The Handspun Basket

My basket of handspun yarns is slowly growing.  The latest addition is a yummy merino 3-ply in browns, golds and creams.  Spun from a 4 ounce braid of top from Counting Sheep Farm on Etsy.  The fiber was called Tiger, so I'm calling the yarn "Tiger Eye."

I think my little basket needs to be replaced with a larger one....and that's a good thing!

I Made Soap!

I've been wanting to try my hand at soap making for oh, about twenty years.  I first got interested in it, bought a couple of books, did some studying on it around 1994.  Let's just say my budget was much tighter back then, and of course, the wonder that is today's internet...wasn't.

So, it took a back seat to other things.  And time being what it is...I kinda forgot about it until the last couple of years, as we simplified our diet, our lifestyle, our home.  The timing was right this time...and I proudly present my first bars of soap!

Being a little older (& wiser, I hope), and having more wiggle room in the budget these days, I decided to start simple.  I mean really simple.

I follow FIMBY (which is a great blog, if you don't already know) and Renee has a wonderful video on making simple soap.  She uses a tub of vegetable shortening for her fat, and a cardboard box lined with plastic for her soap mold.  (This is the soap she makes to use as laundry soap.  She doesn't use this as a bathing soap.)

So I bought some lye, a tub of shortening, and a couple of stirring spoons and decided to give it a go.

And there it is...soap.
Of course, now I'm ready to try my hand at a real (to bathe with) bar of soap!  So I've already got some more oils and essential oils on the way.

Check out Fimby's Homemade Soap & Body Care page, it's full of great resources.

Sewing and Handwork

I have enjoyed doing a bit of handwork lately (It seems to have taken the place of knitting for the moment).  I'm still on the hexagon kick.  I just keep making them, and then stitching them into flowers, and sewing the flowers together :

I figure if I just keep going, I'll have a tablecloth before too long!  In the photo above you can see the little hexagon bag I made a few weeks ago.  I use it to keep my hexagon making supplies in - paper patterns, fabric, thread and scissors.  That way I can take it with me wherever I go.  And of course, I can draw it...

Spring Hexagon Pouch

Well, here is the little finished hexagon pouch I've been working on lately.  I think it's very cute!  Just right for spring.  It's a fairly straightforward construction, and has a nice weight to it, thanks to the quilt batting.  I wish I would've added fabric gussets to each end of the zipper.  But, that leaves something to try next time...

The temperatures are finally starting to climb around here, after a frigid week just before Easter.  It's unusual for me to complain about cold weather, but I'm finally ready for spring to show itself!

Pouches in Progress

Here's where I am with the little hexagon pouch :

I admit I've become slightly addicted to making hexagons.  I keep a stack of them next to my reading chair to work on in odd moments, and they are adding up.  I'm thinking in the back of my head that after this pouch, I'll work on a small quilt or maybe a tablecloth.  

And here's the little handspun pouch :

Yeah, not quite as far...I have at least wound the yarn, though!  (But hey, notice the cool bokeh effect that PicMonkey now has...oooh, pretty!)

A Little Hand Sewing

The coming of Spring always seems to give me an itch to sew.  A little hand sewing is always a good way to slow down and enjoy working small.

I've wanted to make this little pouch

since I bought this magazine last year.  I made the hexagons but never got around to making the pouch.  But I think the time has come.  I may even have a raspberry colored zipper laying around here somewhere!

Knitting with Handspun : Small Project Ideas

Ever since I finished knitting this, I've been hankering to knit with some of my handspun.  But I'm looking for quick and simple, so I went pattern searching!

Ravelry makes it so easy to find patterns, I found quite a few!  Here's a roundup of what I think would be some good handspun knitting projects :

Top Row : Citron, Favorite Scarf Ever, Simple Ribbed Cowl, Romney Kerchief, Shilling, Zilver
Bottom Row : Sundance Makeup Bag, Malabrigo Loafers, To Eyre, Arbutus, Recipe of the Month, Galloway Mitts
(yes, I snuck one of my own patterns in there :)

Don't be surprised to see one of these cast on in the near future!

A Simple Christmas : Decorations

I find the older I get, the less I want to "fuss" with special decorations.  I know folks who pull out decorations and knick knacks for every conceivable occasion : Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, Fourth of July, etc.  I've never been one of those people, so I don't have a massive amount of stuff hidden away for various holidays and seasons.

I have a couple of small boxes of autumnal decorations, and six large boxes of Christmas decorations.  And we're working on getting that number down a bit.  I began collecting blown glass ornaments & vintage ornaments about 18 years ago, so I've got a good collection, and that's what we use each year.  They're like old friends who come to visit once a year.

But this is the time of year I always get a little itch to make decorations and gift tags and such.  Nowadays that usually means something knitted or embroidered, or some watercolor gift tags, but in the past I've made floral nosegays, painted ceramic ornaments, wired & glittered pinecones, make countless bows, cut up scrapbook paper and who know what else!  So, if you're in the mood for a little crafting, the internet is full of great ideas, big and small.  Here are a few that I've enjoyed :

Wild Olive : I Saw Three Ships Ornament Pattern

Alisha Burke : Handpainted Gift Tag Download

Abigail Halpin : Gift Tags

How About Orange : DIY Geometric Christmas Tree Card

Lemon Squeezy : Gift Card or Cash Holder Printable

We Love to Illustrate : Paper Gingerbread House Printables

and here's a little something from me : a simple little snowflake to cross stitch

Simple Snowflake : Click on the image and save to your computer

You've probably got your tree and house decorated for this year, but you can tuck these ideas away for
next year (like a couple I've got my eye on)!

Do you like to do crafty things around the holidays?

Cross Stitch Free Pattern : Winter Wool Socks

I whipped up a new little cross stitch over Thanksgiving weekend :

Wool socks just make you feel better, especially if they are hand knit!  But, even if you don't have time to knit socks, you can stitch up a few quick as a wink.

I have a basket for our non-superwash socks in the laundry room.  I pile them in there until I'm ready to hand wash a batch of them.  I think this new little piece will make a great label for the front of the basket.
And the little one would make a great tree ornament, don't you think?

Download the free pattern here.  

The large sample was stitched on some unknown linen (probably about 24 count).  The threads I used are :  Dungarees, Buckeye Scarlet, Shutter Green, Oatmeal and Maple Syrup, all by Gentle Art Sampler Threads.
And the small was on Lakeside Linen 32 count Pearled Barley with Buckeye Scarlet & Banker's Grey threads.  But pick your favorite colors and stitch one up!

Key Fob

This is a quick and sweet little key fob I made for my keys.

I have two sets of keys, my regular set and a set for work.  The work set has gotten smaller lately, so I didn't need such a big clunky key ring.  I like having a soft key fob since I usually carry these around in my pocket. They don't clank and clunk as much.

Left key in WDW Grenadine, right key in WDW Hibiscus

This is a tiny little key, so it only takes about 10 minutes to stitch.  I put one on each side of the fob, added a little batting in the middle and sewed it all up with a quick blanket stitch.  Easy peasy!

I used one of my favorite colors (at the moment):  Weeks Dye Works in Grenadine.  A happy color!  Fair warning though, it does bleed a bit.  So if you wet it to get rid of your water soluble marker, just spritz and don't touch!  It's the jostling and fingering that will draw the color onto the fabric.

Pinch bail & key fob; Blanket stitch in GA Harvest Moon

I added a "pinch bail" to the top to be able to add a keyring.  Just add and squeeze shut.  We'll see how durable it is:)

Download the pattern here.

Handmade Care Instructions Card - Free Printable

Free Care Instructions Card - Click on the picture to download the PDF

Whenever I give a handmade gift (which is fairly often - yah!) I like to include care instructions.  It helps those who don't knit/crochet/sew/whatever know how to keep their gift looking its best.  A custom tag is wonderful, of course.  But if you run out of time, it can be 'handy dandy' to have a stack of these cards to just fill out and go.

Click on the picture to download the PDF file.  This is sized about postcard size.  I might do a smaller (business card) size if there is any interest.

Do you like to include care instructions with your handmade gifts?