Update

I am posting later than usual today...but...better late than never.

I do have a lot to share today.
First...a shop update...the fabric peg doll sewing pattern is now available over on my etsy shop.

They came out to join me for my walkabout tour of the garden this weekend.

The winners for the peg doll pattern give-away are:
1.  Rachel Proffitt (I am unable to leave a comment, or even get to your site from your comment so I hope you see this...I know I have seen your picture several times before...maybe from yarn along?? - I am sure I will find you somehow).
2.  Steph @ HCC (Honor Crowned Crafts).
Please be sure to "conversation me" with your email address so that I can get the pattern to you...and thanks for participating.  The winners were chosen by rolling a 20-sided die, in case you are wondering :)

And a garden update:

 The rhubarb did decide to come back!

 Wild blackberries that I dug up from the overgrowth behind where I work and transplanted in my yard last year...coming back beautifully...much farther ahead than the domestic blackberries I have in my yard.

 Radish sprouts,

 Lettuce sprouts,

 Pea sprouts,

 ...even the pussy willow branches I stuck in the ground as a divider between different kinds of peas have sprouted leaves!  I wonder if I will be able to get them to set roots?

Peach blossoms.

The problem is...these were taken on the weekend after several (unusually) warm days. I'm talking 25 degrees (Celsius).  Today, we are back down to 0 degrees (Celsius) and I forgot to put the row covers on when the temperature dropped...learning curve...it's my first time planting this early.   We will see what happens!  All of the herbs are coming along nicely, though.  Some are ready to harvest.

In fact...we were able to harvest some green onions to put in our dinner the other night.

Yellow

A little while back, I asked for some feedback on my etsy shop.  The general consensus was that I needed to add some colour to the photos.  So the other day, I was trying to take some photos and I was looking all around my house for something colourful I could use as a backdrop.  I-could-not-find-a-thing!

So, I am challenging myself.  Thursdays will (hopefully) now be a colour post instead of Three things on Thursdays, in an effort to find colour in our every day lives.  This week I am starting off with yellow (because the flowers are in bloom - kinda cheating, but there you go).

Note: I accidentally forgot my camera at work, so I had to borrow my son's.  I had no idea how to change the settings, so the indoor shots are quite terrible...please excuse, but at least I found some colour.

 The flowers are almost exactly one month ahead of schedule from the last 2 years.  Last year and the year before, I had to force the forsythia indoors to have blooms for the art show at the children's school on Earth Day (April 22) and the tulips and daffodils were just starting.  This year, I found the first daffodil on the 17th.

 Lucky for me that bee's wax is yellow!

 A little left over bit of yellow cotton yarn.  The funny thing is, I don't know what I made with the missing part.

 Woo woo, lemons are yellow...

 ...and so is this pepper I got at the market yesterday.  One of the farmers at the market has multiple greenhouses so we get fresh produce all winter long.  I close my eyes to how much energy it would require to keep the greenhouses running all winter, but one does get tired of root vegetables.

I wonder...what colour should I look for next week?

Yarn along...more or less.

It's Tuesday night, so I am writing my yarn along post to join up with Ginny at small things for Wednesday's yarn along.

These are the reasons that I have not gotten much knitting done.
1.   I have been making yarn instead of knitting with it.
2.   The other distraction is the little (and not so little) fabric peg doll gnomes that I introduced on yesterday's post (sneak peak pattern give-away for the peg dolls over here).  I may have gotten carried away with them.  Please excuse the photo...as I said, it is Tuesday night.  There are much better photos of the peg dolls on the link above.

On the reading front...the Upper Canadian Furniture book is out because I think my husband needs to make me this:

...the swift on the right.  I could make it myself but it is gardening season so if I make it, it will be in the fall, and he is looking for a project, and Mother's day will be here before you know it, and I wonder if any of this will convince him :)

The fiction book is "The Outlaws of Ennor" set in the early 1300's.  When I was a few pages in, I realized I have read this book before, but for the life of me I cannot remember much else about it, other than the fact that I have read it before.  It is a very weird feeling.
Plus, not much reading was going on lately because I had a serious problem my brother introduced me to "Jericho" on Netflix and in 2 weeks I watched the entire 30 episodes and may or may not have watched 4 (43 minute) episodes in one sitting.  Yikes!  I loved it, but it totally took over my mind.  I was thinking about it all the time, and I just couldn't wait until evening to watch the next episode (and I have to admit that once I actually went up and watched an episode before making dinner).  I was completely obsessed with it and that has never happened to me before.  I'm almost glad it is all over so I can move on.

Now the kids are off to bed, so I am going to settle in with my book.  And hopefully, for next week's yarn along, I will have something more to share since I now have SIX "current" knitting projects on the go...a new maximum for me, which is leaving me completely overwhelmed...and is probably the reason I am doing everything BUT knitting.

An introduction - Gnome people

I would like you to meet the new family on the block...

From left to right, we have:  Spring Blossom, Stormy Skies (my favourite - although S thinks it is Gandalf), Winter, Poppy, and Sprout (my other favourite).  Poppy needs a new hat but I accidentally used up the last of the red making her a medium sized hat and it doesn't fit her head, since her head is size large.

Avert your eyes, children, I am going to show you what is under their clothes...

I made some "peg dolls" using an old skirt (the same skirt I used to make my lunch bag).  I thought it would be cute to have a whole bunch of spring gnomes coming up with the flowers, but then I ended up making them in strange colours.  I guess I will have to make some more.  They are about 7", just under 6" and 3.5" tall without their hats on.

They are fun to make, kind of addictive actually.  I am going to have the pattern up on my etsy shop by the end of the weekend, but I thought that a lucky winner or two could win a sneak peak.  If you would like to win a pattern, just leave a comment and I will draw some winners on Monday, March 26.  I'm not sure how many yet, but at least 2.

Incidentally, the winner of last week's give-away was Debbie from no spring chicken.  (Debbie, I left a comment on your blog yesterday, but in case it slipped by...can you "conversation me" at my etsy shop with your email address so that I can get the pattern to you).

...and since I am introducing people...I thought you might like to finally meet my minions:

We were finally able to get the last of the files off our old computer (and I use the term we loosely, because I don't think my repeated requests for the files was actually considered "helpful").  This was labelled 2005-2006, so they don't look like this any more, but it is a picture I am willing to share.  N is on the left, S on the right.  I love little ones straight from the tub in their nice comfy pyjamas.

You are welcome to pin anything from my blog except this photo.  I am neurotic enough as it is, so this is a huge leap of faith on my part.  If you know me well...I hope someone will help you back up since you probably just fell off your chair.
Have a lovely day!

I'll be joining frontier dreams for Keep Calm, Craft On.  Won't you come join us?
And...since all the "stuff" was in my stash, I will be linking up with Crunchy Catholic Momma for the Stash Bash again this week.  Are you Stash-bashing?

Oh, I almost forgot...for those "crafting on-ers" who asked me to show the Green Man mug when it was done...fresh from the kiln:

Garden Progress Already

March is not gardening season in my neck of the woods...usually.  We had very little winter to speak of this year, though, and things are in bloom, and the weather is warm, and predicted to stay that way, so I thought I would take a chance.  With the winter we had last year, I don't think I was this far ahead until the end of May.  I know I didn't plant potatoes until June (I'm still a ways away from potatoes this year, but still, I am excited).

 I planted a row of peas next to the strawberry patch.  The strawberries actually need to be dug up and moved around a bit, but I don't dare start that yet just in case we still get some winter.  Usually, I just fill the whole pea area with branches and let the peas climb, but we didn't have very many around this year, and there was a package of these tiny bamboo stakes in my shed from when my in-laws moved, so I am trying that out.

 I have several rows of the vegetable garden raked up and mounded, with last years leaves in the spaces in between.  I don't ever remember having this many rows done in March before.  That baby tree on the right is an apple tree, grafted with 5 kinds of apples growing off the trunk.  I got it last year for Mother's day.  In front of that, I planted Swiss chard and celeriac because the packages said I could plant as soon as the ground can be worked.  I also planted a small patch of heirloom radishes that said "as soon as the ground can be worked".  I am using as many heirlooms as possible this year.  I found more than ever before at our local nursery and I'm pretty happy about that.

 I am trying out these new row covers I bought at our local nursery.  I am hoping they will extend the season by a month or two on each end.  Under this one, there are two kinds of heirloom lettuce.  I have another one that has pak choy planted underneath it.

 These are last spring's onions.  They didn't grow last year because we were so short of rain.  In fact, I didn't even think there was anything there, but in the fall, they started to grow again, and I left them, and now I have onions well under way.  Two rows of them I think.

A few things are just starting to come up in the herb bed.  Some, I lost, but I am pretty sure they were annuals anyways but even the parsley is usable already.  Score!

There is nothing to speak of yet in the fruit garden, so I am not including a picture.

Hop on over to small things to see how other people are progressing in their garden.

Three Things on Thursday - March 15

I'm not feeling very well today, so that's all for now.  Have a nice day.

Yarn along and some other stuff.

There is a new give-away at the end of this post...don't miss it.

 A few weeks ago I shared the beginning of these slippers that I was going to turn into boy slippers.  Ta-la!  The first one is almost done, and the second one is well on its way.  (The symbol is from a Canadian football team - well, sort of - it's the best I could do with the felt I have).

They stretch like crazy mad, so even though they look tiny, they will fit my twelve year old (they kinda fit me, see).  I am sort of reading my mom's Canadian Living Magazine.  I am leafing through it when I have a minute here and there.  After all, the sun is out, the weather is nice, and the kids are out playing...which means, it's garden time again!

OK...For those of you who participated in last week's give-away - Thank you very much.  All of your suggestions were very good.  Some changes have been made, and I will be working on some other changes (like the banner) over the next little while...
And the winner is....

eidolonsMar 6, 2012 07:10 AM

I think your shop looks great. Personally, I'd probably try to add more splashes of color in your listing photographs (like the flowers and fruits you have in some) - just to draw the eye a bit more. I'm not sure how I feel about your banner - maybe have your shop name or something on it? Though with the current picture it may be too busy. Hmm. I'm not the best to give advice, my Etsy shop is pretty sad looking.

And, as a thank you to all of you who participated but didn't win the necklace:
I have a second give-away for you...
Through the feedback, I have determined that the most viewed item, and the item most often "favourited" is the reversible knitting bag tote.

And who needs a new knitting bag more than yarn-alongers, right?  So, I have added the pattern to my shop, and am giving away a pdf copy of the pattern to one lucky person.  You can see all of the pictures and the inside and all that in my shop as well.  Leave a comment below if you are interested. I'll draw the winner on Monday, March 14th.

I'll be linking up with Ginny at small things for Yarn along.  Can't wait to see what you are all up to.  I'll have to start at the end this week, and work my way backwards, because I didn't have time to get to everybody last week.  I made it 2/3 of the way through.

Look what I found!

I took the boys to my mom's house today for a March Break visit...on my way to the car, I found this in front of our living room window...

...and these... 

 ...so I took a little detour, and checked out the peach tree...

 ...and these tulips coming up in the currant patch...

 ...and the first of my herbs - chives.

I don't ever ever remember things starting this early in March.  Hopefully nothing drastic happens now.  My mom has rhubarb peeking up in her garden, but I went to check mine, and sadly...nothing in site.  What is coming up in your garden?

P.S.  The squirrels planted those crocus bulbs.  Wasn't that kind of them?

Weekend crafting

Edited to say:  There is a new giveaway at the end of this post.

If any of you are following the stash bash at Crunchy Catholic Momma you may have seen these felted dryer balls.  I am always looking for a way to reduce our energy consumption, so I thought I would give them a go...The problem...I did not have that much wool yarn I was willing to sacrifice.  I do however, have plenty of wool fleece.  So I made the centers from the fleece and wrapped the outside with the wool.

 A ball of fleece...

 ...rolled up as tight as I could manage...

 ...and wrapped with yarn...

 ...until I ran out of yarn...

This is what they looked like after one run through the washer and one through the dryer.  I forgot to time the dryer to see if the load was any faster than usual...to be determined next laundry day.

Here is the funny thing...the grey/green and the beige/pink in the picture above...that was my attempt at buying colour a few years back.  It was a very determined attempt to buy "not beige" and "not grey".  I love colour, but for some reason I seem physically incapable of actually buying it and bringing it home.  I am working on it.

And, and update on my felted eggs.  The project was put on hold for a while because I was angry with it.  The cat kept running away with the eggs and shredding them...no matter where I hid them.  But I finally got to it this weekend.

 One set almost done...

 ...second set needing the blanket stitch...

 ...the hands down favourite...everybody loves this one in my house.

 ...ta-la...wouldn't this be cute in a play kitchen?  I'll have to save that idea.

So with the projects here, and a few others I have been working on, I have used up half of my stash of fleece...going from two large bins, down to one. 

And, for those of you who are interested...here is a sampling from my summer (a few years back, now) of dyeing wool with things from my yard...

From left to right:  white - just washed and brushed...no dye; technicolour yellow - goldenrod flowers with tin; that strange nameless colour - dandelion and then sage with copper;  pale yellow (really pretty actually) - is either goldenrod flowers and leaves with tin, or yarrow with alum (sorry, but on my colour swatch board they are very similar); second row: pinky/beige - peppermint with alum; pink - red rose petals, strawberries, and raspberries with alum ( the same thing with tin gives a strange grey); purple - alum with blueberries; and black - peppermint with iron.  Most of these were tried out searching for green. 

Didn't find it!  

This is how I kept track...little swatches with a tag underneath.  Clearly some have fallen off.  That's OK, they were probably beige.  I have a lot of beige in the test bin.

Have any of you ever made green with a common plant?  Please comment if you can help me out.

I'll be linking up with Crunchy Catholic Momma for stash bash, Wisdom Begins in Wonder for Fiber Arts Friday.

I think I will share after all...

Still a few days to enter the Give-Away, here in case you have missed it.



Tomorrow is Friday...Friday is the day I enjoy browsing the blogs that post to Natural Suburbia for Creative Friday and the ones that post to Wisdom Begins in Wonder for Fiber Arts Friday.  When I have something interesting (to me) going on...I join in and post as well.

And this week, I was not going to bore you all with my sad sad attempts at learning to spin (yarn, not pottery) and then I realized that is exactly what I posted about on my Monday post of keeping it real.  So here we go...my attempt at spinning this week.

This is 1 ply right now.  Still lumpy and bumpy, but I have learned a few things.

I have learned that I would much rather spin with roving that is long and skinny and wound into a kind of a ball than with roving that is a few colours layered onto each other in a kind of a flat slab.

I have learned that a lot of those coil areas come out when I take the yarn off the watcha-ma-callit that it gets wound onto while spinning (you know, like a bobbin) because I only have one of them and I have to wind the yarn off each time.  

I have learned that I better go back and get that library book that showed me how to spin in the first place and learn the proper names for the parts rather than watchamacallits and "slabs" of roving.  Ha ha ha...I entertain myself at least.

I learned that even though I am still learning this new skill, and quite frankly, it's gonna take me a while...that I really enjoy the process itself and it is so quiet and soothing.  No clackity clack of my ancient sewing machine. Just a whooz whooz whooz kind of noise that is kind of mesmerizing.

So here is what I have so far...2 sad sad balls and one not so bad ball now that it is off the spool/bobbin/watchamadooly (I know that I know the name...I just have forgotten it tonight, my apologies).
The test for next week will be to spin these together and see what happens...I am excited.

Now, I am off to get some proper inspiration from everyone else's blog.  Thanks for putting up with this post.