Easter Egg Hunt Scarf

Kiki gave me the Ironstone yarn and then I added the Splash and Fizz. I had to break out the size 35 needles. This scarf seriously bordered on ugly. But somehow it works. I knew of one person who would go completely nuts over it. It just happened to be her birthday too. You are so welcome Lori. She thinks it matches her eyes. I just let her keep thinking that.



There's wacky Ironstone Circus in there!

Wire Pin with Pink Tourmaline

I made another pin.

Happy Birthday Stephanie!

Tooth Ache Scarf

I'm making this scarf with GGH, Crystal Palace, and Trendsetter. It's so sweet my teeth hurt. You gotta love the macro camera feature. Pink isn't one of my favorite colors unless it's accompanied by brown or green. The Trendsetter Perla definitely fits my criteria with it's bright green strands of tinsel. The Crystal Palace Flowers has lime green fibers and gold tinsel. This stuff is too much fun!

Wire Pin

I made this for KiKi's birthday. Again the idea came as a project from the book Jewelry Making: Tips and Tricks Of The Trade , by Stephen O'Keeffe. It felt great to get such a reaction from her. I'm very happy with the way it turned out. Kiki gave me an Alexander Calder book to explore. The pin brought him to mind. I added it to my Amazon.com wish list. I was serously inspired and amazed. Isn't that what friends are for? She knows me well.

Swap-bot

I 'm really enjoying Swap-bot. Although I screwed up my first swap. It was the one inch button swap. I didn't know that the moderator meant pin-back buttons and not sewing buttons. So I emailed an apology to my swap partner and then sent the pin-back buttons. I was proud of myself for follow through. I never received a response from my partner/moderator. I sent at least four emails and an attached note with the new shipment of buttons. I hope she's still alive.
The sticker swap was fun, but I think that I may have offended my partners by sending them 13 year old stickers. The adhesive was beginning to break down. I added them as an extra treat. They were vintage Suzy's Zoo, so I thought anyone would be glad to have them. They still had very good usage left and were hard to give up. I also worked really hard on the Postcard Quote Swap. I collected cards mostly from book stores. But the independent book store Changing hands had the best cards. I already had a few quotes ready to copy, but since I'm such a movie fanatic, I couldn't resist adding a few of those too. I'm going to avoid joining so many swaps at one time. It's a lot harder to execute than I'd thought.

Cheese

Happiness is yarn in the mail. I ordered this from Spritely Goods. I got the package super fast because we're in the same state. I like that. The color is Parrot. I'm planning on making socks with it. I'm trying to finish my other sock project first. I also bought eight balls of novelty yarn from Big Lots. They were one dollar each. I'm using it to make scarves for people who may want to purchase them for Christmas gifts. Hopefully I won't get rushed again this season even though it was fun.

Quartz Wire Ring

This ring is a project from the book Jewelry Making: Tips and Tricks Of The Trade
by Stephen O'Keeffe. The finish isn't as perfect as I'd like. I had to darken the silver so the overall design wouldn't look washed out and flat. I just bought a fine new rotary tool tip that will smooth the lumpy solder mess. Then I'll refinish the dark patina. I'm particularly proud of being able to set an open bezel inside the wire knot.

Green Jade Wrap Ring

This ring was fun to constuct. Making the rough finish was he most difficult part. I made the ball end by melting silver scrap.
This ring is inspired by Debra and Marco. jewelry.novica.com/rings/wrap/dichroic-art-glass-ring-blu...

Disorganized and Dusty

I believe in organization and a neat work area. Currently the truth of this statement isn't being practiced. The photo doesn't lie. In defense, I haven't worked at this table in months. It's about to become a place where I can neatly stack those storage containers with the gemstones. The actual work area will be about the size of one table setting. There's a lot of stuff in this room that isn't in the pictures. I have a closet full of yarn, paper and fabric. I also have a shelf full of book in my bedroom.

This is my jewelry worktable. It's MDF and a metal cart that I got at Goodwill for ten dollars. It works for now. I like my caddies and the soldering pan. I'll move it into the garage when it gets cooler. Then I'll set up a real shop. I'll buy another workbench and bolt a vise on top of it. I'll also look into buy a jewelers bench. Yes those are sawed off knitting needles. They are perfect for getting inside ring bands. I have another set for knitting. I also have a big shop fan on top of the counter for ventilation. The white towel isn't hiding anything I don't want you to see. It's covering my bench pin and rotary flex shaft. I'm drying a new project that was just washed. I don't use the kitchen for much cooking. But it's possible. Wine, cheese and raisins don't need cooking anyway.

Delayed Entry

This blog entry is a year late. But I'm ashamed of not sharing, so better late than never. I felted this a very long time ago, back when I wasn't very good at lining bags. In fact, this project was a challenge from the very beginning. What was I thinking? God only knows. It all started when a fellow Stitch-n-bitch attendee, showed me her cute little felted striped bag. It was clutch size without a closure. She said that I didn't need a pattern because it was too easy. I had to knit a rectangle, then pick up the stitches around the rectangle using a circular needle. My first mistake was made by picking up too many stitches. The end result was a disaster of course. Someone even suggested that I should cover it in resin and use it for a rowboat. Yep, you know who you are Funny man. Anyway, I finally got the dammed thing knitted correctly, felted, blocked and I'd done a fair job of it. Later, I added the the funny lining and made the straps from one of my belts. One day ,at my house, Hannah noticed it and liked it. So, I gave it to her for her 16th birthday. She was gracious enough to model it for me.

That's my pocket from an old pair of jeans. I used it because it was already reinforced with it's own backing.

Hannah asked me to make this scarf as a Christmas gift for her mom. Yep. That's Brown Sheep bulky and look at those nice poms. I used my brand new pom pon maker. It's one of my most valued tools and for a good reason. Believe me.

Hannah and her mom loved the scarf. I felt warm inside. I knitted a few gift items for Hannah last Christmas. I improved my skills in the process. It was a good thing.

Thrift store find for a dollar. Vintage Boye needle set.

It's in great condition. Only the middle length cord is missing. I'm always on the lookout for yarn and stuff but this was still a lucky find. I haven't used them yet but I'm happy to have them when I need it.

Baby Bolero from One Skein. I made this for a coworker and her new baby girl. She pulled my name from the Secret Santa drawing and bought me he book. She was surprised to get the sweater. I just knew she was looked threw the book and wondered if I'd knit anything for little Sophia. But really, she'd never even thought about it. Again, I felt a warm inside :)

Go Bears!

Oh well they lost. But Anna, my coworker, was stylin' anyway. I like this scarf it was fun to make. To bad it didn't come with a drop of luck.

I used Brown Sheep Bulky and Lion Brand.

Etsy Google search

I'm still having difficulty searching for my Etsy items on Google. Yahoo isn't much help either. I'm sure it an Etsy problem. I'll email them and ask. Meanwhile I sold another one of my handmade items that desperately needed a home. I'm excited!
Esty has the cool thumbnail generator. I once tried to build on of the by hand. It was a freakin' pain.




I'm working on more novelty scarves for this winter. I have to say that at least three will be mine to keep forever. The rest will be gifts and such. Most will be made with Trendsetter Shadow and some other cotton/wool background yarn. I just love Trendsetter Shadow, Metal and Crystal Palace Splash and Fizz. I'm also ready to turn the heel on my first sock. I'm using Mega Boots Stretch. I like it but but this will be the first and last time I knit with it. The 2-ply splits too much.
My last jewelry class was last night. I learned so much. I made so many things. I have to take pics of them and post soon. Last night I made post earrings! They're so cute. I'm happy that I finished the class as a success. I was always confident in my ability to do the work, but I wasn't so sure of the terms and definitions. I didn't need to worry. I soaked it all up like a sponge.
New pictures coming soon. Here are pics of my summer vacation tho".

Star Charm Necklace and other encounters

I made this using a Swarovski crystal star, silver ceramic star and pearls on a silver chain. I wanted to use charm on a necklace instead of a bracelet. I've seen designs where the charms are strung directly unto the chain. I like the dangle/Y look. I string the items in groups of threes. It feels completely wrong otherwise. I think it's fung shuish or something. Anyway, I've made a few more with heart and key charms. I'm making another using a cherry charm with a mother of pearl shell fetish bird dangling from it and a crystal butterfly. I think it'll turn out nice.



I sold three girlie beanies at FirstFridays. People didn't hessitate to take them home. The black and white beanie it the only one that got to come back with me. I hope my beanies will be happy with their new owners. I feel so alone without them. I'm making more of them as fast as I can. I was googleling for the southwest trading company turqouise colored yarn, when I came across Al's picture at an Ebay auction for Karaoke. I couldn't stop laughing! Al, you are too cool! Do you even know this person?

Vroom! Ach Ach! Hairball

A knitted Ferrari was shown at the London Car show and that's the gal that did it. Can you see the seems? I can't imagine patterning this without a computer. I hate sewing pieces together. Maybe I wouldn't be so bad if I was as good as Lauren here. Gees! I found this link to an article on another blog.

This is my 4-wool drive

Goodwill Hat

I made this hat useing yarns that I got from Goodwill. It came in a bag of mixed acrylic balls. I also added a few rows of Dale of Norway. It was to much fun to make. I'll make another mixed color hat for myself soon. This one makes me look like a Conehead.

Slinky Cut-out Tank

Amimono Slinky tank
I really like Plymouth yarns but Wildflowers is hard to knit. The fibers split and create ratty loops. I have to stop and fix it. So it's no wonder that this tank is slow going. I rib for about 13 inches. I'm not used to Addi's chrome yet either. I can really get going if I sit in a quiet room and concentrate. If I'm undisturbed, "disturbed" being relative, then I can fall into a trance. Yeah, a trance. I get a few rows done this way. I feel positively refreshed and productive afterward. Then hungry in that order. Kidding! I'm always hungry.

I haven't blogged in like forever!

I've been working on a lot of jewelry making. I upload as many pics as I can. I store them at Photobucket. I knit every chance that I get, but I'm slow to finish anything. I completed the Ipod cozy. I used Noro and a pattern from Grumperina. I read somewhere that another knitter used the Grumperina pattern but added a back pocket. I added a pocket too. It's slighty crocked but sturdy. I used a pack of Bubbalicous to keep the shape. I don't own an Ipod. I cut a piece of shower curtain liner for the protective cover. The plastic, as expected, gave me problems. I changed the presser foot on my sewing machine to reduce the friction between the plastic and the face plate. I used brass buttons and an adjustable strap.

better late than never

I'm finally back on my diet. It's a little late for the Summer season, but I need to get back in shape. I'm absolutely commited to eating correctly and working out. My plan is to regain flexibilty and reduce my body fat ratio. I'll eat a low sugar, low salt, low carb, high protien diet. That's the easy part. The hard part is to stay away from fast food and Cokes. I need a Coke right now. Eat to live and not live to eat. Right!

Sample breakfast:

This month I started my Etsy store. It's really cheap to list and sell your handmade goods. So far a few visitors have come by to see my stuff, but no sales yet. I Googled some of my items and they didn't show up on the search. Then I Yahoo searched my stuff and didn't get any hits at all. I'm shocked! My items should be reached by search engine. I'm so discouraged. I don't know what to do about it. I need to fix it in a hurry!

Here's a few bracelet's that I made for gifts.

Charms from Disney World

Magnetic Hematite and Garnet Bracelet

Drugde

Today at work (I'm still here), I became the extra person. I hate being the extra person, because my sups try to find dumb things for me to do. It's as if they think I shouldn't be allowed to do get paid doing nothing. It's not my fault that the schedule overlaps on Tuesday mornings. So thank goodness I brought my scarf project. I surfed the internet looking at local bead stores. Then the firewall failed to keep me from accessing Myspace. I messaged my friend Tina a coupla times. I discovered Victoria's Secrets bra and panty sale. It was another firewall lapse. I also read a few book reviews. By this time coffee was failing me, so I got out my scarf and started knitting it. I got a few rows done before I started falling asleep. I managed to add one stitch and drop another. Big warning! Don't knit at work while falling asleep. I'm spending the last hour of my shift, ribbing the last five inches of rows. *SIGH*

Mosiac knitting

I got a tip from an anonymous blogger. Schoolhouse Press is publishing Mosiac Knitting by Barbara Walker in April. It's more afforadable than the 1976 copies. They even offer free shipping with a pre-order. It sounds like my knitting library will be greatly enriched. I'm very happy for the opportunity to own a copy.

Rare Knitting Book?

Mosaic Knitting
By Barbara G. Walker
Could this be the most expensive knitting book currently for sale? While searching the internet for book written by Barbara G. Walker, I came accross a copy of Mosaic Knitting on E-bay. Part of the money gets donated to charity, so that may explain the $627 asking price. Biblio is selling a copy for a book store called Ventura Pacific Ltd. It's priced at $494 and it's a second addition reprint. Amazon sellers have copies available for about $150. I've only reviewed one of Barbara's books, A Fourth treasury of Knitting patterns, and I'm impressed. I about fell over when I saw a picture of a cabled tote knitted in the round. The instructional charts are written in plain, uncomplicated terms and are easy to follow. She also makes references to Elizabeth Zimmerman's style of knitting. After further internet searching I realized that all of Barbara's books are expensive and the prices are highly competative. It may be impossible to find any of her books at a discount price. I think they're worth every penny. I'd be willing to purchase her knitting book for $150. I've spent that much at one time buying yarn. I'll add it to my Amazon.com wishlist.

busy bee

Last night, I stayed up late to watch Project Runway. When I went to sleep, I dreamed that I was in a jewelry making competition. I had to make a necklace out of beads and other stuff. They gave me until midnight to come up with a design. I was concentrating hard and working furiosly to put my design together. It was too weird. It was just like the show. Now If I can just dream of myself as a competetor on the Iron Chef's of America show.  Especially if cheese is on the menu.

I've been busy knitting and making jewelry. It's been so much fun. I started making earring like these using paillettes. I got tired of constructing the heart themed ones so I took a detour and made a pair with green stars.

Stripes!

I finally made myself a striped scarf. I've been wanting it for a long time. I could never figure out how I wanted to knit it. One day I decided to cast-on 210 stitches and go for it. I love the results. It blocked nicely, but Brown Sheep tends to come out right. Later, while digging through my belt drawer, I realized that I almost copied my striped web belt from Old Navy. HUH!

Ski hat and scarf

I knit this for my nephew. I told him That I'd make a hat for him two years ago. He'd been asking me the whole time if I'd made it yet. Well I finally shipped it to him just when it started to get cold in Kansas City. He was very excited when it cam in the mail and he likes it very much. I used Brown Sheep Bulky and two strands of worsted doubled. It was a lot of fun to make. The burgandy color is a worsted superwash that was made by I-can't- remember-who. I can't wait to make another one.

Vintage beaded choker/bracelet

I've I just finished trying to post this blog using http://www.photobucket.com/ , but it lost my entry after I it asked me to log in again. I'll add more coments later. After I've calmed down.

Craft Fair/Christmas 05

During the first week of December 05, America West Airlines held their annual craft fairs. This picture is taken at the airport. They also had a craft fair at 52nd ST in the vacations workplace. I started out over at vacations. There were a lot of women with a lot of stuff. I learned a few tips from jewelry makers. I was fascinated by the volume of merchandise. They were heavy on the Thai Silver and Swarvosky Crystals. Some vendors made food to sell. I ate a Manwhich, chips and cookies. It was pretty good especially since I was so crazy with excitement ,that I forgot to bring my lunch. They scoped some of my pieces too. It was very enlightening to socialize with the other vendors. I received a lot of info on how to save money on jewelry making materials. Everyone was very helpful.

I made the wooded ladder specifically for displaying scarves. Illanna gave me the idea. I have to say that it should've been easy to make, but my drill decided to quit working. I had to tighten all of the screws by hand. It was hard to turn the screws without a pilot hole. When it was finished, I was so proud of my ladder, that I didn't mind the extra closes. They were hard earned. YEP! I didn't sell anything at the airport. I got there too late. Foot traffic had slowed down and no one had any money left to. This year, I'll setup at the airport first. Later that night. I went to First Friday's. Mel and I surprised each other when she came to hang with her friends. She found me set up at the table next to them. We sung Christmas Carols and cavorted with passerby's. I sold two scarves and had a blast!

Kate gave me this adorable knitted sweater and several other mini ornaments for Christmas 05. I have to be honest and tell you that these were the cutest things on my tree. Everyone just loved them. They zoomed in on the little dress, then got excited when they spotted another one, like the little stocking. My other ornaments must've been chopped liver they only earned a disinterested glances. That's OK because these mini knitted gifts are on my "best Christmas gift ever" list. They didn't seem to make much of my tree topper. I don't care what anybody thinks. I love my "L!" (for Letoya) This year I'll learn to make mini knitted ornaments, so I can give away the gift of happiness for Christmas.

See the little dress? Unfufu made an appearance. I coolant pack her away for the season. The tree skirt is pink flurry fleece with silver threads. That was fun to make. OK, not really.

Photobucket

This is a test post from Photobucket.com

UM.......

Grey Wicca. you are the grey Wicca,
soiltary,energetic, and shady. you come out at
ducks to worship the godesses and nagels, and
come out at midnight to worship the moon. you
are the helper of the Death Moon Witch. your
song is "3 1/2"(three and a half) by AFI.



Ok I'm done. I'm also going to look up the grey wicca thing. Yeah, I'm a night person. I hide in the daylight. Did you catch the typos? HEHE! "Ducks"


What witch are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

blog filler

Your beauty lies in your soul.

There are so many unlike you in this world. You're
like a very rare diamond. No, diamonds can't
shine as much your soul.

Your motive:

To help others in need and maintain happiness
withen others around you.

Your quote:

If you fall either I fall with you or I'll catch
you pull you back up.

Your colors:

Silver and Gold

Your song:

Wings of a Butterfly - HIM

"Come on and show them your love. Rip out the
wings of a butterfly."

Please rate and message.


Where do You Find Your Beauty?
brought to you by Quizilla

RIT-tastic!

Yesterday after work, I decided to dye a skein of brown sheep bulky. I've been craving rich dark brown colored bulky yarn. I had already dyed this same skein with variagated koolaid colors. I liked the coolaid colors

Mini Market shopping.

I got out and about this weekend. The weather was still too hot at one hundred degrees. I had lunch with a good friend on Friday, then went shopping. I did chores around the house all evening and went to bed early. Saturday morning I went to the downtown market. I bought a skein of beautiful yarn spun by Lisa Takata. She calls it Greenjeans. I don't know what it will be yet, but for now I'm just happy to have it.

I milled around the market talking to different craft vendors, mainly beaders. I can't wait to sell my own stuff. It looks nothing like what they were selling. I don't make lampwork beads or create jewelry with it. It's pretty, but usually too heavy for the stuff I like to make. Natural stones are nice in small beads, but they are expensive. Another seller at the market made novelty pieces. They were very creative. Anyone, would want to wear her stuff or buy it as a gift. She made dangle earrings from an old fashioned weight scale numbers. She snipped the tin in sections that displayed the metric markings. It was too cute.
I left the market and met the Hartley gang at City Market Bakery. We knitted and ate delicious food. I cheated on my diet and bought a large peanut butter cookie. After that we drove to Jessica's Knits to see Illanna and shop for yarn. It was her birthday. I think she had a good a pretty good one, because she walked around the store in a contented daze just smiling.
Sunday morning, I worked like a crazy person. After work I went to Michael's with my forty percent off coupon. I bought a frame for a photo print. Yep, I actually bought a brand new frame. I didn't "acquire" it away from a Goodwill customer or deconstruct a perfectly good framed print. I can't wait to hang it on the wall.

Cattle Drive

On the way home yesterday afternoon, I tried to get on I-10 at 7th st. Traffic was extremely heavy so I kept driving south on 7th st. I wanted to go east toward home, but I couldn't make a left turn. Traffic moved me south. I was able to go east on Washington or Jefferson. I decided to keep going and go to the bead store in Tempe. They moved. I'd forgotten that Beads International moved closer to Mills Mall. I went to another bead store in Scottsdale since I was so far south already. The store is in the shopping center on the west corner of McDowell and Scottsdale RD. It was closed. It was supposed to stay open until 6pm. They closed early. So I went home. I need eye pins and a few beads. I'm working on another bracelet and Jollygreen dangles. I'll try to find Beads International after work today. It will before the traffic rush, so I shouldn't be forced to detour with the flow of traffic.

Jolly Green Dangles

Well, this is my lastest creation. My creations and technique gets better with each project. I think of my earlier work and cringe. I gave a lot of bracelets to family, friends and coworkers as gifts. They probably thought I was being mean. I know they were just too happy while accepting my ugly bracelets. LOL!
I used pailettes, crystal, silver and glass.