After I posted Friday, I went back to Myrtle beach with my folks. I had already been Wednesday to see Deb, which is a pst of it’s own, but will be on my other blog. Maybe. Anyway, we bought a necklace I had etyed on Wednesday, and a pair of shoes (yeah, whatever, hush), AND we scoped out a new yarn store. It’s in NMB, and it’s called Knittiing up a Storm, and it is fantabulous.

On Saturday, I finished my purse, and helped Mama shell peas, and then started a puzzle. We were supposed to camp this weekend, but it was just too hot and also very rainy, so we stayed in the air conditioning and played games and such. Except for the pea thing.

DH says puzzles count as finished objects, since I buy serious puzzles that take some mad skills to assemble. What do you think?

The goose is getting fat! It seems like I type that earlier and earlier every year, but I can assure you that is already past the middle of July here, and Christmas is just FIVE MONTHS away! How crazy is that? I still have broken ornaments from last year over there in the craft area to be fixed. Also! I did not make personalized ornaments last year, and I mean to get on that this year. Hell-o!

Anyway! Back to the point, which is NOT my lack of Christmas Organizing Skills, but rather personalized Christmas Cards and the photos that go with them. Yep. Pi-chers for those of you who speak southern, like me. I found a boatload of articles on how to get good Christmas cards shots, and other tips, like this gem:

Flowers are wonderful subject matter for photographs. To create a dew-dropped masterpiece, place drops of water or glycerin on the leaves or petals. Glycerin can be found at most pharmacies and won’t dry up as quickly as water.

Color me open-mouthed, because it never occurred to me that those flowers we see in photos were anything other than legitimately dew-kissed. Sometimes my own naivety amazes me. Rube=Cass or something, I guess. Anyway, go read. I’ll meet you there with a glass of iced tea, ok?

I’m feeling very uncrafterly this week. I pulled the floss to work on a piece of cross-stitch, but it is so very complicated that I am discouraged.I am sure that once I get out of the 40-11 shades of dark green corner that it will be less difficult, but right now it requires my full attention, and that’s just not something I have to spare, LOL.

I also have the log cabin blanket at my feet. That one is so simple I could almost do it in my sleep. It’s great for when I am engaged in conversation or whatever, but……..yeah boring. If crafting were home gym equipment, this project would be the treadmill. Steady, functional, boring. Sorry, blankie. I will love you next winter, to be sure.

I think I am actually itching to start a new knit project. Or finish a quilt. Or… I dunno. Something. And that something needs to make a dent in this pile of six craft bins sitting here in the middle of the floor.

Ooh, I was crafty this week! I had a great deal of fun, and I hope you had a satisfying week as well, no matter what your creative passion.

The first thing I finished was this apron for my mother. She cut up a pair of pants and brought it over here for me to sew up. It seems almost cheating to claim it, but I did make it, so……..yeah. It goes on the FO page. I’ll justify it by saying that she wanted me to throw it together any old way, and I refused to do that, but instead took the time to sew it properly, with finished seams, etc. It’s small because it’s not for cooking. She needs it to hold change at the estate sale she’s having this weekend. She wants to sell everything that’s not nailed down at Grandmother’s, though if you were to call and make an offer on the exterior shutters, I imagine she’d get a hammer and un-nail them for you. Unless it is raining. Then, it would be no.

I did learn a new thing making it. I’ve been sewing for 26 years, give or take. Any time I have wanted to reinforce a seam, I have dutifully cut the threads, place the piece back on the feed dog at the point of origin, and sewed. Mama watched me do that several times (umm, it takes plenty of reinforcement for the bottom of a change apron), and asked me why I didn’t just turn the fabric. I looked at her as if she had 2 heads, mumbled “turn the fabric”, lifted the presser foot, flipped that piece and sewed on! I’d always wondered why it took me so long to sew stuff compared to Grandmother. That trick was one Mama learned from her. Mama can’t sew, but I can, and it’s a trick I will get some good use from!!

Next up is Spidey’s sweater. Yes, he’s elected to keep it. I did run out of yarn, so I grabbed some black Cascade 220 and used it doubled to finish the yoke.

And now, I am looking for a new project. It will have to be an old one, or at least one made from old yarn, since I am still on purchasing hiatus. The good news is that these are FOs 5 and 6: soon, my pretties, soon, I will be able to shop!

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Here’s how to play:

Take a picture of your current project, whatever that happens to be. Or maybe one you recently finished. Or the materials for the one you are about to start. Let’s say materials for a project in whatever state it happens to be in at the time you snap it. On Friday, post the picture and tell us about your project. What you did, or what you are going to do. How much you are enjoying it, or hating it. You know–show and tell.

Just copy & paste the code below the graphic and get crafty with me!

<a href="http://www.cassknits.com/category/online-craft-club/"><img src="http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff136/cassknits/online-craft-club-sidebar-sized.jpg" alt="" /></a>

Be sure to come back and leave a comment so we know where to find you!

Technorati Tags: Online Craft Club

Ok, I was at Gemz N Gold this morning working on an assignment. I had been looking at their pearl jewelry, specifically a black dangle pearl ring like the one on the right. After I found it, I was curious about black pearls, so I went over to wikipedia to find out a bit about them.

YA’LL! You can dye pearls. Holyyyyyyyyyyyy smokes. You can dye pearls! Which brings me to the question of “can you dye those “pseudo pearls” they sell in the craft store?”, which brings me to planning a trip to A.C. Moore. Now, let me ask you: How many girls do you know who can start out jewelry shopping for real pearls and end up planning a craft adventure that involves fake ones? Yep, I’m an original, all right.

But the uses…….oh my, you could dye wool and pearls to match….tone on tone. I could it in ashes of roses. Or blue lagoon. Oh, this could be…..

Darn. Stop. I can’t spend money on crafts. Ok, I am leaving this post up anyway, and it will remind me that I wanted to try this once I can spend the moolah.

or crochet it. or cross-stitch it. or needlepoint it. MicroRevolt’s knitPro is making a statement while making patterns. Check them out to see what I mean.

I have decided I need new seat cushions for the rockers in my living room. There are two of them, three if I count the child’s chair. Now, I have been looking for a full set (seat and back) since I got the old fashioned rocker, and I haven’t seen one in four years, unless you count the outrageously priced set that flashed briefly before my eyes at Kmart.com one day.

The sad thing for me is that I used to have a couple sets of cushions that I had made myself. The blue fabric here in this Duralee fabrics ad looks like those cushions. I even had some matching tablecloths for the round tables. Of course, I have no idea where they are now, and that’s frustrating, because now I have to come up with money for fabric (oops, none of that until I finish more projects) or money for cushions. And I know I won’t find it in stores for less than it would cost me to make it, anyway.

Hmm, I bet I still have that pattern, and I have fabric…… let me think on his a bit more.

it’s done, done, done, done. I finished back stitching the ribbons and put my initial and date in it late last night. I think it must be the longest lived WIP in history, but Fantasy Ride is complete. I’ll get it washed up by Friday so you can see it all clean and prettiful. Tonight, I’ll be leafing through the latest issue of IK, and picking up the needles once more. Someone who loves pink needs a Wallaby

And I’ll bet not a one of you needs to apply at Tuition Wise to figure out just who that might be.