New Pumpkin Carving Technique

After carving my pumpkin last year, I noticed a new pumpkin art technique:

Peeling!!

I'd like to try that sometime! It's probably harder than it looks...

Then, at the same pumpkin carving display (at a Scarborough Boys and Girls Club) I saw this cute pumpkin...

I guess not everyone likes scary pumpkin faces!

Souvenirs From the Convent

No visit to the convent is compete unless I buy a few souvenirs...

(to bring a bit of the convent home with me?!)

They always have a selection of interesting books for sale.

Every time I come, the titles are different!

This year I also bought a hand-knit bear, sold in support of Amnesty International...

... a coaster knit by the sisters. It goes well with the mug I bought last time I was there.

This year they were also selling two history books - one about the history of the sisterhood.

Another, the history of the hospital that they established, St. John's Rehab Hospital - still located next door to the convent.

Two Very Special Christmas Gifts

This year I received several very special Christmas gifts:

Yarn purchased in Iceland by my son and daughter-in-law on their honeymoon! (Kambgarn is a brand of yarn manufactured in Iceland. I had no idea they had sheep on the island!)














And a reversible cloth drawstring bag, made by my daughter.














She suggested it would make a good camera bag...


















But a few balls of yarn and some knitting needles fit in very nicely too!

Cute Guest Towel Idea

I did a blog post a while ago on Japanese-style folded scarves (called Furoshiki)...


















Here's another cute idea I came across recently: a guest towel and face cloth folded to look like a fan or "flowers" in a basket...














I had to take it apart to see how it was done!














The "fan" face cloth looks like this outside the "basket." Then I put it together again. (Hopefully no one was the wiser!)














 When I got home, I tried it again, folding up the "basket."














Then I folded the towel into thirds so that the middle third was in front.














The face cloth didn't want to cooperate!

Finally I got it to work! It's not as cute as theirs. (Nothing is ever as easy as it looks!)

Storage or Work Space?

Not long ago, my daughter sent me a blog link to a beautiful sewing room (You can see it at the bottom of Stash Attack posted May 08, 2009 on Chemistry Couture.) The room looks bright and airy - quilting fabrics are organized according to color shades. There's a sewing table and lots of storage space. Organization experts tell you - store what you need close to where you need it. So this space is absolutely perfect!

My first thought was, where - in my house - can I create a sewing room as lovely and as useful as that? There must be somewhere...

But as I thought about it, I realized that this well-organized sewing space would never work for me. I love to do my sewing in the center of the house - in the midst of family action - where light streams in through large windows - and I can glance up and see flowers and trees outdoors. So I sew on the dining room table, where we eat all our meals! Yes, it does disrupt meal time a bit - but that's where I like to be! Unfortunately, there is simply not enough unused space on the main floor for me to create a lovely sewing area there.

So my new goal is to create - not a sewing room - but a useful storage space somewhere, probably in the basement or an upstairs bedroom, where I can easily find what I need when I sit down at the dining room table to sew!

My New "Cottage Industry"

It doesn't take long for a hobby to turn into a "cottage industry"...














After making a few flower cards last week, I got inspired to create a few more: I find the "learning curve" - figuring out which program works best - takes me so long, I may as well keep going once I find the program that works.

For the small cards, I went to the Avery website and downloaded their template, since I was using Avery brand cards. For the big cards, I used software that came on the computer. It was intended for album pages. I chose one for 2 pictures, then left the bottom picture space blank. But I had to remember to turn the picture upside down so that it would face the edge, not the fold! Next time, I think I'll try an Avery template for the big ones too.

Now that I have this supply of flower cards - what to do with them?!

Hostess gifts? Personal thank-you notes?An online Etsy store? Not sure yet! But my little "cottage industry" has been a lot of fun.

My next project will be an album of flowers in my garden - with names of the flowers next to them, as I never seem to be able to remember their names!

A New Hobby!

I have been taking a lot of pictures of flowers this summer....














Like these tiger lilies...














And these daisies...

I have a lot to learn! But I've already discovered that flowers look fresher right after the rain. And the slightest breeze can blur a potentially beautiful shot!

What to do with these dozens of flower pictures? Well, with an inexpensive color printer... And a box or two of card paper...














It's easy to create note cards!

So that's my new hobby!

Today's Task

In early spring I thought it would be nice to have a wooden chair with wide arms - to hold my cup of coffee while I sat outside enjoying the morning air. I didn't know what to do: To buy one already assembled and try to fit it into the car?














Or to buy a kit and assemble it at home? In the end, I bought this chair kit at Costco - and it has been sitting in the corner of the porch ever since!














(In fact, the box is already invisible to me - it feels like it BELONGS there!)

But today - aided by my trusty TO-DO LIST which jogged my memory - I decided that the time had come to open the box and put it together.

I must admit that I dreaded opening the box - I envisioned lots of little pieces that would take hours to assemble! So to make it more interesting, and to keep me on task, I decided to see just how long it would take...

So here it is...

7: 20 - Opened box and scanned directions. Realized I would need glue. Do I have any glue? Ran off to check.














7:30 - Emptied box. From the look of the pre-cut wooden pieces, I will also need some sandpaper to avoid getting a sliver. Also need a different screw driver...














7:40 - Laid the pieces out and began to assemble the chair














10:40 - Here it is, all assembled - ready to be varnished... It's pouring rain so that will have to wait for another day. But I can still enjoy sitting on it on the covered veranda!

My Mother's Spinning Wheel

I have recently "inherited" (for lack of a better word) my mother's spinning wheel. It is a lovely piece of wooden art, created by my grandfather, Hugo Bartz, in the 1970's, when my mother was a teacher of crafts at the Kelowna Secondary School in British Columbia. At the time, schools offered optional courses geared to creating hobbies and lifelong interests. One fitness course, for example, taught golf and tennis - sports that students could pursue throughout their lives.

At the time, there was a renewal of interest in traditional crafts - candle-making, pottery, knitting, crocheting - and also spinning and weaving. My mother loved learning some of these skills her own mother had known, but which she had never bothered to learn - skills that many thought were gone forever.

My grandfather, remembering his own mother's spinning wheel, offered to make one for my mother. My mother, in turn, used it to spin yarn - some of which she dyed by hand, teaching her students those skills as well.

My mother had a big weaving loom in the back porch of her Lawrence Avenue home in Kelowna. I recently came across a table cloth she wove on it, though I think this is made of cotton, not wool.













Her name is sewn on a label in the corner.



















I preferred knitting and crocheting to weaving - but my daughter is now interested in the art of dyeing fabric ...

So perhaps spinning will also be practiced in our family by another generation.

Anyone Up For the Challenge?

(Making miniature knit sweaters and crocheted bears!)

I have always enjoyed knitting sweaters out of chunky yarn - the knitting progresses so quickly.

This Nordic-style knit jacket is made of very thick yarn - the thickest I've ever used.





























When I began to knit socks and baby sweaters, I felt I had moved into a new realm of knitting - the yarn is so fine.

That was before I discovered miniature knitting and crocheting. Taking it up (or down) quite a few notches, some artisans use thread instead of yarn!

A few years ago in Toronto, I met Andrea Berenbaum, a Canadian who loves to crochet miniature bears and other animals - each one unique. Here is a website displaying some of her creations. To truly appreciate her art, pay attention to the dimensions of each bear!
Here is another site where her crocheted miniatures are sold: Etsy
I don't have any of her bears but I do have this tiny beaded bird she made. There is a pen lying beside it, to show how small it is.














Today I discovered another amazing yarn artist: a woman who creates and knits miniature sweaters. This YouTube video shows her in action.

This Coraline sweater animation was sent to my daughter by her friend Natalie. Thanks, both of you, for sharing!


Now ... anyone up for the challenge of miniature knitting or crocheting?!