The Accidental Gardener Strikes Again....

Saw this happy little sign of spring the other day:

The significance? Well, I thought we lost the passionflower that we enjoyed all of last year. It bloomed and bloomed and bloomed some more. It also attracted a mess of butterflies, so we literally had continuing cycles of caterpillars turning into chrysalises (or chrysalides, according to dictionary.com -- who knew?) turning into butterflies. We even took some of the chrysalises to school for our favorite teacher, Mrs. K. (She teaches the children in the gifted program and kept a butterfly house in her room.)

Anyway, we ended up with a pretty harsh winter for South Texas and the passionflower appeared to have suffered the worst for it. But now, it has three little sprouts coming up from the ground! Can't wait to see the blooms and the butterflies again!

No news on the afghan front for now. I did take a break from the three (yes, three!) different blankets that I have in various stages of completion to make something for me -- a top designed by my fave designer (and crochet genius!) Doris Chan in one of my favorite yarns ever -- Spa, an acrylic/bamboo blend.

DS2 took this photo of some stranger posing in my top. Ok, I confess, it's really me, but I think he must have had a dozen cameras pointed in my direction. You know, because one camera adds 10 pounds. Anyway, I love, love, love this top and thank you, Doris, for such a terrific pattern. (The pattern is available free on NaturallyCaron.com)

I'm planning on making a second top in yellow. The only change I'll be making is fewer rows on the body. Because the yarn is so drapey, it turned out longer than I thought it would. I may even get up the courage to make this gorgeous top, another Doris Chan design:

More WIPs and an Update...

It's been a busy, crafty couple of weeks since the boys finished up their school year. They all painted birdhouses for my parents' 51st anniversary, which was on June 15. My parents live about 30 minutes away on 6 1/2 acres of land with tons of trees. We thought the birdhouses would be a great addition to their enjoyment of the property.

From left to right, DS4's barn birdhouse, DS3's double-decker birdhouse, DS2's colorful feeder, and DS1's castle birdhouse. (Truthfully, I painted the barn. DS4 was not interested in painting at all.)

I finished one of the 2 scarves I started last week. It turned out great! I will be listing it soon at The Lavender Lizard.

I was not happy with the way the second one was turning out, so 5 rows into it, I pulled it all apart. The reason: I love love love the yarn (Caron Spa -- a bamboo/microdenier acrylic blend) and the colors are scrumptious:

But the pattern I was making was not taking full advantage of the drapey, silky feel of the yarn. I have new ideas for the yarn though, and I hope to dive into them real soon.

And here's what I'm really, really, really trying to avoid:

The only things missing from this afghan are weaving in the ends (yuk!) and 3 rows of a border. I must force myself to finish this, and I'll probably devote Friday to this dreaded chore. Wish me luck!

Etsy Front Page and a New Product!

A couple of days ago, I received a message from Jennifer of JenniferABoston and The Crafty Dragonfly. She wanted to tell me that one of my items was on the Front Page of Etsy! Of course, I clicked over there as quickly as possible, but sadly, I missed it. (Thanks, Jennifer!)

Here's the featured item, a silk/bamboo wave patterned scarf (chosen because of its "eco" tag by Etsy Admin):

Great news -- the scarf received 9 new hearts and The Lavender Lizard received 6 new hearts! (Hearts are a way to mark favorite items or sellers.)

Over at The Lavender Ladybug, I received a request to crochet a tooth/molar motif. Here's what I came up with:

Marnie of AdornWithAAndM used the motifs to create a new product -- the Tooth Fairy Pillow Clip. I think they are adorable!

Marnie had previously requested chili peppers from me for her kitchen. The chili peppers inspired me to create paisley motifs (my favorite design element, ever), which I paired with small round dots:

I'm currently adding these in several colors at The Lavender Ladybug. As always, if you different idea for a motif or color, please contact me. I ♥ special orders!

Coming up next, crocheted borders for embellishing scrapbook pages! Stay tuned!