Jane Austen Crochet Shawl in Recycled Yarn

Hello there!  I've been away yet again.  I don't know if it is because blogging is not my strongest point or because I feel like I have nothing to say that anyone cares to read...?!  Either way, it doesn't matter, it's good therapy...LOL

So one thing I did last year was purchase some "recycled" yarn.  If you remember this post showing some of my purchases.  The yarn had been pulled from sweaters found in garage sales or Goodwill or what have you.  They then wound it up and sold it on Ebay...a GREAT FIND!  Well I finally got over the intimidation of how unbelievably small this yarn is, not to mention how I was going to maneuver it with my long skinny fingers!  So I started with this color, kind of a sage green:

85% Silk 15% Cashmere

And a pattern I found on Ravelry: The Jane Austen Shawl by Wendy Lewis  Wendy mentions how she can just imagine Jane wearing this shawl over an empire waist gown.  I can imagine it keeping the chill off of a cool spring evening walk across a flowering pasture.  How fun is it to dream about period events where your creations can come alive!

It was so long I had to block it on the floor!

ECU of pattern!  Too bad I have beige carpet!

As you can see the shawl turned out beautifully!!  Jane Austen is one of my daughter-in-laws favorite authors, if not her most favorite!!  So I thought what a perfect mothers day gift for her.  I know it will be a little late getting to her but I am really excited to share this recycled treasure with her.

Even though the finished product looks NOTHING like it did before it was blocked, it was actually kind of ugly, I liked the result so much that I decided to try another pattern with one of the other yarns...it is about halfway finished and includes beads!  Yeah!  I will have it up for sale on my Etsy site once it is blocked and all purty up.

Thanks for hanging in there to read my sporatic posts!

Still Alive Over Here!

It has been 2 whole months since I've posted in my blog.  One big reason...it's Winter Texan season!!!  For those of you who do not know, I live in an RV park and during the Dec-Mar season the park is FULL of northerners trying to get away from the cold weather...can you blame them?  So I lead several classes, including: Yoga, Aerobics, Strength Training, Belly Dance, Line Dance, Crafts, Wii Competitions and what ever else I can come up with to keep everyone active, mind and body!

So I have been VERY busy with classes!  One of my most time consuming classes is crafts.  I teach it once a week and I typically have to find the project, get supplies, test it out, get enough supplies for everyone and then teach the class. Some are fairly simple but some are soooo time consuming!  This week we made Trellis Necklaces.  So pretty, but cutting out 50 of them was tiring.

I LOVE new ideas, if you have any send them my way!!

Something I've finished in between classes....sorry about the CRAPPY pictures!

Handmade Gift Exchange Linky Party!

It's that time!!  The time where all the handmade gifts are finally in their new owners hands.  Now we all want to share our new items so we've been busy taking pictures and uploading them in a linky party!   It is so exciting to rummage through all the links and see what people have come up with.  You can browse too just visit this this link to Craftaholics Anonymous.

First I want to show you what I gave to my partner.  She loves lots of colors just like I do so I thought it would be fun to put a little spring in her kitchen during these short winter days.

A lime green Wash Blossom (dish cloth), a bright pink ChrysanthePad (hot pad or trivet) and a bright blue Scrub Bud (pot scrubber).  The wash cloth and hot pad are both made with 100% cotton.  The pot scrubber is 100% nylon and works GREAT on pots, rough feet and getting the grim off your precious tire rims!

Now for my gift! :)  My partner did great at reading between the lines of our email conversations and picked up on the fact that I teach yoga.  So she gave me a yoga mat carrier, with POCKETS!!  I think the pockets are so cool because you can fit your yoga belt, keys, lip gloss, drivers license; all together in one and head to class.  How AWESOME is that??  Check it out!

Ready for class!

Check out the pockets...ALL THE WAY AROUND!
And you can see the pretty green material on the inside...super classy.

It was a hit!

I love the colors and just the idea that it's handmade.  I mean really...who would have thought to make a yoga mat bag??  MY PARTNER, THAT'S WHO!  Kudo's to my partner Jody...best handmade, surprise gift EVER!

Have you ever participated in a gift exchange for someone you didn't know?  If not I suggest you do!

2011 Handmade Gift Exchange

This looks like so much fun!  Hurry up, sign up ends Nov 7th, 2011!!

Commission Work Meanderings...

So I was reading through some of my favorite blogs the other day and I came across a post from Handmade Crafts Done While RVing about doing commission work and how it really can be a way of life.  I have never thought I could maintain a living (although secretly wanted to) based on my crafts and talents.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not fishing for compliments here, but who would want my stuff?  My crafts?  My talents?  Thankfully I have had some very satisfied customers and I feel sooo blessed when I can share my God given talents. 

I sat at a farmers market nearly every Wednesday afternoon this summer in a small mid-Kansas town.  I would say that over all I had minimal success.  I sat in the heat of the sun, chatting and crocheting.  But when I sold something my heart lept!  I was so thrilled and I almost felt guilty that I was getting money for something that made me so happy.  But no matter how happy I am, it doesn't feed the belly...ya know? 

Christmas is coming and there is a lull in sales....like zero in over a month.  I keep telling myself that it's the economy...but maybe it's not?!  Maybe my fear of no one wanting my stuff is coming true?  So I make more stuff, out of nervousness...and if any of you have ever been in an RV you know there is very little storage space....SO BUY MY STUFF!!  LOL 

I enjoy crochet so much that it consumes many hours in a day.  I probably give away more than I sell, but it all gives me joy.  I love to watch someone's eyes light up when they see their creations I made just for them.  I love the smell of a new skein of quality yarn.  I love the feel of the fibers sliding through my fingers.  I love creating and learning.  I love that God trusted me with this very special ability and no matter what I make, sell, or give away I hope that I never take it for granted.

When you shop this Christmas, think about shopping handmade.  Items made with love and passion reflect in handmade work.  Get a true one of a kind item instead of something that everyone on the block has.  Buy from your friends, from their friends, make a connection, feed a belly. I will do everything possible to make a customer happy, can you say that about the local chain store?

Some favorites I've made....

Child's Pom-Pom Hat

I love the soft colors of this shawl.

I can stay warm AND keep working!



Wash Blossom and Chrysanthepad



Child's Vest

Car Seat Star Cuddle - small enough to cover but not too bulky

Hair flowers

Ballerina Bear

Scrub Buds...yes I'm working on a flower theme for the kitchen!

Prayer Shroud for Pastor Terry Bullock

I know it has been FOREVER since I posted so I thought I would start with a custom project I did for a dear friend of ours.  He had placed a request on facebook for someone with sewing experience to make a prayer shroud for him with maybe a little embroidery on it.  Since I am NOT the sewer so much I offered to embroider if anyone wanted to do the sewing part.  After a time with no responses I offered to crochet a border on a piece of muslin material. 

So I began with this....

After some trial and error at exactly how I was going to accomplish such a feat.  I say that because I've never done a crochet edging on material before and I really wasn't sure how to go about it.  That first row seemed to take forever but once I got a good rhythm going it wasn't so bad.

Some details of the edging.

It turned out to be about 36 inches wide and about 63 inches long.  I found that the corners curled a bit more than I liked but other than that it is absolutely beautiful! ....if i do say so myself ;)  I will definitely be up for making more and can't wait to try this technique on a fleece blanket!!  Ya want one??  Send me a message and we can design something together!

I've completed so many projects for the grandbaby that I need to put up but we're in the process of packing up to head for Texas.  Much more to come though...stay tuned!



In A Creative Mood

I have been feeling unusually creative lately.  Not that I don't consider myself a creative person but it usually comes in small spurts one project at a time.  This post you'll see FOUR things I've come up with in the past week.  I have one more that is still in the ripping out, reworking, trying again stage but once it's done you can bet I'll post it!

As many of you know we bought a new car a couple of weeks ago.  Little miss short legs here has to have the seat up so far that the seat belt is extremely annoying on my neck when I wear a tank top.  Soooo I came up with this snazzy seat belt cover with some left over yarn I had.  I LOVE this yarn's color pattern.  And even better, it's not so girly that my husband won't use it.

Next, some flowers.  Originally I made these up and sent them to my granddaughter for her hair or bag or whatever she wanted.  Well after her mom posted a picture on FB with her wearing one I've had others interested.  So we're gonna give it a whirl at the Farmers Market and see how it goes! 

SCRUBBIES!!!  Everyone loves a good scrubbie and I really never thought about making any since I typically like to focus on wearables.  However....I had 3 different inquires as to whether I had any, or could make some.  After making these my husband liked it so much he asked for one to clean the grim off his truck rims....and all be darned they worked GREAT!!

This next item is still a bit of a work in progress.  I had some leftover yarn in the most adorable color verigation that I just had to use it.  My original thought was to make it long enough to wear both as a hippie/boho kinda head band or to tie around your waist as an oh so cute fashion statement. 

Keeping the fly aways at bay.

Wrapping up the bun....CUTE!

Darling boho belt.

So I'm still kicking this around because the yarn pictured is a very lightweight sock yarn.  If you use it as a belt it doesn't really hold anything up as it's just for fashion, yet if you want to put it on your head it's the lightweight makes it VERY comfortable and doesn't get too hot.  Either way you don't want to tie it too tight because of the lightweight.  I'm thinking I might use this same concept in a belt only style and add D rings to one end and use a heavier weight yarn....hmmmm, still thinking on that one.

How do you go through your creative process??