Hello Kitty

This is the Hello Kitty hat that I made for Lydie for her 3 rd birthday. I found the pattern on the web, of course, and I think she liked it!!!! Just google hello kitty hat and you will find it. Very easy and good for left over yarn bits.

Leno for a friend

Using the new warping mill to measure out some nice soft yarn, I produced another scarf for my friend. I wanted to learn a new weaving technique called Leno. It is a form of hand weaving that is quite simple to do. There are variations on Leno and other hand weaving techniques like Brook's Bouquet that I will attempt in the next project. This was a 2 day project during a time in Vermont that has been rather unpleasant, extreme cold, now snow and wind. What better to do while keeping the wood stove going......

cabled scarf

Last Fall I learned how to knit cables and made a scarf for Mark for Christmas.  Now I am trying a different cable scarf pattern using alpaca wool.  It's nice to learn a new technique and maybe I'll finish it in time to wear this winter!

Hello Kitty for Lydie

I hope that Lydie will be happy with her HELLO KITTY hat for her third birthday next week. The pattern was located in www.crochetincolor.blogspot.com when I was searching for animal hats for kids. She and her sister Ellie enjoyed the Fox hats for christmas! see previous post. I will post a picture of Lydie in her new hat next week.

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...