Finshed Project: Jayne Hat

I finished the Jayne hat. The last part of the top is done by the drawstring method, cinched up tight and then the pompom is added. By doing that, the hat was suddenly a lot smaller. Too small for either of us. Boo. So back to the drawing board. The crown wasn't deep enough and he thought the side bits that hang down weren't long enough. So I need to make another one and add about 6 more rows to the depth of the crown, and about 4 more rows to each side piece. I'll sell the other one on Etsy.  It will fit a person with a smaller head, maybe a woman or a teenager. Yep, yep. That's the way it goes sometimes. My stitches must be slightly smaller than the woman that designed the pattern. Either that or she likes hats that perch on your head more than ones that cover it a lot more.

In the meantime I'm still working on my wool shawl of many colors. I was unpacking today and found 4 or 5 new colors to add. I'm happy about that. My cat grabbed a skein of wool and ran off with it but I caught him in time. Little robber.

Knitting Right Along

I hope your holidays were happy ones.

I'm working on the ear flaps of the Jayne hat. I expect to have the whole hat finished tonight. I could have finished last night, but I wanted to work on my knitted shawl as well. I seem to be in knitting mode lately. But at night my fingers get so cold, unless I sit right in front of the wood stove. But then it's too dark to knit. I can't wait until our living room is unpacked and put together. Then the lighting will no doubt be better and we'll have furniture again. We do have an overhead living room light, but with just the two of us we rarely turn it on.

We've been pet sitting. We just aren't sure when the owners are coming home so I guess we'll just keep going until we see a truck in the driveway or they call and say they are home. It's fun though. It's like having a petting zoo.

Guy Feeding Dancer

Dinner Time

Three Red Chickens

A cottontail in our yard.

Missing Knitting Needles

I had a bit of a knitting crisis last night when the $30 worth of knitting needles weren't in the bag when I got home. Egads!  So we both looked in the truck. No luck. Michael's was already closed but I figured the checker had put them in a second bag that was stuck by the register. So I had to wait until morning to call them. Well, they couldn't find them either and they said there was nothing they could do.

So I looked in the truck again, this time in daylight. The bag was behind the driver's seat. So I leaned in and spotted a Michael's reciept on the other side of the seat by the passenger window. How did it get way over there? So I went to that side and poked around. I found 2 of the needles that had slid out of the bag, all the way under the passenger side seat. I still couldn't find the third set but I went ahead and called Michael's and told them they could stop looking for them.

Then I went back out and open the driver's side door and spotted the missing set tucked up against the right passenger seat between the seats. Whew! Strange drama.

So I'm making speedy progress on knitting the Jayne hat. I just finished the orange bit and I'm working on 12 gold rows.

Jayne Hat Beginning

I'm busy knitting the first Jayne hat. The pattern requires you to use two strands, one pulled from the end and one pulled from the middle of the skein. Right now I just have a big tangled mess. So in the future, I'm just going to wind two balls and hold the two strands together.

Starting a Shawl

I enjoyed a day with friends in my old neighborhood. We got home, fed some horses, picked up the poinsettia our cat had knocked off a high shelf and had a quick dinner of sliced ham and mac and cheese. Somewhere in all that I went to the Michael's in Victorville and raided their yarn sale. Unfortunately the yarn needles weren't on sale.  Seriously, $30 for knitting needles? I'm going to go through my crafts bin yet again and make sure I don't have those sizes, and if I do I'm taking the ones I bought back for a refund. But they are circular knitting needles and the only ones that were the size I needed were the expensive Clover brand.

I got more yarn for the Jayne hats and more yarn for the shawl I started last night. I got some white wool in the hopes that I can dye my own yarn for some of the shawl colors. The shawl will have over 30 colors, and I don't want to buy 30 skeins of yarn, so I'm going to try dyeing some of it. I rarely buy wool yarn so I can't raid my stash for all the colors I need. I worked on the shawl all the way to Fullerton and at my friend's house as well. I'd like to work on it some more tonight if I can get over the drowsies. It took Blogger so long to load on our dial-up connection, that I dozed off half a dozen times before it opened. If I'd stop buying craft supplies I could afford the $50 a month that getting a satellite connection would cost me. I must increase my income!

DIY Christmas Ornament and Knitting Projects

Hello my snowflakes,

Sometimes the motivating factor in finishing a knitting project is that I want to use the needles for another project. So here I am finishing a pair of seafoam green baby booties in Woolease yarn. In storage I found my Kaffee Fasset book.  I knew I owned that book!  But I've checked it out 2 or 3 times because I couldn't find my copy. I didn't know it had been in storage for 15 years.  So I want to make a shawl that's in it that I attempted before and never finished.

I also made a Christmas ornament since I haven't found my box of Christmas decorations.  So this is my token ornament. That and a neighbor gave us a beautiful poinsettia for taking care of her cats while she's on vacation.

When I took some stuff out of storage I found some glittery chenille stems and a styrofoam ball, so I made this ball today. It took about a hour. Things went a lot faster with a decent pair of wire cutters.
It always comes down to having the right tools for the job, doesn't it!

Happy holiday crafting.

Snowy Day

We went to Apple Valley today and I got to work on my knitted blue scarf. It's about five feet long now.

No sooner than we got the groceries into the house, it started to rain again.  An hour later the rain had turned to hail. Then right before dusk, it started to snow. My first snow at my new house! I watched it until it got dark out. I wonder if the ground will be white in the morning. We'll see.

I finally live somewhere that is cold enough to wear the sweater I knitted. It's the yellow one in the photo. It's mostly been in a drawer. My boyfriend didn't even remember me making it. Out of sight, out of mind I guess.


Hail in the yard.

Cold morning.



Yesterday morning was foggy and beautiful.

Purple star pin

This is the last thing I finished. They run about $25 plus tax and shipping if you'd like to request a custom order. This one will be a Christmas gift. Hope she doesn't read my blog.

Tadpole Knitting Loom

It stormed again last night and this morning the peak behind us had a lower snowline than yesterday. Just a matter of time before our yard has snow I bet! I did some beadwork outdoors until my fingers were popsicles, then I came in and built a fire. Once I thaw out I'm going to work on my new Tadpole knitting loom. I started a purple scarf on it. It was a good choice for the long car ride to Monrovia and back.

I'm almost done with the baby booties I made on the Tadpole as well. Time to throw another log on the fire. It's going to be a cold night.

Rainy Day and Snowy Night

I woke up this morning to the sound of rain against my window. The hills around us are dusted with snow. It was a wet day. Too cold to work in the studio so I brought my beads in the house. I finished a new freeform star beaded pin.

We had homemade chicken noodle soup last night and tonight. I'm going to need some warmer clothes. I hope I can whip some up as soon as I get my sewing machine area organized. But I have a feeling I'll just buy a couple of long sleeved flannel shirts before it gets much colder out. I'm not used to having to wear a sweatshirt indoors. Our little wood stove is doing the best it can but it's still cold in here. I need to dig my fingerless gloves out to wear when I'm typing.

On Tuesday we got to go to Anaheim. I visited M&L fabric and got some more stretchy fabric for the steampunk headbands I am working on. I also got to go to Micheal's and replenish my bead inventory. I just missed M&L's 20% off sale by one day. I didn't know I was even going to be near that store or I would have paid more attention.

I wanted to pre-wash all the fabric today that I got at M&L but we no longer have a dryer. And I can't hang the clothes on the clothesline in the rain and wind. Not having a dryer in our new place was my boyfriend's idea, not mine. Now I have to fit my laundry into a narrow window; early in the morning on a warm and sunny day. Rather hard to come by in the winter.



Misty Hills

If you want me to make a reserved listing for any pin or any of my artwork for that matter, let me know.



Bluebeaded felt pin.



Chilly out.

Almost done with this one.



Freeform Star Pin

Tiger eye pin

Misty hills

Beaders Need Pizza

Today was another day of beading, wrapping Christmas gifts and overall creativity.
But the most creative part was the pizza I made for dinner. I made the dough in my bread machine, and added dried oregano and parmesan cheese to the dough before it was turned on. I saved half the dough for tomorrow.

For toppings, my half had orange pear tomatoes, olives, mushrooms, red onions, garlic, and thinly sliced salami.

My boyfriend wanted anchovies on his on top of everything else.  For cheese I used cheddar and more parmesan. Bon apetite.

Crafting Insomnia

Yesterday I got to finish the 2nd baby bootie on the new knitting loom. I still have to sew all the parts together. Each booty is composed of 2 pieces; the foot part and the cuff.

My boyfriend was working on some air brushed arrow shafts that now look amazing. I can't wait to see what he does with the cresting.

I spent an hour on Friday organizing an old suitcase with beads in it. I'm glad to get those beads back into circulation. Even craft supplies have a shelf life. I feel like I'll never be done with organizing and unpacking. It's like the neverending story.

Anyways, it's 2 AM and it's cold in here so I think I'll crawl back into a nice warm bed.

Knitting Loom Baby Booties

Hello my little snowflakes,

Yesterday I finally got to go to Joann's for some much needed supplies.  I got some super soft stretchy fabric for headbands. When I saw the stretch velour I wanted was $12.99 a yard, it looked like I was only going to be able to get 1/4 yard. Then I saw some fancier stretch velour on sale for half price! So I went ahead and got 2 colors and was able to splurge for a yard.

And then I finally got the small wooden knitting loom I've wanted for about 3 years for 25% off. I already made one baby bootie on it. The last baby booties were too small for Darla so I'll make a new super stretchy double knitted set on the loom. It even came with a booklet with a pattern for baby booties.

Here are some projects from the past.


Fairy Pinecone and Turtle Diorama




Crocheted scarf I designed.




Pink elephant cloud.



Beaded Felt Heart Pins

I'm at the library trying to fit a week's worth of Internet work into the 3 hours a day the library allows per person. In other words, I get to come here 2 days a week (if I'm lucky) so I have 6 hours worth of computer time, which may seem like a lot to some people, but considering I usually use the Internet 8 hours a day; 6 hours a week isn't much at all. And if there are no computers available at the time, I won't even get that.

So I got two beaded felt hearts listed on Etsy. I got them both done in about 30 minutes at the library, unlike the hour and a half it took me to do one listing yesterday with my home dial-up connection. The library only allows computer time in one hour increments, then if no one is waiting it gives you 15 minutes more at a time. Ugh.  Right now every computer I can see if full. And this one kicks me off in 10 minutes. So I better stop typing and post photos.

Beaded heart with fresh water pearls and gray French knots.

I finished the top heart today and the bottom one a few weeks ago. Both are for sale in my Hypnotic Etsy shop.

Tiles I found in my yard that I'm saving for a mosaic project.

Knit Scarf in Checkerboard Texture

Busy day today. I got my knit scarf posted on Etsy. It only took an hour and a half to list it with my dial-up connection! Kill me now!

Then I went out and worked on some hair ornaments for belly dancing. They are so pretty. I'm going to sew the beaded part onto stretch velour to make them super easy to wear. Velour will hug onto you. I just love it for luxurious head bands.

Thanks to my commentors. Please forgive me for not responding. It's so hard to open  pages with my sucky connection.  Perhaps when I get to use the DSL at the library, I'll be able to find the comments and respond to each of you. Believe me I never would have agreed to live here if I knew I wouldn't have DSL.

Knitted scarf

Pink elephant cloud

Last night's sunset.

Jayne Hat and Santa Gourd

Two people have been begging me for Jayne hats like in the movie Firefly so I'll be on the look-out for yarn to make those. In the meantime I have plenty of other projects to work on, both knitting and other stuff.

But first I need to finish Nanowrimo or the National Novel Writer's Month.  I'm almost done one way or the other because the contest ends on Nov. 30, 2012. Right now I'm at the library typing like a fiend trying to finish everything I can't do on my dial-up connection at home. It's amazing how many sites I have to change my address on, like for my resale number, for Amazon, for Hubpages, for Google Adsense and so on and so forth.

Then I'm going to the tourist shop called Two Little Indians to buy some beads I had my eye on from last week.

My new art studio is shaping up. I need more lighting in there. I only have one desk lamp now and after it got dark last night I could barely see my dark blue knitting stitches. That's an easy fix though.

Me at Medieval Marketplace in LaVerne CA on Saturday.

Santa is still looking for a new home.

Tricolor Knit Scarf

Hello my lovies,
With a major holiday behind me and another looming ahead, I spent the day knitting a tricolor fashion scarf to offer for sale eventually (hopefully before Christmas). Then I need to start a commission of a baby cocoon for a photographer. As soon as she sends me the yarn I'll begin work on that.

Here is a sneak preview of the scarf. I'm happy to have all new backgrounds for my photos.

I just have to sew in the ends and add fringe and this one will be done.

 I got the vintage hummingbird feeder from the old house mounted onto a fence post so I could enjoy the hummingbirds while working in my new backyard studio.

A blacksmith gave me a pony skull. You know how artists always need skulls around for drawing practice.  But it looks pretty cool hanging there and it's my tribute to the goddess Eponia.

Baby Booties

Last night I was bored out of my mind so I started sorting a huge pile of knitting needles that we inherited from Guy's grandmother. None of them are matched.  I needed to find some that would work for baby booties.  An hour later I found the sizes I needed and paired them up so I was able to get on with the knitting. About 11 PM I called it quits.  I got a little more done today. I cast on two booties on one needle so when I'm done I'll have a pair. In the past I've made one booty and never gotten around to making the next one, so that should solve that problem.

Santa Gourd is Coming to Town

I finished my Santa gourd yesterday and wrote a brief tutorial here: http://whenallelsefailspaint.blogspot.com/2012/11/gourd-santa.html I also listed it him my Etsy shop since Christmas is just around the corner. I always think I will make a whole bunch of them but there is never enough time.

Crafting Makes Me Happy

I've never lived anywhere before that you could get a good view 360 degrees around.

Not all crafts have to be complicated. This 'bowl' was a leftover from a gourd drum.  I just drilled 3 holes, tied twine to it, and instant bird feeder. The little guys love it too.

Faux ivy

Remember the bread dough roses I made the other day? Here they are on a photo frame.

This little guy is dominating the entire feeder.

It's been a busy few days. I made a bird feeder, finished a photo frame, worked on a beaded heart, practiced my photography, and made some faux ivy with glue and cardboard.  It's nice to be back to crafting after our big move.

Photos From My New Life

Saturday morning self portrait

 Since I have dial-up at home I haven't been able to share many photos. My computer won't open Blogger most of the time, much less stay connected well enough for me to post photos.  Right now I'm at the library  learning to use a remote flashdrive. Pretty nifty.

Over the weekend we had a severe windstorm which lifted up a corner of the roofing material. So they are supposed to come out today and fix it before the next windstorm.  Guy climbed on the truck and put firewood on the corner of the roof to hold it down.  It is calm now so hopefully they'll get it fixed today.

Guy splitting wood.



Wallop enjoying a rare moment outside.



Fayme and Guy




Splendid skyline



Picturesque Woodpile



Bread Dough Roses

Last night I worked on the bread dough roses.  First I tried generic white glue and a bits of white bread.  That was a disaster. The concoction looked like pink Spackle and I never could get it to smooth out. I tossed that batch and started over. This time I followed the directions and used the Aleene's Tacky Glue...1 Tbsp. to 1 slice of white bread without crust.  Then I colored it pink with a little acrylic paint. I only had about 1 Tbsp. of the glue in a tiny bottle so I only made the one batch. I'm sure to get better with practice but it was pretty time consuming so I think I'll just use Sculpey next time.  After I made all the roses and leaves I could with that batch I re-read the directions and each petal was supposed to be as thin as a piece of paper.  Mine were much thicker  so try try again. At least I got it to work.
I decided it would be easier to paint the leaves green after everything dries. 

Winter is On the Horizon

Today while unpacking and organizing stuff, I found some wooden snowflakes I can paint up for Christmas ornaments.  I'm thinking maybe some opalescent glitter.  This will be my first Christmas/Yule at the new house.

I also found some granny squares that I need to join together for a lap throw. I never needed one before but it's so chilly even with the wood stove burning.  We had snow on the nearby hills the other morning.

We had a 2 day windstorm with gusts up to 50 mph and some of my jewelry gourds and bigger gourds blew all over the place. Finding them all is like a weird version of an Easter egg hunt. Maybe some of them will go to seed and I'll have gourds next spring.  That would be nice.

We assembled the wood shelves that used to be in our garage and set them up between the two containers to make a nice work and classroom area. I hope to have some gourd craft classes soon. We are going to put shade cloth as a roof between the two containers.

We have a clothesline now which will come in very handy for dyeing things and hanging them up to dry. I hope to plant a dyers garden this spring. I'm happy to read that you can use eucalyptus leaves and bark for dyeing and I have two of the trees in my yard, each a different variety. So as soon as we get unpacked I want to start dyeing roving and yarn and silk. Fun, fun, fun.

Bread Dough Roses and Sweat Pants

I haven't been able to get blogger to open with my dial-up connection in a few days. So I'm crossing my fingers that this goes through.

Someone gave me some books of old Aleene's craft projects and I'm fascinated with their bread dough flowers, so I got some white bread and glue and I'll let you know how it turns out. Even though this book was from the 80's, they were way ahead with the upcycling of items that would normally be discarded, yet could be reused in crafts.  Things like cardboard, margarine tubs, soda cans, glue tops, brown paper bags and tissue boxes can all be put to a new use. It's amazing what you can make with some cardboard, some glue, and some paint.

Meanwhile, we've had to deal with severe winds and cold temps.  There was snow on the hill behind us this morning, and a biting wind blew all day. I had to go to Target for some sweat pants and I haven't worn sweat pants since gym in high school in the '70's I think. Of course now I'm looking for some way to fancy them up,because sweat pants are truly boring.  One of those ubiquitous clothing items that hardly scream 'runway model.'

And yesterday I saw a beautiful rainbow. It was so broad, I couldn't get it all in in one photo.  I sure wish I knew how the panoramic feature on my camera worked. I'll have to find out.

I've been busy with National Novel Writing Month (Nanowrimo).
And I'm still knitting the yellow scarf that I've named Buttered Popcorn.
Hope you are all well. I'll post again when the Internet cooperates or Verizon figures out how to get us hooked up to DSL.