I made an infinity scarf with my hand spun alpaca sari silk yarn and my tessellated Möbius pattern! I meant for it to be able to slip over the shoulders, but as the pattern progressed, it tightened up considerably. If I make another I think I will add about 10-20% to the base row. After I wove in the ends, I wetted it down and laid it out to dry (blocking), which opened up and evened out the lovely hole pattern.
When your youngest asks for a blanket for the bed in her doll house, and you decide to just use up the skein and make three.
Most of her furniture is artfully displayed in cube shelving, and not in the doll house. And yes, the Mom and Dad dolls sleep in a box outside. I don’t know what to tell you. At least they now have a blanket. I did notice the shelf is backwards, and I’m not sure if that was her doing, or I was tired after the last room rearrangement. We’ll rearrange her room again soon, because she likes to rearrange, and we do so often. Maybe I’ll get it the right way round next time.
I found extra large covered litter boxes at the store, which I have not seen before in this size, so bought one to put in the catio. It has a plastic top, and the door can be tilted back, which seems like it will keep most of the rain out. The thought of a litter box full of rain is the main reason a box hasn’t been out there before. Apparently my poor Izzy cat has been deprived for years. The inside box was immediately eschewed in favor of the new outside facilities.
The next step is to get some more rope and make the scratching post in a different location.
I’ve been combing Pinterest for ideas on things to turn on my lathe, and I came across the Scottish Spurtle. A turned rod used for stirring porridge and stews, a spurtle is special because it doesn’t gather a wad of foodstuff like the bowl of a spoon. I really liked that some of the designs mimicked the Scottish Thistle for the handle. I made this spurtle from apple wood from my Dad’s wood pile, sanded it down to 400 grit, then painted a small apple on the end of the handle (not only to mark the handle end, but to identify the wood). I finished it with many coats of tung oil, since it is a food safe finish.
I love the beautiful grain on this spurtle. I have to disclose that this is aged apple wood. It has sat in my garage for years, and sat in my Dad’s wood shed for years before that.
It really helps my youngest to have all her supplies for each activity in one bundle. It means we need to have some duplicates, such as multiple pencil bags, but it also means that music books can’t be placed in a backpack away from the coronet case, and have any hope of being remembered. To keep the book safely with the other music, I added small loops to the fold of the single signature. I opened the book to the center, marked spots for a three-ring binder, and used an awl to poke holes.
I then used some 20 gauge copper wire to thread through the holes from the inside out, make a small loop, then go back into the book, repeated for all three holes. I curled the ends of the wire over the top and bottom of the fold, just to keep them out of the way.
The wire holds well!
Critters and Craft 