It's time to re-up the bird food supply around here...too many empty feeders. Mourning doves, orioles, sparrows, woodpeckers, and Zippies!? Yes, Zippies. It'll make sense in a sec. Upon waking with my morning cup o' jo, I stepped out to my back stoop to take in some fresh morning air when my heart nearly stopped. Startled by a loud buzzing, I braced for what I thought was going to be a nasty sting from a giant bumble bee...and there I was, nose to beak with the most adorable little guy I think I've ever seen! That buzz was no bee at all (whew), but the lightning fast flutter of Anna's hummingbird, who has since earned the title, "Zippy." It was well worth spilling half my coffee for...a sure fire cure for a case of the crankies. :) Turns out they're simply mad about our fruit trees. The hummingbird is very common here, but this one was 5" from my nose so I was overly excited at the staring contest I was partaking in...needless to say I won by mere fascination, an unfair advantage. ;) What a sight - unbelievably stunning in their almost reflective green and burgundy coloring! A spectacular color show with every turn...I stared in amazement. It was no surprise those shimmering lovelies sent me to the yarn bins! Hehe! This color combo is awesome!!! I set aside my many current designing endeavors and WIPs to soak in the inspiration that livened up my day. Funny enough, the green yarn I recently dyed was just perfect for pairing with this deep burgundy. This was my result:
A double crocheted merlot tote with simple base folds accompanied by a knitted spring green honeycomb cable strap. The bottom folds were worked by DC'ing into only the back of each stitch / & the front on the opposite side. This makes a subtle crease to aid in defining the base. A memorable dyeing experience with an equally memorable meeting to match. I'm going to sew a strip of fabric to the back of the strap for added stability and to preserve the formation of the cables. Stretching cables is a no no...it pains me to see it. The burg comes out dark no matter how it's photographed...but it's darling even if the camera doesn't think so. All in all, this actually worked out well. Plastic grocery bags are becoming a thing of yesterday here, so this will come in very handy as I'm going to need to crank out a ton of market bags soon! Zippy was a pleasant reminder from mother nature to take the time to appreciate all of those little things we too often take for granted. Yippee Zippy! I had to...you know you loved it.
