Spiced Tea and Shawls

It's that time of year when hot drinks and warm clothes aren't just luxuries; they're necessities. So I have this nice recipe for my spiced tea and added this new shawl made by a technique that I invented/taught myself. After all, there's nothing new under the sun, so maybe I just re-invented it.^^ It's kind of a cross between crochet and weaving, so I have no idea what to call it. Suggestions?

Makes about a pint of spiced tea mix

18 oz Tang (or other sweetened orange drink mix)
1 dry unsweetened lemonade packet
1 tsp cloves
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup sugar (or to taste)
3/4 cup instant tea


Mix. That's it; just put it in a bowl and  mix. To brew you just add a heaping spoonful to a coffee cup with some hot water.

Rose and Mistletoe Kanzashi

One of the reasons I love making kanzashi is there are so many flowers, plants, and other natural things you can create with the technique. I especially like coming up with new kanzashi designs based off of local plants and animals. Some purists would say some of my creations are not traditional, and therefore I have no business calling them kanzashi at all. I think it is the spirit more than the rules that define an art form, and by creating based off of my surroundings I am adding to the art rather than making something completely different. What do you think?

My version of a rose kanzashi.

My completely original kanzashi; mistletoe. 

I'm not sure the plant can even grow in Japan, but it makes a nice kanzashi^^ 

Election Day

You know, we're pretty lucky in this country. Voting for who we want in charge, the ability to remove them if they turn out to be bad leaders, the right to complain. Of course some people take that right a little too far, but there you have it. Maggie thinks this whole business is getting out of hand. She's not sure who's running for what other than president, but she's pretty sure name calling isn't nice. I tend to agree. See you at the polls, and no, I don't want to know who you voted for^^

Halloween

Happy Halloween!Hope you had lot's of fun, lot's of treats, and no bad candy!



Crochet spider pattern will be available at my shop again next year!

Halloween Costumes

On the one hand, yukata make great Halloween costumes. On the other, I hope nobody freezes. There was frost on the ground this morning! Here are two new yukata; a lovely purple and green combination with one of my pre-tied obi, and a sakura (cherry blossom) one for a Madame Butterfly costume. Both future owners are apparently very sophisticated young ladies; I know I wouldn't have gone as an opera character at eight years old!

Honeycombs and Busy Bees

Today I finally finished my 'MCAT' afghan. It looks like a golden honeycomb, or maybe a benzene ring complex. My geek is showing^^ I started the thing over a month ago while I was studying for the MCAT, but I ran out of the brown yarn and had to track down some more. Nothing goes together as well as books and crochet, except for maybe music and dancing. I think I'll add this as a made to order item in my shop. It's super warm, and just the right size to double as a giant shawl!

Of Boys and Fish

So, yukata are pretty fun to make, with all those nice straight lines. Hemming them is a breeze^^
I always like tuck a little extra something in with my yukata. Usually it's a hair accessory or a small pouch. But what to give a little boy? A fish^^. I hope he likes it!

The Last Rose of Summer

Summer is officially over, and yet my rose bush has decided to re-bloom. It usually blooms in the spring, so maybe the cool weather we're getting has something to do with it.







Plus this pink yukata and black obi set are finished and in the mail. I hope it gets to her before the 27th^^

Shibori Tie- dye.

So, my latest children's yukata order is made of this lovely faux-shibori.



What is shibori? Shibori is a Japanese tie-dying technique, typically done in blues on white, but other colors are also used on occasion. This is not your 'I made a rainbow t-shirt at camp' kind of tie dye though. The fabric I used doesn't look like tie dye at all, does it? Well, it's not, because it's fake shibori made through fabric printing. However, it could be made through shibori methods. Each dot would be tied off to prevent the fabric from absorbing dye. Really good shibori can have thousands of tiny little dots, each tied off separately to produce patterns and motifs. Varying the sizes and shapes of the tied off areas make different designs, square and round shapes being the most common in shibori. At one point kimono made with certain patterns of shibori dying were considered as formal as a tuxedo in western Europe, because it could take weeks of work making all of those tiny dots!

If you would like to see pictures of someone's modern shibori work, or you live in California and are interested in learning how to make your own, visit Susan O'Fennell at Oriba Shibori She also has some cool links on her blog as well^^

Mini Kanzashi

So, I finished this batch a while back, but with the MCAT coming up I have been seriously lax in posting what I'm up to. Not that many people would notice if I skipped posting for a couple months, but there you have it. Maybe I'll show you how I make them if there's enough interest ^^



Which one do you like best?

Cosplay Costumes

I just finished this Rurouni Kenshin Cosplay kimono. I can't wait to see my customer in full gear^^

Pumpkin Patch Amigurumi and Dragonfly Yukata

These are my latest goodies. The first is a pumpkin patch set. I made some of these last year, and they were really popular (even my grandmother wanted some^^)You can find them at my Etsy store!



And this is my latest men's yukata order. The buyer sent me the fabric from http://bugfabric.com/, which was a lovely grey-blue with a slight gold under tone. The pattern had dragonflies and water patterns all over it. The only problem was the person who cut it was sloppy and cut it crooked. I hate when they do that; it ends up wasting fabric.

Handmade lace

Today I finished up over six feet of hand crocheted lace. Would you like the pattern? I made it up myself, though I'm sure there are similar ones out there. Let me know and I'll e-mail you my version^^ This batch will probably end up on Etsy; I was going to edge something with it, and than decided to do something else. It's become a regular habit for me. But since I almost never use patterns, I pay the price^^

Recycling, and other news.

I have been shamelessly working on something else instead of items for my shop. I found these two children's sweaters in my mending pile, and figured they were more or less unmendable. So I unraveled the yarn and started crocheting. Not sure what I'm making yet, but it's coming along;



I also taught Maggie a new crochet stitch; the slip stitch. She already knew the chain and single crochet stitches, so why not? She worked in rounds until she got this. It's a little messy, but;

Hard working little thing, isn't she?



I also sold the Angry Bird earrings, after adding some mustaches;