tasty and crafty bits

 Thrift store frames for husband present.  My father - who used to be a professional photographer - is taking a picture of each kid for inside these, instead of school photos.  I really dislike school photos, stupid expensive and they always seem to look weird. So I popped the backing and the glass out and...

Spray painted them copper, three coats and a matte finish.  $4 present.

 Apple pie with beef fat instead of butter or shortening in the crust. Very flaky and tender. I happened to have the fat - rendering for soap but not actually making soap continues around here - so I figured I'd try it. I did tell them - after they ate it and praised it.

 Scarf finished and about to be wrapped for my uncle. I love the texture.  The yarn was a problem I ran out before the end only to find that the yarn was discontinued.  I was upset, I did not want to rip it to the beginning but what else could I do! Then I was at Joann's on Black Friday - not a bad experience for those of you who have not done that - and saw this lion brand yarn labeled Fisherman's wool, and as I was fairly sure the color was a match and the label stated 100% wool, I grabbed it. I can not tell were one begins and the other leaves off.

 As you can see I remembered to photo it at the last possible moment.

 And this is what I am calling a Scacowl. (Scowl) the table is a yard wide. the scacowl is doubled in the picture and longer than the table. It is so soft and light and pretty! It can be wrapped around the neck three times or twice and having one loop over forehead and ears, sort of a scarf/cowl/necklace.

 A more detailed shot.

And the mohair cowl for my cousin. Back to knitting with one set of hands, wrapping with another and doing craft projects with the kids with the third. Oh wait, only one set of hands, that explains why I am so tired.

Hope your projects are going smoothly and that you too have a friend, who when you tell her you have too many projects to finish before Christmas, kindly sends you more great ideas! ~ Julia