My weekend

Well, its that time of my weekend again...the night before I start my 4 day work week. I had hoped to get a bit more done. But because it is better to focus on the positive than the negative,  I'll talk about everything I managed to get done. I played A LOT of Farmville 2 to my horror. But now I can grow sunflowers....

I finished my audio book. Robert Jordan's The fire's of heaven. It's the 5th book in the The Wheel of Time series. This is one of those stories that you can get lost in. I really love finding a good series, but I'm always sad when they end. Fortunately The Wheel of Time series has a total of 14 books and I am only just finishing book 5 for the first time.


I figured out how to join yarn together after watching a video I found on youtube. The video is of this Navajo woman spinning and carding. Tward the end of the video she shows how she joins two skeins. That's what gave me the idea and after several tries I managed to get a skein of 74 yards. Its the first of many I want to put in a store on Esty.

I ran out of Yarn for my niece's stocking, but I know Ill have it done before Thanksgiving. I want to send it to her by way of my brother. I wouldn't mind having a strawberry hat to send her too. I had planned to start Kyle's finger-less gloves tonight, but the yarn I planned on using is fingerling and the pattern calls for a sport weight...I know I know, I could just re-size it, but I'm way too lazy for that. Ill make socks out of what I bought. I may start making some hats or something for charity out of my left over yarn. And there is always the Christmas decorations I want to work on. I want to make the mini stockings for the tree this year. I found a couple of garlands on Pintrest that I would love to make up. So much I want to do and never enough time.

Parent teacher conferences this week. Luckily I had both kids on the same day. So I was up at the ungodly hour of 7 am to make it to Issac's first ever conference  Then a few hours later Eli's started, then I had a Dr's appointment  So I got a lot done that day. Wednesday we shopped and ran errands. And today was cleaning and prepping for the work week.

So I suppose I did get a lot done...just wish I could have gotten more knitting completed.

So I know I haven't blogged for a while, so I'm going to probably do a couple of entries over the next couple of days. So Halloween went really well for the kids. My My friend and neighbor Erika and I were the only two parents in the neighborhood that were not sick on Halloween. so she and I took everyone trick or treating down the street. For spending absolutely no money on costumes, they turned out really well. I had found about 4 yards of deep purple flannel in the shed that i had used to make Eli's dress and Issac's ninja costume. I used the yarn I had spun to make the hat, felted the ears, and embroidered the yellow strips. It turned out really well. You can tell my kids are the ones who have the same color costumes.

I finished the gloves for Kyle's mother. I think they ended up a little long. But in my defense I do not know her hand size. I also started my niece, Izzy's, Christmas stocking. We had a very unproductive work day this last week, and so I started it then. I am using a free pattern I found for this stocking. I used J.erin's knits free stocking pattern. Absolutely love it! I used the yarn that the pattern suggested, Hooks and Loops. 

And I still have a ton of the plum colored wool that I am slowly spinning for my possible esty store.

Well that's it for now. I'll try and blog more later this week.

Halloween Costume Time

It's that time of year again. Time to pin the kids down to what they want to be for Halloween. Both Issac and Elizabeth want to be champions from the game League of Legends. I wasn't able to get into the game, but you will find both children on either side of Kyle asking questions about each of the 105 champions in the game.

Issac has chosen Kennen. I found some purplish flannel in the shed for his suit and I can knit a beanie with ears for his head.

Elizabeth chose Annie.  I wonder if she will be excited when her hair is pink. I have a few ideas for Annie's stockings....painted adult white hose, knitted leg warmers, or just strips of fabric sewn together.

Also I am in the process of making my first ever video. I have hit a few learning bumps, but it's nothing you tube can't fix. Now that I have Sony Vegas and a Corel trial, video is warring with my fiber arts.

Speaking of fiber arts, I managed to spin some of the purple-wine color. And with the longer spindle I had made, I can make much bigger skeins than before.

The Drop Spindle

I know I usually post once a week, but i have had a few people ask me how to make a drop spindle. I tried finding a good video on how to make a drop spindle and I thought I would do a post on how to make a drop spindle. I found a basic video on how to make a drop spindle out of things from around the house.

The girl in the video uses card board and a pencil  but you can also use a wooden dowel and some old CD's you may have around the house. I have been toying with the idea of making my own "how-to" vids. Maybe Ill make one for the drop spindle.

Every one loves free stuff...

I love the free section of Criagslist. I have managed to find some great throw-away furniture, planters, plants, and even more wool than I know what to do with. So it's there I went when my friend Jackie posted a picture of her crafting area in her house. When I went for a visit, I was so impressed that I when I got home I announced I was taking over half the living room. Kyle and I do most of our T.V. watching in the bed room and the T.V. in the front room doesn't work. So I hit craigslist for a free desk. I ended up picking up two so Kyle didn't have to use my sewing table any more for his computer. The fold down seats in the back of my Focus makes having a monthly car payment worth it. Its not as impressive as my friend's area, but its a start.







So I managed to get some canning done this week. My first time doing it with out my mother or grandmother.I was 9 the last time I canned with my grandmother, but even after so long it felt like something I have always known how to do. I started to pumpkin butter from fresh pumpkins and then read that it should be refrigerated even if canned. So I added apple cider vinegar instead of apple juice hoping that it will help. I still keep all the jars in the fridge though. I don't think I will make pumpkin butter again.

Trying something new

We have an apple tree that has gone wild here in my neighborhood. It produces a ton of very small tart apples. So Thursday the four of us picked a ton of these really small apples. The kids took turns climbing into the tree to shake down more. then last night I pealed and cut them up  covered

them with the apple cider vinegar and let them boil till soft. Then I started to add the sugars and spices. Well I think I added too much vinegar because when you first taste it, you taste a wonderful apple butter taste. After a few seconds go by BAM the vinegar hits the back of your throat making your eyes water. Well at least the apples were free. I do have to say it was fun to make, but I think when I give pumpkin butter a try I'll make sure I have a full day to focus on it.

I also worked a little on my Heaven And Earth Designs (HAED). The little gnome holding the first letter of my son's name has come out of the drawer again. At the rate I am working on him, I wont have it done any time soon, but that's ok. You can see the little bit of progression I have made between the two pics. It's been a really long time since I have put this much effort into this piece. 

Now I am going to leave you with the evidence of  the true blanket hog in the house. She has figured out how to slowly pull the covers off of our bed for herself. I had to take this picture early one morning upon my return from the restroom. 

First of Three

It's the first day of my 3 day week end. I'm really enjoying the time I can spend with my family. I Have a few finishes I want to show off and I am giving photography a try.  Kyle and I went to Tolmie State Park for about an hour. It is something I have been wanting to do for the last two weeks. But because everyone in the house was sick last week we stayed home.

Old gnarled drift wood root looks so complex

Under water treasure...














I can imagine fairy homes 

I also finished my hobo bag and I love it! I had started out with the pattern of the bag in my last post and incorporated it with a design of a bag I had made years ago. I loved that bag so much, but I can not for the life of me find the original pattern I used or even one close to it online. I remember finding the pattern in a Michaels during the time I was a carny. The bag was stolen along with the original pattern (I kept my whole life in that bag).  I think the strap is a little long and the bag itself is a little shallow, but I can fix that.










I had died some wool green at one point in time and left it in the pot a little too long. It came out a very very very dark green. So I tried combining it with white wool to maybe help lighten the darkness....well....its turning out more grey than green, but the variations in the finished product looks really nice. I think I am out growing my little spindle. I would love to get a spinning wheel in the future, but they are pricey and not a necessity. Tax time maybe?