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

Grandma's Basket

Last Wednesday I attended a Basket Making class at the Old Stone House Museum.  The class was taught by Carolyn Starr of "NEK Basket Supply" located in East Burke.  The setting was the Museum's beautiful 19th Century Samuel Read Hall House and the weather was so lovely we opened the door to the terrace which offered a gorgeous view and a warm breeze.  This is the basket I made, which is just the right size for holding many balls of yarn, taking on a picnic, storing hats and mittens, taking to market or just about anything else you might have in mind.  Carolyn Starr will be teaching two basket making classes a month at the Museum in June, July and August.  I highly recommend them, she is an excellent teacher and learning to make a basket was very enjoyable and satisfying!  For information on classes and events at the Museum, their website is: www.oldstonehousemuseum.org

Happy Dining Room

Runner and 2 matching mats

Runner with 4 matching mats

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The runner and matching mats, made from recycled clothes from the 60's, made it to Massachusetts recently. Susan is very happy with this project and another one is underway.

knitting a hat

Even though Winter is coming to an end, I've found that I still need a hat to cover my 

ears when those cold Spring winds blow, so I decided to knit one with this lovely single ply yarn from Lamb's Pride.  It's a worsted weight yarn with a combination of 85% wool and 15% mohair.  The monochromatic shades of yellow really caught my eye!  I found it among all the beautiful yarns at Lowell Mountian Wools, a little farm shop (with sheep!) on the top of Lowell Mountain.  

More winter plants

The spring storm of March 19 left us with 12 + inches of fresh white snow. The crocheted and silk plants on the table were a delight to look at this morning.

Rag Runner and Placemats

The runner and mats were woven from strips of clothing from a friend. She did not want to throw away some clothes she had kept from the 60's. Cut into long strips the fabric colors blended nicely into a black yarn warp.
The project was done on a rigid heddle loom, plain weave.

Plants in Winter

Reba pointed me to an Etsy site where there were patterns for crocheted plants. The ones that caught my eye were cactus, African violets and bamboo. Here is my first attempt at the Lucky Bamboo. I bought the patterns from the Esty site,
called PlanetJune. Take a look around.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/PlanetJune?ref=shop_sugg
The patterns are all very well written and the designs replicate actual plants. She even provides the scientific names. I started with a small potted cactus, Gasteria,  "Ox Tongue Plant", the little one on the table. I hope to have a collection of "pots" on my table. I also thought that they would be fun to take in the camper, put on the picnic table, and no worry about their survival.

Wintertime Project begins

As the winter progresses, so does the Garden Afghan or some such name. The colors of the Woolease
chunky yarn were selected for previous projects, rug, placemats, mug rugs, and others, but they are working nicely together so far. The colors also happen to coincide with duvet colors on the bed where the afghan will come to rest. Twenty blocks like the 4 seen in the picture will complete the piece. Hopefully spring will come as I wrap this up and get back to weaving.