N in her Shaun the Sheep Hat!

Here's N in her Shaun the Sheep Hat.  She loved the Shaun the Sheep movie, and she loves the Shaun the Sheep dvds.

The Shaun the Sheep face is duplicate stitched onto my own hat pattern that I knit for the kids.  Yarn is Vanna white and black.  Length 7.5".  Size 5 and 7 needles.

Pottery Class--Glazing our Pottery Nov. 28 at Rock Island Trading Post

We had a great time glazing our pottery pieces that we made on Sept. 26 at the Rock Island Trading Post in Rosebud, Mo..  It was interesting to see how the pieces had changed after John fired them.  The edges of my decorative dish shrunk down quite a bit, and Kathy S.'s pie plate's edges also shrunk down.  She made a pretty bowl, too. 

Doris also made a decorative dish, and hers has feet on the bottom of it.  RhonnaLeigh made a beautiful butter dish with a butterfly on top, and Debbie made a beautiful bowl on the wheel and also a spoon rest.  We used our extra clay to make small ornamental pieces for decorations.  Doris is using hers for the baskets she makes. 

Here's Doris glazing her pieces, and to her right is Debbie's bowl and spoon rest.  Doris was working on small pieces for her baskets.

Debbie is glazing her pieces a beautiful red color to match her kitchen.  RhonnaLeigh also glazed her butterfly butter dish in a beautiful red color, and she was working on some small pieces while Kathy S. was talking to her.

Here's RhonnaLeigh's beautiful butterfly butter dish.

Doris and I glazed our decorative dishes in mint green, which is a translucent color, with teal on the rim. We chose a lighter translucent color so the leaves we stamped in the clay will show through.

It will be really interesting to see the pieces after John does the final firing.  We had a lot of fun glazing our small decorative pieces.  I'm using mine for Christmas ornaments. 

 We've really enjoyed making the pottery together as a group and can't wait to see the finished pieces.  Debbie is bringing clay home to make more pieces for gifts.

N in her Wonderful Wallaby

I finished N's Wonderful Wallaby and gave it to her at her sister's basketball game recently.  N had been running around playing and was hot, but she tried it on and modeled it for me.  She looked so cute.  She was wearing a huge shirt that day because the kids had all gone on a field trip to the Science Center, and they were all wearing matching oversized T-shirts. 

Notes:
 Size 8. Lengthen sleeves and body to wear longer. Size 6 needle for cuffs, size 8 needle for body. Body of sweater: 13.5”. Sleeves: 13.5”. Front neck garter stitch: Knit last row. Dec.row, Purl 10. Knit row. Dec. row, purl 10. Last Dec. row stop at center of 10 stitches. 1. WS purl 5 instead of knit, Purl across, Knit last 5. Hood make a little longer: 10 inches.

Nov. 14--Making Candles at L's Cabin

We had so much fun making candle's at L's cabin.  L's cabin is an original Missouri log cabin that was moved log by log and restored on L's farm.  She and her husband added an upstairs to the cabin and porches.  The view from the back porch is gorgeous with rolling hills, pasture, and trees.  Her sheep were out in the pasture enjoying the nice November day.

Linda had the wood burning stove going inside where it was nice and warm.  We had L's delicious homemade soup and homemade bread for lunch.  We also brought cookies for our cookie exchange, and they were all yummy.  The inside of the cabin has been decorated to look like you are stepping into an 1800's log cabin.

 

 We each made 2 candles.  We used soy wax heated to 240 degrees using an electric deep cooker.  We placed the wicks inside pint-sized canning jars.  For one candle, we used green coloring and Christmas scent.  For the other candle, we used red coloring and cloves scent.  We decorated the candles with cloves, cinnamon sticks, and jingle bells.  They turned out so pretty. Thank you so much, L!  We had such a wonderful time, and our candles look so festive!

N in her Snoopy Happy Dance Hat

I gave N. her Snoopy hat yesterday when we went to see the "Peanuts" movie.  She loved it.  It's a free pattern by Sarah Zimmerman, and it's available on her website, Repeat Crafter Me, or on Ravelry. 

Notes:  Yarn: Vanna, white and black.  H hook.  Teen/Adult pattern except stop after Round 8: 60 HDC.  Diameter of circle is about 6.5".   Skip round 9.  Rounds 10-21 on 60 HDC: Stop when the hat is almost 7.5" long.  Finish with a round of SC in each stitch around.  Sew ears on slightly forward. I used a tapestry needle and long thread of black to do a lazy daisy chain for the mouth instead of making a chain and sewing it on later. 

Ozark Fiber Fling in Steelville, Mo.

The Ozark Fiber Fling is a wonderful fiber festival in Steelville, Mo., in Nov. each year. There are classes in knitting, spinning, felting, crochet, preparing fiber, and more.  There's a good selection of vendors with lots of yarns, fibers, fleeces, books, and supplies.  The classes are very reasonably priced, and you can camp out in the building overnight if you'd like.  It's a great opportunity to learn new techniques.  They are planning classes for next year and are open to suggestions.  Here are some pictures of the vendors.

Ann Anderson was there teaching double knitting and shadow (illusion) knitting.  She showed us some of her beautiful double knitting scarves.  She was working on the grey scarf.

She does double knitting by holding the yarns in both hands, so one color is in each hand.  Her tension is great, which can be difficult with double knitting.  I was hoping to take her class, but I couldn't make it that day.

Susan Wilson, an expert finger weaving artist, was there teaching classes and selling her beautiful finger woven scarves.  She taught the diagonal weave for beginners and the arrowhead pattern for those with some finger weaving experience.  Here's my class sample.  It's fun to do and takes practice to get the tension right.

Here are some of Susan Wilson's  beautiful scarves: an arrowhead flame stitch pattern, a chevron pattern, and a lightning pattern.  She has some of her works in museums.

Here's a video of Susan finger weaving the arrowhead pattern.