Some Crafting By Crafty Guy

My birthday was last week, and Crafty Guy (aka my husband, Mark) presented me with my very own yarn bowl!  As you may know, he is an avid wood worker, specializing in turned wood projects.  Now, I knew that he was busy in the workshop on this particular project for quite a while.  Plus, I had seen the bowl in stages as it was being made.  But now I am the happy owner of the completed bowl.

The bowl is made from pear wood and has a lot of "character marks" and some saw marks from where the wood was originally cut. 

He was careful to make the all of the surfaces nice and smooth so that the yarn would glide smoothly through and not catch.  This was especially important in the channel where the yarn comes out. 

The bottom the the bowl even has a little indentation for the yarn ball to rest.

I just love this gift.  Now when I crochet, the yarn will have its own little place to be, and not rolling all over the couch or wherever it happens to be sitting.  I have to get a crochet project going, don't you think?

Crafty Guy Has Been Busy

As some of you may know, woodworking is a hobby my husband Mark has recently taken up in the last few years.  I've posted picture of some of his amazing finishes on previous posts.  His most recent lathework finish is a wooden box, a gift for a graduate.  It's made from persimmon and has an oversized top that reminds me of a cinnamon roll.  Very nice work, I must say.  And much appreciated by the recipient!

At one of our stitch days, we were talking about bluebirds and bluebird houses.  Someone mentioned how these cute little birdies love the security of their own little house, and if you have one in your yard, plenty of bluebirds will visit.  I'm a bluebird fan myself, but don't see them often around my house.  I made sure Mark knew about this and before I knew it, he had made this wonderful bluebird house.  He went online and found building instructions from the Missouri Conservation Commission.  Now to put it up.  The information says that it should be put on a pole.  Hmmmm.  OK, that's a whole 'nother project, right?  If anyone out there has put one of these up, and has some advice, I'll take it.

Asiatic Lily

Ice Plant

Let's close out with some flower pictures.  I've been enjoying my garden this year, especially those perennials.  I love how they come back healthy and happy every year!

Deck Planter with Oregano, Begonia That Looks Like Shrimp and Giant Salvia.

Projects Of Three

Most stitchers love starting new projects and I can completely understand this phenomena.  It's a joy to gather all of your materials and eventually put in that first stitch.  In keeping with my new plan to always have three stitching projects going, I started a new one this week.  It's Prairie Schooler's "Folk Eggs".  I've also been thinking a lot about spring lately, so this fits right in.  I don't know why I'm thinking about spring when this winter has been so mild.  Anyway, it's being stitched on 28 count black Lugana over 2 threads all on one piece of fabric. I'm pretty sure it's going to be a wall hanging, but I could still change my mind and frame it. And don't wrinkle up your nose at stitching on black -- it's really not difficult and the result is very pretty, especially with the thread colors used in this project.

Sheila and I went to the Intergalactic Bead Show last weekend.  I hadn't been to one of these in a long time, so it was nice to see what was new.  Judging from the attendance, I could see that beading is still a very popular hobby.  I bought a kit to make a woven bead and pearl necklace, and some centerpiece pendants.  It was interesting talking to the vendors and even other jewelry makers, and I even learned a few new things.  This visit might just spark a new interest in jewelry making for me!

Here is another one of Mark's lathework creations.  I came home one day to find it on the table and it took me a while to realize what it was because my first thought was, "Now where did Mark get that?".  It's very well done, don't you think?  I think he's found his woodworking niche.   

All this fuss makes Cosmo plum tuckered out.

This past week has been pretty busy and a little stressful because we just learned that our oldest cat, Cosmo, has diabetes.  A simple change in his diet and two insulin injections a day should regulate this well, but it's still a little weird.  And it means a whole new routine for us because the shots have to be 12 hours apart.  After a few days of this, the shots have been getting a little easier and don't appear to hurt him at all.  Oh, he would let us know if it did!  And I only poked myself in the finger once!  Yay for me!  Cosmo goes in for a some kind of testing on Monday, so we'll know a little more about how well all of this is working.  Wish us luck. 

I'm looking forward to Saturday Stitch Day at The Stitch Store this week!  It's always fun to get together with these ladies and see what we're all stitching.  Amazing how quickly that day passes!  I plan to work on "Folk Eggs" and will post my progress!

Crafty Guy Strikes Again

In my last post I talked about crafters receiving hand-made gifts from other creative people.  I didn't mention another hand-crafted gift I was given very recently.  As you  may know from a previous post (Crafty Guy), Mark does woodworking on a lathe.  He has made some beautiful items for me and for friends in the past and they have been much appreciated.  During the past few months, the subject of a lamp came up.  It sounded like a particularly ambitious project, but that didn't stop Crafty Guy.  Then recently, I was presented with a lovely lamp for my craft room!  It's certainly much nicer than the metal desk lamp I'd been using!  The base is made out of maple, and the spindle part is jobillo.  Not sure what that is or where it comes from, but it looks good.

Nice work, Mark!  Something I can really use, and it looks good in the crafting space.  I'm still a little iffy on the shade, but it was the best I could find so far.  If I happen to spot a better one someplace, you can be sure I'll be changing it.  But I am very happy with my new lamp and it will be put to good use!

I will be posting soon with a photo of my finished wreath, as promised.  So far no additional progress on my bellpull, but hope to take some time for that this week.  I have begun another project, but won't be able to post a photo of that until January!  Shhh, it's a secret.