Where does the time go?

I've already given away all of the things from my last post. As you can imagine, this time of year just about everyone is happy to get a card and some fresh cookies.

 The potholder was appreciated so I started another one and while I was doing that I finished a hat and started another one and a scarf. Yes I get a bit carried away with things and it's endless. One project always carries me into another and it can be hours,days or weeks before I snap out of it and wonder what happened.

It's a good thing we're not expecting company for the holidays. I work at the dining room table and her's a tour of the projects happening there right now:

1.Crochet potholder
2.crochet hat
3.crochet scarf
4.patchwork tote bag
                 5.sewing
                 6.embroidery
7&8.paper projects and letters
9.painting a wooden bird house
10.carving a wooden horse
11.painting a watercolor poinsettia
12.pencil drawings

The thing that makes this really interesting is that the diameter of the table is only 52 inches so I just don't buy it when people say they don't pursue their hobbies or interests because they don't have room.

Do the best you can with whatever you've got anyplace you can. It's the only thing thing that really matters to me these days and I think you'll find it useful to you too.

It seemed like a good idea at the time

Here's a scrap crafted card I made for my hubby a decade or two  ago. I couldn't go shopping for him that year so I hot glued it full of pocket change. Imagine my surprise when we "found" it today while sorting through drawers in an old piece of furniture...of course when we picked it up it rained an assortment of coins but it was pretty funny anyway.

These days we're still busy making things. I'm crocheting here and he's untangling yarn for me.

Here's a photo from our first house (1978-2000) I hated the look of that air freshener in the hall so I painted that urn around it as part of the mural.

Eventually the mural was full of Iris and vines and  went up 2 stories. Yes, I've got more pictures if you're interested.

As you can imagine all of these projects fall under the heading of "it seemed like a good idea at a time"

A yarn about crocheting

The afghan is either going to a shelter for families or the veterans home, (it's funny that you have to remind people that a lot of vets are women). I'd also finished another hat that I gave to that program with the schools but didn't have a chance to take a picture of that one. Anyway, I'd like to thank Karen again for the yarn she dropped off and the good work it did and then it's on to other things.
The hat you see pictured here is one of the things I've been working on with my own yarns as I look for an easy pattern I can use to make a few things to sell and keep things going around here. They'd also make nice gifts this time of year. I keep experimenting with the type and number or strands of yarn used as well as different sizes of hooks. So far this looks promising and only takes 13 rows to finish. After all we might as well make things fun if we can. Wish me luck and do a bit of crocheting yourselves. It makes the time fly and keeps everyone warm, what could be better than that on a cold winter day?

Sit a spell, take your shoes off

Here's the painting as I left it yesterday. I'd worked until I could barely lift my arms or put together a coherent sentence but the day just seemed to fly by. At this point I needed some rest and began to wonder how to approach painting  the patterns in the fabric on the chair so I pulled it over next to my work and made a cup of tea.

Today I can't decide whether I'm more interested in sitting in this chair or painting it but moving it opened new possibilities.

There was enough extra space in that corner to display 2 more paintings and that painted chest. I find it easier to take care of the paintings when they're hung, aired and cleaned on a regular basis as opposed to encountering "surprises" when they're in storage.

The benefit of having the chair over where it is now of course is that I still do a lot of crocheting and the light is better over here. Is anyone interested in what I'm crocheting? I try to keep this blog about the painting and gardening but as you may have noticed by by now "my hobbies have hobbies" and we're always doing something creative around here.

Incoming projects and outgoing mail

Somewhere in all of this at my table today is a vest I'm sewing, embroidering and decorating, the pencils used to decorate these 4 envelopes and a potholder, hat and afghan that I'm crocheting. No wonder we're eating in the living room...that's fine with me. The sun is out so from time to time the solar powered crystal in the window makes a shimmering light display across the ceiling and walls.

The vest came along nicely and I repeated this design in several places...of course being plus size there was a lot of space to cover ...

Lazy Cat

Sometimes contentment is pretty basic. I'm like a big, lazy cat. All it takes is a bright ball of yarn and a sunny window to make me want to curl up and enjoy the afternoon. I may actually finish one of these afghans...or take a nap. Either way it's been a pleasant morning and I'm wishing you happiness today too.