WELCOME OUR TWO NEW FAMILY MEMBERS!

This scurvy little miniature poodle is Jubal.

We adopted him in July from the Greenville Humane Society.

( http://www.greenvillehumane.com )

He was very, very thin and quite shy when we brought him home... but now it's safe to say that he rules the roost!






And this handsome fellow is Gabriel. We adopted him from a rescue shelter called
Hugs for Hounds.

(http://www.hugsforhounds.com )

He is a happy-go-lucky fellow who doesn't really seem to mind that Jubal has hijacked control of the family!



I had never been to an animal shelter before... i was shocked at all of the expensive animals that were there (at the Humane Society)... there were many pure-breed dogs there.

It was so sad to see some of the sweetest animals who have been so mistreated...

Jubal was soooo skinny ( a miniature poodle should weigh 15-17 lbs - he weighed 11 lbs) and his nails had grown so long that his quick was all the way to the end of his nails... he was shaved down and covered with scabs where his hair had become so matted that sores developed.

We literally saved Gabriel from the gallows... we adopted him on a saturday and he was scheduled to be put down the next tuesday... we were just compelled to take him home! He was actually fairly healthy when we got him... physically, that is... he has had some trust issues... you can tell that he was abused... but our son, the Barbarian, has really devoted himself to acclimating Gabe into family life.

And it has really paid off... both doggies have become full-fledged family members!

And even though Gabriel is about 3 times bigger than Jubal... he recognizes that Jubal is in charge!

PLEASE... when you are thinking of enlarging your family with a pet, consider adoption from a shelter or rescue group... and definitely spay or neuter your pets... the shelters are FULL of unwanted pets.

Here is a link to Petfinders: ( www.petfinder.com ) --this links to many shelters and rescue groups nationwide & is a very good place to start when searching for a new family member!

My latest obsession is dog sweaters... i will have pics to post next week!

Have a happy weekend!

WOW! Has it really been that long since I blogged?

It hit me last week that I haven't posted on my blog in a while... (actually, it was my son in georgia who asked me if i was ever going to post on the blog again) ...imagine my suprise when I clicked onto the Fiber Deviant Blog and realized that my last posting was in March!

Am I a slacker or what?!? (Don't answer... it's a rhetorical question)

I would like to think that it's NOT that I am a slacker... but that I have just been busy living. Because actually, lots of things have been going on...

We celebrated our son, The Barbarian's, birthday,

I got addicted to Bollywood movies (Amitabh is the absolutely coolest dude on the planet!!! I also love Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan & Saif Ali Khan! although I don't think that they are related... oh well),

Sugar Daddy & I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary with a wonderful trip to Atlanta... where there is a movie theater that plays Bollywood movies and you can eat samosa chat & kulfi while you watch the flicks. We tried to eat at all of the wonderfully diverse ethnic offerings that Atlanta has... I am sure we missed some... but that means we can do it again next year!,

I found a video game that I can play (and Sugar Daddy too!)... we bought a nintendo wii ... i think it's great! My 82 year-old FIL must have thought so too: he played it at our house and then bought one too! (he really rocks in bowling... none of us can touch him! and his baseball game is not too shabby either!)

We celebrated my mom's 60th birthday,

Our older son, The Accountant, & his wife, The Teacher bought a beautiful new house (CONGRATS!),

We adopted 2 wonderful doggies from local shelters (Gabriel, a 50 lb mixed breed (he's really The Barbarian's dog), and Jubal, a 12 lb miniature poodle (Sugar Daddy & mine's spoiled little darling!) ... welcome to the Family!),

school started again (The Barbarian is a senior this year)...

My nephew, Trumpet, started high school this year and is in the marching band!

My nephew, The Tank, who lives in Georgia, turned 8 and is playing football... and we actually got to see a few games... (do something #71!)

and that is not counting the projects:

I swear that I haven't been sitting on my laurels! I have been doing projects! I have made wall hangings, purses, blankets, and my new passion, dog sweaters!

I will be posting about them later... with pics!

I just wanted to get a "catch-up" post in... and i am going to try...no i AM going to do a better job of posting! (errrr.... hopefully)

but right now, i want to go check up on some blogs out there that i have been missing out on!

see? I have been a slacker on reading blogs too!

oh! before I forget: I want to congratulate Regina (www.monstercrochet.blogspot.com) and Jimbo (www.jimbosfrontporch.blogspot.com): Jimbo was featured in Craft magazine... and well, Regina, it seems that lately, you can't open a crochet magazine and not see a pattern by her in it! so CONGRATS! to two people that I have had the pleasure of "talking" to via blogs and emails!

Fiber Deviant

Assorted Little Bags

i have been busy trying to build up an inventory of bags because i am considering opening up an etsy shop. i am sure most crafters know what etsy is... if you don't, i think you should definitely check it out ( www.etsy.com ).

i have never sold anything on etsy... but have bought a few things... and have spent hours drooling over all of the handmade unique goodies on the site! there are a lot of creative folks out there!

anyway... so here are pics of my bags... i would love to get some feedback on pricing and styling... don't worry, i am not "thin-skinned"... i can take it... so please feel free to comment on the blog or email me... also... any advice on the etsy process would be appreciated!

This first one is a little fulled (felted) bag... it measures about 7" x 5"... it has a little front pocket and the closure is a vintage button. it's just a little bag for when you don't want to carry a big purse.

Here is a view of the back >>>>

Next is a small little acrylic bag...
(sorry about picture quality... i definitely need to practice!) On my monitor, the first pic is close to the actual color... it is a variegated blue colorway... it has a small "granny square" front pocket that is just the right size for a cell phone or an mp3 player; and a slightly larger area for a small purse or wallet. the front pocket closes with a shiny, sparkly vintage button, while the other compartment closes with a vintage button that is kind of an ivory color.

this bag is one of my favorites... the strap is made to sling over your shoulder... it is 100% acrylic... it is a little larger (about 8" long)... it has a buttoned pocket in front and a button closure on the backside for the larger compartment... it's black with a variegated colorway of purples, blues & teals.

this one is probably my absolute favorite of this batch of bags... it is mostly acrylic ... but the pink is woolease yarn which contains a small amount of wool...it is embellished with wooden beads and plastic buttons.

all of these bags are unlined.

what do you think?

Recycling Plastic Grocery Bags

I have been reading alot lately about plastic bags. You know, the little bags they pack your groceries... I probably end up with at least 10 of those in one shopping trip... They really add up!

according to this website (http://www.myownbag.com/activism.html), it takes 20 years for a plastic bag to biodegrade as litter... and 1000 years to biodegrade in a landfill!!!!

We always reuse them as wastebasket liners... and Sugar Daddy carries his lunch in them (I bought him a lunch bag... but someone at his office called it a purse and now he won't use it anymore!)... but I am looking for other ideas to reuse them.

On Crochetville (www.crochetville.org), I found people cutting and crocheting them into reusable shopping bags and purses... what a neat idea...I could combine recycling with my favorite craft... crochet!! woo hoo!

here is another good website, if you are interested: http://www.marloscrochetcorner.com/Plastic%20Bag%20tote.html

it has a pattern... one of these days, i am going to try to follow a pattern... but right now, i am still too busy following my own ideas...

it also gives instructions for cutting and attaching the bags to make "yarn"... this is how i do it... there are other people who do it different ways... i am sure you can find it on the net...

so here is what i have made: (or why i havent been posting...lol)

The first bag that i made was a messenger-type bag... actually, i call it a "farmers' market bag"... i think it would be perfect to sling across your shoulders and fill as you travel through a farmers' market or...flea market...

Here is the cavernous inside of the bag:

this bag is huge!

That's our younger son, the Barbarian, who is modeling...umm... err... showing this bag... let's gve him a hand!

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here is the 2nd bag that i made... i would use this as a reusable shopping bag... or it could be a beach tote:

inside view:a closeup of the stitches... i like the little bits of color interspersed by using different bags:

I made the next two bags, as purses... here is the lovely Ms. TM modeling them:

<<--- a close up of the stitching... i think it almost looks like one of those straw purses that are so popular during spring & summer. i also love the variation in all of the brownish... bags.

This purse was made for my sister (who requested a "non-girly" type of bag):

The green button is a kind of "inside funny"... you know, green ... recycling... i know, corny... but that is me... uber dork!

Check out that subliminal message to shop Bi-Lo!

So here is one of my attempts to reduce, recycle, and reuse... and i get to use my favorite craft to do it! woo hoo!

A New "Hand Bag"

Here are pics of a bag that I recently made. It uses my favorite motif (as is you haven't noticed), the hand or handprint.

This bag was made with a variety of wool scraps left over from other projects, some craft rings, some plastic buttons, a vintage plastic button & some large glass beads.

Hope Everyone Had A Happy Valentine's Day!

Ahhhh... Valentine's Day! I know a lot of people hate it, but I really like the idea of having a day that celebrates your love! Of course, I am lucky... I am married to my best friend. It's easy to celebrate that...

Here are pics of the wallhanging that I made for my Sugar Daddy for Valentine's Day. It is made with a variety of wool (both commercially available and handspun), acrylics, bamboo, silk & cotton yarns. I hung it from a piece of bamboo. The piece also has lots of tiny glass beads (that were spun with the handspun wool).

This is funny... Plus it teaches us a valuable lesson!

Here is another YouTube find... I just looooove YouTube!

A Softie in Honor of My Aunt Elizabeth

This is a softie that I made for in honor of my Aunt Elizabeth. She is the funkiest little lady that I have ever met!

Things have changed since my last couple of posts... maybe that's why I haven't blogged in a while... I have just taken some time to sit back and evaluate what has been going on.

Right before Christmas, she fell and broke her pelvic bone . She had to spend some time in the hospital and in a nursing home... that was quite disturbing. She has recovered remarkably; and made the decision to go to an assisted living facility.

She gave me some thread, a very beautiful German embroidery hoop (wooden... and that clamps to a chair of table), all of her crocheting, knitting (she has faith that I will learn it) supplies. She also gave me 3 large garbage bags of yarn that she had around her house...
talk about a yarn stash! There were vintage yarns, full skeins, scraps, wool, acrylic... just lots of stuff!

So I wanted to make her a thank you gift. I incorporated scraps of yarn that she gave me with some recycled sari silk yarn... that I know she likes...

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I have entered this into the Softie Awards: http://softiescentral.typepad.com/softie_awards/

Here's the link to The Softie Awards group on Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/69953377@N00/

I don't think I have much chance of winning anything... number 1, because the pictures don't do it justice & number 2, there is some AWESOME talent out there!
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{ Blogger is not letting me upload anymore pics now... so if you want to see other views... please click my flickr photo stream ------------------------------->>>>>> }

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Frankly, I was shocked that she was going into assisted living!
Aunt Elizabeth has lived by herself for over 25 years, since my Uncle Jay died. She is at least 94; and until her Christmas Fall, had been working a huge organic garden all by herself in her backyard. It just never occurred to me that she might not always live in her house...


But when I told her my concerns... she assured me that this was her decision & that's what she wanted to do... she is right, it's not my choice...

{ <<------ Blogger let me get one more done}

I have a lot of happy memories tied up in that little house. My Aunt & Uncle were a well-matched pair. If I had to pick a word to describe them, it would be eccentric. They would go on trips and bring you back the oddest, but coolest souvenir-- most memorable was a prescription bottle of Mount St. Helen Ash! They brought home bags of it and packaged it in prescription bottles with type-written labels!

My Aunt was, and is, one of my most encouraging supporters in my crafty development. She was always making something... Christmas stockings, sweaters, most of her own clothing.

Favorite story:

When I was in Junior High, I took Home Ec; and our sewing project was a wrap-around skirt. Now I made an A- on the skirt... which I was thrilled with. I remember showing Aunt Elizabeth my skirt with pride...And the look of utter horror on her proper little face!!! From the front, my skirt was acceptable, but the back, oh the back: my seams were all twisty... i had cut some of my notches off (it really was bad, now that i think of it).

So that summer, i took sewing lessons from Aunt Elizabeth... we remade my skirt! I ripped out every seam... and we took it from scratch... she just came from the era where workmanship was important.

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My mom just called, My aunt has been admitted to the hospital - she will have surgery Monday for a physical reason... the doctor says that he doesnt anticipate any difficulties... please offer up a prayer, positive thought, etc... for her speedy recovery. Thanks

Yarn Gets A Starring Role in Video

I found this while surfing through youtube.com... i just love it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQiJk-JF4oo

Seeing the Art in Everyday Life

It is kind of sad when you realize that you have missed seeing Art right in front of you.

I think that people get so busy in the busy busy business of life, that we sometimes don't see the natural beauty of an object or the potential forms that an object could possess.

We don't always see the Art in what we do: cooking, creating, loving ... but we have all have Art inside of us... I truly believe that.

A couple of weeks ago, I was in Georgia and visited my great-aunt (who is the last remaining member of my family of that generation). She is in her 90's... i don't know exactly... it's kind of a "don't ask, don't tell" thing she has. (Once when someone asked her how old she was, she stated in a very prim and proper way, "Well, I AM 95 pounds!")

She is very fascinating... like I said, she is in her 90's and she still works an organic garden in her back yard ... I have never seen her wear pants... but she wears a size 4 Mr. Rogers-type tennis shoe. She is a veteran of WWII... she was a registered dietician in the Army... She lived in New York for 5 years before she joined the Army... She once won a dance contest at the Rainbow Room with a man she didn't even know! (They won a bottle of champagne!) ... She wanted to be a scientist when she was younger! ... She hand-collected volcanic ash from Mt. St. Helen ... She makes the best melt-in-your-mouth sugar cookies... She makes Special K cookies... Her house is filled with STACKS of books, magazines, newspapers, banks, knick knacks, artifacts, etc... it's the most wonderful house in the world...

but, I digress... I admire her...most importantly, she sees Art everywhere...

case in point... while we were visiting her, she told me that she had some kindling firewood to give us. Then she showed it to us and told us the story of the firewood: There were 3 chunks of wood that she told me were at least 28 years old ... maybe older, she couldn't remember... anyway, she she had culled these out through out the years when loading her fireplace because she could see designs in them & couldn't bear to destroy them! Sure enough, when we looked again... there they were... one was an eagle... another was a face... the last one was the the "queen of hearts" (ok... i didnt see the queen of hearts... but everyone else did).

It turns out that we couldn't burn them either... the eagle and the face are sitting on our hearth! (I gave the queen to my sister... she could see it)

When we were kids, she always had something to show us (a cicada bug shell, a new cast-iron bank, a leaf, some dehydrated watermelon...delicious...there was always something.

This time was no different:

She said, "Oh, I want to show you something." and started rummaging around... she came back and put the cutest little monkey figurine in my hand:

------for some reason, blogger won't let me upload pics, so here are links to the pics on flickr... i will add them when i can... sorry------

http://static.flickr.com/99/302763569_b5eb279c40_m.jpg
http://static.flickr.com/115/302763571_fe28682b79_m.jpg
http://static.flickr.com/109/302763574_22d7241a21_m.jpg
http://static.flickr.com/114/302763575_baa83a1645_m.jpg

"This," she said, "was carved from a peach pit by your great-grandfather."
She then talked about how he had no formal training... he just took out a knife and carved... and that people would bring peach pits to him and he would examine them and decide if they were suitable for making a monkey. He never told what made it suitable or unsuitable... but all peachpits did not become monkeys.

She treated that little monkey like a priceless piece of art... because it is.

Thanks, Aunt Elizabeth, for helping me to see!

So my wish to you is that you all see the beauty... the Art in every day life. What a gift!
Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

WIP: A WALLHANGING IN PROGRESS

here are pics of a wallhanging that i am working on...









the center (and first made) handprint represents GOD; and there will be 5 other handprints total that represent the five members of my immediate family. i still have 2 handprints to make. the piece is approximately 3 feet x 4 feet.

i have been working on this wallhanging for almost a year... i work on it in between other projects. i find it very relaxing to just let my hook do what it wants!