Spinning

Hello! I wanted to write a very quick blog before I run out of the door to get to work...do any of you spin wool? I started spinning my own yarn from wool about a year or so ago on a self-made drop spindle. It's not something that I do with any regularity and find that I never really get better at it. I think that I find the dyeing of the wool to be more rewarding than spinning it. My yarn is always very uneven and over spun and I still have to pre-draft my wool. Any suggestions on how to improve my spinning skills or are there any websites that you know of that could help me out or is this just a matter of practice? Thanks for any suggestions!

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?

Etsy Seller Friday (and a brief update)

My attempts at starting a regular Friday post have been just that-attempts. I'm still not sure that I will keep this as a regular part of my blog, although I really enjoy doing it. This means that at the least, you will see random Etsy seller reviews on this blog. Etsy is a crazy-fun website that needs more attention from the general public, not just from fellow crafters. I tend to feature sellers that make some really unique and sort of kitchy things that I adore, but there are plenty of folks on Etsy that craft unique yet fashionable/chic products. On a similar note, I intend to start blogging a lot more about eco-friendly living. I want to write about eco-friendly living in a tone that is not "preachy." Instead, I hope to share some knowledge and advice that I have learned from my personal experiences as well as get advice and ideas from my readers.

This review is going to be a bit different. Today I'm going to share a little bit about several different sellers and let you do the shopping. I tried to pick a theme that would tie each of the sellers together...so if you're into boho, rustic, Earth-tone chic, you will enjoy this review.

(Photo: Sparkle Philosophy by Flora Bond)

This first photo is a necklace made by Flora Bond. Pretty much all of her peices are "statement" pieces. Each item has a sort of vintage feel to it. Most of her necklaces would be perfect for weddings and other special occasion that call for getting all dolled up.



(Photo: Shabby Rose Corset Skirt by Patches and Rags)

This gorgeous patchwork skirt was made by Patches and Rags. These are some of the prettiest patchwork skirts I've ever seen. They could be both casual or dressed up with the right shoes and jewelry.



(Photo: Grey Ruffle Tank by Sue Bradbury)

Sue Bradbury (her seller name is ellainaboutique) makes all sorts of clothing and accessories. Mostly she has tops, skirts, and handbags in her shop. You'll find plenty of warm, Earth-tones in her Etsy shop. I love that Sue Bradbury's tops look great with a pair of jeans or with slacks. Go look for yourself!

I'm dating Buddy, the elf...

In an earlier post, I promised that I would share some photos of the Boyfriend's Christmas decorations. No surface in our apartment is safe from a santa, snowman, or Christmas tree. Even since I took these photos, the Boyfriend has added more decorations. Only a few decorations are mine and I'm pretty sure I didn't capture any of them in these photos. I apologize for the poor quality of these photos...it tends to be pretty dark in our apartment at this time of the year and my camera just can't seem to deal with that. Maybe Santa will fix that for me ;)



Yes, the Boyfriend has a Christmas village.



Most of his ornaments are sports themed. I tried to capture a picture of my one fairy ornament but the light was just too low. My poor fairy ornament looks lost and confused amongst all of the football players.



Yep, that's a Miami Dolphins Santa. Because Santa was tired of the old red suit this year. The Boyfriend also has a Vols Santa and nutcracker.



More snowmen, more Santas. The counters in our kitchen are also covered. There is a third Christmas tree in the kitchen and several Christmas hand towels. This really may require two posts.

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.