Fresh Dyed Yarn

I've been making felted wool flowers and came to the point where I needed more colors. One 40% off coupon at JoAnns, a large skein of Lion Brand Fisherman's Wool, and several packets of Kool-Aid later and I have this fruity scented colored yarn. Yummy!

Here's the mess of dyeing supplies. Kool-Aid is a bit neon, so I toned down the colors a bit by splashing in diluted drops of complimentary colors. I also used vinegar and the microwave:


Dozens of people have already done this and blogged tutorials, so I'm not going to bother with that. This is a great thing to do with the kids, but my kids are at school and I still think it's pretty fun! Knitty did an article about the process HERE. Note that Kool Aid and food dyes only work on protein fibers like wool or silk. It will not dye acrylic or cotton. It will also dye your fingers, but not permanently.

Here's a pic of the stuff I recently used up:


I'm making flowers like these:


I never get tired of flowers! These are stitched to safety pins because I like those much better than jewelry pin backs. They will be for sale at a craft show right here in Chicagoland. Check it out HERE.

Wardi.DK

Pile of granny triangles, originally uploaded by wardi.

I've been interviewed by the wonderfully talented Carina over at her blog, Wardi.dk. I first spotted her blog awhile back when she posted these gorgeous triangle crochet granny squares. Aren't they fantastic?

My interview is HERE.

She also contributes lovely embroideries to our Flickr Embroidery group. Look at this happy summertime pincushion:

Pincushion challenge - Summertime, originally uploaded by wardi.

Here is another embroidery that suggests the changing seasons:

Seasons embroidery, originally uploaded by wardi.

She is also a talented softie maker. These went to the recent Plush You event:

The three Quapos, originally uploaded by wardi.

Thanks, Carina for interviewing me. I admire your work very much!

Jitterbug Dancers

I just finished my last motif for my Tea Towel Tour and mailed it off to CupcakeGuru.

Her towel came with embroidery from 4 other stitchers. They all chose pretty ladies and a pinup style. I don't have many of these sorts of transfer patterns and THIS ONE is a bit too um... suggestive.
I chose these Jitterbug Dancers:


Floresita has graciously provided these patterns for free along with many others at her Vintage Transfer Finds Blog HERE.

The original pattern had pretty goofy faces, so I tried to redo them. I made them a bit more serene than I'd imagine a lively dancing couple would look, but this is embroidery floss after all...


Here is her whole towel: It's all finished!

Halloween Swap Goodies

Here's the package I received from my second partner in our Mascot Swap. Meet Jack the Fruit Bat created by Wildfyre:



Wildfyre shared her pattern links. Bat pattern HERE. Pumpkin pattern HERE.
Isn't he fab? Just when I think I'm getting better about working in 3-dimensions, my swap partners go ahead and make awesome things like this! I've always wanted to make fabric pumpkins and I even collected pumpkin colored fabrics, but I never did ever make any pumpkins with it. I'm so glad to have this. Also I do love bats.

My Mom and I once flew down to the San Antonio area to witness the emergence of the largest colony of bats in the world at Bracken Cave in Texas. Estimates are that there are between 25 and 60 million Mexican Free-tailed bats in this cave. They summer in Texas and winter in Mexico. It was a stunning and memorable experience. They all swirl out of this large hole in the ground with has a strong acrid ammonia smell from the bats. The odor kicks up when they begin to emerge and they fly off all in the same direction in one giant ribbon in the sky.


(This video has really cheesy music...)

Less than 2 weeks to Halloween! I better get the rest of our decorations out!

Halloween in Felt

Both of my partners received in our Mascot swap. Take a look at what I made:



Peihan17 got the Halloween Kitty and Ghostie. Kitty has a rempoveable leaf pile costume seen above. A leaf pile was one of the favorite matching costumes I made for my daughter and husband when she was about 3 years old:


Wildfyre got the Mouse as Pumpkin and the little acorn seen in the top photo. I've made this mouse before in Valentine's Day colors. I really like him:


I also had little stories for the mascots and I included some candy, a card, and some wooden Halloween cutouts from the craft store

Tomorrow is our meeting for the Chicagoland Craft Collective! Northwest Suburban Chicago crafters can join us at the Schaumburg Portillos restaurant . I'm bringing little mascot kits and we'll make those ghosts and the acorns as our optional craft.

More Books, 280 Yen!

These little Japanese booklets are a pretty good buy. They were about $4.00 at our Chicagoland Japanese Bookseller at Mitsuwa Marketplace.

The prices are slightly better at YesAsia, but a real life bookstore has obvious other advantages.
This one is a felting instruction booklet, ISBN 4277490050


I know you can probably find all these sorts of instructions on the internet, but I like having them in my own pretty little booklet. Here is a lovely flower. Step-by-step instructions are provided in detailed photographs:

Any book that I buy has to have some pages of cuteness and this one is no exception:


I also got a second book, ISBN 9484277490306. This one is adorable beaded lovliness.


Here are some Christmas beading ideas:


And summertime critters:


Last year I got this felt mascot book, ISBN4277490549:


It has these patterns for you Francophiles out there:


I also stitched this mouse from that book:


That mouse went unacknowledged by my swap recipient all the way over in New Zealand. Alas.. that's the way swapping goes sometimes...

Halloween Mascots

I got this sad, sad note today from YesAsia:

Change of Expected Ship Out Date
Dear Susie Ziegler,

Thank you for shopping with YesAsia.com!

With reference to the following item 'Patchwork no Nunokomono -Square Patchwork ' in your order 4------, the expected ship out date has been revised to Oct/25/2007.

Oh the agony!

Only moments later, however, one of my swap packages came in the mail! These adorable stuffies were made for me by peihan17 in our mascot swap over on Craftster. It turns out that we totally thought alike for our packages, but my items are still a secret!

Meet Paka, a cute black kitty who adores Halloween and her vegetarian owl friend, Stav. She also made a pretty beaded hairband and tossed in some yummy candy:

Peihan explains that Paka means "little cat" in Swahili and Stav means "autumn" in Hebrew. They are both a bit mischievous and love caramels and zombie movies.

Check out the cute embroidery details and the adorabel fall fabric on the owl:


Here's a picture of the Halloween card she included. On the back it says it''s made by an etsy seller


Thank you so much, Peihan! I love it all!


The kitty is a Pointy Kitty by Wee Wonderfuls. HERE
I think the owl is from a Japanese book that is out of print. I'll have to ask Peihan.