Flower Bracelet

Hello again.

I got nuthin' fer ya. Exceptin' this purdy bracelet that one of the kid's friends made after school last week.

 A nice mixture of braiding some greens

 And intertwining flowers in it.

 Yes, 'tis nice indeed.

The weather has turned to lovely here. Sunny, warm, clear. The kids have actually played outside for more than one day. 2 huge boxes from a neighbour's new patio furniture helped a lot. It is calling for the possibility of rain and the kids keep asking if their boxes will dry out. We'll see.

Hope you're enjoying some good weather too!

Cheers,
Amanda

a bit of looming...

Howdy! 

You're still coming back? thanks. Sorry it's only once a week and not much crafting going on. I'm still de-cluttering. Here a good tip: If you bring a box of donation to Goodwill, don't go in the store and bring more stuff home!!

But how could I pass up this baby!?

 A fashion weaving loom at that.

 Love the comb. I also made a shuttle you can see in the 1st picture. It came with a long plastic needle, but how do you have a ton of yarn behind that every time you pass it through without getting it all tangled? Neve is loving it. She may only do 2 lines at a time, but she goes to it a few times a day.

 Here's a question for you gardeners...
What are the spiderwebby things on these plants? Is it indeed some kind of web or egg covering thing? Sorry, my gardening language is not very elaborate. Your knowledge is most appreciated.

That's it for now.
Thanks for looking,
Amanda

Yarn Along

WOW! It's been only a week since I last posted, but my blogger dashboard does not look the same. Has it changed I am unaware of it? Or is it just one of those days? I seem to be figuring it out. But whoa. 

Anyhow, the pictures are all backwards for the way I imagined to compose this post. So I'll start at the end.

I'm playing along with Ginny over at Small Things for this weeks Yarn Along.

here are the books that are getting my interest this week. Stitched Whimsy and Super Cute Felt. I'm enjoying the eye candy and wishing I would just get out the felt, thread and needles to do a little late night stitching. Lovely things in those. I'm also catching glimpses of the East Coast magazine my mom sent DH for his birthday. It's from the East coast of Canada, featuring articles from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island. Places close to my heart.

And now for the knitting.. Finally, my self striping sock. This is a merino with a cashmere blend. It is so soft and lovely. Everything i wanted in a sock. 

The heel is much better on this one.  After I turned the heel, I picked up 16 stitches on the side rather than the 19 they suggested. I think It may have done the trick.

As you can see from the sock below, the 19 stitches makes it a little too saggy and big. The sock below was the 1st one i knit in real sock wool. Small needles. I used needles that were .25 bigger than the pattern called for. That may have something to do with it I'm sure.

I decided to keep knitting it after I found the merino/cashmere wool. But after awhile, I realized that I probably would not be wearing this sock. it is kind of itchy. I have a very particular foot. Fussy it is. So I stopped and started the one above. Much happier.

Anyone get callouses on their finger tips when they pick up their knitting after having stopped for awhile? Or is that a silly question because you always have some sort of knitting with you!? I'm just an occasional knitter.

Thanks for looking,

Amanda

P.S. Geesh, With the new format, I don't even know where to click to publish. Oh, see it at the top.

unknown Hook rug

My, I've been quite slack in the creating and reporting department. For good reason. Spring cleaning, clearing, gutting, decluttering has swept over my house. Slowly, oh so slowly, am I doing it. But it does feel good to have it done.
Wanna see my sweater collection?

The 4 bags to the left, the large bag on the right are all sweaters. The large on e in the middle is large fabric pieces, like sheet size or a bit smaller. These vacuum bags are awesome. They really do take up less space, but the bags are HEAVY.
So for a little show and tell, I present a horse and barn hook rug.

It was my uncles. I think he said he got it at pottery Barn or Anthropologie? I don't know if that's correct. If you do, please advise.

Whomever hooked it was a good hooker. This is the front.

And this is the back. Yes, really. Isn't it lovely and consistent? I aim to hook like that one day. Then I will be a good hooker too!


Off to clean some more...
Cheers,
Amanda

flower puppet

After all the singing and performing for the last month, I'm finally getting my sewing brain back. Yeah!
How about this face?

Along with these petals..

And some leaves..

To make this little beauty..

Usually, I put my tag as the tail on the animal, but this one doesn't have a tail. It's just sewn on the back.


Another to go into my finger puppet collection


I used die cuts to make the flower petals and face. Gives it a nice even edge.

Have a good one,
Amanda

Happy Easter!

Here's where I spend every Sunday. I sing from the pulpit on the right side of the alter. I get to see how the outside light changes throughout the year as it streams into the stain glass windows. I get to make beautiful music with beautiful people.

And then come home to these beauties....


Happy EASTER!!!

Amanda

Another Thrifty SCORE!!

I tell ya, my friend Charlotte can spot a good find a mile away. She has especially good radar for little girl treasures. On this thrifty occasion, she brought over a box to Neve. There was much oohing and ahhhing, but as I was deep into the rack of wool sweaters on sale for .99 cents each, I didn't pay it much mind. Until we came home.
WOW!

I don't know the Madeline stories, but we will be sourcing them out on our next library trip.
This is the nun. The costume is amazing in details.

And then the 2 girls!

Here they are dressed to go exploring.

With a hat and overcoat, doncha know!

And the little detail on the side of the hat.

The drawers in the bottom of the case have some treasures as well.
Framed Photo..

A passport. I didn't even think to open it to see what is inside.

Some postcards.

A suit bag.

Look at the nun's bun...

And her undergarments.

Isn't it a girls dream kit? I can't wait to get a few books for her to re-enact the stories. It will be fun and is treasured already.


And I found 4 good wool sweaters for mittens. Yes, a good day at the thrift store.

Thanks for looking,
Amanda

enough about the chicken

I'm done with the chicken.
But here is another pic and the linkwhere I got the tutorial from. Yes, it is much fun to make. yes, the children enjoyed playing with them.
I used popcorn in it instead of a dried bean or rice. They are not meant to be heat bags, so I used popcorn in case they should get wet. I mean, imagine, if you used rice or beans and it got wet. It would probably sprout! So popcorn it is.

Now on to this beauty.

The felting is tight and thick. Which leads me to believe that it may have come from Nepal.

Oh look, there are 2 of them!

On a what??@@!!!!!!????!!!

yes, big honkin' orange flowers on purple slippers!

And a nicely done bottom. they do keep the cold out. Do you like my newly sanded and varnished floors? I heart my new floors.

Here's the slipper on my foot. Yes, it's a bit grotesque, but they are mine (only $2.99) and I adore the workmanship. They are loved. :}


Thanks for lookin'
Amanda

chicken teaser

I'm off to rehearsal, but I did manage to make some of these today in my sweltering attic. it was 24 celcius today! That's HOT. Especially for March.
Here's a little teaser...
a chicken teaser.


L8R,
Amanda

Betz's bunny

A few years back, I made some bunnies a la Betz White.
here
and here
Yesterday, I made another with some experimentation in the tail department.


I was going to place a wooden button for the eye, but I lost it here. boo hiss.

So here is the bunny with the looooong tail and no eye. yet.

It was different to work with a sweater compared to the fleece. I'm glad my sewing machine can get through the wool smoothly. like cutting butter.

It's a lovely spring day here today. There are children on my deck soaking the sun, a girlie happily painting a picture with watercolours and a mama who is turning the other direction from the mess. I may have to vacuum though before I go out. I do like to come home to a clean floor.!
have a good one.
Amanda