Tag: scissors keeper

No Wings Yet

Last week I showed you the tree-topper angel I have been working on. I didn’t think it was quite done but was looking good. I’ve worked on it a bit since, though it still has no wings.

Tree-topper angel without wings on wandasknottythoughts
Tree-topper angel without wings

I added the Jasper snowflake to the front of the skirt, which I think made it look much better. I had been thinking of something different for it, but I had a snowflake that needed a home due to an oopsy on my part.

Jasper snowflake with a problem on wandasknottythoughts
Jasper snowflake with a problem

Notice the one arm that is different than the others? That is the third arm I made and didn’t notice the mistake until I was done with the last arm. I went ahead and hid the ends and figured I’d hang it on my tree. And then the light came on with a solution to the problem. You can’t even see there is a problem with it once it was attached.

What I didn’t show in the previous post was how I made the head, which is a wine cork.

Tree topper angel cork head on wandasknottythoughts
Tree topper angel cork head

I had the body figured out easily but had been stuck about the head. What is something I had on hand that was the right dimension? I thought of buttons and beads but nothing I had looked right. Then I thought of a wine cork. I cut the back off, the part that fits in the bottleneck, cut a circle of felt, and added a bit of tatting. The tatting is stitched to the felt and the felt is attached to the cork with a thumbtack. That was all great, but I wasn’t sure how to attach that to the angel. My solution is a toothpick. The body is sturdy enough it works.

That looked good from the front, but a little bulky from the side. I did a bit of re-thinking and decided to make the head a bit thinner.

Tree-top angel with modified head on wandasknottythoughts
Tree-top angel with modified head

I’m much happier with this. It looks good on the tree.

2021 Christmas tree on wandasknottythoughts
Our Christmas tree

I did get enough Jasper snowflakes done to give to my family with the Christmas cards this year, but just barely. I keep getting distracted by other things, including trying to come up with wings for the tree-topper. I also made a scissors keeper for my sister. Which I forgot to take a picture of – she had to send me one.

Scissors keeper on wandasknottythoughts
Scissors keeper

I have made several keepers for myself and she liked the idea. This one is made in Lizbeth #122 ‘Caribbean’ in size 10. She embroiders a lot and likes that you can use the scissors without taking them off and without losing them. These scissors have a sheath that covers the points so you don’t get stabbed while wearing them.

We had our last-of-the-season family get-togethers at our house this last weekend. After cleaning up after that I can now relax and enjoy my clean, decorated house for the rest of the holidays. And remember the reason for the season.

Merry Christmas to all!

Joy to the World

Joy to The world! the Lord is come
Let earth receive her King
Let ev’ry heart prepare him room
And heaven and nature sing
And heaven and nature sing
And heaven and nature sing

Joy to the world! the Savior reigns
Let men their songs employ
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy
Repeat the sounding joy
Repeat the sounding joy

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.

He rules the world with truth and grace
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness
And wonders of His love
And wonders of His love
And wonder wonders of His love

Another Keeper

Scissors keeper in Lizbeth #142 Turquoise Twist in size 20
I’m rather pleased how these came out.  More pleased with the scissors fob than the badge reel motif, but happy with both on the whole.  
You might remember that last week I was working with purple LBH size 40 thread.  I had the keeper made and was working on a fob for the scissors.  Wellllll, I’m not sure if it was because the thread was old or because I’m so used to working with size 20 thread, but the thread kept breaking.  It was getting so frustrating that I had to move on to a different thread.  Turquoise Twist wasn’t it. 
I had chosen Caribbean thread in size 20 and some pretty beads in those shades that would have looked really nice.  I was over at my sister’s house and showing her the thread I was going to use – and left it there.  So instead of going back to get it right away I just chose another thread. 
I liked the fob enough that I made one for my crochet hook as well.  I got all the way around to the last chain to finish it off and found that I had made a mistake almost at the beginning.  It looks strange, it can’t be fixed. I think I’ll finish it and and use it like it is until I make another one.  
This isn’t the first fob pattern I tried.  I didn’t really like the first try – parts I liked, but I didn’t like the end result.  So I tried again. 
, 
First fob try in FBH size 40 thread. It’s almost the same color as Lizbeth #633 Dark Purple.  The motif was the start of the motif I used in the Turquoise Twist, but the purple kept breaking.  I think that might have been a good thing, because I do like my second try better, much better.
The original keeper?  I’m using it for my badge at work. ☺
Today for Tatting Tea Tuesday I had a cup of Vanilla Rooibos with a bit of Wild Berry Zinger added. It was pretty good.  I’ll definitely be drinking hot tea tomorrow.  It was 65° F Sunday and tomorrow we are supposed to get several inches of snow and maybe sleet and ice, too.  Oh, joy. 
“A little snowflake falls from the sky
Like a new kid moves to a new junior high
Different and unique like everyone else
Who will notice except for itself?
No one will watch, no one will see
How amazing and unique this thing may be
So next time it snows just look down
And watch to see what can be found”
A. Phinney – 8th Grade
http://www.ux1.eiu.edu/~cxtdm/met/snow/snow_quotes.html

Scissors Keeper

What, no hearts?
This last week I have indeed made more heart earrings, both for my self and family and friends, but other than a color change they are pretty much the same, so no pictures. 
What I have spent the most time on is a scissors keeper.  Lately I put something down and I loose it, just that fast.  My mind is obviously not paying much attention to these details.  Which means I put my scissors down and then spend 10 minutes looking for them.  Same goes for my crochet hook, the pen I was writing with, the bill I was paying – you get the picture. (I wish I could loose the dirty dishes as easily).  So I have been putting my scissors on a badge reel with a retractable cable.
I got these from Discount Embroidery Blanks but I know they are available other places. On this site they show them with a button or other decoration in the center, but up until now I’ve left mine naked.  
The plan was to make this layered, to raise up the center a bit because of the indented center.  Things did not go quite as hoped.  Instead of joining two layers together one is glued on top of the other.  Sometimes my ideas don’t work out quite as hoped.  But it I think it still looks pretty good. The thread is LBH size 40 but I can’t find the color number anywhere on it.  
Now I’d like to make a cable for the scissors in the same color.  It’s taking a little longer as I haven’t liked what I’ve done so far. I was hoping I’d have time today to work on it but it’s looking less likely as the day goes on. 
Today is International Pancake Day, which is always on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday.  I wrote about the race between women of Liberal Kansas and Olney, England here.  The women in Liberal have to deal with about an inch of snow this year.  The city cleaned the streets up for the race, but will it be enough to beat the women of Olney?  I know the race in Liberal is over but haven’t heard which town won.  I planned on pancakes today in honor of the day but ended up making biscuits instead (I was in the middle of writing this post!).
One more thing before I go today – the 2013 TIAS is done. Jane did a wonderful job this year keeping most people guessing for more than half of it.  The end result was a cute baby buggy (pram, carriage).  
Thanks, Jane, for another fun pattern. 
“Any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts.” 
Arnold Bennett
brainyquotes.com