Hanging

Ever felt like nothing quite went right and everything had its own schedule, completely different from yours,  and just left you hanging?

Phone calls unanswered;  internet mucking up; computers failing; sewing machines grinding to a screeching halt;  construction next door robbing you of your sleep; dental office visits.....   all adding up to a general sense of loss of control resulting in  panic and crazyness?

Well, we had one of those weeks and I decided to hide in my little atelier and just create.  I did not have much to work with because of the general sense of disorganization, and just collected odds and ends, even from the rubbish basket by the sewing desk and stitched together something that, in fact, reflects my whirlwind mind of that time.  Made me feel better though.

I started out with bunches of loose threads placed on a piece of mattress cover, which formed the basis of the little wall hanging, and then stitched on odds and ends from my bead collection and strips of yarn and fabric, branches covered in scraps of material or thread and hung it from a few dried branches from the yard.  Et voila!  A little wall hanging, and peace has returned in the house as well as in my mind.

We now have two new computers, and WiFi:  yeah, that is an improvement!!  Why did we wait this long?... and it is even cheaper than the old and slow DSL.   Thanks Time Warner!  Still waiting for the sewing machines to return home.  The White just needs a tune up; the ancient (1954 Kenmore) one, needs repair, but is so worth it, according to Tony the repair person.  It is a collector's item.  Who knew?  It belonged to my mother-in-law, bless her heart.

Take away pizza to be delivered in a bit:  heaven!

☯

~ Tranquility and Tolerance ~

Scarf and Shawl time in SoCal?

It has been freezing here lately!  Several mornings there was ice on the car windows.  And I left my scraper in NorCal when I moved here.  I am afraid the jade tree may have bitten the dust.  When jade trees freeze they look fine for a while but slowly become mushy inside until they collapse.   Very sad...  Unfortunately, it was too large  to dig up and put inside.   In the thirteen years I have lived here, this is the first time it has been that cold that often in the winter months.  We do not even have central heating in our house because we never really needed it.  Last year we had a brief cold spell and bought a little space heater.  This year, however, we had to buy several more.  Fortunately, these cold snaps do not last very long. Still, unusual weather for SoCal and extra sweaters and long robes help, but for outside I really did not have enough "winter gear", so I have been making shawls and scarves.

Here are some of my latest efforts. Others are already gone because friends saw them and took them.  (I must teach them how to knit and crochet).  But I was flattered and anyway, one has only one neck.

OK, the one on the left is made from one $1 ball of deep purple bouclé  in a double crochet with skipping every other stitch  - 7 inches wide and as long as the ball lasted.  Then I wove a multi colored "novelty" yarn through the holes and also made tassels.  I actually made one knitted scarf of this stuff  and it is a    " b * t c h "   to work with.  It looks like a little black thread ladder inter spaced with colored silky threads which love to tangle or unravel,  and no matter how careful you are with knitting needles or crocheting (practically impossible - the loopy effect makes it hard to keep track of the stitches), it is very frustrating to process.  Not recommended, but great for tassels and weaving through. And fortunately it was cheap.  All this yarn is from Big Lots, so you know I paid very little.

The shawl on the right is of a very "hairy" multicolored yarn.  There is a slit in it, a third way in, so that one end can be pulled through the other.  But you can skip that because with all the fluff going on, you can hardly see the slit.  I added the same bothersome  yarn tassels but this time I tied opalescent beads in them.   Perhaps this is a bit clearer on the photo at the bottom, and clicking on the photos allows a larger view.

The middle one is made from a ball of dark brown bouclé yarn, thinner than the purple yarn,  and I knitted it in stockinette about 5 inches wide and about 2 yards long.  Then I crocheted from beige wool and beige speckly cotton all kinds of different motives: flowers, stars, peace symbols, etc., and sewed them on with black thread - almost invisible - and added some tassels.  For more detailed instructions click on the link.
http://fanaticalfroebeler.blogspot.com/p/how-do-i-do-that.html

They were all easy and fun to make and they keep me warm, these freezing days when I go out foraging.

For details click on HOW DO I DO THAT?

☯

~ Tranquility and Tolerance ~