The Day my Jack Rat Terrier Became a Rat Terrorist

Warning this story contains death, nastiness, and lots of screaming.

The other night, I went out to the BBQ and opened it. To my surprise a HUGE rat had built it's nest in the top of the BBQ. I screamed and dropped the lid down. My darling husband came running out and grabbed the broom (manly man). He opened the lid and the rat flew out of the BBQ about four feet off the ground. I screamed a lot more. It ran into a water cooler we have on the back porch. After careful examination and lots of broom poking by my husband, we determined the rat had gone into the inside of the back of the cooler.

The whole time, our dog, Daisy, had been circling the water cooler and trying to sniff out the rat.

The best thing I could think to do to get the rat out was beat on the front of the cooler in hopes of scaring the rat out. I beat on it. The rat flew out. Daisy caught the rat mid air and dropped it on the ground. I screamed. The rat ran right at me. I screamed more. My husband stood there holding the broom. Daisy pounced and grabbed the rat and ran into the yard with it, throwing it in the air and shaking it vigorously. Needless to say...the rat did not survive. But to be sure, my husband ran and got a shovel (manly man) and went to check out the status of the rat. It would no longer be frequenting the BBQ on our back porch. My husband used the shovel to carefully place the rat in a plastic bag and took it to it's final resting place in our trashcan.

That's how my dog, the Jack Russell-Rat Terrier mix, became a Rat Terrorist.

DAISY the RAT TERRORIST

Back on Etsy

After a crazy long break from Etsy, I'm back! I posted 12 items this morning and have a stash of about 20 more handmade yarns I plan on listing over the weekend. CHECK IT OUT The above yarn is some funky fun yarn painted on some cool novelity stuff.

I have a couple Valentine's Day yarns listed. A Boucle:
And some sock yarn:
I also have a few handspun listed, but not as many as I will have over the next couple days. I will keep you posted when new items are listed. Until then, as always, happy crafting ♥

To Suck a Toad or Not

No, I'm not talking about some crazy hallucination trip that you may have seen something about on the Discovery Channel. For my dear friends in California, and other places who may be thinking I have finally fallen off the rocker...Toad Suck Daze is a festival here in Conway, Arkansas. Last year I was a vendor and sold a lot of handspun yarn and hand painted yarn and roving. The event was quite profitable and a ton of fun. I met a lot of fiber friends and enjoyed every unique person I got the chance to chat with. BUT it was a lot of work. Many, many hours of painting went into the event.

This cute little toad is for sale on Etsy by Bubbletime. Check it out by CLICKING HERE.

So now I sit and ponder, should I do Toad Suck or not? More than anything, I love being in public showing off the dying art of spinning yarn. But again, it's so much work. It'll be right before my sister's wedding too.

If I do it this time, there will be a lot less painted yarn. Much more handspun yarn. And some finished projects for sale as well. Hummmm.....

The above adorable toad pin will be selling quick. It's on sale for only $5 on Etsy by AppleNoggin. To check it out CLICK HERE.

I have a few more days to make up my mind. With things finally getting back on track in our lives here, maybe this would be a great way to catapult The Twisted Purl back into the craft scene. Plus I do have well over 100 pounds of fiber to paint and spin. What do you think? ♥

Feeling a little Crafty?

So, now that football season is over....what's a girl to do? Best to get crafty again. I have been on a sock craze, fueled by my boys begging for pairs. It all started with a loom experiment that ended is socks big enough for Shaq to wear. Thankfully, they were wool, so I threw them in the washer and dryer and ended up with the perfect size pair of socks for Drew. He has actually worn them out now. But he was the only one in the family to proudly wear Minister Made Socks. My dear Austin has been insisting I make him a pair. I started them and he kept asking if I was finished yet. So, yes, I sat and knit like a mad women and busted out these socks:

It only took me about a day. Hey, who knew kids socks could be so fast? I used a really simple pattern from LionBrand Yarn.

So those wear so dang easy and quick. Brady's pair are already on the needles:

I really like the striping on them. Of course Brady was very excited to pick out the yarn from my stash.

On to more important things, like spinning :) I have made a couple new yarns, that I must share, they are handspun.

Lastly, and most exciting for me is my new hat! Every morning when I take the kiddos to school I have been so cold and I have wanted a styling new hat to cover up my lovely bed head hair. So I found another pattern from the Lionbrand Yarn website (it's been a favorite of mine lately). It looks a bit more like a cabled hat then a lace hat, due to the yarn...which was Mongolian Cashmere (insert drool here).

Really, if only the internet had feel-a-vision technology, you would just really be in love with this hat. Well, I am...it's on my head as I type.

Keep yourselves warm and happy crafting ♥