Fresh Alabama Cotton

Fresh Alabama Cotton 2013

Look at all of this fresh Alabama cotton.  My dad was a career United States Navy man.  We met a lot of people in our travels for his job and we were lucky enough to keep in touch with a few great people over the years.  Our family friend lives in Alabama.  When he called me to ask how everybody was doing, I asked him about the chance of him sending cotton.  I remember seeing the fluff that fell off of the trucks from the cotton fields to the processing along the sides of the road.  That conversation was months ago, but just a couple of days ago there it was a whole box of beautiful white cotton.  The bits of brown that you see on the cotton is leaf crumbs and is easily removed by lightly brushing.  I learned recently that cotton also grows naturally in a light brown color and even a green color.  I will spin the Alabama cotton with my metal Tahkli spindle that I purchased from the website Cotton Clouds.  I will post more as I learn how to spin the Tahkli and make cotton yarn and thread.            

 

Garden Boots Ya'll

A pair of glazed terra cotta boots. 

When I was on a rummaging trip this morning, I found these great boots.  I just love finding something so unusual.  They are made of terra cotta, you know the stuff that flower pots are made of.  The toes on them are glazed but the tops are not.  There is even faux threading on them.  I was rummaging for items to add to my flea market booth where I sell my yarn and roving, but these may just have to stay home.  Since they are glazed, I could grow green plants in them or maybe a silk flower arrangement could look nice coming out of the tops.  They almost look like a pair of size 12 or 1 little girl/boy's cow boots - so adorable I wanted to share them with you. 

One Skein Single Crochet Stitch Scarf

I made this scarf with a wonderful Italian chunky Merino wool two-ply skein that I picked up in a clearance bin at Dee's in Louisville, Kentucky on a recent road trip after Christmas. I made up the pattern.  Its just single crochet throughout - that's the only stitch I used.  Single crochet, the netting is made from single crochet (like you would use on a beach bag) and then add tassels on each end of the scarf.  It measures only 30 inches so it's perfect to poke one end into itself to keep it on your neck and from falling on the ground.  
 

Sticks and stones....no Crochet Hooks

Handmade crochet hooks from sticks in the yard that had fallen from the trees. 

This little pile of wooden crochet hooks is the result of me picking up sticks in the yard and getting the idea of making my own hooks.  They turned out really pretty.  On some of them the gauge is even correct as far as the size of the hook - that was just pure luck on my part.  I've used a couple of them to crochet and they work very well.  I used my husband's tools in the garage to make these.  I grinded the bark off of the sticks with a sander and then cut the "neck" of the hook with a bandsaw - pretty high powered tools that move fast.  Some of the sticks got away from me before they became crochet hooks.  Since I made these I got a small Dremel tool to make them.  That ought to be a little easier to handle than the big tools I used before. 

Hit 2,000 Visitors Giveaway

My blog visitor number isn't far - less than 100 from hitting 2,000. I would really like to see more of you sign-up as followers of Fiberista Studio, so I am proposing to giveaway something special I have stashed in my studio.  Give me some ideas of what to give away in the comment section and please sign-up to follow me.  If I don't get any takers, I will simply send my one faithful follower something really awesome.  Easy.  Comment and follow before I hit 2,000.