Let us put by some hour of every day for holy things...

I will not doubt, though all my ships at sea
Come drifting home with broken masts and sails.
I will believe the Hand which never fails,
From seeming evil, worketh good for me.
And though I weep because those sails are tattered,
Still will I cry, while my best hopes lie shattered:
I trust in Thee.
--Ann Kimmel

Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines, the labor of the olive shall fail and the fields shall yield no meat, the flock shall be cut off from the fold and there shall be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. Habakkuk 3:17-18

Monday, February 18, 2013

Knit-Along Update

Hi, everyone,

I thought I'd give a quick update on my (slow!) progress on the Laela Scarf I'm knitting as part of the Craftsy February Mystery Knit-Along class. I ended up unraveling my first effort, casting on again, and starting afresh after all, despite my brave talk about ignoring the errors. I'm glad I did. This time all is going much more smoothly and methodically and I'm confident about those "wrap and turn" stitches. So far I'm just in the garter stitch section, but I'm finding it relaxing. It's funny, I usually think of garter stitch as looking rather amateurish, but at this gauge, and with this fine a yarn, it's really a pleasing texture and appearance. Of course, the scary lace part is yet to come, but I'll face that when I get to it.
 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 
It's been a crazy Etsy weekend! I don't know whether it's the 3-day weekend, payday, or tax refunds that are fueling it, but I've had more orders coming in all at once than ever before. I spent the better part of the day getting them boxed and ready to ship. I have a gargantuan pile of packages ready to haul to the post office tomorrow, plus another pending order, and an inquiry regarding 135 wedding favor bags. Finally at about 2 p.m. I staggered back to my room to read a few pages of my latest Inspector Alleyn mystery before falling asleep with my little dogs for toasty-warm company. So much for today's "to do" list!

I thought I'd share photos of a couple of other goodies I acquired at the flea market on Friday, just for fun. Of course, the big Kahuna of the day was the Little Miss Revlon doll and the bag of clothes, but I came home with a few lesser treasures as well:


  
This little pottery black cat head is, I believe, what's known as "redware". I assume it was the lid of a small jar. I just think it's cool as it is, whether I ever come up with a jar for it or not. I have a couple of other pieces of redware already:

The small cat is a salt shaker, and the large one is a fascinating incense burner and/or ashtray affair. There's a hole in his back, and when a lighted incense cone is inside, he puffs out smoke through his little "o" of a mouth. Very fun. Very kitsch. 

The other little item I toted home from the sale was a rubber squeak toy. My daughter had the same one when she was a baby, so I think I can accurately date this one to the 1980s:

I love that this lamb's colors are still so bright and fresh, and his "wool" is snowy-white. He has a small bit of damage to the back of one ear (the imprint of a tiny set of teeth!) but he still squeaks happily and will be a nice addition to Peppy's shop. My friend Vanessa would probably be able to tell me more about the manufacturer of this piece, but I can only make out faint lettering which (I think) reads "STAHLWOOD TOY" and "Taiwan".

Well, I need to finish making dinner, so I'll sign off. I do have exciting photos to share with you in the next post from a new Etsy acquaintance and her glorious collection of Pyrex and Fire King glassware...  SO fabulous! 


 

1 comment :

  1. You sound like you are really busy!!
    Love the new finds!
    The little squeaky clock I bought awhile back is made by the same company as your lamb
    Stahlwood.

    If you ever get anything made by Dreamland creations let me know
    Im on the hunt for a rare squeak toy its a little girl dressed like a bunny and I think it comes in pink/blue/white.

    Im trying to look up info about stahlwood and Im not finding anything ..just other people looking for info aswell.

    ReplyDelete