City kitty, New job, and Statement pieces

Due to my erratic work "schedule" I haven't been able to regularly update this blog. Also, the computer that I had been using for nearly 5 years was infected with a Trojan/virus which caused my computer to eventually stop working. The Boyfriend wound up having to buy us a new computer. I'm pretty sure that my lack of attention to my blog has caused me to lose most, if not all of my regular readers. I have not abandoned this blog and I intend to continue updating when I get the chance. On to the updates...

After becoming increasingly concerned about our cat, Kaya's, constant grooming (which was causing her to go nearly bald in some places), the Boyfriend and I did some research and talked to our vet. We decided that there is a good chance that she is very bored with being the only cat after coming from a home full of foster cats. This decision had us searching for a new cat that could be a companion to Kaya. This past weekend, I finally picked out a sweet black and white cat and brought him home. Kaya HATES him. It always takes a while to get two cats acquainted with each other, but I'm becoming worn out from having to monitor them. Although they do better each day, the Boyfriend and I still have to break up a fight (instigated by my sweet-angel-baby Kaya) at least once a day. Additionally, I'm busy trying to turn a country cat into an apartment dwelling city cat. Although new cat had been very well taken care of by his foster pet parent, he needed his nails trimmed and his ears cleaned and treated for mites, just in case. Kaya has a perpetual ear infection (that she's had since long before we got her) and we've been treating it since we got her. Ear mites would be no good. He still needs just a good ole bath and some flea meds before I can feel like we've transformed him into a city kitty. We're also working on getting new cat to stay out of our plates and cups while we eat and to stop clawing EVERYTHING. Despite all of this, new cat's "cat-onality" is very sweet, quiet, and gentle-just like we wanted! If you've made it this far into my cat rant, then you've noticed that new cat still has no name :( All four roommates have been thinking up names for this little guy, but we just can't agree on anything. The Boyfriend and I had hoped to stick to a music themed name, as Kaya is named after a Bob Marley song. Any suggestions? After I collect a list of potential names, I'm going to post a poll containing each of these names on here for you all to take, just for fun.

So did you all enjoy the sneak peek of the crazy scarf that I had been working on? I finally finished it last month and I adore it. It was a real challenge but tons of fun to knit. Like I mentioned in the last post, I ran three strands of worsted weight (4) yarn together to make a scarf that is now named "psychedelic spaghetti." I have to give all credit to my roommate, Micah for that name. I can't wait to post some pics of me wearing it. I finished it just time for one of the biggest snows that our city has seen in years. It was super warm! The day that it started to snow, the Boyfriend and I decided to walk from our apartment to the gas station that sits on a main road to see all of the snow and get some hot drinks. Because everyone was leaving work at the same time to avoiding getting trapped at work, the main road was bumper to bumper. I wore the psychedelic spaghetti scarf during our walk and half of the city got to see it lol. A friend and neighbor of ours saw it from nearly a quarter of a mile away as he was walking back from the grocery store. I'm considering it to be my first statement piece. There is a chance that I will offer a smaller and tamer version of it in my Etsy shop.

I'd like to update you all on my new job but I fear violating any HIPAA laws! So, I'll just say that I love my new job and am learning tons everyday. It lets me know that I chose the right field.

I hope that you all are well and surviving the constant snow!

Knitting Progress, Honey, and Haiti

Remember the retina-burning-scarf that I mentioned in my last post? Well, here is a sneak peek at it :) It is taking ages for me to knit up, but I'm really enjoying it. I'm running three strands of worsted weight yarn together and using size US 17 needles. To date, size 17 needles are the largest needles I've used. I just can't seem to stop making chunky stuff. Chunky yarn (usually) knits up quickly and my friends and family seem to like my bulkier scarves more than my dainty neck warmers. This scarf is going be mine all mine, but I'm very much considering knitting something similar to this to sell in my Etsy shop.

I have been inspired by one of Amber Dusick's recent blog posts to give honey a try as a facial cleanser. I've been following her blogs for several months now, after having watched her "Handmade Portraits: Woodmouse" video on Etsy, and love the content of her blogs. She focuses on crafting, eco-friendly living, and crunchy parenting. She recently wrote about using honey as a facial wash. I'd heard of this being done before but knew little about how to do it-should I use raw or processed honey, should I add brown sugar to exfoliate, that sort of thing. I found that it's incredibly simple and appears to be effective for many people. You can use raw or processed and you can add whatever you'd like to it. Many folks are claiming that washing with honey prevents acne breakouts and that it soothes dry skin, which sounds perfect for those like me that have that annoying combination skin type. Starting tonight, I'm going to give this honey facial wash a try. I'll let you all know what I think :) Honey is a much cheaper and healthier alternative to the current facial cleanser that I use.

I assume that, by now, you have all heard about the recent earth quake in Haiti that has resulted in the death of thousands of Haitians. I can't even handle reading about it or looking at pics. It's all too sad, but I really want to help out. I'd like to make a (albeit small) donation but I can't decide which is the best organization to donate to. Later, I will donate a knitted/crochet blanket as I think it helps to receive more personal items after losing so much. Does anyone have a favorite organization that they like to donate to for disaster relief?

Colors, Glass, and New Ideas

The Holidays have come and gone and I have to admit that I'm relieved. I truly enjoy spending time with both my family and the Boyfriend's family, but it is an exhausting experience. It's also been nice to have the traffic back to relatively normal again here by my apartment. Now, I can just sit back and enjoy all of the wonderful gifts that I received! Oh, before I get this blog started, I wanted to note that I often have links to sites throughout each post. Keep an eye open for these links in case you want to know more about the various products that I mention here.

For Christmas, the Boyfriend's step-mom gave me 14 skeins of yarn in various bright colors. I've never had so much yarn at one time! I've spent everyday since Christmas sifting through my collection of knitting and crochet patterns trying to find something epic to make. The yarn that she gave me is Red Heart's Super Saver yarn. It's worsted (4) weight yarn made totally from acrylic. The colors are freaking awesome, but the feel of the yarn is a bit...well, scratchy. It's difficult to make any wearable items from this yarn, which doesn't make it a bad yarn, it's just not a wearable yearn. Despite this I've already started making a scarf using pink, orange, and blue yarn. Oh yes, it's going to burn your retinas when you see it :)

Because each of the 14 skeins has 364 yards of yarn (that's like a zillion football fields), I asked everyone for ideas on stuff to knit or crochet and got some pretty good suggestions. While trying to decide on what to make out of all this new yarn, I've come up with some new ideas for knitting and plan to use my Hobby Lobby gift card to follow through with these ideas. My hope is to eventually get my hands on some bamboo yarn. I've been dying to knit with bamboo as it is super soft and it's a sustainable material. Also, I'd like to try to do more felting with real wool rather than the soy wool I've been using. Because my Rasta scarves get so many complements, I'm cooking up new ideas using the same color combo.

My mom got me way too much for Christmas, but I'm very thankful for it. Part of my move towards being more eco-friendly involves the conversion from plastic to glass. Mom helped me get started by buying me 4 beautiful glass bake ware/food storage pieces from Crate and Barrel. I'd love to link you to the pieces that I have, but I can't find them on the website anymore and think that they may no longer be available. Mom also gave me two glass milk bottles from Farmhouse Wares that I plan to keep filtered water and juice in. By the way, Farmhouse Wares has very pretty stuff for those of you that dig rustic, country, or French Provincial decor. They even have things like honey and tea. I used the cash that I received from family for Christmas to buy a glass canister for our sugar. Pretty much if it's normally packaged in plastic, I want to transfer it to glass.

Summer can't come fast enough for me. I have a topsy turvy that I can't wait to use and may even have the chance to make a composting bin (free soil, yay). Kaya will be happy if I can successfully grow catnip again :)

With a lot of help from my family, I've now got several new items in my apartment that make it far more personal and less like a hotel. I'll save the details on this for my next post and will have some pics for ya.

What gifts did you receive during the Holidays?

Too Long

I apologize for not having posted anything in so long! Thanksgiving, work, and a few special events have taken up nearly all of my time. The boyfriend and I successfully crammed two Thanksgiving dinners into one day! We started the day by eating with his mother's side of the family and ended it with dinner at my aunt's house. He and I had already had Thanksgiving dinner with my dad's family early in November, which made things immensely easier on everyone. We ate at my step-sister's place and got to see some of her newest flower arrangements. She puts together these amazing arrangements with dried, silk, and fresh flowers. I'm hoping that she will soon start selling these arrangements or maybe even doing events like weddings. If I had photos to share with you all, I would, as you have to see her work to believe it.

I worked Friday through Sunday and attended the boyfriend's step-sister's wedding on Saturday. Her wedding was really beautiful. She and her husband are both Georgia football fans and found a classy way of doing the whole wedding in red and black (the team's colors, of course). Both the wedding and reception were at an old train depot in Georgia. I was surprised to see how nice it was on the inside! Because the train tracks are still functional, a train passed by during the reception, which was an unexpected but cool addition.

Earlier last week I had a sort of casual job interview. I didn't get the position that I had applied for, but did get a different position with the same company. Yesterday I stopped by their office and picked up the largest packet of information and forms that I've ever seen! Because of this, I will be busy filling out papers and getting copies of every type of identification just short of my DNA. Hey, I'm just happy that I got another job. Gotz to pay the bills somehow. The individual who is hiring me gave me the name and number of someone that could help me get yet another job at a mental health facility. I called as soon as I returned to my apartment and of course got no answer. Despite leaving a message, I know that I will never get a return call (and I realize that no one will ever answer my calls). I will continue to try, though. If you want a job in which you get a phone, but don't ever have to use it, consider a job in the field of psychology...just sayin'

On a more crafty note, I did knit up a really cute teal/aqua cowl neck scarf. I've been messing with it by adding bows and ribbons. I'm still totally undecided on how to finish it off. Also, I'm a bit frustrated that my circular-knit stockinette stitch curled up. Even after blocking it, the edges still stubbornly rolled right up. You can really see how bad the curl is in this photo:



For lack of a real model, I used the alien head candle:



I've also started on a crochet shrug. The stitch is really pretty and I'm loving it so far. The only problem is that I'm out of yarn and I'm not even half way done :( Boo, I guess I will have to make a trip to the craft store after I get some extra cash this Christmas. Speaking of Christmas, the boyfriend is a Christmas fanatic...now surface in our apartment is untouched by Christmas decorations. This story requires its own post, which I hope you will be seeing tomorrow.

Crafting Mood

Today I've wanted to do nothing but knit and crochet. The dishes need to be put up, the floors need to be swept, and the towels need to be washed, and...I don't care. There are so many crafting projects that I would rather be working on right now. One of the first things that I want to work on is knitting a cowl neck scarf. I have some yummy burgundy and gold scrap yarn that may be perfect for this. If this is the case, then I hope to have it done by next week :)

Speaking of scrap yarn, I've seen a lot of beautiful scrap yarn blankets in the past and I have been recently inspired to try one out for myself. I've gathered up a little pile of yarn in various colors and textures and have begun crocheting 4x4 inch squares. Each square only takes a few minutes to make. Because of all of the variety of color and texture I don't have to do any fancy stitches to add interest to the blanket. Despite the quick crochet time of each piece, I have a feeling that this blanket will take a long time to complete. Once all of the squares are done, I will have to sew or crochet them all together. If all goes well with this project, I do intend to sell it. All of the blankets that I have sold in the past have been custom made rather than a piece that was entirely my idea from start to finish.

For years I've been saying that I would love to try knitting a headband. I'm thinking of a headband that would be cute with a pony tail or curled hair. I'm far more timid to try this out (which is why I've never tried it) as it will have to be knitted in the round. I despise knitting in the round despite it's wonderfully seamless results. I'll let you know how this goes...if choose to accept this mission.

Oh, I wanted to share a crafting success with you. Just last week, I finally got around to creating a cute felt fabric cupcake applique. My stitching is very sloppy and needs work but I truly enjoyed making this piece! Felt is a little tricky to work with as it is very easy to tear, but is far easier to sew (for me) than any other fabric. I added my new applique to an old scarf that I made ages ago and I think that it really perked it up and gave it a cute focal point. Observe:



What do you think? The details of the cupcake get lost a little in the blurry photograph :( I would love to get my hands on a better camera. The cupcake also adds a bit of kawaii to the scarf as well, which was my intention.

For far too long I have not done any dyeing or spinning of wool. I've still got a ton of wool just waiting to be made into yarn. Spinning is something that I'm still very new to and would love to improve on. Right now I'm spinning on a drop sindle that I made myself. For a first time drop spindle, it's fairly well balanced. It's my drafting skills that need the most improvement. I still have to predraft all of my wool and the yarn always comes out very uneven. Selling yarn that I've spun is a goal of mine, but the uneven quality of my yarn makes it a novelty yarn at best. I'll end this blog with a few photos of yarn that I've either dyed or spun.


This wool was hand dyed using Kool-Aid

I bought this wool from a craft supply store rather than from a local farmer.
I spun it myself, but did not dye it.

Etsy Seller Friday

The seller that I have chosen to direct your attention to today has some of the most amazing knit and crochet pieces I've ever seen. Her items are truly wearable pieces of art. Fringe , a seller based in California, uses high quality wool yarn to create beautiful cowls, capelets, and scarves. Please make sure to click on the links that I have provided in this post as I do not have permission to post photos of any of her items here. Fringe often chooses soft pastels and earth tones to knit and crochet with. If you like bolder colors, don't fret, there are several dark red, purple, raspberry, and even black items available in her shop. There are so many things to love about Fringe's items. She masterfully blends yarn, fabric, and ribbon to create pieces that are not only elegant, but practical as well. Because many of her items are made from wool, they are going to be very warm and cozy. I also love that she doesn't just stop at scarves, Fringe makes necklaces from acrylic yarn. Acrylic makes them easy to wash, durable, and comfy to wear close to the skin. Her necklaces can also be worn as belts, again making the choice to use acrylic yarn a wise one. It's difficult to choose only one favorite item from Fringe! If I had to choose just one piece, it would be the Darling Clementine Capelet. If you're considering purchasing one of these awesome pieces from Fringe, you may have noticed that the prices aren't exactly Wal-Evil prices. Keep in mind that when you purchase from Fringe, you are buying a handmade product made from high quality wool or acrylic (when it is an item that may get roughed up a bit more than a scarf). If you love art but have run out of room on your walls or just simply prefer to wear your art, take a peek at Fringe (fringe.etsy.com) and see what all she has to offer for your collection.

No camera and new Little Pink Elephant items this fall.

At the moment, I have no camera. The camera that I was using in the past is actually my mom's camera. I really need to get one for myself. Does anyone have any suggestions for a good, cheap digital camera? I've not even begun to do any research yet. My mom's camera wasn't all that great to me. Nearly all pictures that were taken indoors were blurry and just generally gross in quality. I have a Nikon N80 but it's a 35mm SLR, which makes uploading pics to my blog and myspace, not impossible, but a lot harder.

The reason I'm writing about this is because I have recently knit up a couple of things but have no way of sharing these with you. After seeing the newest Harry Potter film (which was a delicious gallery of knitting) , I immediately came home and knitted up a mug cozy using some left over yarn from a Gryffindor scarf that I made last winter. The cozy knitted up super quickly! It probably took me only a couple of hours and that includes weaving in the ends. This is definitely an item that you should expect to see being sold on Little Pink Elephant this fall (in different colors of course due to copyright laws, but feel free to send me a message).

The other item that I made didn't come out as nicely as my mug cozy, but was a darn good learning experience. Finally, after several failed attempts and years of practice, I've made a hat. Of course, I messed up the gauge and it came out just large enough to fit an infant's head. Because it's knit flat, I decided that the best solution was to just knit a duplicate and sew the two together. Despite a little bit of wonkiness, the overall plan actually worked. My favorite thing about the hat is the colors. I used Rasta colors (red, gold, green, and black). Several people have suggested to me that I knit up some stuff using this "color theme" and so far, I've had a lot of fun with it. From now on, I think that I will knit hats in the round. Every time that I've tried to knit a hat flat, there is a lot of bulge or bumpiness at the crown. The lumpiness is smoothed out when worn, but is very unattractive when it is laid out flat. Expect to see a lot of Rasta themed items on Little Pink Elephant very soon, as I have a feeling that they will be pretty popular.

Packing

This whole week I've been packing up my things and getting ready to move into my new place. One of the first things that I packed was my knitting needles. I left my crochet hooks out just in case I got bored. I'm glad that I did this as I had to make a trip to my doctor's office one morning and hate just staring at the wall while waiting for the doctor to arrive. I was able to quickly crochet up a couple of dish rags for the new place :) My roommates seemed to like the rags and I really enjoyed making them.

I find that smaller pieces like dish rags, baby booties, and neck warmers are my favorite projects. They don't require much yarn, are finished quickly, and are generally easy to make. With the economy being so wonky at the moment, projects that require little yarn are preferred over things like blankets or long scarves.
Speaking of scarves, I would love to knit another Harry Potter-style scarf. I made one for a friend once and loved the results. Last year I received the Charmed Knits book for Christmas. So far I've only tried the scarf but I look forward to trying some of the other projects as they are super cute :)
Something else that I would like to try soon is bringing some awareness to the amazing sellers on Etsy.com. If you're a crafter, than you probably already know about this site and find yourself drooling over many of the awesome creations that are for sale there. If you haven't heard of the site, I encourage you to check it out. I think that once a week I will devote a post to a different Etsy seller...I will write a little about what they do, why I love their stuff, and post a link to their Etsy shop.
It's late and I've got a lot to do tomorrow, so I'm off to bed.

Late Birthday Gift

I recently finished a shawl I intended to give to my mom for her birthday which was back in October. It wasn't the knitting that took me so long to complete the shawl. It was the fringe that I added along three of the four sides that took me forever.


Despite taking a long time, it is now complete and ready to be worn. This is not my favorite thing that I've knitted. I really should have used a pattern rather than knitting a large rectangle. It may not be the most attractive piece but I have to admit that it's very cozy and warm. I used a boucle yarn which is my favorite to use for pieces that need to be super soft and warm and is especially great for things like baby blankets. This particular project taught me that I hate fringe, still love boucle yarn, and that I should always try to find a pattern first.