Felted Tote bags-- The perfect Gift for a Knitter!

Hi Everyone!

I am finally finished with the totes that I have been working on. The green and orange one below is the first one that I made for myself. The others are all for gifting. A lot of people on your Christmas gift list are creative and I bet some of them are knitters! You might consider the subtle art of felting, as a way to make a really neat bag.

This particular pattern can be found in the Debbie Macomber Cedar Cove Collection. Now, you might be intimidated by the fact that, once you finish knitting a gigantic bag in stockinette stitch, you then plunge it into a hot soapy wash in the clothes washer, followed by a plunge into the cold rinse-- and no spinning!...... arrrrgh!!!! Stress!!!!

But believe me, I'm used to it now and can asure you that it is sooooo simple that you will love doing it!

You remember felting by accident? That's when you put that wonderful wool sweater in to the wash by mistake, and it come out looking like it's made for Malibu Barbie........

BUT....... when you are doing it with purpose, you open that washer and find the most beautiful bag you could imagine and you think, "I made this!? Wow!"

Working on the final rush to Christmas gift making-- next comes mittens, I hope!

Have a great day,

Barbara

Santa Claus is Comin' to Town!

Hi Everyone!

Well, the Show season is officially over for me, and I just want to thank all of you who have been so encouraging and supportive of Angel Pond Cottage and my work. Though the economy is still very slow, people have been very encouraging and there is a real community spirit among fiber artists that has been wonderful to experience.

When not engaged in working on the shows, we have been knitting baby hats for Kent Hopsital, and I am including a few pictures of Kent's Chaplain, The Ven. Robin Higbie (who is also the Archdeacon of the Diocese of RI, where I am a deacon), as we looked at over 100 hats that had been made over the past many weeks, from near and far. So many volunteers have made them for us, including some great folks from Ravelry and from Knit Happens, Rhode Island, the greatest knitting group ever! Linda made wonderfully whimsical hats with Fall motifs and Judy even made two absolutely georgeous baby sweaters and hat sets for us! The generosity of people is so overwhelming, and for that, we are truly grateful. We are still making them and receiving them, so keep up the great work!

Robin, holding as many hats as she could and looking soooo happy! Pat, Robin and Judi taking a look at what has been accomplished. Pat, me, Robin and Judi with hats. One of the hats close-up.

This morning, the snow had begun to fall in earnest and here's a picture so that you can see how lovely it looked when I went out. My friend Terry, in Australia is probably experiencing hot and arid conditions, so this picture is for you, Terry, to cool those hot Christmas days!

I still have Christmas presents to make, so my needles will be clacking away from now, probably until Christmas Eve. So, have a great week, and I will try to post some things before the holidays.

Barbara

More Shows On The Horizon!

Well, Halloween is over and there are several shows that I wanted to mention that are coming up soon. If you are in the area, I would love it if you drop in to one (or more!) of these shows to say hello and support the work of local artisans.
This is the schedule:
Saturday, November 7, 9AM to 4 PM
East Providence High School
2000 Pawtucket Avenue
East Providence, RI 02914

Saturday, November 14, 9AM to 4PM
Holiday Sale at Arlene's
23 Hamilton Road
Cranston, RI 02910

Saturday, November 21, 9AM to 3PM
Saint Thomas Episcopal Church
Corner of Rts. 44 and 116
Greenville, RI 02828-0505

Saturday, November 21, 9AM to 7PM
and Sunday, November 22, 8AM to 1PM
Saint Brigid Roman Catholic Church
1231 Plainfield Street
Johnston, RI 02919-6922

Saturday, December 5, 9AM to 4 PM
Jamestown's Conanicut Island Art Association
Annual Holiday Craft Show Sale
Melrose School
76 Melrose Avenue
Jamestown, RI 02835

I am looking forward to being at all these shows!
Barbara

Hello Everyone,

Just a quick note today to show a picture of my Diana, who I am so proud of. This is a picture of her, right after she cut her hair for cancer patients who have lost their hair during treatments.

Here are some organizations that donations are made to. Take a look at their websites! http://www.locksforlove.org/

http://www.pantene.com/en-US/beautiful_lengths.jspx

I am such a lucky Mom..........

Have a great week,

Barbara

And now the shows begin!

Hi Everyone!
Well, today we had a very nice show. It was great to see some old friends and make some new ones.
Here are some pictures of the set-up. As you can see, we used a shoe rack to set out a very nice display of Tea Towels. It was Roger's idea, and I am sure glad that he has such a good thought. It will now be a regular part of my set-up. Here is a shot of the two racks and the table. The rack of Tea Towels had Thanksgiving/Harvest/Fall on one side and Christmas designs on the other. The table display is Wine Bottle Bags and Anglican Prayer Beads.

In this photo, you can see the back rack a bit better. On that rack, I had knitted scarves, followed by weaved scarves, then table runner in brocades and then pieced and quilted for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. I was very pleased with the overall layout, though we will continue to make adjustments.

For those of you in the area, our next show will be 9AM to 4PM on November 7, at East Providence High School. I hope you can come by and visit-- and bring friends to look at all the good stuff! It's supposed to be quite a show. My first time, so I'll let you know.

I took a few days off this past week, with Roger to see the beautiful Fall colors in New England, and we had a much needed rest and a lot of fun.

Well, I need to go watch my favorite Baseball team (The Yankees, of course!) take on the LA Angels. I feel like it's going to be a good night!!

Barbara

A Sampler of Wedding Cakes

Michael and Wendy's cake

Hi Everyone,
Several people have been asking about my wedding cakes, so I thought I might share them with you today. A little bit of background first, though!

Missy and Joe's cake

When my daughter was really little, I took a cake decorating class with my sister-in-law, just to have some fun and time off, and I discovered that I fell in love with the challenge of wedding cakes. The Wilton Method was enjoyable and easy to learn and I began to make wedding cakes for friends and family.

Michael and Barbara's cake

Bishop Wolf and Tom's cake

Michele and Tommy's cake

Kate and Jon's cake

Colleen and Stephen's cake

Judy and Jim's cake

Catherine and Joe's cake

Nowadays, I am thrilled to be able to offer to make wedding cakes for those I am close to as a gift for their special day!

So, enjoy the pictures and have a great day!

Barbara