Slipping Away...

When I got up this morning, Tessie was missing.  She untangled herself and went on her merry way.

I don't think that she is going to get very far on the grape vines.  She simply tangled them around the potting shed.  She left the grapes on the porch.  Then she headed for the hills!

I started looking for her.  I didn't have to look far.

I looked to the right and she was hiding behind the gargoyle  clock.  Not to hard to find.  She was out in the open and more to the side of the clock than behind it.

As soon as I yelled "Tessie!" she disappeared in a puff of smoke!

I looked in on several of the room boxes.  She is getting better at hiding. In this one she was hiding behind the Elizabethan lady.  I almost missed her. If she hadn't sneezed, I probably would not have seen her.

She must have told the lady to be quiet.  The sneeze did it.

Again she disappeared. This time in misty cloud of something pink.

The third time, I almost missed her again.  She was on the top shelf hiding in one of my gourd baskets.  This time her curiosity got the better of her.  She lifted her head and I grabbed her.

I took her over and sat her on Victor's tape bar. I didn't even try to talk to her. I simply said, "Victor, keep her here until she agrees to finish the vines.

I do believe that was enough to at least keep her out of my way for the rest of the day.

I am doing other things now.  She is stuck.  Victor won't let her go unless she agrees to go work on the grapevines.  He's on my side!

You've gotta love a dragon that likes grapes and wants them to start growing and producing as soon as possible.

I am going to do other things now.  Sooner or later Tessie is going to give in and work on the grapevines. I am through working for the day.

Tessie's not.

See you tomorrow.

Quiet Wednesday

I rounded up some animals for Amare's room this morning.

Then off I went to Joan's for Wednesday Witches...

I tried working on a basket for Amare's box yesterday.

I didn't like the first try on the right side, so I started over... I didn't get very far, but I do like the second try better. That was all I accomplished today...

Joan had a "free" garage sale on her couch... we each got a bag to fill with whatever we wanted.  This was my haul.  Lots of goodies.

Beads, wood and yarn. The tubes are empty bead tubes. I can always use more of those.

Don't ask what I am going to do with all of it.  I am just going to think about it for a while. 

I looked around for Tessie... She and Kota were taking a nap together when I got home... This means that they both are out of commission for the rest of the afternoon. 

That means that I can take the rest of the afternoon off without them complaining at me.

I am going to relax.

See you tomorrow with more minis.

Rocks In My Head...

That's what I have for getting myself into this project. I am having lots of fun, but it is more work than I thought it would be.

This morning I went out to the back yard with a sifter. Usually I am trying to make the dirt finer and I throw out what is left in the sifter...

This time, I kept what was in the sifter and threw out the smaller dirt and stones.

I had fun finding rocks that still looked like rocks but were small enough to fit in the little boxes.

The stones had to be picked up and placed in the compartments with tweezers.  That's how small they were!

I do like how the boxes turned out though.  They look pretty much like the real ones.

Of course, once I started putting things in place, the Terrible Two plus One showed up to "help". 

They didn't stop with the suggestions until I pulled them out and locked them in the workroom.  I told them to clean it up... Yea.. Sure... That's going to happen...

I went in and found stuff to make a basket that Amare has in the corner by the door. 

In case you hadn't guessed, it's brown and white...It is pretty big, so I think that I had better get started... NOW!

I am going back to work... My fingers are going to be sore when I finish this one!

Back to the grindstone.  See you tomorrow.

I Can't Win!

The roofers are all done but a little painting.  So I went to Wednesday Witches this afternoon. 

I started a ring, but couldn't get it going right. So Much for that...

When I got home, there was just a little painting left to finish on the back porch.

About the time that I went to look at that, Walter discovered that his Mustang was leaking something pink all over the garage floor...
We hopped in the two cars and left his at the Ford dealership to be looked at.

I forgot to show you this.  I bought a Chinese duck basket at Goodwill on Sunday.  His head and tail both come off for hiding things inside.

Good place for secrets... The best part? His price tag was $1.59!

We no more than got home from delivering Walter's car to the dealership when Tessie and Zar asked me to go into the work room. 

It seems that there was something "important" that they wanted to show me...

Fool that I am, I went inside.  They slammed the door and locked it...

Tessie yelled, "This is payback time."

I was in there for what seemed like hours.. I am not sure how long it was, but I am not going to fall for that one again.  I got out with a hairpin and a nail file.  It's just a good thing that I keep emergency tools in the workroom.

Anyway, it looks like tomorrow will be the start of the great backyard cleanup... I doubt that I will get any help from the Terrible Two.  So I had better start making a diagram and making plans for the big move back.

See you tomorrow.

The Big Move and a New Hummer...

I have been relocating minis again.  April and Seth are going to help us get the Once Upon a Time castle down from the top of the bookcase this weekend... Wish us luck!

I am madly moving things around to get ready.

This little bear shop, called Ursa Minor is a little storefront that I did way back in the early eighties.  I found that I had a lot of mini bears with no place to go.  At the time I was helping out in a mini shop here in town and this was one of the kits that they sold.  It was really fun to do.  At that time we had to make our own store signs.  No computers to do it for us. 

I decided that these three scenes went together fairly well and besides, all three of them fit on the table.

I taught basket coiling today so of course I took some of the baskets out of the shop.  Tessie rounded them up and put them back when I was finished. Then stayed for cookies.

The baskets went fairly well.  Everyone got started and by next time, maybe there will be some finished baskets to show!

 I went back in after everybody left and found this.  Tessie and Kota napping together.  They look so innocent and sweet... Don't believe everything that you see.  As soon as I came in the room they both started hounding me for treats...

Speaking of treats... This is our latest "Hummingbird".  I am not sure what he is, but he and his mate have been stopping by about every day for a couple of weeks now.

Can anybody identify him? He's really pretty.  I need a name.  Please help.

Back to baskets.

See you tomorrow.

Witchy Weavers

Tomorrow, I am adding more weavers to the world.

We will only have five witches this week.  I think that I may be able to handle four witches with pointy needles. Maybe...

I went to Walmart this morning.  They had an assortment of 24 skeins of floss for under four dollars.  Not bad! There is black and white and six skeins of solid colors. That leaves 16 skeins of variegated. Two of each color combination. It's a great way to get used to making baskets and not at all expensive.  Of course, they will have to buy more of the covered wire, but they can get that at Michael's or Joanne's

I put two different colors in each of the sacks. A couple of yards of each one.

I decided to see what the color combination would look like.  I kind of like this one.  Really a nice combination.

Maybe I will have this one finished by the time that the witches get here tomorrow. We shall see.

As soon as Tessie saw the pile, she immediately started shuffling through the skeins and didn't toss any of them away... That was a worry. 

That means that all of them are acceptable... I see a lot of basket coiling in my future. 

Don't tell Tessie that I will be using some of them on a blue denim shirt that I bought. That is a ways down the list of things to start.  I have too many things to finish. So what else is new?

See you tomorrow!

Back to the Beginning

I tried to approach the coiling of this basket as if I had never done one before.  That was to show you that no matter what you do, you aren't going to get a terrible basket. 

Today I started going up the sides.

I work from the inside to the out.  I find it easier to get the needle where I want it to come out this way.  It is also easier to pull the needle through this way.  At least it is for me.

I am three rows up in this first photo.  I am doing a four wrap.  Four times around the core and then the fifth one goes through the row below. 

You can do as many wraps as you want between the  wraps.  The four wrap is good for those just starting out.  The basket builds quicker.

Here you can see that, if you are careful the wraps make a diagonal line up the side of the basket... Sometimes people try to hit the same spot every time and make a straight line up the side of the basket with the wraps, by going through the previous wrap.

As I said, I was not trying for a perfect basket this time.  I wanted it to look like a beginner's basket.  Some of the wraps are here and there.  Not exactly in line.

The handles are done by simply wrapping the wire as long as you want the handles.  Then you form them into an arc.  I think that I wrapped these handles about 12 times. Then I fastened the other end just like I did all of the other wraps.

I am showing you the inside of this rim to let you see what happens when you finish the wire.  I simply cut it off at an angle and wrap it to the coil below.

Once you get the hang of it, You will not have a lump. It will be a smooth transition.

Here's the outside of the same spot.  You can do another row around the top if you want a thicker handle on the sides.

I pulled these three examples out of the basket shop to show you what your baskets will look like later.

The first one is the one that I just finished.

The brown and white one is a two color one.  When you want to do that, you simply carry the color that you aren't wrapping with along the wire and wrap around it.  When you wish to switch colors, you just switch from one color to the other, always carrying the one not in use inside the coil, with the wire.

I picked the third one because I pulled in the neck of that one.  It is just a matter of putting the wire where you want the basket to go. I decorated that one with real feathers and turquoise chips.

The last one is an open weave.  The open areas are formed just like the handle on the new basket. I simply kept putting the "handles" one after another all the way around and then switched back to the coils. I fastened he coils to the scalloped part as I went around with the next row on the outside.

Now. Grab some covered wire, some embroidery thread and a needle and get to work!

I will see you tomorrow.

I Locked Tessie Out!

The only way I could concentrate on writing instructions was without Tessie.  She was yammering about how she would do it a different way and I finally just threw her in the workroom with a couple of cookies and locked the door.

When panic sets in, Tessie forgets to zap. Therefore I knew I would be safe for about a half an hour.

This first photo is how to start. You will be using two strands of embroidery floss throughout the weaving. I hold the thread end about a quarter of an inch from the tail of the wire with a bit of glue on it. The wire.  Not the thread.  The thread gets laid on the glued wire.

Then I start wrapping the thread around the wire, from the end back to the quarter inch mark.

I shape that into a loop with my needle nosed tweezers.  If you don't have them, you will have to make do with needle nose pliers.

Then you start doing a four rap weave.  That is, you wrap the thread four times around the wire and then on the fifth wrap you put your needle into the coil below.

In this photo, I have three coils almost finished.  There are four wraps on the wire and the needle is sticking in where it will be pulled through.

 Every once in a while I hook the wire in the slot on the spool and hold the needle and thread in the air to untwist the thread. It naturally spins in one direction and you have to unwind it every once in a while.

It will stop spinning when it is back to being relaxed and normal again.

Here is where I added another length of thread.  I simply held the tail of the old thread and the end of the new thread together and did several wraps and holding stitches over both threads.  Then I cut them of at two different lengths and kept going. 

Here you see it about half way around after the addition.  The addition is in the bottom left of the photo.  You can hardly see that that section is just a hair wider than the rest of the spiral.

I forgot to mention that you should work with a long length of thread.  I usually work with about an arm span.  That way I don't have to add thread that often.  You might want to start with shorter until you get used to a longer length.

Here, I am starting to turn the edge up to make the side wall of the basket. 

I will continue with the rest of the sides and the finishing in the next blog entry.

Good luck with your starting!

See you tomorrow.

Tessie, With a Whip and a Chair!

I did a little work on a couple of baskets yesterday.  Tessie stood over me the whole time.

When I say she stood over me, maybe I should rephrase that.  She sat on my shoulder and pulled my hair if I wasn't doing something right... My hair is sore!

 I got out the coiled basket box and I found ten unfinished baskets! They are still unfinished, but a little further along.

She yelled at me until I stopped messing around and put the basket case in order... Not me.  The plastic box that I keep the supplies in.

It is now in what she calls "Working order!"


The last time I bought wire, I ordered it on line
and the only color I could find was brown. so I have six spools.  That's the least I could order.

I doubt that I will run out of covered wire anytime soon.

I found eight gourd pieces in various stages of readiness. Some are sawed. some are sawed and drilled and some are just marked where they are to be sawn and drilled.

We won't mention the box of gourds that haven't even been touched.  By the way, they are called Tennessee  Spinners. I think that there are a couple of places on line that you can order them.  Just be sure to specify size.  Some of them are a lot bigger than mini size.

I will probably not run out of thread anytime soon.  Back when I was making baskets to sell, I kept stocking up and I do have just a little... OK.  It's a lot of thread.

The stuff at the top left of the photo is all linen thread.

The rest is all hand dyed cotton embroidery floss.  I only use two strands out of the six at one time, so that is going to last a while too.

I tried to find a number on the covered wire to tell you what to get if you want to try coiled basket making.  I couldn't find anything on the Darice label. I am pretty sure that it is 28.  The other spools didn't have labels anymore. You can get it in the green and white in the floral department of Michael's and JoAnne's.

Anyway, I am thinking that I will do another tutorial on coiled baskets tomorrow.

I have done it before, but this time I am going step by step and try to get some of you doing it.

Anyway, here's what you need to do a basic coiled basket.

A spool of covered wire.  Any color of six strand embroidery floss.  A number 26 or 28 tapestry needle.  Scissors and a wee bit of patience.

I am going back now and start drawing diagrams, working step by step and taking photos of each step.

Back to work.

See you tomorrow.

The Wind is BLOWING!!!

I feel like crawling back into bed and pulling the covers over my head. 

The wind has been blowing sideways ever since I got up this morning.  Can you tell that I don't like wind?  Nope.  No way, no how!

Tessie and Zar are comfy cozy in the basket maker's workshop.  I would like to crawl in there and watch TV, but there is no room.  They have all of the good seats and Spike has the floor. 

 I got to looking around in there.  It needs a thorough cleaning... Maybe I will do that when I finish here. 

Every time I clean in there, I get sidetracked and start making baskets again... I guess it could be worse... I could just decide to take a nap.  At least I would be doing minis if I make baskets...

My other problem is... Yup... The workroom is a mess again.  I need to go in there and clean up too. 

I don't want to clean!  I want to make baskets! 

I would like to make more like the swirled one in the second photo... In order to do that, I have to climb over things in the workroom to get to the supplies...

Maybe I should just give up and actually do more cleaning... Hmmmm.   Where have I heard that before? 

Did I mention that I don't like the wind? Maybe I will just go in the bedroom and watch K Dramas with the Terrible Two plus One and start over with the other stuff tomorrow, bright and early. Yes. That sounds like the right thing to do.

See you tomorrow!  Bright and Early. I'll be up by 5:00 AM.  How about you?

One Potato. Two Potato...

You may be wondering why I am working on Russian baskets today...

Well. I started out with asking Tessie which fabric she had chosen for the settee and footstool... Her reply? "I have it down to five choices!"

Does that explain the basket work?  Actually, it does.

I finished a tray basket..

Then I started rolling more sticks for another one. 

Every once in a while, I would stop and ask again about her choices... It was still five every time.  They were just in a different order each time. 

Back to the basket.

Just a little while ago, I went to ask again.  I am not sure whether Zar is trying to help or about to strangle Tessie and put her out of her misery.

This was the order a few minutes ago.  I left it at, "Tessie, call me when you decide."

I am going to ignore the two of them and maybe Zar can talk her into choosing one of the five. 

Until then, I am going back to basket making and watching TV while I weave.

See you tomorrow.

Monday the Thirteenth...

I never have any trouble with Friday the thirteenth...

My bad days come on Monday the thirteenth.

I had two Doctor's appointments today.
The first one, they didn't have a part that was needed for my treatment. It needs to be special ordered.

The second one, the lights went out when I was getting dressed... Lots of darkness ensued... I got dressed by the light of a flashlight... Fun day! A couple of hours wasted...Luckily, it is one of those things that I can laugh about.  Nothing serious.  Just plain silly.

I came home and decided to clean out the coiled basket box.

That was almost as bad... Look at the very nice neat box above.  Yes.  I got it cleaned out.

Guess what I found in it?  Nine unfinished baskets that were started...

Then Tessie came in and pointed out that I had a lot more that hadn't even been sawed apart and more that hadn't been drilled... She's so helpful...

I didn't have the heart to tell her about the other box that I have that has whole gourds in it... Un-drilled... Un-sawed and some that haven't even been marked for sawing or drilling.

I did a couple of rows on one of the basket whilst she was standing watch over me.  As soon as she left the room, I quit!

Tomorrow is another day... I am starting over in the morning. Hopefully Tuesday the fourteenth will be better than Monday, the thirteenth.  See you then.