A shiny new toy

I have a new toy. It actually took a little time to get to play with it. The first part arrived, and hubby had assured me that the Dremel he had would work with it. However, it arrived, and the newer style of Dremel didn't fit. We went back to the site, ordered the one that was recommended (well, the least expensive version of it, which was actually less expensive than ordering a new Dremel).

And it works! Where I would easily spend the better part of a movie spinning and cutting enough jump rings for a necklace, I can now watch the opening credits while I spin a few coils, pause the movie, and then spend 5-10 minutes cutting said coils, and weave chainmail for the remainder of the movie! (Most people know that I don't sit and watch anything anymore -- TV is a very expensive, but potentially commercial-free, radio or book on tape.)


Having had plenty of sunshine and heat lately (and then some), between vaulting, yard work and the craft store, I spent the day in front of a window with the breeze, "watching" videos of Knitting Daily TV from the library, and actually making product! I had enough rings spun to make quite a few items, and here are a couple of them.

The first is a simply elegant birdcage and moebius weave with gorgeous purple shell drops. Earrings will follow eventually. The second is a black and copper bracelet which will have a matching necklace, and perhaps earrings.


These won't be in my Etsy shop for a while. I'm building up inventory for a booth at the Penumbra Faire Prelude on August 22. I can't wait!

Squeaking in some projects

I've been spending a huge amount of time recently on Etsy, in the forums, reading everything I can on getting more traffic to my Etsy shop.

Now, because I've been reading everything possible there, I also now have a fan page on Facebook for the studio (Fan me! Fan me now!) and a Twitter profile (heaven help me, follow me there, too).

Why, you ask? All for the glimmer of hope that someone, somewhere will see my work and to buy some of it. Well, all we can do is hope, right? But I really ought to make more time for actually making things people want to buy! But it's all for the fun of it. If it starts being unfun, then it just becomes another job, and all the sparkle will go out of the end result.


And speaking of fun, I have yarn! Yarn I spun myself on a Greensleeves spindle and on one of my own spindles. I've now divided it into 2 piles: Cat Toy Fodder and Potential Somethings. The 2nd pile may become a pair of fingerless gloves, a scarf, or perhaps even some jewelry, but we'll see how that goes once some other urgent projects are out of the way.


3 new pieces have been posted in my Etsy shop, http://horsenround.etsy.com. My favorite is definitely this jade and agate set. Yeah, OK, so green is my favorite color, but it was just so much fun to put together, and in the process of playing, I discovered a few new techniques that will appear later on more pieces!

In other news, I've just learned that the one vaulter from my team (Sky Mountain Vaulters has been doing spectacularly well at the National competition in Kentucky, all 2nd-4th places. Hoping to see some photos from that later this next week.

Happy V-Day to all!

I realize that not everyone celebrates, but as today marks the 6th anniversary of when my poor husband tried to propose while I was still high on painkillers due to a broken hand the previous month and was trying to figure out the TV remote!


Yeah, his story starts with "She stabbed me, so I married her" and all the supporting stories just get better.


So anyway, I promised some jewelry pics, so here they are! The above necklace was done with some pink stones (and of course, I've forgotten the name of them), silver bugle & seed beeds and silver pendant and findings. It's sort of a collar necklace design, made to contour a natural neck. (Which is why it's a little buckled on one side -- because this unnatural neck has no contours!)

This next set is some chainmail jewelry with crystal dangles. The bracelet is probably big enough to be an anklet for most people, but the earrings are nice and dainty.

The next is my favorite so far. The darker stones and the pendant are amethyst, and the lighter stones are called "purple crazy lace." If I had actually purchased the materials for this necklace, I wouldn't have let it stay on display at the store.

In other news, I finished the knitting on yet another bag to be felted, but not enough time to felt it today, so that will have to wait for another day. I also attempted some transfer paper printouts we bought from Office Depot, but it didn't work for the punchneedle, so I need to find more options for creating transfers that can be duplicated.

Ph, and the funky-chunky wooden necklace I had been wearing to work decided to explode when I took it off last night. Glad that didn't happen in the dark in the truck! (Or at the store, in Safeway, at the barn, or outside anywhere else!)

Guess it's time to restring the sucker after all...

Lots of chocolate wishes to all!

It's a bad sign when the cat doesn't trust you with a knife

I haven't cut myself with a knife for over a year. And yet my MIL is convinced that hubby is terrified of me using a knife. She bought me cloth butcher's gloves (the non-commercial kind) because of this supposed fear. Hubby, of course, was nowhere around in order to help me defend myself against the accusation. (I do a lot of defending on my own for 3 months every winter while my MIL is here -- what else can I do when 2 British-Canadians gang up on an American, no matter how non-typical she is?)

Fine. Everything had settled down, and Mum and I were going to have some cheese and crackers for lunch that day. Our male cat Oscar is a lovely, random little boy who feels (and often IS) guilty about a lot of things and will suddenly tear off around the house. I pick up the knife to cut a slice of cheese, an what does Oscar choose to do at that moment? Yup, nails into the carpet, and off goes the grey streak to the other end of the house. What does Mum say?

"It's a bad sign when the cat doesn't trust you with a knife!"

Fortunately, we had a good laugh about it and continued on. Having your MIL living with you for 3 months is not for the faint of heart. This is now the 3rd year of this arrangement (I won't go into the details of why), and we seem to have most of the problems worked out. Granted, I'm running around so much that very little designing is getting done, but when I finally do say that something must be done that isn't on her schedule, I'm allowed time to do it. So it's a matter of putting my foot down at strategic times.

Also in this process, I'm learning how to knit socks! It's using a photocopy Mum has from a 1940s pattern book, and I'm using size 3 needles instead of 2 (because when I was ready to start, I didn't have a set of 2s), so they're a little bigger than they should be, but one sock is done, and the other is ready to have its heel turned. Woohoo!


Oops. Thanks, Zoe. Let's try that again...


Also on the finished project list is a cabled scarf from Big Needle Knitting. This is my first cabled item ever. I've finally figured it out! I've also discovered that I really kinda dislike working on the bigger needles. Go figure!


A couple of fun bits of news. 1) Lulu.com sales continue. (Yay, and thank you, whoever you are!) 2) I'm now on Ravelry! I think there's a sidebar option for that here, so will attempt to add that shortly. Screen name: horsenround.

Well, it's time to go. I'll try not to leave you hanging for another 13 days this time. I have a friend & client coming over to go through web site things this morning. However, before I go, here's a lovely pair of bookmarks from a costumer friend whom I will be visiting tonight...



Aren't they gorgeous???