Vintage Edgings

I had to make a stop at the local Hobby Lobby to pick up some tapestry needles and found this beautiful multicolored yarn. It is so soft and has the perfect colors for welcoming in the (eventual) cooler weather. I found an interesting edging pattern from my collection of vintage crochet patterns and tweaked a little here and there to come up with this scarf. Now all I need is a cold snap.

Pattern available at my Etsy shop.

How does your garden grow?

I am exceedingly proud of myself. I finally put together a Square Foot Garden. And I did it all myself since DH is not exactly the outdoor type. When asked to help, his comment was, "but I'm a city boy..." Actually, neither of us is very good at growing things, which is pretty obvious if you look closely at the grass in the photo. I've had the Square Foot Gardening books for years (decades?) and I pull it out and look it over every few years. This time I took it to heart and even tracked down coarse vermiculite, which according to the NEW Square Foot Gardening book is absolutely de rigueur. I had to drive waaaay down to south Austin (I'm a northie) to a place called Brite Ideas, which I'm thinking might have hippie roots. ( I'll try out their hydroponics supplies one of these days.) I've got several kinds of lettuce, spinach, mustard and collard greens (I lived in Mississippi for 3 years where I developed a taste for leafy green things cooked in bacon fat and doused in vinegar), a few herbs and three strawberry plants. The strawberry plants are a sneaky attempt to involve The Kid, who's generally not interested in putting something in his mouth unless it comes out of a Chef-Boy-R-Dee can. If any gardening pros out have any advice, I'm all ears...

Keep Austin Weird

I had a blast at the Maker Faire this past weekend. It was pure heaven for anyone with craft and/or geek tendencies. I was volunteering for the Texas Etsy Street Team, but it didn't feel like work. I helped with demos and learned new ways to recycle ordinary objects - like making gift boxes out of greeting cards, and making a tote bag from a t-shirt. I even got to try making a shrinky-dink out of plastic from a clamshell container from the grocery store thanks to Claire at poopscape.com. The whole experience inspired me to tackle a old pair of red keds with a sharpie and fabric paints. They obviously need a second coat of paint. Next time I'll start with white shoes...