Progress, and finished projects

A friend and I have had our baskets needing to have rims finished, so we decided to work together this week. Her quilt basket is finished, and my recycling basket is finally finished, thanks to Basketmaster Nancy and her Mini Muffin Basket pattern. You see, I didn't like the way the first rim came out (too wimpy for a large basket), so I ripped it back off. As my friend Cathy suggested, I began the rim again, but with #3 round reed (instead of #2 in the pattern directions), and it still seemed too soft for a large rim, so I unbraided it while it was still wet. I remembered that I had downloaded Nancy's Mini Muffin Basket pattern, and it had a similar rim, so I decided to use her directions. There were some differences, and it made all the difference! It now has a sturdy rim and I"m happy with my basket. Thank you Nancy!!!





It's the end of the school year, and I needed a teacher gift, so I decided that I'd make a bracelet for my son's teacher, since she seemed to really like the last one I had given her. The first one I made is the green bracelet, but I wasn't sure if it would be the right gift, and decided to make another, different bracelet and made the blue wire work and bead bracelet. I didn't have the exact size wire that the pattern I was working from called for, and had trouble with the thin wire (that I decided to use because I already had it) breaking as I was making the blue one, so although I'm happy with the way it looks, it will remain mine, and I just plan to fix it in the future, if necessary. Therefore, the teacher is receiving the green bracelet today - possibly as I write this blog entry:-)

While I had the bead and wire supplies out, my friend and I decided to make shawl pins. We ran out of time, but may get them finished when she comes over later today. Here's how mine looks now:

When I was on Whidbey Island yesterday, I found a cute border and ric-rac to use on my mesh tote. I'm not sure I'm going to use the magenta strap webbing now, so will dig through my stash and see if I can find something that will work better.

This warp has move much slower through the loom as the threads are much finer than the other projects I've made, and I need to stop every 6 repeats to change colors (I tried carrying the unused thread along the side, but didn't like the look). Yesterday when I checked to see how much warp was left, it looked like I was getting really close to the end, so I decided I would just go for it, and stay up until it was finished. Yes, I stayed up way past my bedtime, but look what I have to show for it, probably 4-5 yards of beautiful fabric. It's in the washer and I'll measure it when it's dry and pressed to see how much I have to make something with. [It was supposed to be kitchen towels, but I wove it as yardage so I could decide later.]