Friday - 04/06/2018

CRAFT BONANZA!!!!!  I had a doctor appointment in Mountain Home today so I took my 'never-ending' supply list to Hobby Lobby.  I was going to order from Amazon but hadn't yet so I thought I would see what supplies I could get at HL first.  You're going to think this is a lot and it is but you have to understand I only go shopping like this about every 6 months.  I save up until I either go to Mountain Home or order from Amazon and get free shipping.  Anyway.........I found almost everything I wanted except I need some alphabet stamps for cards etc. and I did see them on Amazon.
 1)  BTW, I did take my floss cards to HL and compared all the colors.  I actually did pretty well except for 2 I had to switch and 2 were totally missing so I bought them.   I think that was probably the most time consuming part of this new cross stitch project.  I also bought a G and an H Clover crochet hooks with the comfort handle.  I know so many crocheters that use these hooks and love them.  I still use the old aluminum ones that I've had for years and they can hurt my hands.  I'll let you know what I think although right now I'm using a I hook.....why didn't I buy that size?  Duh!

2)  This is roving for needle felting.  I have a kit that someone gave me years ago and I never tried it but I have seen some really cute little animals and they say it isn't difficult....there are You Tube videos so I am counting on them!  I needed more colors so this package fit the bill.....

  3)  I use body butter instead of body lotion but the commercial stuff is usually full of other chemicals too so I have wanted to make my own and after successfully making my own soap I thought I would try the body butter.  I bought the base and some pink grapefruit essential oil.....stay tuned! 

 4)  I bought some stickers for my bullet journal........

 5)  More cotton dish cloth yarn............on sale..............

I had a green, red and white Christmas yarn but this one has the addition of pink and I fell in love!

6)  Candle making supplies - I actually need to order non-lead cotton wicks from Amazon but I was able to get some wooden ones and some soy wax.  I burn candles all the time and I can't afford the pricier ones but they are the better ones that use soy and non-lead wicks so..........I'll be making my own.  How hard can it be?   I love the wood wicks as it sounds like a crackling fire.

7)  Some card stock for making cards.  I have been wanting to do this for ages!

Glitter gel pens....I have looked everywhere for these....so excited to use these.....I got all my supply info from Connie over at Far Side Of Fifty.....she makes lovely cards and so does Stefanie but mine are going to be fairly simple....I hope

 I bought a giant stamp pad in black............I have gobs of big stamps someone gave me years ago.....

 and a calligraphy and lettering set so maybe I can improve my writing on the cards and in my bullet journal for titles...........this should be fun!

So, that was my 'haul' and I can't wait to dig in to it all!  Thank you to all of you who inspire me, enable me and help me go broke! LOL!  I hope you had a wonderful week and that you have something fun planned for this weekend.  I know I do!

Happy Trails!!!

Thursday - 04/05/2018

It's been a trying several days.  To make a long story short.....1)  Annie and Nitty are having "accidents" in the house and my Hitch Hiker shawl is not going to see the light of day for a very, very long time if ever.  I may be taking a break from knitting and go back to crochet, sewing and cross stitch.  But I did try and 'carry on' and the girls are doing well otherwise so I can't complain.   Except for all the hours I waste on knitting things that never see the light of day!  I always say "rejection is protection and/or direction" so I think God was telling me to focus on what will bring me closer to my dreams and goals and I did.
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New toilet seat installed and partly deep cleaned bathrooms.  This was another project that should have been easy but of course, not for me.  Long story but in calling the company they informed me that the instructions were written wrong.  I questioned it when I read them but figured they must know what they were talking about but come to find out they didn't! LOL!  But it's in now and I can get on with my life! LOL!

 

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Since I wasn't going to be knitting I needed something to keep my  hands occupied so I started working on some wash cloths again but this time crocheted................I bought a spool of Peaches and Creme at Wal-mart in the Limeade colorway.  It spoke Spring to me!  I think this is the Cobblestone pattern and it is a tutorial on You Tube.  I'm finding it a little hard on my hands though.

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I also prepped my cross stitch for stitching in the evenings.  I used an overcast stitch on my machine that I did not know it had.  I was going to use a zig-zag stitch.  It felt good to learn something new and be successful at it.

 No unraveling here!

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I also made the floss cards out of the chip board she sent in the kit for that purpose.........then I started sorting through the floss and trying to tell which color was which number...............not an easy job and I'm not sure I got it right plus there are 2 missing which are probably mixed  up with another color that was close.  I will be digging out my DMC colors tonight and see if that will help me...........

There are 36 colors and most are just 1 strand so it is a job trying to match them to the correct number for DMC.  It would be easier to purchase the colors separately for then they would be labeled.  Or maybe I should take my floss holders with me tomorrow when I go to Mountain Home and check them at Hobby Lobby?  Great idea!
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I was at the Dollar General here in town the other day and they had a pile of books on one shelf.  I wasn't expecting anything remotely interesting until I spotted one of my favorite authors!  So, yes, I got this book for $1 and it wasn't one I had read yet...SCORE!

 I hope you had a productive and enjoyable week so far!
Happy Trails!!!
P.S. Did you know Ben & Jerry's ice cream now make a dairy-free ice cream?  Well, they do and let me tell you......it is out of this world!  I'm not supposed to have dairy simply because of the cholesterol and I love ice cream...problem solved!  It is made with almond milk and I got the almond caramel brittle....Oh Baby! Oh Baby!

Monday - 04/02/2018

What a nice Easter I had and I hope you did too.  It was quiet and relaxing and rainy and cozy.  I knitted and read and watched some t.v. and had some good food.  What more could a person ask for?  Oh, and of course I had my Fab 4 here to entertain me.  In fact, Orphan Annie (at first I thought it was the Easter Bunny) left me a little surprise by the front door when I got up.  Wasn't that so thoughtful of her?
I've been on a roll today getting things done and it feels good.  I'm not comfortable sitting around too long.  I got the kitchen, laundry room and part of the family room vacuumed and washed the laundry room and kitchen floor.  I did a load of laundry, made some soup and worked on my Hitchhiker shawl on breaks.  I got to the light purple and now to the dark purple since yesterday............although each row takes longer and longer...........still loving this project and I highly recommend it!

I finally got my Alicia Paulson Spring cross stitch kit in the mail today!  I was hoping to have it to work on over the Easter weekend but I can work on it now.......

 I can't wait to get started on it and the green fabric is just perfect.........love!  She said she might have some more kits so check out her blog on my sidebar if you're interested and for sure you can get the pattern.

Here's what I finished reading............good and timely for the Easter season..........not only was this  about God's mercy but how we are to be merciful to others.......a great reminder........

Here is what I am currently reading...........this is the 2nd book in the Outlander series and I am stopping  reading it as I am watching Season 1 on t.v. which is book 1 and I am getting confused between the two.  Both the book and the series are explicit, violent, lots of nudity, of course it's only ever the women that are nude.....so ridiculous!   I'm not one to usually watch these types of shows but Outlander has a great story and I would like to know if it is historical fiction as I'm pretty sure that many of these events really happened and I think Diana Gibaldon, the author, has her PhD in history but I could be lying...lol!  Anyway,  I seem to be addicted to the series regardless of all the stuff I don't like so we'll see how long I last.   If I start having bad dreams we are done!  I will resume reading the second book when I have finished watching the first book on t.v.

This is my non-fiction book and I have had this book for awhile...years probably.  I read another book by these 2 sister octogenarians and they are wonderful to read and so wise.  They are a great example of not letting things stand in your way regardless.  I highly recommend any of their books....not sure how many they wrote...I know of 2.  I'm sure they are long gone now to the great beyond but what interesting and accomplished people they both were.

Since I've stopped reading Dragonfly in Amber, I started reading this fiction book....in fact, I just started it last night so I really can't tell you much yet except it's about a family that farms and the author happens to live in Wisconsin with her farmer husband. 

I have caught up with The Yarn Hoarder podcasts and I need to catch up with my other ones that I watch; Inside Number 23, Brooklyn Knitfolk, Knitting Expat, Bakery Bears and Stitching the High Notes.  Also, Stitched in Sweden if she still podcasts.  Some are getting so infrequent that I think they have quit.  I like ones that are more regular.....I should talk when it comes to my blog! LOL!
As for other t.v. just Stranger Things and Outlander.
I hope you have a great week and tell me what you are reading, watching and/or listening to!
Happy Trails!!!

YOP Week #40

Happy Easter to those of you who celebrate it.  I do and I have my little Easter vignette that I set up.....

A card from my daughter and some Easter treats that the Easter Bunny left me........my Easter basket has gotten much smaller over the years....what's  up with that?

The statue is the Pieta by Michelangelo.....I've had this for over 40 years........I'm not an art connoisseur by any means but when I saw this reproduction sculpture I was so taken by it, it brought tears to my eyes.....still does.............

There were no Easter lilies available so I got this hyacinth which smells heavenly..........

I also colored eggs which I love doing.............

BEFORE:

AFTER:
They must have improved the colors as I don't remember them coming out so vivid when my children were little.............it might have been that they were just impatient.....

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 WIP's (Works in Progress)
There are no FO's this week just a WIP which probably doesn't look much different from last week.....yet I knitted on it all week!  But you see, I frogged the entire thing and started over! LOL!  There was that 'knot' and then I made 2 more mistakes and with me 3's charm so it got frogged completely back to square 0!  I think I am probably right where I was last week......sorry...........
Still love knitting on it but there is no TV watching for me unless I am doing a washcloth or my CMB.

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Acquisitions:
1)  I got my March subscription box from Little House in the Big Wool and love it!  So many goodies and it was all based on Beatrix Potter....one of my all time favorite authors.....I gave more detail on a previous post if you want to know more.

2)  I picked up this lovely Spring color of Peaches and Creme 100% cotton worsted for dish cloths....I love Dishie yarn but this color spoke to me............. 

3)  I've had this yarn for awhile but was not sure about the dyeing part which is what I bought it for.  I've decided I want to wind it into mini-skeins which I do not know how to do so I will look up tutorials and then dye with the supplies below.  Alicia Paulson mentioned dyeing with these supplies and her yarns turned out gorgeous!   Hopefully by next week I will have something to show you.  I want to dye them for the Land of Sweets cowl I mentioned. 

What's in the Queue -
#1 - Land of Sweets Cowl
I still have to get enough mini-skeins to do the different colors.  I think I will be dyeing my own now.
#2 - Some Valentine's Day socks - I'll be on the look out for VD appropriate yarn.  I heard that Lolo Did It always dyes special yarns for the holidays so I need to take a look but it will have to be in next month's craft budget. 
#3 - Something for St. Patrick's Day...socks or cowl...not sure.  I think I found a cowl pattern with a Celtic design but I would like socks too!
#4 - Still more washcloths as I have plenty of Dishie and Peaches and Creme worsted cotton
#5 - The Spring color cotton is for some leaf book markers
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What I'm "wishing upon a star" for -
#1 - My Valentine and St. Patrick's Day yarns for socks or cowls and mini's for cowl and Granny Stripe Blanket.
 #2 - Susan B. Anderson has her 2 kits back in stock..........The Loopy Sheep
and her Spring Chicken kits  just in time for Spring but where do I get the dough for all these great items?
#3 - my new over the top obsession I discovered from Little Bobbin's mother who does the most beautiful stitchery from Jesse Chorley
I'd like to do her Friendship Quilt  if I live long enough! LOL!  I may try just a little sampler on my own but check out her website for lots of other wonderful and unique items and projects.
#4 - Knitting at the Library Cowl - a pay for pattern on Ravelry.  I'm thinking this may be the year of cowls or slippers....we'll see who wins out! The cowl looks like different shelves of books!  So cool!
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YOP Goals for this coming week:
1) continue working on Hitch Hiker shawl
2) learn wrap and turn for felted wool slippers and continue
3) get out crochet basket for my daughter's birthday and work on
4) create mini skeins and dye
5) pin another I Spy quilt
6) cut binding for my sampler quilt
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 Podcasts: I have caught up with Yarn Hoarder so now I am watching Dye podcasts on You Tube.  This week I need to work on catching up with Stitching The High Notes and other regulars plus learn that wrap and turn!
Happy Trails!!!!
P.S.  To see other fabulous makes please visit our other YOP participants

Monday - 03/26/2018

                        S P O I L E R     A L E R T if you subscribe to Little Skein in the Big Wool's March box of goodies do not go any further!
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There's the good and the bad..........but first let me say that Nitty and Grace are both doing well.  Grace is beginning to eat and her ears are 'pinking  up' and her gums which means the yellow caused from her liver dysfunction is going away.  She's perkier and is more like her old self.  I am still going to give her the Urgent Care Science Diet by syringe but just not as often.  I mix a little mineral oil and potassium supplement in it that keeps her bowels running good and her potassium had been low.   Once I am sure that she is 100% then I will stop the syringe feeding.  As for Nitty, she acts totally normal and her back leg is no worse that it was before and she still manages to go up and down the stairs so PTL!
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As for the bad...........I frogged my Hitch Hiker shawl!  I know...I was halfway done!!!  That will teach me to think I can watch t.v. and do any knitting whatsoever regardless of how simple it is.  I did make an attempt to rip back and I must admit I did good but then there was a dropped stitch and it went downhill from there.  It's okay though, I've restarted and truth be told.....Mandala yarn has knots and I have no idea where my head was but the first knot I knitted right over it and it showed on both sides of the shawl!  The way to do it is to cut out the knot and join the yarn as you would any join then you can weave the ends in and not even see it but the ends on the knots where they join are very short and you cannot weave them in.  So, sad but not devastating....after all, it's just knitting.  There are much worse things...way worse!  Plus, I really enjoy working on this shawl.
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On the good side..........I received my Little Skein in the big wool subscription box!  Yay!!!!  I only did it for this one time as I'm not sure yet but I love it!  If you have not gotten yours if you are a subscriber than LOOK AWAY ----SPOILER ALERT!!!
 Beautifully wrapped and packaged............

 2 mini skeins of Anne's house yarn...this is fingering weight with cashmere in it......oh my!  I have never had any yarn with cashmere......so soft!  And the colors are beautiful.  These are large mini-skeins too....100 yards/28 grams 70% merino wool, 20% nylon and 10% cashmere......... 

 The theme was Beatrix Potter.....one of my favs!!! I got a cute little tin of stitch markers, a Peter Rabbit tin full of a lavender potpourri mix, a carrot progress keeper and an enamel pin that I think says Read, Knit, Read.....I need to get my glasses out! LOL!   Also, some lovely hand balm from Tuft Woolens.

 and last but not least a knitting pattern to go with the yarn and a coaster although I would never use it as such........everything in the box related to Beatrix Potter and it couldn't have been more perfect for me!  Thank you, Anne!

 I also got the new Knit Picks catalog in the mail so I will be cuddling up with a cup of tea and the catalog tonight!
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We had a storm early this morning and it was a real down pour and when I got up there was hail on the ground under my gutter.  It looked like a little pile of snow.   They were at least dime size and that is after they melted a bit.  No wonder it sounded so loud! LOL!  We have a flood watch and more rain tonight and tomorrow but it's 76 out so very nice but overcast.  They had predicted rain for today so I had housework planned already.  I hope you all had a nice start to your week and that it just keeps getting better!
Happy Trails!!!
  

YOP Week #39

 FO's (Finished Objects) -

I was fairly monogamous this week and because of that I was able to finish my sweater!  Ta Da!  My first sweater but definitely not my last!  I'm still thinking about a zipper, I tried it on and it fits even though I did not do a gauge swatch...I am one lucky gal!  I will do one from now on!  Thank you Lynn for the link about how to install a zipper in a sweater.  I haven't woven in ends yet or blocked it but those are minor details.  I am ecstatic about this sweater and will cherish it for the confidence it gave me.  I am one fearless knitter now!

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WIP's (Works in Progress)

 I missed working on my Hitch Hiker shawl........it is such a pleasant knit and easy to memorize.

I am about half way according to the pattern but I will probably try and use up the skein depending on how big it gets.

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I'm still catching up with The Yarn Hoarder pod casts and I have gotten so much inspiration and great ideas from her for gifts.   Come July when  the new YOP year starts I have these projects to put on the list.  I thought I would preview them in case any of  you wanted to make them so you could add them to your list.  After I look at every one's list in July then I, of course, want to add all the things to my list! LOL!

First, are these wool dryer balls..........

   Amber said they are very easy to make and what a great gift plus I could use them myself.  If you like your laundry scented you can dab them with essential oils.  I was looking at this tutorial
from Live Simply.
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Then there are aprons to make from a free pattern on Purl Soho 
I want to make them for the grands so I will probably have to do some adjusting........

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She also made garlands for her Christmas trees and there were 2 kinds.........one made with tiny wool felted balls that you can buy and there was also a kit and then another less expensive option was a Walmart bead garland that you crochet around and over but she did say it was pretty tedious but then she made like a dozen or more! LOL!  Here' something similar.........

The one made of felted wool balls is easier because you can buy the balls but if you're on a budget you can felt your own...........plus, you can spread them out....they don't need to be right next to each other...............

But in looking I found one that I like even better as it is like the old fashioned ones with popcorn and cranberries...............crocheted of course.............so pretty!

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Okay, the last thing Amber made were dish towels....75 to be exact!  That girl never does anything in a small way....her motto is "go big or go home"...LOL!  I didn't even know there was such a thing as towel fabric (this is Moda) ...........I found these I would like to make for Christmas and for MOI! I think you use about 3/4 of a yard per towel.  Amber tells you all about these projects in her Episode 23.

  There are so many to chose from.  There is a grey with blue stripes that might make nice aprons for the grands!?!  Plus, I'm thinking they would make nice table runners too!  Don't ask me why I am so 'gung ho' on Christmas right now but you know how slow I am so it's not a bad thing for me to be planning ahead! LOL!
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No acquisitions but they are coming! Oh, and don't get me going on sewing for my Spring/Summer wardrobe! LOL!  To see other fabulous makes and makers please visit our other YOP participants
Happy Trails!!! 

Thursday - 03/22/2018

My Nitty had another seizure this morning.  She lost all control of her muscles and was shaking and emptied her bladder and bowel without even realizing it.  Yes, it happened in the house right when she was getting ready to go out this morning.  The one good thing was it happened on a rug I had by the front door.    I know that one of these seizures will take her but every time she recovers I feel so blessed to spend another day with her.  She regains her senses and her muscles but it takes awhile and then she realizes she went in the house and is so ashamed.  I try to tell her it's okay but like all of us as we age and lose 'control' of a lot of things....it isn't easy to cope with.  We spent the morning outside as it was beautiful and she sat in the sun and then later under the tree in the front yard.  I burned more brush, weeded more and dragged some old metal stuff out to the street for pickup.  I knitted outside on breaks and it was just the most beautiful day to be outdoors.
I planted the bulbs I bought last week and mulched around the container but there is LOTS more to do............. supposedly this mulch won't fade!  Awesome!

I trimmed the roses and then in the afternoon took the Tahoe up to the highway and filled her with gas while Nitty lounged in the front yard.  I didn't want to force her in the house until she was ready as I know she's unsure of her strength once she has a seizure.  She never goes outside the yard so I wasn't concerned and most people are scared of Rotts so I didn't think anyone would steal her.
She was right there when I got home and she eventually made it up to the porch at her usual time of 3:00 p.m. as supper is now at 4:00 p.m. for the girls. 
I've put down my Hitchhiker shawl and am trying to finish the 2nd sleeve on my sweater to have it done by Sunday's YOP post.  I'm on round 56 of 80 not counting the cuff.  I'll work on it more tonight. 
We had some guests stop by to taste the new grass that's coming up.................last year's babies I think.....yearlings..............

We call them our "deer" friends! LOL!
I hope you had a wonderful day...........
Happy Trails!!!