First Bird Pattern-Lazuli Bunting!

Lazuli Bunting, originally uploaded by mountainweaver.

I am so excited to have this wonderful pattern finished and ready for sale. I've worked very hard on it and hope that everyone who makes it has great success and lots of fun working on their project. Right now it is just for sale at my Ravelry shop, Lazuli Bunting  but soon it will also be in my Etsy shop.

Crocheted Birds

This Western Tanager was the first of this group that I did. I dyed all the yarns to get the colors that I wanted for all the birds. My son-in-law wanted me to crochet a Western Tanager for him for his birthday because I had crocheted some chickadees for my daughter that they both liked. I decided that he needed a mate.



I made up the pattern as I went and I use field guides to make the markings realistic. Sometimes I use tapestry crochet to get the detail and sometimes I embroider the features on.

Then I decided Cory needed a Lazuli Bunting, another bird I knew he liked so I made this one.



And of course, he needed a mate so I made her.



Well, then my husband asked how Cory would display these birds so we came up with a woven background that I had done and I made a couple of inkle bands to make the perches for the birds to sit. I was hopeful that it would come together and it really did without any major unanticipated problems.



I think that Cory really liked the gift. They had said that it was an unlikely grouping since both of these species of birds usually hang out in quite different habitats so would not usually be seen in the same tree. But the next weekend they went to Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake and what did they see? Western Tanagers and Lazuli Buntings in the same tree! Now Jess wants me to crochet all the rare birds she would like to see and put them in the same hanging. Who knows the magic of crocheted birds?

New Low Whorl Spindle

After reading Abby Franquemont's book, Respect the Spindle, I really wanted to try a low whorl spindle. I hadn't really been in love with spindle spinning and high whorl spindles when I tried it a few years ago, so I wanted to see if maybe this style of spindle suited me better. Alas, with Howard out of work so long, there was no money for spindles so he found an old box we had bought at the thrift store awhile back. He thinks it is eucalyptus wood. After he took the box apart, I drew a circle on the best and largest side and he cut it out. We don't have many tools so he used a small hack saw and a lot of sand paper. Very primitive! He managed to get a hole in it for a dowel rod and carved the top of the dowel so it was indented for a half hitch to hold the yarn. Then I spun on it for a couple of days and he sanded more off here and there to get it perfectly balanced. For the unconventional way he got it made, it is really a great spinning spindle, well balanced and fast. I've got spindles I spent a lot of money on and they don't spin nearly as well. It weighs about 1.6 ounces which is just what I wanted and that was purely by chance. It was really a labor of love on his part and makes the spindle all that much more special. And I discovered that I really love low whorl spinning!