something old something new

My latest Project was a new concept on an old request from Becca..

Years ago ( and here she would stress  MANY YEARS)

she asked me to make some painted panels for her to quilt .

The panels themselves appeared and disappeared for years ..

I knew what I wanted to paint ..just never got around to it ..

Since She has been so close and we have been walking several time a week,

 she again URGED me to finish this projects ..so finally ....two of the four panels

Sadly I have not painted much of the last few years ..but the didn't turn out too bad ....

After making the Fasciatior hat ..

I thought I would try and make a full size version ....

Becca had given me some grey wool.......and it seemed a good fit

I was working without a pattern and trying to gauge shrink during the hand felting process.

.and the brim is too wide to be a bowler ..but it is an attractive hat!

I had enough of the grey wool left and I had a heavy shawl pattern I was wanting to try

and I was noting similar shawls of the BBC production of  "larkrise to candelford"...

it is a huge yarn eater ....using 2 1/2 skeins of the red heart wool ! ....

its almost done, I am still working on the edging ..

but all the pics came out fuzzy and I was playing with the setting on my camera ..

but I am sure you get the gist ...

This week I said goodbye to my dear friend Alex ...

who got a wonderful opportunity in AZ....

I will miss being able to have coffee and visit face to face ,

but this is a great chance for Her to pursue a goal she set for herself .

Alex is an amazing cook, and is talented in so many areas, A real artist!..

Here are Alex,Michael,Tat and I

Alex gave me an early birthday present, beautifully wrapped in wonderful paper...a Tiffany coloring book and a hand glazed tile "coaster"....

that's all the projects for this week..I hope all of you take a moment to give your Friends and family hugs and tell them how much you appreciate them, in life people may leave ..to move across states or leave forever..but do let them know, before they are gone, what they mean to you ..

cheers!

Little things

My friend and walking partner Becca gave me 3 bags of assorted yarn recently,

there was a lot of acrylic

 ( and I am very fond of wool and silk)

so a lot of the yarn was shared with Jackie ( Michaels mom)

 ...however i did find this odd looking acrylic yarn ..It is the kind that used to be used for macrame ..

and I though..

Macrame plant hangers!..

My Nana used to make them when I was younger ..and I know she showed me how..

I just have to refresh my macrame skills ..

but to test out the yarn I made two little "baskets"

I love the idea of "hard "crochet ( where you crochet over other cords to  give strength)..

in this case... stiff yarn/smaller than normal hook/sturdy decorative stitch..

make up for the lack of additional cording .

The stitching over the cording is also the basis for Irish crochet

the organic nature of crochet makes the baskets a bit "wonky" but I like a bit of wonky

The Green Vase

I recently got a new craft book while at a community yard sale with Kelley ..it featured a nifty vase made of old magazine rolled into tubes and coiled ..and then saw another version while shopping with Tat and family

so this is so simple of a concept and the should have been easy..

should ..mind you...

just roll a bunch of coils and glue together!

OK

so the instructions did say it would take a lot  of them

I worked for several night rolling the tubes  

and then several more hrs flattening them ,rolling them and gluing them into place

in the long run I got something that was interesting , but not very pretty..and way more work than the result..But I did finish it ..this was rally a project for someone with no other things going or it would make a neat family project ...

the Great Cover Up

OK so Y'all have noticed the fixation with shawls, I think they are so pretty, lacy, floaty, and usable..or at least I think so...alas , I keep picking increasingly  more detailed and complicated designs., I like the challenge of learning a new pattern..and it keeps my hands busy while catching up on Desperate Housewives!

The Blue shawl above is one of my endless projects, it was pretty and fun to do , but my the last 2 inches of the project I was getting ancy to start the next project ! You can see from the slightly blurry photo above that Lilly cat was quite taken with it and decided to use it as a blankie!

I started on another shawl right after, with a pattern I saw in the book "crochet so fine" it had a flower border that I didn't like ...so I left it off..another pic where my flash washed out the beautiful color and it has a metallic sparkle behind it ..I made this one as a gift for my boss ( Lisa if you read my blog... act surprised !)

I thought I had posted the pic for Michael's pillow , but didn't see it ..this is just the top ..

I have 2 more projects in the works at the moment , another smaller pop top bag..and a vase made of paper..both of them are almost done ! ..

I started a pink mohair shawl last night also.....so many projects ..so little time!