Christmas Knitting

I made a lot of hats this year as gifts, but I sent most of them off before I took photos of them!  I found a neat pattern for a ski mask that rolls up to form a regular hat when it's not too cold. My husband had been asking for a ski mask for when he runs the snowblower, so I made him two for Christmas (both are knit from handspun, and the brown one is handspun alpaca), and one for a present for another friend.  He likes the hat and it works well as a ski mask in cold weather.  No sooner did he get the mask than we had our first major snow of the year.  Here are photos of the mask and the mask in action as he runs the snowblower!

I also found a nice pattern for a cowl that knits up quickly, looks good, and is very warm.  The pattern is called "Curling Cowl" and is available on Ravelry if you want to try it.  I made several in different colors of kid mohair and they made nice gifts.

Happy Holidays everyone!  I haven't posted in a while, but will try to be more active this year!

Scarf in a Bamboo Blend

This scarf is done in Bamboo Bloom Handprints yarn by Universal Yarn, Inc.  It is a blend of 45 % rayon from bamboo, 44 % wool, and 8 % acrylic. It is made in Turkey and available from the shop, Ewephorium in Newport, Vermont. There is a wide variety of color blends. The mixture of thicknesses gives a nice variety of textures. And it is very very soft.

What Did The Fox Say?



Lydie Fox and Ellie Fox

Inspired by the Youtube Rock Video Ylvis - The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?) which apparently is popular with all age groups, these fox hats were crocheted for Lydie (left) and Ellie( right) who enjoy making the fox sounds and dancing to the song. 

A Scarf for Isabelle

My dear friend Isabelle was recently taken with a scarf that I had made and wanted one just like it. The search to match the multicolored yarn with various sparkly beads was not successful. I fabricated something from sparkly tape and approximate colors, it will have to do. Then tragedy struck, the scarf was not as long as mine. With some help from a friend weaver/craftswoman, I fabricated the macrame fringe with the sparkly tape to create length. I think it works, I hope she does, too

One Year Afghan

After a long year of working on this afghan, it is ready for tidying up. Looks pretty good on the duvette I think, the colors work. The yarn was all left-overs from various other projects. Yes there are a few bit of yarn still remaining, but they will end up in other smaller projects. This afghan is quite heavy actually and I was surprised to feel the weight. Small for a kingsized bed, it will fit nicely on the bed in the camper.  We will try it out in April when we hit the road and leave Vermont behind for a few weeks.

Tee Shirts Rug

Each color represents a Tee shirt that I was given by family and friends. Once cut into strips and stretched into long fibers suitable for weaving, the hard work is done. It weaves up fast since the fibers are thick. However, the warp was a problem, Swedish cotton warp. It was slippery and stretchy and made it difficult to keep tension. Unfortunately I have more of this warp on the loom to use up. Perhaps retying it will solve the tension problem, well I mean, it WILL solve it. This will be down in a bathroom in the craft studio(apartment). The process is long and I have so many other projects that weaving with teeshirts will sit on the loom for months. But at least I can say I have done this and made good use of the tee shirts that noone wanted. I will try to crochet with the fibers next and that will go faster.   Please don't send me any more tee shirts...

Sock Monkey for Camilla

This sock monkey version was made for my friend Susan. The baby, Camilla, will be born sometime in October and this monkey will be her first. I had just enough pink heather soft and fuzzy yarn for the body and other left-overs for the hat and scarf. These are so much fun to make and always bring a smile. Enjoy, little Camilla!

Beaver Chewed Loom

Beaver chewed Loom   

Hi all, it has been forever since I posted on our blog.
I made this loom for my friend Sue, she loves beaver
chewed wood and is going to put this in her garden
and fill it with bird food like apples, berries, popcorn
etc.    

Blue Ribbons at the Fair!

 

What a great day at the Orleans County Fair this year. My friend, Maggie, convinced me to enter some of my crafts in the arts and crafts competition  this year. The fair is most appreciative of the entries because I think that generally, there are not very many entries of any kind. I decided on Dobby, the House Elf which is my prize work I think. He received a blue ribbon as did a set of four placemats (crochet over jute). The crocheted cactus collection won a third place.

The best part was watching people look at Dobby in disbelief, then with wonder and happiness. Knowing the Harry Potter stories as many do, he conjures up happy and sad memories both.

I think next year I will enter again. The fair provides another purpose to the fun of designing crochet projects. I want to encourage the others in the craft group we have to do the same.

Maggie is a weaver extraordinaire and won first prize for her scarf and Japanese style jacket which she wove. They were excellent pieces, too.

Up Up and Away

Hummingbirds get a lift from the crocheted hot air balloons