The Bats

I made these bats for my mother-in-law's birthday, and I had a lot of fun with them. The pattern is here, and for these I used some very thick yarn, and a bigger hook. I also set the wings a little differently, and I think a little more in the middle than she has them. They were definitely a good use of the black stuffing.

I love how the brown yarn turned out, with the little fibers sticking out.

Awwww..

I've made a couple with smaller, worsted-weight yarn, but I still want to make more before the end of the year. Before you put the wings on, they look like mice.

Spook wanted to taste this one.

Yes, I definitely think some catnip mice are in order. And I experimented with little white spikes to make vampire teeth, but haven't perfected that just yet.

Pumpkins, and more Pumpkins

Last Sunday I had a very productive day. In the morning I went to my clay studio and glazed the second pumpkin and the leaves (only 1 broke!), and started two more pumpkins, this time on the wheel. I think they turned out ok. I forgot to trim one of them, but I should be able to do it in the second step.

Then I started a couple bowls to keep at work for soup or for salads. I'm pretty happy with them so far.

I had emailed my husband a link with instructions for making awesome-looking paper maché jack-o-lanterns, which inspired both of us to hit the hardware and craft stores for supplies. So our living room is currently covered in plastic with shredded newspaper strewn everywhere, buckets of paste, and three pumpkins in varying stages of completeness. The maché took longer to dry than we anticipated, so we couldn't even finish them up last night, but hopefully we'll be able to put more layers on tonight. I'll post the link and pictures when I get to it.

On that note, I need to come to the realization that the blog will always be at least a couple days behind. And anyway, if I were to post real-time about life, then I wouldn't really be living, now would I?

But back to the pumpkins. So the paper ones are still setting, and on Sunday I worked on some of a crochet one as well. So we had pumpkins in clay, paper, and yarn! We haven't carved real pumpkins yet, though we have a few of them decorating the front yard.

Last night I started crocheting a visor cozy for my husband's helmet visor, which gets scratched when he puts it in his gym bag. He has two: tinted and clear, so one is always in the bag. I only did half of it, but hopefully I'll finish it tonight. I didn't take a picture, because it's not very impressive yet. It's burgundy and shaped like a visor =)

WIP List

I don't have anything exciting to show yet, so I just wanted to give a rundown of current projects. I'll start with the Christmas projects, but those are intentionally vague :)

I have three started, which are each 10% or less completed. I also have 3 or 4 more planned out, and I just figured out what I'm going to make my husband, so I should get started on that also. We'll see if I finish all these in time!

My stripey sweater is almost finished. I just need to put the sleeves on.

I have a miniature American flag afghan that I started years ago, which just needs to be assembled. I'm doing a little heart pillow to go with it, and I thought I might try to sell that. It's acrylic, so it's not very soft, but it would be good to toss around on 4th of July excursions or something. I'm making up a bigger version of this heart, done in double crochet.

I still want to finish more small pumpkins to give away. I owe my mom two more, since I gave two of hers to my aunt who was visiting.

And then I have two creatures from this book to finish, which are belated birthday presents. Maybe I'll do that tonight.

And that's just the active projects, not the ones I have stored away to pick up again someday. I do like having several going at once, but I want to get some of these wrapped up.

Clay and Crochet

While at the Autumn clay workshop last weekend I started some leaves. The ones on the left are definitely thick enough, if they get handled properly before being bisque fired. Some of the others are too thin, and while they'd be cool when done, they may break before hand. These will all get a simple iron oxide treatment, which should show off the details wonderfully. (the note is to the kiln handlers explaining that I realize I made them too thin, so they don't stress out when they do break)

Then I went back to the studio to start some big cylinders and try a little more slab work. I wanted to do a bowl/tray of some sort, and was looking around the studio for a nifty texture to roll into it. I ran across this cotton doily, done in fillet crochet. Whoa, combining two hobbies?? So I rolled it into the slab

and dropped it into the bowl form.

I should have returned by now and pulled it out, but it's probably ok since it's shrinking away from the bowl. I plan to go by tomorrow and check on all my stuff. I've also started a notebook to keep track of everything, and record what glazes I use, etc.

Tonight I went by the coffee shop, but since I didn't get a confirmed "yes" from anyone, I shouldn't have been surprised when nobody else showed up. But I still had a good time sitting there crocheting with my chai.

I sewed up the sides and started putting the sleeves on this sucker, which hasn't seen the light of day in awhile. There's just a narrow band on that right side, but it's close to being finished! I might do a black border around the neckline, but I haven't decided yet.

Oh, and I'm also currently a brunette. This is the most drastic change I've done (I get teased for perfecting the "half-a-shade-different" temporary dye jobs), but I figure having short hair is the perfect time to play around with it. I'm still planning on changing it a little bit more before I grow it out and go back to red.

Kitty and Pumpkins

Today I went to the clay Autumn Decor workshop for pumpkins, acorns, and leaves. SO much fun. 5 hours didn't nearly seem that long, though by the end I was ready to go... though mainly because then at 6pm I realized I hadn't had lunch. I learned a lot, and did a lot more handbuilding than I have in awhile. Here is some of what I'm working on

The left one I made last week, before the class, because I was really excited to make pumpkins. The stem isn't at a very good angle, but it's short and stubby, and gnarly like it just got ripped off. It's also done with coils, and the right one is done with slabs around a round form. These are still greenware. They'll dry, then get bisque fired, then glazed and fired again. Then I'll take another picture :)

And here's some cuteness from Spook. I had fun taking these.