Market Bag!

The bag itself went well-pretty straight forward for a crochet project.  

I didn't use the yarn I just spun but rather some hemp I had in the stash.

I used a free pattern from Bernat, Handicrafter Cotton #228 Market Bag 

and just increased the base a bit for a larger bag.

The only problem I ran into was running out of yarn for the handles!

Today I will wind up some of the new yarn and crochet the handles!

I will position them differently than the pattern-I will finish it soon, I'm sure!

The mesh was very easy to execute;

it is going to be a very sturdy bag!

Used Up!

I am all used up-when I over-schedule myself this happens!

An appointment on Monday

 and  I left early so I could buy the flowers for the new pot, 

Tuesday I had company and yesterday to the doctors and I then met Bill for lunch.

All simple things but three days in a row put me down!

  Sigh.

I did finish sock #1 for Bill (size 15 sock!) in the yarn that is Mohair-ish.

I can't help but laugh because when 7 yo Ella stayed with us recently, 

she exclaimed that Grandpa had hobbit feet!

I've managed to start the new, pretty blend of plant and wool fibers;  

well, silk isn't really a plant fiber , is it?! 

I know that it is a protein fiber for dyeing so it must be considered animal fiber?!

(Plants are considered bast fibers)

 This is wool, silk and linen blended-a fun spin at any rate and nice in my hands

 I am enjoying the color after the neutral of the linen I just finished.

And I've done some pint-sized artwork which has been the most satisfying.

I love sketching and then inking over it-very meditative.

This is for my sister, her birthday card;

 it is from a recent photo she took on her vacation!

It is more vibrant than it shows here-the sunset was very orange!

Today has nothing on the schedule so I should be able to catch up with myself!

All in a Day

 I took care of the outside things in the morning-filling bird feeders, watering porch plants

and then I finally filled the Mother's Day pot I received--about time!  

The tall plant is another crinum, the lime green is sedum

 and the blue flower is a dwarf morning glory--

all plants which bear the brutal temperatures right now in Florida!

 In the afternoon, a friend came over with her children for a visit to cool down in the pool!

How delightful it was to talk with this friend I haven't 'seen' in months! 

When the afternoon T-storm rolled in, we got out of the pool 

and had ice cream cones to soften the blow! 

And typical of me after a visit--down time in the recliner with some kitties and knitting!

I am still working on the shawl by Joji and it is entering the final patterning.

What a full day!

Spiders!

 I thought I would put my recent botanical renderings to practical use and made a label for my skein of linen yarn--a flax bouquet on one side and the other holds the pertinent info like yardage, etc. 

 I keep all of my plant fiber skeins in this basket I bought a decade ago at a fiber show.

When I did put the skein in the basket, 

I was irritated to notice all of the little spider webs around the area. 

 I got out a dust cloth and began scooping them out from under the basket. 

 I terminated several little spiders.

 And then I had the brainstorm to look at the bottom of the basket!

  Yikes!  See all of the egg sacs?!

Needless to say, I swiped them away after a good spraying and then vacuumed the whole thing.

I'm glad to say I didn't find any little spiders on the inside of the basket but cleaned it anyway!

Then I found mama-she was small as far as spiders go but I wiped her out, too.

See my favorite spray? 

 I put it to good use in the whole area.

After all of the drama, I then dusted and polished the whole area 

(antique sewing machine and wooden sewing cabinet) 

which was a good thing to do since dusting and polishing is usually last on my chore list!

Linen!

 The hank of flax is spun and I now have a skein of linen

which is a whopping eight ounces for 508 yards of sport weight yarn!

I plan to either knit or crochet a market bag with it.

The yarn plied pretty smoothly-

it was hard to ply more loosely than I usually do

because I didn't want to end up with kinky or wiry yarn.

This is soft which is surprising but not like wool!

I ended up with a perfectly balanced skein

which was a wonderful outcome!

The yarn hanging straight like this instead of torqued

is proof of the balance between plying (twisting the two singles of linen)

and the original twist of the singles.

I enjoyed this project very much!

Sketching for Sunday

Another calendar line and wash is finished.
This one is a Tobacco Flower which was a new one to me!

Soon you will be seeing a slightly different kind of ink drawing!

What a fun niche this artist has carved for herself!

She's great to watch on YouTube, too!

Check her out on her fun Inky Art School!

I'm having a great time!

Perspective!

 Bet this looks familiar yet is is 12" tall--a bloom on an Elephant Ear plant or a Taro plant.

 In the same family as Caladium but on steroids!

This plant is 8' tall!  We've never seen them flower so this was a treat!

 This pretty little growing vine is blooming-looks like a squash or cuke, right?

 It is a Loofa plant-it loves to climb and the dead trees out back 

make a perfect place to make a totem pole!

 Another plant that is very tall, and large-almost 18" on this plant is wild Millet seed.

Anyone have a parakeet-they love this treat!

It is a very pretty wetland plant and we have a few of them with seed heads right now-

don't worry, the birds will eat them as soon as they ripen!

Beauty and the Beast

These were a great knit--

hand dyed and tangled like mad in the rinse cycle by accident!

Turned out a lovely teal and rust color.

64 stitches on #1 needles

Toe up construction

gusset and heel 

k1,p1 leg

The k1,p1 ribbing up the leg really fits nicely

and looks smoother than the usual k2,p2 rib I work.

I will be using it again.

I turned my attentions back to Bill's sock

and found it goes very quickly on larger needles

and heavier yarn.

I hope to finish the first one today

and as usual will cast on the second one immediately!

This sock is worked on #5 needles

over 56 stitches.

Lilies

 My Crinum Lily is blooming!

We received an inch of rain today and it brought out a lot of flowers-

 but not only flowers!

See who's hiding in the bloom?

 How about now?!

Isn't he a cute little tree frog?

He blends in beautifully!

The blackberry lilies are blooming, too!

See a few of the older blooms which have already turned to berries-they are dark, hence the name blackberry.  Though it has the common name of leopard lily or blackberry lily it is actually in the iris family for it grows from rhizomes and not a bulb.  I love to learn about plants, don't you?

Pieces of a Whole

 The things that go quilt is sewn together!

I need some backing flannel now;  sigh.

 I cut out the other piles of flannel-this one is all animals,

 this one is sports/camping/ etc.  I make these 6 1/2" blocks for a 6 x 7 layout.

 This was a very large bag of flannel from my daughter--I was able to make three boy quilts and three girl ones!  This is all that is left from the boy fabric!

Since I was on a roll, I finished piecing the hexagon quilt

and trimmed the edges-this could use some border fabric to my mind

but again I will have to wait for a  trip to the fabric store but not for a while yet!

It will be added to the pile of lap quilts waiting for backing fabrics!

Weeding and Flowers

 Before I forgot, this is the old calendar that I am drawing/painting from for the recent artwork.

 This is the original illustrator. 

 I would've enjoyed talking to him, I think.

I wonder if he was good at gardening? 

 Did he weed his own gardens-sweat hard to keep it

looking as good as his artwork.  I wonder....

 Here is a glimpse of the flower for March;  painting will happen  today.

No weeding for me today-I am still sore from yesterday's labors!

 I've also been doing some spinning every morning on the linen.

  This bobbin now holds 4 ounces so I'm ready to begin the second bobbin.

 But I am being tempted by this fiber!

It has the interesting content of wool, linen and silk--

the fibers that have clothed the world for millennium!

But my own drive to finish one thing first is going to win out!

I only have four more ounces to go-I will do this!

Botanical Prints

 I've saved an old calendar for ages and finally feel able to tackle painting the prints.

The technique I am using (a fine marker and water colors ) is called 'Line and Wash'.

This one is the Clematis.

And this one is labeled with  the fun name of Butterfly Lilies!

I'm going to try to paint through the whole calendar

but I have several favorites that are not included (poppies and lily of the valley!)

which I will add as incentive to keep on with the study!

Squares and Hexagons!

Fat Quarters become hexagons!

I used the scraps from the hexies to fill in the triangle

spaces for this layout.

The piecing this way has no Y-seams.

  I discovered a small pile of boy flannels my daughter had given me quite a while ago

and so I have begun cutting them up into 6 1/2" squares.

This one looks busy but the blocks are all things that  'go!'

which a boy will enjoy!

As you can see, I have enough flannel for 3 more quilts 

which will go to the donation pile soon enough!

Putting the Pieces Together!

 I pieced the second blues quilt and then tackled this odd assortment--

I had to do some trimming to make them work but it works!

 And then the fun could begin--I cut out the butterfly fabric 

to go with this pile of leftover tumblers I had in the stash.

 The butterfly fabric is left over from a quilt I made granddaughter, Ella, for her birth 7 years ago!

 Does anyone piece some blocks when making a scrap quilt when you need 4 more blocks 

and there isn't big enough chunks of fabric to pull that off?!

Sometimes I can match up the print perfectly....

and sometimes not 

but it is a busy enough print that this won't bug me.

I am building up a pile of finished tops and I don't have large enough pieces for the backing...

next week we will try the fabric store.