Added to my stash: Hand-crafted Glass Buttons

I went to the Knit & Crochet Show in Greensboro, NC, this weekend. Lots of yarn, but I was a good girl and only bought one ball of the Kauni variegated wool from Denmark in colorway EQ. I'll probably make it up into yet another scarf or may felt it into something.

When I shop at shows like these, I want to find things I can't buy locally. After all, what's the point of driving 70+ miles each way and paying an entrance fee just to see what I can get at my local yarn shop? (Yeah, I know I can buy the Kauni locally, but it was an impulse buy after seeing the finished items in the vendor's booth.) What I did find that I haven't seen locally were the glass buttons designed and made by Di Irvine. She sells her work on Etsy, but online photos can't capture the iridescence of some of them. I limited myself to 4 cards. I'm going to use the single buttons in jewelry making and I have some sewing projects where the other sets will work.

On Friday, September 23, 2011, at 6:00 pm Eastern time, 127 tatters around the world tatted the same snowflake motif in an effort to set a Guinness world record for the most people tatting at one time. I was one of the tatters participating!

Off the shuttle: Tatted Hearts

I'm playing around with variegated thread. All these hearts were tatted in Handy Hands Lizbeth size 20 thread. The colorway is "Jellybean." I'm planning to 6 more in different patterns using a different variegated thread.

Close-up of one of the tatted hearts. This one has some small butterflies hiding in the design.

Off the needles: Pinstripe Scarf

I feel as if I've been working on this scarf forever! Finally decided it was long enough and finished it off. The pattern is from Jaeger Handknits "Accessories Brochure" ... all the patterns include either beads or sequins. The yarn is a purple yarn I got from Hinshaw's outlet in Burlington many, many years ago. (Alas, they closed decades ago.) Not sure of the brand, but the fiber content is 70% wool, 30% rayon. The 1000+ beads are iridescent crystals. The pattern is mostly stockinette with garter stitch edges. Even so, the edges wanted to roll so I added 2 rows of single crochet around the circumference to try to minimize the rolling. Below is a close-up of one of the ends,

New craft: Pique assiette flower pot

This summer I took a class in pique assiette mosaic technique. This was a ways out of my comfort zone. Pique assiette means "broken plate" and you literally have to smash crockery to do it. We took a hammer to dinner plates to get the pieces, applied the pieces to a plain clay pot, smoothed the edges with a Dremel tool, and filled around the pieces with grout. I'm not sure I'll do much of this craft, but it's good to try a non-fiber craft once and a while.

Off the hook: Azalea Bowl

The pattern for this crocheted bowl is from the Summer 2011 issue of Interweave Crochet. I made it using brown Aunt Lydia's size 10 crochet cotton and stiffened it with Aleene's Fabric Stiffener. A quick, fun project!

Off the hook: Ocean Waves Bead Crochet Bag

I crocheted this little bag out of 2 balls of Lizbeth size 20 cotton thread; colorway is "Caribbean." The beads are clear crystal seed beads that cover the bottom of the bag and form a wave pattern around the circumference. The drawstrings are finished with mother-of-pearl buttons. The pattern is from The Complete Guide to Beading Techniques by Jane Davis.