Precious....my precious....

This year, I’m becoming more and more aware of how not alone I am in certain crafter traits that I was more than a little ashamed of. Kept this as my dirty little secret because I really didn’t know anyone who did these things, although I now suspect I did know, but they kept it a secret as well.

My dirty little secret? I have a lot of stuff. All for the sake of some project that has yet to hatch.

As I read through various blogs and listen to podcasts, it’s comforting to know that there isn’t anything wrong with me- this is just the way of the crafter. Publications like this and this not only confirm this, but show me there are a lot more people out there with way more stuff than I! I find solace in my crafting brethren. I find I am not alone in my collecting of all materials and objects of this world. I find I am not alone in collecting ribbons off candy boxes, buttons off old and worn clothes, keys that no longer open doors. Low tide leaves exposed, treasures that others would see as nothing more than beach glass and rocks – Look! This rock has a hole in it that you can peep through! This one is heart shaped! This one has some flecks of some shiny stuff in it- nature’s glitter! wooooo. I have a jar of acorn caps, a box of very old photos of people I never knew, and hoarded glitter. IKEA and recycled food jars help keep things in their place. When I saw a brief tour of Aaron Spelling’s mansion, my only thought was, “Wow…he almost has enough room there so that I could devote each room to one craft subject!”

The drive to make stuff invades all aspects of my life. Like spilt glitter on shag carpet, it will always be there, sticking to everything. Ideas are triggered at every turn. They change and evolve with the seasons.

With the weather so warm this spring, I had already started my garden a few weeks ago. This year, amongst the edibles, I’ve planted gourds. Why? so I can have more of this in my home



Oh wait. That was the before.

Here’s a prettier after:



I know. Gross, huh?

That was my first foray into drying gourds and I love the end result. While not expensive to buy, a whole packet of seeds costs the same as one gourd and I need more. There’s also the joy of growing things and harvesting. Inner gnome is pleased.

And what do I plan to do with a collection of dried gourds? Fairy houses! Instead of a traditional Christmas village, I’m thinking about a fairy village. Seen some really incredible gourd art and it would lend itself nicely to being converted to houses. It would be…gourd-geous!

Also in the garden this year: several varieties of lavender. I want to make those ribbon-woven lavender thingamajigs. Love the smell of lavender when in it’s natural state. So far, all lotions I’ve found have an underlying patchouli scent, which I dislike very much.

Thinking of planting a small garden of dyeing plants, too. Oh- and last week, I saw a papyrus plant and I think I may get a few. I’d like to try and make paper.

I know a woman who does cross-stitch. Nothing else. Just that one craft and she’s been doing it for years and years. For people who have the capability to focus on one craft and do it exceptionally well, hats off to you! I’ve tried it and failed. I became like the kid in school who is constantly looking out the window to watch birds bathe in a pool of water or autumn leaves caught up in a swirling column of wind. Ants in the pants. I have crafting ants in my pants. And they are covered in glitter and wool.

My inner gnome has spoken and I have answered. Frugally.

Last year, I bought some washed fleece at a fiber festival.

Keep in mind, I know pretty much nothing about spinning. Know even less about how to pick fiber, but knew I needed (not wanted- NEEDED) some and the only criteria I went in with were: affordable, nice color, washed. Sure, there were many vendors with amazing displays of roving in beautiful colors, beckoning seductively… “Loook at ussss….we’re ready to spin! All aligned and perrrrfect!” Oh, believe me, I wanted all of it! Wanted it to be mine- ALLLL MINE!

…but no. I was strong.

Fueled by the desire to teach myself, I knew I needed fleece so I could start as close to the beginning as possible. If I could, I would have just come home with some sheep and started there (one day, one fine day..). I had to skip the getting my own sheep step, decided to also skip the washing step because I have neither a big enough sink nor am I ready yet to deal with sheep dingle berries, and started with 3 humble 1-pound bags of fleece. 2 dark brown and 1 cream. One has caramel brown tips, which I suppose some may see as imperfections, but to me, it’s beautiful. Then again, I’ve always found sweet beauty in the imperfect – the runt of the litter, rust, mutts, vegetables that look like they have noses, gargoyles.

One bag I bought was from the first shearing of the sheep. The woman told me this as I was paying her and she smiled a little sadly and patted the bag like a mom watching their child go to their first day of kindergarten. This is my favorite bag and the one I chose to finally do something with.

For the last year, I looked at what I bought and wondered how to prep it. I have no hand cards and didn’t want to buy a set yet because of the cost. How about dog brushes? smaller, but the same concept, right? Well, I priced them and decided it wasn’t cheap enough. I’d be better off just saving my money until I could just get a real set.

But the inner gnome. It wants to play!

So…I went to the Dollar Store and found a dog comb. Guess what- it worked fine! Not something I’d use for the whole bag unless I wanted Popeye arms, but for small amounts, it was perfect. This also allowed me to witness the fibers as they turned from clumps, into lofty clouds. Very primitive, my skill level, and I’m happy walking this slow and imperfect path. If I can understand where something is coming from, I stand a better chance of knowing how ride with it to new destinations.

So here is what I came up with. “After,” on the left, “Before,” on the right. My $1 dog comb peeking in from the top to say, “Hello!”



Now this will be no surprise to most acquainted with wool, but it was a fun surprise to me- dark brown plus cream does not equal light brown! At least in fiber world.



It makes a nice warm grey. Who knew? Not me! The cream roving is actually from some “mandala wool” from the Tandy Leather Company. Never made a mandala, but it was a good price for a bunch of roving. I originally bought it to experiment with felting, but got distracted by knitting.

After about and hour of playing around with the fleece and dog comb, I had a small pile of fluff. Used the CD drop spindle and spun a yard of brown and a yard of grey and liked how they looked in yarn form. Then went on to something else.

Needle felting! Saw this first years ago on the Carol Duvall Show (why did she have to go off air? I miss you Carol!!) and bought a set of needles, but had no good direction on how to create anything beyond lumpy blobs. That is, until a co-worker brought this book by Laurie Sharp in:



I was so impressed by the step-by step photos and the end product, I went out and got my own copy. Check out her blog as well- funny and especially good to read on a down day. Coincidentally, the night I brought home the book, I downloaded some CraftSanity podcasts and what do you know? There was an interview with the author!

Inspired by the book and wanting to make something from my pile of wool, I made…



A pig. Squeal!

This was a gift for a co-worker who wants a miniature pig one day and it was very well-received.








Here’s the oinker from a different angle…I guess you could say he’s HAMMING IT UP! hyuck hyuck!




Alrighty then. I have now made up for the lack of regular blogging by writing one really long one. You still awake?

All this and for what? To tell you about what I did with some hair shaved off an animal.

You know what though? My inner gnome is content.

What do you get when you dye roving with Kool-Aid in bright, awful colors?

Clown yarn!




I want to learn how to spin yarn. It's something that has always fascinated me, probably because of fairy tales. It's one of those things that calls to my inner gnome.

I'm just starting out and having to stick with the self-teaching route for now and I decided to try it with a homemade CD drop spindle since it's, well- CHEAP. Only had to buy the rubber grommet and dowel. For less than $2 and 15 minutes of my time, I had me a drop spindle! Ugly, yes. Not as "spinny" as a proper drop spindle, I'm sure. Didn't matter, though- I had something to make something with! Woo!

I actually dyed some roving with Kool-Aid in my favorite colors- dark, blood reds- first, but I don't have a photo of it yet. The above colors were more an experiment to see what colors the flavors would make and then to see how bright colors would look when mixed up (clowny). It goes well with my FAT-skinny-FAT-skinny-LuMpY-skinny-FAT-LuMpY yarn that I've been producing while getting used to this whole spinning thing. It's very addicting! I'm thinking this fall at the fiber festival, I may end up treating myself to a proper drop spindle. I love how they look clustered in jars and pots. The kind of thing Mrs. Weasley would have, I'm sure. Jars of beautiful wooden spindles.

Going with the theme of cheap and ugly, I also have plans to make out of all the PVC pipes I've had for the last 9 years: a swift and an inkle loom (saw it here and here). Trying to figure out if I can make my own ball winder with stuff I already have...saw one made of Legos, but I gave all mine to my nephews. After using the ball winder at my LYS, I was hooked! Although I love the look of a hand-wound center-pull ball, it takes a long time (time that could be spent knitting!) and they don't stack nicely.

Oh- and let's not forget the bead spinner made out of a plastic take-out container and a chopstick. Nowhere near as beautiful as the $40 wood one I saw, but worked fine.

If Fat Albert and his friends did crafts, they'd have the above.

It's late. I'm sleepy. I'll be back later to add links to some of the above for any of you who may want or need to go the Fat Albert route of making crafting equipment.