Teaspoon for Scale

Here's teeny tiny Pocca modelling a pattern that I sincerely hope is in its final rendition. I've rewritten and reknit it several times now, for fit, and for ease of knitting -- if micro knitting can ever been seen as "easy". 

For scale? He's sitting in a teaspoon measure.

Pocca's Pullover

 After many trials and errors, much time ripping and redoing --- I finally have a pullover for Pocca!

Keep in mind that both Pocca and his pullover are very VERY tiny!

The entire sweater fits on a Canadian nickel (same size as a US nickel).

For ease in dressing there is a partial opening at the back and it is closed at the neck with a teeny tiny snap.

Pocca's Pointy Hat

Just finished today, but the developing pattern is still only in note form. Worked with one ply of 6 strand embroidery floss on 6-0 (0.75mm) needles.

Pocca still needs pants!

Micro Knitting

 How tiny is it? MICRO tiny!

When all the "yarn" needed for a complete sweater consists of just ONE ply of 6 strand embroidery floss and the entire "ball" can be wound on a bread tag, you know it's got to be micro knitting.

And who is this tiny knitting for? A little wee "Pocca". He's a micro ball jointed doll from DreamHigh Studios. He is only 4.5cm tall. That's less than 2 inches!

I've already knit him (or her) a teeny little hat.

Pocca hasn't yet received his faceup (that's colouring and details added to the face of a ball jointed doll).

When that is complete I might decide to rename him. I'm open to suggestions.

Pocca has a second "sleeping" face. I might decide to make that one a girl, for modelling purposes, but they would have to share a body.

Incoming Teeny Tiny

Preparing for a teeny, tiny little guy (or girl!) to arrive soon, I made him or her a place to sit and have a bite to eat.

This table set is super small! At 1/24th scale it is half the size used in common doll houses.

I have a whole tiny doll house to build but I found the two glues I have on hand aren't really up to the job of gluing the light wood. I'll be searching for some wood modelling glue before I continue.

 

Sandhill Sling

 It took awhile, with all the patches and boro like hand stitching, but my Sandhill Sling is finally finished.

I hope to use this small cross-body back pack on dog walks and when hunting for rocks for my mandala paintings. 

It has an outside zippered pocket, the main zippered interior, and an elasticized inside slip pocket.

This is the only construction photo I remembered to take. 

For the most part it wasn't difficult, but there were some "challenging" bits so I wouldn't recommend it for a beginning sewist.

I do intend to make another, possibly for shopping, and for that one I will combine both of the pattern views into one. I'll put the optional snap pocket on the side facing away from the body with the idea of keeping my cell phone there. Then on the side that lies snug against my body I'll put the zippered pocket for more secure storage of my wallet. Inside I'll put a slip pocket on both sides, for more organization. I may also put a D-ring on both sides of the bottom so the strap can be attached to either side. 

Whatever Cardigan Complete

 The cardigan I've been working on since late October is finally complete.

Lots of other hobbies and interests meant I spent limited time knitting. Usually only an hour in the evening while watching TV.

I also made innovations to the pattern which was designed strictly as a pullover.

I added vertical pocket openings at just the right height for comfort and then knit the inner portion in a thinner, very soft yarn.

I also steeked and cut open the front then knit a button band to create a cardigan. 

I'm happy with it. It's colourful and cozy. 

Things I'd do differently if I knit it again? I'd bring the neckline up a bit. It's not horrible or anything but my neck will get chilly if I'm not wearing a turtleneck underneath. I'd also make the button band just a wee bit wider, more for aesthetic reasons than anything else. 

Testing, Testing

 I just completed an itty bitty test knit for Heevis Miniatures. 

The largest of these sleepers for doll house babies is less than 2" tall! It was knit on 1.2mm needles (4/0) using 1ply cashmere. The smaller ones on either side were knit using the same pattern but 1mm needles (5/0) and a finer cashmere thread. 

The pattern does include working buttonholes but unfortunately I don't have anything that fits. The tiniest seed beads I have (on the blue sleeper) are way too large and the 2mm buttons I ordered are a little too small and won't stay fastened. They also have such tiny holes that it is a struggle to get even my finest beading needle through the hole. 

Completely From Stash

This sweater is coming together completely free to me. No supplies were purchased. It is made from little bits and bobs from my stash. 

The bottom hem is not droopy and uneven. That's just shadows.

I started with the concept of the "Whatever" sweater pattern by "Julie Knits in Paris", which is knit in the round from the top down. When the body was complete I cut a steek down the centre front and added a button band since I find cardigans more wearable and useful. 

It could be worn as is, but I plan a bit more work before I call this project finished. First I will be weaving Inkle bands to cover the edges of the steeks on the inside. When that is done I will be adding two pockets. Rather than the awkward horizontal openings so common to knits I plan to steek vertical openings. 

A New Dress and Wig

I made Willie a new Christmas dress and wig.

Ready In Time For Christmas

Done! And with five days to spare even. My goal was to have this weaving ready to hang on our front door by December 1st.

 

The plan was to hang it between our front door and the storm door in lue of a traditional wreath since the space doesn't have a lot of depth. My husband and son think I should hang it inside. That way it won't be temptation to a thief and we can also enjoy it more indoors than something that hangs outside where we ourselves would only see it occasionally.

The Saori style weaving is lit with a string of 50 very tiny battery operated lights. I poked them through the weaving from the back and then secured each and every one with a discrete yarn tie. 

The battery pack that powers the light string hangs hidden behind and is supported by the large candy cane. The lights can be turned on once and will cycle through a 6 hours on, 18 hours off, repeating pattern, or they can be turned on and off at will with the push of a button. 

Better Safe Than Sorry

I was cautioned by an experienced spinner to do a plying experiment before committing my entire 4oz ply of Recycled Sari Silk to being plyed with the Blue Faced Leicester wool. She was concerned that the two very different fibres would react differently when the yarn was set -- the wool perhaps shrinking while the silk did not. That would, of course, end up with the silk creating loose loops like boucle. 

I had already started spinning the BFL so I decided to spin it all and if the plying experiment showed combining the two was a big NO then I would just ply them back on themselves. 

As it turned out my little plying test was a resounding success! The two different fibres played very well together.

The silk ply adds sheen and little specks of colour and the BFL adds some loft and softness. 

This is great news since I have other colours of Recycled Sari Silk matched with BFL that I still have to spin.

Sari Silk by Longdraw

 When I started spinning this recycled Sari silk I was prepared for a wretched experience. I don't like spinning lumpy preps and my past experiences with spinning recycled Sari silk blended with wool was torturous. 

Not too far into this spin I made a very helpful discovery. Sari silk actually spins quite nicely when spun by itself using a long draw technique very close to how I spin cotton. I spun through all 4oz of it today.

I have 4ox of Bluefaced Leicester wool that is dyed in a very similar green. I'll spin it up separately and then ply the two together.  

Packing Up Until Spring

With the cooler weather we've been experiencing lately it is getting harder to find a day warm enough to spray rocks with a base coat  

and then apply several coats of UV sealant when they are finished being decorated.

so I am packing up my paints until spring brings warmer temperatures.

The last three blue rocks, and about a dozen others, have yet to have their sealant applied.

 

A Timely Gift

 As the weather turns a little colder and we head into fall and winter it's nice to tuck one's toes into cuddly warm slippers.

These were a very generous gift from a dear online friend. These one-of-a-kind slippers were handmade by The Bag Ladies of Sequim WA from recycled and re-dyed wool blankets and clothing. They have a cozy fleece lining and a durable out-sole. So comfy!

I love them!

19 Large Mandala Stones

18 of my first 19 large Mandala stones have now been given away.

I kept my favourite, (the blue gradient, second row from the top, second from the left), to use as a reference for future attempts at something similar.

All of the others made a trip north with my husband and were given away to family members.

Mailing them would have been expensive. Rocks are heavy!

I hope everyone was able to choose one they particularly liked.

 And now I can make some more! The great thing about this hobby is that the rocks don't have to clutter up indoor space. They can be left as accents in the garden since they have been treated to be UV and weather resistant.

I Surprised Myself!

I didn't know I had this in me.

When I started this mandala I had no idea what direction it would take. I drew guideline circles and divisions in pencil and hours later this had emerged. 

It's not perfect, but I find the imperfections add a certain charm and a human touch often missing in a world where so much is mass produced by machines.

Structured Doodling

Oh no! Another hobby in the making! 

This one is an offshoot of the mandala rock painting, but it also seems to be every bit as addicting! I sat down yesterday with the intent of spending "just a few minutes" playing with a Helix Angle & Circle Maker to experiment with dividing circles evenly for mandalas. The next thing I knew I was drawing a mandala with little doodles. 

I thought I was finished after a few minutes when I got this far, and I left it sitting on the kitchen table.

But as the day wore on, and in between other activities, I kept coming back to add "a little more". It gradually got more and more detailed and a little larger in diameter. 

Those penciled concentric circles and wedge shaped divisions provide a guide for placement of repetitive yet simple doodles. resulting in a more organized structure, symmetry, and a look of complexity that really was not difficult.

Here it is before I erased the guidelines.

I don't even know what I would call this activity. It's not "Zentangle" which, according to my brief research has rules that are followed, recommended tools, and set patterns. It's not strictly a "mandala" in the traditional sense either. I've come across "ZenDoodle" in my research but ZenDoodle is less structured. I'll call this ZenMandala until I find some word name that is a better fit.

Unusual Specimen Stand

My eldest grandchild found this dragonfly lying on their lawn and saved it for me. It's in excellent condition, but with the wings raised he can't easily be placed under glass. 

My solution was to prop it in a weighted plastic aquarium plant so now it can sit undisturbed in a doll's roombox. 

My Favourites So Far

I've lost track of how many mandalas I've painted on rocks so far, but of them all these are my favourites.

They are by no means perfect and there isn't much special about the layout so I think maybe it's the colours that are calling to me.

The shiny sealant makes the finished rocks difficult to photograph. I'll have to remember to take photos before adding the sealant that allows the painted rocks to be left outside in the garden. 

Rock In Red

Today's effort at dotting a mandala on a rock. I've done quite a few mandala rocks in the past couple of weeks. This one is not one of my best pieces, but I wanted to show my struggles.

There's numerous things about this one that didn't go as well as I would have liked, "swooshes" being one of them. I keep giving in to the allure of adding swooshes since they add so much to a mandala -- usually. But in my case they turn out so terribly that they end up disappointingly irregular.

Here's what swooshes should look like!

https://youtu.be/-XKxQ4nkdAY?t=33