Now, here are some cutie-cute-cuties. My friend April has been busy devloping the pattern for these rabbits and their clothes. She spun yarn, dyed it and knit away. I’m so excited that she found something so fun to do that she is so good at!

Here’s a detail of my favorite. I wish I could remember her name. She’s knit out of handspun angora/lambswool and feels heavenly soft and snuggly. She’s got a hooded sweater and her ears fit through the hood, I just love it!

If anyone wants the book she made of the pattern just e-mail me (jessica at seedpodbooksandart dot com). It’s well worth the $8!

Remember the felt I made with my kids? Here it is in book form.

This book makes me smile. Why, you ask? Because the cutest ladies in the entire universe bought it. I guess the Smuckers sisters are a bit of a legend in mid-Ohio. They are little Mennonite ladies that are older than dirt (late 80s, early 90s) and cuter than anything else I can imagine. They wandered around the show with their cute bonnets and rain coats, their skinny little ankles showing under their hand made dresses. Their backs were a little hunched, their eyes twinkled. They stopped at my booth and oohed and ahhed over my books. “We make books, you know,” one of them said to me. They loved the button on this one, inspected the paper, told me how they write poems, and keep journals and how you just can’t get by in life without a sister. I’ll never forget them, but I wish I had taken a picture of them!

Today was the Mid-Ohio Fiber Gathering in DeGraff, Ohio. April and I were packed up and on the road around 7:30. It started out cold and rainy, then became cold and snowy… and we stayed cold the whole day long. Ohio cold is different than Idaho or Utah or New Mexico cold. This cold soaks into your skin and settles in your bones and stays there. It is damp and clammy and bitter.

But enough with the cold (even though I am bitter with this trick Mother Nature has subjected us to after a couple of weeks of short wearing- playing outside weather). We had fun. I had my usual “Learn to Spin” drop spindle kits and Niddy-Noddy-Nostepinnes. Even more exciting for me were my felt books.

Barry just updated my WordPress and now I can’t figure out how to post images. I’m pretty bummed out about that because I want someone out there to see my cute new books and April’s awesome knit bunnies. But, alas, Barry is bowling with the Elder’s Quorom tonight. Maybe Monday. Bummer.

First, here’s Super Fluff

What can I say more? Logan’s hair is awesome; especially right after a tubby! And look at those hands. Their huge!! This kid is a monster. He has no fear. Oh, and I must mention, razor sharp claws.

And now for my crowning achievement of the last few weeks. Meet Rupert (or Ruby if it ends up being a girl when I get it dressed).

He’s a “rug bear.” I hooked his body pieces with ramboulet (some kind of sheep) and angora yarn I spun on one of my drop spindles on a linen foundation. He’s fully jointed with glass eyes, regular DMC floss nose and stuffed with poly fill. His paws are made of merino wool felt I made all by myself.

Anyway, I’m super-duper excited about him. I’m working on a little friend, so stay tuned…

Easter Greetings! (a little late)

It’s been awhile since I posted anything. I’ve been making things and working on my living room (which will be finished by Wednesday!!!) and living life as usual, just not writing anything about it here. It’s an easy habbit to get out of.

Jonah had an ear infection last week. On Monday he was crying in pain that his ear hurt, but I couldn’t get him into the doctor until Tuesday. Tuesday morning he said everything felt better, but the outside of his ear was full of gross crusty gunk. The doctor looked in his ear and could barely stick her ear-looker-atter in it–it was so full of wax. She scraped and prodded and pulled out 3 chunks nearly the size of dimes…but there was more!!! The nurse came in to do an “Ear Irrigation,” which means that they squirt water into your ear with a syringe to flush the wax out and soak your clothes while you scream bloody murder. 2 hours later we headed up to the pharmacy with a perscription for antibiotics because they could finally see Jonah’s bulging pussy ear drum. He was a trooper. He sat still through it all and when the doctor was leaving our room at the very end he said, “She was a really smart doctor. She’s really smart. Really, really, really, really, smart.” You see, she gave him a stamp on his hand and that made up for the “Ear Irrigation” she had subjected him to.

Now (completely unrelated) Barry is totally done with school. We are now preparing for visitors. Barry’s family is coming on Friday. We are bracing for what promises to be an exhausting week, but definitely memorable. Many happy memories will be made.

Now (on another note) for some pictures. I would have liked to do this days ago, or even weeks, but the photo software is all on Barry’s computer–yeah, yeah, I’ve already told you that. Anyway, I knit a few toys and sewed a baby gift, so take a look:

Brenna wrote in the card “The bears name is Snowflake.” She’s made of polar fleece and totally baby friendly. Her head can’t pop off.

Here’s a side view:

Now for some more pictures of my first knitted toy. Brenna calls her Woolly, which isn’t the most creative name, but she’s made from handspun angora and stuffed with angora fluff, so it is fitting.

And here’s a little bear Jonah named Gordon. He’s made from 2 oz. of Blue Face Leceister wool–the kind that was included in my last batch of drop spindle kits. I had exactly the right amount of yarn with nothing to spare. I was holding my breath while knitting the last few rows!

His entry today will be much more exciting than mine. We went in the back yard and tried out the kids new sleds. They’re just pieces of foam laminated to slippery plastic and they go fast! It was a beautiful winter day.

Here are some pictures from last week, or I guess the week before last:

(The first picture is bigger because the lighting is so much better. The second one kind of gives you an idea what the finished product looks like.)

“Wooly” is knit with my handspun French Angora yarn and stuffed with clean, but unspinnable angora fluff. She now has a little red scarf and a teddy bear buddy named “Gordon”– I guess pictures for another time.

I’ve had a lot on my mind lately, but just can’t figure out how to write about it. I feel this urgency, need, drive, desire–something like that, I don’t know what word to use–to make art.

“One should not become an artist because he can, but because he must. It is only for those who would be miserable without it.”

That’s a quote from Oliver Stone’s The Agony and the Ecstacy, and it’s been going through my head today. The problem is–I feel the must, but I can’t!!! I can’t draw!! It is overwhelmingly frusterating. I am so out of practice…

Anyway, knitting and spinning just aren’t doing it for me.

My niece’s 1st birthday is next week. The easy, rational thing to do would be to go to a toy store and buy something for her…but I can’t do anything the easy way. I found a teddy bear pattern on the internet, spent hours cutting little pieces and sewing them together. But I must say I love the results!

I was so excited when I figured out how to shape the head and make eye sockets! It looks like a real teddy bear, not just a glorified pillow!

Now, to wrap it up and send it away. I’ll probably never see it again.

I’ll have to make one for myself.

UPDATE:
Jonah had him for 30 seconds and the head popped off.
I bought puzzles.