Cute, eh?

I think the top one may possibly be the cutest stuffie I have made yet. The cat I like too. The sheep.... well, I think he is very homely, but I am hoping someone likes him! He certainly has a classy Aran sweater! I really think I need to make more of the birdy ducky whatever though.... maybe I will call him Kyle. Don't ask me why!

First Snow!

Our first snow of the season... I wasn't sure we would have snow, the forecast changed every time I turned on the telly. I woke to the sound of rain, and a sinus headache, and the temp at about 40 degrees. The temp fell slowly, and the snow started after a couple of hours. Nothing stuck at first, but as the ground cooled it began to dust the ground and cars. It is so pretty! If the rain/snow line had stayed stationary, we would have several inches, but it would snow for awhile, and then rain for awhile, then snow and so on. The result is a slushy thin snowcoat, but I loved watching it anyway.

So while I was enjoying the flakes, I also enjoyed sewing. Though I would love to say I got to sew on my LOTR project, my son's Christmas easily
took precedence. I hope what I made him fits... he's been gone 2 years, and is fit and muscled. Anyway, I enjoyed making it. Another shopping trip and we will send the packet off to Okinawa. It is a very long trip, halfway around the world. I miss him.

I did try to sort through all the gorgeous fabrics I have been fondling for my Arwen and Eowyn dresses... I also got a soft cotton dress cut out to try as the underlayer of the Requiem Dress. I dyed the knit fabric along with the silks last time, and it turned a gorgeous blue color.

And, I took pictures of some stuffies I made, which will be for sale soon! Seems things are marching along...

Back to work

Whew, well I have missed writing on my blog, but I needed to have a slightly different focas for a while. I haven't been without art though, as the pics show! The first photo ( why blogger put it third I don't know!)is a cat stuffie I made the day before Halloween... I needed to have something to smile about, and he, with his friends the pumpkin I sewed and raven I bought, was perfect!

Next is a wonderful old box I found at one of the thrift shops I visit, which proved to be irresistable to my cat Trouble. It has wonderful brass insets and corners, and obviously handmade drawers. I don't know what I will store in it, but it will have to be something as wonderful as the box.

The balls of yarn are of cotton and merino wool/silk that I spun up. It is really hard to spin cotton thickly... I usually spin wool, and much thinner, and the change is much harder than I imagined. I want to use it as a supplimentary weft for the borders of a cotton shirt I want to weave. I have a lot of practicing to do before then!

The fifth is a set of wrist warmers I knitted and then fulled for a friend for Christmas. I love the ragg type marled yarn. It is the merino and silk I spun up and it is so soft and silky. My friend has very sensitive skin, but this won't bother her a bit!

The last two photos (okay, I love the vagaries of blogger, they put these first!) speak of two places I have gone recently. The house is in Alexandria VA, where I had lunch with a friend and discovered two great shops, one a bead shop, and one mixed media. The house just caught my eye for the lovely ironwork. I plan to do a day trip around DC to tour all the interesting sites in the new Dan Brown book, Lost Symbols. It was fascinating. He is a master of taking the real and historical and weaving them 'round with half truths and fiction to make a compelling story, difficult to put down. I spend my 1.25 hours of commute everyday listening to books on cd. I have a tough time finding more than a few minutes at night to read, so this allows me to "read" during unproductive times. I like that!

And the orange fluffy stuff? Lovely longwool dyed the perfect color to compliment a fall colors grouping of wool I bought over the last year. There should be enough to weave enough fabric for a shawl and maybe a top too. I love those colors.

I also spent time thinking about what I want to do with my life, and how to accomplish it. I won't be too explicit now, but I have alot of work to do to set up my future. I guess I should go back down and work on Christmas, usually it is my fav time of year, though the last few years have been somewhat less so. I plan on this year being better.

I feel great!

It has been a weekend of work, but the kind of work I can't get enough of! I like the results! I morphed a copyright free pic, made it black and white, and then used freehand embroidery to emphasize the shapes, and then painted one pod and stem. Last, I used gel medium to attach a silk transfer to complete the visual triangle. The second piece is a large welting cord purse. I used 12/32" cord, covered with a black and white batik and sewn with red Fun Fur. The glass bauble helps emphasize the black banding. Ah, the third piece! I took Hamish and Katey (my stuffie kitties) in to work, and I have been missing their funny faces, so.... meet Fiona, a little brown bunny. She is made out of a pair of angora slacks a friend gave me. I am still working on a hedgehog! All in all, this has been a great weekend. I need more like this!

Hamish and Katie

Hamish and his little sister Katie appeared out of a thrift store sweater I got at least 2 years ago.... the recent publication of Somerset Studios "Stuffed" really kicked me into high gear on making soft toys. I think they are pretty cute! I have a few more sweaters and some woolen fabric I have fulled in the washer... I am thinking of birds and maybe rabbits too. The felt I used is wool too, I like it better than the acrylic. I stuffed them with polyfil, but I picked up a new filling that is in really small bits, so the stuffies should stuff mor evenly... but then I like them to be a bit off anyway! What do you think?