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Halloween memories..

One of the best Halloween memories I have is going to a big scary Halloween party. I was about 7 or so. They had set up a “haunted house” and we had to go around and look at scary things. Headless man, scary witch and lost of webs we got caught in and noises. But the best part was sticking our hands into bowls of monster “parts” , which were covered with just a hole to put hands into. Eyeballs were wet, cold peeled grapes. Intestines were cold, cooked spaghetti. Cold hot dogs were fingers, brains were cooked oatmeal, and the most horrifying was the heart which was a water balloon filled with warm water. This was accompanied by lots of moans, shrieks, and screams. O to be 7 again. Here are some scary things you might want to make: From Instructables a crochet eyeball with optic nerve attached from the crochetninja The great knitted pumpkin pattern Felted pumpkins from Knitty How to make a very real looking werewolf head from Instructables From the blog of Strange

Dyeing to ……

Once upon a time there was a woman, a knitter of course, that dreamed of learning to spin.  She knitting and bought spinning books and magazines and read all of the articles. OOOO, Ahhhhh…. Then she met a fellow knitter, who was spinning on a spindle. Knitted Gems , who is a great knitter who is also a knitting designer . Her blog posts and photos about her beginning spinning gave me courage to try it. So in fits and starts I started. Then I met another blogger, Spin, Knit and Life , who sells luscious batts and spun fibers at her Etsy shop . She encouraged me and give me little tips, well maybe big tips. She walked me through buying a wheel, my first, now I’m thinking about another, and through her I became interested in dyeing. The first thing I dyed (with Kool Aid) was some of the first fiber that was spun from my wheel.   Some lovely soft hand spun , that I’m now incorporating into a sweater. By now I’m seriously into the dyeing addiction. The latest I made is a sweet pink

Line your bags, give them a foundation..and they will serve you well…

I admit, I love to knit bags, they are beautiful and soft. But yarn handles and bags can become stretched out. After taking the time to make the perfect bag, take the time to line them and give them some structure,  then your bag will be totally wonderful, lasting and you will amaze even yourself. These are tips, that I discovered during my great summer binge of purse felting . Handles, if these are knitted, reinforce them.   If I am making an i-cord handle I often put several strands of cotton yarn (or cotton cording, I have also crocheted a chain of cotton yarn and used that), together and string it up the middle, then take a few stitches on each end of the handle to anchor them. This keeps them from becoming too stretched out. I do this even if I’m felting the I-cords, but if felting don’t stitch them until post felting, just safety pin them to them ends, not tightly though, leave some give). Nothing is worse than handles on your purse that keep growing. (my big pet peeve)