Friday, February 12, 2010

Winter Wonderland!

 

 

 

 


Having grown up in Cleveland, I know a little bit about snow...

...I can drive in it, and I've shoveled more than my fair share over the years.

This Philadelphia snow, however, is something to be reckoned with!

With fewer occasions to use them, the townships buy fewer plows and use less salt than in the Midwest.

Suffice it to say, it's been a loooooong week of much fancy manuvering in my car...

...and lots of shoveling.

It is gorgeous, though, especially with the sun shining on it today.

This project is a nuno scarf, made with custom-blended wool.

I made some pretty teal batts, applied them to a silk scarf blank...

...and felted it in the usual manner...

...(lots and lots of rolling!) Grin.

It's a thank you gift (along with the synthetic one from the other day) for a
teal-loving blogger friend...

...but more about that later.

Hope you are all safe and warm and dry today...

...the girls and I are done shoveling (for now, anyway!) and back inside, making dried cherry and almond cookies and homemade macaroni and cheese! Yum!
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Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Stalled WIP-Felted Winter Gloves

 

 

 

 


A month ago, with the help and encouragement of my wonderful friend Kim, I began my first pair of gloves.

I had been wanting to use the acid-green mohair that came from these adorable angora goats for some time now.

I just love this wild color!!

As Kim advised, if you try these, remember to make a bump at the 'wrist' of your resist...

...whew...what a tongue twister!...

...or else you will never get them on after felting.

She also suggested...

...(after my failure, when I wrote to her, asking for suggestions)...

...wrapping the other fingers in plastic as you work on each one...

...something that had eluded me as I struggled to keep the gloves from turning into mittens! Grin.

My biggest difficulty, however, was that I had made the fatal felting foible of not making a sample first!

So, yes, I was lazy and I got what I got...

...which is a pair of gloves that look adorable...

...but which never fully felted and are still 'hairy and slippery', inside and out.

***************************************************************************
The fix, Kim advises, is to cover them with a fine layer of wool that I know felts well...

...but because I found this project rather difficult and trying...

...the idea of wrapping each finger again is not 'sending me anywhere'.

So here they sit...

...for now.


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Monday, February 8, 2010

Synthetic Experiment

 

 

 

 


At a local fabric store the other day...

...I found myself transfixed by all of the sparkly fabrics displayed.

I am not usually attracted to unnatural fabrics...

...but something was taking me back to my childhood.

(I was the kind of little girl who wanted everything to be made of gold lame!)

So I bought some and made a nuno scarf with it.

It certainly looks sparkly and festive...

...but I'm a little concerned about the edges...

...since I didn't hem them and they feel a little 'prickly' to me.

This may not be my last synthetic attempt, though...

...since I bought several other pieces...

...with gems and beading!!

Woohoo!

(Giggle)

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Saturday, February 6, 2010

...And The Winner Is...



100th Post Give Away List:

1) Vicki W

2) Omi-Silver Studio

3) Leslie

4) Jacquelyn

5) Sarah

6) Dawn

7) Mary-Art Spirit

...and using Random.org...

...the winner is #6...Dawn!

(Dawn-please contact me with your address!)

Thanks to all who entered, and please remember to enter again in March when I celebrate my
*&%#+$th birthday with another give away!!

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Kreativ Blogger Award



My dear friend, Kim has nominated me for a Kreativ Blogger award...

...of course I'm delighted!

She tells me that I must now do the following things...

1) Copy the award to my blog
2) Link to the person who has given me this award
3) Tell 7 interesting things about myself
4) Choose 7 other blogs that I want to give this award to
5) Link to their blogs
6) Comment on their blogs that I have given them this award

Yeesh!! Kim you are really forcing me to learn some new things on blogger!!

Ok...numbers 1 and 2...done and done.

7 interesting things...hmmm...

1) I love puns
2) I like doing laundry but refuse to dust (except under duress)
3) I'm a bit of a Luddite...don't have cable TV
4) My youngest daughters were surprise twins (went in expecting 1, got 2!!)
5) I love poetry
6) I can get my cats to sit up and beg for their treats
7) I love strange, arty earrings and own lots of them

For the 7 blogs that I would like to give this award to...

...rather than choose from my list of 'Blogs that make me happy'...
...(since they all deserve it!!)...

...I'm going to list 7 blogs that you, dear readers, may not yet know about.

Love Stitching Red

Tinctory

Tree Fall Design

Table Calender

Happythings

Cake Maker to the Stars

Red Dirt Mother

Congratulations and happy reading!!

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

100th Post Give-Away!

 

 

 

 


Believe it or not, this is my 100th blog post...

...and I'd like to share my happiness by giving away this scarf.

This is another pre-felt project...

...and also a nuno (laminated-felt) project.

I started with a length of peach silk...

...and covered it with thin batts in several custom-blended colors.

Then, I took small bits of several colors of pre-felt...

...and scattered them over the fiber.

Unlike some of my other nuno projects...

...there's very little silk left showing...

...just a little along the edges.

Perhaps with wear, more will prettily show?

If you'd like to own this scarf...

...just comment on this post by midnight (EST) on Friday, February 5th.

I will randomly select a winner on Saturday morning, February 6th.

In your comment, please be sure that I have a way to contact you!





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Monday, February 1, 2010

A Rising Obsession!

 

 

 

 



I received a new cookbook for Christmas.

I have rather a lot of cookbooks...

...since cooking is kind of a passion of mine.

I had been reading a lot about the 'slow-rise, no knead' method of bread-making in blogland, lately...

...so I asked for this particular book, because it's gotten rave reviews.

The thing is, everything you thought you knew about bread-making has to go out the window when you're thinking about baking these puppies.

You use cool water (55-65 degrees F) and very little yeast...

...you have to think about this bread a full day (in the Winter, anyway) before you want to eat it...

...and it takes 18-24 hours to rise, then a second, 2-hour rise, plus 45 minutes baking time, and at least an hour to cool...

...and you have to have an enameled, cast-iron, lidded dutch oven to cook it in.

In other words, it's kind of a committment...

...it's like before you've even 'kissed him', he wants to know whether you want to 'go steady'! Grin.

But readers, it is so worth it!!!!

The bread is gorgeous, and it tastes as yummy as it looks.

There are nooks and crannies for butter or honey...

...and it makes great toast the second day.

The pizza crust takes a mere 2 hours to prepare...

...and there's a topping recipe using thinly-sliced onions, cream and thyme that could make a grown man weep with joy.

So if you're looking for a new 'kitchen boyfriend'...

...this book might just be him!! Grin.



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