Yet another animal post

The bun lads here proving that they can live peacefully together. When they do not think that I am watching, they snuggle together happily. When I approach with their nutritious pelleted meal the fur does fly. The older gentleman.

The sweet old girl. Gone two months now, and very much missed. -Polly

Not For Sale

I have several new scarves to show here, but they are mostly not for sale. This dyed silk one I am donating to an auction for my children's school. This one also will go to the auction. It is the first of the scarves to be sewn entirely on my new old machine. No electricity used!

This blue stripe and purple combination was trouble from the start. The stripe is cut on the bias. The purple layer is a very floaty silk that I dyed. It wanted no part of that shifty stripe. I love the color combination, but the seams are not as flat and consistent as I would like. I think that means I get to keep it.

This purple scarf was much friendlier to deal with. It is for sale in my Etsy shop.

-Polly

Terrarium

Here is what I have been doing instead of sorting through the pile of toys on the floor. It is still there, but I won't make you look at it again. This terrarium is one week old. Inside, it smells like spring. - Polly

Spring...

We are really ready for spring. I can not stop thinking about spring. We have too much little boy energy and boy things spread around to stay inside much longer. You may be able to see my broom in the background here. The top of the handle has fallen off. I think it may have given up. Speaking of inanimate objects with lives of their own, the night before last, my car radio had an adventure. I have one of those radios with a detachable front, so I have the option of putting it in my pocket and taking it for a stroll. I have not done this for a while, and I suppose that my radio is feeling spring fever as well. Late in the night, it wrestled all around inside the car, finally jumped out, ran down the street, and leaped into some shrubbery. I found it smirking there in the afternoon. -Polly

Sewing Machine!

Just look at what followed me home this weekend. I have a new old sewing machine! I believe it is a Singer 66. I have not yet determined it's age. The serial number is only somewhat helpful. The best part is that there is no plug. The treadle works smoothly and quietly. I am ready to step back in time, but first I have several emails to return. As usual, baby steps here. - Polly

Spring

I was right. Spring is coming! Just not today. -Polly

More Scarves Finished, More to Make

I have finished sewing a few more scarves. This one is made from a cotton striped shirt, and a piece of very fine floral silk. This is the last of the red paisley with a striped wool twill. I hope to have both of these listed on ETSY in the next few days.

And, more wrinkled silk was acquired yesterday. Right now though, the weather is too nice for indoor work.

-Polly

Spring is coming

I know that spring is coming. Here is my evidence. Seed catalogs have arrived. Now, certainly that would not have happened if spring were not on it's way.

Sap is running, and our yard looks especially fancy with orange juice containers hanging on the trees.

-Polly

Etsy

I added a little ETSY window on the right hand side. I wonder if it is too far down. -Polly

It's Alive!

I have finally finished making my site. I think website tonight should be renamed website in a week or so, but that is just me. Visit here if you would like. -Polly

Bad Pixel!

Here is my low tech solution to my high tech problem. I am struggling to make a website. I cannot figure out how to overlay text onto an image without it turning into a pixelated nightmare. I know what I want this to look like, but my computer skills won't let me do it! Before I took my motherhood break, running a weaving business did not require this. Nine years ago I would have sent slides in the mail. Remember slides?

-Polly

Three scarves finished

Maude is green wool and silk paisley. Eunice is quilted cotton.

Clara is made of the same green wool as Maude, but this time with a brown floral silk.

-Polly

Scarves!

So, if you are thinking that you might be needing a scarf, please do go look at the sartorialist. You definitely do need a scarf. Polly

Baby steps here

I spent most of today trying to figure out a package for scarves that could be mailed. I make nice block printed bags for the scarves that I sell in person. Having a carry bag arrive in the mail did not make sense. The helpful person at my local PO says this will mail first class. Just the answer I was hoping for. On the drying rack, I have more scarf ingredients from the thrift store. One pair of green wool pants, and two silk skirts. All have been washed and cut apart. All the little boy school hours of this week are used up, but I will get to these. Baby steps here.

These little friends are completely protected from the snow outside, yet they do make spring seem possible. Yes?

-Polly

I have been working on making these little logo images to use online. The time it took me to figure this out I will not disclose here. I generally can only do math if I can understand it visually. Explain pixels and dpi to me, and my brain is a colander. I am finally somewhat happy with these. I am hoping that they represent my trademark blue square.

On sewn scarves, I stitch on a square of blue wool.

Woven scarves have the square woven in.

Polly

Squash and Spinach

Due to snow days and sick days here, our cupboard is rather bare. I have had very little luck with those websites that let you type in your ingredients and come up with a recipe. I guess it is because I always try it when I am down to a weird and limited assortment of foods. Some of my own imaginative combinations have been less than successful. One that I will share here was surprisingly nice. I do not have a picture to show how lovely it looked. We did not know it was a winner until it was partly eaten. At that point it was less lovely.

2 small butternut squashes
1 bag of spinach (not frozen)
1 bag of wide egg noodles
olive oil or butter
brown sugar
sour cream

Cut the squash into 1 inch cubes, and boil until just barely tender. Start cooking the egg noodles as usual. Carmelize the squash cubes in a little olive oil or butter, and brown sugar. Wash and drain the spinach. Cook it covered with just the remaining water until it wilts. Drain it again. Toss together the squash, spinach, and noodles. Add a little dollop of sour cream on the side, and a fair amount of salt and pepper. -Polly

Sweet Old Girl

Thirteen years is a long life for a big dog. But, when a girl and a dog are friends, it's not so long at all.

-Polly

Silk for scarves

Here is my big pile of silk cloth to work with. It looks like scrappy bits that just tumbled from a bag because that is just what it is. Now comes the fun part of pairing colors together. When the sewing is done, I will have a better inventory of scarves like this one. These aren't woven by me, but they do get my blue square trademark.

-Polly

Cold

The weather is still cold as can be here. We all have colds, so this is a good weekend to stay in and attempt household projects. Cookies of course. Maybe a little cleaning. I have no idea how long this has been on the wall. Notice the erased s.

I don't expect to get to this knitting, but it does look appealing.

-Polly

My friends Bernice and Ruth Ann

I once had a lovely dress makers form named Bernice. She was a charming size 12 wolf. She accompanied me to fine craft sales. She joined me in the craft section at little fairs. She graciously greeted customers in my store front studio. She had her metal cage skirt, but her stand was missing. She fell down a number of times, and her chest caved in. In time I started to think that she was losing her looks. One day, I put her in a dumpster. Now, I can only hope that she was salvaged from her fate by someone wiser. Bernice cannot be replaced, but I now am ready to introduce Ruth Ann. Her form is to my eye, quite immodest. She has excellent manners however, and I think we will get along nicely.

-Polly

Another silly animal post

-Polly

Thrifty Village

Now it is time to pack away the village. All through the year I seem to find these little houses at the thrift store. They are only a few dollars, but they usually have not been painted very carefully. The yellow one here is just the way I found it . The white church was an unpleasant stucco color with brown windows. I spent 45 minutes painting it , and now it is a favorite. The yellow house may get the same treatment next year.

-Polly

Warm Curtains

After visiting a clever friend I realized that I needed to make window coverings out of old quilts. This weekend I turned this bedspread into four curtains that seem to help keep out the cold. The pom poms were immediately recognized as cannon balls by my two resident pirate boys.

Several years ago I started to make a play quilt, but I put it aside when my littlest outgrew the idea before it was finished. Yesterday I cut it in half, finished adding scraps of cloth, and covered two more drafty windows.

-Polly

Oops

-Polly