Art, Craft and Needlework, March, 2014

[Ivy]

I'm crocheting BFF a hanging dishtowel for her 62nd b-day now.

[Nancy]

Knitted two puppets yesterday. I us6ally knit them so I was pleased to do these!

[Ivy]

The red/white variegated Peaches 'n' Creme hanging dishtowel I'm crocheting BFF is called "The Fan Stitch". It's so pretty. I really love how it looks. I might make one for myself and other pals, when I'm done. (Am thinking for b-day and Christmas gifts.)

I have 2 totes full of afghan yarns, for dgd-14-months and dgs-5-years' afghans for Christmas. Once these towels are done, I'll try to crochet a bit each day on the afghans. Even if I only get to do 1/2-hour daily, it'll add up to getting a completed job. A journey and goal begins with a single step. So the yarns are collected with the patterns.

[Harriet]

Fun to hear about Nancy and Ivy learning new knit and crochet stitches/patterns. So right, Nancy, about the joy when skills increase.

Got the rose petals from dfil's casket pressed Wednesday in the World Atlas (lol, rose petals are so big compared to others!). Also on Saturday, a daffodil bloom (taken apart and "cup" unfurled) and different colored (solid purple) crocus, which bloomed oddly late, in a burgundy Reader's Digest book. I keep putting the books with most recently pressed flowers underneath in my pressing stack.

[Ivy]

Harriet, I've seen flower presses, too. They have frames, with bolts and screws, to tighten the pressing process. I know you can purchase them, but I'm sure you could devise your own, too. Are you going to try Tulips or flowering blossoms on trees? We have flowering cherry blossoms on trees, etc... around here. Also, wildflowers are beautiful pressed. Are you doing leaves, too? Those would go nicely with the blossoms, even with stems, if they're not too fullish and round.

Yes, it's fun to learn new stitches. It makes me feel more intelligent and more well-versed in crochet. I enjoy learning new things/stitches.

[Nancy]

I am getting the hang of some knitting/crocheting things I want and need to learn. I made two knit puppets yesterday and got closer to the idea of the ones I had in mind. U tube is helping me understand some things that I have missed from patterns.

[Harriet]

Yes, I pressed some of the blooms from our flowering plum tree in a brown Readers Digest book, too. Don't know how they will do. They have such a rounded bloom base. Their blooms are so fleeting, though, that it's nice to get a few pressed this year. At my parents' house is a flowering cherry tree, so I'll pay attention to that when it blooms. I'll check on it tomorrow. If my memory serves me, those blooms are a little larger than my plum's blooms.

Tiny leaves were my February project, Ivy, so that I could find very small, clean, new ones - from spring weeds, really, but charming as individual leaves.

[Ivy]

The small tiny leaves, even on blooming weeds, sound very pretty. I bet, once summertime comes, or is it late spring, how the small blossoms on Lilacs would be very pretty. Wouldn't they? Also, I don't know if you're located near woods, but they're all around us here. Ferns, especially the young emerging baby ones, look so delicate and fragile, and I think they'd be beautiful, too.

Did you know you can find a recipe for making handmade paper and add pressed leaves and flowers to the paper? That's pretty, too. I think it'd make a beautiful cover to a handmade book or handmade journal for someone. There are books with instructions on how to make your bindings by hand, too. Different ones.

I bet placemats would be pretty with pressed flowers and leaves on them, if you could find a large enough laminator or use a larger one at a printer's business.

[Harriet]

Yes, I need to get back to the spot I saw some ferns and check in case there are small leaves now. I wouldn't take much, in hopes of keeping the plants strong. Our nearby print shop ower won't laminate pressed flowers. Sigh. He doesn't want to chance stray flowers happening to get into the equipment, or flowers being too thick, or having things shift and ruin someone's work. I glanced at home laminators, about $30. Would have to think about that. I'm sure there would be applications for dd15 for school, too. But so far this craft has cost nearly nothing, which has been part of the fun!

[Nancy]

Knitted puppets are coming along I amlesrning hoping to
Watching U-tube for lefties knitting crocheting too.