April Showers

And it wasn't rain!!! Yes, it actually snowed yesterday....for most of the day.  It came down hard and furious at times with the wind howling......forcing the flock to take shelter. This morning....no snow to be seen anywhere. Just very cold temperatures. It warmed up enough early yesterday evening to melt everything. Such crazy weather!!

We had plans to work outside on the new fence for the dogs, but that had to be put on hold ....for obvious reasons. Made a good dent in the remodel of the kids' bathroom though. The old sink/vanity, medicine cabinet, and mirror have been taken out. The toilet is next to come out. The tub/shower combination will stay.  It's amazing how large the bathroom looks now that it is nearly empty. I never realized how much room the sink/vanity combination took up. The new vanity was put in last night just to see how it would look. Wow!! Really opened things up. It's much smaller (and prettier) than the old one. Now I can't wait for everything to be done. So today I will start on the taping/mudding with the hopes of finishing a good part of it. My loving hubby will do a few repairs later on tonight (the medicine cabinet was set into the wall so that will have to be taken care of since another will not be going in). He hopes to have all the prep work done in a day or two so that we can start painting. It will be a total remodel from floor to ceiling (with the exception of the tub/shower combination). I have all my light fixtures and mirror picked out. The new sink/vanity is already here waiting to be put in. I've picked out a really pretty faux stone floor. The completed bathroom will have a country garden theme to it.

This will be the second room that has been re-done since my youngest moved out. While it is a bit sad, it's also exiting. It's like we are re-claiming the house as our own.  :.) As for the kids.....well, their thoughts on everything is "It's about time!!"  :.)

Wool fun

I've discovered a new way to enjoy wool......wool applique!!  Yes, I've known about wool applique for years. Even tried my hand at it once.....and found that I wasn't real crazy about it. Then, while browsing one of my favorite sites, I came across this little guy.....Larry the Lamb. I thought "I can do this. It's small." Plus it was just so cute that I simply had to have it. So I got the pattern and gave it a go. Turns out I really enjoyed working with the felted wool and stitching this up. So much so that I decided to play with it a bit more. Hence, the framed piece pictured below.

This is one my own design. It just popped into my head as I was spinning one day.....and staring at an empty frame that has been collecting dust on the top of my bookshelf for way too long.  I thought "why not give it a try". After all, I used to be quite the artist when I was younger.....and I've been doing embroidery for decades (learned when I was very young). So I gave it a try. Did some rought sketches. Was staring out and watching my flock wondering about how I wanted my sheep to look when it dawned on me. Why not use my Shetlands as a model.  Then I started noticing things about them.....like how square their bodies are.....and how short their legs look when they are in full fleece......and how their heads look so small compared to their bodies. Of course they don't run around with their tails up....unless they are fertilizing that is.  :>) I just thought it would look cuter. 

 So the piece is named "Stop to Smell the Flowers".....and it is inspired by my own woolly crew. Nothing really extraordinary about it. I did use part of a felted wool sweater for the background. The background is actually a very pretty blue (like in the first picture of the piece). I'm not quite sure why it wanted to photograph more gray in color in the closeups. The sheep body itself is from a felted 100% cashmere sweater (it's amazing what you can find in the local thrift shop). It's so soft!!! I just wanted to sit and pet it all day.  :>)

I used a whip-stitch for all the applique, a stem stitch for the vines and detail in the sheep's body, and french knots for the sheep's eyes. DMC embroidery floss was used for all the stitching in colors that matched the applique pieces. The stitching went rather quickly and was so very fun to do. I had forgotten how much I enjoy doing hand-work....and how relaxing it can be. Will there be more creations like this one? Let's just say the dust has been blown off my sketchbook, pencils, and eraser.....and I look forward to building a felted wool stash.  :>)

Signs of Spring

It's finally starting to look a bit like Spring around here. Most of the snow is gone and the first buttercups have made their appearance. The sheep are acting like Spring is here.....all playful, bouncing around the pasture. I love this time of the year. The sheep are happy and they look amazing in full fleece. Once the temps warm up a bit there will be the heavenly smell of warm lanolin to enjoy. That's when I know shearing is right around the corner.

 Here they are enjoying their breakfast al fresco under a stand of pine trees.

Paddy Bear

......is my latest teddy bear creation. He is 10 1/2" tall when standing.....8" tall when sitting.....and 13" at his widest point.H has button-thread-joined joints which allows him to sit, stand, and enjoy countless other poses. He is knit using a hand-spun Shetland/Soy Silk blend yarn (all natural colors) and was fulled (or felted depending on which term you choose to use) just enough to create a firm fabric while still maintaining a touch of stitch definition. He has button eyes. His nose is needle-felted using very soft Suri Alpaca fiber. His facial features are also needle-felted. Doesn't he look so very happy?  :>)  He was also lovingly (yet gently) brushed to enhance the natural halo of the hand-spun yarn. This makes him very, very soft to the touch. You just want to cuddle with him.  :>)

Paddy Bear sports his favorite comfy winter sweater. This little sweater was designed just for him. It is knit from a hand-spun superwash wool. Ribbing can be found at the sweater bottom and both cuffs. The turtleneck is also ribbing. The sweater construction is rather simple with drop sleeves.

Puzzles

I've always enjoyed putting together a good puzzle. It's a wonderful way to pass a rainy afternoon with those you love. When I discovered jigsaw puzzles online I was thrilled beyond belief. And then I discovered I could create my own.....Yea!!! Here is my first jigsaw puzzle. Simply click on the picture.

Enjoy!!

130 Quilts

Is it really February???

 Cuz it sure looks alot like December around here!!! This is what fell in a couple of hours.....and it's still snowing!! The snow storm that has moved into the area is due to hang around until late Thursday night. It will be interesting to see exactly how much of the white stuff will be left behind once the storm moves on.  I know my sheep are thankful that they are still fully "clothed.  :.)

Lots of Needle Action.....

....... (as in knitting needles) has been happening lately. It's been a good thing.  :.) I've been finishing up projects that were started eons ago.....and enjoying new ones. One of the new projects is the teddy bear pictured. He's made from hand-spun Shetland yarn (from my own sheep!) and is almost 9" tall sitting. He was fulled enough to where a firm fabric was created while still retaining the stitch definition. Of course this made the yarn really soft and fluffy. Just makes you want to hold him all the time.  :.)

He's a fairly simple bear with button eyes. His nose was needle-felted using some really soft Suri Alpaca wool. His facial features were also needle-felted. He's such a happy bear.  :.)

For a bit of whimsy, he sports a hand-knit, lightly fulled flower pin. The flower pin is knit from hand-dyed, hand-spun wool yarn. A lovely button adorns the center of it. The flower petals are all held in place by small, sparkly beads. The entire pin is backed with wool felt and has a small pin closure....so it can be taken off if so desired. This little bear was tons of fun to do.  :.)

The sweater pictured is one of the projects that was started eons ago. It's my Harriet sweater.....or, more correctly, Harriet Vest. This had started out as a sweater. I had all the pieces knit....two fronts, a back, and two sleeves. Went to put it all together only to discover that the sleeves were too small for the armholes (and I had knit the larger sleeves....at least I thought I did). So the project was set aside for quite some time while I tried to figure out how to tackle this small stumbling block. One day I was watching a knitting show on my local PBS station when it was mentioned to use a running stitch and simply ease the sleeves into place.....like you do when sewing a garment. So out came the sweater and I gave it a try. Wasn't real happy with the end results. I really didn't want to put the sweater aside again so I decided to finish up the collar and the front while I tried to figure out a way to make it all work.  It was while I had the incomplete sweater on that my loving hubby saw it and said "what a pretty vest!" Yes, the lightbulb finally came on.   :.) I decided to turn my sweater into a vest. I had thought about using the same treatment that was used on the collar to finish out the armholes. I even toyed with the idea of repeating the scallop section on the bottom of the sweater for "sleeves". In the end, I simply turned a small seam allowance back and stitched it in place. It just seemed to be the right way to finish the armholes. I got lucky and happened to find the perfect buttons for it as well. All in all, I'm pretty happy with it. So much so, that I'm ready to attempt my next "big" project.....another vest.  :.)

 A little something about the pattern.....it can be found in the book " A Fine Fleece". I had knit my vest using a hand-spun Shetland lamb/Kid Mohair blend (from my own animals.....and it's been years since I've had Angora goats so the yarn is some of my first hand-spun). This is a lovely pattern with lots of really pretty detailing. It has Shetland lace inserts in the front and back (and both sleeves). The lace inserts and scalloped edge are separated by an eyelet detail. The same detailing that is used for the collar.

There are lots of firsts in this project for me. It was the first time I had attempted to knit lace....which was rather easy and fun once I learned to mark all of my repeats with stitch markers. It was the first time I had tackled a project with so much detailing.....the scalloped edge, the eyelet, the lace. While it was my second sweater, it was the first one I had done with set-in sleeves. My first sweater had raglan sleeves....which went much better as far as fit. Unfortunately my first sweater was way too large on me....and very unflattering.....but my friend loves it to pieces.  :.)