4 layers, 1 slacker

My friends on Etsy (do a search for "clevelandteam" and be amazed) have asked some questions about our chickens so here's an update. If you remember, dear reader, we got 6 laying hen chicks last May. One of the "girls" started crowing in July. So...5 girls and one big, beautiful rooster. We started getting eggs in October and, as of the end of the year, we had 3 laying. Now we finally have 4 laying.

Here's a shot of our chicken coop, lovingly designed and made by my husband and my oldest son. My son used the whole project for a Boy Scout merit badge.

Right now the girls are parked in the snow just outside our living room window. From the window, we can check the water and food levels. And, the coop is close enough to a grounded outlet to run a cord out to the heated water trough.

The girls are very cold hardy. My son researched the breeds and the Ameraucana chickens are good ones for cold winters like we get here in Northeast Ohio. Some days we find them in a "chicken dogpile" as my husband calls it. All six of them bundled together against the cold.

Many of their mannerisms are almost human. When something new enters the coop (human, vegetable, new food, etc) they approach it with caution, cocking their heads and checking out the situation. I could sit and watch them all day if it wasn't so damn cold outside.

I highly recommend the backyard chicken experiment. It's been fun for our whole family. And, by spring we should be getting 5 eggs a day! That is, if the slacker ever gets moving...

3rd graders rock!

Usually my recycling tends toward fiber. However, when cleaning out my garage last winter, I came across an entire box of 4-inch white tile. It was left over from building our house on Kelleys Island. My contractor wanted to just put it in the dumpster and I almost did. But, I just couldn't bring myself to pitch all this perfectly good tile. So, I put the box aside and thought about it for a few weeks. I did some Google time looking for projects. I got on some Etsy forums and asked about paints for tile, etc. Someone on there mentioned Pebeo Porcelain paints which become heat-proof once you bake the tiles in the oven. Eureka!!

In my "other" life outside sewing, knitting, and creating, I work with Cub Scouts and love to volunteer in my kids' classrooms. I love coming up with crafts for the kids to make and I REALLY love making those crafts inexpensive or, better yet, free. So, I ordered some cork sheets (definitely not free) and found the Pebeo paints at my local Michael's. The Scouts made trivets for Mother's Day. And, my 3rd grader's class just made these fabulous coasters for Valentine's Day. Watching the kids was an amazing experience. Even the most jaded 9-year-old can still find the time to be super careful and super thoughtful when they know they're making something for mom or dad. It's why I love that age.

I used a Pebeo outliner to make the heart shape ahead of time. It creates a raised edge so painting more neatly is much easier. A major plus for kids.

Happy Valentine's Day from McDowell School! Wait until you see what we're doing for the Valentine's Party craft!!

Featured on Try Handmade

I've spent quite a bit of time looking for blogs that interest me. I follow some that focus on recycled fiber or sewing or wool. But, one of my favorites is Try Handmade. It covers all those topics and many more. Every day I have an e-mail with a new post from Try Handmade. And imagine my delight when today's e-mail from them had an article featuring ME!!

A few weeks ago they convo'd me on Etsy to ask permission. The article is about love and hearts. The choices of items are inspired -- each is totally unique and each demonstrates the point-of-view of the artist. The article is here: http://tryhandmade.com/feel-the-love/

My item featured is one of my recycled cashmere hearts:

I'm really proud of these and am so flattered someone else likes them too!

In the Valentines Spirit!

I love hearts. I have a small collection of them on the windowsill right above my desk. I have paper, fiber, ceramic, glass, and metal hearts. My newest addition is this one:

You all know I deal with a lot of recycled cashmere. And, when I cut the strips for my scarves, I end up with a lot of waste pieces. I just can bear to throw them out. The smallest bits go into a big bag to be used as stuffing or fill. The larger pieces are sorted by color and carefully saved.

Over the holidays I saw some wreaths on various blogs using the rosette technique for this heart. You take a simple circle of fabric (these were 1 1/2 inch in diameter). Fold it in half, fold in half again, and tack it down. I used double thread and two stitches so they're each secured by four threads.

The base fabric is wool plaid from a thrift shop skirt. I make the base, stuff it with my cashmere off cuts, and stitch it closed before adding the rosettes. Finished size is about 5 1/2 by 5 1/2. I could look at the color range and fiber detail all day long. Hope you like it, too.

Cashmere and Wool Fingerless gloves, Part II

Here's two more versions of the fingerless glove. Believe it or not, I think I'm finally out of large pieces of patterned wool sweaters. I sense a thrift store buying trip in my future!

New Year, New Projects!

January and February are usually the most creative months of the year for me. No pressure from the holidays, no baseball season, and lots of cold weather keeping me indoors.

I've been buying old cashmere. Anyone that frequents the thrift shops knows that they put all the sweaters away at the end of January and don't bring them back out until the end of August. So, if you're one to use recycled wool or cashmere, you better have your act together this month!

So, yes, I've been buying old cashmere. My absolute limit in a thrift store is $12 for a sweater. And, it has to be BIG and a great color. Or, ivory is OK since I like to dye things. I've been focusing on blues lately. A lot of my women's scarves in the fall were pastels. I did some in purple and those sold very quickly. I think people may be tired of pastels. So, moving on. Plus, I'm making a gift scarf for a dear friend and she has the bluest eyes you've ever seen.

Along with the scarf-making, I have a new product: fingerless gloves. These are very popular right now. So many people have touch screen phones or need their fingers for texting. Full finger gloves can be a pain.

To make the gloves, I traced my own hand on a piece of card stock. Then, I cut out two pieces (mirror image) in recycled wool and two pieces in recycled cashmere. Stacked them up with the cashmere on the inside and just sewed them all together with the seams on the outside. Simple, yes, but not a finished product.

I loved the cashmere lining and wanted a bit of it to show on the wool side. So, I came up with the idea of making the cashmere longer on the top, the thumb, and the wrist. The width is exactly the same as the wool. Only the parts that will fold over are longer. See the pictures for my actual pattern and the resulting pieces cut out.

Before the final sewing, I had to sew the cashmere fold-over parts. I used a narrow zigzag in a contrasting thread and sewed all three edges. I pinked the cashmere below the stitching. Then, I was ready to sew the final product. Right (wool) sides together, stitch the side and thumb seams, trim very close, and press.

I listed 2 pair of these on Etsy over the weekend and they've both already sold. Now there are 2 other pair listed including this floral pair featured. Before listing, I did a comparison and my price ($22) is quite reasonable, especially for gloves that are cashmere lined. See them on my shop: http://www.ragingwool.etsy.com/ . I'm making a few more pair just to use up some wool that's laying around. Then, onto the blue scarves!!

Tired of the tote

I've been working with recycled sweaters for almost 10 years. When I actually say that out loud, I'm amazed. I've made keychains, coin purses, pillows, blankets, backpacks and totebags from this wonderful material. I've patchworked, appliqued, woven, and every other fiber technique. I learned how to line bags from my friend, Kathy, who's the most accomplished technician and creative force I know. But, I'm tired of the tote.

Here's a photo of my normal tote bag: I've made them in a million different colorways from all black, grey, and ivory to blues and greens to fall colors. I've probably saved over 200 sweaters from landfills. The wonderful friends in my little town in Northeast Ohio have graciously supported my thrift shop fetish and bought these bags for years. but, I'm done.

First, consider the work involved. Each tote requires 40 3-inch squares of recycled wool. Those 40 squares come from about 8-10 different sweaters. Those sweaters have to be sourced (from thrift stores), felted in the washing machine, cut apart, and cut into 3-inch squares. Thank goodness for the rotary cutter! Then, I piece the squares together and sew them with a special stitch so they are secure. Finally, after all of that, I have "fabric" from which to cut my pieces.

My new invention is the messenger bag. I cut the pieces from whole bits of sweater rather than the patchwork. I can have a curved flap on this design. With the patchwork, everything had to be relatively square so you didn't have partial bits. Now, I can use big chunks of sweater and never have to use a quilter's ruler at all. Heaven.

The messenger bag has 5 main pieces: front, back, 2 sides, and a flap. I mix and match depending on what material is available. The pink bag here used a great striped piece, a solid chartreuse, and some cotton quilting fabric that was also used to line the flap and make the straps.

After years of struggling with floppy bags, I have become one with the interfacing. Don't skip this step. Yes, it's a pain and adds cost, but it makes all the difference. I find that interfacing makes the difference between a bag that looks home made and one that looks artsy and cool. Which would you buy?

I have always struggled with straps on my bags. In the beginning (almost 10 years ago) I tried to use old sweaters for the straps but they were stretchy and looked like hell after a few wearings. I've used webbing, but found it boring. So, I sewed ribbon onto the webbing. Looked good, but added a lot in terms of cost. Fabric straps are a good alternative, but they're time consuming. Cutting, interfacing, sewing, turning, etc. But, you got to do what you've got to do. So, the messenger bags have fabric straps. I came up with the idea to use d-rings to secure the straps and still make them adjustable. I'm 5'3" but, happily, most of the world is lucky enough to be a little taller. So, the straps have buttonholes and a button to secure the strap at a "short" and "long" setting. Pretty clever, I think.

The "purple series" of these bags uses a plum/ivory houndstooth for the lining and straps and combines sweaters featuring flower embroidery, lavender ribbing, plum color, and the universal neutral: grey. Ironically, I found two sweaters with the exact pattern (embroidered flowers) but different background colors (blue and grey). Still in the same color family, I was able to make 4 bags in all from 6 different sweaters.

These bags are all available on my website: http://www.ragingwool.etsy.com/ . The price is right: $45. I think they're cool enough for teenagers, but, as the mother of 3 boys, I'm just guessing about that...

For those that enjoy the thrift store hunt and the fun of creating from whatever we happen to be lucky enough to find, the messenger bag is a great new option.