A Granny Square a Day 'Til the End of May

Over at Meet Me At Mike's a challenge was issued a few weeks ago to make a Granny Square a Day 'Til the End of May. I only just found out about it yesterday, what with moving and all, but decided this was a perfect chance to use up some of my yarn which seems to have been breeding while I had it packed away in those dark, cozy boxes. Who knew?
Anyway, I had recently seen this pattern over at Crochet Me and when I saw the challenge and all that yarn I just had to join in the fun. Of course, I am playing catch-up so here are my first four:

I started with the one in the upper left and then changed just one color as a did each one after that (they go clockwise). I will see how far I can go using up bits and pieces of yarn before I have to change more than one color at a time. It isn't meant to be a hard and fast rule, just something I made up.
I left the ends long because I am not sure if I want to sew them together as is, which would require a lot of different colors of yarn, conveniently already attached, of if I want to add a neutral border and then attach them. We'll see.

Unpacking

When you unpack after a move you have to look at the things you have had around you for a while and rethink what you are going to do with them and where they will go if you do decide to keep them. Sometimes it just takes that new setting to see something that has been there for a while.
I found a little margarine tub (how long has it been since I even bought margarine in a little tub like this?) in with all my beads. This is what was inside:

I remember making them about 5 or 6 years ago. The goldish colored ones were varnished with something that gave them a bit of an yellow tone which looks lovely on those beads, but I decided not to try it on most of the colors. Here are a few of the strands of beads:

I also found these pins that I made a while ago. My mom had given me a kit for the yellow one. She had gotten it from a group she belongs to. I used leftovers from that kit and some of my own supplies to make the rest. Basically, you just keep going in and out of the holes on a four hole button, picking up various combinations of beads whenever you are on the front side. Fasten off and glue a pin back to the back.

We're Getting Settled

We moved into our house last week, because that is when escrow finally closed. We had been expecting it to close about a week and a half before that and so things were getting quite tense for a while there.
Now we are starting to get rooms into the shape and there are less and less boxes lying around the house. Ken has done so much work. He is amazing.
Yes, I should have pictures to share with you, though I am sure you do not want to see the dead mouse I found floating in the pool yesterday. No one told me that was part of owning a pool. All I know now is that we need more chlorine, no matter what the actual chemical balance of the water may suggest. We need more chlorine.
I also will not put up a picture of the lady who keeps parking in front of our driveway and saying she didn't know that someone was living here now, no matter how often we tell her. Sheesh.
So, because I don't want to go through a month without posting something and because I like posts that have pictures, let me share this with you:

This is a pin I made from a pattern in the book Doodle Stitching. I used beads instead of the french knots the pattern called for. My version is also stitched on felt so I didn't have to turn under the edges.
Doodle Stitching is also the inspiration for this pin also stitched on felt.

Hope you enjoy them.

Woman at the Well

Tangle tells me that I have already favorited this video so I can't re-favorite it. I also cannot find it on my list of favorites. Hmm, makes it hard to find that video you favorited so you could easily find it again if favoriting it doesn't add it to your list of favorites. This is why you should have a blog, so you can embed it there. Then you can easily find it and let other people see it, too.

Pyglet Whispers Zine

This is the front and back covers of the wonderful zine Pyglet Whispers sent me for a swap on swap-bot. It is only sixteen pages but it is filled with delightful things and so much extra work is put into it. There is even an envelope stuffed with goodies inside. I am so delighted with it.
She has more available at her etsy store.

Paisley Brooches and Picture Frames

These are some of the things I made for February's felt themed contribution to the beat-the-Christmas-rush year long project. First there are a couple of paisley shaped felt brooches.

I didn't really like paisley when I was a girl, but as I am seeing it more and more of it this time around I do see some that I like very much and others that have design elements that I like even if I don't like the piece as a whole. It was so enjoyable to do the embroidery and to pick out the colors and beads and buttons for these. I would definitely do this again.

I also made some frames for wallet sized photos.

These are intended to be hung on a Christmas tree. They were so easy to do and I have some ideas for some more, so these shouldn't be the last of them. The lighter blue one reminds me of those flowers Mary Engelbreit does. So cheerful.
The funny thing was that I was trying to think of something a on the masculine side that I would not totally mess up with my girl-brain way of thinking I see clearly what a thing looks like while totally missing the most important part. (Sheesh, mom.) Anyway, my son saw these and said they looked nice. I asked him which one he liked best and he looked very sad and asked if picking one meant they wouldn't both have his picture in them. So I guess it'll be okay if I don't get any "boy" ones done.

Black and White Matchbox

For my birthday my husband gave me two pounds of marzipan covered in dark chocolate from See's candy. My favorite. It came wrapped in a nice black and white wrapping paper that I knew I could use for something else. That was the inspiration for joining the Black and White Matchbox swap over at swap-bot.
My partner likes to read so I included a book thong. I don't have a lot of beads in black and white that would work for a book thong and fit in a matchbox so I decided to use black buttons and to leave off the tassel. I think it worked well.
She also likes ghosts and vampires and other such creatures so since I was making things with felt I also added a bat pin made with said felt.

Stickers, sea shells, buttons, a bead and some safety pin fill up the rest of the matchbox.

Postcard Swap

This is a postcard I drew for a swap on swap-bot. It is a companion swap to one they did a couple of weeks ago with a Valentine's day theme. I forgot to take a picture, but it included a large heart and it called for using pink and/or red in addition to the traditional black and white.


The rules for this postcard said that it had to use only black and white and that it was for March. Since I had just finished the Valentine's one it seemed reasonable to make this one with a shamrock for St. Patrick's day. As a rule I really like the plain black and white, but after adding pink to the other I had an urge to use green for this one, but I followed the rules.
The funny thing is that just by random chance in assigning partners, this one is going to the same person who got the other one. Hope she likes it.

Mosaic Monday

I have noticed that several blogs participate in something called Mosaic Monday. I have no idea if this is something formal, but I thought I would try it. Since the February theme for my year-long attempt to get ahead of Christmas is felt, I thought I would share some of my favorite felt images from flickr.



1. Leaf Felt Barrette 2. An Army of Hearts 3. Emily 4. Miniature Felt Dollhouse 5. Magical Red and Orange Felt Mushroom 6. Chocolate and Banana Felt Tart 7. Felt Flower Brooch 8. Treasure Reef 9. Bunnies Everywhere 10. Felt Village 11. Pink Scotty 12. feltybracelet 13. Felt Drops Necklace 14. Anabolas luziernagosas 15. Little Mushroom (necklace for kids) 16. Regenbogen

Now some of these are things that people make by forming the item as they felt the fibers. I have no plan of doing this at this time, but isn't it wonderful what they are making. The felt I am using is pre-made sheets. Craft felt. The cheap, non-wool type. But I am happy with how things are coming out and will share them with you soon.

Who Wants Dessert?

We came home from eating out and my son asked if anyone wanted dessert. He had been very interested in having one of the desserts at the restaurant, but we were all too full. By the time we made it home things had settled a bit and he offered to fix dessert for all of us. I was the only one who took him up on it, because I like to encourage him and because I didn't expect anything like this:


He calls it a mud slider and even though I've seen the name on menus I don't think I've ever had one so I don't know if that is what one really looks like, but isn't it beautiful? I was sure impressed. And it was tasty, too.
Of course, he wanted to pose with his creation. Isn't he handsome? Not that I'm biased or anything.