Lace Fence and Window Progress....

I'm not a big fan of chain link fencing, but the Lace Fence company has done some amazing things with it! Visit the gallery on their site. Some of it is too busy for my taste, but the simpler ones are quite beautiful. Apparently they can do any design you'd like with this technique.


While I've been off working on my car, Joe has been finishing up that window in the guest room. He managed to match the stain very well. I love how it turned out...now I guess I better put the hardware on it, and get back to painting that room!

On Saturday and Sunday, I knitted up this little guy during slow moments at the shop. I think he's downright cute, and I may make a few more and turn them into a mobile. It's the Frida the Fish Pattern from Lion Brand Yarn. Well, it sort of is that pattern....I hate knitting a bunch of little pieces and sewing them together, so I rewrote the pattern to be worked in the round. I think I got it pretty close. I'm making another one by my pattern, and if I have the bugs worked out of it, I'll put the pattern on here for free. Or if you like to do a lot of seaming, the original pattern is also free and can be found here on Lion Brand's website.

Using the Old Woodwork

Look at this! Joe found enough window trim that is stained rather than painted! So, if I can manage to stain that little bit of new wood to match so it won't stick out like a sore thumb, the new window will go with the rest of the room rather than being painted.

About 18 years ago, we changed the roofline on the back of the house, due to some bad remodeling by previous owners. In the process, we had to lose one window from each of two bedrooms. One of the windows we had to remove was from this room, so it's very possible that that trim came from this room in the first place.

There's a lesson in there. We stashed that trim from the old windows in the garage....and now we are using it. If you are just starting to renovate an old house, and you have to remove pieces from it, don't throw them away! Stash it over your garage doors or some other out of the way place. Even if it stays there for years, that's ok! You never know when you might need some of that old trim...and it's not easy to find if you have to buy it.

Here's the window from the stair side. Pretty cool!

The Stairway...........

I've referred to the stairway a few times in this blog. It's very tall and narrow and dark and runs right up the center of the house. We gutted it 7 years ago when we gutted the kitchen. I didn't know when Joe was going to get to it, but I knew I can't do that kind of height, so I just tried to be patient.

Well, a couple of days ago, Joe asked if I still wanted a window from the bedroom into the stairwell....I did. The problem was that I had already painted the ceiling and started cutting in the walls in the bedroom, and I really didn't want sawdust and plasterdust all over that new paint. I said yes though, because I'm really hopeful that the window will throw some light into the stairs.

And as you can see, it is! The window we are putting in is a very plain stained glass one salvaged from a local church. At night, if a light is left on in the guest bedroom it will be almost like having a night light on the stairs. I think it breaks up the tall narrowness of the stairwell...at least a little! Joe found enough trim to trim it out like the rest of the windows in our house, and I think the window will be in and all done in a couple of days. Yea!

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!

Did we draw in Hawaii?

Ok...so maybe this drawing doesn't count! I did love this little toy I found in a Hilo shop though, and I bought one. I'm weak. It's called a Buddha Board....paint on it using just water, and as it dries, it disappears...and you are ready to start over! Great way to learn to enjoy the process and not obsess. Or so I hear.


Anyway the answer is, "Yes, we did draw!" We did find that sometimes, despite our determination to slow down and draw, we got carried away with experiencing the island and didn't leave enough time. So, we'd finish up in the evenings or sometimes work from photos we took. The drawing I was working on above is almost done in the pic below:

Jennifer saved bits and pieces of wrappers, napkins and tickets to make postcards to send home. It's a fun way to use all those great little scraps, and would work in your sketchbook too. Here's one all done:
We had a wonderful time one day, trying to draw this waterfall. Neither of us was successful, but we had a great time and we went swimming in this pool when we got frustrated. It was very cold water...and lots of fun!

We took tons of photos to work from in the evenings and after returning home. I've started working from some since I've been back. We tried to take close ups of buildings and foliage, as well as broad views, and this has helped quite a bit. I did this watercolor from a photo we took earlier in the day.

Kohala on Dwellable

On the Road Again in the Puna District of the Big Island

One day Jennifer and I decided to drive to the end of the road in the Puna district. Literally ...the end of the road, because the road was obliterated by lava flowing over it. We passed through a mesmerizing forest of monkey pod trees.

And very lush rainforest areas.

Then lots of palms...

under tunnels of vegetation (the ocean is just off to the left here)..

Under trees trying to touch the road...
with ocean vistas at every bend.

At the end of the road is a nice little restaurant where we had some ice cream.
On another day we had dinner here and it was very good.

After eating, we walked out over the lava field to this beautiful black sand beach. The theme of this island seems to be variety and contrast....rainforest, snow capped mountains, desert, grasslands, beaches, lava fields, crystal clear brilliant blue waters, and white foam on jet black beaches. It's amazing really.

Puna on Dwellable

Whale Watching Off the Big Island of Hawaii

One day of our vacation we went whale watching! We had a perfect sunny day for it. Captain Dan McSweeney out of Kona was recommended in "The Big Island Revealed." That turned out to be a good choice. He as been following and researching the whales for decades and has good knowledge about where to find them, their habits, and how to position the boat well away from the whales and still have good visibility.

Jennifer stayed on the bottom deck, as it's supposed to be a little smoother ride and she is prone to seasickness. I'm happy to report that even though she did feel a little queasy towards the end of the 3 hour trip, she did not get sick. Yea, Jen!

Ted and I rode on the top where the view is completely unobstructed. During the 20 minute ride out, we started spotting humpback whales blowing....there are plenty of them in the area! McSweeney stopped well away from the whales, but before long two whales swam right up to the boat and stayed for about 20 minutes! I think his long experience following the whales enables him to anticipate the movement of the whales, and position his boat well for this type of encounter.

While they are in Hawaiian waters the whales give birth and breed. They spend their summers in Alaskan waters. Sometimes you can see two whales spouting next to each other...a large spout and a smaller one...mother and baby. Jennifer and I stopped and watched the whales from shore one day and we saw this several times.

Amazing to be this close to these huge creatures!

This might be a whale "Aloha!"

And this too!

Throughout the trip, the captain and crew were giving great information about the whales and the area we were cruising. They also provided drinks, snacks and, very welcome towards the end of several hours in the sun, a cool cloth to refresh.

They say we were very fortunate, and that the whales do not always come this close. If you go to Hawaii during the winter, I'd definitely recommend going whale watching...it was one of the highlights of our trip!

Kona on Dwellable