scarf

Jaeger Siena cotton yarn
crochet pattern from
Natural Style Clothing & Accessories (ナチュラルスタイルの服と小物）
by Yumiko Kawaji (川路 ゆみこ)

Painting in the Kitchen Sink

Sometimes extraordinary pleasure
can come from the least expected sources,
such as the kitchen sink.
After cooking up some beets
and Italian sausages
the resulting color scheme was delightful.

winter's flowers

When the winter garden is void of flowers why not crochet your own flowers into a cotton lei?
The thread is Olympus Emmy Grande Herbs (エミーグランデ　ハーブス) エミーグランデ
I love this crochet thread.
I love the sheen,
I love the density of the twist,
I love the durability,
and I love the ease with which it works up into various projects.
The pattern is from Edging & Braid Variation 106
(エジングとブレード かぎ針で編む、とびきりかわいいデザイン１０６).

snowy

This morning it is winter white everywhere. No snow, but a deep frost at twentyfive degrees. The broadleaf evergreen leaves of the rhododendrons are curled up and held tight to their stems. They look like they are shivering. So for this winter day I present to you my latest knitted creation fit for the cold. It is made from left over yarn from another sweater. I have not made a cable and popcorn stitch sweater in quite some time. The popcorn stitches are pretty tedious to create. They interrupt the flow of stitch creation.

The yarn is Debbie Bliss Cotton Angora and sheds like crazy but is ultra soft and cozy. The pattern is from Hand-knitting: Spring/Summer (てあみニット) by Nihon Vogue (日本ヴォーグ社), obviously a Japanese pattern. I love Japanese patterns. They're represented in a visual manner, with charts, rather than page after page of text. This sort of pattern description is exactly how I like to work, visually. Interestingly there is only one size in many Japanese patterns and fortunately they have all fit me so far.

Yesterday I wore the sweater and vest, of the same yarn, together to work and felt wrapped in toasty blanket for these frigid days of mid winter.

Tawashi

I made most of these tawashi from Japanese patterns.
The yarn is from Daiso
and is anti-bacterial acrylic
that is specifically made for tawashi.

This is a project in progress, from a Japanese pattern,
for a brooch.
I'm using a size C hook and cotton thread.

new

a new shop is in the works. i don't have any products in there yet but hopefully i'll be offering original paintings and more at spotted towhee

take a look around to see the initial navigation of the site and let me know what you think on the contact page.

Random Stripe Generator

This has to be one of the coolest things
that I have found on the internet,
as a tool for knitters or crocheters.
You plug in the colors of your yarn stash
and then it generates a random stripe pattern.
It is sooooo cool! I love it!
Thank you to Biscuits and Jam who created it.
I want to use it to create a blanket pattern for my leftover yarns.

the latest

This is the latest project on the needles. It's a Japanese pattern, and the yarn is Debbie Bliss Cotton Angora. The yarn is left over from another sweater that I made two years ago. It has been quite a few years since I have made a cabled sweater. The bobbles are pretty funny looking.

alpaca

I started this one May 11th and finished today.
I love the yarn, oh so soft and cozy,
and the simple lace pattern.
I liked knitting the yoke on circular needles
so there was less finish sewing needed.
A really nice pattern!
As usual with Rebecca patterns
there is much left for interpretation in the instructions,
but that helps to keep those neurons firing.

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

I have been working on this felt decoration for a few weeks

and finally finished it this morning!

These are new kirigami and other paper decorations that
my daughter and I made recently.
Oh the fun you can have with paper and scissors!

Ho Ho Ho!

These felt hearts are filled with dark chocolate kisses.
They're for my co-workers.
I need to make eight more tonight.

make

Here is a holiday decoration project that is in progress.
The pattern is from a Japanese book so I am guessing at the instructions.
Each year I like to make a new addition to our festive displays.

I made these stars years ago and place them in a bowl this time of the year.
This lovely bowl was made by my daughter.

I bought a big bunch of Julkarva at Julfest last weekend in Poulsbo. Today I divided it up and tied it onto lots of trees throughout the garden for the critters to enjoy.

My beloved holly is incorporated into the elaborate holiday displays at The Bloedel Reserve.

I just started to pull out the decorations today.
My favorite thing to decorate is the sweater tree.
I'm working on a Japanese felt pattern as a holiday decoration.
More on that later.
I've also been working on Tord Boontje inspired paper decorations.

I absolutely love everything that Tord creates!

Snow before Thanksgiving!

What is up with this?!

I dug up my dahlia tubers on Sunday just in time!
They are safe and sound in the garage
through this arctic blast.
3" inches of the white stuff so far
and it is still coming down.
I feel sorry for the deciduous trees
that haven't given up their leaves yet,
since they are sorely weighted down
with all of the snow.
My Gunnera is out there awaiting
the temperatures dipping down into the teens,
without any protection.
After years of fretting about protecting them through the winters,
I have decided that they are on their own from now on.
If they can't make it then they don't belong in my garden.
Sometimes you just can't do everything you'd like any longer.
I'm just reaching a point in my life that simplicity has a nice ring.
That especially holds true when thinking about the enormous task
each year of planting, staking, labeling, training, watering, digging up, washing, labeling again and storing the vast dahlia collection.
Each year I ask myself, "how much longer can I keep doing this?"
But I keep doing it.
They are so pretty throughout the summer.
What great cut flowers!
But really!
The work is tremendous!

Okay, I better go check for the mail before it is completely dark outside.
Happy Snow Day y'all!

Finished!

This fits perfectly! Yeay!
Pattern: "Cinnamon" by Kim Hargreaves.
Kind of a weird yarn:
Collezione S. Charles Filati d' Italia "Sahara"
44% Viscose, 20% Linen, 36% Bamboo.
It’s somewhat tweedy.
I’m happy with this one.
I need to re-seam one of the side seams at the bottom since I noticed in the photo that the ribbing doesn’t line up.
Yikes! How did that happen?
I was so excited to get this finished I guess I rushed the last seam.

That’s dahlia “Keith H” in the background.