Where has October gone?

I can't believe it is already November. I don't know where the month has gone. Thanksgiving has come and gone here in Canada and I am into Christmas mode now. Time to do the craft fairs and see what creative things are being offered. Time to plan my gifts and get knitted ones finished. I think that this year I am ahead of the game. It is this time of the year that I also get loads of ideas but unfortunately not enough time to execute everything.

I love these felt bags that are from Nepal. They are a nice thick wool and I can think of lots of uses for them. They also make great gifts. So with that in mind I have designed a punch needle called A Simple Life and I've got step one done. Now to embellish the clutch bag with wool applique and beads and this will be offered as a kit on my redesigned website.

Yes I am going to have a new look for my website with lots of new features which I hope will make finding and buying items a lot easier. I love user friendly technology. I'll be concentrating on my first love wool and will occasionally offer some primitive items that I am dabbling in. Whenever I do decide to quit the 9-5 job I know that boredom will never darken this gal's doorstep!

Here is one of the felts bags that I did for the fall season. You can find it on Pfatt Marketplace under Fully Wooly Primitives.

Don't forget to visit http://www.theprimitivegathering.com/ where we are giving away free items. You just need to sign up for a newsletter. I have a punch needle pincushion in the draw.

Just listed some snowman rug hooking kits which make up quickly as wonderful handmade gifts! They can be found on Etsy. The link is on the left hand side. Also all the Christmas punch needle patterns have been listed.

And with all that some baking has been going on - after all the crisp days and crunch of leaves underfoot leads to longings of comfort food - one of my favourites pumpkin pie and fresh apple cake. The recipe can be found at King Arthur Flour.

So considering all the bustling that has been happening at the Black homestead I can see where the month has gone.  Good night all..Joni

Busy as a Bee

New Punch Needle available on The Primitive Gathering

I just finished knitting my lace shawl , was working on the beading and casting off and what do you know my worse nightmare realized! I ran out of wool. I guess my style is looser than I thought. What to do..Should I just continue and hope that last foot would do it or should i undo all the beading (all 200) and redo the last 4 rows (each row being about 600 stitches) a daunting task to say the least. Then I thought of the recent hand dyed hunks of wool I have been purchasing - maybe there is something in there that is close to the colour. Madly sorting through those richly dyed yarns at 1:00 in the morning is not how I would normally like to spend my evening hours.

Usually I am asleep at this time - but this was a problem I was determined to solve or there would be no sleep for this gal. Aha! something that might work... undid a few stitches ...and combined the two wools and no one would know the difference - well except for me and I can live with that. It was a peaceful sleep I enjoyed! So my first lace shawl done and now to block it . Not my favourite part of knitting but very necessary in order to make it look perfect!

Pattern of new Shawl just finished

Gorgeous Dandelion colour

The pattern is called Waves in the Square by Silvia Harding and the colour Dandelion - wool by Fleece Artist out of Nova Scotia. I just love their wool! This is their mini Handmaiden product line.

Now on to some new projects. I have about 5 lined up along with some knitted beaded bracelets and some new punch needle designs that have to be made. I need 2 of me!

Multi Coloured shawl

Autumn shawl - but I will be using Autumn Colours - my favourite colour way!

Some of the knitted projects calling to me.....using jojoland yarns which has amazing melding of colorways...

I just listed a new punch needle design on The Primitive Gathering.

Pomegranate Tree of Life

I loved doing this one and decided it needed to be practical. I am all for something to have a use besides being wonderful to look at. Must be my new philosophy of material wants vs needs. It is that midlife purge of your unnecessary entanglement with material items in your life. The question I ask myself - Have I used it? When? And will I ever?

This pincushion besides being pretty to look at is also something I would have next to me. I don't just have one pincushion - I have at least 3. I used my own hand dyed wools "Red Island Threads" to do this one. I even added some beads to this one.

I am just finishing a great book titled "The Friday Night Knitting Club". I have had it for awhile but with my growing interest in knitting (well I did knit years ago - sweaters and all) thought this book would be just the inspiration. I am really enjoying it. While linking this title to Amazon - lo and behold Dan Brown is coming out with a new book "The Lost Symbol" continuing from "Angels and Demons" - finally is all I can say. It's been awhile since I read a new one from him!

Well I must be off. Saturday mornings are my day for visiting family and doing the dreaded grocery shopping. A beautiful, sunny warm day to enjoy.

Have a great day....Joni

Pleasures of Creating

Hard to believe it is already the middle of March. Where does time go? I expect lots of people ask themselves that. I have always been a very busy person – well I make myself busy. I never have idle hands and have been that way since I was a kid. I can’t remember ever telling my mom and dad that I was bored. There was just too much to do. The fondest memories I have are living in a two storey house in a rural setting (which has since been built up) and exploring woods and streams. We did not have computers or TV (by choice). Our imagination was our best friend. They are very fond memories and I consider myself very lucky to have been a child during those times.

Today I often hear from children I know that they are bored – and it puzzles me. Is it too much reliance on the instruments of technology that surround the youth of today? Honestly I can’t even keep up with the new things that come out every day. It is beyond me. Perhaps it is not using their imagination that has them bored. Crafting is such a wonderful way to let children explore their imagination. This month I have been told is craft month so why not take up a new craft and if you have children in your life expose them to the pleasures and satisfaction of creating something on their own.

For myself I have signed up for some doll courses. I have always dabbled in doll making but was never really happy with them. So why not learn the basics – get introduced to some of the materials available to doll makers, run with that and see what happens. That is my new craft to learn this month! It is not like I need something new to keep me busy! But sometimes you just need that new little burst of energy.

The past two months I have been working a lot with wool. I bought some lovely silk thread and I am knitting a lace pattern shawl. It took quite a few starts to getting the pattern down. This girl is a sock knitter so it was a little challenging for me. But I got out my trusty new row counters and they worked like a charm. I bought these on Etsy from Crimson Orchid.

I have made some new wool pincushions - one of these a large tomato - this one is available on ETSY.

The other is a small dainty one combining some punch needle and some wool felting. I call these Ladies Treasures as they are tiny little pincushions.

I discovered this great site for all kinds of crafting necessities JOGGLES. I am always looking for new ways to display my punch needle patterns . On this site I came across wool felted purses and fell in love with them. So with that in mind and a new pattern in the works, I came up with this piece. I have plans to make a few new punch needle designs that would use these different coloured purses.

Now that the weather is getting a little warmer - it is time to get the dye pots out. There is just something about spring that brings about a yearning for colour. That in between time in the seasons when everything seems to be brown and gray. You just know you need some colour to speed up the coming of spring. For me the rite of sprin g is bringing out the dye pots. This week I have been replensihing my stock of wool threads and introduced 3 new colours..Aubergine, Bitterweet and Cinnamon Rose.

Having said all that -time to get back to the pots and start creating some wonderful colours. Have a great day and hope you are planning to do something creative today! TTYL Joni

A New Year - New Projects

These are some of the projects I have been preparing. I love making pincushions. They are small, made quickly and very precious in their smallness. With punch needle you can get a lot of detail in just a few punches of the needle. These boxed pincushions shown here are two of a set of six. I have a 20 year background of quilting so often quilting designs inspire me. This project is based on old quilt patterns that had meaning in every day life. They were a lot of fun to make and I am sure will eventually end up as a pattern booklet sometime this year - hmmm patterns of punch needle pincushions - that's an idea. I love smalls!

These are available on Pfatt Marketplace - a wonderful place where you can find all kinds of talented artists. Some more of these pincushions will be popping up on Etsy and some on TDIPT this month.

The bottom pincushion is available as a complete kit for those punch needle enthusiasts out there. Contact me if you are interested. I plan on making a couple for the mothers in my life - come Mother's Day.

The Christmas holidays are over and now it seems we talk about summer holidays. I hope to make it to my favourite spot - PEI - in September with Peter and the hairy beastie - the pooch. Before that Mom and I make our annual pilgrimage to Maine in May. We have been doing it for years and all we do is eat, relax, soak in some sun if we are lucky and just gaze at the ocean. We rent a lovely place right on the beach. Can't say enough about the ocean. For me it just is not a holiday without it.

Roby got his first professional grooming last Saturday. OK he is 5 years old but I could not stand leaving him with anyone even for a couple of hours. So I found a groomer that comes to the house and Roby got pampered. I was so nervous as to how he would be - he does not like me brushing him and it is always a tug of war - have you seen that dog - he earns the name hairy beastie. He was good as gold and I sighed a big sigh of relief. Got a big kiss from his Mommy and even better a cookie treat!

Update on Noogs... our little orange boy came home last night after being at the vet's for a week. He is eating again and they have stabilized him. We hope for the best and have done all we can to help him to good health. Now it is up to him and we'll just play it day by day. What a sweet baby. They said he was well behaved - had a wonderful temperament and even when sick, purred. He was so glad to be home last night and reacquainted himself with all his favourite spots in the house...

Everyone is safe and sound in our humble abode. Snow is lightly falling and it is going to be very cold tomorrow but we are all snug and warm. Goodnite.. Joni