A Pattern: Felted Roses--A Lisa Ponytail Holder

Felted Roses

Worsted weight wool, about four yards

Size J crochet hook

Hold yarn doubled. Chain 26. Hdc in second ch from hook, then work two dc in next 22 ch. Work sl st in last chain, to bring yarn down to bottom. Twist into rose, using yarn ends to secure bottom.

I felted these in my salad spinner, in the sink. Just fill the spinner half-full of hot water and a few drops of detergent. You can get good agitation. Rinse under the tap, squeeze out and dry flat.

I made a round circle for the base, leaving a 3 stitch hole on each side. You could use a rectangle, also. The base is also felted.

The stick is made from those free take-out chopsticks (which also make fairly nice knitting needles). I cut off about two inches, sharpened the point slightly in the pencil sharpener, sanded it to remove the rough bits, then stained it with furniture polish.

I now have a number of felted roses, to add to purses or whatever. It's a good way to use up small bits of wool.

A Project: Two Year Planner Cover

Calendars have hit the discount bins, and I was able to get a two year planner for a dollar. This one even had a nice plastic sleeve. I took out the staples and removed the cover, then turned it over so that there was a smooth white surface to decorate with some of the tiny doilies I've been making out of thread and floss. All it took was a thin coat of Elmer's Glue.

The possibilities really are endless. If I can lay my hand on a metallic marker I plan to fill in the empty spots with some small designs, and maybe gild the edge. The outer plastic cover gives it a nice finishing touch. I chose not to staple it back together, but instead tied some threads around the spine and left a little tassle on the bottom.

Does anyone want the tiny doily patterns? They are just two- or three-row bits and pieces. Let me know if I should write them down.

Lots of Little Projects Done

Hi, Everybody! Thanks for the lovely comments while I was off line, and for the mails sent. All the snow and ice and cold had me feeling a little blue, but I was called on to babysit last week and came home feeling my usual self.

One of my New Year's resolutions was to go back to those big bags of thread and baby yarns and either use them or give them to the charity shop. As luck would have it, our town had a citywide "baby shower" day today (isn't that a great idea?), and many people donated beautiful hand crafted items to babies in need. I finished two sweaters and a hat, and Ricardo was tickled that when he dropped the stuff off, they put my hat on display. I really don't have a good picture of the knitted sweater, as I was still finishing it this morning, but it was made of a "denim" printed baby yarn, with cables up both sleeves and along the button band.

This crocheted jacket--shown here--was made with some nice vintage pompador baby yarn. I had one skein of "pistachio", one of "pistachio print" and one of white, all three with that little sparkly thread. I used almost all of it. It was supposed to have a hood, but I didn't have enough yarn.

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Libraries are such wonderful places. Our name finally came up for a turn at the first season of Stargate SG-1, a series Ricardo always wanted to see, so we've been watching two episodes a night. I took out a stack of old Vogue Knitting magazines, and sit and page through them while we munch popcorn and travel the cosmos. I'm also making something I call "tiny doilies." These are one or two inches across, and I'm trying to make them look as much like full-size doilies as I can. Ricardo was a bit incredulous, remarking that full-size doilies themselves are only "marginally useful." But I can see these embellishing a number of items (ball caps? or under a glass coffee table?).

Lastly, I finished a pair of lace trouser socks, using a ball of Lustersheen from my thread bag. They are very delicate, and don't feel like they will last more than a few wearings, although I hope I'm wrong. Not something to wear hiking in the woods, however.

I'm reading Small Wonder, a collection of essays by Barbara Kingsolver (whose fiction is wonderful), making pea soup, and waiting for the sun to come back.

Hugs!

Computer Woes

Please bear with me while I try to resolve my computer problems. It keeps freezing up---so badly that I can't even turn it off unless I switch off the power strip. (And it does this after only a few minutes of use.)

So, I'm trying to get someone to help me back everything up and see if it can be fixed. Until that time, I'm stuck with going to the library to use the computers there, or visiting friends to use theirs. I hope I can learn how to load my photos from my camera into some online program, so I can begin posting again.

Hugs to all. I hope your holidays were wonderful.