New Horizons

I've spent the last couple weeks just grinding away at some WIPs...most notably, my vegetable garden. But, I've been expanding my horizons as well.

The garden (everything is grown from heirloom seeds!) is doing better than I expected. This is my first attempt, you know. We'll be hoping for a bumper crop of sweet corn - it's already well above knee-high. The peas and beans are growing like weeds and the cucumber and broccoli are sprouted. We've already had some lettuce for our sandwiches that I had to thin out anyway. And I'm really looking forward to lots and lots of pumpkins this Halloween! I have something like 25 vines!

I just finished up a batch of 8 handbound journals. I tried out decoupage for the first time and up-cycled an old paper-back copy of a great novel - Frank Herbert's Heretics of Dune - into book covers. I also used some premium papers for the signatures - papers made from straw and from banana peels! They're in my Etsy store (ClassicInez.etsy.com*), as of last night.
*shameless plug

As for the new stuff...
Already tired of using other people's patterns for dolls, cute as they may be, I've been determined to make my own patterns. Well, I'm in the process of trying out my designs. I had to reconstruct my hands and arms once already as they were entirely too tiny to turn even with a pair of hemostats.
I have also been a bit more daring with my crochet. I dared a pattern, recently, for a shrug. I was mildly pleased with it, even though it was rather simple. The other day, I attempted a beanie and I loved it! So, I used up my first handspun in a similar manner and then used up some more handspun to make a fabulously variegated and super soft hat! I used three coordinating blues to create a dip-dyed effect. I'll be using the few yards of my yarn that I have left to make a flower for this one. I made a pair of apple cozies, too!