Just Crafty, Or- What to Do With An Old Sweater

I had this pink angora / lambs wool sweater I had not worn for quite awhile. There was nothing wrong with it, I just did not wear it anymore. Since I have been learning a lot about wool, felting, and the amazing character of wool which allows for so many creative options I decided to offer my granddaughter the chance to create her own sweater. She is much , much smaller than I so I washed this sweater in a hot wash / cold rinse in the washing machine TWICE! There was the chance it would shrink to a teeny size and then it could be a doll sweater, but it did not shrink too much. I got out a selection of pretty and colorful buttons and trim, needles and thread, and invited her over. She seemed delighted. She chose her buttons and also turned up the cuffs and placed tiny daisy buttons on them. I think she showed restraint with embellishments. I also think the sweater looks much better on her than it did on me.

Then she asked if she could go outside and rake leaves! And she did.

How did my bazaar go you might, or might NOT ask? Well I will tell you, I think it was great! I sold quite a few of my wool felted balls. ( above) I sold several miscellaneous items, weaving, locker-hooking supplies, fiber.

I sold some of my hand~spun yarn.

And I sold a LOT of these!

We did get off to a rough start because the first morning of the bazaar I awoke to discover my car battery was dead. My husband had bought a new battery the night before which he had to install before I went off to Lake Lawrence and he went off to work. The second day of the bazaar my husband informed me our well pump had gone out, we had no water. Oh well, that has now been remedied. All that was needed is time and money! Now we're expecting a very big storm...I am off to fill water bottles and make sure I have the candles, matches, batteries and firewood ready! Oh, and turn my computer off at the first sign of flickering lights.

NOT Jamie Oliver Friday, How Bazaar!

I have been crazy busy getting ready for the Lake Lawrence Christmas Bazaar that starts tomorrow. My husband and I set up my booth tonight, which means I was NOT cooking...however last night he cooked for us! He is an excellent cook.( He is the better cook in the family, but don't tell him I am admitting to that!) Since he was the cook he did not use a Jamie Oliver recipe, he used one we read on Noble Pig's blog. Here was my dinner last night, Vanilla Cider Pork & Walnut Wild Rice. It was delicious. My husband was not too crazy about the pears but it turns out his pear was almost too ripe before he sauteed it but I thought my pear was perfect. It was warm and flavorful and still firm inside. The cider pork was perfection and the wild rice dish could be served as a dish all by itself. In fact, I think we will be making the rice dish for a potluck and we had better make a lot because I could eat a LOT of this! To get the recipe from Noble Pig herself click here* and check out the November 4th recipe. ( For some reason my computer will not allow the hyper-link to the specific recipe, sorry) I made this pie for a potluck awhile ago and this Mile High Apple Pie With Cranberries is from Mary's blog One Perfect Bite. I love, love , love cranberries. Sometimes I eat the cranberries just by themselves, no cooking, or sugar, or embellishments of any kind, so I was delighted at the idea of adding them to apples to make a pie. We have a lot of apples from the trees in our orchard and I have been told my pies are pretty good so hey, I tried it. Looks good on the outside if I must say so myself, and there was no pie left-over or tossed in the garbage at the potluck so it must be tasty. My grandchildren informed me it needed more sugar and I can see where they were coming from. I used the least amount of sugar called for in the recipe, next time I will add the max amount. The grandchildren ate their pie, so it was good, they just prefer MORE sugar!For this recipe click here.* I can't wait to have the busyness of the bazaar over so I can get down to holiday baking and cleaning and decorating and....

Spot on Fiber, Fabric, Bazaar Fun !

~I am getting ready for the bazaar this weekend and there is a lot to do.~

~Aren't the colors and textures here just lovely ? Of course I am a bit biased about them. I wove the nubby fabric with the shell buttons on it from some of my homespun Jacob wool, and some funky yarns I picked up here and there. I finally decided after months of thinking about the fabric, just what I was going to do with it. (Above ) Here I have assembled various things I have collected over the months and years..and I will use my handwoven fabric, along with some Chinese fabric I just love, and turquoise shell buttons to make....

~A small purse just the right size to carry a cell phone, a driver's license, maybe some money and a comb or lipstick. Nothing much. This is meant to be a small purse for lightweight carrying. Here I have lined some of my handwoven fabric with the Chinese butterfly fabric. I spent a lot of time just looking at the Chinese fabric. It is so beautiful I did not want to cut it, but I did. ~Here above is one of the two finished purses I made. The handle is also made of the same yarns and is long enough to sling it over the shoulder and have the purse hang at the waist .

~Miss Marple is bored and decides to take a nap while I work on the other purses.~

~Here is more fabric I have woven of my yarn and some funky yarns. I have placed it with some beads I found a few years ago and some shiny gold fabric with leaves on it. Looks like a good mix, so I create 2 more purses.

~Close up of the beads.~

~Here is the lining stitched with the handwoven fabric. (above) ~

~The almost finished purse. I have yet to hand stitch the handle to it, but I like this little bag.~

~Miss Marple is awake, I have finished 4 little purses for the bazaar. Set up time at Lake Lawrence is tomorrow( I mean this afternoon), and the bazaar is Friday and Saturday. I have a lot left to do, Miss Marple has mischief to get into, guess I'll get to bed . I need my sleep. I think I like making little purses, and if they don't sell, why, I know I would really use the turquoise one , and the other one with the gold heart button, that one would go well with my little black dress... ~Our daughter has started a blog, 'A.Joy At Home', click on it in my sidebar and read the story about "cars going to heaven?" and also, read about "Turtle Love", it is a funny and true story.....a love that endures even now !