Cluck!

A needle-felted hen and chick for Katie, hand-delivered two weeks ago when we were in Seattle.


I followed the guidelines from the book Wool Pets by Laurie Sharp. The roving is mostly from Clover, with a little Felt Works by Hobby Lobby used on the chick. The more I needle-felt, the more I understand the difference in wool roving. The Clover roving is most prevalent at craft stores but it's so finely combed that it takes a lot longer to felt. I really like the Felt Works by Hobby Lobby because it's rougher, and therefore faster. Unfortunately I have to order that online and they only sell in small quantities (.25 oz). I've also used roving from Wistyria Editions which is quite nice (but same issues as Hobby Lobby), and today I found some roving by a local place in Astoria. Haven't used it yet, but it was by far the least expensive so I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Seattle weekend

Earlier this month Mike and I spent a great weekend in Seattle with Katie, Jamie and Max. I can't believe how big Max is getting, and was shocked to see that his hair has turned curly and reddish. He's unbelievably adorable and I could not keep my hands out of those curls.


Katie and Jamie took us on a tour of their neighborhood, which was a short walk from Volunteer Park and an old water tower (open for visitors to climb to the top) which offered great views of Seattle.



Our walk involved a stop at the Volunteer Park Cafe, which had incredible cookies and scones (which we had for breakfast, of course) and a stop at the swings and slide (which Max thoroughly enjoyed).

House Project: works in progress

"The march of progress is slow and steady, but it moves onward"

It's astounding, the number of individual pieces that comprise our column cladding. But the pieces are coming together and looking good. Mike is doing an excellent job of figuring out this little puzzle...


It took many months, but just look at these towering beauties (the flowers, not me - I'm only 5'-6").


Progress does move onward at our house, though sometimes it moves backward as well. Last weekend we had an unfortunate "paint sprayer clog" while painting our front door, which resulted in 4 hours of both of us scrubbing/peeling/cursing two layers of fresh paint off the door. Two steps forward, ten steps back. Oh well, we suck it up and keep moving.

Labor Day at Westport

This has been the summer of "out of town" posts. So many adventures to be had...

Last weekend Mike and I joined family and friends at the coast in Westport, WA. Susanna and Clayton rented a place at the "Chateau Westport", just a couple blocks from the ocean. We spent copious amounts of time on the beach, searching for treasures, flying the kite, playing football, frisbee, and baseball. Following are some photos of my favorite moments, and many more can be seen here.

Aidan's Kite

Beach Jump

Lincoln & Heidi

Aidan has a very good throwing arm.

He also has a good "game face"

But his defense just doesn't hold up against 180 lbs of Uncle.

My beach finds

Susanna & Clayton's beach finds

Susanna sorting her sand dollars

Aidan thoroughly enjoyed this, except for the sand down his pants part.

Under The Big Top

Baby Boy Lader is due to arrive in just a few weeks...



... imagine his excitement at arriving home and seeing this mobile hanging over his bed!

A baby's view

The mobile consists of a 9” diameter wooden embroidery hoop with red & white felt triangles. The triangles are sewn around the hoop at the base and sewn at the top to a red button. All the crocheted red balls are from a pattern by Emily Premise-Conclusion.

His limbs have an inner core of pipe cleaner and his eyes are buttons.

This monkey is based on the “Anthony Monkey” by Elise Dino. I say “based” because I did not use Dino’s pattern, but rather used a photo on her website to create the monkey. I liked the design a lot but didn’t need the pattern to create it. Lots of credit to Dino for designing such a cute monkey!



I’m particularly enamored with this seal with the ball balanced atop his nose. The pattern is from Vanna White (of Wheel of Fortune fame).



Quite an agile elephant! Pattern is from Irene Strange. He's about 3" high, but he feels like he's on top of the world.

King of the Big Top, this lion is the centerpiece to the mobile. He may hang a little lower, but it's just to keep an eye on everybody. This pattern is by Ana Paula Rimoli and was published in Crochet Today. It's a pretty good pattern, but is not laid out well in the magazine, so if you can find another source, good on you. Crocheting the mane is a bit tedious, though easy. He kind of looks like he has an 80’s permed mullet; it’s a bit endearing.