Two Movies on Tuesday

With no football to watch on a Tuesday night, we watched a couple movies after dinner. Jim chose the first one we watched on Amazon Prime Video, Rumor Has It. This movie was a cute look at what could have happened to all the characters in the years after The Graduate. In the end the father character told the daughter what she needed to know, and the right guy ended up with the girl.

I chose the second movie of the night. We watched The Last Laugh. This was a great movie about getting old and facing your death. Nothing sad here though, at least not for long. Chevy Chase and Richard Dreyfuss were wonderful as old friends who end up in the same assisted living place. They take off on a grand cross country adventure. There are some great belly laugh moments in this one. Too bad that by this time Jim was dozing in his recliner.

In creative news I finished a scarf and started another. These are both crocheted and made with Lion Brand Shawl in a Ball, colorway Prism. Both are Lion Brand Patterns. Maybe I will get some pictures taken to share here soon.

Back with more again soon. 

Take care and stay cozy! 

The Things You Do For Love

There are many things I do for love day in and day out. If I didn't have Jim and our shared home to care for my life could be so different but definitely not in a good way. I know that I would easily slip into being a Netflix binging, knitting and/or crocheting, popcorn for dinner night owl. So for him and my own sanity and health I try not to slip into those ways.

Another thing I did for love is going to the post office tomorrow. A granddaughter asked for a cow. We looked on Etsy at patterns and she chose this one. It is made with Bernat's Blanket Yarn. For someone who thinks of worsted as a thick yarn this wasn't my favorite thing to make. I like shawls and afghans and other projects that do not have lots of pieces that need to be attached to finish the project. But for her I did it and it is boxed and waiting for a ride to the post office in the morning.

Next family project is for a niece who asked for ear warmers. They will be used by her through Colorado winters. The pattern we found for that is on Ravelry, is crocheted, and uses sport weight yarn. I am looking forward to shopping for yarn to make it and then getting started. I do need to remember she said any color but green.

Back with more again soon. Take care and stay cozy!

Elizabeth Drumm introduces herself and the reason for her shop on Etsy, Wolle's Yarn Creations, with the following words. 

I learned to knit when I was 12, proudly joining the knitting ranks of my mother and grandmother. I have fond memories of holidays and family gatherings when we would all knit together.

Nowadays I am either knitting or creating new yarns for the shop. I really like playing with colors and trying out new colorways, which of course leads to more knitting.

I have had this shop in my favorites list for a very long time. Someday, when I am not knitting or crocheting for my shop, I may splurge on yarn from this shop for a special personal project just for me. I love the way she uses colors in her yarns. You can choose from bright and bold or pastels, heathered solids or calming neutral ombre looks.  The fibers she works in include cotton and cotton blends with silk or bamboo. These all sound perfect for warm weather knitting to fit my Arizona life.

I am sharing this shop with you today because I believe that sharing creates good karma. This can act the same way as passing on a smile. I plan to be more consistent about sharing favorite on Fridays. Some may be from Etsy, like today, or any other thing that catches my eye anywhere on the web or in my life. 

In the meantime I invite you to share in the comments if you have a favorite Etsy shop. Feel free to leave a link to the shop so I can check it out.

Back with more again soon. Take care and stay cozy!

 Once long ago I made a ladder yarn shawl. It was the first time I had ever made this pattern and it turned out big, very big. It would be the perfect size for and 8 foot tall person. So over time I found other things to do with it. It has, at one time or another, been a mantle scarf at a fireplace, a dining room curtain and currently it is a second layer over a shower curtain in a guest bath. If you click to enlarge the picture you can see that is has lots of pretty colors in it including a soft yellow along with pinks and orange and a frosty aqua.

Not wanting a pink bathroom or orange or aqua the aforementioned yellow led me to a search for yellow bath rugs. I already have some yellow towels so the search was on to complete the look in my head. I had no luck finding anything I liked. Being in need of more projects to get done or put off like I always do I decided to dig up my old puff stitch rug pattern. The problem? I couldn't find the pattern but I had made it before. So after buying some lemon yellow Red Heart yarn cause that stuff wears like iron and playing with a couple hook sizes and beginning a couple times and frogging I was on my way. I came up with a long rug to go in front of the sink and a hexagon to step onto getting out of the tub.

Next for this bathroom? I want some decor for the walls and I have some crafty ideas in mind. If I get them made I'll post here later.



Back with more again soon. Take care and stay cozy!

All About the Buttons

Creating is in my blood. My Father was a designer & my Mom was a talented needle artist. Since I was a child, I have always been busy with various forms of fiber work including knitting, crochet, needlepoint, embroidery and weaving. Alongside of those interests was that famous old cookie tin of buttons that I loved to play with. During my fulfilling career in education I created and sold to colleagues and some local stores.The ease of online selling became a reality for me in 2005. I now devote myself full time to combining fibers and buttons but I also love and make tape measures, clocks, magnets and bookmarks.There's barely a craft I haven't tried! Please don't ask me to paint...that's another story! 
I love special orders so don't hesitate to ask. I am proud of my 100% feedback selling online with over one thousand items off to new homes in the US and around the world. 

I remember Barbra from those early days of selling handmade goods online. I started seeing mentions of a site called Etsy on blogs that year. I joined myself in 2006. When Zibbet was created later I found Barbra had a shop there too. I have enjoyed reading her thoughts in forums on both sites, Etsy and Zibbet. They were always calm, thoughtful, inspiring. 

Her creativity has always impressed me. She takes simple bits of fabric and buttons or yarn and buttons or barrettes and buttons or wall decor with buttons and turns the into things that are truly special. You get the idea that it is always "All About the Buttons" right?

Not really all buttons all the time. Barbra shares a lot on social media and if you want to follow along you can find her on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and Pinterest. Below you can see all the latest pins on a board she has titled My Stuff. This board and all the others Barbra has are worth checking out and following.

Don't forget about shopping. Her shop All About the Buttons is filled with things that would make great gifts anytime for you, your home and those you love. 

Follow All About The Buttons's board My Stuff! on Pinterest.

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 I sell - Zibbet
I blog - A Cozy Life
I tumble - CozyAtoZ
I pin - cozyatoz
I socialize - on Google Plus and on Twitter .

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Football Season

We have lived in two different cities with a home town pro football team. Those cities were San Diego and Phoenix. We still keep an eye on the Chargers and Cardinals and how they are doing each season even though we live in Wyomming now. I always enjoyed the chance, whenever it came along, to go to the games. It wasn't often but it was always fun.

I look forward to the season at home too. Why? Well every weekend it gives me an excuse to sit in a chair for way too long and get lots of knitting or crocheting done although if the game is very good the needlework goes a bit slower.

Any favorite teams in your house?


I sell - Zibbet
I blog - A Cozy Life and Group2020
I tumble - CozyAtoZ
I pin - cozyatoz
I socialize - on Google Plus and on Twitter .

What's New Wednesday

So what is new today?

Well it is snowing but at the end of January that is not so new. American Idol is on tonight and that is a new episode and I admit to being a fan. I have surveys to fill out in my inbox, not new. I got a couple likes from strangers on my tumbler blog and that is new.

But to me the best news I have is that I got two shawls listed online yesterday. Learning some construction techniques from other projects helped me to design and make these and I am pleased with how they turned out. These really need to go where they will be worn and loved by somebody.

I used four strands of thread to make the shawl above that had grays, beige and browns, one of them a variegated thread. It came out so soft and drapes over shoulders so well that you could wrap it lots of ways. The border creates a ruffled edge, but not too ruffly. I have only done one of these so far but I do have supplies for more.

This one I imagined as a bridal or wedding shawl although if someone likes to wear white it would work for them too. When taking the pictures I was really worried about capturing the white without funny tints and am pleased with that. This thread has an opalescent strand in it that I just couldn't get to show up. So with this one you get white with a bit of bling. I did this style in an icy blue too and will hopefully be getting that posted today.

If you want to see more pictures of these they are in my shop Cozy on Zibbet.

For a Princess

Yesterday for Wordless Wednesday, which is a way of blogging on Wednesdays that I intend to continue, I showed you a pink baby blanket I am working on. In an effort to reduce my stash of yarn and fabrics I decided to make this with yarn I already. As any of you who knit or crochet know sometimes it just does not work out. It looks as if, oh darn, I need to get some more yarn to finish it to the size I want. I am thinking about a green border to enclose the pinks.

I am pleased with the way it looks so far and when finished it will go online in one of my shops so someone can make the life of a new princess softer.

Wordless Wednesday WIP

considering 55

My age will change next week. I will go from early 50's to mid 50's and the thought is a bit depressing. I notice I am a bit grayer this year and it really shows because I have never colored my hair unless you count a teen-aged experiment with lemon juice and sunshine. Some things are good though. I can be thankful that knees, hips and ankles are in good shape. My hands ache sometimes after a long day of knitting or crocheting. I suppose I will have to find some kind of joint pain relief one of these days because as long as I can see and my hands work I won't stop those hobbies. I need them as much as breathing whether anything sells in my shops or not.

My thoughts shared with you and noted for myself and a way to take a break from cleaning chores for a minute.

Let me know what is up with you.
I love comments.

Dusting is next.

Handmade in My House

I have set out on a new series of posts here at Cozy's Stitches. I will still feature artists and crafters and their work but a couple times a week I will be showing you what I have in my life that is handmade. I will show you the things that I made myself and the things Jim and I have collected.

To organize this project I will go room by room and show off the big things, little things, decorative things and useful things. We are starting in the master bathroom with something I made. This useful rug tickles my feet and dries my toes every morning.I found myself with a lot of that fabric that you wonder why you really every bought. You sewers know exactly what I am talking about. The kind of stuff that calls to you from the clearance table. You don't have a project in mind but maybe you just might use it someday. This rug used a lot of that kind of fabric up for me. I crocheted a base and latch hooked short fabric strips onto it. The rug is thick and heavy and feels wonderful to step on.What do you have in your life that you use or enjoy every day that is handmade? Feel free to leave a comment about it and even a link if you have posted about your handmade life on a blog.

Sources of Inspiration

I have more than one book I turn to when looking for inspiration. The book depends on what I want to do that hour, that day or that week. I collect reference books for knitting, crochet and quilting. I use them when I am feeling bored with what I am doing. Going slowly through the pages of this type of book, with my stash of yarns and fabrics in mind can lead to lots of new ideas. My oldest "craft bible" is the red Knitting book published by Abbey Press. I bought this book more than 30 years ago when I wanted to do more with knitting than garter stitch. It is starting to fall apart but I still love it's patterns, pictures and accurate instructions. It has followed me through getting married, living on Guam, in Vallejo, San Diego, Murray, Stansbury Park and now Apache Junction. With all the moves there was never any thought that this book would be given away with all the others I thinned out each time I needed to pack.

I also make use of some of the newer books in my collection. I have 2 of Vogue's Stitchionaries and I have found them to be a lot of fun. As you can see here I am using the chevron rib to make the red scarf that may end up in my Etsy shop. Then again I may just keep it for myself. Everyone needs a bit of power red in their wardrobe. I haven't finished it so I haven't decided. The pattern is a 16 row repeat so it is a bit more complicated than I usually do but the resulting texture is very pleasing and worth the effort and concentration I think.

Quilting, like knitting and crocheting, has been a part of my life for a long time. I got started on it by watching Georgia Bonesteel's PBS series. I have a few of her books. Her one block at a time method fit my life at the time with apartment living and three small children. I also made use of the "Quilt in a Day series when I helped a Navy wives group make a raffle quilt each year to help support communities events for kids like a breakfast with Santa Claus. I have shown in the top picture my latest quilt block book. Just looking through it puts me in idea overload.

I know the blog carnival topic was "Craft Bible" but I am a Gemini with crafting ADD so I just have to share more than one. Thanks for reading. If you want to read more posts on this topic from other bloggers you can use the blog carnival link on the left to take you to them.

Audio Books

I discovered something about myself recently. I used to think that I wouldn't enjoy audio books. I am a visual learner and listening to a book in times past didn't appeal to me. As needlework, mostly crocheting and knitting, fill my hands and time this has changed. I have listened my way through television and movies for years while concentrating on the latest project. After listening to Kelly of Knit picks in her podcasts talk about audio books I thought I would give it a try. The Phoenix library has helped me out here with audio books available for download if you have a library card. I am so happy to have discovered a way to enjoy my two favorite things, reading and needlework. Getting the software needed which was easy to download from the library. My first book is by Michael Connelly and I am looking forward to more.

It's Been A Week

It has been a week since I posted Tristan's Birthday. I have no silly excuses for why I haven't posted I just didn't. I would walk by the computer and think, "I am not going near that thing." It (the computer) has a habit of sucking up hours of my day and then I feel guilty for not getting anything more constructive done.

I did quite a bit of knitting this week. I was trying out ideas that had been floating around in my head. These were just little product and pattern ideas that you need to try to see if they work. Some of the ideas did and some didn't. In the end I came up with pattern stitches and sizes that I am happy with.

In an effort to get away from so much mass produced stuff in our lives I was thinking you need to start with the basics. What is more basic than being clean and shiny? So thinking along this line, I have come up with some pattern ideas for cotton wash cloths and dish cloths. I know these aren't new ideas but if we are going to get away from mass produced it will take a LOT of knitters and crocheters to make these things.

Enough for today.

It's About Etsy

Going through knitting blogs about 2 years ago I ran across a mention of a website named Etsy. I wish I could remember the name of the blog but it has disappeared from this old lady's memory. After that mention I checked it out and fell in love with it. I have crafted one thing or another for as far back as I can remember - knitting, crocheting, embroidery, quilting - anything with a needle, hook or thread. I did a little tole painting in there somewhere too as well as leather work. I started doing craft shows off and on in the early 1980's in San Diego, Ca. With a move to Utah I started doing craft shows there as well.

With the growth of the web I knew someday there would be a place for crafters and artists. I checked out site after site never quite finding a place that felt comfortable. Then one day surfing the blogs on a lunch break as mentioned before I found Etsy. It was wonderful to look around. The site design was and still is made so the products are the stars. Everything on the site is made to show off the creations of artists and crafters. The community spirit in the forums is amazing. The range of works this site has attracted is so wide as to be unbelievable.

Please if you value handcrafted work of any and all kinds check it out. You can look at individual sellers, shop by categories, check out what has just been listed or sold and see little user created mini galleries called treasuries. Where else can you find an arts festival 24/7/365 around the world with not hundreds but thousands of vendors?

Thanks to the people who created this place. The world needed it.

Let me, and everyone else you know, hear what you think about Etsy after you check it out for yourself.