Vacation-I think I still need one!

Visiting Indiana family for my youngest brother's 30th birthday.

The two little ones got to jump on a trampoline for the first time. It was fine as long as the bigger kids stayed off!

We got back safely, as expected. I'm worn out! I slept like a dead person last night, as did the babies. None of us slept the whole night through since Wednesday! I'm glad to have seen everyone, but Gah! I hate to travel.

Today I worked in the garden, weeding, feeding, digging out a place for my herbs, planting some more seeds. My german chamomile has a flower just starting and it smells so good! Tomatoes and peppers are flowering and growing. Peas have created a tunnel and it looks like a weedy jungle in there. Arugula and both types of spinach have had insects. My parsley trees are being borne down with their own weight. Carrots need to be thinned. I'm not in the mood, I have stuff to play with!!

I'm still in the middle of a ton of projects. More looming on the horizon. Swap partners probably feel like I'm not a great person to be teamed with. Patience, please! I will pull it all together. At the last minute, probably, but I'll get it done. That's what I keep telling myself, anyway :P

Wouldn't It Be Nice If....

Wouldn't It Be Nice If... by turtlejen featuring CHANEL jewelry

Wouldn't It Be Nice If I were an artist?

Pre-Anniversary

Tomorrow is our 2-year anniversary.  We went to Erie yesterday to catch a movie, do some shopping, and eat.  We ate breakfast at Perkins on the way there and were so full that we didn't want lunch.  We stopped in at a yarn store on 26th street.  Very nice, but I just didn't find anything I had to have.  I was also "saving myself" for the next yarn store.  The one we couldn't find!  So no new yarn for me.  He bought me shoes at Walmart.  We looked at stuff in Home Depot.  We stopped in at a place called "All Seasons"-a market-style shopping experience that, while a cool idea, didn't do anything for me because so many people lately have close-out stuff and (imo) crap.   We shopped for fabric but decided against it as I have enough projects in the works.  We drooled over sewing machines and choked at the prices :P  We saw Star Trek and I cried.  I cried so hard, in fact, that I had a headache and didn't want to eat after the movie either.  So we came home without eating at any of our favorite restaurants :(  We've decided that Monday might be better.    

I enjoyed myself, spending the day with him :)  I got a lot done on a sock I have in progress, too!

Today I'm languishing in front of the computer but NEED to get outside and feed my garden!  Need to weed one of the beds by the house.  Need to make Friendship Bread (was supposed to do that yesterday, so I have to get it done today!).  Yikes.

New Wheel, No Play!

So.  I ordered a new spinning wheel to replace my Joy.  The new one is an Ashford Traveller.  This one will allow me to use a jumbo flyer kit to make really heavy yarns and I'm super-excited about it!  She got here yesterday!!

This is a ganked pic from Ashford's website.  Mine is unfinished and probably will remain so throughout most of the summer.  I'm SURE that at some point I won't be able to spin, thereby freeing up the wheel for protecting.  I know, I know, I should have finished her while she was still in pieces!  Well, DH thought of that and didn't take all of the steps to "tighten her down" so to speak.  

I spun on her last night and have decided that she's enough of a replacement for my Joy that I can let her go.  I'm posting her on Rav first and if I don't get any takers, I'll put her up on Ebay.  

For now, though, I can't spin because DS won't let me.  He steals bobbins and stands on my feet while I'm treadling.  I have no excuse not to be picking up around the house, but you know I'm still trying to spin!  As for DH, I really hope he didn't expect to get the house clean after the Traveller got here :D

I'm Feasting!

Things are looking up for me in the crafting department.  Since I joined the MaweluckyLove Group on Ravelry and decided to do a personal project, that is.  When I had only Babette's shawl on my needles-or off, if Ryan had gotten hold of it-I felt like I was adrift.  I kept going over and over in my head all of the things that I wanted to make to put in my Etsy store, but I still felt bored.  I joined the Nightsongs KAL and that, coupled with the lack of available money,  made me look at other groups (Spin or Dye Swapping, We Love to Barter, Handmade Barter) for something to do.  I got my something to do, all right!  Making crochet bowls for a mesh bag led to another job-making a string bag for a custom project bag that matches the mesh bag.  Which led to making a pair of lined mittens.  

*note* both the string bag and the mittens are WIPs at the moment.

I swapped a skein-and-two-thirds of brushstrokes cotton yarn for two quart-sized bags of lavender.

I am swapping fat quarters of my dyed muslin for spinning fiber.

I have done another spinning job for one of my ongoing Etsy customers, with another one planned, just waiting for fiber~AND I get to knit that one up for her!

I also have a swap going with a new Craftster buddy~she's making me bloomers while I make her knee socks!  Yay! 

On a side note, let me say that two successive pregnancies have left my body LOOKING "middle-aged" if not actually "pudding-ish".  I am seriously dissatisfied with pants that aren't sweats or p.j.s and am not quite ready to retire into my grandmother's housedresses or a muumuu.  I have a sudden, unexpected LUST for bloomers and country dresses and corset-ish spring smocky, wrappy, apron-y stuff!   You can see examples of my new addictions here.  

So yeah.  Feast or Famine.  Feasting, for sure!

Feeling Better

Things are definitely looking up for me. I haven't been in pain, I have more energy, and I don't have the brain fog that I did. I'm finished with the herbs and diet. So, here's what's up with my work;

Finished spinning the yarn and knit Amy's mittens
Finished the socks and a pair of fingerless hand warmers for Sheri
Am working on Babbette's shawl and have it about half done
Have fibers coming in to spin for a customer
Have made my very first batch of soap from lard, coconut oil, sweet almond oil, and added a tangerine scent
Have dyed and listed more muslin in my shop
Have dyed an Eddie Bauer shirt and trying to decide whether to sell or keep it

The things that I need to do yet are;

Comb and spin more fiber
Knit a ton!
Work on mom's curtains
Get more items into my tiny little shop
Make more soap with more scents, oils, additions, etc.
Make paper from rags

Ok, I'm off!

New News

Wow, have I got a headache! It's stress-induced, of course. I've gotten a new prescription for glasses. I replaced the lenses in my good wire frames with Transitions and got new contacts for astigmatism. I've started a diet of NO sugar, no white flour, no mushrooms, no vinegar to try combating my fibromyalgia. I actually do feel somewhat better, pain-wise! It was a 15-day trial run with large amounts (imho) of acidophilus and can-sol. Do you have any idea what my diet has been lately? Apples, Bananas, corn chips, any meat I want without any sauces (sugar and/or vinegars in everything I like), no bread at all. Fruit and meat. Ahh, to be Eve after the Fall. Every single day I contemplate quitting the diet, but balance that with the pain I was in before~I can eat "rough" for a few more days :)
Cheryl sent me the gorgeous stacker ring set with amethyst and labradorite stones so I've moved rings around on my fingers. That's always a large "deal" for me. I don't know why, but I view rings as important accesories, something to be given a lot of consideration. I have one more on the way, and that will be enough rings for this stage of my life.
I've finished all of the promised knits except for Babette's shawl. It's in progress and I now have a spinning project in queue. Then I have to get started putting cool items in my tiny shop. It always feels so bare when I go there, and I'm tired of seeing the same 5 things all the time.
I have to go to the library and return books, too. I need to find my brain.
First though, I have to eat lunch.

Tuesday Morning

So I finished the mittens Sunday night, yay me! I also started the socks for Sheri, but over the course of Monday got halfway through the foot and then frogged it as it was too big. I did do a gauge swatch, but apparently didn't do something right. Then I had to start over again since one of the babies pulled a needle out on a short row and I just didn't feel like trying to re-place those stitches. Now I'm almost halfway through the foot again and things are better. I believe that this will actually FIT. I love the way the knitted fabric feels in my hands.
Lala thinks (and I agree with her) that I have ADD. I'm never satisfied with anything for long and that's why I have 3 million things all going on at one time. I very rarely actually finish anything at one time. I'm doing better on these custom jobs though, but my mind does wander to other things...and I get up and get on the computer and look at rovings and handspun yarn a lot. I also think about custom jobs that I have for other people. I almost wonder if my tendency to have more than one job on my plate has helped me to combine ideas i.e., the upcycled journal and the artwork of Diana. That can be a good thing, though, can't it? Being able to meld mediums?

No Super For Me

We didn't watch the Superbowl. In fact, we couldn't figure out why the 'net was so slow last night until Scott remembered that the Superbowl was being broadcast. I so didn't miss it :)
I finished Amy's mittens last night and am happy with the way they turned out. I also began working on Sheri's socks and LOOOOOVE the way the yarn feels already. I am going to have to splurge on some of that cash island for myself one of these days.
I talked on the phone to Babette last night, too! That was very exciting, but Ryan just couldn't do without his mommy and was very vocal about that fact. He kept chasing me around the house, yelling...it made for some "hit and miss" conversation on my part, believe me! Ah well, it's all fun and games until you shoot your eye out.

Plastic for Supper!

Applebee's gift cards ROCK when you just don't want to cook or clean!! Thanks Sheila and Bill!

That's The Way, Uh huh

Projects are taking up all of my time. Well, projects and husband and kids and house and friends. I have SO MUCH to do, and not enough time! And now my doctor gives me a sleep aid to try and "reset" my pain thermometer...I hope it works, but look at all the time I'm going to give up to sleep :P

Let's see;

• Two pair of matching hats and scarves for Lala's cousin, Kim~done but not mailed yet...still waiting for an address to ship them to.


• Spin and ply the sapphire and blue merino, then knit it into a pair of angora-lined mittens for Amy~WIP


• Knit knee socks for Sheri


• Knit a shawl for Babette


• Make an avatar and banner for Etsy


• Print business/product cards


• Fix the applique patches on my jeans


• Work on the Quilted Curtains for mom


• Spin more yarn


• Use the newest yarns in some cool stuff to put in the Etsy store


• Dye some fabric for the store


• Make soap!


• Make rag paper!


• Try not to go crazy

I came up with (what I think is) an awesome idea! I bought an upcycled journal from Bekka on Etsy ( http://www.froydis.etsy.com/ ) to use as a shared journal between my Indiana family and myself. It's a "fear of senility or alzheimer's" kind of thing-I don't want to just write down things that I remember. I want to have things that all of my family remember, too. Anyway, this journal has some of the original book papers in it, it has lots of plain white sketch paper, some art papers, a paper to use as a rule, and it's in a book printed in 1943 called "The Little Locksmith". I just LOVE the book and sent it off to my family just after Christmas 2008 after I had put in a picture of Scott, Me, Riley, Raina, and Ryan (henceforth known collectively as "the 3 Rs") and some thoughts and memories.

Then I discovered Diana's store on Etsy (http://www.copperinc.etsy.com/). Diana has the distinct honor of somehow bringing to reality my own vague thoughts for what I wanted to do with art...you'll just have to go see it for yourself. I couldn't do it justice. Needless to say, after I saw her work, I couldn't let go of the idea that I HAD TO HAVE something of her art...and asked her to "work" in my journal!! She said that she would be honored to be part of it!! I am so very sillily happy right now!!! I wish mom would send the journal back so I can send it to Diana!

I know, there are a lot of exclamation points there...deal with it.

So. I should be knitting, not blogging, but...deal :)