Introducing....Sophia Cate!

Here she is (without handles though)! My own purse creation! This isn't my first design but the first I've posted on my blog. I'm still searching for some handles. I wish I could find some funky matching green and brown. I'll keep looking. Any tips on Web sites is much appreciated!

Donna, owner of my LYS, was kind enough to call Interweave (which is only a 15 minute drive away!) to ask how I could submit my designs. Now, I wouldn't go that far but it is fun to dream. Mostly I'm having fun just thinking up ideas and sketching them and then seeing the outcome. My inspiration for this bag came from an hourglass-shaped vase we have. If you like the bag, please do tell. If you don't, please be kind in your constructive critism. I'm new at putting my designs out there.

I will post the daffodils soon. I am done with them. I know last week I was so La La La La about spring but now I never want to see another daffodil as long as I live--real or fake. Just kidding....kind of. They are so pretty but look so lonely in my tin vase. I need some foliage. They turned out to be really easy to make (though time consuming--increasing purlwise is not fun) but a little tip I'd note is that when you felt them, check on them often otherwise the stems get all tangled in eachother. Not good! My heart about fell out of my chest when I opened the washer to see them all knotted (and somewhat felted) together.

Spring is in Full Bloom!

Sring is definitely in full bloom here in our household-both inside and out! Take a look at this dragonfly I've been playing with. I've made a few. They don't felt so well. I'll have to work on that issue. They felt when attached to something. I think they're too small to agitate in the wash on their own. This is pre-felting.

How about these daffodils? They are turning out to be a really fun project. I still need to put the center and stamen on and make a few more of them (and felt them of course) but I couldn't resist putting them in the tin vase just to see how they might look. I'll post pictures of the finished product but I always like to see other blogger's projects midstream.

Inspiration From The Weirdest Places

Take a look at this picture. What do you see?

If you answered "Tall felted purse" then you are right! I was in the bathroom (don't draw up a mental picture) and it came to me. Whammo. These things just happen in the weirdest places sometimes. Now what does one do with a really tall purse you ask? Well, maybe you bring wine in it when you are asked to a dinner party. Or maybe you're the type to carry a long baguette with you and munch when you are hungry. Who cares??? The point isn't how practical a very long bag is but how good you look when carrying it! So, I sketched a quick drawing and will get started on how to accomplish this bag very soon. More to come.....

DISCLAIMER: DESIGNER IS NOT AN ARTIST. DON'T LET THE USE OF
CRAYONS FOOL YOU!

Bad sketch aside, do you see the potential?

Finished Socks!

Here are my finished socks. It's 80 degrees here so I probably will get no use of these until fall but I was so anxious to use this pretty yarn. Next on the project list is a daffodil or two (and that last border of the baby blanket!). I'm still working on designing my collection of felted bags. I'll post some sketches soon....

Everything's Coming Up Daffodils

With all the beautiful weather I haven't progressed as much as I had hoped with my knitting. I am committed to finishing the pair of socks tonight. Only half a sock to go! My next project [between finishing the baby blanket, which only has one border to go!] is to knit some felted flowers. Does anyone else get their Cascade 220 yarn on Ebay for much cheaper to help with the habit? I found two shades of yellow so I can begin.

I must brag on my husband. He grows the most beautiful flowers [see picture!] and he actually cuts some for me and leaves them everywhere. Sigh. Lucky girl I am. Well, I was looking at his flowers wishing they wouldn't fade away with spring. Then I came across a felted daffodil pattern thanks to Pick Up Sticks! So although it isn't the real thing, I can do my best to keep their memory alive! And I found a similar flower holder as the one in the picture. Yay!



Happy Easter everyone! Praise Jesus on this lovely weekend. He is so deserving!

Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

I know that all is still right in the world when our yellow lab, Aspen, manages to catch some ZZZZs while the rest of us are hopelessly sick. I've spent the past two days taking care of my sick little girl who hasn't been able to hold anything down, even water. And now I'm fearful I might have it. But my dog makes me laugh. He has no idea what the chaos is all about. It doesn't matter I'm on my hands and knees cleaning up throw up, the continuous whir of the washer and dryer from the added laundry doesn't phase him, nevermind the bath water endlessly running while I try to keep up with keeping my girl clean, and hey pal don't bother lifting an eyelid when the baby screams from another bout of upchuck. Just keep snoring! He just continues on, which made me realize that we'll get past this and when we do, Aspen will still be none the wiser.

The good thing about being homebound is that I've finished one sock and am almost completely done with the baby blanket! Pics to come....

Sock It To Me

I have officially put the baby blanket on the back burner now! Terrible. Now that I have more time I figure I'll just work on something else and work on the blanket again at zero hour. There is nothing that gets the creative juices flowing like a deadline, right? If there isn't a deadline it just isn't as fun. I think so anyway.

My socks are coming along very quickly. I'm using Cascade Yarns Bollicine/Maxi line. I just love the green and blues. It is quickly becoming warm here though and I don't think I'll get to enjoy these socks until the fall.

Estes Park was absolutely beautiful! No words (or pictures since I didn't take any!) even do justice to God's creation. The mountains were awesome and still snowcapped. An elk gave my friend Becky and I a good scare as he crossed the road in front of us as we weren't going a speed we could stop. My swerve maneuver seemed to do the trick. Wildlife. If you've ever been to Estes you know the candy store ratio per population is out of control. Ah, Heaven. No, but seriously I've never seen so many candy stores in a one-block area. Becky and I stopped and got some caramel corn, cashew turtles, and some peanut butter rice crispity chocolaty thing-a-ma-gigs. That was just for starters to all the junk I ate this weekend. But it was fun!

I'm Seeing Stripes

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Heidi had her baby. Two weeks early! Thank goodness it was a girl though. I'm in a knitting frenzy--knitting and taking an occassional bathroom break, conveniently asking my husband to please change the baby and I'll owe him, having only time to eat popcorn! I had envisioned Heidi wrapping her new little one in the striped blanket while in the hospial but she is already back home. Oh well. You can never be too certain when these little creatures will want to come out. I thought I had at least 15 days. Then Heidi called me to say she is having a shower afterall later this month. YES! More time. I set the blanket aside and perused through a new knitting book and got lost in Lost. I love that show. I have been asking since the beginning, "how can you be stranded on an island that long and not lose any weight?" Now I know. It was disturbing me (I think this as I break off another piece of chocolate off the bar).

Anyway, I'm going on a women's retreat to Estes Park this weekend and taking a sock project. I can't wait!

I've also been hard at work designing some different felted bags. More on that later though. The ideas keep coming so I sketch them out and attempt to create them. I don't know if they are as cute as I think they are though. Of course my family and friends will only tell me nice things. I'll have to get some pics up. I think my husband is going to start a wool intervention if I come home with any more new skeins. If you're invited to the intervention, don't come, I know I have a problem.

Lola, A Sweet Little Cat

Lola is a pattern by Jess Hutch (her cat is called Kate) that was featured in the last issue of Knitty.com.
I started Lola for my little girl but somehow she is on my bed. Hmmm.. I embroidered the eyes so as to be safe for her, so my intentions were heartfelt, however, when she reached for Lola with her mac-n-cheese hands I begin to doubt I wanted Lola exposed to a toddler's ways. She's such a pretty cat. Lola's fate was sealed when I saw my girl sitting on Lola's belly and was bouncing up and down (ARGH-she clearly doesn't know how long it took me to get the tummy just right!). No no no, Lola just isn't the cat for her. Anyhow, I love Jess' toys. I might try to her bunny for an Easter gift for my little one. Maybe I'll actually give it to her this time. LOL!

My next project is a baby blanket for my friend Heidi. She "thinks" she is having a girl. She feels 80% sure! Well, that is more than enough for me. I went and bought pink and purple yarn. Here's hoping this kid is a girl. If Heidi ends up having a boy, well then, I'll just have to go out and buy some baby blue yarn. You can never have too many knitting projects, right?