St. Paddy's Day Hat & More

Knitty Gritty Knits Book

I've been crafting up a storm so I thought I better take a breather and catch you guys up. I was making a triangle hat from the Knitty Gritty knitting book, and before I even had that one completely done, I thought it would be sweet to have a hat like that, only in shades of green, for St. Paddy's Day.

My first triangle hat work-in-progress

So I began making the 26 triangles for a green version. I finished the last triangle at about 2 AM. So far so good.

Making a chicken coop out of used pallets.

We are also in the middle of building a chicken coop that's taken the better part of the last 3 days. I'll write more about that in my Country Living blog. My hands are so sore from pulling out nails and staples so we can use re-purposed pallet wood. It's a challenge for sure. The chickens were supposed to be delivered yesterday but the man got sick so no chickens until next Monday.  But that's okay, because the coop isn't nearly done yet.

Last night I was going to do beadwork, but by the time I got everything laid out and finished helping with the coop, the sun was going down. And it's windy today so if I do beadwork, I'll have to find somewhere inside to do it. Either inside the container or inside the house. But I have so many dishes to do before company comes, that I may not get to that either. So much to do, so little free time.

Happy St. Patrick's Day.

Knitting in green for St. Patrick's Day

Angel Painting

For Mother's Day Guy wanted to make a special dinner for his mom, so we took the rotisserie over to her house. Two hours later we were all enjoying asparagus, chicken, and corn on the cob.  I made chocolate covered strawberries for dessert.

Here she is with an angel painting I gave to her for Mother's Day.

Chicken and Bee Cross Stitch

In the last two days I've been working on some cross-stitch. I just finished a chicken and a bee and started on a cow design. It's like the slowest craft in the world. A person would starve doing cross-stitch for a living.
I'm using dark green cross-stitch fabric. I want to inset it into a wooden box or something.

Creative Weekend

David watching Guy make a longbow.

Kat doing some card weaving.
I wish I had a close up shot because it was really incredible.

Me in front of the new Greenman banner.

Sal showing Susan how to make a bow.

Guy reading one of the used books he got at the event.

This was a creative weekend.  Saturday I was at an SCA event in La Crescenta, CA.  We proudly hung the Greenman Banner from our canopy.

I started working on a narrow red and pink knitted scarf. My friend Carol worked on her knitting as well. I just realized we were both making scarves.

I ran into Kat who was weaving some amazing trim. I think it was card weaving.

Guy brought 2 bow shaving benches and he and Jim worked on new longbows.

Then on Sunday we went to the Paleoplanet gathering. It started out slow but by the afternoon there were about 25 people there. I worked on my new Junk Journal and started a cross-stitch chicken on a dark green background.

Aimee was there working on some feather earrings and then on some beadwork on her leather archery glove. Sal was helping a new woman work on a board bow. I think her name was Susie. Alex brought his new bride and his boys.

Then after that we went over to see my boyfriend's mom. She had wanted to review her balloon animals. She used to be a clown for the Rotary Club years ago. So we got a good laugh out of trying to make balloon poodles, dogs, giraffes, swans and other mutant things.

I'll have some photos tomorrow. I'm too tired to start editing photos tonight.

Three Projects

Jumbo circular needles

Bowyer's Bench

When I had breaks today from working on this bowyer's bench, I worked on my chicken hat I'm crocheting and a shrug I am knitting. No time to get bored around here, that's for sure. I was mostly doing the photos and helping balance wood while sawing. Plus we went to the hardware store for a drill bit, some finish for the bench and other necessities. We grabbed a quick lunch at a hot dog place and then it was back to work.

I think my marigolds are sprouting. I like to work on projects outside on the patio if the neighbor's aren't being too noisy. Then I can watch the sparrows eat and look for hummingbirds.

Some of the reeds I used for the atlatl darts were too skimpy, but if I tie 3 of them together it makes a decent support for the tomatoes. Scrap lumber I use to prop things up in the garden. I try not to waste anything.

Knitted shrug

My first chicken hat

Crochet Chicken Hat

I'm working on a chicken hat. If you look at the photo you can see my idea sketch in the background. It's crocheted in Red Heart acrylic yarn. If this turns out I'll try other color schemes. What is your favorite color of chicken? I seem to be on a barnyard theme what with the bacon, eggs, and chickens. And I should really make some more amigurumi pigs too. I'd like to try a paler pink than the last one, and maybe a smaller hook.

Chickens, Ducks and Quivers

I have so many new ideas swimming in my head I don't know where to start. I have days like that sometimes so I keep a handy sketchbook or scrap paper near by. My writing teacher once said, "Ideas are like ducks. If you don't shoot them down when they fly overhead you'll never see them again."
Anyway I had an idea for a chicken hat. It would look like it's sitting on an egg, only the egg is your head. And it's long legs would dangle down to you shoulders. It would be knitted or crocheted.
But I haven't even finished the rubber chicken I was crocheting. I definitely have way more ideas than time.

I'd also like to make some quivers. I was thinking leather but my boyfriend is trying to push me in the direction of basket quivers. But my motivation isn't running in that direction. So now if I start a leather quiver he'll think I don't value his input. It's not easy to steer an artist, but he keeps trying. I have almost zero experience with basketry. I have more with leather, but he doesn't know that. I did the leatherwork before I met him. It's tiresome trying to prove myself to others.

Anyway, I have to run to the store so I can't work on crafts at the moment. Later today I hope I can get something done.

Folk Art Chicken

::Does the chicken dance:: I sold my folk art chicken that was up on Ebay to a guy in NY. Yay! Instant pay too. I'm so happy. My first sale in quite a while. And I had zippo in my Paypal.

I've been into chickens and roosters lately. I just did one on a cross-stitch yesterday. It's going to have a bunch of different farm animals. So far it also has a piggy, and 2 rabbits. I hate to admit I have a corny side that I probably inherited from my distant relatives that lived in Arkansas. I tried to repress it during my art college years, but it still pokes out from time to time. Mostly because things like that remind me of my mother. She was a country girl at heart.

Folk Art Chicken

I haven't listed anything on Ebay in a very long time (maybe 2 years) but decided it would be good to keep my Ebay account up to date. So here is one of my folk art chickens that I listed yesterday. I kept the price low so everyone has a crack at it. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220368142061 Thanks for looking. It's acrylic on repurposed wood. Bock.

Wooden Eggs

Of all the eggs I've painted this one is definitely in my top 10 favorites.