Foursome's Done (almost)

There it is, 4 buckets and a handle with a twist in it. But I've spent all day trying to figure out how to sew it together. Supposedly I'm going to sew the inner parts together. I've looked at the picture in the book and the picture on the web site and I'm still not exactly sure what to do but I've sewn it 3 times now...all 3 times it didn't seem right. I'll get it. The book has a smaller picture of it but I found a better picture here: http://www.catbordhi.com/downloads/Treasury_2_pv.pdf

I was hoping I'd find directions for sewing it but no such luck although the book is pretty specific, I'm just having a hard time following directions. I probably need some chocolate and wine!


Meanwhile, I've been looking on ebay whenever I rest my needle from the Foursome. I ended up with a needle felting kit to make a Maltese Dog. Soooo cute. I hope mine turns out this cute. I think I'm going to take it to Michigan and let the grandaughters help me make it. When finished I'll knit a Cat Bordhi mobius dog bed for it. This kit was Item # 270218984758 . I've been looking at them now for a few weeks and today I couldn't resist any longer.









OH, did I forget to say I also bought a finished dog? Well, I miss my dogs and while the house is for sale, I hesitate to get another one, even a small one for fear they'll mess up the furniture or floor or, well I'm trying to keep the place clean. (that's my excuse and I'm sticking with it). The finished Matese was Item # 230231548973 and if you want one, she does have more dogs. I'm tempted but I'll see how mine turns out first. Here she is, she measures only 3" long x 3" high to the top of her topknot. She's made of White merino wool and 100% Cultivated Silk. Her pink bow sports a Pink Swarovski Rhinestone set in a silver jewel finding.



Hopefully sometime tomorrow I'll have a picture of a felted Foursome to show.

2 UFO's On Saturday

At Christmas time I was trying furiously to finish up presents for local relatives while I was also trying to get ready to leave for Tacoma. One niece got left out in my rush. I promised her I'd get her present done as soon as I got home from Tacoma but here I am, over 2 months after Christmas and I still haven't delivered her present. Maybe it was meant to be, she's moving from a camper to a house in the next couple weeks. They're really excited and working to get the house painted and fixed up before they move in. So--I decided to get that throw finished and make it for the new house. I picked a design that was on sale this week at Embroidery Library. I think its perfect.

Meanwhile, I am still working on the Felted Foursome. I probably could have finished it if I had worked on it while the machine was embroidering but instead I was reading a book...so I took the foursome to the Mill rather than my spinning wheel since bad weather was predicted and I didn't want to get the wheel wet.

I am definitely going to finish it today, I can't wait to felt it. BTW, people at the mill couldn't figure out what it is...they all said, it did look like ...something...maybe a bit obscene??? Good think I took the book so I could show visitors the picture of what it is going to look like (hopefully)

Another UFO finished

In my quest to pack stuff up instead of making a bigger mess in the loft, I decided to finish up my UFO's and I have quite a few. Yesterday's UFO was an embroidered throw that I started at Christmas. Unfortunately the machine messed up, jumped around and totally ruined the design I was doing. I tossed it aside and grabbed another throw because it was a Christmas present for my BIL. Yesterday I sat and picked out as many stitches as I could from the thing. I actually ended up with a couple little holes and some very thin fabric in places but I was pretty sure that the proper embroidery design could hide the flaws and correct the mistake so I proceeded. After getting out as much thread as I could I hooped it up, making sure the old remains were centered in the hoop. I figured, even if I didn't succeed, I could cut the corner off the throw and somehow make lemonaid out of the lemon. I'm thrilled with the results. You can see a bit of the old design (blue) between the girls' legs but if you look close at it, it looks like flowers. WHEW! Throw saved!!! and I get my own Hummel design on one of the great throws I bought at Tuesday Morning last year. I think I was the only one who didn't get one in my effort to make everyone a present. Hummm, I wonder if they still have those throws? Never mind...everyone I know has one now, including me. I extremely glad that it was one of those nice green throws, its my favorite color.

2 Evenings work, I'm almost done

Here it is, I'm almost finished with the 2nd pot in my Felted Foursome, I will probably sit down today and finish that one and start the 3rd tonight.

Meanwhile, during the day I refinished my bay window that my dogs sat in every day as they watched the world go by. They scratched the wood up quite a bit so I decided to sand it and give it a couple coats of satin poly. I think it looks spectacular.

The more I fix things in this house the more I think if it doesn't sell....I don't care !

BTW, the huge plant in the window is my Aechmea, a bromelaide. These plants have a beautiful flower when you buy them, the flower stays for quite a long while and then finally dies. But the coolest thing about a bromelaide is that they put out "Pups"...Suckers that grow up from the base of the plants that can be detached and inserted in small pots to grow into a brand new plant. There's all sorts of varieties of these plants and my sister-in-law and I have been nuts about them now for a few years. Both of us haven't had any luck with our Pups but this one is VERY hopeful.

Today I'm going up to the loft to start emptying the cupboards "under the eaves" on the far side. I did the first side a couple days ago and sent Natalie 50 lbs of yarn that I found under there. I should also say that 2 big huge bags of yarn went to the garbage bin because it was dusty and dirty and very old. Natalie is getting the best of the best and I have told her to store what she doesn't want in her basement so I can retrieve it. Included are 2 cones of Denys Brunton Magicolor. I hope she doesn't want it because it makes fantastic socks and of course, we all know how great it is when fair isle'd. (is that a word?)

Continuing 2/17's Project, the Felted Foursome

I have not forgotten the Cat Bordhi Felted Foursome. In spite of the fact that I'm still trying to pack extra yarn and stuff for the impending move I have been knitting in the evening and I took the Felted Foursome with me to the Mill where we demo knitting or spinning or weaving or whatever our current project is. I had my handle done and proceeded to knit 4 separate parts which I wasn't sure about. When I got home I tossed it in the knitting basket and forgot about it for a week. That was a mistake. Yesterday I picked it up again and couldn't figure out where I was on the pattern. I ended up taking out waste yarn and then having to rewind the whole thing and start over. Let me warn you, rewinding isn't all that easy with this project.

In the beginning of this pattern Cat says: "You may find yourself a little disoriented until you've gone far enough to see what you're making, but fear not; keep knitting and soon you shall have your very own Felted Foursome" She's right, I now know what's happening and I'm anxious to finish this magical thing. Yup---I said Magical Thing...it truly is as Magical as she says it is. Hats off to Cat Bordhi for making hand knitting so much fun!!!


Look at the picture. Can you see the 4 separate parts that will soon be 4 pots? And of course, the MCO (mobius cast on) handle in the middle. AWESOME!!!! I can't wait to finish it.

The Bunny Fun is Spreading

Look at these cuties!!! Eileen Montgomery from Ontario, Canada sent me these pictures. Here's what Eileen had to say:

"I knit your bunny several years ago so here's a picture. She's so cute in her bright spring colours, holding a wooden carrot. Her dress' fairisle pattern looks like part of SW #69. I have just knit a sheep version by using SW #47, beads in the tucks, a textured yarn and half the number of rows for the ears." eileen@eileenmontgomery.com

Doggone, these little charmers are soooo cute. Now of course I want to try a sheep.

Finally a UFO is Done

I think its been 2 years since I started this project. A lot has happened since then but I finally decided to get back to it. Of course, after sitting on my loom for 2 years it needed some TLC before I could actually work on it again. One of the reasons I didn't finish it was because there was one thread not tied onto the back beam. My weaving friend came over and helped me ready it for weaving again. What a mess, I was tempted to just take it off and dump it but I really liked the colors and wanted to finish it.

My original objective for this project was to figure out the length so that it would fit my table with extra to hang over the edges. Not as easy with weaving on a loom as weaving on a knitting machine. I also wanted to work on edges, trying my best to make them nice and neat, which isn't as easy as I thought it would be. I achieved the first objective but the second one -- well, the edges leave a lot to be desired. I think the choice of yarn has something to do with the finish as well because its a hard cotton yarn (Cotton Fine from Brown Sheep). I love the yarn but I'm afraid all the flaws show because there's no "fuzz" in the yarn to hide weaving in ends and that sort of thing. The places where I had to rewind the bobbin and start with a new thread really show, I'm not sure why but I'll bet my weaving friends can tell me how to eliminate that little bulge you get when you weave in the ends. UGH!

I want to start another one but I have told myself I have a lot of UFO's to work on first and the loom is going to be taken apart and packed for moving. That should keep me focused on UFO's.