Wasting Time Again

Mittens are a NECESSITY in Minnesota.  So, when I saw this trendy idea last weekend, I got the bug to try it.  (Like I need another project right now.)  I saw these in three (3!) boutiques in one day.  What was I doing at 3 boutiques in one day, you ask?  Enjoying the day running around with friends when I should've been working on projects for my boutique.  Oh well. Sharing time with friends is so important.

Back to the mittens.  I saw barrels full of recycled sweater mittens lined with flannel.  Fabulous and comfortable and warm.   Perfect for the snow I know is coming our way soon.  They couldn't be that hard to make, could they?

I found a pattern somewhere on line (can't remember where) and got up bright and early this morning ready to try it on some scrap fabric.  I had to tweak the pattern a few times to feel comfortable trying it for real. 

Goodwill stores and thrift shops have old wool sweaters just perfect for this project.  These were all close to 100% wool.

After washing them in hot water and drying on high heat, they did shrink up.  I decided to use the red sweater first, as it seemed to be the tightest felted wool.  Seems a shame to cut up a pretty sweater, but I wouldn't wear it anyway.  And it was only $5 bucks.  Awesome.

So, by noon I was sewing mittens, realizing I'm only getting one pair of mittens out of this sweater.  And by 1 o'clock I was cleaning my sewing machine of lint.  By 1:30 I was fighting with the messed up tension on my sewing machine. 

%$@#@%#@$%^&*$%^#!!!! 

I started panicking, wondering where I could take my machine to have it cleaned and tuned up and back within a week to sew more boutique items.  Yikes! 

By about 3:00, I had the tension corrected and everything was under control. Ugh.  Wasted time experimenting and fixing - again! I seem to do more of this than I'd like to admit.  BUT, I accomplished my task and completed a pair of mittens.  Hands will NOT get cold in these babies.  Not my neatest work, and not exactly the right size, but they will be warm.  

I love the mittens, and I love the fact that they are recycled.  The pattern is simple, but sewing on this thick wool is a bugger, and the pattern still needs a little tweaking.  I believe I will reconsider making an abundance of these for the boutique, and just make a few pairs with the sweaters I have.  Darn!  It was a good thought, but now I've wasted a day on a whim. I'm disappointed.  But whoever ends up wearing these will definitely not have cold hands :)

Happy Halloween!

Too fun!

(glad it's the neighbor's to take down and put away!) 

Happy Haunting . . . Muahahahahaha. . . .



Celtic Tatting

. . . or Celtic Comedy? 

Michelle, her daughter and I met to tat yesterday, and we decided to work on the Tatted Celtic Knot Pumpkin.  Michelle has done some celtic tatting before - I have never tried it.  Looked waaaaay too hard.  But looking at this little pumpkin pattern, my gosh!  It's just a long chain with a little weaving.  How hard could that be?  I believe the words "whiz right through it" were mentioned :)

So, we got our orange and green threads all picked out and proceeded to tat that stem and long chain.  First, we found that the pattern for the stem is a little wonky.  Not hard to fix - it's just a clover.  I made my chain extra long, anticipating it would be easier to weave into that celtic knot.  And we spent a couple of hours TRYING to weave the dang pumpkin.  Michelle's daughter gave up after awhile and went back to her original tatting project.  I'm sure she thought her mom and I were crazy - both chattering away trying to figure out this 1.5 inch diameter knot.  Ha!  We left, deciding to study this knot more at home. 

It drove me bonkers.  Once I got home, I had to figure it out.  I watched some videos on the internet about celtic weaving, and realized that there really isn't "a way" to do it - you just have to weave whatever pattern you are working on.  Ugh. That didn't help.  So I looked at the pattern again, and did it with some larger cord.  Voila!

I think this is it!

Back to the pumpkin.  Originally, I was trying to hold the center ring of the knot at the stem where it should end up.  After using the cord, I realized that you have to weave both ends of your piece around, ending up back at the top center.  Which means that the stem end needs to be woven too - not held in place.  That changed everything.  Besides, the pattern directions state that the "green clover will weave through the knot with some care."  Duh.  It doesn't say hold the green clover in place and try to weave around it.

I am a very visual learner, so I took pictures of each step.  Mostly so I can do it again - but also to show anyone else interested in celtic tatting.  It isn't what I thought - but now I don't even know what I thought it was!

A Celtic Comedy.

I think I've got it now!  I wonder if I can make another one?



Orange Snowflakes

Weird, I know.  I had to try out this pattern - and orange just jumped out at me for a first draft.  All the Halloween talk and all :)

This is the Angels in the Snow pattern by Miranda (Tatting Fool) that I won on Lily's blog (The Eye Candy for Crafters) a couple of weeks ago. (Woo Hoo!)  I really liked the look of this pattern, and it tatted up very nicely.  I cringed a little bit when I realized it was SCMRs, but once I got started I realized what a great pattern this is to practice those buggers.  Now that I've tatted my practice snowflake, I can make a nice one in white.  Maybe even with beads :)  This is a wonderful pattern that I will make again - written nicely and easy to follow.  Thanks to Lily for the giveaway, and to Miranda for the pattern!

Some SCMR instructions can be found here: 

pdf by Jane Eborall
Video by Frivole

This is all the tatting I've managed to accomplish lately.  But I have oh, so many patterns on my list . . .

Home-Ecky Becky

Yep.  I was recently dubbed Home-Ecky Becky.  With good reason, I guess :) 

I've only managed to eek out just this little bit of tatting.  Another "Flowers" bookmark from the Tatted Bookmarks book from Handy Hands. - one that I've tatted many times to keep on hand.

And it's still not finished - due to my Home-Eckiness. 

I've been trying to make items for a brunch-boutique my mom and I are planning for friends & family.  We'll have brunch and handmade items for sale, so I've been trying to come up with a few things I can make. 

I've made a few types of jam/jelly:

Am forever playing with photo programs and creating cards:



And have sewn a few towel-toppers.  Still finishing these:



Mom has been working on table toppers, aprons and bags.  I still have many things I want to do, but sometimes I just can't do it after work - my eyes will not cooperate.  (Or maybe it's my brain?)  Or maybe it's the visits from out-of-town friends, a wedding, an office move, and the usual laundry, cooking and cleaning that is slowing me down.   OK, maybe not the cleaning part so much . . .

And we stopped everything yesterday to go out for our 28th Wedding Anniversary dinner. Wow.  Doesn't seem like 28 years since that exciting day.  And we even still like eachother!

Back to my Home-Eckiness now.  Lasagna roll-ups for the whole gang this evening.