Hanging Fish Garden

I've wanted a fish pond in my garden for quite some time, until that possibility becomes a reality, I have made my own indoor Hanging Fish Garden. I created a filigree of curly tendrils, making a wire basket which, cradles the fishbowl.



In this close-up, you can see Buddy, my new friend, swimming around checking out the fancy wire work from his new vantage point. I hung the bowl over in my plant corner, where the light really emphasizes the curly wire forms and good ol' Buddy swimming happily. It's relaxing to watch that little guy wagging his fins and tail through the water. The bowl lifts out quite easily for cleaning, and when I get my big fish pond and buddy moves in there, I think this hanging bowl will make a nice terrarium...humm, maybe I don't have to wait until then for the terrarium, I think I will find the perfect bowl and get started on that next.

Have a great week! Blessings Friends!
Melissa

VINTAGE VELVET FLOWERS

I've been busy scouring alpaca fleece the last couple of weeks, courtesy of Lonesome Oak Alpaca, I have some beautiful fiber to process. When time and space permit, I zip out out to the garage to sort or down to the laundry room and scour another two-three batches and fluff them out to dry on screens. The fiber is so gorgeous, I can hardly keep my hands off of it! I'm always finding an excuse to fuss around with it as it dries, sorting it, examining it, fluffing it up some more! The fiber pictured above was so pretty, that I had planned on spinning it as is...buuut then I was dyeing a hank of yarn and I thought...geez, why fire up the dye pot for just one hank of yarn. ( You see how I rationalize) So I scooped up the first batch of Sassy's fiber that I had scoured, about an ounce and got it ready to go in the pot.



I applied the dye with a gentle hand, allowing the beautiful natural color to shine through.The effect was lovely, it reminds me of vintage velvet flowers, soft, and faded in some places, brighter in others, I was so pleased with how it turned out that I will be dyeing up some more of Sassy's fiber to add to the pot! I'm quite excited to spin this, of course I can hardly wait to spin everything I get my hands on!

Have a great week! Blessings Friends!
Melissa

Chancellor's Collar becomes Chancellor's Capelet

You may remember this finished project, the Chancellor's Collar, I loved the pattern, but as it turns out I think it needed about three more large mitered squares and the corresponding number of small squares, to lay nicely. I'm not sure if I just didn't add the required amount, I thought I followed the pattern, but I will double check to be sure I read it correctly. Because this was made for my Mum who's on the small side and it didn't have quite enough flair to lay flat over her shoulders, it wanted to hunch up around her ears and chin!



I decided to make it into more of a capelet. I picked the side I wanted as the front, and steeked it, that is to say I fixed the knitted stitches from raveling by sewing on either side of the center line where I had decided to make a cut. Once the stitches were in place, I carefully cut up through the garment in a straight line. I made a nice decorative plaket using crochet, which is really perfect for this kind of embellishment.



Here we are, all buttoned up. The square crocheted buttons, with the exception of the one at the top used to close the neck opening (which I thought should be a little sturdier than the tiny bobble/loop combo), are just decorative, the capelet is fastened by the little bobbles popping through loops on the opposite side. I'm so much happier with it this way, I love the pattern, the design with the mitered squares is so pretty, but it works better (more hair style friendly) to have it modified as a capelet. I think I will probably do a little more surface embellishment on this too, Mum will get to wear it eventually! (If I can get her to leave the house, it's too cold!)

Have a great week! Blessing Friends!
Melissa

The Pixies That Live Under The Floor

When I moved into my house, now going on four years ago, I began to discover little toys and treasures in the tiny spaces of my home. I discovered them under the cast iron grates where the heat flows into the living room, behind the stove, tucked into the hollow place behind a loose molding. With each discovery, I tidied the area, and then respectfully replaced the little objects. I enjoyed keeping this little secret with the pixies that share my home and yard. Lately I came up with an idea to make some warm winter clothes for my little friends as a trade for the treasures I have collected from them.



I hung the tiny garments out on my house tree, where they can be easily found.



I think the pixies will really love this free form shawl I knitted up. I added lots of fringe, which I thought would be attractive to the little faeries.



I have been wanting to crochet one of these newsboy caps for the longest time, it was so fun to make one tiny sized! This cabled sweater will keep a little body warm, as the temperatures have been quite chilly here, and the wind has been gusting like mad.



Here's a closer look at the newsboy cap.



I knitted this sweater a little tinier than the first, I used my own hand spun yarn for this one. It's hand dyed alpaca from Yarn Hollow.



This is the smallest cabled sweater, I love the purpley-blue, plus the yarn has a little sparkle mixed in, you can't go wrong with sparkle as far as I'm concerned! The pixie cap also has just the right amount of sparkle. If I am lucky, I hope to get a glimpse of someone wearing this! I'll keep a close look out.



Here is the smallest free form shawl, still plenty cozy, even though it's size is so petite.

I'm hoping the pixies will think these warm winter clothes are a fair trade for their treasure, I guess I'll know for sure if they turn naughty on me, then I will have to put the treasures back where I found them. They have always been very nice and helpful, my plants grow and bloom like crazy, more so than they ever have anyplace else that I have lived. I wouldn't want that to change!

Have a wonderful week! Blessings Friends!
Melissa