Catching up

Well, Happy New Year......I haven't started any official "resolutions" thus far, but I am sure it will contain the usual; Eat better, drink more water, spend less money and exercise. I also want to complete more projects, finish old projects, learn how to spin on a wheel, and start a container garden.

I have been knitting like a mad woman. I took my yarn off of etsy, I want to make a patchwork blanket out of all the colors I dye. I also started a pair of socks for the Sock it to me KAL. Each month we knit up another pair of socks. I wish I had used a different color...I have yet to fall in love with mine. or complete the second one for that matter.

My father came up from California late last summer for a visit and brought up a few bags and boxes I had left tucked away in a closet at my parents house. One of the bags held many strips of green and blue strips of cloth...the very first log cabin quilt had ever started. It was originally for my brother, but I think it is too girly for him....looking at it now i can see what he meant. Fresh out of the basic training and his sister is trying to make him a quilt with dragon flies and swirlies. But Issac likes it so I am making it for him. I am not a quilting genius or anything. I can honestly say I have a lot more started quilts than finished ones. I decided to give hand piecing a try while at work. Then yesterday i pulled out my sewing machine
and realized just how "first time" this quilt really is. my strips were not cut strait, math all wrong, and when i did get a block done there was no way it was going to be squared off properly. So I'm making do with the best of it and calling it rustic.








I also wanted to share with you the bulk section at Winco. I love the muffin mix. I have been making these blueberry muffins at night for my family to have for breakfasts on the days i work. muffin papers, a muffin tin, mix water and 15 min in the oven is all you really need. I make the small ones and let the kids have 2 in the morning.

Dyeing Wool Black....take 1

My brother came up for Thanksgiving and discovered that I have taught myself how to spin. He has requested one of those beanies with an attached beard. So tonight I am dying black wool just for my brother, George. 

So first we gather supplies:

• The stirring stick (a random but useful stick from nature)
• Dye (I am using Rit black)
• A Big Pot
• Water
• Wool
• A Stove
• Plain White Vinegar
• Gloves

The stick is literally a random stick i found outside just so i didn't ruin any of my cooking utensils. A lot of dyes are toxic and you don't want to use anything you plan on cooking or preparing food in ever again.  

So in the pot you want to fill it about 3/4 of the way full of water and start it heating on the stove. I like to add about a cup of vinegar to the water while it's just getting hot. Once your pot of water almost simmering, i then add a good fist full of fiber. I am currently working with 100% sheep wool. I really wish i had asked the farmer who gave it to me what kind of sheep it is. 

So using your stick make sure all of the fiber is submerged. Gently turning the fiber in the pot taking care not to agitate it. 

And now for the magic! Add the dye a little at a time. You can follow the manufacturers' instructions if you want... I don't...I'm too lazy and this works for me. So I drizzle it in a little at a time, letting is slowly spread through-out the pot. I will use my stick to help the dye get into all the fibers. If it doesn't look like the dye is sticking to the fibers I'll add another up of vinegar. If you add too much, don't worry about it, it isn't going to ruin anything.

Next I let it sit in the pot with the heat on very low to maintain the heat of the water for about a half hour, gently stirring it now and then. I don't mind if some of the fibers are lighter than others I think it adds character to the finished product.




It turned out to look more burgundy in some light and black in others. I think he will like it. I cant wait to mix it with other colors when I card them together.

I love how this blue turned out! It really bright and vibrant. I dyed this about a week ago and hope to have some of it spun  and in my etsy store Craftywitchcorner. 

Kyle just introduced me to this song. And so I went to the magical place were you can learn about everything...youtube.  The song makes me think of something about the ocean. The  video makes me think of a crime drama. Neither of what I thought was true........

Knitting patterns!

I have been wanting software that will help me design knitting patterns. But in this day and age with two kids, who can afford something extra like this? So I did a Google search for free knitting software and found Knit Pro for the perfect price...FREE!!! So many ideas ran thru my mind. Blankets, bags, pillows.... It also very easy to use, all you really need to do is know how to locate an image from your computer. It is limited to basic designs like the spirals above. But I have a few other knitted projects to complete.

I started Kyle's finger-less gloves I had been promising him. And then I have the socks my brother would like along with 3 beard-beanies. I love to knit and I am so glad people appreciate it. I just wish there were more than 24 hours in a day so I would have more time to knit :)!  

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.