Cozy Crazy!

Thank You, Lovely Prayer Ladies!

 The other day while standing in the yarn department at Michaels a lovely woman came up to me and asked if my name was, she named them, I said no it wasn't. She kept talking and told me about something her and her friends do. Sort of like a treasure hunt she said, where they pick someone somewhere and ask if there's anything they need or want and could they pray for them. She asked if she could pray for me and was there anything special she could pray for?

 I thought about it and said, a job. She thought that was a wonderful thing to pray about. So looking into my eyes, she prayed the sweetest prayer. Nearly brought me to tears. We talked some more and had a lovely exchange. I thanked her and she thanked me for being so open about it and that she'd tell the others. We said goodbye and she was gone.  

 The feeling and whole experience was so uplifting, it's stayed with me for days. The funny thing is, just that morning I was asking the universe for help, asking what to do next because I didn't know what it all meant. How I'd spent so much time and effort working on my little business with not a lot of sales, wondering if I'd made a wrong turn. But while I reveled in this new good feeling, I finished my 10 cup tea cozy and took it to the store where it would be put on consignment with the other 2 sizes already there. The owner loved it, loved the colours I'd chosen and bought all three, outright. Cash in my hot little hands, plus ordered more! 

So here is my latest cozy. The only trouble is, this cozy is for a 10 cupper but is being modeled on my six cup teapot. Unfortunately the 10 cuppers were still on back order so I couldn't try it on. I needed to find a 10 cupper somewhere. I went home and phoned a British shop in Chilliwack. She only had an 8 cupper but said to bring my cozy down for a fitting. Suddenly I had the nerve to ask if she sold tea cozies, she said she didn't. "Would you be interested?" I dared.  "I most certainly would," she said. 

All I can say is, somebody up there likes me. 

Thank you so much, lovely prayer ladies. 

Scandia Tea Cozy

 Here's my third tea cozy design. I come from Danish roots and really adore Scandinavian and Nordic knitting. So I tried to emulate a Scandia feel in my latest pattern.  

 I love the look and feel of the wooden beads. Sort of reminds me of rich, warm Scandinavian dining room furniture.  Also, sewing the openings in this way feels very traditional to me. 

  For one year, when I was ten I went to a private school. The elementary school section was housed in a huge mansion with a secret passage that led to the library, a grand staircase that led to the grade five classroom, and many other wonderful places to explore. My best friend's grandmother used to attend costume balls there when she was young, when it was a private home. Art class was held way up in the beautiful attic tucked within leaded glass windows and deep wood paneling. That year for Christmas we made padded coat hanger covers out of brightly coloured felt, then tacked them closed in blanket stitch. It was the first real sewing stitch I'd ever learned and one of my fondest memories. 

Today I took my little tea cozy to the shop where I'd bought my lovely Brown Betty teapot. They were so impressed they want to sell them! I was thrilled. 

Here's a Little Teapot, Short and Stout

While I waited for my computer to come home from the hospital, I designed my first tea cozy! 

She's been gone for a week getting a new hard drive and today I had the stressful task of reloading all my stuff back on. You might as well have asked me to perform an emergency tracheotomy with my pen, I was so stressed. But it turned out to be simple as pie. What was I so worried about? Whew! 

To keep myself busy for the last week I bought some lovely yarn and knitted while it rained. 

I designed this tea cozy to fit my beautiful new tea pot. It's called a Brown Betty. They're crazy about them in England. I had no idea. And now I have one of my very own. 

I was so pleased and surprised at how my cozy turned out. Must be the wool. It's fabulous, 50% wool and 50%  alpaca. 

I'm going to try and knit a few more to list in my Etsy shop for Christmas.

Then I think I'll sell the pattern as a PDF. 

The week wasn't all knitting though. I did manage to capture some of the fall colour before the rain and wind blew it all away. A pretty ceramic bird house hanging in my Japanese Maple tree. 

Some nice colours in my front yard. 

My most favourite tree in the yard. Ginkgo Biloba.

Part of the yard taken from the back porch.  

My most favourite dog, Clare, also taken from the back porch. Soaking wet and don't give a damn. She loves that deflated basketball! 

And when she comes in, she takes all her little toys out of her toy box and puts them in a nice neat pile at my husband's feet, so he can have first pick. What a smarty-pants.

Little Annie Oakleaf Wants You!

Listen up all you candy gulpin' varmints! My name's Little Annie Oakleaf and I'm here to tell ya all that Halloween's a comin' round the mountain quicker n' you can say, Trick or Treat. So join the fun, don't be shy, say Howdy neighbour with a gen-u-wine handmade greetin' card from Rare Rabbits Designs. 

In the meantime, I'll jest stand here and let you take a gander at my new duds. 

There's my hat, and beauteeful embroidreed hatband made special by the lovin' hands of Daphne Wildeman.

There's my acorn and oak leaves. All hand embroidreed by the boss'a this here outfit, Lenore.

  Then, there's my six-guns. Can't never do nothin' without them. Ya never know when the hunger pains are gonna seize ya. A course can't forget my little palomino, Baby Fuzz. Ain't she the cutest little shaver. She just loves to nibble on my beaded fringe. 

 Here, I'll stand real straight to give ya a better look at my collar beads. I hear they was a heap o' trouble.  

Bye now. 

Oh, I almost forgot. For your veiwin' and listenin' pleasure here's an oldie but a goodie from 

Ramblin' Tommy Scott, singin', She'll be Comin' Round the Mountain.

Click this link to watch on YouTube

http://youtu.be/Ghd-xL5gAjc

Sweets for my Sweetie

Still playing around with Halloween card ideas, though it's almost too late now. I'll do one more design this week, maybe two. Then it's on to Christmas. I see people are already posting Christmas goodies. Oy, I'm so slow. 

I think this closeup will make a very cute card. 

A Hare-y Halloween

"Trick or Treat, smell my feet. Give me something good to eat!" 

With a little help, the bunnies are planning a party. Marushka puts her mask on her head so she'll be ready to scare her friends when they arrive. She's going to be a witch cat this year. Then she gets busy cleaning the kitchen, whipping up treats and setting the table. She's made cake and candy and Boo bags! Don't forget the napkins.  

 Iggy's already wearing his monster mask. He can hardly wait for the fun to begin. He's so excited, games and goodies galore. Oh, boy! 

He hopes his friends won't be too scared to take candy from a friendly jack-o-skeleton. 

"Where could everyone be?" he wonders.

Petal is concerned. "Did you lose Halloween?"

"Don't worry, I'll find it." I'm a most excellent finder." 

"I know it's here somewhere."

"Maybe I'll just guard the candy instead." 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!