Tag Archives: Photos

by

Update

Hello!

I thought I needed to jump on here real quick to say “Hi!”

My neighbor – a rabbit breeder – gave me a bag of angora fur from one of her bunnies.

Angora 1

I washed it three times in the kitchen sink. I used hot hot water and dish soap.

Angora 3

Then I laid it out in the bathroom to dry overnight.

Angora 3

This is absolutely the softest fiber I’ve ever felt. It’s like touching clouds. It was amazingly well behaved. It appeared to felt a bit, but the mats just pulled right apart. I attempted to card it, but found that it wasn’t necessary. I could actually spin it, just the way it is.

The plan is to add the angora to the mohair that I got from the boys. Sweetie is going to set up a second washing machine for me to use to wash the boys’ fur. Thankfully we have a spigot on our water heater, so it shouldn’t be too difficult.

He also got the nails and wood to make me a hackle (link goes to google image search results.) Basically, a hackle is a very scary tool used to blend fibers. It is a piece of wood with long nails sticking up out of it. Heaven forbid it should be fallen upon! This tool will make it very easy for me to blend the angora and mohair.

Abby and the Fish

Random picture of my cat, Abby,  having fun with the fish…

In other news… I’ve had a keen interest in sewing, of late. I found a gal on craigslist selling an old (in good working order) Singer Stylist sewing machine – with cabinet! I’m picking it up tomorrow and am very excited to get started.

I am planning on completing this Sewing 101 course. I’ve wanted to learn to sew for many years, but I don’t have anyone to teach me. I was very happy to find Raechel’s course. I have a lot of clothes that I want to alter and I really want to learn to make dresses and skirts. I’ve found a few other Sewing 101 courses that I will probably complete as well.

I harvested and dried a bunch of comfrey. I plan to powder it and store it as a medicinal. I can use it to make salves and teas. I’m so glad that my herbal medicine skills are getting better.

So, not a whole lot going on around here… Just a few fun things.

by

Flowers!

Sweetie had to have an injection in his spine yesterday. We had to travel to the VA hospital in Portland (about a 4-5 hour drive in one direction). I took the day off yesterday to drive him and I took today off, to help him if needed. Thankfully, he was doing okay today, so I had time to do some stuff that I needed to get done.

On our way home, we stopped at our favorite nursery and picked up some plants. Sweetie got some tomatoes, cabbage and lovage. I got one medicinal plant – Echinacea, some strawberries (everyone within a 50-mile radius from us is out of them – yes, everyone) and some flowers. It really was a lot of fun. I just love shopping for flowers!

Black Eyed Susans

I got this Black Eyed Susan vine. Those little black-eyed flowers were so charming, I couldn’t resist! I have a little metal, four-sided trellis that will be perfect for these.

DaisiesThese pretty yellow daisies caught my eye. We have several wild Shasta daisies already and I think these yellow ones will look very nice mixed in with them.

GaillardiaI think these Gaillardia are just so pretty! Such colorful, happy flowers!

Watering Can 1This watering can arrangement was a complete impulse buy. But it was so cute, I couldn’t help myself! I love geraniums and wish they would grow here. Actually, nothing in this planter will survive. But, it has holes in the bottom and everything, so I’ll be able to use it again and again.

In addition to the above, I got two rosebushes and four lavender plants. The lavender is a working plant. In addition to being somewhat medicinal, its main purpose is to draw pollinators. So, they will live near the greenhouse.

Speaking of the greenhouse… I thought you might like to see a couple of pictures.

GreenhouseIt is an old carport that has been repurposed. Sweetie took corrugated polycarbonate panels and screwed them onto lats. Then, he took those panels and secured them to the metal carport frame using U-bolts. Having the panels hung on the lats will make them easy to remove for storage, at the end of the season. Using the U-bolts gives them a sort of hinge system so they can be propped open, when the weather turns hot. This is MUCH better than the plastic sheeting he has used in years past and will last much longer.

Greenhouse 2This is the inside of the greenhouse. There are tomatoes, peppers, a watermelon and the lavender. Himself wants to get some winter squashes, beans and a pie pumpkin to put in here, too. We aren’t doing corn this year. That back wall will be a set of bat-wing doors made from the polycarb panels.

He has done a terrific job on getting it put together. It took him several days, because of his pain issues. But it really looks nice. I’m quite proud of him.

by

Pieces of Eight

Yesterday, we adopted a cute little Nigerian Dwarf wether. He is five-months old and cute as can be!

Goat 1

He is so dang tiny! The Hound is nearly as tall as the tiny goat. I haven’t picked him up, so I’m not sure how much he weighs; but it can’t be much.

Goat 2

The children said that he was sneezing green snot, after we got him home. I didn’t see any snot, but I did see him sneeze. This morning, his nose seems clear and dry. We’ll keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn’t have a cold or get pneumonia. He is eating and drinking just fine, and when I checked on him after getting up this morning, he was laying under the manger (on top of the fallen hay) chewing his cud. He seems to be as active as he should be. So, I’m not too worried.

Goat 3

He doesn’t have a name… You might be able to see the tag on his collar. He is number 8. I’m kind of partial to the name Moose, myself… Any ideas?

by

Kitchen Before and After!

Hi All!

Well, we started working on the kitchen and I finally got my pictures uploaded from my camera!

Sweetie is planning to spray orange peel texture on the walls, so my little “love note” will be covered. But, we will always know that it’s there.

I apologize in advance for the funky angles of these pictures… It’s a small kitchen and in order to photograph large areas, I often have to stand off to the side.

Ugly brick before:

Not terrible brick after two coats of masonry sealant:

Note the pink edges on the white brick in the top photo… That is some of the brick color bleeding through. Bleeding through TWO coats of masonry sealer! Well, we touched those areas up with TWO coats of primer and it finally stopped coming through.

Ugly cabinetry before (The person working above the window is my niece. She has been a huge help with this project):

Decent cabinetry after two coats of primer:

First layer of ugly wallpaper:

Bottom layer of ugly wallpaper (Not as bad as the paper we removed, especially with the white cabinets):

Now, as I’ve said before… Sweetie is going to spray orange peel texture on all of the walls (except the brick). The walls and brick are going to be painted yellow and the cabinets are going to be painted white.

Unfortunately, we ran out of money, so paint is not in the budget right now. Thankfully, the bottom layer of wallpaper (which will not be removed) doesn’t seem quite as hideous as it did with the brown wood cabinets.

The cats and dog LOVE having a much bigger (more than twice the size of our former abode) place to run and play!

The big furniture pieces have been placed, so we are able to live in the new house. It has been such a huge improvement over being in the motorhome!

I haven’t been doing any crafty stuff, as the house has been taking all my time and energy. But, I have some projects in mind that will include some things crocheted.

by

It’s Curtains for You!

Well… Me, actually…

So, I have several (five) windows that are either naked or ugly and need to be covered. I decided that I would make curtains. Crocheted lace curtains, to be more specific.

I set out on the arduous journey of finding patterns. Unfortunately, there wasn’t really a lot out there for curtains, so I also looked at shawls, scarves and blanket patterns (knowing that I could alter the pattern).

Let me tell you… There are HUNDREDS of gorgeous lace patterns out there! I spent DAYS looking at patterns. Finally, I narrowed down my choices to about 20. Once I did that I was able to decide which pattern I wanted to do on the first window. I have priorities, the naked windows first, then the ugly ones.

The pattern that I chose for the first window was the Elegant Simplicity Shawl. I had some white, worsted-weight yarn on hand, so I commenced to hooking. I spent a few days working on the first panel (I wanted two) and realized that I was going to run out of yarn. Well, no worries, right? White, worsted-weight yarn is pretty darn popular and I should have no problem matching it… WRONG! As a matter of fact, this particular yarn that I had used is no longer in existence (’twas given to me)… And, it is a little bit creamier than the white, worsted-weight yarn that I bought to complete the panel. UGH.

I had a choice to make… Go ahead and complete the project using the “off” yarn, or start over… I must say, it looks lovely on my end table.

Since I was starting over, I decided to go with a different pattern. So, back to the decision-making process. Thankfully, I had already narrowed the list and only had 19 to choose from. As an aside, each window is going to have a different pattern – yes, yes, I know I only have five windows… I decided which pattern would be perfect for my kitchen window, but that didn’t help, because the kitchen isn’t the first. List narrowed to 18.

FINALLY, I decided on a terrific lace pattern! It’s pretty, easy, and lacy enough to be feminine but with small enough holes to provide privacy: it is the Mist Stole pattern.

I love how the chain sections look like little Gothic windows!

I used Red Heart Soft Baby Steps yarn, in White and a size I (5.50mm) hook.

Because this was a stole pattern, I had to come up with some sort of way to attach the panels to the curtain rod. I decided to use the same stitch pattern that is in the panel (between the Gothic windows). I think the tabs turned out nicely!

I had to make three panels, because despite measuring, one panel (post-blocking) was too narrow to fit one half of the window.

The panels, while they are technically the same size, blocked kind of funny. One panel is longer and narrower than the other two. Ah well. Maybe next time they get washed, they’ll even out.

It took me about eight hours per panel. Of course, I only worked on them for a couple-few hours per night, so it took me a few weeks.

Now, I’m going to buy the store out of that yarn (a few times, probably) and move on to the kitchen!

by

Happy Anniversary!!!

It’s hard to believe that this blog has been in existence for a year! I started it so that I wouldn’t have so many problems leaving comments on other people’s blogs and I guess it stuck!

Back in July of 2011 I had a new camera and a new blog. How exciting!

I was unemployed, but it wouldn’t be for very much longer.

The year has seen it’s share of changes, that’s for sure…

Babies have been born.

Relationships with relatives have begun anew.

New skills were practiced.

Old skills revived.

There were many “firsts” for me this year.

So many new things to try!

So much to learn!

So much to love…

And so much to lose…

The wheel has turned and here we are again… Another July. Another year, filled with promise! What will happen this time around???

by

Victorian Memories Choker

A friend asked me to make a choker for her. She said she wanted it to be black, lacy and about an inch wide.

I decided to use crochet, rather than tatting.

I agonized over patterns for several days. I was making myself crazy. As a result, I had effectively procrastinated enough to make a couple of other things! I even went so far as to start looking at curtain patterns and dig out my white sport-weight yarn! Bad, bad, bad!!!

My procrastination projects were: the Cosmos Doily, which you’ve seen; and the Five-Petaled Flower Necklace:

It took me longer to make than I expected (about 3 hours!) to make this necklace. I’m just not accustomed to using thread. Hopefully, I’ll get faster with practice.

So, my friend came over for a visit and I was showing her the Cosmos Doily and I suddenly remembered that I still hadn’t made a decision on which pattern to use for her choker. And I felt terrible that I had been so busy on other things, when I should have been making her project.

I had downloaded several bookmark patterns, thinking those would be the easiest to alter into a choker. While I had her here, I made her look at the patterns and she chose one. A tremendous weight had lifted! I now had a plan!

I used size 10 thread (don’t remember the name, I never keep ball bands) and a small, size 7 steel crochet hook.

I measured her neck and decided that I needed to simply double the recipe on the pattern. That will go almost all the way around her neck, but still allow her enough room for tying.

Because she only wanted it to be an inch wide, I omitted the last round and didn’t block the piece.

While making this, I discovered something… I do not like crocheting with black thread. So, the remainder of the ball will be used for tatting projects.

She hasn’t been home for a few days, so she doesn’t know that it’s ready for her. I hope she likes it!

In other news, I got to drive the tractor for the first time yesterday! I just moved it from one place to another, but I had to maneuver around trees and stuff. It was fun! I guess if you harass your sweetie often enough, he will start teaching you things… Now, if I could just get him to teach me to weld, like he said he would…

 

 

by

Cosmos Doily!

Hello!

I wanted to make a large doily to use as a tablecloth; so I used worsted-weight yarn, instead of thread. It didn’t block out as large as I was hoping, but it fits on a different table than intended.

The pattern I chose was Cosmos Doily.

I would say this took me about 8 hours to make; however, I did get a little confused and had to rip out an entire round.

The pattern instructions are great, until you get to rounds 11 and 12. Then, they get a little confusing (to me.) Thankfully there was a photo that I could use to see where things should go.

This doily used about 3/4 of a full 7-ounce skein of yarn.

I am likely to make this again.