Route 66 Wristlets

 While I have my sewing machine out, I decided to make some wristlets out of Route 66 fabric. I've got several different prints, and tonight I started with this fun blue one. This fabric features the vintage signs I love. I boxed the bottom of these, for a little different shape.

The lining is cute. It has little Route 66 shields and also an occasional heart that says "I love Lucy." Sweet!

Oh Baby!

My niece is expecting, and you know what that means...sweet little knitted baby things! I'm working on a little dress and bonnet. I love knitting baby things. They are right up my alley...small, fun, pretty projects that don't take forever to finish. I'm making this from Mandarin Petit yarn. It's a wonderfully soft 100% cotton that's machine washable (a must with baby things).

I love Lucy.

I like how the Lucy Bag turned out. It's actually a little redder than this photo shows...more like in the photo below. The only change I made was to add some bobbles at the bottom. For now, I attached one of the felted pins I made a few years back. I may still line it.

Here it is before it hit the washing machine...huge! These are fun to make because you knit them on large needles and it goes fast. And then there is the magic of watching the transformation as it felts. Maybe I'm just easily entertained, but that's OK....I'm rarely bored!

And here she is all felted. I have yarn to make another that I will be giving away as a birthday present.

It's for the Birds

It was beautiful out today. Although I was pretty lazy this morning, I did putter around the yard for a little bit this morning. It's still to early to put out flowers, but I washed out the birdbath and filled it up.

It's the first mosaic project I ever did. I wondered how long this birdbath would last, and to tell you the truth, I've been pleasantly surprised. I made this probably at least 9 years ago. In the winter we take the top off and lean it against a tree so water does not freeze and thaw in it. With that little care, I expected it to fall apart long ago, but it's still looking pretty good!

Little by little, I've been saving snippets of yarn and tucking them in a jar. Today I put the yarn and some lint from the dryer in the bag some oranges came in, and hung it out for the birds. We did this last year too, and when we cleaned out the birdhouses it was fun to see all the nests with woven with twigs and bits of wool.

Hardware and Softwear

This is the hardware. My son moved out this weekend, to the home that he and his fiancee will share when they are married. I was looking around the empty room, being sentimental and thinking about all the changes....and all the work I want to do to this room in the next month! I noticed again one of the things I love about this house...the hardware. I like the little x's and o's on the hinges.

I get aggravated about how the old stuff doesn't latch quite right, but isn't it charming?

And this is the softwear....I'm making a new felted bag from some beautiful Malabrigo yarn. It's such lovely stuff to work with. So soft! We went to see Cirque du Soleil in Champaign, IL and while we were there I visited Needleworks and Klose Knit. Both are lovely shops with a nice variety of yarns and supplies.

Kool-Aid Dyed Yarn

Last night I dyed up some yarn. I just started doing this last year when Tracy showed me the way, and have had so much fun with it. I like to use Kool Aid or food coloring because I work in my kitchen, and this way I don't have to worry about toxins. I'll tell you a little about how I did it last night, but if you really want a good tutorial you can find one here on Knitty.com.

I started with Knitpicks Bare superwash sock yarn, but you can also start with any yarn that is high in animal fiber content...the higher the better! I've used yarn from my stash and dyed over lighter colors I wasn't crazy about with good results. I left my yarn in the skein it came in because I was lazy last night, but if you want longer repeats you can reskein it into a much longer skein. Put the skein in a tub of water to soak. Let the fibers really soak for a good while (go watch some TV and knit!). You want all the air out so it will take up the dye nicely. When the yarn is good and wet, gently squeeze the extra water out so you can transport it to your bowls.

Next, I boiled up a big pot of water and poured boiling water into 3 bowls. I dissolved 3 packs of unsweetened Kool Aid to each bowl and immediately draped the yarn into the bowls. If you are using kool aid there is enough citric acid that you really don't have to use vinegar, but I added a splash to each bowl anyway...never hurts. I want that color to stay! Move the yarn around a little with spoon so it all gets a chance to soak up the dye. Pretty quickly I shifted the yarn so the white parts were dyed too. If you feel your water cooled too much, you can wrap your yarn in saran and microwave it 2 minutes to make sure the heat has set the dye. My water was still extremely hot after the yarn soaked up the dye, so I didn't bother.

You can see here that the yarn has taken up all the dye and the water is clear again.

Let it cool a bit in the sink and then rinse. I like to add a little dish soap and give it a light wash at this point. No dye came out at all, so I knew the dye was set well. Then squeeze the extra water out gently (you don't want to felt it!) and put it in a towel to blot the extra water out.

Finally, hang it up to dry......and in the morning you have some nice new colors to work with!

There are all sorts of variations on the technique...you can dye in pots on the stove, handpaint and then microwave, or even use a crock pot. Fun!

Knitting my way through Arkansas

I spent the last week wandering around Arkansas with my sister-in-law while she visited with her parents. I got a lot of knitting done in the hotels and in the evenings while chatting with Susette and her mom. And we enjoyed some beautiful scenery and fall weather. No knitting in the car when you would miss scenery like this!

While we were in Arkansas, I found this great old swift at an antique mall. It works like a charm. No more winding by hand....happy, happy!


I started 2 pair of socks before I left and finished both. I love this pair. It's a complicated pattern, but cute. The pattern is the Solid Socks June Mystery Pattern on ravelry.com and is a free pattern.

Please excuse those cobwebs under the cabinet....I swear I cleaned them up after I saw this photo. LOL

And this cheery pink pair. This pattern is called Spring Forward and is free on knitty.com.

Arkansas on Dwellable

Studio Time

"You're a businesswoman, a wife, a mom, a world traveler, and you're knitting socks. You've got it all."

A friend recently said this to me, and I loved it. It's a little off, since I haven't been out of the United States yet, but hey, I like it! Actually, what he said was that I am knitting him some socks, but I'm not, so I edited it. I may have to start on those socks now though, just to show him how much I appreciate this quote! Thank you Scott Langford of the Grand Rapids Press.

We were talking about having a lot of interests. I've always envied those who have a driving passion for a particular hobby, job or interest. It must be so much simplier and rewarding. Concentrating on one thing would enable you to really become expert in that area.

I'm a dabbler. I hate being pinned down and want to do it all. Right now, I'm trying to clean out my sewing room, and this tendency of mine is causing problems. I can't get rid of that soldering iron and such because I intend to make some collaged pendants under glass. How about the rug hooking supplies? Well, I'm still intrigued by that too. The journaling/drawing stuff (and there is a lot of it!) has to stay because I actually use it often. The sewing stuff must stay. The knitting stuff stays, but I can definitely get rid of all the acrylic yarn. I've become a yarn snob I fear, and I love the natural fibers. The vintage fabric stays, too. And then there's all the vintage book pages and ephmemera which I'm actually starting to use...working them into my drawings. The scrapbooking stuff....well, maybe I need to face reality there.

The good thing is that much of the supplies will be moved to the shop, where I'm setting up a little studio (in the picture above). When I'm done, sewing supplies will be at home and much of the rest of the artsy stuff will be at the shop. I only want to move what I will actually use though, and what inspires me. The rest will have to go to the charity shop.

Oiling Wood Floors and Knitting Socks

These floors are in our shop and boy, are they ever ever dried out! Believe it or not, the floor on the left is actually clean.... just dry as a bone. They seem to have no finish on them, and a floor man who was here for another part of the building told me I could just oil them. I decided to oil them little by little as I'm rearranging the shop for spring....ufff. What was I thinking?!! Anyway, they are going to look a lot better.


I'm using tung oil and it really isn't too hard, just a little time consuming. I clean the floor first using an all purpose cleaner in water and a microfiber cloth, rinsing often. Those cloths really pick up the dirt. Then I let it dry thouroughly.

Next apply the oil in a small area at a time...this floor is so dry, I pour some on the floor and then spread it around with a rag. Let it soak in for 5 minutes or so, and then buff with a different rag. Move on and do the same to the next patch of floor. I will apply a second coat tomorrow. It makes such a huge difference.

If these floors were in our house I would be trying to get off old paint when I come to it and really make it look more perfect. These floors are in the 100 year old city hall building in our town. I rent space here for our shop...there is a lot of traffic through the building. I just want to bring some life back to them and protect the wood a little. I thought I share the project here, because you could certainly finish the floors in your old home the same way.

eta: I've been reading on the web that this finish, while it says tung oil in the name, does not actually contain tung oil. Fortunately, many people seem to have had good luck using this on their floors even though the label says "not recommended for floors." I was happy to hear this, since I really don't want to put a poly over this wood. Poly can't be renewed without a lot of sanding and I think I can refresh this easier with out having to remove all my stock. I'll let you know how it works out!


I finished my socks and I love the Mountain Colors yarn. I will definitely be buying more of it...it was soft while I was knitting with it...but after I washed it, it is just the softest and warmest pair of socks I have.

Now I've started a new pair of socks for my daughter's best friend Kylie. Those are some pretty wild colors, but take a look at Kylie:

I think she has enough attitude to pull off wearing socks like that.



My friend Dawn passed an award along to me. With this award I'm supposed to tell you 6 things I'm thankful for and pass the award along to 6 other bloggers.

I am so very thankful for...

• My relationship with Jesus and that I have his word to guide me.
• My husband and kids and all our extended family.
• Having my parents living in the same town.
• Our home
• My dog
• My health...including my eyesight and the use of my hands because I love to make things. I don't take this for granted after seeing my grandmother lose both to her battle with rheumatoid arthritis.

I'm awarding:

• Tiny Old House
• One Woman's Cottage Life
• The Cottage at Wit's End
• Creative Little Daisy
• Equus Villa
• Daily Yarns n More
  

Indian Pride Cowl

Indian Pride Cowl
by Joyce Cole © 2009

I designed this cowl to show off those school team colors. I bought a skein of each color and made two cowls (reversing the colors in the second one), and still had a little yarn left over. Round up your favorite team's colors and keep yourself warm at the game!

Yarn:
Plymouth Encore Worsted 100 g skeins
1 Main Color (MC)
1 Contrasting Color (CC)

Needles:
US size 8 circular~16 inches long

Notions:
Stitch marker
Darning needle

Gauge: 18 stitches = 4 inches (though a bigger or smaller gauge will just change the look a little)

Cast on 96 stitches in your contrasting color (cc) using long tail cast-on. Join to knit in the round, using a stitch marker to mark the beginning of the round.

Row 1 and 2: Knit
Row 3: *YO, K2tog, repeat from *
Rows 4 and 5: Knit
Row 6: Purl

Change to MC.
Rows 7-16: Knit.

Change to CC and work an eyelet band as follows:
Row 17: Knit
Row 18: Purl
Rows 19 and 20: Knit
Row 21: *YO, K2tog, repeat from *
Row 22 and 23: Knit
Row 24: Purl

Change to MC.
Rows 25-34: Knit

Change to CC.
Rows 35-42: Work eyelet band above (rows 17-24)

Change to MC.
Rows 43-52: Knit

Change to CC.
Row 53: Knit
Row 54: Purl
Rows 55 and 56: Knit
Row 57: *YO, K2tog, repeat from *
Row 58 and 59: Knit
Bind off loosely.

To finish: Fold up the cast on edge to form a picot hem and stitch in place using matching yarn. I used an overcast stitch catching the edge and the purl bumps on the backside. Do the same for the bind off edge. Weave in all yarn ends and steam to block.

How to Make Snowflake Ornaments

Last year I made some snowflake ornaments that have held up pretty darn well for paper snowflakes, so I thought I'd tell you about them. I made mine out of maps, just because I love maps and I have saved a ton of them from National Geographic Magazine. You could also use sheet music, old book pages, or pretty scrapbook paper. Personally, I love using things that usually get thrown away and this is a great way to use books or maps that are in very bad shape...just pick the good parts out and use them.



You fold the paper in the usual manner and make your paper snowflake. There is a great tutorial here if you don't remember how. Then iron your snowflake to get it nice and flat. Lay it on a piece of felt that you've trimmed to about the right size.

Then go to your sewing machine and stitch around the edges of the snowflake, holding it flat as you go. You could use some wonder under to hold it, but I didn't. You just can't pin it because, obviously, you'd end up with holes in your paper. I put blue thread in my machine to match the map, and white thread in the bobbin to match the felt. Hand stitching with embroidery floss would also be cute...kind of a primitive look.



After you have your paper snowflake stitched down take a sharp pair of scissors and snip out the openings in the felt and trim around the snowflake, leaving a small bit of white showing around each opening and around the edges. Add a floss loop at the top to hang it.

I wish I had some in process photos, but as you can see it's a pretty easy thing to make. Email me if you have any questions.

One more handknit Christmas hat..........

This one is done from Cascade 220 yarn also. The red was actually white and I dyed it red...through a process that I could not hope to duplicate. The color turned out ugly the first 2 times I dyed it, then I finally dyed the whole thing again using food coloring and vinegar. I finally got a color I like. It sounds like more trouble than it is. The crock pot does all the work. The gray is leftovers from my son's hat. I made this a little bigger because my hubby has a big head....my son is our model here.

Christmas Decorating!

I thought there must be some mistake when this giant box showed up in the mail....I was looking for my prize from SC Johnson Right at Home for the Houseblogs.net contest, but I was expecting a little envelope with a gift card. Let me tell you I felt like the dad from A Christmas Story receiving the "significant award!"


They sent this huge basket of products and the gift cards...so nice! Thank you to houseblogs.net and to SC Johnson.

I knit up a hat for Mike's stocking and made the mistake of letting him try it on...he liked it so much he wanted to start wearing it right away. Well, I'm glad he liked it!

Then I used the left over gray from Mike's hat and some red I dyed (same kind of yarn) to start a hat for Joe. He's tricky because he has a much bigger head. I altered it to fit...and I hope it does!

Tonight we started decorating for Christmas....Hawkeye's pretty sure this is not where the wreath should go.


Joe got it done in the warmth of the house and then went out and hung it up. It's starting to look alot like Christmas!

Gotta love a day when the mail brings you books!

I've been waiting for Danny Gregory's new book, "An Illustrated Life" to come...I ordered it months ago and it's just now out. I'll be spending the rest of the evening curled up being inspired.


I finished my little sock bag tonight. Well, except the lining....I'll have to search around for a good fabric to line it with. Actually the bottom of the bag is a better match to the knitted part than it looks in the picture...flash photography isn't my forte.

Monkey Socks Done!

This is my second complete pair of socks. The pattern is called Monkey and you can find it at knitty.com. I did the pattern as written except I made it with no purls...when you come to an instruction to purl, knit instead. I got that idea from many of the knitters at Ravelry. I love this pattern and it fits so nicely.


It's rainy out, so I'll have to settle for flash pics. In real life, the colors are so pretty. If we ever get some light, I'll have to try to replace these pics for some better ones.