The Wizards Workshop

While Mother is here visiting I had to take her to "The Wizard's Workshop".
It's a unique little shop here in Punxsutawney, PA that is filled to the brim with chainsaw art.
They have everything from giant chainsaw sculptures to tiny hand carved nicknacks and some local pottery as well.
Mother loves the stuff, so I bought her a big birdhouse that was carved from a stump.
(sorry I didn't get a picture of the birdhouse)
I picked up this cool hand carved fish for my husband.

And this sweet little house for myself.

 Today we are off to "Farmer Smith's" greenhouse for some plants to fill these hangers that we've been crocheting. They are made from recycled thrift store garment fabric.

Thank you so much for visiting!
Have a great weekend all.

karen

Spinning.................

Mother is here visiting with me for a week or so and our days have been busy with shopping and having long talks about Spring and gardening.

In the evenings it's been quiet as Mother reads and I spin wool.

 I think I'm starting to get the hang of it.

Still working on a perfect balance though.

 Crocheted some baskets too.

 And some plant hangers as well.

karen

Spinning Fabric

Thought I'd try spinning some fabric strips today. 

 A reclaimed cotton gauze skirt torn into strips.

 

 Spun together with some blue wool.

 Another in purples.

Made some pretty interesting yarn.

karen

Fiber and Lace

Still feeling a little off this week, but managed to fiddle around with some fiber and lace.

Another owl.

This one made of sari silk yarn.

 Memory wire bracelets wrapped in strips of antique lace.

karen

Milk Weed

Even though I'm not feeling my best lately, I managed to get outside for a short walk with Jack today.

I saw these sticking up out of the snow and climbed over a 3 foot wall of snow and ice to grab a couple for closer examination.

Have a lovely weekend.

karen

Fiber Pebbles Driftwood

No rhyme or reason for any of this.

On my table was a jar of pebbles, a box of small drift wood pieces and a ball of fiber.

Sometimes I just need to create without justification.

Does there always have to be a purpose for what we create?

Sometimes I just need to experiment with texture,

or colors or shapes.

Sometimes there doesn't need to be a reason.

Creating just because.

It's what I do.

karen

Textile Bracelet Tutorial

Just a quick how to:

You will need some...

memory wire

wire cutters

round nose pliers

scissors

fabric strips or ribbon (1/2 to 3/4 in. wide and 1 yd. long)

glue

embellishments

 Cut a piece of memory wire 2 inches more than the circumference of your wrist.

Using the round nose pliers, curl a loop onto each end of the wire.

 Place a dab of glue next to one of the loops and anchor the end of your ribbon.

Wrap wire tightly, overlapping as you go.

When you reach the other loop add another dab of glue and anchor your ribbon at this end too.

Wrap again in the opposite direction.

 When you reach the end or beginning, depending how you look at it...anchor with one final dab of glue. Trim off any excess ribbon. They should look like this.

You can either leave them like this

or add whatever  you like. I embellished mine with beads and wire.

 I apply a jump ring to each of the end loops to keep the charms and beads from sliding off.

Here are some made with torn strips of cotton textiles.

You can see I over wrapped some with flax, hemp, ribbon and wire.

Here you can see the jump rings and some beaded wire wrapping.

Another set with just bright copper wire wrapping and some simple silver beads.

If anyone decides to make some of these I would love to see them.

I think the possibilities are endless.

karen

Some New Old Things

An old blingy button.

A pretty little dress.

Sweet old hankies.

 Vintage green glass earrings.

Supplies for future projects.

karen

Crocheted Owl Instructions

The tiny wire cage...

that sits upon my work table...

 is no longer empty.

I crocheted this little tiny owl to keep me company while I'm working at my table.

If you'd like to make one for yourself here's how:

chain 2

6 sc in 2nd ch from hook

2 sc in ea st around (12sc)

1 sc in next st ,2 sc in next st, cont around (18 st)

1 sc in next 2 st and 2 sc in next st, cont around (24 st)

sc in ea st around for 14 rows

stuff

crochet opening shut straight across

crochet across top decreasing 1 at ea end

turn and cont dec 1 at ea end until there is 1 st left

this forms the beak

fold over and st into place

glue on eyes

tie a few yarn scraps to each side at top for horns

What a HOOT!

karen