My first attempts at dyeing yarns! I've been experimenting with roving all summer but was a tad hesitant about working with yarns. Afterall, one could easily hide the undyed spots in roving when spinning it but yarns seem to be a smidge less forgiving. Anyhow, I'm chuffed that they didn't turn out too badly! On with the pictures!
Blueberry Grape Sorbet
Green Bean Casserole
Intoxicating Shiraz Wine
I adore the print of this fabric! Not only is it a combination of pink and green, it also features apples! This fabric has been in my stash for awhile and for the longest time, I couldn't figure out what to make with it. Voila!
The front (complete with matching fabric-covered button closure):
The back (with pocket for mini cutter or scissors):
The inside of the needle book contains three leaves for the needles, and a mini pincushion for temporary needle storage:
Another easy lace scarf...this time round with a DK wool in khaki green. I love working with this pattern!
Another batch of flower clippies for the niece! I can't believe the naughty girl has already misplaced/chewed/hid a couple from the last batch I sent her *exasperated* Oy vey. Ah, sucker that I am, I keep making and sending her more. I suppose that's what one does for her favourite (note: aka only) niece. 
Ah, I adore Halloween. Not for the pagan rituals, but for the candy and creative costumes that folks conjure! Here's a halloween-themed stuffie I made for a swap partner.
PROFILE
Name: Satoshi
Nickname: Tosh
Occupation: Student and Chococat Impersonator
Height: 5.5 inches (head to feet measurement)
Hometown: Lānaʻi, Hawaii
Favourite Colours: Hunter Green, Orange and Khaki
Favourite Foods: Sashimi (especially hamachi, fugu and toro) and Rice
Likes: Tow-in Surfing. PSP Games (Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories). Rap Music.
Dislikes: Cold Weather. Dogs. Cleaning His Room.
Personality: Witty. Laid-back. Compassionate. Hardworking. Playful.
Warning: Tosh is quite the prankster. He loves a good joke, but he draws the line at mean pranks!!!
P/S What's halloween without a goody bag and some gore?
My first attempt on a Liesel Scarf was done with a brown silk/cotton yarn. I ended up having to frog it when it was 90% complete (there was a small mistake 10 rows or so, from the start). Lesson learned!! Must check for mistakes as I knit!!!
Anyhow, I didn't feel like using the same yarn. For my second attempt, I picked a hand-dyed wool yarn. I like the results!
Results of further experiments in dyeing!! The first three batches were done with polypay roving, while the last three batches are a wool/silk blend.
SESAME STREET TRIO:
Elmo Zoe
Count Rosita
Oscar Kermit
SEASONAL DESSERTS TRIO:
Pumpkin Spice
Chocolate Blueberry
Berries & Cream
I've finally come to terms with the horrifying fact that I will never (and I do mean never!) be able to use up my stash of fabric and yarn in this lifetime. That sorta freaks me out. But what's a gal to do when there are all kinds of luscious yarns and gorgeous textiles begging to come home with me whenever I'm out browsing the shops?!? I reckon I have two options to assuage my guilty conscience:
Option 1: Go cold turkey. Stop buying yarns and textiles.
Option 2: Quit daydreaming and start being more productive in the craftroom.
Erm, yeah right. Seriously. I can think of gobs of reasons why Option 1 would be a bad idea. The first and foremost, being that my spending habits are good for the economy. Ahem. The rest of the reasons are moot in light of the first reason. Which brings us to Option 2. I suppose it's worth a shot. If anything, it will help keep my yarn and fabric stashes at an even keel (e.g. use one yard of fabric, buy one yard of fabric...use 2 skeins of yarn, buy 2 skeins of yarn).
That said, these are a couple of mini fabric destashing projects I worked on this week. Cool. I'm making progress!
My sister informed me that the wee niece has been chewing on her clippies. OMG. I'm pretty sure there's no lead-based paints on the clips, but one can never be too careful about these things. Here's the latest batch of flower clippies I made for the naughty chickie! Hopefully, they'll stay out of her mouth and stay put on her hair!
Hi! I'm Terrence the Turtle!
Close-up of stitchwork on Terrence's shell...
Cool! I'm swimming! I'm swimming!
Turtle all flipped out!
Apparently, my latest hobby is playing with food dyes and silk rovings.
Silky Rosebud
Silly Flubber
Sweet Tang
Thistle Mist
Concord Grape
Cotton Candy
Fresh Poppy
Lil Smurfette
Lavender Mauve
Shimmery Peacock
What my swap partner requested (from fredflare.com):
What I came up with:
PROFILE
Name: Bellini
Nickname: Frenchielini
Height: 5.5 inches (head to feet measurement)
Birthplace: Provence, France
Favourite Colours: Lavender and Mint Green
Favourite Foods: Raw Veggies (especially radishes and carrots), Cupcakes and Cotton Candy
Likes: Playing In The Garden. Finger-painting. Listening To Classical Music. Hosting Tea Parties.
Dislikes: Bossy People. Math Homework. Sleeping Alone (there are monsters under the bed!)
Personality: Kind. Patient. Good-natured. Inquisitive.
Bellini moved to the United States when she was a wee bunny (her parents work in a research lab in Maryland). She is very sweet and eager to please. Her friends say that she’s generous to fault, and extremely loyal too! When she’s sad, a hug always cheers her up.
Warning: Due to her inquisitive nature, Bellini tends to get into trouble even when she’s trying to be good!
Layers and layers of regular and glitter tulle. Very frou-frou and waaaaay too girly, in my opinion. It wasn't difficult to construct, and it'll definitely look better on the kiddo. Lying on the ground...well...it just doesn't look right to me. I was toying with the idea of adding a bow to it. Then again, the bow would probably look like s*** as the tutu makes it way to the West coast. Hence, I'm leaving it up to my sis to figure out what she wants to do to embellish the tutu. Thankfully, this is the last tutu I'll make in this lifetime! 
One of my Craftster buddies, MC, very kindly sent me a link for constructing kid-sized aprons out of dish towels. Hmm. All it takes is a couple of dish towels, some trim, bias tape, and thread. How wonderful, non?
Nope. In my world, things are never easy peasy. I couldn't find any decent dishtowels that met my expectations. In my mind, I had a clear idea of how I wanted the aprons to turn out - they had to look like mini versions of cool aprons that adults (okay...me...) would like to wear. Nothing kitschy, nothing that screams "I-Was-Once-A-Dishtowel"!!!
I ended up raiding my fabric stash and here's what I came up with. If the aprons are well received, there might be matching oven mitts to come. 
Oh yeah. More goodies for the wee niece. This time round, felt hair clippies!! Each clippie measures just about an inch or so. I wish I took the time to create templates for the embellishments, but I didn't. Hence, these will be OOAK clippies. Oh well. Now, all sorts of ideas are swirling in my head. More flowers? Definitely. Animals? Hmmm. A monkey or a panda might be cute. Huh. And perhaps more fruit-themed clippies!!! Oh, the possibilities!!!
My sis requested a baby-friendly taggie blankie for my niece, S, and here's what I came up with. Based on my sister's description of what she wanted, I thought it was something I could do in an hour. Erm...right. Shopping for the right fabrics and ribbons/trims/whatnots took more than an hour. Cutting out the fabric pieces, trimming individual pieces of ribbon/trim/whatnot down to size, measuring the spacings between each piece and pinning the pieces took another two hours or so. The actual sewing bit was accomplished in about half an hour. I think I didn't too badly for my first (and last) attempt!
