A Home With A Name

I took a fun class the other night at Lowlanders Yarn Shop.  I learned to broomstick crochet.  It was a great class, we received yarn, a hook, and a wee broomstick with the lesson.  I've been crocheting along, and due to an uncorrectable mistake (as in ripping everything out) I added a bit of ribbon.  Always good with shabby ribbon!

Something different, and thought the color variations very pretty.  May make a belt/and or scarf of it.

Working some more on my garden journal.  Finished page three.

I'm going to need two to three more pages to finish up this front garden section.  I really enjoy quick sketchy watercolor painting.  Not too much precision or thought.  Just paint!

We've had quite a bit of rain lately which always brings out the garden visitors.  Had this "lovely" nibbling about yesterday.

I like the happy surprise lilies off to the right.  Things are very lush right now and quite overgrown.  We don't do much about it as we like it like that.  I just control a couple of gardens close to the house and studio.  Feels and looks a bit like a jungle right now.

Peggy over at Woman With Wings wrote about naming her spot..... gardens, sacred spots, home..... and I've thought of this many times.  My idea is Stone Fox Cottage as that fits quite well with our stone house, stone fox head above the door, and the many fox families that have resided here over the years.  I decided to go with the Spanish translation because everything sounds better in Spanish and I'm getting ready to bring out and dust off the little I know for an adventure next year.  So the Spanish translation of Stone Fox Cottage is.......

casa de piedra de zorro

(quite fitting)

xo

dulcy

Fiber On My Mind!

I wanted to make a blog post, but not much going on except just trying to stay cool.  The Ozarks is literally dripping with humidity, which can be suffocating, but quite good for the skin (let's look on the bright side, class half full, etc.).  While out running errands, the car temp. gauge read 101!

Even though it's blazing outside, I've got fiber on my mind, and looking forward to new projects on the horizon.  I'm not doing anything new or particularly exciting at the moment, but have made a lot of headway on my hooked doorstep piece a post or two down.  I'll share more of that next week.  In lieu of newly hooked excitement... I decided to share a few other little fiber moments that all you crafty and creative friends might find interesting.

As most of you may know by now, we spent a lovely two weeks during June in Maine and Nova Scotia.  While having tea and muffins in Gilbert's Lighthouse, I was so captivated by the hooked mats hanging about.  I was especially drawn to this little mat (about 10"x10") because it so nicely expresses the quaint and brightly painted fishing cottages that are nestled along the coastline of Nova Scotia.  I love the straight line hooking, which is very different than I see around here.  I grabbed this sweet mat up, and it's my favorite NS souvenir.... except for a heart shaped rock my husband brought back to our room after an early morning walk (I was still sleeping......).

These are a couple of little cotton scarves I crocheted last spring.  They are for two of my favorite gal pals, Cyndi and Claire, for their birthdays (in April and May.... oh dear).  I also felted the little flowers and pinned them on.  Obviously, we are way past our birthday celebrations, but just haven't found the time to get together for our gift exchange.  Isn't that terrible!  We need some priorities in life!

This is some new sock yarn that I'm really excited about!  It's sort of an egg plant color..... I'm finishing up another pair, then on to these.  My next project will be a surprise!  Delving into new fiber territories.....

Totally non-fiber related, but here's our Little Iris.  I happened upon her sitting on this little chair the other day, and she was more than happy to have her picture snapped.  A calm and cooperative cat she is not!  I imagine she had probably been doing something naughty just prior to this moment.

xoxo
Dulcy

Granny Squares, Giveaways, and Surgery.....Oh Dear

I did it!  My first multi-colored crocheted granny square, as I promised in the previous post.  Yes....it does appear a little lumpy, and if you look close, you'll probably find more than a few mistakes...but it's my first and I just love it!  I'm going to make gobs in that three color combo for a coverlet on our bed.  The bed has an old faded lavender chenille spread, and I think this is just what it needs to give it some zip.

I got up this morning to the most lovely surprise.  I've been responding to the journal entries of  Deanne Fitzpatrick, a rug hooker whose work has inspired me for some time.  Deanne had a give-away that was a little different than most I've seen on blogs.  She wrote very thought provoking journal entries daily.  People were encouraged to respond to these, and as a result their names were put in a pot for the winnings, which I believe is a basket of goodies from Deanne's studio.  Well, I just got so into checking in daily because these posts really made me think.  We discussed art, life, food (recipes....yum), generosity, and many other topics.  She is going to continue this project, so you may want to pop in and do a little writing.  I plan on continuing because it became more than a drawing for me, it made me write which is something I plan on doing more of......which leads me to.....

This will be my last post for maybe a month.  I am having a very inconvenient, but needed foot surgery tomorrow which will keep me off my feet for the most part of a month.  Even though I won't be posting, I'll be sure to check in with friends to see what's going on.  I plan on using this forced time of reclusion to do lots of writing, sketching (used to do this all the time, but life got in the way), crocheting, reading, and watching movies.  Sounds terrible doesn't it?  Actually, I'm glad to get this procedure taken care of because it has caused me a lot of pain over the past year.

So, even if you don't hear much from me for awhile, I'll be checking in with you.  As soon as I get my basket from Deanne, I'll be posting pictures of my winnings.  Please check into her site.  Her work is wonderful, and the journal entries are well worth taking the time to at least think about, even if you don't feel a need to respond.

Bye, Bye
Dulcy

Willow, Rugs, and Scarves!

Willow loves to be wherever the camera action is!  Here she is modeling how exquisite she looks lounging on my newly hooked rose rug.  She especially likes to be seen on this rug because it's bound in a pretty sage ribbon, and the colors set off her winter coat.

Above, Willow is snugly wrapped in my most recent fiber challenge.  I have so enjoyed the lovely photographs of crochet work I've seen lately on blogs, and especially on Flicker!  So....dug out my hook and thought I'd dive right in.  Well....I sort of forgot how to crochet!  Thank goodness for all the wonderful video tutorials on line.  I found a pattern for this lacy scarf that's very easy. In fact, it's called the Easy Lacy Shells Pattern Scarf.  My scarf success prompted me to pick out three yummy yarn colors, which I'll show you when I have my first granny square crocheted!

Modeling is such grueling work, and now Willow tires.  She does look lovely in a rose colored scarf.  Fortunately, body image is not a problem for her as it can be with many models.  A pretty lacy scarf can hide a lot of Fancy Feasts!