Holiday Red?

For those who see red daily this scarf might just be for you. It is a fun fur yarn (no the photo isn't fuzzy it is truly the yarn) in red. The scarf is knitted and long enough that a person could double wrap the scarf or let it hang down past their waist. I understand from one of my favorite customers that the scarves are not just fashionable but very warm. The red isn't just for the holidays, sometimes you just need a little splash of color to brighten your wardrobe, and this scarf will surely do that. Those who might be N.C. State Fans might also like the bright scarf to show their support for their favorite university. The scarf dimensions are five inches wide and about five and a half feet long. It is machine washable and in all honesty a real head turner. This scarf usually sells for $20 plus shipping. If interested in this scarf or any others you can contact us at DeJCreations@aol.com. We are also happy to discuss custom orders as well.

Stocking Stuffers

You may remember a post I did not long ago about making ornaments for my mother's tree. Some were ceramic, that I added a little character too. Well when it came time to stuff stockings at the office I could not think of anything better than a stocking, stocking ornament that is. I made one for each person and put their name on it. Now you might be wondering about the color since one is green. That went to Sweet Aggie. If you know Aggie you already know what her ornament is green if you don't know Aggie you need to know her, trust me it is an experience you will never forget. Aggie is a Program Associate with our county 4-H program. She has a favorite saying when she meets people, the first time or again, and that is that her blood is green, 4-H green. Therefore it is only appropriate that she have a green stocking while everyone else had red. It was just a little something for an incredible team of individuals.

Kool Copy Kat

Recently, I had the opportunity to sell some of my knitted items as part of a Christmas historic home tour. The day was delightful as I set up with some friends to sell our wares. One customer came as we were cleaning up to buy a scarf that she had seen earlier. She said it stayed on her mind and she just had to come back to buy it. Needless to say it looked stunning on her. Later that night I got an e-mail from her asking me to fix the fringe, and about some other scarves. As many of you who know me know that it is not that I try to be hard to get up with but apparently I am packing as many opportunities into my schedule as possible. This customer was able to track me down at the office when I had, imagine this, lost my voice. Penny, my ever incredible and wonderful secretary, was able to call her back for me and was my voice as I whispered answers to her. By the end of the call I had agreed to deliver scarves at 5:30 that evening to this customers home. Mind you she had won the hearts of those at the office and had deemed me a "trip" and I her.

At 5:30 I arrived with the scarves she had requested and she said she wanted to shop, did I not bring my other scarves with me? Of course I had just in case. I unloaded everything and she chose three or four more and told me what she was looking for. Then said she liked the scarf on my neck and she was going to buy it. I explained the one I was wearing was made for me by a friend several years ago and I could not part with it. She mentioned it again and I promised to knit one for her just like it, but could not give that one up.

I e-mailed her the next day that I had delivered her green scarf, but there was no answer. She kindly e-mailed me back and told me the story (you know I love stories about my crafts) about wearing one of the other scarves she had bought from me and ordered several more including a Burgundy one like the one I was wearing when I visited her the night before.

A quick trip to one of my yarn suppliers Friday night, allowed me to knit the one you see in the picture. The great thing about this scarf, besides the wine color, is that it is really long. You can drape it over your shoulder or wrap it a couple of times around your neck and stay warm and fashionable. I hope my newest customer, and absolutely wonderfully fun lady, enjoys her new scarf when I get it delivered, very very soon.

Sometimes it's What You Learn In Kindergarten

Remember art class in school? When you got to do things you never did at home and made a mess in the name of art? Teachers always seemed to have some magic artistic sense that made everything incredible and almost impossible to make as beautiful. In Kindergarten you learned about making things stick to glue. My favorite was glitter. Of course as a student we couldn't use the glitter but we could lay the glue out in a design and then the teacher would walk around and add just the right amount of glitter.

I wish I could say my glue and glitter skills have improved since the early days...but it would be a lie. However the concept is fresh in my head and I am sure that at some point in my life I will be able to manage the glue and glitter. In the mean time the concept in my head tonight was simple. Write names in glue, sprinkle the glitter and have the names magically appear. One issue, glue does not always spread evenly on fabric, especially fur...especially wrinkled fur. My goal is to make stockings for each person who works in the 4-H and FCS departments at the Robeson County Center of the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service. Last year I made stockings for the 4-H department but thanks to an incredible team effort over the last year I am in a place where I get to make more. The idea for the stockings is that they hang on each person's door or near their desk and the happy elves deliver gifts, notes, edibles, or other things as the month goes on. Before the first person leaves for Christmas vacation we will all open our stockings together and see what is in them. Kind of a holiday team building exercise. This year my stockings are for Ava, Tamika, Christy and Janice. They may look like a kindergarten student made them, but I hope the spirit of the idea is not lost in the gluey glitter golden mess of Holidayness.

Colorful Holidays

As many of you know by now, I can't sit still. There is no such thing as just sitting and relaxing I have to do something while watching T.V. or I would get bored and go to sleep. So if I am not in front of my computer I am keeping my hands busy crafting and doing other such fun things. With Christmas in the air this is the perfect time for my busy crafty hands. Lately with school I have opted for shorter projects. For example these fun dish clothes. I found some Christmas green 100% cotton yarn and could not think of a better time to unveil them then at a Christmas opportunity.
Our local Robeson County Historical Museum held their annual Tour of Homes. The starting or ending point was at the museum. There several local crafters were set up to sell items. I along with four friends who do some amazing craft work set up to sell our wares. All of us were thrilled because we each sold at least one item. However, I will brag a little. The knitted items sold quite well, especially the dish clothes, which are priced at a dollar a piece. Scarves were a big hit as well and I am ready and raring to get back into the fun of all my knitted items and see if I can generate some more stock. I just want to say thank you to all for their support in buying the items and making it a grand day!
For more information on my fellow crafters please e-mail me. Jessica makes the most incredible jewelry, Margaret makes baby slings and aromatic natural soothie sacks that you warm in the microwave and place on tired muscles for relaxation, and Tanya is our crafty crafter who made holiday photo frames, key chains and candles. All of the items would make great gifts for that hard to shop for person.

Candy Cane Scarf

I admit it. I buy my yarn on an impulse. It has to grab my attention and often I don't have a clue what I will use it for. This yarn fit that bill. I saw it in the store all bright and shimmery and knew I wanted to knit with it. I also admit I bought a similar type of yarn when I was in Italy and a friend of mine is waiting for a scarf, but I have been too scared to knit with it in case I messed it up. So I checked the label and saw the most magnificent red and white striped scarf, with the words, "pattern under the label" which sold me. I bought a skein of red and a skein of white and was ready to knit the puffiest neatest scarf ever seen.

I got it home and there was no pattern on the label. Not deterred I went to the yarn company web site and located the pattern and downloaded it. After three attempts and ripping it out, I just was not pleased with what I was seeing. Instead I knitted both strands together to make this warm think and amazing soft scarf. I love the red and white, and as it crossed my lap as I was knitting it was amazing how warn it was. The pom poms make it poofy and fun and well just different from my other scarves. You can't help but be in the holiday spirit with this one.

Trying to Fix the Tree

If you noticed my post from yesterday my mother's tree was in need of a little homemade love. After all it is the ornaments with a story that make the tree special because each one has a memory of its own. While we were at Michael's we also picked up some clear balls and flat ones as well. Inside of each of the round balls (and some of the flat ones too) I trickled paint and swirled it on the inside. The designs are truly unique and homemade. Also in search of some tree bling some of the flat ones received one color of paint and glitter on half of the ornament on the outside. Each one is different and made with love. Once up it gave the tree a little more color and a personal touch that it was missing with just store bought ornaments before.

Needed a Name

I love Christmas. It is by far my favorite holiday. I love decorating the tree and the house for the holidays. I am sure I get this from my mother who loves to decorate the tree and the house. Growing up there were rules to decorating the tree as I got old enough to decorate that were shared with me. Things like two ornaments that are alike can not be placed next to each other. Two of the same color should not be too close, and you have to balance the ornaments out from the front and the back of the branches. Smaller ornaments go to the top, larger ones at the bottom. All of this has been ingrained in my brain which made this year's assignment so difficult.

My mother moved a couple of years ago and some things had to go to storage. Apparently the ornaments went to storage, but not her tree. So the day after Thanksgiving I was informed that the tree was going up. When I asked about the ornaments she said she had bought some new ones. Suddenly from behind the couch appears a large box which has markings on it that indicated that there were 100 ornaments in the box. All of the ornaments were red and gold. After Erica (the very nice lady who helps mom) and I figured out how to put up the tree and plug it all in it was time to decorate. Now here comes my problem, red and gold ornaments needed to be spread out on the tree but I had to make sure red was not near red and gold not near gold. When I got done I announced there is too much red and gold on this tree and it needs some personalization. To my mother that meant, let's go shopping.

On our tour of the city we stopped at several places and picked up some cute ornaments that were not balls or red and gold. Then we hit Michael's. There we found ceramic ornaments in the shape of a snowman, star, and stocking. A few Sharpie paint pens later, and voila! We had some personalized ornaments that made the tree a little less commercial and a little more personalized. If you are wondering the stocking got Manny's name, because every grand dog should have their own stocking to mark their place in the family. Now this can be considered a family tree.

Something a Little Different

You know sometimes you just have the need to try something new. For me it was a new dish cloth pattern that I saw in a recent w-mail. I have to admit, I often take whatever yarn I have sitting around to create the project. This time is was a variegated cream, green and maroon striped cotton yarn, which made this particular pattern reminiscent of an Italian flag. However, I jumped in to experience this new pattern and believe it came out as specified, just not exactly what I was anticipating. I must admit a solid color would have shown this pattern off better. None the less as I was casting off, a very lovely person in my office, who has to put up with me on a daily basis, said she liked this dish cloth so I promptly finished casting off, took a picture and laid it on her desk.