July Spin-In

Hello, one and all! Last Friday, Mary T. hosted a July Spin-In! Who came? Me, Mary, and Sherrie E. Though the count was small, we all got a lot done and had quite a joyful time as we worked on our various projects. And Sherrie was kind enough to bring some scrumptuous hot applesauce with cream. Mmmmmmm...... Below are some pics.

This is Sherrie carding out some yellow wool for needle felting.

The end result was a pile of little fluffs of yellow that reminded us of baby chicks!

This is Mary T. showing off a pair of beautiful handspun, handknit socks she recently finished.

This is a shot of Mary's buttery colored Falkland (in the foreground) and the fun red and purple Rameldale that I'm spinning (in the background).

Coming up next weekend is the "Would you like to be a pioneer?" workshop as well as Jazz in the Valley. Mary and Wendy have been asked to spin down at the pioneer workshop. I was going to go as well, but with family coming, I'll only be visiting. But I shall take pictures!

So It's 105 Degrees Out...

And I'm still knitting and spinning! LOL! Despite the heat, my thoughts are always on the winter and what I can create to keep me and the people I care about warm. This weekend I had the lovely privaledge to spin with Mary T. and Jenelle. Mary is working hard to finish some Falkland wool in a beautiful natural cream color while Jenelle was trying her hand with Firestar, Merino, and Mohair. The result is a fun and slubby boucle that I am excited to see knit up! I worked on the rest of the merino I used to create the little tea cozy. Also, I've been working at making a pattern for the tea cozy and will soon have it up here for sale. I will have more information soon. If you think you might like one, please post a comment or email me at laruecraft@yahoo.com so I can get a feel of how many to print up. :)

Other things I did this weekend was knit a pair of baby booties. I don't know who for or why, but the pattern was just too cute to let slide by without trying. So here are the specs:

NAME: T-Strap Booties

SOURCE: KnitSimple, Spring/Summer 2007 issue

YARN: Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino (left over yarn from the Bazaar Socks I made awhile ago)

NEEDLES: Size 6 circulars and a G/6 crochet hook

Another project I finished this weekend is a felted backpack. I started it in December or January and knitted it all up, but kept forgetting about it when I was over at Mary's. I have a front load washer, which doesn't allow the option of felting. So finally this weekend I managed to remember it and got the pieces felted and all sewn together. Take a look.

NAME: Checks & Spirals Backpack

SOURCE: Felt It! by Maggie Pace

YARN: Philosopher's Wool and Cascade 220

NEEDLES: #11 26" circulars and #11 double points for the I-Cord

I also finished a pair of socks that I started about three months ago and went to the farmer's market and got some beautful Sweet Peas, Larkspur, and Daisies to pretty up my dining room table. And I spoke with my dearest Matthew on the phone for a very long time and enjoyed every second of it! (Picture me smiling big and blushing!!!) And I played a significant amount of Doom 3. There is some satisfaction in blasting demons away. LOL! Even if only in a video game! :)

Making Do

One of the greatest things about living on a limited budget is the ability to make do with what you have or what you can get for a $1 or less. It's a farmgirl trait that, although I've never been a farmgirl and only a borderline country chic, I have been happily blessed with. This weekend, after the joy of ridding myself of years of items that have been given to me or I've splurged on only to discover that I truly had no use for them, I took a look at what I do own and what I can do to make it different. I had purchased 7 yards of green ticking (for $3.99) to make a slipcover for my couch, but since I scored a free slipcover, I no longer needed that. But what every couch does need is a host of pillows to accomodate any kind of relaxation. So, using the green ticking and an old pillow and some left over buttons from a previous project I made a pillow. Then, I realized I had yards and yards of twill tape and a drawer full of Stampin Up stuff. So here's the result. I have two other pillows that I will be making knitted covers for. I haven't decided if I will be designing the covers myself or using a pattern.

My other project this weekend involved the yarn I finished to create my tea cozy. And I also completed the tea cozy itself. I used size four double points to create the main body of the cozy and the little flower on top. The bottom I created using a size G crochet hook and portions of a very old pattern I found while I was cleaning out the garage for the yard sale.

Yard Sale Saturday!

Today Mary, me, and several others had a lovely yard sale! I made out well and found homes for several knick knacks and other items so I wouldn't have to haul them down to the local Goodwill. And I scored a slipcover for my love seat for free! It's creamy rose patterned brocade and fits my couch perfectly! Now I won't have to make a slipcover for it! YEAH! Also, I bought a nifty Starbucks Co. bag that will tote around my knitting quite nicely. And a great book by Winston Churchill regarding the Revolution. I'm anxious to start reading it!

Also, I finished the alpaca doily that I started last week. It was so fun to knit and I realized that I enjoy knitting things for my home. I spend a lot of time knitting things to wear and don't think of all the awesome things I could be knitting for my home. So now I have plans to knit some pillow covers to go on my couch as well as a few more doilies to pretty up some of my tables and such. Oh, and the pictures are of my brother, Ben, on the left and my dad's wedding on the right, though you can only see me and my brother and part of Doreen, my stepmom.