Month: December 2016

Finally F. O.’s

mulchandmorecrafts 7 Comments

Finally, now that Christmas presents have been opened, I can share some of my December knitting with you.

Santa sacks

snow flake and deer head

 

I discovered a blog that was publishing knitted Santa sack patterns for advent. Bekki did a great job posting a new one almost daily for the 24 days. Unfortunately I didn’t knit them as fast as she did so I only finished the number I needed for gifts.

Santa sacks

tree and gift

Santa sacks

bells and snowflake

Santa sack

Faire Isle

But she did inspire me, I knit seven from her patterns, then I made a grid and charted my own design for an angel (which I wanted for my daughter’s collection and Bekki hadn’t gotten to that day yet) And I’m looking forward to finishing the rest of the set that she published.

Santa sack

Angel sack before sewing

As we end this year, I realize that I haven’t shared as many finished objects with you as I had planned. Thanks to those who have continued to follow me in spite of my inconsistency and a welcome to those who may have just stumbled upon my blog. Stay tuned, a new year gives me another chance to improve my blogging habits 🙂

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year!  May Health and Happiness be yours.

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Kitties and Crafts

mulchandmorecrafts 2 Comments

Kitties and crafts are an interesting combination! Before adopting, one was on my lap while I was knitting on a hat! He jumped down through the loop of the circular needles, ignoring the yarn, so I mistakenly assumed that his twin brother would act the same 🙂

They did come home with us with slight colds (along with the medicine to treat their sneezes) Sheldon has recovered and Stanley’s sneezes are getting less frequent!  But that means their curiosity is increasing! Sheldon has to see whatever it is we are doing. With Christmas fast approaching I have been trying to get some knitting finished. Sheldon thinks moving yarn is to be bitten, then he jumps on my lap for a closer taste! Makes for slow knitting!

cat with knitting.

That innocent look of “who me?”

After nearly a week I decided I wanted to see their reaction to my spinning wheel. I started spinning some short lengths of my hand dyed merino top. Within a minute Sheldon had put his paw on the moving treadle but soon figured out that it would get hit by the wheel as the treadle raised. He moved to the side and with his paw on my toe  “helped” me treadle for a while. Then he jumped to my lap, smelled the wool , but was mesmerized watching the flyer spin as if trying to figure out how it was working. Then he bit at the yarn! After the second bite and second NO he decided to get down but continued to watch from a short distance. Unfortunately I have no pictures of this since my hands were full protecting my yarn!

merino

hand dyed top

I spun two bobbins with somewhat even color changes, hoping they would line up with each other when plied.

single hand spun yarn

spools of singles

The colors overlapped some but came close to what I’d planned. The most I could fit on my bobbin was 220yds (seen below on the niddy noddy) but with the two smaller skeins totals just over 300yds. (enough to knit another shawl!)

plied yarn

Plied yarn on niddy-noddy and in smaller skeins.

New Additions!

mulchandmorecrafts 5 Comments

After almost a year of a pet-less home we took a trip to our local animal shelter. We were looking for 2 cats so they would keep each other company on any day we might be gone.We didn’t expect to bring any home, just window-shopping.

new cats

First afternoon home.

We were lucky, not too many choices but they had 2 brothers who had been turned in as strays. They were so friendly, purring loudly with happiness when we took them out of their cage. I did bring in some knitting, in a craft house I had to see how much of a danger they would be to my yarn. As I sat with my partially knitted hat, one climbed on my lap, sniffed the wool and proceeded to walk through my circular needles (with a tail of yarn falling across his forehead) to jump off my lap 🙂

About nine months old, they are past the kitten stage but playful and smart. They have been exploring the house and testing their limits, as any adolescent would. They like to spend time together but voluntarily separated last night, one following our son to bed, the other joining my husband and me.

Following us around, curious about what we are doing but not too intrusive. They even let me work with wool today, watching as I made dryer balls but not running away with the long piece of roving.

Sheldon the cat

Helping with wool.

Main problem is they are identical twins. One might be a few ounces heavier than the other but not that noticeable. The one that we named Sheldon (because of his choice of his seat on the couch) does have a small scab on one ear, but once that heals completely it’s going to be iffy! The other one (named Stanley after a character in Gravity Falls) does have one white whisker, but those sometimes shed and who knows if the next one will be the same color.? Meanwhile we are learning their characteristics and hoping they are learning their names.Collars would be a solution but I don’t like them on cats, too easy for them to get hung up if they should sneak outside. .

I am realizing how hard it is to photograph black cats and have them show up 🙂

cats on chair.

Stanley’s eyes aren’t really that gold.