Making Stuff- but not with yarn!

Most of my crafting involves fiber of some sort- knitting, spinning dyeing. I'm not writing about that today (well, no promises...)

Recently we bought Kelly Coyne and Erik Knutzen's awesome books Making It and The Urban Homestead. We've done a few of the projects they've mentioned and everything has worked (except the Altoids. I just can't figure out candy making!)

My favorite has been making lip balm and I've pretty much rocked it. Next up will be soap! I'll let you know how that goes. I'm sure it will be comical or horrifying enough to earn it's own post.

Anywho- I have been trying to find affordable ingredients like coconut oil and essential oils etc. Slim pickings in this tiny town. I try to buy local, but I got a killer deal at Vitacost.com today so I guess I better drop some dollars at the local yarn store... hehehe. Today, Vitacost has free shipping (2/22/2012) and some really good prices on other things I need (need? really?) like castor oil and some essential oils... and a HUGE tub of coconut oil.

Ngaio talked me into making her a dress. Sigh. I used to enjoy sewing but something happened along the way that makes me want to take a sledgehammer to the damn machine. The romance is gone. But I'm forever putting my daughter's whims ahead of my sanity so she'll get a little dress. I picked the easiest pattern I could find. Like, silly easy. Like, elastic at the neck, arms and waist easy. My mini-hippie doesn't mind at all- she thinks it's all impressive and showers me with thanks and praise- so mama-hippie doesn't mind too much either!

Ok, I'm getting totally distracted so I'm leaving this for today. Maybe I'll get that dress finished and post pics tomorrow. Maybe I'll finish blocking the 500 knitting projects I've finished and show pics... maybe I'll get the dirty poopy sheep fleece cleaned up and dry for a photo shoot. Maybe I'll focus on any one thing and actually FINISH.

Or maybe not, and then you will know that all is normal around here. I have to get my drama from somewhere and the dirty sheep is about all I can handle...

Here is a coupon and link to Vitacost- because I gotta enable a little bit, right?

And a pic of some handspun- Masham and Wenseydale laceweight, 570 yards.
See, I've done something...

Fibertastic Part 1

Today was Sarah's birthday.

When you are an only child you can do this. Ngaio decided the birth dates of all her dolls and we wrote them on a calendar. Tomorrow is Tippy's but being so close to Sarah's was unintentional. See, I had already written Sarah's in ink and then Ng produced Tippy's birth certificate thingy. Lucky for Tippy- I saved her some cupcakes.

I'm trying to decide what to knit next. I have a baby gift on the needles now that I won't share- just in case... but it's a good traveling project so I put it aside. I started spinning this masham fiber that I dyed last year.

I'm feeling a little kooky, so I might ply it with this Wensleydale. I did NOT dye it but I wished I had. So pretty...

I got more stuff in the mail today. hangs head in shame, but not really...

These two braids are from Gherkin's Bucket over on Etsy. Both fibers are a Polwarth/Silk blend and they give me shivers. I totally averted disaster by telling Mark it was for the business. Shhhh.... don't tell him.

I just took a really crappy pic but I think I will insert the shop's photos instead because they are both so pretty and I want to do them justice.

Wake Me

Is It Sweet

I hope to get to these braids soon but I can tell you right now they are crazy soft and will be awesome to spin.  

We will see what Mark says about the raw Clun Forest fiber coming in tomorrow. I'm really wanting to find a source for lesser known breeds in the shop, so research research research...

I love my job.

I will leave you with a photo Ngaio took of herself. I let her take my camera all afternoon the other day. It has some interesting pics. She's an interesting girl.

The missing teeth are the best part.

Just in time...

I don't even remember when I didn't panic on the last day of the month to hurry-up-finish-the-knitting/spinning/whatever-to-turn-in-for-silly-Hogwarts-knitting-game.

It's changed my knitting. Not really for the better I'm starting to think... I say this every month. Every stinking Hogwarts term I complain about timelines and deadlines and blah blah blah. I won't change. I'll still base my knitting on classes and OWLs and I'll still bitch about it.

Moving on. Sorta.

Here is what I'm most proud of this month:

 This yarn was just washed and set tonight. It's really wet still- hence the towel. But I love it and I'm kicking ass with my n-plying. I just love stripy yarn. Which leads me to this little project-

I dyed, spun and knit these socks all relatively quickly, like, within two weeks. I love the socks. They are thick and squishy and being invested in every twist and turn makes them so much more special.

Mark brought home some metal shelves and I revamped my studio/office/mess. You can't see the stuff hidden on top, the right side and the other unit on a totally different wall, but here is pretty much all of it. It gave me panic attacks for a few days but now it's kind nice. I hope to get all the fiber yummstuff crammed into here by the end of the year. It could happen... stop laughing.

Just a little blurb for tonight. I'm really tired. If anyone has advice on dealing with an overly emotional and lonely girl please let me know so I can get some sleep. She has sobbed hysterically most of the evening over a stray dog that she thinks doesn't love her as much as she loves it.

Men love women, women love children, children love hamsters.   ~Ogden Nash


So unbelievably true. It's almost heartbreaking.

Are you reading this??

I'm still convinced I don't have much to say, but I'm not going to let that stop me!

And I'm not addressing the year long absence. Moving on...

This is my haul for the day. It was happy mail time!

First- the yarn and the 'gift'

My lovely friend ShaylaMyst has an amazing monthly yarn club. I've been a member since the beginning and it just gets better and better! Her shop is here if you want to check it out. I totally recommend you do- and tell her I sent you!

Anyway, this month is 'Romantic Roses' on her Shmerino yarn base (heavy fingering merino/cashmere/nylon blend). I carry the same base in my shop but that doesn't stop me from loving it less from her! The colors this month are a sweet petal pink with leafy green sections about 3-6 inches long. My initial thought was using it for one of the many new baby girls entering the human race this year. But now I'm feeling more selfish. I don't want this yarn to get vomited, peed, or pooped on. It's just too pretty. I love babies but maybe not that much. I'm thinking my baby might like it. She just got a new DSI game today so she hasn't claimed it yet. In fact, she's pretty much ignoring everything and everyone.

Every month in the club we get a little extra gift. This month's is awesome! It's a little heating bag filled with cherry pits. I have yet to use it, but my hands are freezing so I won't hold out much longer. Hold on a second... ok, heating up now.

I took advantage of Knit Picks 40% off book sale. I usually can't control myself and they do it a few times every year. I was really good and didn't order yarn. I need new yarn like a hole in the head. Hell, I need new knitting books like a hole in the head- sheesh. I was trying to be responsible about it, but not so responsible that I didn't order anything, because then I would just be boring and way to sensible.

aw.... cherry stone warmer is niiiiiice.... and smells divine....

Ok, back to the books. So I had a gameplan. I got reference books only. The Fleece and Fiber Sourcebook by Deborah Robson and Carol Ekarius is purely for the shop... hehehe. Mary Jane Mucklestone's 200 Fair Isle Motifs and Alice Starmore's Charts for Color Knitting are to help bust the HUGE fingering weight stash I have. I know I could sit down and chart my own stuff, but we all know I'm not gonna and from the tiny bit I've flipped though on these, they are totally worth it. Even at full price. Hopefully I will have proper reviews after I read them a bit more. Mark is all anti-book-at-the-table-while-we-eat. It drives me nuts. I understand, but it still drives me nuts.

The bottle of Soak. I needed a new more dollars to get free shipping and I didn't want to buy yarn. Be proud of me. I'm not, because this stuff smells like watermelon and that is a big ick for me. So I'll try not to eat it. I don't think anyone really believes me when I tell them I'm allergic to artificial watermelon but I have no desire to prove it.

Yay. So... a full post. See you next year. Or maybe in a day or two?

The missing pieces

Nothing really extraordinary to post lately.

We've had a lot of leftovers, so no food pics. I made pralines but I didn't have a candy thermometer, so they look kinda sad and camera shy.

Mark ripped out our 'pantry' last night. It's just one step closer to my dream kitchen! We have to take baby steps for money reasons (we are cheap!) and it also lets the project sink in a bit and you really appreciate all the effort and change that is happening. Plus, it gives me time to think about function as well as form!

I've decided to go with white walls. I'll pull in color from other things, like curtains and an accent wall or two in the dining area. I think this will make it easier in about 5 years when I decide I like a different color. That happens a lot... always has and I've come to accept that it always will!

Knitting!

Well, I finished Mark's handspun hat. It's really soft and squishy but needs a good soak and block so the fibers bloom. I used all but about 3 feet for the hat. I over spun the yarn quite a bit so I'll be running the other skein back through the wheel to relax it. Both of my OWLs were approved. I've gotten a bit done on the four pairs of mittens, but the East Meets West bag is still just sitting there are glaring at me. I've spun up several hundred yards of laceweight shetland and I'm going to full it in the next few days. I'm trying to keep my hands out of water because my knuckles are cracking and bleeding.They are so dry! I imagine that dunking yarn into steaming hot then ice cold water would do me no favors, even with gloves on.

I'll try not to be so lazy and have pics for you next time!

oh! and a funny little thing. Ngaio is in a really aggressive mood today. She came into our bedroom this morning with her fists up in the air and her nose all squished up (her comical angry face) and said "You wanna piece of meat!???!?!?!?"

oh so cute. ok, she's cooperating, so you get to see her cute face:

I think the Hello Kitty pajamas really tell you she means business!

Some food and other nonsense

I'm waiting for photobucket to get my phone pics.

Since I'm making all this effort in cooking, I've been really good about taking pics of what I make but not so good at posting, so this will have a couple of foodie things.

Monday was supposed to be oven baked chicken on a nice big salad, but Mark read the title as pan fried to me, then I looked at it again and saw pan fried- so I pan fried the damn chicken and it was supposed to be breaded ans seared THEN baked. I knew I turned the oven on for a reason. Whatever. It was good. Just chicken in flour then egg, then breadcrumbs (supposed to be panko but I didn't have it!). We sliced it up on some romaine, cut up some tomatoes, added ranch... oh, I even toasted some pecans (a little burnt!) and put them on top. It was pretty tasty.

Ngaio kept asking where the brussels sprouts were. Weird kid. She loves lettuce though. She also ate a whole tomato and got a nasty rash where the juice dripped down her hand. She cried a bit, but I don't think it will break her tomato love.

Last night I cooked soba and mixed it with lightly sauteed cabbage, mushrooms, peppers and onions. I added some sesame ginger salad dressing, tossed it around and VOILA! It was really yummy. Ngaio went crazy with the mushrooms and once again asked where the brussels sprouts were.

Weird kid.

In knitting news, I have TONS of crap on my needles. Since I got all finishy on my projects, it pains me to have more than three things going at once.
I have four pairs of mittens started!
A HUGE colorwork bag, that isn't cast on yet- but needs to be
A pair of socks (1.33 of 2 complete!)
A pair of leftover yarn socks. They are pretty cool. I tend to start these then quickly rip them out. These bad boys are keepers! I'm about 75% into the first one.

Ok, maybe that's not so bad. It's just all the damn mittens taking up precious needles.

I spent most of yesterday balling up the yarn in the sock yarn drawer. I was able to fit a couple more skeins in and now they are so pretty and lined up. My OCD clapped its hands and squeed! I'm thinking the reason I don't use the yarn so fast is because I don't want to pull out the swift and winder for one little ball. No excuses now! I'll have to take a pic of that right now. one sec...

The drawer above and a few bags on top are full of sock yarn too. I'd like to get it all into one drawer this year... someday... maybe never. I really love sock yarn. Can ya tell?

new beginnings

I'm pretty much opposed to New Year's resolutions but that never keeps me from making them. My resolve dissolves about now... so no spectacular life changes to report!

I think about stuff though... and some things have been floating around for awhile and really need to happen. I'm not talking about goals to accomplish in a year (but one of those will be mentioned later...) More like thinking about the person I want to be, and just being it instead of taking all these little steps. I want to live every moment being true to myself and values.

Yes, I want to lose weight. The only way I'll do that is if everyday I make little choices that make me a happy person. It never happens when I write down '2 lbs/week' and it really, really doesn't happen when I plan on walking or yoga first thing in the morning- for reallies this time! Cause you know what? I only think that right before falling asleep and then it's all happy dream time. Then I wake up abruptly because of someone's alarm or a little girl's footsteps running in to beg me for cereal.

So, I'll be less hard on myself. I'll log the daily successes. I'll keep a mental record of all the nice things that are in harmony with MY harmony!

But I did make a little commitment... My friend Stephanie got this crazy idea that we should finish up all these projects and stashbust during 2011. Then it got really nutso when we started a group on Ravelry to support our efforts. To date, 194 people joined our madness! YAY! There is something so affirming in knowing you are not the only insane person. So basically, we pledged to finish up 111 creative projects- things we've already started, new projects, and silly wishlists... whatever needs to get done, we will do! I have no problem coming up with new stuff to do, it's those old things sitting around- being all abandoned and taking up space- that I'm really excited to deal with. I haven't made an official list yet and I'll mention some non listable things I've dealt with on here.

Another thought. I've been waking up and listing in my head the five most important things to do each day. Thank you, Amber! Then when I go to sleep, I think of the five most important things I DID each day. They are wildly different lists and are really a lot of fun to think about right before you go to sleep.

So here are some mini goals for this week:

Cook dinner every night (I actually did a menu plan and bought groceries and have recipes... yay, me!)
Finish up all my spinning projects that are unfinished (111)
Swatch all my mittens for my owl (I don't want to explain this- if you don't know, I'm not telling you!)
Cast on my East Meets West bag (111, but credit given only when the whole thing is finished!)
Dye some yarn for the shop, once dye gets here

Here is what we ate last night:

Mushroom and Barley Soup
Roasted Brussels Sprouts (Ng LOVES them!)
French bread

oh, and Black Forest Cake for dessert. I've got to stop eating dessert... someday!