Yarn and Fabric Sorting

Yesterday I started organizing the craft room, which is long overdue. The two main components in there are yarn and fabric. The yarn towers were doing OK, but besides from being near capacity, they didn't lend themselves to sorting.

Plus I kept going back and forth on HOW to sort the yarn- color, weight, fiber? I finally settled on color sorting exclusively, with an exception for the thread, the baby yarn, and the fun fur. I also switched it to the cubes I we got at Costco for the linen "closet" at the old house. The result is much more pleasing.




And I have more room in the cubes! The clothes pins have little numbers written on them, to tell me how many skeins I have stored behind them. I decided to treat it like a store front and try to have unique yarns at the front, and duplicates behind them, out of sight. I love it :)

It's a lot of yarn, I know... But now that I can SEE it, I know what I have, and I can start using it first, before I run to Michaels to buy more. This collection is from the last decade, plus some even older than that.

While I was sorting the fabrics into the wire bins, Casper decided it would be a great place for a nap.




He's so full of energy, it's hard to get a photo of him on my phone, unless he's asleep. So here's another.

Isn't he a cutie?




I know it's dark, so I had to touch up the exposure, but I couldn't resist, as he was being too adorable!

Thanksgiving, and New Family Member

This year I'm sharing the cooking of Thanksgiving with a friend. I'm in charge of the deserts, and here's a preview of a favorite I made at my 'first' Thanksgiving dinner 3 years ago.





It's a chocolate pecan espresso pie. Yum!

In other news, we have a new 4-legged furry kid in the house.

The little cuteness himself, Casper:





He's a 5-month-old rescue with long grey fur, white boots and a white chest and chin.





The girls haven't accepted him yet, but that's not much of a surprise since he only came home on Sunday. He's quite adorable and violently friendly, as my husband aptly puts it. It's hard to get a decent picture of him, as he keeps moving around and loves to investigate whatever you may have in your hand.

Here's a picture of Spook and Marmalade from a few months ago, as they pretend to get along.






-- Posted From My iPhone

The Zim Pillow

Here's a long-overdue post about the pillow I made for my little brother. I started designing this thing about a year ago, and finally finished it in time for his birthday this summer.

If you're unfamiliar with Invader Zim, this little music video will help. Maybe.

Lots of fun to cross stitch, which I don't normally do. Also haven't made pillows in awhile... Definitely had fun picking out the fabric colors, and got a big grin from the fabric store clerk when I described what it was for.

Z!



The Gir detail is a little lost in the picture, unfortunately. The eyes really are blue.



It'd be fun to crochet a Gir toy. Hmm...



Pin, pin, pin...

Frosty v1.0

But I'm not ready for winter/Christmas!

I know, but innt he cute??

=D




This is my first snowman, about 8 inches high. The next one will have a better nose (no it's not a beak!), a top hat, and stick arms.

Pumpkins and Candy, oh my!

Been busy as usual, finally started making some fall/Halloween things, as well as starting in on Christmas stuff. (I know, trying to get ahead! And maybe even post things to my store)


The candy corn was a late night spur-of-the-moment idea. I didn't have the perfect colors, and even put them out if order! So that model became an ice cream cone thingy with a smiley face.

Model 2 is much better.

Apologies for the coffee shop lighting =)

Showers of Showers

Well I guess "two" doesn't really count as a "shower," but anyway... Last week I went to a bridal shower for my soon-to-be sister-in-law, and helped put together a baby shower.

I didn't have too much notice for the bridal shower, but I made up a denim blue batwing shawl from my favorite pattern.

I guess I'm not as unpredictable as I might think. She opened the shawl, looked at me and said "This is from Kristen, isn't it?" =)

A friend is having a baby girl pretty soon, so we threw her a shower on Sunday. I made little pink and white coffee sweaters for favors, three of each design.

Then I wrapped them in tulle, and tied them up with pink yarn, as I didn't have any ribbon handy. I think they came out pretty well.

The hostess, who is a fabulous chef, made brunch with mushroom empanadas, two different kinds of frittata, and apple pie with caramel sauce for dessert.

I made lemon-chamomile shortbread, and maple-pecan oatmeal scones, both from Ezra Pound Cake. Here's a shot of the lovely table decorations, with the shortbread. And yes, it really is dangerously easy. I took the chamomile from a tea bag, and ground it up a little more in my morter and pestel.

I've been working on a couple gifts for the baby and the mama. Here's my friend C, modeling the scarf right after I finished it at our coffee night. She wanted to keep it, so I might just have to make another one :) It's this pattern in a bamboo yarn. So very soft! (you may have to sign up with Lion Yarn to see the pattern.)

Here's mom-to-be modeling the baby's lion terrycloth wrap. Really, it's more for a toddler than an infant. She can look forward to using it to make bathtime fun :)

And then I made a little lion toy to go with the wrap.

He's kind of permanently waving...

"bye!"

Black Fiberfill

Well, folks, I guess my source for black fiberfill had dried up. I'm just as sad as you. I've had a couple people email me asking where they can get the stuff, but it seems that the only company I knew of is now out of business.

I'd suggest you check with your local fabric / hobby stores to see if they have any leads. The company I had posted about was for ethnic doll supplies. I also had seen small quantities sold as filler for model train sets.

All I can say is that I wish I had ordered more. I have no more information :(

If anybody runs across a new source, please let me know.