Where Has Sparky Gone?

Oh, I'm still here...Our residential community, Tara,  had an "art" show/sale….It was March 10th. I worked like mad getting some things ready in-between subbing days and meeting up with blogging friends and having family visit….I sold four bracelets, so was happy about that…It was interesting that older ladies didn't have any idea how to put on a wrap bracelet…Guess the younger gals are more into that stuff…I make bracelets that I can wrap around my wrist myself with ease, as fiddling with clasps and other closures make me nuts and I end up dropping the bracelet several times trying to get it on. So here's one solution: adjustable macrame closure beaded bracelets….You just push or pull the bracelet ends to get the bracelet to be larger or smaller…No size problems! These are made from Chinese knotting cord and Miyuki beads…Delicas and others….Miyuki beads are a high quality bead, even in size and dependable in quality.

I made a spring scarf which I just love….I used Cascades Ultra Pima Paints cotton in shades of denim blues….It's so soft on…think I might make some more once I find some more variegated shades I like…I put it up for sale in my Etsy shop, http://etsy.com/shop/JeanBeanGifts

The pattern I used was called "Ruth's Picot Edge Scarf". If you make it according to the pattern, it takes 300 yards of DK weight yarn and a size 7 needle. I used just one skein of the Cascades, which was 220 yards, and a smaller needle because I liked the stitch appearance better. It makes the kerchief part a little more shallow by using less yarn. It was a super easy pattern! All garter stitch and a simple cast on and bind off to make the triangle scarf. 

Making more Tila bead bracelets…Hope to take some to some shops in the area to sell, sometimes they buy from local crafters I've heard. As I make them, I add them to my Etsy shop.

I've decided I need to make some different things for my Etsy shop, like more babies and toddler stuff, so I'm currently working on baby booties. I want to learn how to make a sock with a gusset heel and picked up stitches, like this "Rufflelicious" sock from Kalamazoo knits. Isn't it cute? I've started it THREE times, and am having trouble with the sock's construction and how to do this type of heel, so off I go to my knitting group today, to get some help.

Every Tuesday and Thursday, A Good Yarn, a Sarasota yarn store, has a knitting coffee klatch group. They have groups that meet other days and in a couple of evenings as well. Everybody just sits around a big table and knits and yaks. Tuesdays and Thursdays are my favorite days, I go when I'm not subbing. They have a wonderful lady there who's an expert knitter and she will help you if you get stuck…"NANCY! HELP!" And she does, hour after hour, after hours. Some gals stay there all day! The gals bring lunch or order out. My kind of ladies--foodies and knitters! I'm good for about a couple of hours, then my attention span drifts, or I get distracted by all the stuff in the shop, and then it's time for me to go home, before I get tempted to add to my burgeoning yarn stash. Most of the time, I don't make it out of there without buying something. They have so many patterns of cool shawls and socks and scarves knit into models, that you can't help but want to try yet another project. They also have a huge needlepoint section to the shop. Not my thing, but you never know, some day……(My mother was really big into needlepoint…) But so far, it's not captured my interest, which is a good thing, as I have PLENTY of fabric, yarn, and bead stash to keep me going for YEARS. But don't most crafters? :-)

My latest project that I HAVE to get going on? Finishing my daughter's tee shirt quilt before I go visit her at the end of next month. After getting stuck for quite awhile on fabric choice and how to actually make it, I found some answers and got some help. Then I found the perfect fabrics to make the strips between the shirts, and the backing. The sashing strips are the turquoise and lime polka dots, the binding and the backing is going to be the lizard fabric. I've got the shirts sized and interfaced and now it's time to start working with these cheery fabrics. I love what I finally picked! Time to get sewing!