More successful needle felting!

I am so excited how well this is going! In case you couldn't tell, it's a sunflower! It's really been easier than I thought it would be and the results are GREAT! It ends up basically looking like you did intarsia knitting before felting to make the image!

I need to do a dark brown for the center part and add some yellow beads for the center. I had to order dark brown because I didn't have any, so I won't be able to finish for a few days but was too excited how it was looking to not post.

I think I will add bamboo handles and look around for the right fabric for lining.

BTW....if you haven't read The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield it's GREAT!!! It's been out for a while and I never picked it up but I am really enjoying it!

Happy Day!

Needle Felting

Sometimes things turn out better than you think are will. I usually am excited to try a new technique but then apprehensive because I worry that it won't turn out like my vision or that I won't be any good at it.
I am pleasantly surprised with how my first two needle felted flowers turned out! I know I'm not an expert yet but I was pleased that the first ones turned out okay!

This is a small wallet size clutch that I felted the other day. This flower makes the perfect accent!

Here's a closer look at the first one that I tried!

And this one was the second.

I felted this purse a couple weeks ago and have been struggling to know what to embellish it with because it is larger and didn't want to put a ton of flowers on it. I think the small one on the closure works nicely. Now I can line it and finish.

I was just using the craft store kind of felt sheets to cut out flowers, which can look cute but I think this will add a more cohesive look to the bags.

I can't wait to try the next thing. I want to put a sunflower on the front of a brown purse that I felted!

Crazy About Felted Purses, Again!

I'm sure you have been wondering....'is she now a reader and not a knitter?'. Never fear, I have been doing both just not posting pictures of the knitting things I'm working on. They are kind of a work in process and most are not done yet. But I do have a new purse I finally finished to post.

I think it's a really cute summer bag!!!

I had knitted the black body of the bag a while ago and never felted it. I was so happy with the size and boxyness that it inspired me to complete it. I cut the flowers out of felt and embroidered, made orange and yellow stripe felted handles and lined it. You can see on my 'Ode to the Starlet' post where I was working on the lining. After a lot of work on trying to figure out how to make a lining that would be stiff enough to hold the shape I finally got it done, but it just wasn't fitting right inside the purse so yesterday I ripped all the seams out and tried again. SUCCESS!! It turned out GREAT! I used plastic mesh canvas which keeps the shape perfectly!

I currently have a baby pink bag (different shape) and a brown bag and a fuschia bag (different shape still) that I have to finish. I have ordered supplies to try needle felting on the front of these. The felt sheets look okay but I think the needle felted images will give it a complete felted look. I should be receiving those supplies just in time for 2 days off in a row and can't wait to get started! I will post as soon as I have something to show. I'm hoping I won't be crying that it looks terrible, but it's worth a try!

Happy Day!

Book Review #2

The Secret Sisters by Joni Rodgers

I just finished this book today......and I must admit I was rushing to get through it because I wanted to move onto something new. I picked this book up on the new arrivals shelf at the library thinking it sounded interesting, which it was but not in the way I typically like. I am the happy ending, easy pleasant read, get a glimpse into someone else's life kind of read. Don't get me wrong, this one filled several of those things just not the easy pleasant read part.

This is the tale of 2 sisters and one sister-in-law (sounds kind of like my last book review doesn't it?!) Each is struggling with their own loss (again, it's sounding like my last review) and as the book moves along they are working through their own isses (yes, it is a different book, I had to go back and check to make sure tho!). Pia, sister number one, is devastated when her husband dies unexpectantly. She had been an extremely capable, high power lawyer who traveled and worked all the time. The untimely death of her husband sends her into a tail spin and she becomes someone totally different. She can't fly, she doesn't like to leave the house, she won't go back to her job. She does get remarried but she attempts to take her life and still has a very difficult time just functioning. A chance meeting with an antique dealer is the beginning on a new friendship. Daphne is quite the character and I found myself not really liking her....feeling she was taking advantage of Pia when she was weak and at the end I find out why I didn't like her. Her relationship with Daphne, no matter Dahpne's intentions did end up being a good thing for Pia because she does appear to break free of her issues through her friendship with Daphne. There is an interesting twist at the very end of the book regarding Daphne which really took me by surprise!

Pia's sister, Lily is in jail throughout the entire book. She tried many times unsuccessfully to get out on parole and as time goes on, she becomes more and more jaded. She is 'courted' by a guard who she wants nothing to do with. You see her progression to healing most strongly close to the end of the book. A cathartic outburst during a parole hearing was just what she needed to begin to let go.

Beth, the sister in law to Lily and Pia has the smallest role but one that ties the entire book together. Her daughter, Easter was 6 years old when she was killed in a car accident.......Lily was driving the car! Beth struggles with 'good days' and 'not good days' the few times we see her in the book. She has a great deal of anger toward Lily and attends each of Lily's parole hearings to make sure she does not get out.

What I found interesting about this book was the way the author worked the characters and the people in their lives. Pia interacted with Lily quite a bit at first but then gradually pulled away so each of them becomes very 'on their own' but it doesn't really speak to why they pulled away except that Pia moves away and can't visit Lily as much. Also, Pia has 2 sons and they are in the beginning of the book briefly but go off to college and pretty much disappear from further mention. If I as any good at all about reading the hidden meanings I would know what all these things mean............but I have never been too good about symbolism.

I gave this book 2 out of 5 stars in my book diary..........mainly because I found myself rushing through the end. Everytime I want to get done with a book (skipping over lots of paragraphs and words just to get done versus loving it so much I want to keep reading!) I give it a low score...it's lost my interest but I just can't stand to not finish it. I am at least interested enough to want to know how it ends.

Fiction/358 pages

Barefoot

I love to read more than I like to knit and I am torn everyday on how much of my free time to spend on each! Sharing books that I have read and love with other people and encouraging them to read them too and hopefully enjoy them really makes me happy. Just ask me to recommend something for you to read on the beach or on vacation and I am in heaven! I pull out my list and soon you have 20 books to pick from.

In the interest of getting other people excited about good books, I am going to do a brief review of each book I read....and let you know how many stars I give it in my little black book of books!

Barefoot by Elin Hilderbrand

This is the 4th book of hers I have read. And you can always tell I really like an author if I start reading all their books! The first book by Elin Hilderbrand that I encountered was The Blue Bistro which remains my favorite although I have really enjoyed the others as well. She has 2 more books that I have not yet read so I will be checking those out soon.

Three women head to Nantucket for the summer.....2 sisters and one of the sister's close friends. Each of these women are dealing with their own kind of crisis. One has lung cancer (but is not and never has been a smoker), one was a quick rising star as a professor who had a 'foray' with a student and in a fit of anger damaged the college's prized piece of artwork, and one has a husband who has a lover and she is now pregnant (she recently found out about both). The book follows these women through the summer as they stay in a 1 bathroom cottage on the ocean inherited from their strong, dominant Aunt....okay, one bathroom is VERY cozy and crowded. Several close encounters early on with a young want-to-be writer named Josh brings him into their summer life as their sitter for Vicki's 2 small boys. Each woman gently and sometimes heartbreakingly come to terms with their situation. Each emerges from the summer stronger, with a new perspective on her life.

This was a very good book. I enjoyed reading it and getting to know each character......finding out what their ultimately decide to do with their life.

I give it 4.5 stars!!!

First Edition: July 2007

Pages: 403

Ode to The Starlet

Years ago...I hate to think how many, I received a sewing machine, a Singer Starlet, for Christmas from Mom and Dad. Each of us girls got a 'big' present rather than several small. My sisters will recognize it and I know they will get a kick out of seeing it again....they religiously read my blog and hang on my every word.......NOT!!! Anyway, I think I was a freshman in high school. I used this machine so much, especially when I was in high school and college. I made almost all of my clothes! This machine has traveled with me to the many different places I have lived over the last $% years. (yes, I'm in denial, if you don't write the number it really doesn't exist!)
One of the special features of the Starlet was it was portable. It closes up and the foot pedal and the cord are stored in part of the box!
After many years of my Starlet working like a charm, I had to finally take it in for surgery a couple years ago when I was in my pillow making phase. (Remember, I have the ADD crafting problem hense another craft!) It was not working at all. I drop it at the Singer store and pick it up about a week later. The guy was very impressed with my little machine and said they didn't make very many of them 'back then'! He said it was a good little machine and he enjoyed working on it. Rather than dwelling on the 'back then' comment...I chose to bask in the fine idea that I had one of very few!!!
I have pulled the Starlet out of retirement to help me with my latest crafting project. I am finishing up a felted purse. I am actually going to try and sell this one...we'll see what happens. I needed to line it to give it a finished look.

I will post a picture of the finished purse in the next couple days. It's looking pretty cute if I do say so myself!

Happy Day!

Adult Sweater #2

This knitting is so addictive! I have started on a sweater for my husband and you can see the progress so far. Started on Friday, February 8th. Sorry about the sideways photo. I tried to rotate it in Photoshop but for some reason it didn't save. I need to spend more time on trying to master the elements of Photoshop. It is knitted in the round (my favorite) from the bottom up. There is a 2" garter stitch border around the bottom.

I love this pattern.....it's updated and cool! According to this picture I am probably not quite to the half way mark on the stockinette. Moving pretty quickly tho.
You can't really tell in my picture but it has a garter stitch column on the sides. You can see it much better in the picture from the magazine. If I would have picked a lighter color and think that would have shown up more. Hope I won't be regreting that when it's all over. Yep....you can't see it at all in my picture!

I don't know how much concentrated knitting I am going to get done....I have to work 7 days straight so I will probably be comatose! I do find that knitting is a great way to unwind....especially when it's just straight knitting with not particular pattern to follow!

Happy Knitting!