DIY mugs

So over at ravelry I'm taking part in a coffee/knitting swap. Part of our swap needed to be handmade.  I got  to thinking, what goes good with coffee and yarn? how about a mug? I shared with my sister and she loved the idea so I thought you'd like to see it also! Here are the tools I needed
some white mugs (I was looking for clear ones but couldn't find any)
rubbing alcohol,
paint brushes,
ceramic/enamel paint. (found at the local michaels) I got the water based kind.
I figured I can't draw that great so a saying would be key. I used a piece of paper and wrote down what I wanted my mugs to say, to have spelling working and all that jazz. I had two I really liked, but "I don't have a problem with caffeine I have a problem with out it" wouldn't really fit.  So "Coffee.Knit.Repeat" won. So I slowly painted on the words then let them dry for about 10 min . I'm amazed at how shaky my hands were. Then I repainted them and let them dry for about an hour. The directions on the paint said to put the items in a cold oven heat to 350 then bake for 30 min and remove from a cold oven. the Black turned out better so that's the one I sent on to my partner. I really hope she likes the mug.  I really like how they turned out. What do you think? I plan on getting better at painting and making more mugs to use as gifts. they're a lot of fun to make. If you try it share the photos with me!
To celebrate my creativity I made myself a cappuccino!

Hey Look!

a quick distraction.... I posted about socks over here

a new pretty spindle
and a new spinning wheel
more to come about those later

Scarves the word of the week!

 I've been told I need to update this more often...

So Scarves. it all started when I taught the bub to knit. she made this one for the bead After that she started on a scarf for my MIL. Which she finished this year for Christmas and that was her present to her this year.(a child after my own heart!) Then she made a scarf for a friend at school and
Her last scarf she finished was for a friend who's in kindergarten. I just think it's so sweet she's been knitting them scarves. I've been thinking about getting her to make other things... we'll see. she's happy making scarves right now.

spinning

I have a really cool friend named Ann. she lives on a farm and is really interesting. I met her through knitting. She gave me this.   she's trying to use up of some wool she bought a few years ago. And when I told her that i want to get better at my drop spindle before I buy a spinning wheel. (read save up for one) I didn't really know what to do with it until I searched Youtube. you saw the video on the post before right? I turned that fluffy cloud into a ball. then i proceded to spin it on the drop spindle not very well. but I will need to practice some more. After I finished that I got out some blue roaving my sister gave me and spun a small skein of lovely yarn. and I'm getting a little better I think. Unfortunately I was organizing my basket and found that my spindle is broken. So I need to get a new one I've been searching etsy and falling in love with tons of spindles. we'll see what I get after we get our tax return. If you have any suggestions leave them! I need a new spindle b/c I have a ton of wool from Ann to spin! I can't wait! She's so awesome I'm pondering sewing her a bag or something to thank her for her generosity! what do you think?