Last year I bought a sturdy plastic skeleton and secured it to the back of the wire deer in the meadow as if the deer was the skeleton’s steed. I had a different idea this year.
Halloween decoration update
Designed that way?
There are many times that I’m late to the proverbial party. I’ve been keeping my boxes of sealable plastic bags flat on a shelf in my pantry. I struggled with which size I was grabbing, and usually had to move the gallon bag box off to select something below it. I realized recently that the labeling on the boxes is designed to be seen at the top of the box. This works great if the boxes are in a drawer, or shockingly, standing on end on a shelf.
The bags pull out easily from the box and it saves me a moment of frustration, which in some mornings is a rather large boon.
Ride of its life
I did a day trip to a barbershop singing regional event that was four hours of driving and eight hours parked. I can’t be certain that the tree frog took the whole journey with me, but even if I picked him up on the last leg, it was a two hour car ride.
I was certainly surprised to find the frog in the door jam when I opened the rear door. He has been gently removed and returned to a tree.
Throwback Thursday: Silver work
This is another favorite jewelry project I made back in January 2010. I used silver clay, some with cubic zirconia inclusions, to make unique beads, created custom wire elements, small chain link florets, and built links with end caps and beads.
This necklace did not do as well in the Fire Mountain Gems contest, which disappointed me because I thought this one displayed more technical skill. In hindsight, that is probably why it didn’t do well, it isn’t something easily duplicated, so wouldn’t advertise their products to the best advantage.
Live and learn.
Oops, it’s a beret
I’ve drifted off firmly into the realm of experimentation in this round of crocheted hats. Because I had red, green, and white in the stash of acrylic yarn, I wanted to experiment combining the colors with a spike stitch. A spike stitch drops one loop of yarn down a row, making a long V shaped yarn embellishment. I stuck with my standard double crochet hat pattern, making spike stitches every three double crochets and switching colors every row. I did not think that one loop of yarn would change the width of the row, but it did. Instead of getting a nicely rounded beanie, I had a flat circle. Hm.
Time to make it a beret instead. I switched to using just the white yarn with no spike stitches, and the fabric immediately made the turn without decreases. I didn’t have to make decreases until round three. Then I switched to a single crochet parallel rib for the last band. The ribbing is very stretchy and although it looks in the picture like a small opening, it expands to fit a head, and lays flat for storage (happy accident).
Critters and Craft 