a flash, I'll postpone the pictures. I'm going to get to know my camera a little better and see what I can come up with. Until then, I'm going to leave you with some scenic shots.

Once in a while we take a day trip to Steveston, a historic little fishing village, about 30 minutes from Vancouver. There is a wonderful park at the seaside, were we fly our kites (more about that later) and if we want to indulge ourselves and have prawns for dinner, we can get them from the fishers at the pier.

Oh yes, another reason I like this little trip? Of course, you've guessed there's a yarn store here! Wool and Wicker is a tiny shop, chock full of goodness.

Norman

I thought I would introduce you to my other cat, Norman. He felts easily.

Birthday Present

Yes, this (the yarn) was a birthday present, from last February! (Thank you, Marcia) I started and finished my very first sweater right away. The yarn is Fleece Artist, two strands called kiss curls and baby kid. It was an excellent choice for a novice knitter, all garter stitches and no complicated bits. The finished sweater is light, spongy, very soft, and warms you up instantly. I was never completely pleased with these photos, and that's why I didn't post, eh hmm, last March. Well, I've decided to catch up now and use them anyway because God knows when there will ever be enough light to take a better picture. It's been raining, here in Vancouver BC for. . . . a long time. If it rains for a few more days we will break a record. I'm trying not to grumble about it, after all it is supposed to be a rainforest!

This is what it looked like when I went for coffee the other morning. Yes, I said morning!

I'm not guilty!

I havn't blogged for months now and I feel somewhat guilty. I'm like this in other areas of my life too. I get very excited with something, dive right in and then tend not to be steady with it. So, I'm not to going to make a resolution but I will make an attempt to blog at least once a month, minimum. I've noticed the question, "why do you blog?" floating around. I do it because it's a challange for me to get to know the computer a little better, but most importantly, I want to feel connected to other crafters/artists. Sure, I get that in my life as well, but I'm constantly impressed with the wealth of creativity, the sharing and encouragement of all the crafty bloggers out there. It is crucial to our health to feel connected, and this is another venue to create that. It's exciting too. I'm a writer! I'm publishing! I'ts fun and it's my own.

So, no more regrets about not posting, and on with the new. This is my version of the Noro (Kureyon) scarf and I'm very happy with it and apparently so is my daughter. When she wears something I've made I take it as a great compliment. ( just not the part were she leaves it at someone elses house for a week) It was very fun to knit, seeing the differant colour combinations appear. I had to break off the yarn a few times to keep contrast in the pattern. I would like to find other yarn that has similar colour changes, to do more projects like this.

A simple scarf

I couldn't resist this beautiful wool. I misplaced the label and of course can't remember what it is. I really understand how someone (would that be me?) becomes a yarn snob. This scarf originally spent a short life being a pair of fingerless gloves.

Kaffe Fassett grannie squares!

Yet another unfinished project. The wool is from a Kaffe Fassett sweater kit I bought before I even started knitting. I wasn’t planning to attempt the intricate sweater. That was and would still be way beyond my skill level. I used to volunteer as a docent at The Canadian Craft Museum in Vancouver here, and they had the kit left over from an exhibit of his. It was one of those deals I just couldn't pass up! There's my girl cat, Shadow.

Forays into Felting

Since I’ve been knitting for about eight months now, I have a few projects that I’ll post all at once. Of course I jumped on the felting bandwagon when I saw so many people doing the beautiful bags and such, especially Leslie at Whimsy , who became one of the first of my favorite knitting bloggers. I’m not completely thrilled with my version of the French market bag, the way it shrank in height opposed to width, and I gave up in frustration on the few kitchener stitches needed to join the handles. I persevered in this respect when it came to my socks though and am I proud of myself! I figure this if nothing else has got to be good exercise for the brain.

Now the Sophie bag I love, but It’s saggy if you carry anything more than your wallet and an issue of Home Companion, so I plan to line it with fabric as well. I have a few more felting projects in mind, all neatly lined up on the back burners.

Mission Accomplished

I had a couple people encouraging me to go ahead with this apron. I appreciated the comments, especially since this blog is new born, and I'm not sure how many people have seen it. Anyway, here is the finished product. I like red and yellow in a kitchen.