Polymer Clay and Gold Leafing

The possibilities are endless with polymer clay. You can do almost anything to it. Now I have discovered adding gold leaf to it and wow makes this stuff really pop. You do it before you bake it. And the out come is so pretty.

More black and white photos

I am totally loving my new camera. My grandson Gavyn is getting a lot of pics made of him. Playing with the b&w settings are so much fun.

Photographing in Black & White

Well I'm excited. I got a new camera for my anniversary. It is a canon rebel xti

This thing will do tricks that I am still learning of course. I did discover that I can take b&w photos and of course my grandson's are my models. What I really like to do is snap when they aren't watching or poseing. I think those sometimes make the best pics.

I decided to do a book review

I collect books like some people collect stamps, so what better topic to talk about. Of course the books I have are knit, crochet and crafty books.

I just bought the book "crochet inspiration" by Sasha Kagan. What a great book, lot's of pictures and lots of wonderful techniques. Beautiful motif patterns, flowers to crochet and beautiful grannies, from basic to lace and floral. A great book to add to your crochet library.

The knit book Alterknits by Leigh Radford has so many pretty projects in it. A crepe paper crown, a necklace knitted with silver wire and beads even paper lanterns.

Plus some beautiful sweaters and recycling old sweaters in to totes or handbags. It even comes with a great little creativity notebook. I love this book. It even shows you how to knit a screen door. How fun is that?

Photographing Flowers

I love playing with photography. And as you can tell I love photographing flowers. The posibilities are endless with flowers. The colors are so vibrant. And when editing which I do in psp you can do so many pretty things with them. (like in the yellow picture above) That is a picture I took of a day lily that I played with and changed in psp.

They are great in crafty items. Take your pictures and print them out on fabric and make a pocketbook or iron them on a shirt. What fun just to take your camera out on a wild flower hunt and just start snapping.

Free Form Fabric part 2

I wanted to continue my talk on free form fabric. I had saw an example of this done on the show "B Orginial" and decided to play for myself and got hooked. There is no wrong way to do this and the possibilities are endless. All you need is a good base fabric and lots of fibers. From roving, to all the beautiful threads and yarns available. No sewing experience required because you sew all over the place. I love using sulky threads because they are durable as well as great colors and some really cool metalic threads as well. Now when using metallic threads you want to use a metallic needle.

Making free form fabrics

Well the great thing about free form fabric is even if you don't know how to crochet or knit you can still use those beautiful yarns. So easy and no 2 are alike. This is a clutch that I did with a wide variety of yarns and fibers.

Polymer clay and crochet

I have been messing with polymer clay alot now. Making my own buttons. When you make your own you can match any thing you crochet or knit. They work great for free forming to give your item an added dimension. I took this and kicked up the granny square. These are not buttons but pc that I put holes in prior to baking then crocheted around it. I was pleased with how it turned out.

I have to start doing better at this

I have so many things I am trying to learn now. I got the ultimate sweater machine for Christmas and have been working on figuring that out. I have done a scarf with it.

I am also trying to teach myself free form crochet and AMIGURUMI Japanese Crochet .

In my venture I bought a couple of patterns at knotjustknitting.com and just knitted a fun pink collar. Still need to put the buttons on and then it will be picture time.

I also got a yarn winder and let me say that that is a fun gadget to have if you are a knitter or crocheter. I took some yarns that I wanted to knit together and put it into 1 ball. That way I only have to deal with the 1 instead of 2 or 3.

I also took 2 skeins of yarn and connected them into 1 so I could continue my project without having to add a new skein. That keeps me from having to add in the middle of a project.

As I learn these fun things I will add pictures of the good and the mistakes

Also about the scarf, that is a yarn I purchased from RedHeart and it is a self striping yarn.

I love the way it turned out.

Wow I am way behind

I haven't been here since August. A lot has been going on. I am still knitting and crocheting though. I am also trying to learn HTML so I can venture further in to designing my own ebay pages. I am also doing my own knitting needles. I have taught a knitting class on knitting with wire and hope to do another one soon.

August is already here

It is so hot here now that the best thing to do is to stay in and knit or crochet. It really won't be long now till Fall has decinded on us and those scarfs, hats and so forth have been pulled out for warmth.

Ebay keeps me busy as well as the grandkids this summer. I am in a number of groups on Ebay and they keep me a little busy. I believe today I feel like dabbling in some polymer clay. I am still playing with my medal charms and have started knitting some wrist bands.

I just finished some decorative pins in pc and added some fun beads to them.
I also just finished a fun wrap/scarf and now I hear my knitting needles calling me.

Playing with medal

As well as knitting with wire I am now into making medal charms for my bracelets. These take a while to make. Cutting up cans then grinding, fileing and sanding and my fav hammering. I bought myself an anvil this weekend and I have been hammering away, Really gets some fustration out. But the end results are well worth it and each set seems to have a story to tell.

I also got a table grinder this weekend but that is gonna take some practice. I believe my dremil is probally a better choice for these than the grinder. However the grinder does make really cool knitting needles. '

Check out my webstores: http://aneedleinthehaystack.ecrater.com/

http://www.blujay.com/purpleknitster

http://stores.ebay.com/A-NEEDLE-IN-THE-HAYSTACK_W0QQsspagenameZMEQ3aFQ3aSTQQtZkm

Has it been a month?

I believe I missed the whole month of June. Been busy. School is out and the grandkids keep me busy. I have been doing a lot of knitting with my wire and keep finding the best beads. Michaels has a whole new line of beads and I found a new little bead shop not to far from where I live.

I am also working almost daily in my paint shop program. Learning animations, making backgrounds and learning how to make picture tubes.

It is a rainy day in N C , I have the grandkids and we are all stuck in the house. We are gonna watch a movie in a few so will try and be back later.

Finally relax time. I am working on another bracelet. Even worked on a castle today with one of my grandson's. looks pretty good.

Well that is it for today. Just to tired to type much more. Besides hubby and I are watching Supernatural. Love that show.

Yey Taylor won and I am late posting

Ok I know a week late, but yey Taylor

I was so excited when they called his name I screamed. I can't wait till his cd comes out. That is a must buy.

Taylor Hicks rocked Last night

Taylor rocked the show last night and wowed them at his soulful performace. I really do not believe that I have heard him sing a bad song yet and don't believe that I ever will.

I am so excited about the show tonight. From what I have been reading it is looking pretty great for Taylor. I know I casted my votes. Couldn't get through on the phone so I di some texting

Check out one of Taylors performances last night.

http://www.gofish.com/userVideoPlayer.gfp?gfid=30-1035430


To knot or not to knot

No matter if you are crocheting or knitting the rule fo finishing off a project is to weave your ends in. I have never felt to secure to do just that. I still like to add a small knot just for security reason's. I have also noticed that when weaving in your ends there is always a small piece that just wants to stick out like a sore thumb. So what I do now is weave in my ends and still tie a small knot. Then clip as close to the knot as possible.


Above is my newly crocheted belt. You can find this patter just about anywhere. Most call for 3 inch brass rings. But instead of running out to the craft store why not use a couple of old braclets that you have just tossed aside and don't wear any more

Hatbox pocketbook

This is a hatbox, turned pocketbook. It seems as if almost anything can be turned into a pocketbook. I found these cute little hat boxes at of all places the dollar store. What is really fun about this is you can carry it as a drawstring pocketbook or place it on a table with the lid and it is just a decorative box. You could of course store some jewery or some other little treasure in it as well.

Supplies needed for this project are:

small decorative box
a leather punch or an awl ( for punching holes)
Yarn of your choice
a small crochet hook
size I crochet hook


Directions: Remove lid from box and set aside. Take the the bottom of the box and punch your holes around the top about 1/4 of and inch down and apart.

Using the small crochet hook use it to slp stitch your yarn all the way around to beginning and slp st to beginning to join.

Ch 1 sc in first crochet dbl in second . alternate sc then dbl crochet around then slp to beginning ch.

repeat this pattern till desired height as been reached.

chain 4 skip first stitch and dbl in the second. ch1 skip a stitch and dbl cr. continue around till you get back to beginning and join. ( placement for handles )

chain 1 and repeat beginning pattern for 3 rows. finish off and weave ends.

drawstring. make 2 chain desired length for handle.
run your handle through the dbl's you made.

Once handles are through sew ends of cording together.

If you have any questions please post and I will respond.

Felting, do you do it?

Busy day today. I have a great crochet belt to complete. Gonna look great with my gypsy skirts. Then I have some flip flops to do as well as get things up in my EBay store. My Ebay id is crochet18purple. Check it out. My store name is of course A Needle In The Haystack. I also have some listings on Blu Jay as well and even on the Lion Brand Yarn Boutique.
http://www.blujay.com/purpleknitster

Well they sent Elliott home. He is a great singer and I believe that he will go far.

I will be back in a while. I guess I really need to get busy.

Well I finally got some EBay auctions up. yey. It took me over an hour just to edit my pics. Not to mention all the cleaning I have been doing today. I have even managed to work on my belt some. I hope to have it finished tonight and I can post a picture tomorrow.

The pocketbooks above were knitted with wool and novelty yarn. Then felted. They were alot bigger before they hit the hot water. But I just love how the stitches blend together. I also did the same process with bracelets. When they dry you can emblish them with novelty yarns or beads.

By the way. My EBay store is A needle in the haystack too and my id is crochet18purple
Check it out.

Tuesday May 2006 What to do today

Well first thing is post in my blog. I have some projects to work on and some that I need to finish. I have started learning hairpin lace. No pictures for that yet. I am presently working on a ribbon belt. It is being crocheted. I will post a pic when finished. I have done some of the barefoot sandals. They are fun to knit and the yarns you can choose from are so unlimited.

It's funny because if you are a knitter or a crocheter you probally just like me come up with your own designs and patterns at times. I know that a couple of years ago I did what I called a bracelet pocketbook. Now you can find them all over the place. I mean hey they are great for a cell phone and other small items if you don't want to carry a big purse. And I don't know about you but pocketbooks seem to be the most popular thing to knit or crochet. All you need is some yarn and a little creativity.


One more thing before I forget Don't forget to Vote for Taylor Hicks.

Mothers Day 2006

First of all Happy Mother's day to all. The day started off kinda rocky. Our kitty Buttercup was hit by a car and died today. It was an awlful feeling. It really bugs me that people drive so stupid and don't obey traffic laws. We live in an residential area that has a sign posted "children at play" speed limit 25 mph and yet people fly up and down this dead end streat. That concerns me with summer vacation coming soon. I know there will be a lot of kids out playing including 2 of my grandson's.

Then my sister informs me this morning that they are going to be going to South Dakota and don't know for how long. They may even move up there or should I say out there. We live in Central N C so that is quite far. I am really hopeing that she changes her mind.

And now the storms are hitting. Lot's of hail. We are under a tornado watch till 8:00 tonight.


Now back to what I really enjoy knitting and crocheting. I think after today I am ready to set down and pick up the knitting needles and try and relax. I am making barefoot sandals. among other things.

Well this is all for now except one more thing. Vote Vote Vote for Taylor Hicks

Recycling 101

Having a new grandbaby there are lots and lots of formula cans. What to do with them. Being a crafter you know most items have a purpose. I decided a drawstring pocketbook would be fun to try. Here are 2 that I am working on that are done out of these cans.

It is still cloudy here and damp. He is asleep right now so I figured it would be a great time to post.
Have a great day
Debbie