Opossum for Ugly Hat Contest

I hope this wins the contest for me. Grinny Opossum is having an Ugly Hat Contest. This one is my entry.

weaving with T-shirt Yarn

I'm using a Hazel Rose Loom and the continuous weave method. Wrap one way. Wrap a second way. Wrap a third way. now all you have to do is do the "in and out" on the fourth side. We'll see how easy it really is.

radishes

Mother Nature did all the work after I poked the seeds in the ground. I know I should thin them out. Maybe tomorrow.

More brown shades

Ok. Five more shades hemmed and tacked in place. It's nice and dark on the porch now. Not too dark though. I love the color. Chocolate. Actually....each shade resembles a chocolate bar. maybe I should make marshmallow cushions for the chairs.

chocolate brown shades

Look at those lovely, chocolate brown, sun blocking shades for the porch. I'm not even half completed yet. The plan is to make roman shades for twelve windows and then something for the two doors. Phase One is to hem the shades on three sides - for all twelve windows. Then once that is done, I'll do the roman-izing by adding the rings to the back, etc. Seven shades hemmed. Five more to go.

Freshly Painted Ceiling

The ceiling in the hallway is nice and freshly painted. It makes the smoke detector look like a cute little alien. I love the ceiling paint that goes on pink and dries white.

My first Japanese Easter Rabbit. The pictures make it look much better than it is.

It is going to take a lot of practice to be able to make this type of little doll.

Easter Surprise for April and Ann

Under this pretty purple cloth is a surprise for April and Ann for Easter.
It's covered up so that it can be a surprise.....
and because I'm not finished with it yet.
Slower going than I thought because the directions are in Japanese.
And it may not turn out so good. If that is the case, I can post a picture of something that did turn out good and you'll never know the difference.

My project today wasn't as fun as knitting or sewing or spinning, but it is just as satisfying. I spent the afternoon outside weeding and almost mowing. I would have mowed if I could have started the lawn mower. Once Bob got the mower started, he did the mowing. Such a nice man.

Now I look out at the flowers and the neatness.....and I feel good.

Blue Wool

Hand spun and plied. It looks nice. Feels soft. About 100 yards. But now...the same old question, "What to make with it?" Family is about all scarfed out. Maybe a cowl. Or is that too much like a scarf?

Opossum Bag

Remember that ball of yarn I spun a few days ago.....well, it has become an opossum bag. Don't worry kids. It's not going to be a weird kind of Easter Basket.

He's mostly knit from the yarn I spun. A textured yarn is held with the white yarn to give his body the fur he needs. His two hands connect with a button making for a nice handle. Or you can hold him by his tail letting his arms dangle. His body is knit in the round (because I hate sewing up seams). Arms, legs and tail are 6 stitch i-cords. Buttons for eyes (that I will later replace with appropriate sized beads). If someone would volunteer to sort my button by size and color I could finish projects faster.

Normally, I just toss left over yarn into a basket for some later project. Now that I'm a new, improved, non-procrastinating person, I knit a pair of wrist warmer without hesitation. I did have enough yarn left over from weaving the scarf to make two wrist warmers. The picture makes them look better than they really are, but....on a cold day (of walking across campus or walking the dog) these wrist warmers will do the job especially with the fleece gloves underneath.

First I washed all the vegie matter and sheep poop from the fleece. (Sheep are dirty creatures. I couldn't believe the brown smelly fleece delivered by the UPS man, turned white with just some hot, hot water and Dawn dish detergent. ) No carding necessary. Just a little pulling to loosen the locks and it spun up nicely. My spinning isn't great. After plying and setting the yarn with hot water and a bit of thwacking, I like it. It's very primitive looking - thick and thin spots.
Now the question "What to make with it?"

Woven Citrus Scarf

Woven on my Kitter's Loom by Ashford. I love the colors - orange, yellow, red. Reminds me of a citrus salad with oranges and pink grapefruit. Must be a few grapes thrown in because of the purple, too. Too late in the year to gift this to someone. I have enough yarn left over to knit one wrist warmer. hmmmm. I'll have think of something.

Mustache

Here's another idea from Ravelry I just had to try. Who wouldn't want one of these for Christmas? Or maybe the question is Who would be disappointed if they got one of these for Christmas. Good thing I usually only make
One Thing at a Time.

Bento Bag

A trip to Japan renewed my interest in bento box lunches. I bought a few boxes and other bento supplies like little squirty bottles for soy sauce.

The one thing I didn't find was a nice bag to carry the lunch in. This one I made for my daughter. It's big enough to hold the bento box, an apple, and a yogurt.

Yarn made from a white t-shirt

It is an idea I had never considered - yarn made from a t-shirt. After I read about it on Ravelry, however, I had to give it a try.

Thankfully, I have men in the family who have drawers full of t-shirts. Using a rotary cutter and mat, I could easily cut the shirt according to the internet directions. From one shirt I got a continuous strip of white fabric; about half an inch wide and 65 yards long. Giving it a gentle stretch made it curl up on itself.

Now the question, "What to make with this T-yarn?