Attention...

... Fashionistas!!!
Today I dropped into our local Salvation Army Thrift Store in search of wool sweaters to felt and make "stuff" out of. It is a bit too early for a good winter selection but I did happen across a quite a lovely 100% cashmere cardigan from Lands End...


in a lovely shade of aqua...


in pretty darn good condition...


with a price tag of only $3.00!
New, they are $150.00!!!!!
My experience is, cashmere does not felt well so it does not suit my "stuff making" project but boy there sure is a little room in my closet.
Do your closet, your wallet and those in need a great favour and visit your local good works thrift store. You might want to drop a buck or two in the bucket at the cash.
I did... it only somewhat lessened the guilty pleasure I felt as I walked out the door with such a lovely treat....
Same time next week..... for wool sweaters... of course... :)

A gift...

... from me to me to celebrate Gifted!
I am not much of a sock knitter--- gasp! And, I certainly did not want to hide this beautiful Noro colourway under boots… so I made this instead!!


I had just finished all the projects for Gifted and thought this would be a lovely little gift for me to make and celebrate.
The original design from the book--- Linen Summer Wrap--- is a wrap/scarf for, well, the summer months.


I loved the cool, dry hand of Berroco's Linen Jeans and felt the soft neutral contributed to a sense of coolness I wished for the piece. Perfect for the summer or to take along on a tropical vacation...

It being late fall at the time, I grabbed my hot-hued, woolly Noro!
I used a kitchen scale to wind off two fairly equal balls out of the one that I had.
I did not block the finished piece. I liked the way the skinny ends had become colourful tendrils.


I started and finished it while on an incredible trip I took to Morocco last November. The colours in the wrap mimicked many I saw in the souks of Marrakesh.
Mmmmm… this wrap makes me think of mint tea…

A gift...

... from me to you to celebrate Gifted.

A free pattern!!

Not every idea and every pattern can fit between the covers of one itty, bitty book. Sometimes a design or two must be shelved. Gifted had such moments. But, fret not! Dust barely began to collect on that shelf before I saw a good reason to bring out this "gifty" idea for all to make.

Cinched!

This is a fun, quick felted belt that makes my heart sing...
Very few things thrill me like a good stripe. With Cinched I am able to play with colours, stripe widths and spacings while formulating new ways to use colour when designing larger projects.


I'm on my third Cinched. Unfortunately, for those around me, I have been closeting my creations for my own, personal use. I know..... baaaaaaaaad gift maker ;).
FYI, I feel there is absolutely nothing wrong in practicing a project--- many, many, many times if needed--- until I feel happy enough to wrap it up and give it away. That is my story and I am sticking to it....


Here is a link to the Ravelry page so you can save it in your library and queue it up. And here is a link to the pattern on my website.
Happy Cinch-ing!

Well...

... who'd a thunk!?!
Doodling as a "zen" and "creative" exercise!

Zentangling!

For all I know, this has been going on for eons ... but it is new to me!
I tripped across this wonderfulness when I started hunting down more info on a very inspiring stuff maker with a really great name---Julie Fei-Fan Balzer.
I've been playing with photo-transfer ideas for my own personal creative exploits and started watching YouTube clips totally mesmerized by Julie's makings.
With a click of my mouse I fell into this...


I could not wait to grab a fine tipped marker and start!
I must say, seeing that I spend a bulk of my creative time either knitting, stitching or keyboarding, the cool feel of a pen in my hand is odd yet pleasing.
Here is the start of my first attempt.
I began by mimicking Julie's lovely layers of ribbons and went from there....


I can only get better... I'm liking this. :)
I can see these as fun gift cards...

Ta da...

... te de!
It's here... it's here... it's here!


Gifted has just started shipping so grab those needles and/or hooks and get ready to start gifting!!
If you have a Ravelry account click here to view all of the projects. At the moment there are only a handful up. Patience.... I'll be loading them up as quick as I can...
Have a FABULOUS weekend!

Mexico...

... on my mind. That's what it must be!
It is my birthday this month so I thought I would buy myself an early birthday gift.
It arrived today. Just in time to be my companion while lying under a shady tree to avoid the second blast of heat that has drifted over us.


Self Portrait in a Velvet Dress--- Frida's Wardrobe--- Fashion from the Museo Frida Kahlo


I have yet to read a word. I quickly did a little flip through and lost my breath. From what I understand, on the day of her death Diego insisted that Frida's closet be sealed for 50 years. Once opened in 2004 every item was lovingly restored and catalogued.


From amazon.com--- "Now, for the first time, 95 original and beautifully staged photographs of Kahlo's newly restored clothing are paired with historic photos of the artist wearing them and her paintings in which the garments appear. Frida's life and style were an integral part of her art, and she is long overdue for recognition as a fashion icon. "

Oh, all of her rebozos!
I was fortunate enough to tour Frida's home in Coyoacan the last time we visited fantastically, dizzying Mexico City.


I could not help but cry as I moved from room to room. The beauty and passion and pain of her life could still be felt.


This is my cotton rebozo. I picked it up in a market on an adventure in Oaxaca. I was tickled to see one almost like it in the tiny gift shop at Frida's Museum. A little bit of Frida lives with me in The County.... sigh.


Now, where is that cool breeze?

Beauty...

... from chaos.
The older I get the more I appreciate hindsight and the more tolerant and philosophical I have become of chaos--- even when in the thick of it.
Three summers ago we endured

country road maintenance.

The "staging area" was the farmer's field directly across from the house. 6:30 every morning the workers would arrive with their pick-up trucks clanking and grinding. Loud, manly voices would travel across the lawn, up the wall and directly into our bedroom window. By 7 am the giant road eating machines would fire up. At 7:01 I would close the front facing windows keeping out a good amount of the dust and dirt but barely muffling the ten hours of mechanical cacophony.
It felt like months... it might have only been weeks.
When it was all done the road appeared only slightly wider and was filled and flattened. It was not "real" paving that topped up the surface, but what was applied kept most of the dust down and needed not to be sprayed with that gooey and odorous gawd-knows-what-black-muck-paper-processing-by-product-carcinogen that was used in the past. Brand new good-sized culverts were installed and Skeeter added a new mischief to her repertoire-- Culvert Crawlin'. Most disturbing was the frightening depth of the dug up gutters. I figured them to be deep enough to swallow up a Smart car. In the end, really not worth all the caffufle... or, so I thought...

Now I have what I have appreciated driving down other country roads in The County...


...wild day lilies in my gutters!! Those ominous, Smart car swallowing gutters!!!


All the grinding and moving had created the most lovely no-maintenance garden for me and all who travel down our road to enjoy from the end of June to the beginning of August.

Isn't chaos grand?