Bet You Thought Sewing Was All I Did.....

Not really.  I just don't often have time to do my other crafts.  There are some projects I haven't gotten to in years, some that I started but couldn't finish, some that just need a bit more work, and some that I just can't seem to get to no matter what.

And then, there are the if-I-don't-do-something-creative-today-my-head-is-going-to-explode kind of projects.

Have always wanted to try this "yarn" - and I use that term loosely, as it seems more like an amalgam of ribbon & mesh:

My mother was the one that turned me onto this particular yarn (Sashay, by Red Heart).  She worked with it when it first came out, and has made somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 or so scarves for friends and family members.  I happened to run across it at Joann's Fabrics one day, and thought - hey! - I have a 40% off coupon, and it would only take a couple of dollars to see if I could work with this stuff.  Mom had a lot of difficulty with it in the beginning, but since I'd never seen it, I had no solutions to give her over the phone because I couldn't even picture it in my head from her description.

After I bought it, I looked at the instructions printed on the inside of the wrapper - and thought "no WONDER she was having so much trouble figuring this out!"  Talk about confusing!!!!

So I Googled it, and ended up watching videos on YouTube that show exactly how you are supposed to work with it.  Just search for Knitting with Sashay yarn or Crocheting with Sashay yarn, and select the ones that are from the Red Heart company.  They make it much clearer.

My son came through the room while I was knitting, asked what it was that I was working on, and said his girlfriend would love to have a scarf made of that.  I told him about all the color combos that it came in, and he said she'd either like a blue combo or a green combo.  The one I bought was more aqua/blue.  They have another combo that is more indigo/denim blue, so I figured once I was done with this one for myself, I'd go back and get the indigo combo for her.

Best laid plans, and all that.

While visiting the other day, she took one look at the scarf at about the halfway point, squealed, and said she would LOVE LOVE LOVE to have that when I was done with it.  So I guess the next coupon I have will be for the indigo/denim combo for myself, LOL.

The finished scarf

It's more a showpiece than a keep-you-warm-in-the-winter kind of scarf, but in Southern California, that's about all you need anyway.  And it looks pretty amazing with the teal and deep royal blue colors she has in her hair, too.  

Hmmm.  Maybe I should go with a purple combo, then.

A good friend of mine just had a birthday and we all got together at a mutual friend's house.  I didn't have any idea what to get for her (gifts weren't required, but it's always nice to bring something.....besides the typical bottle of wine, anyway).  I hit Michael's during a sale, and picked up these beads:

Oh, dear.  I'm beginning to see a color pattern, here....

I also picked up some of their nicer sterling silver findings, and since my friend really rocks these color combinations (along with the longer style of earrings), I came up with these:

Stars not included.    :^)