Shibori experiment

I've been experimenting with shibori knitting. I did a pillow top first, and I loved the results. I am still working on beading the pillow and choosing a backing.

The scarf turned out really fun. At first I wasn't sure if I liked the results, but once I added the holes...fabulous! I tied in buttons from my vintage button box to create the bobbles. I was so excited to see how it turned out I sat in front of the washing machine for 20 minutes waiting for the end. Then I used a hair dryer to speed up the drying. I could hardly wait to pull out the buttons and see the final results. I'm very pleased with the end product. I think I will be doing more shibori. I have ideas for several other projects.

reuse and recycle

A couple of months ago I made a total failure of a bag. The colors didn't work. The design distorted in the washing machine. The yarns did not felt evenly. Everything went wrong. But never throwing anything out, I shuffled it around while I tried to come up with some way to salvage this disaster. Then, an epiphany on Wednesday! (que angelic choir)

On Monday I made a little turquoise bag to go with some lining I had bought in a random moment at the fabric store. I happened to set this new bag down on top of the disaster, and there was a Bob Ross moment ~ "In my world, there are no mistakes, just happy accidents". I cut up the disaster purse to make applique flowers, and suddenly a plain, little purse with okay lining, made perfect sense design-wise. Woo Hoo! And...I got to use some of the vintage buttons I dug out last week!

The good purse mojo continued this morning when my first box of wholesale yarn arrived. So, I off to grab my needles and go crazy.

Button Box

Glad to say my shoulder is back to normal, and I am knitting again! My recovery prompted a visit to my mother's button boxes for some inspiration in finishing the little, cream purse that has been sitting dejectedly on the dining room table for a month.

My mom and I spent an enjoyable couple of days sifting through all of the buttons. We found some really interesting vintage finds that may be inspiring some new designs in the near future. I am please with the little collage we came up with after several failed attempts at embellishing this latest bag.

The name is not really what I was going for, but it works. I wanted to name it "Lunch at Woolworths", but everyone said that was too obscure. I guess the bright red buttons reminded me of the red of the Woolworths decore. But "Dancing Barefoot" was a pretty good compromise. The buttons reminded me of Mom making me a new dress when I was little and the excitment of getting to model it for Dad before church on a Sunday morning.

Now I am back to knitting. Working on something new ~ a neck warmer made from some of my handspun yarn. I know it isn't the time of year to be thinking of winterwear, but the mood struck me....