Plantation doll

This doll was designed for a friend who has a quilt shop mostly dedicated to Civil War fabrics.  She is made from a clothespin, civil war print, and homespun fabric.  Nice little gal.

Back view

It's in the Bag

I made these great little zippered pouches with the following tutorial, kindly shared with me by Linda, a weaver on Rigid Heddle Loom  Group at Ravelry.  The tutorial is very easy to follow; now, to just get a bit better at my zippers!  Another friend send me an early birthday gift of 55 vintage, 5-7" zippers.

Now THAT'S a friend!!!!

http://www.jedicraftgirl.com/2013/06/my-favorite-zipper-p... 

The green pouch is approx. 4" tall, 5-6" wide, and 3" deep at the bottom.

The black/gray pouch is 5-6" tall, 7" wide, and 3" deep at the bottom.

The orange medallion on the green pouch (zipper pull) is a nickle with orange DMC floss crocheted into two circles, then slip stitched together over the nickle.  The black/gray has a split ring as a zipper pull.

The potential size of this kind of bag is only limited to your zipper size, as well as your imagination...

Amigurumi Dogs by Dear Daughter--2.5" tall

This is the first pug DD did.

This is a chocolate lab pup.

Seven in Seven

Here are all seven that I did in seven days.  It's time to stop and do some life....

but I can't wait to get back to weaving!

Here is scarf #7.  It is made from Red Heart Super Soft Waterscape (varigated). Same yarn for warp and weft.  A mindless, very pleasant weave.  Selvages were a dream!   It is very drapey and works well as a fashion scarf.  It is 6+ ft. not including fringe.

Love those selvages!

Feels almost silky----dd says it is a good width.  She asked that I name it  Camels at the Water Hole.

Goofy girl.

This is fulled wool, scarf #6.  I call it Peppermint Delight.  Warm and soft and just waiting

for the holidays!

Yarnbuster weaving momentum

 This is browns and beiges.  Slightly fulled (felted) and conditioned for a very soft touch.
I call it "Fizziwig's Ball."

This is gray, browns, and ivory.  It's my favorite because it is very thick (due to heavy fulling) and extremely soft.  I call it "Lincoln's Lament."

Here are my first four scarves on the rigid heddle loom.  I have them lined up in reverse order. ;)
The first one is on the far right....

Some on a weavnig group have lamented that they didn't take pics of stacks of their scarves before giving them away.  So I am ahead of the game.  I know I will keep one, but the rest........

Here is scarf #5; a varigated wool warp and an ivory weft.  

Here is the fulled scarf.  Nice drape and very warm and soft.  I call it "Raspberry Truffles."

Revving up my weaving engine...

 Scarf is finally dry; I've named it Summer Shadows.  It is 83" long!  Mercy!  At least it's not too short.  That's the chief complaint of new weavers.....

Here the scarf's drapeability is evident.  It is really soft due to being rinsed in hair conditioner.  Yee haw!
Gotta love the stuff.

My second attempt at a scarf.  "Stashbusting" is a weaving term and boy the old yarns are finally getting used!

This scarf is called "Awaiting Autumn."

Lots goin' on.....

 I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to borrow a small rigid heddle loom from a local yarn shop (LYS).  This is an Ashford Sample-It Loom (ASIL).  It can weave a 9" width.  This scarf ended up being only 5.5 inches.  I didn't use the complete width.  The heddle is a 7.5 epi, not my size of preference.  The experience was lovely, though.  I've never worked on a rigid heddle before.  The sound of the shuttle passing through the shed was sort of "shhhh, shhhhh, shhhhhh" like the sound of a breeze.  My wrists stood up to the test! Yahoo!
 It isn't shown here but it also sits on the edge of a table, slanted, very very comfortably in your lap.  No arm straining here!  I warped, weaved (I think that is right, not "wove"), and washed  this 7-foot scarf in TEN HOURS.  Though I love knitting, nothing can beat this for speed!
By the way, the yarn shop is Reverie Yarn Decor Gifts in Goshen, Indiana.  They can be reached at:
574-971-5129
info@reverieyarn.com
website: www.reverieyarn.com

As you can see, this is a very open weave.  Uniformity is paramount.  The crazy thing is that under high tension it appears that everything looks even.  Ha!  Not so in the real (off-the-loom) world.

Again, you can see through the weaving.  That didn't bother me very much because I know how much wool shrinks-----it's not called felting, it's called fulling if the fibers have been first knitted, crocheted, or woven-----and I hoped it would bloom as it should.

A view of the loom.

I really worked on my selvages.  I don't mind some draw in, I just despise ghastly, loopy edges on my work.

You can see how nicely the wool plumped up----called fulling.  A nice hot bath did this.  It is said wool and women are the same---neither likes to get too agitated or hot.   Hmmmmm.

 A view of the pattern.  Light taupe and ivory.  Easy color changes that made the project interesting instead of boring.

A weaving roll!  The fringe got a bit fulled; this is a handwoven garment so who cares?  Character is what it's all about.

I got this clock for $5 at a garage sale this morning.  The house that held the sale does it twice a year.  I commended them today and they said they were having it early because snow is predicted for September.
Mercy.

The clock fits right in.  I bought it because it has a gentle ticking sound.  I love clocks but since the H.A. don't like loud ones. :(

New knitting patterns

I used Kool-Aid to dye the top part of this ensemble.  It is "Bare Merino Sock Wool" from Knit Picks.
Lovely to work with!

Here is the finished ensemble, with shawl.

 Gran and Tiny, side by side.  Gran is 6.5" tall and Tiny is about 2".

DD thought that Tiny should have her own dog brigade because after all she is TINY and needs protecting!
Ha....spoken like a true 16 yr. old.

Crocheting for Tiny; Hitty Gran



new gal in the house and bravery

Here is a new Hitty for our home, made by Natalie Cooper.  She has a wooden braid wrapped around the back of her head.  She's a sweet yet sturdy gal and is ready to join the other wooden dolls!

Bravery comes in all sizes and circumstances.  These booties are an old pattern and I gave them to an older friend who found she was expecting----and within a week of getting these she lost the pregnancy.

knitted cat and dream-weavin'

This is a piece of 24 epi weaving I did with 8/2 cotton.  It is the only piece I have; the other pieces were dishtowels that I gave as gifts.

 I sold the table loom for various reasons.  I miss weaving like nobody's business!  I even weave in my head.

 There is something about the feeling of solid, cotton handwoven fabric.  I like weaving more than I can say. I hope to be able to duplicate the process with a rigid heddle loom (two heddles) someday...

Here is the finished cat, next to an amazing likeness in a book. :)  She is a gift to a friend who loves the book!