Nifty New Tool And An FO

I’ve had it for awhile but I haven’t used it much yet. It’s called a Versa-Tool from these guys. I got it at my local Michael’s store. I thought that I’d had my braiding stool (marudai) that T-Man made me for quite awhile (since 1997!) but he didn’t sign it. So I got out my trusty woodburning tip and wrote his name, the date, and my name on the bottom of my marudai. That was so fun! I want more wood things to burn! Pyrography here I come. Oh-oh. I’m already craft-overwhelmed. Better not go there. I could use this thing to singe the edges of fabric for art quilting. Or to cut out stencils from plastic. Or make embossed designs in velvet. Lots of uses. Long as I don’t singe myself with it that is.

Today I finished my beaded mermaid doll that I started way back at the end of January. Her name is Ulva (sea lettuce). See, she wanted to go for a swim in my water garden but I thought it would mess up her novelty yarn hair. The Great Auk, who lives at the edge of my water garden, gave her a shoulder to lean on while she perused the glass bubbles. Thinking better of her swim (after all, it’s only fresh water) she’s now residing on my desk until I can think of a better way to display her.



Next I’m going to start another beaded art doll, this time with a Celestial theme. I need to make the face and body form and pick out the beads before the May 1 deadline. I’m going for a Moon and this one will be small and completely bead-covered.

Meanwhile, I’m still braiding my ties for the Vogue Knitting top/vest Thingy. I still think the shoulder straps are too long for me, but that’s what I get for following the directions exactly. Might still be wearable though. Maybe. After this I’m going to finish at least one of the current pairs of socks and then start on the sleeveless shell I was originally planning on making. Quick before it gets too hot to wear it. (Wishful thinking, that.) I’m hoping I have enough yarn since there’s no hope of getting any more. Guess I’ll have to swatch some before I start and I plan to do it in the round eliminating unnecessary side seams. Since there’s some increasing going on at the sides, I’ll be using stitch markers to keep my place. More on this later. Writing about it is making me want to start right in. Not good.

What else? Oh yeah, T-Man put this arbour up over the side gate yesterday for the clematis. Hopefully we can convince the Jackmanii (deep violet) on the right to let go of the pieris and lean the other way. The Ville de Lyon (magenta pink) on the left with roots in the geranium is only a year old and much smaller so it shouldn’t be so hard to convince. This is going to look really pretty when it’s grown up more. The arbour will help the gate stay more sturdy too. It tends to wobble. We’re getting closer to planting the greenhouse. There’s Moo Poo in there now and the garden is dug.