Wednesday, October 26, 2016

NEW TOMATO PLANTS!

I'm sure you've seen those articles about growing new vegetables from their own cuttings. Here's one I saved to my Facebook page -- https://www.buzzfeed.com/caroltan/heres-how-to-turn-your-vegetable-scraps-into-vegetables-agai
I didn't see it in this article, but saw another that showed slicing a tomato, then covering the slices lightly with potting mix. New tomato plants should start in a week or so. Well, I had to try this, of course!

The summer heat really fried a few of my tomatoes. They weren't pretty, but tasted wonderful ... so I sliced one to see how easily this would work. This photo shows the little plants after two weeks. I used three slices, but none grew from the third slice on the right. Now I'll have to thin out a few and select two or three plants for winter tomatoes.

The poor plants had to fight their way up through the terrible soil I used! A little Miracle Gro should help them.

Saturday, October 1, 2016

WEAVING ON MY NEW LOOM!

I found two more classes on Skillshare that really excited me ... Weaving pendants on a small loom. I ordered one of the looms instead of making one. You can get a small wooden picture frame and use nails equally spaced 1/4" apart on the top and bottom ... or even use cardboard, create your warp and then tape the ends of your yarn to the back. But this beautiful loom was only $20. It's made by Jim Hokett and measures 4" x 7". Larger ones are also available. I ordered the Cottolin yarn used in one of the classes and the loom from The Woolery. But the possibilities are endless ... using other materials and textures, beads ...


Here are photos of two pendants that are finished with chain.
I added one of my keys to this one.

Here the weaving is attached to a piece of nubby palm flower stem.

Here is a photo of the loom with the warp added and two of my first pendants.

This photo shows the back of one of the pendants ... all those loose ends have to be woven in and snipped.

Weaving is so much fun! When I was very young and we lived on a farm in upper Michigan, my mother had a huge loom in my grandfather's barn where she made rag rugs. Friends and neighbors saved old clothes that she cut into strips and then rolled into balls. I so regret not being older then so I could have joined her.