Teddy's First Hallowe'en

 Happy Hallowe'en everyone, from Li'l One-eyed Teddy!

This is his very first Hallowe'en, and he's a little bummed that he didn't get a costume to go out Trick-or-Treating. 

He figured costumes like "Cyclops", "Flying Purple People Eater", "Long John Silver" and "Mad Eye Moody" would be perfect for a uniquely handsome guy like himself.

But he is only a little over 12 weeks old and until he has been fully vaccinated it's not considered safe for him to be out and about where other dogs may have been.

Maybe next year Teddy. I know at least one neighbour who would be sure to have a little treat for you -- costume or not. 

Weaving Handspun Cotton

I've spun and I've spun over the past few months, spinning up at least 2 pounds of cotton now, but this is the first time I've actually used my cotton. Now that I've tried weaving handspun cotton I'm definitely hooked. I really love the way it looks and feels.

This is the beginning of my first weaving. I cut it from the loom to use as a wet finishing sample when I spotted a mistake in the threading. It's marked on the right there with a pin. Two threads were in the same heddle. I've since rethreaded and have continued weaving.

I've already woven enough to complete quite a long table runner but I have plenty more warp to work with. This prewound Saori warp was a Christmas gift from a very generous friend.

The warp is organic cotton in varying thicknesses in natural undyed brown, green, and white. The weft is all my own handspun! Such a pleasure to weave with it. The first runner is predominately handspun Acala white with three stripes of Sarepta Brown at each end. I think I'll weave a second runner with the opposite combination. 

First Project

The first project sewn in the newly renovated and redecorated sewing room is a Christmas outfit for a dear friend,

my walking buddy, Kona.

She doesn't look overly excited about it does she?

Dreamy Cotton

I'm so pleased with the little skein of 2 ply natural brown cotton!

It spun up beautifully! I have a whole pound of it to work with and it's so delightfully soft and squishy that I think I'll spin it into a 3 ply for knitting. But for now -- back to the white cotton I was working on.

First Cotton Skein

My first skein of handspun cotton. I'm so pleased with the way it turned out.

I filled 3 spindles on the charkha (about .25 oz each), placed them on a charkha spindle lazy kate that my husband is making for me (not quite finished but I got to take it for a test drive), and then plyed them together using my Majacraft LittleGem wheel. 

The resulting skein weighs 20gr (.705 oz) and is approximately 80 yards long. I forgot to measure WPI before skeining it, but it looks to be about a fingering weight. So soft and cuddly! I love it.

First of Many Ice Drops

Ice Drops are a fun little thing to tat!

They are formed around a "gem" that you can find in hobby stores or sometimes in the area of the aquariums in a pet store.

Pretty little doodads with little purpose, they are sometimes done as Christmas tree ornaments, package decorations, back pack charms and so forth.

Did I mention that they are fun to tat? For that reason alone you might be seeing many more of these.

She Grows on You!

This little cutie was a surprise delivery yesterday! I ordered her on October 8th and didn't really expect to see her until the new year. She's a Fairyland Realfee Mari. Fairyland usually doesn't start making the dolls until after an order is placed, resulting in a wait of many months for delivery.

But this little one arrived in only 15 working days, and that includes the day I ordered and the day I received her. That's absolutely unheard of for Fairyland.

The PLAN was to not keep this particular little face. The body yes, the faceplate, no. I arranged to trade this "Mari" faceplate, (which I thought I wouldn't care for), for a Soso faceplate, but a curious thing happened. 

She grew on me. 

I mean really grew on me. I fell in love with her!

Here is how it happened:

It seems I am the VERY FIRST person to get a Realfee Mari doll! Perhaps not in the world, but certainly on the photo hosting site I use (Flickr) and on the ball jointed doll forum (Den of Angels), and on the knitting forum (Ravelry). No one else seems to have one yet! This means that there are rabid Mari fans just dying to see 'owner' photos of this doll. Having had the honor of being 'first' I felt it my duty to oblige.

The actual company photos never seem to stir the excitement and creative ideas that the incoming blank dolls photographed by individuals like myself do, so I set to work, intent on providing doll hobby friends with photos. But as I dressed, posed, and photographed this odd little doll I grew so attached to her that it became difficult to box her up and send her off to Sweden to the woman who is sending me the Soso faceplate in exchange. But I am a woman of my word and a deal is a deal. Off to Sweden she goes tomorrow.

So as you can see, there was nothing else I could do! Defenseless against the Mari's enchantment --

--- I ordered one for myself.