Dresses for the Ghouls

These little hand knit sheath dresses are kind of fun to knit so I've made a couple more.



One for Cleo de Nile, done in a handspun merino and silk with a softly varying colourway.




The other one is for Lagoona Blue. 

 

This one is knit in an acrylic yarn that has added sparkle.



It's one of those Lion Brand "Bon Bons".

 

 The pattern is a generous freebee by Jane Conway and is available on Ravelry.

Feels SO Good!

It feels great to finally get the Christmas decorations all packed up and put away. I kept them up a little longer than usual this year because the granddaughters loved them so much and didn't want Christmas to end. I love the decorations when they first go up but after Christmas I'm always anxious to get beyond the "clutter" of Christmas and back to normal routines. It was hard to hold off until after New Years!



We purchased a few bulky decorations this year and even with adding the smaller storage box I had to fit things in like a puzzle. I managed to get it all in there though (not including the GIANT box the tree goes in of course).

Well, there is still this! ----



What is it with poinsettias anyway? Some years they barely make it to Christmas, dropping their lower leaves and looking mighty bedraggled by the big day, and then other years the season comes and goes and the plant lives on and on. Now I'm faced with the prospect of throwing out a plant that is still quite healthy and yet looks totally out of place as January marches along.

Built and Smashed

The granddaughters were here today. They built and smashed this gingerbread house all in one day.



They had built one earlier in the Christmas season and I think that one lasted a little longer. This time it was more about the eating than it was about the building.

Handspun MH Dress

When I was a little girl I played with Barbies a LOT. My mother made me a huge box of hand knit doll clothes and they were well loved. Monster High dolls seem to be more popular with my granddaughters.

 

Both girls have several, and really enjoy playing with them. About a year ago I bought one, this Cleo de Nile, as a model so that I could make clothing for the girls to use with their dolls.



I never did get around to making much, but the girls love to play with my Cleo. Trouble is when the youngest is here visiting she also wants ME to play "Monster High" with her. I only had one doll so one of us was "stuck" with the second hand Barbies in the toy box (me of course).



With Grandma's Toy Box in mind I picked up a Lagoona Blue during the post Christmas sales. This dress, hand knit in hand dyed, handspun, merino and silk, is actually for Lagoona, but Cleo was laying there naked while Lagoona is still in her box, fully clothed, so the modelling job went to Cleo.

The pattern is a generous freebee by Jane Conway and is available on Ravelry.

On It's Way to France

I know I said I wouldn't be doing any more commission work



because it usually stresses me out to be working to someone else's specifications and with a deadline,



but I made an exception this time



because I knew it to be a very quick and easy project



requiring an investment of only a few hours of my time



and supplies I already had on hand.



This little Nappy Choo sweater



is now on its way to France!



With the customer speaking only French, and me speaking only English, communication was "interesting" and involved copious use of the Babelfish website. 

Christmas Album

A few belated Christmas pictures



after a comment by "Anonymous"



pointing out that I had



 somehow completely forgotten



to post any of the Christmas pictures of the resin gang



even though the little ones all got new Christmas outfits this year!



even the mouse, Hickory Dickory.

Too Tired to Run

Poor Shelby!



The granddaughters stayed over a second night and now she's too tired to run away.

Christmas Table Runner

 The "Christmas Blues" Saori table runner was finished in time, though it ended up being shorter than I had originally planned.



I had wanted the runner to be longer than the table so that the fringes would hang off the ends, but tension problems with the warp caused me to cut the weaving free with it shorter than then intended length.



I think it still worked out fine though.



I'll tie the warp back on, adjusting the tension, and weave a short bit with what remains.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas Blues

Christmas Blues, in this case refers not a mood, but a colour scheme and name for the table runner I have on the loom now.


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Catching Up!

Ooops, just realized I had gotten a bit behind in my posting. The first hand woven, Saori, Christmas runner is complete and in use and the second is being started.

Here's the first one:


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I'll post picture of the start of the second one (in blue!) tomorrow.

I Like It

 

The Christmas table runner is coming along nicely.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

After the very, very long handspun warp I finished yesterday I wanted to put on a short, quick, fun, seasonal warp.



I'm winding a cheerful Christmasy warp today. It may (or may not) become a Christmas table runner. We'll see.

Washed, Pressed and Folded

Washed, pressed, and folded until I decide what I want to make out of it.



And if you want a closer look at the individual sections hop on over to my Flickr page.



Here is one of my favourite sections:



And another with a different mood to it:



And yet another:

A Long Weaving

I came to the end of the handspun, denim coloured warp. The finished weaving, before washing, measures 10.25 metres. All of the weft is also handspun.



I haven't entirely decided what it will be. Some sort of top or jacket I think. There may be enough to make some small additional item as well.