Hi folks,
The colors in this cowl say “fall” to me. They also say “candy” to me. This is the Caramel Royal Cowl:
I got this yarn on a trip to Columbia, Mo earlier this year. It is luscious and wonderful. The colors in it remind me of those Brach’s Pick-a-Mix Milk Maid Royal candies. I see the caramel color here, as well as the brown, orange, pink, of the chocolate, orange, and raspberry flavors.
See more photos and purchase this cowl on Etsy.
Until next time,
Annie
Hi folks,
I have a new cowl to share with you today. This is Colorful Shells:
I used the same brightly colored wool/acrylic blend for this cowl as I did for the Don’t Overthink It (Overthought) Scarf. For this piece, I used a shell stitch, which makes for nice little fans of color throughout the cowl.
See more photos or purchase on Etsy.
Until next time,
Annie
Hi folks,
As I type this, there is a wonderful man cleaning the gross leftover flood dirt out of our basement. We are almost done with the flood saga. Yay!
Today’s scarf goes back to a beautiful day in November of 2015, when Mike and I and 800,000 other folks gathered in downtown Kansas City to cheer our returning World Champion Kansas City Royals. It was an amazing day. I still kind of can’t believe we were there, since Mike and I are not really “go where the crowd is” kind of people, so when we decided to go, I knew that it was going to be a huge event.
Mike’s office was on the parade route, so I went into work with him early that Tuesday so we could park in the parking garage of his building. A lot if his co-workers brought their families with them for the event, so there wasn’t a whole lot of work getting done. There was mostly a lot of talking, introducing, and trips to the window to see how many people were accumulating outside (“a ton” was always the answer, and always correct).
While we waited for the parade to begin, I took to crocheting:
I didn’t get much more done that this, which was for the best because I pulled it out and decided to go with a different stitch.
We waited a bit too long to head down to the parade route from the office, so our early arrival didn’t equal good viewing. This is what I saw for most of the parade:
I could wiggle around a little and make out a few things. I saw the trophy (sort of), I got to squeal with delight when I saw a bit of Salvador Perez (he’s my favorite), and I saw General Manager Dayton Moore very clearly. Despite my shortness and lack of ability to see, it was still a completely awesome experience.
Then it took us like an hour just to get out of the parking garage.
Despite frogging the initial stitches I made on this one while waiting for the parade, I still associate this piece with that day. Here is the finished scarf. This is Parade Day:
Hi folks,
I really love this shawl! Like really love it. This is I Hope Shirley Approves:
Who is Shirley you ask? Well, I don’t know Shirley. She appears to be the mother of Stephanie, who is the yarn dyer behind The Hen House in Texas. I picked up this yarn at the Overland Park Quilt Show last year, where The Hen House was selling their wares (they had a huge booth with tons of yarn, patterns, kits, and quilting things, too). My favorite was this multi-colored yarn, sort of a muted rainbow of colors, called “Shirley’s Favorite.” Knowing this was Shirley’s favorite put the pressure on to make something nice—I always want to do the yarn justice when I make pieces, but this time, it was serious.
I created a granny shawl with the yarn because I love granny shawls and the skein had enough yards to make a good sized one. This piece is 54 inches across from tip to tip, which means you can wear it over your shoulders or around your neck bandana-style. I added a little picot edging down the sides of the triangle to finish off the piece.
And since this is Shirley’s favorite yarn, I thought I would keep her in the name of the shawl. I hope she would approve.
See more photos or purchase in my Etsy shop.
Until next time,
Annie
Hi folks,
Like the scarf I shared with you yesterday, this piece goes back about a year, too, though it has been complete for quite a while now. It fell through the cracks in getting posted, and then it fell through the cracks in getting blogged about. This is the neglected Cherry Cola Scarf:
I dyed this yarn using Wilton’s Color Right food dyes. I like using the Color Right dyes because they can be released from the bottle by the drop, so I can get some fairly exact colors without messy measuring, and they are food safe, so I don’t have to put on my mask, or worry about contaminating pots and pans or spoons or tongs or whatever when I use them.
You can see more pictures and purchase this scarf in my Etsy scarf.
Until next time,
Annie
Hi folks,
Almost a year ago, I shared a work in progress with you called Don’t Overthink It. It featured a gorgeous yarn and I thought keeping the stitching simple was the best way to show off that yarn.
Then I thought about it again. I might have even overthought it. I frogged my stitches and started again with a cluster stitch. I like the added texture this stitch brought to the piece, and I still loved the yarn. I finished out the scarf in this stitch to create the Don’t Overthink It (Overthought) Scarf:
You can see more pictures and purchase this scarf on Etsy.
Until next time,
Annie
Hi folks,
In doing all of flood clean up, I’ve come across a bunch of yarn to dye, but we are still living in chaos house, and introducing a bunch of wet yarn and dye to the mix seems like a bad idea. Soon, soon. For now, I am satisfied with showing you some yarn I dyed previously. This is the Vineyard Under a Clear Blue Sky Handmade Infinity Scarf:
I used the “broken” dyeing process on this one, much like my Squid Ink Wrap. This time, I used one of Wilton’s blue-ishcolors (I don’t remember which one—I really need to keep better notes). The reds separated out and left these purple areas that remind me of grapes.
You can see more pictures and purchase this infinity scarf on Etsy.
Until next time,
Annie
Hi folks,
How are things going for you today? Things are pretty good here in Kansas City. I hit up Jo-Ann today because I had coupons. When I got there, I discovered almost all of the yarn was on sale AND there were some pretty sweet clearance yarns, too. Woo-hoo! The cinnamon scented pine cones are also out at Jo-Ann, which means fall is almost here.
After Jo-Ann, I went to the grocery store. As I was walking in the store, a little girl popped out of a car and said, “I look beautiful in this dress!” She was wearing some kind of princess dress, with little princess shoes that she could barely walk in, but man, did she have confidence. I loved it!
Now I am home, posting this new piece. I don’t believe I have shown you all a poncho before, so here it is, the Punch of Purple Poncho:
You can see more pictures and purchase this poncho on Etsy.
Until next time,
Annie
Hi folks,
I have a new hand dyed piece to share with you today. This is the Maroon & Gray Neck Warmer:
I used Wilton icing coloring for this one. When applied to dry yarn, the individual colors in the premixed maroon paste color bind to the yarn at different speeds, so the color breaks into its components—a pinky red with a bit of black are most visible here.
By contrast, if the yarn is wet when the color is applied, there is a more mottled, all over color to the yarn. You can see that on my Strumming Teal Scarf.
See more photos and purchase here. If you click through, you’ll notice that this piece is posted on Etsy. I’m trying to spread my work out a little to get it in front of more people, so I have posted about half of my handmade pieces on Etsy. I made a pretty simple rule for what would be for sale on Etsy and what would be for sale on Webster Fiber Arts: if the piece connects into an “O” shape, it goes on Etsy; if the piece has tails, it goes on Webster Fiber Arts. Basically, cowls and infinity scarves are on Etsy and scarves and shawls are on Webster Fiber Arts. There’s still a page for everything on this site, so if you’ve pinned or bookmarked a piece, the link should still work!
Until next time,
Annie
Webster Fiber Arts 