My Garden Transformation

When I was younger I begged my parents to let me have a flower garden all for my own. Long story short, it went to heck after the first year. For one thing, I wasn't taking care of the garden at all after the first year. For another thing, I had a friend give me some plants from her garden. one of those plants is called Leafy spurge.

This is what it looks like

 This is what it can do.

So if you ever see it in your garden, remember this motto: PURGE THE SPURGE!

Of course when I planted it in my garden I had no idea it is one of the most noxious weeds in the country.

After about 3 years of not working on it at all, I decided that I needed to start completely over. Rather than try and weed out all the individual plants, I needed to rip everything out and start afresh. So I did.

Knitted Drawstring Pouch Pattern

It's nice to have big bags for things, but sometimes it's nice to have littler bags, too. 

Here's a pattern for a quick and easy drawstring bag to hold those little things. It's worked from the top down in a very easy-to-pick-up lace pattern; and most of it's on some pretty big needles, so you'll just fly through it, trust me. I use my bag as a fabric scrap bag!

Materials

Size 7 and size 10 16" circular needles

Blunt tapestry needle for finishing

1 ball Lily Sugar n' Cream 100% cotton yarn (or any worsted weight yarn)

A Knitting Horror Story

We're going to do a little something different today. I'm gonna tell you a story!
If you don't knit, however, you might not completely get what I'm talking about, so, ah, WARNING.

Once upon a time I was working on a new hat. It was knitted in the round; I'd spent a good hour or so working on it and I'd finished the brim and started the body. I was so excited, it had a lovely stitch pattern motif, and I was really enjoying working it.
I'm going to step back quick here, and say this: You know where you're reading a pattern for something in the round and they say "Join, taking care not to twist sts on needle"? Today I had read that and said,
"Psh. Let's get on with it."
I'd knitted about 2 inches of this thing and I realize, huh, this looks a little off.

So I investigated a little more and realized that the flippin' thing was flippin' twisted.

My First Craft Show!

Hey everyone!
This past Saturday I had the amazing opportunity to sell at the Crosby Heritage Days Festival's fine art and craft show. It was a blast! I got to meet new people, make some money, and all in all have a great learning experience.

I think my booth really reflected my brand, which is definitely what I was going for. Clean, classic, easy-on-the-eyes. I had nice white tablecloths, signs and stands, but the products themselves provided color, as well as the vases of fresh flowers everywhere.

I was very proud of my ruffle scarf tree.

Sorry random lady setting up next to me, I got you in the picture.

Embroidered Pineapple Tutorial

The Pineapple.

This sunny summer fruit has taken the world by storm this season. Not only fashion, but art has been affected by this delicious yellow trend, so why not jump on the bandwagon? Today I'm going to show you how to embroider this beauty:

The stem stitch outlined pineapple. This one would look great on a tea towel, in fact that's what I made this one for. You can buy it here!

Wheat Chaff Wrap knitting pattern

Halloo, everybody!
If you're like me, you've been waiting for what seems like forever for sweater season to be over. As soon as the temperatures start to get above 50* upon occasion, you're hauling out the tee shirts and sundresses. For me, the first spring dress comes out Easter Sunday and then they stay out.
However, no matter how much we want it to be warm it's still going to be cold. If we're to be honest with ourselves, 50* is not warm enough to go out in a strap-sleeve dress without some sort of protection from the frigid temperatures. As an easy and fashionable solution is a lacy wrap; therefore, I give you:
The Wheat Chaff Wrap!

Still trying to figure out how to have a pleasant smile for the camera.

It's knitted with a simple lace pattern on huge needles, and is a great beginner lace project!

The wrap is very light (yet surprisingly warm) and thin, so it can also be used as a scarf!

Spring Fever

Hello all!
Following is an important article describing the common ailment known as Spring Fever, its symptoms, treatment, etc. (I may add some pictures in eventually but I can't find my camera)

(Note: If you haven't much of an appetite for a page or two of yammering, you can wait until I post something more worth your precious time, you stick in the mud.)

Spring fever, that miserable disease that plagues everyone living north of Oklahoma at some time or another, is upon us.
A simple description of the ailment is this:
Spring Fever (Not to be confused with Fruhjahrsmudigkeit or Spring tiredness), also known as Summer Fever, Cabin Fever, etc., is a non-contagious illness that can and will strike at every man, woman and child who ever lives through any sort of snow or cold weather. It is often considered a more common and less severe case of seasonal affective disorder (SAD)

Free knitting pattern: Garter Stitch Hat for 18", American Girl Doll

Hey all!
Recently I've finally gotten around to knitting up some 18" doll clothes. My most recent pattern is a simple garter stitch and eyelet hat, so I thought I'd share it with you.

Although this pattern is written for knitting in the round or on 4 double-pointed needles, there is a note at the bottom for how to convert it to flat or two-needle knitting.

Here's the pattern:

Easy Knitted Garter Stitch Doll Hat

By Mary Schaefbauer

Fun Stuff I Made this Holiday Season

I went a little crazy with stuff this Christmas.
I made a lot of presents this year, and I was planning on taking pictures of them but of course I forgot, except for one gift (plus a few other not-gifts). This is the gift I worked the hardest and longest on, and was for a very dear friend of mine who is even more of a Tolkien nerd than I am.

Shiny!

The gift was a hand-written (in fancy Hobbit calligraphy) hand-bound book, whose content was nearly every poem or song from The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring.

DIY: Make a Living Mini Christmas Tree from Pine Branches

Now that February's a-coming and Valentine's Day is on the mind, let's post something about Christmas!
If you don't want a huge tree this coming year or just want a little tree to brighten up an extra corner, this post is for you! Instead of trying to find a tiny tree that isn't really scrawny, arrange some pine branches in a bucket, and with a little trimming you'll have the perfect "tree"!

Of course I didn't get a picture until half of the needles fell off. Oops.

That's what I did this year, and I'll give you a play-by-play of how I did it.
But first, a story!

Back in the Figurative Saddle Again

Hello everybody!
I have decided after way too many months to get back into this blog. Kind of a New Year's resolution of sorts, one could say. Now, I'm not going to try to go back and cover everything that I missed, I'll merely jump back into things like I never left, and try my hardest to keep up and stay on a somewhat regular schedule, but no promises.
I also think that I am going to make this more of a "journal of my life" kinda deal, because I've got a lot more going on than just knitting and farming that I want to share. I'll still stay with my original intentions of crafty and farming stuff, etc., but also add some more fun random stuff because I am a random person. We'll see how it goes.
So hold onto your hot cocoa mugs, because I'm back!

~Mary