Okay, so I don't have much to write about today, but I'm in a writing mood...so I thought I'd better seize the opportunity! I crocheted a bunch over the weekend, but I can't talk much about that because Christmas is coming! (It's all hush-hush right now, just in case!)

My darling hubby and I have been gradually decorating the house over the past few weeks. Being from the north, we can't stand the warm Texas autumns, not to mention what they call "winter" down here...so we usually put the Christmas tree and decs up before Thanksgiving. It helps beat the warm winter blues. DH's sister is coming tomorrow, and we are so excited to see her! Maybe she can bring some cold north winds with her! She will be spending 5 days with us, and I'm looking forward to the time we'll have together.

Also, the craft fair is next week...I still have to put the finishing touches on a couple of things, and then I will be ready! I am really looking forward to it this year, and I hope that alot of my new creations will sell. I put alot more time, money and creative juices into things this year. Here's hoping it will all pay off!

Well, I suppose I should go do something productive now. (Ugh) Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Being home from work for a sick day can actually be more profitable than I thought! Not only did I get some much needed rest, but I crocheted up a storm! Here are some picks of the things I made yesterday! The first is a little pocketbook made out of a simple rectangle sewn together after felting with my first felted flowers attached as decorations. It's even cuter in real life! (I still have to attatch one of those little magnetic snaps, but then it will be ready for sale!)
Here's an accomplishment that made me really proud... I came up with the idea for this little evening bag completely on my own. I was curious about how a round bag would shrink up during the felting process, and it turned out just as I had hoped (with just one 14 minute cycle, too!) I also hadn't tried making designs in the felt before, so adding the baubles was a bit of an adventure. The drawstring also worked out rather well, especially since I was just making everything up as I went along. I may try to write down a basic pattern/schematics for this little cutie...but we'll see if I can remember what on earth I did!
Last of all are these cute little...umm...well, they were supposed to be flowers, but they look more like some sea creatures I saw on tv once! They were all based on patterns I found for felted flowers, though I changed a few little details. I don't think I'll be using those patterns again! Oh well...anybody interested in some goofy looking sea creatures? Anyone at all? :o)

Fooling with Felting,
Cocoa

Woohoo! I have successfully switched to blogger beta! (At least it appears to be working!) We'll see how to goes as I have more time to play with my blog in the coming weeks.

I'm home from church sick today...the first time that has happened in I don't know how long! I feel really bad about missing today, too, because I was supposed to be teaching the final lesson on worship in my women's Sunday School class. I was really looking forward to this lesson...I guess I'll be looking forward to it for one more week! But maybe this is God's way of telling me to slow down and get some much needed rest and time alone with Him.

I must have been sick yesterday, too, because I didn't feel good enough to get off the couch and do anything around the house. Instead, I crocheted all day, which was kinda fun for a change! I created an entire shawl with no pattern for the craft fair. It turned out nicely, in spite of the fact that it was my first experiment with freeforming anything. I actually started out with the shells first, but I decided I wanted them to be the edging instead of main body of the shawl. So, I turned it around and started just playing with different stitches until I had a pattern the width I liked. I was somewhat inspired by the Half Moon Shawl Lion Brand used to advertise this yarn (Romance), but I wanted it to be my own design...so this is what I came up with! I'm calling it "Moonlight Sonata"....but don't ask me why! :o)

Well, I haven't been doing too much on the crochet front lately...just dabbling with a square here and a square there, between looking at lots of patterns and trying to decide what to make for Christmas this year.

But I did finally finish this little LB Fun Fur/Incredible purse today. I've had it sitting in my crochet drawer for an entire year, and I finally got around to attatching the handle and ribbons (tied in a bow to "close" the purse). I made this thing last year for the art show, but didn't quite get it finished in time. So it stayed in the drawer, waiting patiently for me to finish it so it could be what it was meant to be! In case anybody is interested, I used a pattern from the Michaels website, but I modified the pattern a bit because I didn't like the handles. It should make a cute little girl's purse, I think!

Now I'm off to make my Christmas gift list! And I might start working on a little girl's winter set today. I love Saturdays!

TTFN!
Cocoa