Saturday, October 11, 2008

Pioneer Day at LSUS

I will be out at LSUS today for Pioneer Heritage Day. I will be spinning on my spinning wheel and probably a spindle. There will be quite a few local artisans from the area demonstrating living history. There are expected to be spinners, quilters, weavers, woodcarvers, blacksmithing and people demonstrating what it was like 100 - 200 years ago in the area. In previous years the cannon was even shot off hourly. I expect that will be the same. It should be a fun day for children and adults alike. It is located on the edge of LSUS campus where there are several historic buildings that have been moved from other sites around the state. It will be from 10 am until 4pm.

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

Baby Doll Blankets



I get to be one of Santa's elves. How cool is that? A group of knitters and crocheters from the Shreveport area are knitting (and crocheting) baby doll blankets for toys for tots. Santa finds help where he needs it. There are a couple of other groups involved in this project. I'm just one cog, er, elf in the wheel. I tend to do more spinning than knitting so I am not the fastest knitter in the world. Crocheting is faster but I have always liked the look of knitting better, except for fancy crocheted edges on things. I should probably learn how to tat.
I knitted one baby doll blanket which took a couple of days in my spare time. Then I crocheted one in an afternoon – much faster for me. It occurred to me that whipping them out on a sewing machine would be fastest so I got out my trusty sewing machine which I have had for 17 years. We replaced a belt and a few other things last year so I was surprised that it looks like it needs a new belt again. The replacement belt isn't the same number as the original but I guess replacement belts are made by a different company now. I am waiting for a belt to come in the mail probably tomorrow.
I got one quilted baby doll blanket done before the sewing machine started growling at me. I finished a couple more by hand – those probably took as long as they would have if I had crocheted them. Hmm, well itty bitty quilts are cute. They are easy to make if you find some material which looks like it is already quilted. I only had to put batting between and stitch the sides and then quilt a little square in the center. If my machine gets fixed tomorrow I will be able to whip out several more of these quickly.
Here are some pictures of the finished products. We are working, Santa.