Excessive? This Only Scratches the Surface.

felt is always in style -

lambswool vest with vintage iron-on monogram

lambswool slippers with multicolored pom poms

angora & wool beaded elf slippers

Wonderful & Mysterious Thrift Store Collections

From the top: Silk & metallic threads (wonderful), small giftboxes including Alaska's 25th Anniversary commemorative box; (mysterious), plastic clothespins; various types, vintage grommet tool & vintage grommets in a vintage honey jar.

The world is my oyster.

Mary Jane Baby Booties

Here's a pattern for a similar knitted garter stitch pair -
& a pattern for a crocheted pair -
& I think that's all on ric rac flowers.

Where Richard Scarry & Charles Dickens Collide

Votes for women.

The original Amigurumi crochet cat - Amineko. Link on the right. Lots of galleries for those willing to wander around. I'm not supposed to link directly.

The cutest book ever.

Richard Scarry

Charles Dickens

New Extra - Slanty Italics Unveiled!

There is a new tool for those who; like me, have struggled to communicate their strongest feelings in writing using italics alone. This tool fills a real need for me. Generally I regard the use of all - capital letters as tantamount to shouting & I prefer not to shout. I have been a dedicated champion of italics. Indeed; one could characterize me as having been devoted to italics. Therefore I want to emphasize that I am in no way abandoning italics, simply heralding the arrival of its cousin; the 'extra-slanty' italics, for use with extremely important words.

Make Your Own Ric Rac Flowers

Flowers made with vintage ric rac -

Using wide ric rac, these measure about 1.5" accross.

Using very narrow ric rac, they measure about 3/4" accross.

Cute on booties.

Martha moved on long ago, but I'm still making ric rac flowers.

Thrifted Glassware Collection

The bottle is for flowers. It has nice gilt & the red ink is a little washed out. Perfect. The deer is going to be a pincushion - I've tried actually planting grass in these little planters & they look pretty for a few days if I sit with the plant & hold its hand...
The vintage hat is for no purpose in particular - I don't have an occasion to wear it hehe. The ric rac flowers are fun & easy to make. The instructions were in Martha Stewart a few years ago in the spring & bear repeating. I think it's a worthy use for vintage ric rac & buttons. I'm kinda stingy with the substantial all - cotton vintage ric rac I've amassed all in beautiful colors not available today. The little flowers can be moved from one item to another whereas I'm not likely to remove ric rac that was applied to a garment after it's worn out. Also, vintage buttons always seem to come in 1s, 2s, or 4s - almost never 5s, 6s, or 7s; enough for a new garment.
Thumbnail instructions for flowers later -

Happy Mother's Day

Pixiegenne is Contemplating Copyright Infringement

A favorite collage artist of mine; Pixiegenne, is considering whether using someone else's illustrations in her work (for resale) constitutes copyright infringement. I first saw her decoupaged vintage suitcases at Mahar Dry Goods over a year ago (?) & they captured my imagination. So many favorite elements rolled into one package. & extremely well done. Later, when they disappeared from MDG, I was very disappointed. I thought I might never see them again.
Without delving too deeply into copyright law, or at what point an artwork or an idea has been modified sufficiently to belong not to the original creator but to a second artist, I will recommend that anyone who knows a good thing when they see it visit Pixiegenne's etsy site & purchase one of her cool decoupaged buckets while they are still available.

Pictured is my new key cabinet; an idea highly derivative of brazenly stolen from Pixiegenne.

Lace Rib Knee Socks

Finally completed these -

I used this stitch pattern for a couple of reasons. I was concerned about fitting knee socks & looked for a stitch that would have maximum elasticity. Somehow this lacy rib stitch has lots of give to accommodate the calf, but hugs the ankle well with minor shaping. They will not slide down & there's no need to tug at them all the time.

These were knit using two circular needles. they were worked from the top down, with an afterthought heel.

If anyone uses this pattern, I'd love to see the results!

Lacy Knee Socks Pattern -

Materials:

3 Skeins Lion Brand Magic Stripes or any sock weight yarn to match gauge.

2 pair Addi Turbo needles 24" size 2

Gauge: 6st = 1" in stockinette stitch

9.5 st = 1" in lace pattern unstretched

Glossary

lots of sock help here -

Directions:

Using long-tail method, cast on 57 stitches; divide stitches between two circular needles with the extra stitch on the back needle. The odd stitch is the last one cast on & has the working yarn attached to it. Using the front needle, lift this odd stitch off of the back needle & place it on the front needle. Lift what is now the second stitch on the front needle over the 'odd' stitch, decreasing one stitch. This will eliminate any gap or jog at the beginning of the round.

Work in K2 P2 rib for 4 inches. At the beginning of the next round, begin working in the following pattern stitch:

Rows 1, 2, & 3: *K5 P2 around

Row 4: *K2 together, YO K1 YO SSK P2 around

Continue in pattern stitch as established until work measures 20 3/4" from beginning.

Decrease Round: K5 P2, K5, place stitch marker, P2 together, place stitch marker, K5 P2 around.

Work 4 rounds even.

Decrease round: K5 P2, K3, K2 together, P1, K2 together, K3, P2, *K5 P2 repeat from * around.

Work 4 rounds even.

Decrease round: K5 P2, K2, K2 together, P1, K2 together, K2, P2, *K5 P2 repeat from * around.

Work 4 rounds even.

Decrease round: K5 P2, K1, K2 together, P1, K2 together, K1, P2, *K5 P2 repeat from *around.

Ankle decrease rows will appear as though two lace strips converge into one.

Work 4 rounds even.

Decrease round: K5 P2, K5 placing safety pin on center knit stitch P2, *K5 P2 repeat from * around. There are 47 stitches remaining.

Work 2 rounds even.

Preparation for heel placement: Rearrange stitches so that there are 24 stitches on front needle & 23 stitches on the other needle making sure that the stitch with the safety pin is the center stitch. The safety pin is placed at what will be the center back ankle.

Place scrap yarn for heel: On the next row, work across 24 stitches in established pattern, then drop the main yarn. Now knit across 23 stitches using scrap yarn. Slide stitches back across needle & using main yarn, Purl across the same 23 stitches. The scrap yarn will be removed later & those live stitches will be picked up for heel.

Foot: Continue to work in pattern, keeping 24 stitches in lace rib pattern for the top of the foot, & working in reverse stockinette stitch over 23 stitches for sole of foot. After you have worked a further 3 or 4 inches, remove scrap yarn & pick up the 46 heel stitches using a tapestry needle & more scrap yarn. There will now be a hole where the heel will be. You can at this point try the sock on & determine how much longer the foot needs to be before you begin decreasing for the toe. When that length has been reached, follow directions for toe as follows:

Toe: The toe will be formed by working paired decreases on each needle (the top of foot needle & the sole needle) , every other row. The toe will be worked in Rev St St (purl every row when working in the round).

Row 1: P1 SSP, Purl to last 3 stitches, P2 together, P1. Repeat on 2nd needle.

Row 2: Purl around.

Repeat these two rows until 11 stitches remain on each needle. You will have to sneak an extra decrease in on the top of the foot needle, (I'd just purl the two center stitches together at some point during the toe construction).

Graft these stitches together.

Heel:

The afterthought heel is pretty much a toe. Not absolutely the best-fitting heel, I admit; but it is easy, easy, easy. &!, it is the easiest heel to replace if you happen to get a hole in the heel; just rip out the original heel, pick up the same stitches, & do it again. The heel will be worked in Garter Stitch (alternating knit & purl rows when working in the round). Place half of the heel stitches on each circular needle. Pick up two stitches at the end of each needle; to fill the gap there. Work in garter stitch for 4 rows. Heel Decreasing: Work just as the toe, except, knit one row & purl one row. Try the sock on, & when you like the way it fits, (hopefully you do), graft remaining stitches together as you did for the toe.