In the bag

I finally snapped to it and finished my two felted purses. One will be a gift and the other is shop bound. I haven't decided which is which yet.

The first one is the mistake that I tried to fix. It felted too long. So I ripped out the bottom stitches and put in a zipper. I put in a pretty black liner that is sewn across the middle. Fold it in half and now I have a purse with two separate openings. There's a teeny bonus pocket inside, too. And a snap to hold it all together.

The next one is a simpler purse with a brown liner. And a woodsy button on the top. Some of you may notice that I caved and bought new buttons for both purses instead of using the ones from the last blog.

I just started a new project, too. If you make a market bag with yarn bought from Loops and Links in De Pere, she'll give you 5% off every time you use it. I couldn't find a loom-knit pattern that was for me so I'm winging this one. I'll try to write it all down so I can share the pattern if it works out.

The baby robins under our deck say bye-bye-birdie til next time. (More photos of them)

Fee fi FO fum

I smell some knitty things I have done! Felted, wet wool does stink. Today's slang lesson for knitting illiterate is FO ... finished object.

Friday Night Knitting gal friend Barbara inspired my photo session today. Her knitting projects often lay among her beautiful flowers in her garden.

Pinwheel dishcloth. This took some stretching to make it into a circle in the end. That's why the garter stitch looks all lacy. The cloth is laying over some lilies, not yet in bloom. In my efforts to not choke them this year, I only added a few coleus plants.


Raggedy elephant, from a mystery loom-a-long on Ravelry (login required). He turned out very special and I can't help but love him.


Felted purse for someone special. I guess it's technically still a WIP since I still need to add a liner and button snap. Oooh, and check out my Hawthorne tree, finally in bloom. Isn't she pretty?!


So ... please help me choose a button! Big or small ... which color ... modern or antique?

I did a little rummaging today and found a kid's knitting machine at a church sale. Plat's been saying to buy a knitting machine because it will be more efficient. I respect his opinion but disagree. I love the process too much. Soo ... I wonder if this is what he meant? ;-)

The Real Knit and Gem Machine for $2. Who wants some fun fur scarves?!

The Friday Night Knitting gals are about to see this baby crank in action. I know they'll be jealous and toss their silly knitting needles out the window.

How does my garden grow?

It grows in many, many pots. Our local garden shop tricked me into buying a flat of veggies and flowers about a week ago. And so the cycle began. Buy pots. Buy dirt. Fill them up. Repeat.

Planter garden on lower patio


Celery, with marigold guards

We have several landscape goals this summer but two are on my mind right now. 1. A hosta garden on the shady side of house. 2. Create a permanent Earth Box planting area on the sunny side of shed. I won't be planting anything there yet but I want it all set for next spring.

Earth Boxes have a water-wicking basin under all the dirt and a tube on the surface where you pour the water. This means you can water a little less often. That's something I need about halfway-through the summer when I forget to water my plants everyday.

For the time-being, the Topsy Turvies I bought are giving me enough trouble. I thought I could hang them off shepherd's hooks instead of drilling hooks under an overhang. But wow, are those suckers heavy! They almost took down the hook until I could grab another shepherd's hook to stabilize the sucker. And I need an pot of dirt to counter the weight. So it doesn't look too pretty for now. It might be time to drill, baby, drill.

Topsy turvy troubles!

I have more to share but oh, look at the post length already. So I'm going to go stick some tissues up my nose and enjoy the weather.

Ivory halo red twig dogwood


Hawthorne tree blossoms about to pop