"Properly practiced, knitting soothes the troubled spirit, and it doesn't hurt the untroubled spirit either." ~ Elizabeth Zimmerman

4/29/15

New Clothes For My Girls

My sister, Jodie, sews and sells clothes for Ellowyne Wilde dolls. She's extremely good at it. She designs her own patterns and everything. Every so often, she comes up with something I just must have for my girls. That happened last week.

First is this little summer dress with matching hat, modeled by Amber.



I adore the fabric! As an aside, my sister works at Joann's. She has a fabric addiction too. Not a good combination.

This design is also one of her new ones. I asked her to do one for me in pink and white. It turned out gorgeous. Ellie is modeling it.



She also made the stockings and gauntlets. I have a very talented little sister.

If you're interested in seeing her other doll designs,

click here -->  Jodie Creations


We had our first 'hot' sunny day yesterday. It got up to 78 here at the Parkarosa. That's hot for this time of year. Not hot for the middle of July of course. I enjoyed it immensely. Today we're back to regular spring weather.

Live long and prosper. \\//

4/28/15

WIPs

My biggest accomplishment this past week, I finished the background on Hummdog.



YAY! Now I can do the back stitching/outlining! My favorite part.

Over the weekend I got this incredible need to bead. Haven't felt that way in ages. I answered the call. Decided to work on something easy and therefore satisfying.



It's just a simple netted chain at the moment. I have a new blue shirt and decided I need something blue to go with it.

The weekend was cold and rainy, so Sweet Hubby and I spent it indoors puttering and watching movies, and Netflix. We did a Planet Earth marathon on Sunday between putterings. I've never had the opportunity to watch the whole series, and it's on Netflix right now. We watched the first few episodes. Wow! What a fascinating series. The photography is absolutely amazing. I've learned so much so far. This earth of ours is truly a wondrous place. We need to stop abusing it and take care of it because it's the only home we have. I'm looking forward to watching the rest of the series.

Yesterday was a very nice day but I didn't get to go outside much. I spent all day setting up and taking a photograph for a photo contest the Imagining Wilde group is having. First prize is your choice of doll from the shop, and there's one I'd love to have. I didn't expect it to take all day, but you know how it goes. Nothing ever goes as planned in these things.

Today it's gorgeous out. I'm going outside to enjoy my deck as soon as I finish this blog post.

Next blog post will be a doll one. Just warning you.

Live long and prosper. \\//

4/21/15

Blocking Mittens

I am often asked how I block mittens. Here's a tutorial.

I am blocking a pair of mens mittens. They are made of 100% Acrylic, but I block everything with steam, including wool.

First, I have made myself a little cardboard blocker.I talked sweet hubby into letting me use his hand to create the blocker. I drew around his hand on the cardboard, then cut it out at the dimensions I wanted the mittens to be.



I insert the blocker inside the mitten. Please notice I've bent the thumb where it joins the hand. This is to make it easier to insert in the mitten. When the thumb part is in far enough, I unbend it and push it into the thumb of the mitten.



While doing this, I've warmed up my trusty Jiffy steamer. I then gently steam the mitten on both sides. If you don't have a steamer, a steam iron can be used. Just make sure you DON'T TOUCH THE FABRIC with the iron. Hover above just an inch or two.



Then I remove the blocker and steam again. On these mittens, the thumb is actually slightly more toward the palm, so I go ahead and fold it over and lightly steam it.



Sometimes, despite my best efforts, when I bind off the tips of the mittens, they will have little bumps or dog ears. I use the steamer to flatten them down so the top is nice and round.



I let them dry, which usually only takes a few minutes, and then they're done.



I hope this has been helpful.

Live long and prosper. \\//

4/20/15

Little Garter Checks in Brown

A FO! Hurray!



Little Garter Check Mens Mittens in Brown

Pattern: Little Garter Checks  by me for Knitwits.

Yarn: S.R. Kertzer Northern Worsted
Content: 100% Acrylic, worsted weight
Color: Twig

Needles: Circulars size 5.

Cast on: March 5, 2015
Completed: April 9, 2015








I have an update photo for Hummdog too.



Just that corner is left! I see light at the end of the tunnel. I've had to slow down on it though. The stitching is straining my eyes quite a bit.

We had beautiful weather over the weekend. It was so sunny and warm. I caught Cashmere napping on the deck.



Live long and prosper. \\//

4/7/15

Update

I have a WIP update. I've been putting most of my crafting energy and time into Hummdog. I can't believe how many hours I've gone through on this background so far.



It's looking good though. I am about halfway done.

In knitting, I've been perfecting my doll hat pattern. I've made two black hats. Here's one of them.



I sewed a band of lace that has pearl beads on it. I think it turned out so cute.



The other hat is the same, except no embellishment. Just plain.



Most of my time went into creating an Etsy store for my doll clothes. After hours of work, Wool in the Wilde is now open for business. Now the hard part, getting the right people to visit it. Here is one of the outfits I've got available in it.



We had a beautiful weekend weather-wise. Especially on Sunday. It was sunny and in the 50's. I planted Orange and Purple Violas in the deck boxes.



Sweet Hubby even got out the lawn mower and gave the yard it's first haircut for the year.



Looked fantastic! Then yesterday, which was the next morning, I got up and it looked like this.



It snowed all day long. We got almost 3 inches. It was kind of depressing.

The birch tree was really pretty covered in fresh snow though.



Today, it looks like this.



You'd never know it snowed. The Violas came through it all just fine too. The cold didn't seem to bother than. Spring in north Idaho. Never a dull moment.

Here's a fun pic for you. Moose butt!




Over the weekend we had visitors. A pair of young moose wandered by munching on shrubs as they went. I got pics of just one butt. Couldn't get anything else.They were very shy with me around. Eventually they ran off.

Because of the snow, I filled the bird feeders on Monday. A Red Crossbill took advantage of the opportunity.




Another busy week bites the dust. On to the next one!

Live long and prosper. \\//