I’m going to New York

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I’ll be in New York City next week.  Any ideas for meet-ups or shows I shouldn’t miss?  I haven’t been paying attention and now I am only remembering interesting shows that are over.

I got some treasure yesterday-  lucky me!  Now for the picking over and sorting fun.
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I have put some stuff into my Etsy shop.  Some of it is artwork that came back from Craftland.  Other things are of the -clearing out for the new year- category.  Those include felted ball pincushions and also bug pins.  I’m not finished posting yet… hopefully the bug pins will go up later today.

and another make-do

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and another present that got finished-

This make-do is made on an old glass match holder-

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The bottom of the container has a rough surface for striking the matches.

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I made this for a friend. The match holder had belonged to her mother, but my friend didn’t have any use for it so I told her I’d make it into a pincushion.

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I think I’m caught up now on my gifts and can start thinking about Valentines. And getting those tutorials finished that are half written in my drafts.

Artwork of 2007 mosaic

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most of it anyway… There is such a feeling of accomplishment to see it all together like this.

I’ve been working on some blog housekeeping- things I’ve been meaning to do for many, many months. I’ve put most of my links onto separate pages (still working on that), have started an “about me” page, am making a link list for podcasts- one of the best things that I got into in 2007, and have added some new categories for my posts. Yesterday, I went back to the beginning (2004- whoo!) and am rereading and re-categorizing. I haven’t gone back to the beginning in a long enough time that I’m not sure I ever did it. It is very interesting to notice how my blog “voice” took shape. Also, how soon it was before anyone began to read it and leave comments- I was and am still so grateful for that early support.

I guess getting to work on this stuff has to be the first, unstated New Years resolution that I am actually acting on. I remember that last year, I had very clear ideas in my head of what I wanted to try and do- this year, not so much. Mostly, I am thinking along the lines of More of the same. 2007 ended up being a great year for me- so bring on 2008!

the last day of 2007

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Two dolls that I got for Christmas. Lucky me!

A beautiful EFA doll from Bettsi at Tender Arts.

And, a Wren doll. She came from the Boston Bazaar Bizarre.

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I have been working on my links. I am moving them to link pages. If you see anything that doesn’t work or is spelled wrong, let me know and I’ll fix it. Also, it is showing up as I am working on it- ie, I’m not done yet.

Did you see these amazing 3-d women/doll illustrations (?)- linked today on Drawn.

I just went back and read my January 2007 post about what I hope to accomplish this year. Here is the list-

-write up and publish at LEAST one pattern.

well, I wrote some tutorials, but not a doll pattern… maybe that is step one.


-make cards, probably through cafepress shop

Yes! I made cards! They are available in my Etsy shop. Hopefully more in 2008.


-go back and finish the many unfinished dolls sitting around my studio- they are all untouched since I showed them here and here. For the most part, they need clothes.

not really. The only doll that got finished was done right after I wrote that last January.


-teach a class- wool dolls

Yes! I taught 2 last summer and I am planning on doing it again.

-more linking, more commenting, spend less money, make more dolls, go on a real vacation, laugh more, garden more, make a new friend, worry less… I’m sure there is more but that’s all for now.

?, maybe, probably not, yes!, yes- Ithaca NY and Chicago,

maybe, yes- I think I got excited about gardening again this year, friends?- yes and yes! and probably not… I am good at the worrying thing.

At this point, all I can think of for next year is to hope to get to the end and not be so totally wiped out. I will probably post some more thoughts about this in a few days though.

Okay, enough for now. Happy New Year everybody!

2 more cashmere scarfs

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A scarf for Ben-
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the beige cashmere is from a vintage sweater and is the softest thing I’ve ever touched. It is so soft that I didn’t think it would make a good scarf, all by itself. I used the blue cashmere to give it a little more body. I stitched the pieces of the cashmere together using what I think of as a welt seam, but when I tried to find something on the web to link to, everything I found with that name was slightly different. I did something like the flat felled seam shown here.
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This is another scarf I made for Eleanor. It is one layer of scrappy and patchy cashmere.

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I will be very curious to see how these scarfs hold up. Cashmere doesn’t felt- well at least I have never managed it, and the edges are unfinished. I stitched in about 1/4 inch from the edge so it shouldn’t be able to completely unravel… I’ll be keeping an eye on the one that is staying at my house.

Popovers (recipe here) for breakfast this morning. So nice to all be on vacation.

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I am working on a tutorial for the shopping bags- soon I hope. Also, some more info on sewing the cashmere. Another day.

cashmere Christmas

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Now that all the presents are opened, I can show you some of the recent projects- besides the cookies, that is!

I pulled out my thrifted sweaters from the closet and sorted through them.  I  found all the cashmere.

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So much potential!  Most of these sweaters ended up at the thrift store because moths had eaten them- I think cashmere is moths favorite food.  That means the projects need to be planned around the damaged areas.
For Eleanor- a triangular scarf with lettuce edge.  This is cut from the back of a large sweater-

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For Ben- cashmere ear pads for his Grado head phones-  On 12/24 I realized that what Ben needed was new foam ear pads for his head phones- oops, too late to order them.  So, I made some from cashmere.  So far he is liking them- we shall see if we still need to order the foam.

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More later!

Snow, adventures, production

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According to my stats, this is my 700th post… wow, who’d a thunk it.

I was down in Providence on Thursday to do my shift. It started to snow around noon. The store got quiet. The roads got progressively worse all afternoon. Getting home was a much bigger adventure then I like, although better for me then many. My waiting time was spent in a train station and not in a car on the highway. It makes me glad once again that I normally don’t have to commute.
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We (well, mostly Ben) got the sidewalks and driveway cleared up, just in time for another hit.

Hmm, is the front door going to be frozen closed/open for the winter?

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The compost pile has a peaked hat- it usually doesn’t match the garage roof.

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And some other white stuff.

On a recent trip to the thrift store I found 4 very large Mens alpaca sweaters. It is one of those things where obviously a store or manufacturer or someone donated a lot of them. They are all never worn and some were obviously seconds. And scratchy. No wonder nobody bought them. $2 each for me!

So, I tried some shibori felting yesterday. This was a test. I removed the sleeves from the white sweater. On the left- I used buttons (mens shirt buttons- you know the size) and put a little rubber band to hold them in place. If I decide to do more of this, I need to find a supply of those tiny rubber bands that are used with braces. They are perfect for this- unfortunately I used up all I had.

On the right, I clipped the fabric with bull clips. Not a success. It doesn’t look like anything. I assume if I throw it back in the washing machine, it will felt up evenly, but we’ll see.

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And Christmas production.  I am making everyone who gets presents from this house, reusable shopping bags.  I have loads of fabric that I will never find a better use for.  This is a two-fer good thing.  1. I am using rescued fabric- would have gotten tossed if I hadn’t taken it.  2.  I am making bags which will hopefully keep plastic out of the waste stream.  Well, and then there is 3.  If I use up enough fabric, I will have space to replenish my stash…  that’s the dessert!

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25 faces

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School pictures series #2.  All done and posted to Etsy.   These are so much fun to do.  I love playing with the colors and patterns.

I also got the tattooed guys up.  Phew, I feel like a big job got done!