Yarn along - size 35's and fuzzy yarn to the rescue

Linking with Ginny at Small Things for the Yarn Along this morning.

What does a scary crafty mommy due when she made two halter topped Easter dresses (Pictures tomorrow at the Stash Bash) for her daughters but the weather is supposed to be 35 and raining? Search her yarn stash! I found this yarn and a similar but pink one in the stash. Grabbed the biggest needles I own, 35s (that 20mm) and set to work I am working 41 stitches across, then I bound off the middle three, I am working the remaining stitches on both sides to match the back, then I will sew the corners together to make a little shrug. A soft fluffy cloud of orange for Badger and pink for Butterfly.

I am also sewing a kilt for Mouse's Easter outfit. Lots of the men in our church are of Scottish decent and wear their kilts for special occasions. Mouse asked if he could have one. So I am hand-stitching like lighting and praying I get it done in time. I am only using flannel as I could not find a proper plaid and it did seem a bit silly to spend that much on something for a boy who is always outgrowing his pants. He asked me if my sewing machine knew how to make anything other than dresses, so I am happy to be making something for him.

As far as reading, I read two of the books I got last week, Creative Spinning - it had some interesting plying and colorway ideas but was not of great use to me - and the fiction book Glory by Heather Graham.  I like her work - most romance, suspense, and ghost stories - because of the research she does about the area she sets her work in and it history, which she often give a summary of at the end. This one was a romance set during the Civil War. I liked her portrayal of families that loved each other deeply but had members on both sides actively working for their cause, and view into those on the southern side who were both pro-cession and anti-slavery. 

Thank you Blog!

 I was just saved by the blog. I thought I should post a picture of this wool. I dyed it Sunday night after using the dye for Easter eggs with the kids and wax painting eggs. I wanted to put away the wool before people come over tonight. Out came the camera. As I took the photo I realized I needed to charge my camera. Mouse has his school music program tonight and I nearly attended with no battery charge left!  It is plugged in, now I just have to remember to put the battery back into my camera.

 Badger drawing snowmen and stick figures. I may be spring but we still have snow! They say we might see 40 this week.

These are the painting wax resistance eggs I made and in the bags are yarn eggs the younger three did in Sunday school. We are going to make an Easter tree, from sticks in the yard, when they get home and hang these eggs. The picture is My Great-Grandmother Ruth Delilah, she is holding Beaver whom she told me was a keeper. She passed on not long after this photo, it is sitting on the under the tea pot cupboard in my kitchen with my cookbooks and keeping an eye on us.

Hope you manage to remember all the little and big things you need to today! ~ Julia

welcome to the studio

I was help out at the Pike River Rendezvous explaining the artifacts that had been recovered from the Resique Tavern site, which is at the same place as the Rendezvous.  The tent next to us had this beauty for sale.  I hemmed and hawed about it all day, then decided to buy it.  I was driving my Saturn, but the lady told me it fit in the back of their car... Yep you guessed it.  I am hot, sun-burnt in fact, and standing there with the man who sold it to me, no way to get it in my car and it is threatening to storm. Neither of us have any tools with us to take it off the stand.  Disaster!  When suddenly, a very nice total stranger said "if you are not going far, it will fit in my mini-van. I'll follow you."  I live about an hour from where we are standing, but a dear friend lives only a mile or so and I saw her at the Rendezvous.  So we load it up and take it to her house, but she is not home! luckily her porch was, so we unload it as the rain starts.  I call my parents, who only live about 20 minutes away.  Dad is at a woodworking conference in the next state and won't be home until late.  I call another friend - it was her wedding I was making dresses for - and she is home.  She and her husband race to rescue me.  It won't fit in her new car either!  They have not moved their tool bag into the new car, so her husband drives back across town to get them.  We manage to get it disassembled and into my car, then go back to their house to relax, wait out the storm, and eat some yummy homemade chocolate hazelnut ice cream.  When we got there I realized that not only did she drop everything when I called she did so in the middle of her dinner!  They say a real friend helps you hide the body, in my world a real friend drops everything to help you, even when the help you need is completely due to your own poor planning.  

Monday Musings.

Right Now...  I am having lunch, leftover pad thai, that Jim made this weekend.  I took Badger to her check up this morning where she was officially pronounced perfect by her doctor.  No problems, no worries, no shots.  A great visit.  I am reading course work with a toit list that is very long.  We shall see how much I actually get done.  Read Durkhiem, then load dishwasher, and laundry.  Then read Mauss, sweep rec room floor, read Weber, mop kitchen floor.  Get boys and get a new phone (old one fell apart) and get directions for the visit to Racine Heritage Museum with Museum Studies class (I've never been so I am looking forward to it.) and answer assigned questions for that class.  That is today!

This weekend... The kids and I went to cousin's baby shower.  We had a lovely time and she got lots of nice useful and pretty things.  Because we where playing that gift bingo game, we noticed that she only got one blanket (mine) and no bath stuff.  Both my Mother in law & I thought this was odd.  Her sister is also expecting and her shower will be in March - must knit faster - looking forward to it.

We came home and cleaned house. Then some friends came over and played board games.  Sunday was entirely cuddling and coursework.  Plus dying some wool to spin later in the week.

Some plans for the week...  Busy today.  Class all day tomorrow. Dentist on Wednesday, a major visit.  Father in law will be watching the girls both days bringing their cousins over with him on Wednesday.  Thursday is class and Friday might include a new knitting group.  Maybe. I'll have to juggle a few things.  I plan on sneaking crafting - knitting, rag rugs, and spinning in where ever I can.


If I find some time for myself I'd like to...  I got fabric and a pattern picked out.  SO if I find an hour or more I will be working on cutting this out.

I would really like to manage to sneak this in in time to wear it on March 7th at the presentations in the state Capitol building. I am making the version shown on the model but maybe a tad longer. 

I am grateful for... little arms that wrap around my neck.


Some prayerful intentions for the week... Please God Help Me get it all done or at least to accept that I won't. 

Something that makes me smile...  Badger saying Stuffed Animal with the determination of Max (of Max and Ruby) at the doctor's today.  Her sister got one with her shot earlier in the month.  Butterfly with Friz (the stuffed animal she got) after a hard day of playing. Badger got a tiny frog which she has named Spot. 

  

Joining Najda at Patch o Dirt Farm.

Some updates.

I thought I should give some updates on project and how they turned out (so far at least.)  My wool took 4 days to completely dry and has a greasy feel still, it actually has more leaves than it did when I started!  4 days drying in the sun will do that.  So I need to wash it again.  My reading has led me to believe that I either did not have the water hot enough to begin with or allowed it to cool too much redepositing the lanolin on the wool as it cooled.  I want improve on this whole process - as even though it did not work right I enjoyed it - so I am cleaning our front porch out.  We never use it as the yard is graded just wrong enough that it floods a bit spring and fall and is too hot in the summer (and moldy) and too cold in the winter.  I am going to scrub it clean and rip up the carpeting (who thought that was a good idea?) and use it for projects like wool washing and dyeing and soap making.  I want to make a table out of and old bathroom cabinet we replaced but did not pitch and scrap wood and attach a folding mesh table area for skirting and drying.  At least the cleaning and digging out of the cabinet will have to happen this weekend. 

 Remember the one lonely jar of red currant jam?  I am holding this over my floor and it did not fall.  It tastes wonderful but is set so hard you have to warm it up for spreading.  Hoping I get more berries next year because this is awesome.

 Left to right Apple Butter, Carrot Jam, and Apple Jelly.  The Jelly has the same set too hard problem but is so pretty and tasty who cares.  The carrot jam is amazing!  Seriously, make some, I have had it by it's self, on cheddar scones (the attack of the scones continues), and on ham slices.  Go now - make some. 

 Little sewing kit I made for Butterfly.  Felted heart for needles and I found these tiny scissors to put into the kit that.

 Dress for Butterfly's birthday, I mostly followed the great inspiration at Tea Rose Home for this but added an extra ruffle and some satin ribbon. 

 This little skirt is also for her birthday, the white is an old t-shirt of my husband's and the bottom is leftover quilt fabric from my stash.

Decided not to wait any longer to show this.  I am thinking about adding an ring of ribbon around the waist band but we shall see. 

I had a little scare while knitting the sweater - the sleeve looked to short & reading the pattern I realized I missed a step, it should have been two inches longer.  Panic.  I called her in to try it on and the sleeve fits perfectly!!!  I might go back later and open the sleeve ends and add a few rows of pink, but the pattern is designed to do that anyway. 

Hope all your projects are going well. - Julia

Christmas planning.

It is coming.  It is sneaking up on us.  Right now it feels so far away, while we sit in tank tops and sandals, but the chill has started.  Sweaters and tights are waking from their long summer sleep.  Christmas is coming. Yule, the season of joy or is that stress...

So the planning much begin.  Well, really I have been thinking about what I want to make for everyone for a while now.  It is just so much more real with a list, when I saw Emily's post at Today, I am... with her list of craft Christmas plans, I decided to post mine too.

Jim - no clue. He doesn't wear sweaters or a scarf.
Beaver - Pj Pants
Mouse -  Night shirts
Butterfly - sewn skirts and a knit dress
Badger - Nighties and sewn skirts. 

I feel stuck already, man this is hard...  I will make some pillowcases for everyone too and doll clothes for the girls.  Part of the problem is I am knitting everyone a sweater for their birthday (yep that's three sweaters to go before Christmas presents. 

Easier ones: (I hope)

Jess - Knit scarf in weird yarn I bought at the fair
Resee - you read this so I am not telling
Becca -
Miya -
Mom - Slippers?
Dad -
Jimsr -
Tina -
Michele -
Jeff -
Jake -

ok so much for easy.  Panic is setting in... I must get on this. So thanks Emily for showing me I was really behind. Racing off to talk to adviser about canceled class and then to clean my studio for marathon crafting.