SHAWL COLLARED COWL FINISHED

I just finished the SHAWL COLLARED COWL by Alana Dakos of Never Not Knitting.  It was a fun and quick knit.  I used Lion Brand Wool-Ease Chunky yarn in eggplant from JoAnn's and the buttons are from thewoodlot.etsy.com.

This one is for my daughter but I like it so much I think I'll start knitting another one.  It is 80% acrylic and 20% wool so it will feel warm but easy to wash.  It finished out at approximately 10" at the widest part by 26" long and will look cute by itself over a top or sweater or under a jacket.

HANDMADE WOOD BUTTONS

I was so excited to find in the mail today my order from THE WOODLOT.  I ordered handmade wooden buttons for the eggplant colored cowl that I am making.  Aren't these buttons just to die for? I  took the photograph on the stump in our backyard where our oak tree fell after the Labor Day tornado.    The artists who make these buttons live in Canada and use fallen trees on their land to make these wonderful buttons.  You can find them at thewoodlot.etsy.com or thewoodlot.org.  They make jewelry, toys, etc. but the buttons are my favorites.  I will be ordering some more!  Check them out.

SHAWL COLLARED COWL

On my needles is this yummy cowl.  Pattern is the "Shawl Collared Cowl" by Alana Dakos of Never Not Knitting.  I'm using Lion brand Wool-Ease Chunky yarn in Eggplant.  With 50% coupons, I got 2 skeins from Joann's for $8.  I ordered some chunky wooden buttons off of ETSY made from branches.  Hopefully I will complete in a day or so and I'll post a finished photo then..........

HALLOWEEN MUMMY TUTORIAL

Mummies at the Library!  That's right.  In honor of Halloween I wanted to bring some fun decorating into the library.  I had to tie in books with the decorations so I decided on the theme "Wrap up with a good book".  Our library usually doesn't decorate for Halloween but I thought I'd give it a go, hopefully we won't get any complaints.

This was my inspiration...........I think it is out of this month's Country Living magazine.
A co-worker brought it to me and said "Isn't this cool?"  I thought, I can make that!

I used mostly things that I had on hand.  We did have on hand wood poles and bases that had been used in a previous display.  I found these cool styrofoam skulls at Wal-mart.  I had some large sheets of (purple) foam and cut them in the shape of a body using a matte knife, but you could even use a large sheet of cardboard or thin plywood.

To add some dimension to the bodies I taped plastic Kroger bags and newspaper to form arms, legs and abdomen areas.

I had some butcher paper that I cut into 3 to 4 inch strips and wrapped around the body forms.  You could use crepe paper or old sheets.   I couldn't find my hot glue gun so I used plenty of clear packing tape.

I then covered the entire area with cheesecloth soaked in starch.  I made sure to leave room to add a book later under the hands.  I let it dry for the afternoon on the deck.

When it was dry I added some spider webbing, a few spiders and a book.  Presto - a mummy!

The mummies' new home - Woodstock Public Library for the month of October.  They've got a good book to read and look happy, don't they?

A NEW SKYLINE

The sunset tonight.

September 4th we could only see a forest of trees.

September 5th after the tornado, we have a completely new skyline.

We can see the beautiful sunsets of Fall again.

The birds are finding new homes in the poplars that are left.

I even saw our pileated woodpecker again.

I love the colors of Fall and I love

our new skyline.

CUTE BABY SOCK PATTERN

Just finished the pink pair of baby socks

for my niece who is having

TWINS!!

I love this squishy yarn.  It's a washable wool and so comfy and soft.  These will probably fit a one year old with little chubby feet.  Can't wait for baby time!  If you want to try this pattern I found it at this site.  It's a basic sock pattern but only takes about 2 hours to knit up this size.

ARTISTS' WEEKEND AT LAKE CHATUGE

My friend Susan invited me for an artists' weekend at her cabin in the north Georgia mountains last weekend.  Both of our husbands were out of town and we decided to drive up and paint a little.  When I walked out onto their back porch this is the view that greeted me..................

Every square inch of her house looks like it stepped out of Country Living Magazine.  All I had to do was point and shoot!

The butterfly bush even has a beautiful view!

We pulled out a table and our watercolors and started painting Lake Chatuge.  It was originally dammed up after WWII to make electricity to power the nearby aluminum plants which were needed to make more airplanes.

Susan has the most gorgeous view of the lake!  They are situated at the perfect angle to miss the unattractive buildings and lights of the gas stations, etc.  The only building you can see is a quaint little church with a white steeple breaking through the treetops.

This sign welcomed me on my arrival!

The next morning we woke to beautiful spiderwebs sprinkled with droplets of dew.

I was hoping to see a REAL bear.

But only saw this little wooden guy outside of the guest bathroom window.

The haze quickly burned off into the most beautiful blue skies.

Don't you just love her red painted porch and matching adirondack chairs?

Vintage sign at the top of the stairs.  Notice the yellow heart pine floors!

A Caribou head her husband hunted on one of his trips to Canada.

One of the many stained glass windows hanging in the upstairs hallway window.  She found about 20 of them for $25. each in an antique store near Young Harris.

We took a break from painting and visited a few shops in Hiawassee.  This is the 5 & 10 cent store.  Now where else can you find bolo paddles next to quilting supplies and teaberry gum?

I should have picked up a couple of these aluminum ice trays.......the good old fashioned kind!

....and corn cob pipes......

hat pins.......

and laying behind the counter was this high school yearbook from Hiawassee High School.  Priceless!  They were having a reunion and looking up friends!

Look at this beautiful cash register!  I asked if I could take a photo and the owner said "Come on around back and pull the arm."  So I did and out pops the cash drawer.  Only in a little town!  This is a vintage National Cash Register circa 1891!  She said the National Cash Register company has been hounding them to buy it back, but they keep refusing!  This store had everything you could possibly need!

Next we travelled up to Brasstown Bald, the highest point in Georgia.  This is the view from the top lookout point looking down on Lake Chatuge and the surrounding areas.

On the way back down the mountain we stopped at a fresh vegetable stand.  This table of honey was just glowing in the sunshine!

We bought fresh vegetables for dinner and I had to buy some of these peaches to take home with me.
They taste as good as they look!!!

While in Hiawassee we stopped at the cutest Cupcake Shop with the most delicious cupcakes EVER!

Another view of Lake Chatuge from Susan's deck.

This is the Harvest Moon near Chatuge Dam.

Pink skies at night.........

The sunrise early the next morning.......notice the cloud cover just under the outline of the mountains.

This is a straight out of the camera photo of their back porch.

A pillow Susan made ......

Her collection of cameras......

Vintage jars........

Colorful caps......

and the perfect ending to a beautiful weekend.....