Slate Falls Press

Finn Mouse (a mouse for little brother)

by Joanna

This evening after dinner I gave our youngest his own mouse softie. But this isn't Phoebe. No, it is her boy cousin-- let's call him Finn. He became fast friends with our youngest, who immediately gave him the grand tour of our front walkway on a variety of foot-powered vehicles.

Finn is exactly like Phoebe Mouse except without the eyelashes, and in a simple pair of dungarees rather than a dress. He fits right in with our family.

I love his little overalls with criss-cross straps. So cute!

He and little brother are on their way to dreamland as I write. New besties, I am sure of it.

Meet Betty

by Joanna

Meet Betty. I found her at a neighborhood yard sale this week. Although she was in need of some intense tlc, I just had to have her. I figured I might be able to cut off her cover, deconstruct it, and build a new one. Imagine my delight when I took a look at her backside and saw that she unzips!

The cover was terribly water stained and just plain yucky. Eww.

I unzipped Betty and decided it was time for a soak. First, I machine washed the cover in cold water on a gentle cycle. Then, I made a soak solution for her out of this Vintage Textile Soak.

This is a solution I found at a local quilt shop about 10 years ago, and it is amazing. I have used it on lace, linens, and even some redwork quilt blocks my grandmother stitched over 80 years ago. It is amazing stuff.

While Betty soaked overnight in the textile bath, I began working on the knit cotton undercloth which covers the neck and arms. It had seen better days!

After removing the undercloth, I cut the seams and used it to draft a new one out of a cast off t-shirt. I left Betty out in the back yard all weekend for some fresh air and sunshine.

I was tickled to see that Betty is a dress form created by the Singer Sewing Company. I have been trying to guess when she was made, I am thinking the late 50's or early 60's?

The textile soak worked wonders for Betty's complexion! After spending a long sunny Sunday on the clothesline, she looked as good as new!

Here she is, all fixed up! The height of the metal stand is adjustable, and she looks simply fabulous. She's a 38-30-40, a real womanly shape. I love that about her.

I hope she is looking for work, because I hope to hire her to model for me from time to time... what a find!

(Happy Mother's Day to me!)

Old School

by Joanna

My sweet friend Angela just tweeted to me, "I love your old school ways." I know there are apps for just about anything you can think of these days... but I just love pencils. The skritch and scribble of pencil on paper is simply delightful.

Unfinished Object Update #1

by Joanna

I wrote a post back in February about facing my UFO's... and decided it is now time for an update.

The first project I decided to finish up was a simple pair of socks worked in Opal sock yarn. I left the socks linger because I made a mistake and the ribbing pattern on one sock is different than on the other one. I decided my feet wouldn't mind-- so I finished the foot of the second sock, which is all that remained to be completed. Ahhh. I forgot how good a new pair of handknit socks feels!

Another linger-er was my Atelier Cardigan. It was about halfway finished, I realized it would not be that hard to complete... AND that I could certainly wear it now, as we transition to spring weather in Colorado... so I wrapped it up. I love a top-down seamless knit like this. Hurray!

I am in love with the built-in garter stitch pockets. They are what sold me on the pattern in the first place.

So, my self-imposed rule is: "Finish 2, start something new"-- so I did!

This was my first big project in Blue Sky Alpaca's Metalico. It is a rather magical yarn to work with- half alpaca and half silk- dreamy. This is for a yet-to-be released publication from Interweave, so I can't show you any photos now. But the project is done: off needles, finished, written, blocked, delivered, and photographed already. I will show it to you as soon as I can!

~Snail Mail Love~

Last week, we received this lovely letter from a local library in New Hampshire. We get lovely emails, messages, and notes from our readers more often than I ever expected to, but this is our first "fan mail" from a library. What a treasure! We are so thankful for our readers!

~Prairie Road Trip~ Loveland, Colorado to Brown Sheep Company and back again!!

by Joanna

Eric and I work out of our home studios in Loveland, Colorado, which is about a three hour drive from the Brown Sheep Company wool mill in Mitchell, Nebraska. On Monday, my dad and I took at quick day trip up to the mill.

We drove north to Cheyenne, then east into Nebraska. Every time I go to Brown Sheep Co, I drive by this old Rambler station wagon. I always wanted to stop and snap a pic of it, so today I did.

This wonderful agricultural museum sits just east of the Scotts Bluff National Monument.

The skies could not have been more clear as we drove by! (Not in a covered wagon, but in a Ford pickup.)

I spotted this license plate as soon as we arrived at the mill, don't you love it? We had a great visit at the mill and talked through some exciting ideas to work on over the next few months. Also, we were able to pick up a pallet of books from their warehouse.

We took a shortcut through eastern Wyoming on the way home. There were a lot of spring calves out grazing on the plains.

My dad's "new" truck handled the load perfectly! The weather was forecasting rain, but we were able to dodge the raindrops and get home to Loveland safe and sound.