LACE WRAP, ETC.

For those of you who may have thought that Momma Cat's been idle as of late, you couldn't be farther from the truth!  

In addition to working five days a week, albeit part-time, at JoAnn's, Momma has been very busy keeping her gardens growing.

See the little dragon fly sculpture I got from an art sale?!!  Isn't it great?!

Making this lovely crochet wrap, with lace-weight yarn.

This shawl is narrow, long, and very lightweight

Close-up view

This shawl was made of baby alpaca, and silk hand dyed and spun yarn.  It's so nice to work with!

Making all these baby gifts to send to our niece in Pennsylvania!

Crocheted bear, changing pads, blankets, and burp cloths, all hand made

A cute door sign, Peter Rabbit book, and decorative box

Can you believe all that fit in one box?!

Making all these baby gifts to take to our niece in Woodburn
 

All this, plus one blanket and four more burp cloths fit in one box!

Now she's working on another crochet project.  This one is a DK weight lace shawl.

Partially finished shawl

This shawl is made using Bamboo Pop yarn.  A favorite of Momma Cat's!

What Momma Cat doesn't seem to have much time for is blogging!  I'm sorry that I've been out of it, but I plan to keep on plugging away, one day at a time! That is, as soon as I get back from vacation!!!

- Momma Cat  

THIS + THAT = WOW!!!

Since I work at a fabric store, I'm always seeing fabric that I "just have to have!"  Sometimes I actually have a plan for it before I buy it.  But, only sometimes.

In this particular case, I saw this fabric and immediately thought I could make myself some new bedroom curtains.  The problem was, there wasn't quite enough yardage to do the trick.  But, I bought it anyway and tried, to no avail, to find more fabric online, and in the other stores.  So I just bagged it for awhile.  Eventually I found another fabric I liked and made that into my bedroom curtains.

Well, then the next spring came, and the fabric reappeared on the shelf at work!  So, I bought some more yardage, this time thinking that I would use it in my sewing room.  I started working on the curtains last winter, but I wanted to get my sewing room straightened out and organized first before I finished and hung up curtains.  That seemed only logical to me!  

Recently, I sat myself down and gave myself a serious talking to.  Now, you know you're not an organized individual, I said to me.  So, if you wait until you have your room organized, you will NEVER get to hang up your pretty curtains!  You're right, I said!  Maybe finishing and hanging the curtains will actually make me want to do more cleaning and organizing too I said!

So, I sat down and finished my curtains.  Then I hung up my curtains.  Now my room looks pretty, and disorganized!

So this

Cute fabric

Plus that

 

Trusty Sewing Machine

Equals Wow!

Lovely Curtains

Notice that I'm not showing you the rest of my sewing room?!

Don't put off doing something you like because you're not organized. It'll just make you crazy!  You'll be happier if you finish your project and maybe you'll get inspired to make other changes in the process!

- Momma Cat

ANGELICAT

Okay, I realize that not everyone loves cats and thinks that they're angelic.  But............. when I saw this little cutie, I thought, now that's an Angelicat!  

My co-worker, who shall remain nameless, said that she looked more like a cat that died!  Well, since I totally disagreed, I bought her and brought her home.  She will eventually make it out into our garden.  But since I've worked the last nine days in a row, I haven't really had the time to choose the proper place for her to be.  

I wanted to share her with all of you first.  Meet Angelicat!

Angelicat, sent to watch over Momma Cat's garden

At first, I thought about spray painting Angelicat black, but now I'm thinking that she'd look better just the way she is.  What do you think?

- Momma Cat

READY FOR A MIDNIGHT CAT???

Not a midnight snack!  A Midnight Cat! This particular cat was inspired by my love of black cats, but most importantly my current cat, Midna (so named by Baby Brother Cat).  

Anyway, it's been so much fun making cats from the Bernat Pipsqueak yarn, I wanted to make one in black.  Alas, Bernat Pipsquak does not come in black! So I had to find a substitute.  I chose this black yarn called Beautiful by Purl Essence, which I got at JoAnn Fabrics and Crafts.  It's not quite the same weight as the Pipsqueak, and it's a little fuzzier, so my cat came out smaller and looking quite differently than her predecessors.  But, she's adorable and I love the way she turned out!  

Here's Midnight in all her glory with a sparkly red ribbon, so you can see her at night!  She's got her paw on my iPod, so I think she may be going to listen to some tunes!

Midnight in the daylight

Now. you know how hard it is to photograph black cats.  Midnight was no exception.  She looks a little freaked out in this photo, but I think it was because the camera flash might've frightened her a little bit.

- Momma Cat

SWEET LITTLE DOLL GETS A NEW DRESS!

A year or so ago, Momma Cat found a lovely little doll at a garage sale.  The doll was dressed in a pink and white dress that was way too big for her, and sock with red tennis shoes.  Needless to say, her look needed to be updated.  

A couple of weeks ago, Momma Cat purchased some fabric and went to work.  She ordered the shoes and socks from CR's Crafts, but everything else was made by Momma Cat.

Sweet Girl in her new dress

 So, drop me a line and let me know what you think of her new outfit.  She also doesn't have a name yet.  So, if you have a good one, let me know!

- Momma Cat

MOMMA CAT'S FAVORITE KIND OF HORSE!

Years ago, long before Momma Cat had Baby Cat or Baby Brother Cat, maybe even before she married Daddy Cat, she was on a little car trip with Big Sister Cat, and Brother-in-law Cat.  They were driving through the countryside, and Momma Cat spied a group of horses trotting across some open land.  Momma Cat said, "Oh wow!  There's my favorite kind of horse!"  Big Sister Cat said, "What is your favorite kind of horse?''  Momma Cat replied, "Brown with a black mane and tail!"  

Well, apparently this was not a "kind" of horse, but a color type.  Big Sister Cat had a good laugh at Momma Cat's expense!  This color type is called a Bay, and there are many variations it seems.

This is Momma Cat's favorite "kind of horse"

Recently Momma Cat decided to try making her "favorite kind of horse" out of yarn.  Here he is, he's just a foal, some day he'll be big enough to ride!

He tried sitting on the back of the couch, but he fell over!

Here he is showing off his beautiful mane and tail!

Poor little baby horse doesn't have a name yet, though!  If you can suggest a suitable name for such a fine animal, I would be glad to consider it. 

- Momma Cat

MAKING CATS WITH CAT YARN!

Yes, Cat Yarn!  I'm not making it up!  But, it's not yarn made from cat hair, it's yarn died to look like cat fur!  It's made by Ancient Arts Yarns.  It's 100% Superwash Merino Wool.  This particular yarn is the Calico Cat DK yarn, from the Meow Collection.  So cute!

I got my yarn at Yarntastic Fiber Arts, in Portland. Yarntastic is a little shop over in the Sellwood-Moreland business district.  It's just a couple of doors south of the Moreland Theatre on SE Milwaukie Avenue.

Anyway, this cat yarn is so cute, I decided to make some crocheted cats out of it! There's quite a bit of yardage in one skein (225 yards), so I was able to make both of these cats, and I still have yarn left over!
 

Momma Cat's cats made out of Cat Yarn! Whoa!!!!

These cats will be on display at Yarntastic along with the beautiful Cat Yarn.  So stop by and see them, the Cat Yarn, and all the other beautiful yarn that is for sale there.

While you're there, say hi to Leslie and Dave (the owners), and tell them that Momma Cat sent you!

- Momma  Cat