Sure sign of Spring

This is what the girls looked like this morning.  I had been brushing them like crazy for the last couple of days because it's that time of year when it is REALLY difficult to keep them from getting matts.  

Zuzu (on the left) was in pretty good shape, surprisingly enough since she hates brushing with everything she has.  Casey, on the right was not in such great shape.  Her coat is older and the older it gets, the more difficult it is to keep it brushed because the outer coat gets coarser and the under coat is harder to get at.  The undercoat is what causes the mats.

 This is a gift from a friend.  He knew about my fiber habits, spinning, knitting, tatting, etc and figured I would like this.  He found it in the junk at Goodwill, bought it, cleaned it up and gave it a new coat of sealer before adding the plant and giving it to me.  So thoughtful and nice of him and I do really love it!

 This is the girls this afternoon.  These pics aren't great because they were really not in the mood to sit still and have photos taken.  As you can see, Casey's legs are shaved pretty close because they still had some matts.  Zuzu is still in pretty good shape . . . I think they are relieved to be home and not at the groomers but it's going to take a while for them to calm down.  They don't go to the groomers often enough not to get really nervous about it.

Teresa

Knitting something fun

at least for a few minutes! The tough knitting is sitting in time out for the rest of the evening . . . He he he!

Cactus Flower

This is Cactus Flower by Romi - it was last year's MKAL but I didn't know about it then.  The yarn is the Pixie by Dragonfly Fibers that I got as one of the Club Awesome shipments.  I also used a ton of beads on this - copper and gold on the burgundy and gold lined glass on the pink.  I think it's gorgeous and the model does too . . . didn't take it off after the photo shoot!

Teresa

Baby Blanket Plus

Teresa made mom a baby blanket plus a few extras

First she made a baby blanket

 Then she made a roll brim hat

And then she made a bib

And a pair of booties




















And then she gave them to our mom

Still Working on This One

 And it's got a loonggg way to go!  This is A Beautiful Necessity or at least the beginning of it!

The yarn is Cascade sock and the embroidery is embroidery floss.  Now I'm ready to start knitting the sole and then the leg.

This is for Mom - it's Dad's goat man statue.

Teresa

One more car picture

Because it has rockets in the headlamps . . . too cool!

And these are our Easter presents from Mom!
We all love them - I'm especially fond of the bunnies!
Thank you so very much!

Teresa

Happy Young Lady

So it has been a while since I posted and I do have knitting and fibery things to post.  I've been busy.  Dena has visited.  Stitches South has happened.   I have knit and sewed and spun.

But today . . .

big doin's in the driveway.

The young lady got a car.

Her dad said if she got into Georgia Tech and chose to go there, he'd get her a car.

The original promise was for a mini-cooper but he didn't think that was the safest, most reliable car.

So, he didn't get her a mini-cooper.

 He got her an electric car!

Turns out that Ga Tech has a bunch of charging stations and we don't live far away so she can always charge it at home if she needs to charge it and can't find a station.

 It plugs into a regular outlet - takes longer to charge in a regular outlet but it works.

 It has a strange gear shift - 3 choices:  reverse, forward eco mode or forward regular mode.

 It has a cool stereo with XM radio which she already loves because I have it in my car.

This baby was BRAND SPANKIN' NEW!  See that?  That is 28 miles after she drove it on the test drive and then home from the dealership.  Little bugger couldn't have had ten miles on it to start!

 And it has windows where other cars have nothing!

Lots of lights and indicators (as all geek cars should have)!

Comfy seats and a nice environment for the driver!

Pretty, pretty and that child is happy, happy!

Teresa

Made by me

Lest you think these hands have been idle . . .

Remember this bucket bag I made?  I love the batik fabric and bought extra so I could make some drawstring project/yarn bags.  But after I made the little bucket, I kinda thought I wanted another, bigger bag out of that fabric.  I figured I probably had plenty of the batik but probably not enough of the green and I bought it a very long time ago so matching it could have gotten tricky.

So, I didn't even try.

Instead, I went and bought some lovely orange that also went nicely with the batik.  The colors in this photo are washed out - the green is darker, the orange is brighter and the batik is prettier.

But these are the project/yarn bags.  They are both lined - the green is lined with orange fabric and the orange is lined with green.  They are big, too, almost 17" tall and 14 inches wide.  They are big enough for a sweater's worth of yarn or enough for a large shawl.

Then I made this knitting tote.  It's big.  See how gorgeous the batik is next to the orange?  I love, love, love this bag.  It's not just that I made it either, it's that the colors are wonderful and it's big enough for all the projects I have going at one time to fit inside.  (Right now, that is three shawls, two pair of socks and a wanna be sweater that's not on the needles yet but it really wants to be.)  I gave it long straps because I always wanted a bag with long straps and none of them actually come with long straps.  Of course the straps are the batik because the other fabrics are only there to make that look good.  I would have made the entire bag of the batik, but that might have been too much . . . and besides, it looks better with the other color fabrics giving a chance to one up them.

The tote is lined in the green fabric and has pockets made out of the batik fabric.  Got to get as much pretty in one place as I can!  It also has a hard bottom - the green rectangle is actually a fabric sleeve covering a plastic bottom liner to help the bag keep it's shape.  It works really well! 

So this is the family together.  The big tote, the little bucket and the two drawstring bags.  Now I am out of the batik fabric and the orange.  There is one biggish scrap of the green left, but I think Girl Far From Home is planning on making an origami market bag out of it.  

As you can see, the straps are nice and long and the bag is nice and large.  I'd say it's bigger than most of the bags we've bought at E.L. Bags.  I love it and now I must run off to move my knitting into it's new home!!!

Teresa

Beads

Lots and lots of beads. They slow the knitting down, but oh the bling!

Not Knitting . . .

 Well, actually, I am almost always knitting, but sometimes I do other things for a while.  And that's what's been happening lately.  

I bought all this pretty fabric when I was sewing last year in the spring.  Then I sewed for a bit and then I sort of got busy with other things.

But last week, the fabric and the machine called my name and I answered.

I have come to the conclusion (all you expert sewers please stifle your giggles here) that cutting is the hardest and most time consuming part of sewing.

But cut it I did - enough for two bags, one for me and one for Girl Far From Home.

The green and brown flowered fabric is Girl's and the batik is mine. 

 I also bought a new iron (Rowenta but an inexpensive model) and a new ironing board.  I had to do that because there was a little mishap when Girl was helping me cut by ironing the fabric for me.

 Girl is still using a borrowed sewing machine.  My very good friend has let us use it for a very long time and eventually she will want it back and then I don't know what we will do.  But until then, Girl is using it.  It is a very nice machine that I used when my friend and I were working on costumes for the theater department and the girls' school.

My new machine is hidden in this little alcove at the back of my yarn and fiber room.  

We sewed and sewed and this is my bag ready for the bottom to be sewn on. 

 Girl's bag on her sewing machine - the outside is done and she's just top stitching the lining in place.

My finished bag.  I wish the bottom were straighter but it was my first time putting a round bottom on anything.  Next time I will do better.  I really love the batik fabric and am going to use it on another bag since I have enough extra.  (Bought enough to make some drawstring bags but would rather make another bag I found online).  The pattern for this bag came from a Craftsy class - the dark green on the outside is actually a pocket.

Teresa