PAIR O' HERMITS - Nancy L. Mills and David M. Perkins

AFGHANS The first photograph shows the rainbow ripple afghan, hanging against one of our log walls, that I made for Dave. Although it is hard to tell in this photo, the central blue band is actually half blue and half purple. This afghan won 3rd place at the 2006 WV State Fair! The far right afghan is comprised of small squares worked in both colors (forest green and cream), divided diagonally. Then the squares are sewn together in a traditional "poinsettia" quilt pattern and a border added.
BASKETS Designing and crocheting baskets is a new interest. It's fun to work with new materials, such as jute, which is what the three baskets in the first photo are made of. The middle basket starts out with a square base and ends up round -- I call it the pagoda or zen basket. It is trimmed with small beads. The other two baskets have puka shells for trim. The second photo is my gourd basket, made out of white nylon cord and lightly tinted with tea.
APPAREL When Dave decided he needed a dog-training vest to work with St. Elmo, he looked on the Internet and found some for around $100! Ha! Using fabric and thread on hand and starting with a basic pattern, I designed and sewed him one for the price of the zipper alone. In addition to the four pockets on the outside, the vest has two more chest pockets on the inside. And using up leftover yarn from his afghan, I made a hat and two Moebius scarves (also my own design).
SNUGGLES My favorite volunteer work involves making "security blankets" for the homeless animals at our local animal shelter, as part of the Snuggles Project. Some I sew, as shown in the three blue polarfleece snuggles. Some I crochet -- a great use for leftover yarn. I also learned a new technique: cro-hooking. Similar to crocheting, it uses a double-ended hook and two balls of yarn, working back and forth in stripes. The middle snuggle shows a blue and green version. I've averaged about 6 Snuggles per month for the shelter.