Little Enchantments

Bobble scarf!

I am very pleased with myself today. I not only lost 2 pounds, I finally found a way to do something with a pretty treasure I found.

I am a sucker for these tiny pretties that weave their enchantments around my fingers, my eyes, my sense of joy. I have pieces of fabric that are over 20 years old that I bought just because I liked them. I can't sew. I just like fabrics. I have buttons and bows and frogs (decorative button-things) that do nothing but exist for me to look at and touch. I have to stay out of fabric stores or be on my mission with self control at the helm to avoid adding to this almost useless collection.

Now that I have entered the "fabric arts" so to speak, I thought I'd try to use one of my treasures if I could.

This is a scarf made with a warm pinky-beige fun fur and trimmed with a bobble trim that I think was meant for curtains. I found it in the drapes/curtains/upholstery clearance section at Hobby Lobby and fell in love with the colors and the feel. The bobbles are plushy, the ribbon has satin stitches and rougher fabric and is just fun to touch.

I had been working on the scarf without any particular end goal in mind, I just wanted to do something with the color and keep up the habit of crocheting nightly. The more the scarf shaped, the more I thought -" wish I could find a way to add that bobble trim!"

After a lot of consideration I convinced myself that if it didn't look right I could probably remove it without runing the scarf.

So I threaded a quilting needle with some hamoniously colored strands of embriodery thread, trimmed the bobble line to meet the scarf's dimensions and went to work.

I sewed the trim to the front and back of both ends of the scarf and then sewed the open ends of trim closed to make it neat. BTW, this is the limit to my sewing abilities. Like I said, can't sew!

I am pretty sure the goddess of handicrafts (Isn't that Athena?) was just indulging me with this success in making something using one of my little enchantments!

What do YOU think? Does random stuff call your name? Do your hands reach for interesting looking stones, sticks, bits of glass?

Full Steam Ahead

For years I have gotten Garden Fever when the first warm wind of spring blew my hair into my face.
What I kept forgetting was that was a bit late for some of the gardening plans I had. This year is different. THIS year, I thought about spring here in January so I can start my garden prep over time instead of in one expensive rush.
I bought a tiny seedling green house and some lavender seeds and started them last night. They will germinate and end up in larger pots in about a month - and I will buy those larger parts in a few weeks.
I don't own those pots yet, or the next round of seeds or peats pellets to start them in, but only because of the application of exteme restraint on my impulse to Get It All Now.
This is an impulse I have battled for as long as I have had my own money to invest in a project.
I pick up hobbies and then buy more supplies than I need to execute any planned projects. I have jewelry fittings, loose stones and magazines that I haven't touched in a year. I have yarn called "Fun Fur" with which to make scarves in a multitude of colors and haven't picked up a crochet needle in six months. I still have a yoga mat, yoga block and yoga mat spray (not to mention yoga clothes) I bought for a class that I attended twice.
Those examples are just the tip of the iceberg. I almost think that my purchases are the curse that ends my interest in these hobbies.
Luckily (or unluckily, depending on your view), Christmas ate me up financially and I have to be cautious until some card balances come down before I fling myself into a frenzy of propagation supplies purchasing.
Maybe I'll actually remain interested in this project long enough to get my French Mimosa tree started:)