What is a yarn bowl,  you ask? It’s a bowl made especially for holding yarn. Most of them have a hole that you can thread the yarn through, so that if your yarn ball gets to rolling around, it can do so like a graceful ballerina in the bowl, instead of like a tasmanian yarn dust devil on your floor. Good bowls also have a hook shaped groove that you can thread the yarn through, so that should you want to leave the house with your project (but not the bowl)–or should you want to switch projects–you can easily remove the yarn. I have been wanting to own a yarn bowl for a while, but what can I say, I’m particular. Because I’ve made pottery and because I know so  many potters, I want what I want how I want it, and I’m willing to wait. But when I stumbled upon this yarn bowl, I knew that resistance was futile.


Look at the lovely wavy edge! And the gorgeous icy mint/turquoise glaze! And the cute white birdies at the top! I watched it for a week or so, trying to be good, but I couldn’t help myself. In person, it’s even better than I imagined. I’ve thrown some pots in my day, so I know what goes into a finely crafted specimen (personally, I’m not there yet!). The sides are thin and smooth (not clunky) and the smoothness of the cut yarn groove and hole are equal to anything mass-produced.  I also love the contrast of the hand-formed porcelain birds, which are not as polished as the rest of the bowl–they remind me that someone made this with their two hands. As a person who tries to make my living creatively, I feel it’s important to support other creative businesses, so there was no guilt with this purchase!

Once I received the bowl,  my Garden Path Shawl jumped right into it. The yarn that I am using,  Mountain Colors Winter Lace –made just a few hours away from where I once lived– got a little crazy while I was winding it, so I couldn’t pull it from the center. (One day I will write a book entitled “Zen and the Art of Yarn Winding”.) I know this bowl will be just the thing to tame it.

If you’re in the market for a yarn bowl, or even just some pretty pottery, I highly recommend Darielle’s Clay Art. I am not receiving any compensation to say so, just trying to help another creative person.  And now, I guess I have to get back to my writing!

First off, I hit the jackpot at this thrift/craft market right by Yarnivore. My coworker was in on her day off and she went over there, so we asked her how it was inside. (You know how it is: you work somewhere, and you never go to all of the places right nearby?) She mentioned buttons and my boss turned to me and said “Go!”. I do have a thing for buttons, I can’t help it!  Anyway, I scored 2 sandwich sized zipper bags of buttons on cards for $4/piece. The ladies at the register were confused about the price but it was right, so hooray for me. I was good, I left several jars of buttons there…but I may need to go back and look at them again. Ahem. Not that I need any buttons…

The garden is doing well. The cats seem to stay out of it and almost everything has sprouted. So far: tomatoes and zuchinni (starts from a friend), scarlet runner beans, garden beans, chard, radishes, oregano, marigolds and cucumbers have shown their leaves– I took pics, but as you might imagine, they are not that exciting yet. In other back yard news, my mom and I are going to attempt to spay and release all 6 stray cats (above, plus one) that live between both of our neighbors’ back yards. They are so cute, but we definitely do not want more of them. As long as the neighbors feed them, there will be more, so….we’ll see how the whole trapping thing goes. We’re going to a feral cat meeting tomorrow, so hopefully they will give us plenty of tips. I can’t be a cat lady because I’m allergic to cats, which is probably a good thing for me and my yarn.

I’m still teaching classes at the shop and wanted to give a heads up that I have a baby sweater class starting this Monday. Email me for more information on the pattern specifics, but it’s a little girl’s pattern (size 6 months, 12 months, or 18 months, and it runs big) and you will learn lots of skills that you can use for adult sized sweaters. Learning them on the smaller scale first is fun because you don’t have to worry too  much about fit plus we don’t have to deal with any body issues (haha!), and you should be able to finish a lot of the work in class. The cost is $60 + materials, and we have yarn options ranging from about $15 to however much you want to spend. It meets 4 Monday nights from 6-8 pm. If you’re interested, call the shop or email me, it’s always fun to have at least 3 or 4 people in a class. I’m halfway through a sock class right now and it’s so fun to see how each of the yarns work up in crochet.

And finally, one of my pattern customers has begun selling the raffia sun hats (from this pattern) in her etsy store. If you don’t crochet, here’s your chance to get one at a very fair price. She even makes them in smaller sizes for kids. I haven’t seen the hats in person, but from the photos and my conversations with Cynthia I can tell you that I think you’ll be getting a quality product. And just so you know,  if you want to make something from one of my self published patterns to sell in your shop, just email me to discuss (I do allow it, for a small fee + link exchange).

I also wanted to mention that I started working at Yarnivore, my LYS, a few months ago. For those of you who don’t know, working in a Yarn Shop is my sanity check (although working at home might sound glamorous, it makes me downright nutty from lack of social interaction!) It’s a great shop–and we just expanded– so if you’re ever in the San Antonio area, be sure to pop in! I’m offering crochet classes, too–check the store calendar to see what’s next. In February, I am offering Beginning Crochet, Intermediate Crochet (Creating Texture) and a Broomstick Lace Workshop (which is the technique I used to make the scarf above). If there’s something else you want to learn, I also do private lessons, at very reasonable rates, so check it out or just come by to say hello.

Have a great weekend!

Beata started making these in October right around the time she got her hands on a copy of Crochet Adorned, and apparently she has been crocheting up a storm!! I think I would be so happy to walk into my bedroom (or any room!) and see these– and in case you don’t crochet (or sew), she’s selling them in her etsy shop. Her fabric and yarn color combos are excellent, and after trying to match clothes to  yarn for a good six months, let me tell you- it’s not as easy as she makes it seem! So, if you’re looking for something happy to give this holiday, check out all of her pillow case listings.She’s even having a giveaway on her blog here, check it out! And if you want to give it a shot yourself– add Crochet Adorned (perhaps a signed copy?) to your list.

I also wanted to share the sweetest email I got today about the book, in case there are any crocheters on your gift list.

Hi, I received a copy of your above mentioned book and I wanted to tell you that I absolutely LOVE it!!!! The items in your book are beautiful. The instructions are clearly written and the pictures are just gorgeous. It’s been a long time since I’ve received a gift that I’ve enjoyed as much as this one. I’m not much of a winter person so I’ve been very busy creating items for spring with the help of your lovely and wonderful book and that keeps my spirit lifted. Thank you for sharing your talent with the rest of us, Sharon

E-mails like this, and seeing what you all come up with, are the reasons why I do what I do. So thank you, thank you! And while I’m at it, here are a couple of links to some other awesome adaptations from the book. Click on over.

Lovely Sewn/Crocheted Bird Pillow by Seams of Life (warning: cute cat photo ahead)

Pretty Floral Crochet Cushion by Hen House (hey, another cute cat! You heard it here: 2 out of 2 cats recommend Crochet Adorned!)

And, not in the book, but available in the Crafty Tree Trimmings E-book, my  Crochet Star Ornaments: Diane’s take!

Have a happy, crafty Sunday!

I turned the frozen shrimp into roasted lime sesame shrimp (thanks to a bottled marinade) then had some leftover v-day accoutrements. Holy crap, those oils and vinegars Paul bought are SO good. Completely fresh and delectable. I also seasoned some rice with one of the spice mixes for our dinner last night, heavenly! I really miss Indian food. And Asian food. And Mexican food. So let’s all cross our fingers that the next place we go will involve other cultures.  I keep meaning to make a return visit to New York, but it’s just too expensive.

I have been working on some crafty things, I promise. But some of them are gifts, one is a custom job, and lots of things are work-related. It’s feast or famine in this freelancey life, so right now I’m somewhere leaning towards feast. Since I can’t show you anything, let me share these darling dish towels I bought at the Winter Fest instead. They were so cute, and they were made by retired seniors, so how could I say no?  There were about six stacks of them at the display and I started looking through every one until I felt very self conscious and decided on these two lovelies.

Happy dishes.
I’m hoping to get a lot of work done this week, but today I just felt mopey and sad and missed Paul. Tomorrow will be better!

It makes it slightly easier to actually contain all of the cuttings and scraplets that are too small to save. Trust me, they are still all over the floor. But there are LESS of them on the floor! It’s also super convenient for threads I cut while I’m sewing, which tend to stick all over me and trail pathways all over the house. Sometimes I feel like a cat lady, only my cat is made of fabric refuse.

Basically I just made a lined bag with a foldover casing and two tabs with velcro sewn on. I used some super cute fabric from ReproDepot (I got it last year, so it’s probably gone) and 1/4 inch surgical piping to keep the bag nice and open. After our trip to Home Depot, it occurred to me that they probably sell something similar  and non-surgical at the fabric store- but this worked, and the worker was psyched to help us repurpose something. I’ve already used it on another project, and now that I know how, will probably use it again for things that need lots of structure.

It is cold, cold, COLD outside today. A winter storm is blowing in and there is so much snow that you can hardly see. Again I say, “So this is what they were talking about.” At least I’ll have plenty of chances to wear my new snowboots . I love the plaid—I can let it show if I wear it with skirts, or be totally incognito with pants. Yay. I hardly every put my shopping purchases up here, but … heck, I just thought they were so cute!

Yesterday I recieved this beautiful pull toy in the mail from Stump Pond Toys (photo from his shop). I found his store on my daily blog cruise somehow and this was just SO cute. It’s not for my sister’s baby, or anyone else’s. It’s for me. I don’t know why, I just needed it! I love that the guy describes himself as 87 and still kicking! And I’m happy to report that I have begun to see the bunnies on my walk home from work again (I thought maybe they got eaten, but probably they were just cold). Yay for hop hops, which is what I like to call them when I’m being silly.

Now  I have a question for you. Does anyone have any links or brand suggestions for a good, affordable sewing machine carrying case? Ideally I’d like something that is kind of cute (yeah right) and has a shoulder strap, plus pockets for accessories. In reality, this seems unlikely from my web searching. Perhaps I will have to make one, but I’d rather buy one. So, if you know of any, please leave me a comment.

Have a wonderful weekend. It looks like we’re going to be snowed in. Or for me, sewed in. (Dang, I am bad with my puns!)

Thanks to Modish for featuring me in her Handmade Spaces column. Check it out to see pics of my craft room/studio (in a clean state).

All of my hats and earrings are on sale at Etsy- check it out! There’s still a good bit of winter left.

And check out this 2-part post on needlefelting over at ReproDepot where I show you how to make some cute felted owls, then give you ideas on how to use them.  Also exciting: All marimekko fabrics and products are on sale through January 15th! I loooove the print below.

And finally, check out my crochet-slash-art roundup on the Adorn blog.

Have a great weekend.

In other much less expensive splurginess, I wanted to show off some of the fabric I bought before and over the holidays. I almost NEVER buy fabric, because I feel like I already have some slated for projects that were not completed, I get it free for work projects, etc. But, since I have been so obsessed with patchwork lately, I thought a few small amounts in colors I needed to fill out my stash were in order. Doing the patchwork swap was really fun because I realized sometimes you really only need a scrap of something to make a layout work. 

Here are some 1/2 yards I found after looking long and hard at Joann’s. The woman cutting them kept commenting on how “different” they were.

Here are some FQs I purchased in San Antonio. I liked the way this quilt shop had their shelves set up– there was a mini shelf under each fabric bolt shelf with all available FQs of those fabrics. That makes a lot of sense to me.

And here are some amazing flannels, from a different quilt shop in San Antonio. I have never seen flannels like this and I had to hold myself back.

The cool thing about  new fabric is that sometimes it makes your old fabric look better. I was going to make a project with the flannels but I ended up using just a sliver of the yellow- everything else was from my stash.  (I’ll show it off next week). I’m trying to be  more conscious of what colors I have a lot of, and where I can build up a little. It makes for a more complex patchwork, plus it’s always good to have options.

 
And ended up with this:

A super simple K1, P1 ribbed hat. The yarn was so pretty that  I didn’t want to do anything complicated, and I knew I’d get more mileage with knitting than crochet.  The project made a perfect plane-ride companion. I may end up adding some type of brim since it’s a little short for Montana winters (I ran out of yarn. Plus, it’s embarrassing to put hats on your head with needles sticking out of them on planes. Not that I didn’t do it anyway– but I find this method less reliable  for determining fit with knitting than crochet).

I love the way handspun yarn looks and feels (especially this, because the vintage fabric spun in keeps it from itching my sensitive skin).  The only hard part about working with handspun is running out, understandably. I think in the future I’ll do a mix of handspun and basic yarn to make it last. I could see it being really pretty as an accent row.  

I’ve been going to bed thinking about all of the things I still need to post. I haven’t even unpacked my suitcase yet, or fully dealt with this:

These are just the fun packages- not the bills. Thanks so much to everyone who sent me a card, a little christmas something, and my ornament swappers. There were a couple standouts that I’ll share…just as soon as I get around to it.