What have I been doing? Well, I've been to the vet with the guinea pig and the cat. Again. I know. I'm sick of going, the vet must be sick of me going and my bank account is sick of the vet too. However, Ruth seems to be okay. She has no bladder stones (a £50 X-ray showed that) and she's on antibiotics for some sort of internal nethers infection. Nigel seems to have some kind of gastritis so I've been cooking him chicken and fish and feeding him small meals. We've got to just wait and see how he goes. (Thank goodness he's insured.) Nigel's also got a new drinking fountain which he loves. He loves both drinking from it and also splashing it all over the place like a child in a paddling pool.
Speaking of animals, I've taken to making them. Glass ones. That don't require special cooking and feeding, or medicine syringing into their faces twice a day.
Sheep.
Baaa.
I've had sheep on my mind recently. Odd, I know. I'm blaming it on listening to Felicity Ford's excellent KNITSONIK podcast and also stroking my Jamieson & Smith pure Shetland wool that I bought as part of a fingerless mitts kit from Kate Davies.
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| Gorgeous Kate Davies Designs 'Ecclefechan' fingerless mittens kit |
So, with the aforementioned sheep on my mind, I sat and twiddled about with glass and after about seven attempts I came up with the little fella at the top of this post. Chris has named him Baaarney. I say I had seven attempts but it was more like fifty-seven. (Seven just sounds less obsessive.) You see, there's no point in me making a bead that I'm potentially going to sell that I can't replicate. Each bead needs to be made in the same way, with bits added and worked on in the same order every time, so that I can make roughly the same bead over and over again.
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| Baaarney, rearing up like a scared horse and also relaxing |
The sheep is tiny. He's only about 10mm tall.
I've turned Baaarney into a stitch marker for my knitting. The sock in this photograph doesn't even require marking but I just like having a tiny glass sheep there, dangling from my needle.
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| Baaarney doing a knitting-related dangle |
Have a fun-filled Thursday!
That's an amazing bead, Laura! Such a lot of character in a tiny glass bead. Looks like a lovely sock, too!
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness! I LOVE Baaarney! He is just the cutest little guy I have seen in ages! I know what you mean with vet costs. I have an old bitch...no, not me....who has cost me a million dollars and an arm I seem to no longer need. Thankfully she is still kicking on. Baaaarney made my day. Make a flock!
ReplyDeleteBlondie - Thank you! It's just a plain grey sock but sometimes plain is nice. :-)
ReplyDeleteMaria - I hope your dog is alright for now. The vet fees are certainly very not fun. And there may well be a flock of sheep beads on their way ...
Laura x