 Like a lot of people, I guess, I have done my share of TV watching. Early on in the pandemic, the good folks at MDK (Modern Daily Knitting) recommended Schitt's Creek as good fun. Having had my COMPLETE fill of made for TV Hallmark "movies", I was pretty much ready to try anything. So, for a delightful month or so, my husband and I binge watched Schitt's Creek. The MDK people set me up by saying yes, it's a comedy, but watch for the love. So, basically, I was already primed to love it. Not disappointed. LOVED this show. We have seen all the episodes at least twice...well, ok, maybe three times. David. Patrick. Johnny. Yes, look for the love. ❤❤❤ P.S. Want to see the newest silver earrings?? Sure! Click HERE to shop. Full disclosure, they are currently sold out but I'll make a pair just for you! 👌  I know I mentioned before that we love to travel, especially in the western US, where are sons live. We almost always drive so that we can take our time & enjoy the journey. One of our favorite things to do is stop along the way and look for cool rocks. We live in a place (south Louisiana) with no rocks at all but I grew up in Arkansas, so most all rocks could be described (by me) as "cool". Anyway, we have gotten a little bit pickier with what we pick up & haul back across the country. So, early in the pandemic, I decided to switch out all of the "knobs" in our house with knobs made of the the rocks we have collected over the years! It was a fun project and we love the results. Each knob is a little work of art!! Rocks rock!
In between rock stops, I knit. Want to see the sterling silver stitch markers I make? Click the button below!
 So....technically, it was my husband who learned to make yogurt but I helped (by watching the thermometer....) so, yeah "we" learned to make yogurt. We make a gallon at a time. I made yogurt regularly years ago with one of those little yogurt maker things but this is a whole different ballgame. Why? Because of the digital/remote thermometer!!! No more watching like a hawk for minute temp changes! No more worrying that it's too hot or too cold - this thing actually sounds an alarm when the temp is perfect! How cool is that? So now it's a gallon of yogurt every few weeks - whew, that's a LOT of yogurt!!!
Wanna see the handmade bags, perfect for knitting or whatever you need to carry around?? Makeup, meds, toothbrush, yeah any of that stuff! So cute! Click HERE to see all the bags!!  We have taken lots of "mini" road trips in the past year. We love to travel and, with our sons living several states away, we missed that a lot so we started taking day trips. One of our favorite places to go was Ponchatoula, LA. At just about 45 minutes from our home, it was an easy drive and provided a nice place to walk around and window shop the antique stores. Another favorite was Ann Brown Preserve near St. Fancisville. This place seems like an undiscovered gem, providing a nice easy walk in the woods and the terrain is hilly!!! What a concept.  Awkward seque: want to see some handmade zippered bags that are perfect for knitting or makeup or anything else you need to "tote" around?? >>>>>>>> ClICK HERE!
Continuing the painting journey during early Covid times, I took a couple of online courses in acrylic painting. So much fun!!! No goal in mind, nobody to please but myself; really no chance of anyone even seeing what I was doing was very freeing. I just painted. Just for me. It. was.amazing. I recommend it sometime.
I took a class (in Spanish, with subtitles!) on watercolor painting, with a focus on the cosmos! What a fun thing to do - I learned so much about how to use watercolors, which had always been a pretty scary thing to attempt.
So, here is what I learned - with the proper instruction, all sorts of things can be learned. It's really more about motivation ("want to") that anything else. Interesting concept, that. Motivation is the key! We raised monarch in the spring of 2020!! What a fun thing this was!! I saw some friends raising them on Facebook & decided to jump in. A friend sent me seeds for milkweed (the only thing monarchs will lay eggs on and then that's what the caterpillars eat) and they grew well! Then the monarchs came (and kept coming) and laid their eggs. We ended up protecting them from the birds and then watched them make their chrysalis and then emerge into gorgeous butterflies. The entire process took about 3 weeks - what an amazing transformation!! That's my husband in the middle photo getting a close up look at the chrysalis!
This video shows how intricately the chrysalis is attached to the structure. I pulled this off AFTER the butterfly emerged!
I think maybe a lot of people got interested in new hobbies during the lockdown due to Covid. The first thing I did was continue my love affair with knitting. I was a relatively new knitter last March when the lockdown started but I have done a lot more knitting in the past year. All I knit are socks....I love a small, more or less "bite-sized" project and if it's portable, even better!
 This is the brightest project bag for your spring knitting projects! It's a medium size so, pretty much perfect for everything you have planned. Handle so you can carry it around wherever life takes you!   I have been on a real run of making these little makeup or jewelry bags - they have zippers so things inside are both secure and easy to access. The best thing? That little matching fabric tassel attached to the zipper pull! It can double as a keychain or place to hang all sorts of miscellaneous things that you need easy access to! Click below to take a closer look & shop!
 Special request for larger knitting stitch markers so these were born & will remain a permanent part of my knitting accessories collection. I know they work will with US size 15 knitting needles and, since they are a loose fit on those needles, I also know they will work with larger needles. I couldn't get my hands on larger needles when I was sizing them so it's a little unclear what size needle is the outside limit!
Click the button below to shop these silver stitch markers!  Valentine's Day is here so I wanted to show these hearts that I made alongside this new silver bracelet. As much as I try, I can't stick with just one "thing". I have made jewelry for a long time and I love it. When the lockdown came (almost a year ago now) and the simultaneous canceling of every art show I was planning to attend, I found myself with more time on my hands.
First I turned to knitting (wonderfully addictive, calming and just plain fun) then to an old love of mine, sewing. When I came across an idea for these little patchwork hearts, I just could not resist. I think I made about 10 of them. Aren't they the cutest?? Happy Valentine's Day, y'all!  Oh, my goodness, guys, this fabric!!! I collect all sorts of fabric, some incredible, some not so much. This fabric is amazingly beautiful. It's from the designer Kaffe Fassett and his colors are the best. Plus the fabric is soft and lovely pure cotton. What's not to love? This bag is perfect for storing all sorts of things; I use it for knitting WIP (works in progress) but, honestly, it's a great size for all sorts of things. Click here to get more details about this bag & to shop!
 Turns out I really enjoying sewing small projects of functional things. Dresses & other clothing? Not so much but I LOVE sewing small things like project bags for knitting, makeup bags all sorts of bags for all sorts of uses. So much fun when you are stuck in the house!
These little bags are even great for jewelry - I have started keeping a little project or zippered bag in my car with the "essentials", as you see above...including jewelry for when I rush out of the house & forget to put on jewelry....just the basics, right??  I found a pattern online for these sweet little hearts and, since I have been pretty seriously into sewing during Covid times, I had to make a few. Seriously, I think I made about 10 of them. They are just soooo cute, you know?
 These little pliers right here are my favorite tool ever for making jewelry. A little on the pricy side, yes, but not terrible and the last a LONG time. Real workhorses. So worth the money. I have built my collection of tools a little at a time over several years; so good to have high quality tools!
 I have been thinking a lot about craft shows lately - mainly because they have mostly been canceled for the past year. Now it appears that they will be making a slow comeback; first, the smaller local shows (some of which never really canceled), a few newer (but still small) shows and then, eventually, the larger shows across the country.
I have family on the west coast who I have not seen for over a year and I have plans to apply for shows near where they live. Hoping to get into a few this summer so that I can dip my toes back into craft shows and visit my family too...WIN!!  Because I have discovered knitting during the panemic, I also rediscovered a love of sewing. Put those two things together and you get lots & lots of handknit socks PLUS handmade project bags for knitting as well as these narrow bags to store all the knitting needles! And you gotta love that cotton fabric! This is the smaller version for DPNS, other shorter knitting needles and small circular needles. I also made a larger/longer version for single point longer knitting needles so that you can store your entire collection of needles in one place! Yay!   I just made this super cute and Louisiana (or coastal anyway) themed pouch and it's useful for so many things. I sometimes have to remove a bracelet or two when I am doing certain things so I throw them in this little zippered bag to keep them safe. Sunglasses? No problem - they can go in the bag, too! Checkbook - right, it pretty much lives in this little pouch!
Then, the pouch goes into my bigger bag and, when I get home, I can easily pull things out to store them in their correct places at home! Win!  I love to knit and I love to make jewelry so I thought, why not combine the two? I make some silver stitch markers that include gemstones (you can go here to see those) but these newest ones are just a simple little twist of non-tarnish sterling silver wire (love those sweet little balled ends!!).
Simple, functional, elegant. AND guess what..... These silver stitch markers make great gifts for the knitter in your family or for the knitter wannabe! Use everyday and plan to hand these down to the next generation of knitters in your family!! Click here to see these elegant, silver stitch markers!  I spent lots of summer hours as a kid making jewelry out of whatever I had available, usually clover flowers or sometime yellow dandelion flowers (although those didn't work nearly as well as the clover flowers). This bracelet (and the entire Clover Collection) reminds me of those sweet times everytime I wear it!
Click here to see the entire Clover Collection & see if you remember, too!  I recently became totally in love with knitting - sock knitting to be precise. I decided to start making sterling silver stitch markers using gemstones. More stitch markers are either plastic (no fun at all) or little cutesy things so I wanted to make something different and more elegant that could actually be passed down to the next generation of knitters!!! Here we go!
Want to see jewelry instead of stitch markers? Click here to shop!  It's always hard for me to choose new business cards so when my stock runs low, it's a mixed blessing. So many beautiful designs!! How in the world will I ever choose? In the end, I just force myself to pick someone, click "order" & move on. Normally, making decisions is pretty easy for me but, or some reason, this is a challenge for me. I'm happy with these newest ones!
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I am Laura Teague, a metal smith, knitter and sewist living and working in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and traveling the western US whenever I can! Categories
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