Knitting Tart

Peaches

2010-02-23T21:07:00.001-07:00

mmm... this blog got me thinking about how much I love fruit that is so juicy it drips down your arm when you bite into it. Peaches, plums, pears... I am not only a yarn ho, I am a fruit ho too. lol.

BabyLegs

2010-01-26T17:36:00.001-07:00

We love these and you will too. Check out this great contest to win some. http://www.babysnazz.com/contest/

Goodbye 2009!

2010-01-01T00:24:00.003-07:00

31 knit items completed, 4 still OTN, more skeins of yarn and braids of fiber dyed than I can count.
Here's to a new year filled with many more knitting projects to clothe my wonderful family and friends in!

I hope you all have a prosperous and lovely 2010. <3

A vision of color...

2009-07-21T17:41:00.011-06:00

I did some dyeing over the past 8 weeks for a large co-op (above), and also for Their Own Knitted World congo, where Jessica and I will be guesting with in September (below).

Namaste, how I love thee

2009-05-26T08:54:00.002-06:00

I have somehow fallen in love with bags. All sorts off bags. Purses, knitting bags, you name it. It is thanks to my best friend. She is a self-admitted bag ho and for the longest time I resisted. Oh how I resisted. I stuck with my one bag and could not understand how she needed a different bag to suit how she felt that particular day. How I stayed under that rock for so long I will never comprehend. Once you fall under the spell of bag love it becomes like this obsession. You sit and stare at different styles. You see ladies in the store and you don't even look at their faces, you look at their bags... and their shoes if you have a wee love of shoes too like I do. I am in some serious trouble! At least I am not so concerned with my bags and shoes being a perfect match... yet! I am still eclectic that way. So thank you Jessica for for opening my eyes!

Anyhow, when I saw this contest I just had to enter, and you all should too!

Who loves free yarn?

2009-05-07T08:41:00.001-06:00

I do! I sure hope I win this awesome needle set and yarn at Things Moms Like. Woot!

Custom yarn

2009-04-23T20:46:00.003-06:00

I did some bartering with a friend and she is getting a bunch of yarn in return. I still have 2 more skeins and trims drying for her. I just love it when my yarn stays close to home.

L-R: Shine, Robin Hood, Forest Sprite, Iced Giraffes, Tadpole, Little Boy Blue

New look!

2009-03-05T08:38:00.003-07:00

Jessica and I celebrated 2 years of having our own Hyena Cart a couple weeks ago. Yay! We decided to have our look completely re-vamped by Andrea of Wanted. She was so great to work with and I love our new look. Here is our new banner and you can check out the rest of our design at our site Nurturing Threads.

GROSGRAIN MINI STORE OPENING NOVEMBER 6!!!! AND BIG PREVIEW GIVEAWAY!!!!

2008-10-25T21:28:00.000-06:00

GROSGRAIN MINI STORE OPENING NOVEMBER 6!!!! AND BIG PREVIEW GIVEAWAY!!!!

I love these skirts!

Marie-Therese Gown GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

2008-10-24T12:39:00.000-06:00

Marie-Therese Gown GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

This has to be the most fabulous costume I have ever seen! What a talented seamstress. Can you just picture Scarlett wearing it with her red curls? I will be over the moon if we win it!

Cherry Picking

2008-06-30T11:32:00.003-06:00

We haven't been fruit picking outside since we moved to Idaho. Yesterday we drove about half an hour from here and picked cherries. $1.30/pound when they are $5.99/pound at the market is fantastic. We had such a great time we are going back in a couple weeks for apricots.We ended up with ten pounds of cherries, which we ate a bunch of already. Plus I made a fresh cherry pie last night. It was so yummy. I prefer cobblers, but they all wanted pie so I was outnumbered. No pie picture though as it overflowed and wasn't very pretty.

2008-06-26T14:25:00.001-06:00

Win the Essential Babywearing Stash from Along for the Ride (one Beco Butterfly, one Hotsling baby pouch, one BabyHawk Mei Tai, one Zolowear Ring Sling, and one Gypsy Mama Wrap)

Salad

2008-06-06T08:05:00.003-06:00

That is all from my garden! Yummy.

Bwahahahaha

2008-06-02T12:00:00.004-06:00

OMG I just love Crazy Aunt Purl. I am not an every day reader of any blog at all but she cracks me up every.single.time. she posts. You have got to go read her blog for today. Oh, if you read the Yarn Harlot first it is even funnier. William Shatner & Slash, oh my! I bet I would have a blast hanging out ~~dropping stitches~~ knitting and ~~getting drunk~~ sipping wine with her knitting group if I go back to LA for a visit. Hmm, I may have to put that on my tentative to-do list.

I'm hoping in the next year or so to make it out there. The kiddos are long overdue for a visit to Disneyland and I miss some of my old friends. I want to stay a bit longer this time so I can make sure to hit all of the places I want to eat. Funny how when we go back I plan each day around where we *have* to eat. Philippe's, The Farmer's Market, Mucho Mas, good sushi somewhere for Rob, Electric Lotus, Mazzarino's and my mind fails me on the others right now but I have a master list somewhere. I love living out here except for the lack of ethnic food. You could get anything you wanted at any time of day and that totally rocked! We are pretty limited here with our restaurant selections. Good yummy food, but it just isn't the same. I do really love Carraba's even though it's a chain. I would say it is my favorite restaurant out here, besides the uber-expensive Mona Lisa.

Adorable!

2008-06-01T18:21:00.003-06:00

I have been knitting too, but I never did show what I knit recently since they were a baby gift for a dear friend. My good friend Kimber (4 years now!) that was the mama I met who introduced me to AW and the cool cloth diapers gave birth to her beautiful baby girl Brooke Kaylee just a few days ago. I am so very happy for her and her husband. She was a long time coming and I bet she is going to be so showered with love. If it wasn't for Kimber I would never have tried cloth diapering again. With Jordan we used a diaper service for a bit, but it was such a hassle living in a security building, not to mention no one showed me how to properly use the Proraps so I never really got a good hang of it. Kimber set me straight. I remember the first time we hung out in person and saying to her "You sew your own diapers?" "I can sew..." as my mind starting working overboard lol. I didn't actually do anything more than serge some prefolds & sew some wool covers back then. The sheer amount of awesome cloth out there to choose from was enough to keep me busy building a stash. A month later Damien was pretty much all in cloth. Ah, I love reminiscing. So here is the sweet ruffled capris I knit for Miss Brooke Kaylee. Filled with extra love!

Radzilla

2008-06-01T18:19:00.001-06:00

Holy cow was I hit with a surprise today. I went out to check on the garden and see where it needed water. We have been having rain off and on since last night. Actually more like drizzle. It has been pretty warm though, so I wanted to check the soil and see which areas needed water since I knew not all of them would. I got to the most recent radishes planted on 4/13 and encountered what I have named ‘Radzilla’. Now, I know it has been about 6 or 7 weeks since they were planted, but for some reason the four squares of that corner have a really hard time germinating, so it took a long while to sprout. I actually only got a few radishes out of the 16 I planted. I know it wasn’t the seeds either because pretty much every other one grew in the other box. Anyhow, Radzilla is about 2.5” in diameter and nearly 1.5” high! You can see my ring next to it for comparison. I’m almost scared to eat it. lol.

Onions!

2008-05-29T20:40:00.002-06:00

Green ones to be exact! The salads get better every day. *grin*

Win a free Ergo

2008-05-29T09:38:00.001-06:00

Win a Free Ergo Baby Carrier from Along for the Ride

2008-05-28T16:04:00.001-06:00

More radishes harvested today. :)

Clear as the eye can see

2008-05-25T21:23:00.003-06:00

there is no snow! So I planted tomatoes and peppers today. Grape, Roma, red, yellow, orange, green bell peppers. I'll get pics and the proper names of them tomorrow when I put the last bits of mulch in the patchways. I am happy to say that there is only one raspberry bush that hasn't sprouted new leaves though. Unfortunately some of the strawberry plants don't look so well. I am not sure if it is lack of water, or too much water and wind from a storm we had last week. I think maybe the latter since they were fine until the day after the storm. I'm going to take tons of pictures and post them at the board and hopefully get some advice though. I hope I can salvage the ones that don't look so good.

Nice haul

2008-05-23T11:25:00.002-06:00

for a first harvest. Woot! I love me some peppery radishes. They are so delicious.

Long overdue update

2008-05-20T13:10:00.006-06:00

Wow I have been so busy the past three weeks. This will be a quick update until I can get pictures uploaded. I have everything planted for this year, except for the tomatoes and peppers which will go in hopefully this week.

Our crops & their current states:

Basil

Marigolds, sprouting

Edamame, sprouting

Rainbow Carrots, sprouting

Assorted letttuce, growing nicely

Purple Onions, growing big

Green Onions, almost ready for harvest

Little Marvel Peas, growing well, no signs of peapods yet

Assorted Radishes, harvested one, various stages, ready to harvest some today

Chives replanted, have some that are growing in the wrong squares due to wind or something

Cukes, sprouting

Nasturtiums

Big Max Pumpkins

Strawberries, some have flowers, some doing okay, some barely hanging on. Only one or two have kicked the bucket out of 48 plants. Not too bad!

Raspberries, 7 out of the 11 planted have gorgeous new leaves and the others are getting plenty of water and sun, so we will see what happens with them. The ones without new leaves are the bigger ones so maybe it just takes them longer.

I also participated in a swap with some of my sewing and crafting friends. I'll try to get a picture up of all the stuff I made since I have been extremely neglectful of my artistic side lately. Although, there is something very artistic about being outside in nature.

Oh, I almost forgot. Mother's Day weekend we got a dwarf Elberta Peach tree, a Silver Maple tree and a Red Oak tree. The oak is in the front yard and the other two are in the backyard.

Busy busy!

2008-04-28T09:52:00.002-06:00

Today I am planting the remaining 2 squares of carrots and 1 square of lettuce that i didn't manage to do before I left for Florida. I am also planting 48 strawberry plants, 14 arbor day trees (some sort of pine?), and 14 raspberry plants. The trees are last on my list they may not get in until tomorrow. However with all of us working together and it staying sunny until late now, we should be good to go. Rob got me a tiller yesterday so I am going to tear the crud out of the soil today and make it nice and fluffy for the raspberries.

Still around

2008-04-24T11:55:00.002-06:00

My Grandpa passed away on April 14th and I have been away in Florida. I will post an update in the next few days, but I wanted to let you all know that I haven't disappeared.

A brighter shade of white

2008-04-09T08:08:00.003-06:00

Yup, you guessed it. SNOW. I have my husband to thank for that one. He remarked to me yesterday that for sure we have had our last frost for the year. I explained that it normally is still another month out. Even though the weather is nice, I wouldn't be surprised if we had snow between now and Mother's Day. Well thankyouverymuch Murphy's Law. I woke up the kids for school and was glancing out the window as I walked down the hallway and did a double take. What did my little ole eyes see? Snow all over. Hopefully the sun will come out quickly and melt it all since I should be having lots more radish sprouts soon. Maybe if I go outside and sing like Little Orphan Annie...

With that, I leave you with this picture of me moving dirt sans shovel, because shovels just slow ya down.

We have radish germination

2008-04-08T18:51:00.004-06:00

So exciting, I had to make a second post today. :) While I was outside watering I saw our first radish sprout. 12 days is what it took. Not bad considering we have had snow since I planted, and I had a bit of a rocky watering start. I cannot wait until we get our first harvest.

A picture is worth a thousand words

2008-04-08T14:31:00.003-06:00

Notice anything different? *grin* The upper left box will have 2-3 tomatoes, basil & marigolds. Upper right box will have 8 square feet of peppers, 3 square feet of purple onions, 1 square foot of green onions, 1 square foot of chives, 1 square foot of nasturtiums, and 2 squares undecided. The bottom two boxes will be filled with 48 beautiful strawberry plants. We love strawberries! I am going to dig up the grass behind the boxes and transplant some raspberry bushes back there. We still have lots more of the soil mix too, so once I get the grass up, I will add the soil in there. You can't really see from this angle, but there is I think 6 or 7 feet behind the boxes.

I also planted 1 square of onions, 1 square lettuce, 2 squares carrots. I discovered too that I think I wasn't getting enough watering done. :( I was using the misting suggested by SFG, but after being out there working for hours upon hours over the last few days, I noticed it kept drying out really quick. I seem to have come up with a better watering system for now, so we will see if it helps. Hopefully since I caught the issue within the first couple weeks, it hasn't done too much damage, just slowed germination, especially since it has been raining some.

I'll be going out later today to place the grids on all but the tomato box.

And the winner is...

2008-04-06T09:19:00.002-06:00

DOVE KNITS!

Congratulations, I will be contacting you for your address to ship your goodies. :)

Sprout

2008-04-03T14:41:00.003-06:00

and sprout again. Two itty bitty purple onion sprouts have made their way through! So exciting. I first saw the one, but upon careful scrutiny, I saw sprout number two. Proud mama today. I am sure I will be even prouder when my big kids bring their report cards home from school. No other news on the gardening front. Just watering and waiting. I found a great deal on strawberry plants thanks to my friend so I will order those tomorrow.

I have started on a very special gift for Kimber's sweet baby girl. I hope to finish it in time to get it to her baby shower. I need one more thing for it which I should have tomorrow to help me with it. They have been waiting many years for this baby and I have all my fingers crossed that she patiently waits another 2 months to meet her mama, papa & big brother.

Tomorrow is the last day of my contest.

Nasty trick Mother!

2008-03-31T08:14:00.006-06:00

Mother Nature that is! So yesterday after I posted, I rushed outside to get a square of purple onions planted. I also interplanted radishes in the 2 unplanted lettuce squares. I just can't stand seeing them empty like that. I was planning to wait, but the idea of soon-to-be gratification overtook me. I know I am planning to succession plant, but I figured that I would deifintely plant some with the 2 unplanted squares of carrots, and just keep replanting radish as everything harvests. I really hope that I manage the carrots so we don't run out. I also am thinking that I can get some onions in with the tomatoes. However I had better get those beds built asap if I want to have big onions rather than just green onions. I want both ideally. Sorry, I went completely off on a tangent. I will blame it all on my mama friends who can't stay on topic ever. You know who you are!

Oh, and back to Mother Nature. So I did my planting and asked Rob to get the garden watered down for me. I was really craving some chocolate and decided to make a quick run to the corner to pick up some clearance Easter candies. When I came out it was dark, cloudy and windy as all heck. I had trouble keeping the truck in my own lane driving home it was so bad. I was really worried that my seeds would blow away. Probably unfounded worry since it is not like my garden is dried up or anything. But it hadn't been watered yet yesterday. He hadn't done it, but outside it looked like it was about to start pouring. I went home, made a quick dinner, took some migraine meds and got in bed. Next thing you know I hear the kids screaming "look out the window". OMG! SNOW!!! Big fracking quarter-sized snowflakes. And still, no water for my garden. Gah. I hope it is not too bad out there. I am scared to go check. At least I don't have any sprouts yet. Never thought I would be relieved to say that.

4 days left to enter my contest.

Purple Haze

2008-03-30T15:20:00.005-06:00

I picked up some purple onion sets today. We also got some crabgrass preventer and lawn food. Our grass will be happily fed just like our veggie bed. I was planning on having two varieties of onions, but the place we went to only had big bags of 100 sets. Seeing as of right now I only need 32, I really couldn't justify buying both types. I want to figure out where to plant the remaining ones as well. I can't imagine wasting them. I'll have to see if they can be interplanted in any of the other squares. Speaking of which, if you scroll down, you will see that I edited and no longer have a square dedicated to my radish crop. I decided to stick to completely interplanting the radishes. As of right now those will be with the lettuce, 9 in each square, then wherever else I feel like sticking them. They grow so quick 3-4 weeks so we will be eating those frequently. In fact I am going to go plant some more right now. I am also going to get my onions in.

I know I keep talking about it, but we are even closer to getting the berry bed done. We priced top soil & compost by the yard and were pleasantly surprised at the affordability. Now I just need to figure out where we are getting the retaining wall pavers form and we are set to go. Rob is going to ask his buddy to help us pick up the dirt in his pick truck this week. I can hardly wait!

5 days left to enter my contest.

Small Update

2008-03-29T09:40:00.003-06:00

I planted some radishes, rainbow carrots, lettuce and more peas. Luckily it has been raining off and on so mother nature has been watering for me. :) We have a busy weekend packed with birthday parties. I am going to drag my almost-finished second sock with me and try to finish it, finally. It is really stopping me from casting on any new projects. Nothing planned on the gardening front until the end of the week. Hope you all have a pleasant weekend. Don't forget to check out my contest.

My very first blog contest!

2008-03-27T10:35:00.003-06:00

Today is the 5 year anniversary of the passing of my Grandma. We miss you GiGi! In memory of her I am running my very first contest. When I think about growing up, I remember cooking with my Grandma. She wasn't a gardener, but she was a wonderful cook and knitter! I want to hear your favorite memory of cooking, knitting or gardening with your Grandma. If you weren't fortunate enough to know your Grandma, you can still play with us. Just share a story of someone similar. Leave the story in the comments and make sure to include your email or link to your blog so I know how to reach you if you win. I will choose the winner randomly, so just tell me your favorite memory. No need to make it extra sappy lol. Feel free to link this contest in your blog and include the link in a new comment and I will give you an extra chance to win.

The contest will run until 04/04/08 at 11:59pm MDT. Oh and you want to know what the prize is don't you? I will send some seed packets, some yarn and hopefully a candy surprise. There is something in particular that my Grandma loved, but I am not sure I can get it here. If I can find it, you will get that too.

When dreams become reality

2008-03-27T09:15:00.002-06:00

my family will not starve. At least I hope. Last night I had this wacky dream. Fueled by pain, antibiotics, and pain meds I was unable to sleep well and fell in and out of sleep. Mostly I was in a state of lucid dreaming I guess. Everything was so bright in my dream. Like the sun never went down. When I startled awake from it I discovered that when Scarlett came down from her room to get in bed with us, she left our door open. That of course meant there was the bright shining light from the upstairs hallway shining over the banister right into our bedroom. The sun that never set in my dream. My dream was like some post-apocalyptic hunt for food. I can't recall exactly how we got to the point where we were needing to scavenge for food, but we were. And not hunt in nature either. We had to search offices, stores that had already been looted, etc. Everything was pretty neat, but already picked over.

When I woke up I realized how important it is to have a garden and not be so reliant on the grocery stores. Especially with the recession. Excuse me, the *upcoming* recession. With an abudant source of food in our own backyard, I know that should something happen to the company my husband works for, we will be fine while he looks for work. I am going to be buying tons of pantry items whenever they go on deep discount, rather than letting the pantry get low. Also my friend mentioned she knows of some good beef that has a cut & wrapped price of $2.50/lb per 1/2 cow which is unbelievably cheap. It is supposed to be antibiotic free, no hormones, etc. Hopefully we are going to split a half cow with someone to fill our freezer.

I am going to price out the supplies for our berry bed this weekend and see about getting the dirt next week so I can build it. My friend FrugalMom has so graciously offered to let me come dig raspberry bushes from her garden, so that will save me a bundle. All I will have to worry about getting are the strawberry plants. Today is sunny so we are planting some seeds like I talked about yesterday, and I am also going around the corner to the nursery to see if they have onion sets too. If you have experience with onions in a SFG, please leave me a comment with some advice. I am trying to figure out how to stagger my planting so I have onions (not green) every week all summer long. I would love to have about 5-8 a week if possible.

Rain, Rain, Rain!!!

2008-03-26T20:29:00.003-06:00

Oh yes, it is raining again. Woot! Yesterday I sent the kids out to measure the distance from the faucet bib to the garden. I wanted to see if the longest hose we have would reach since it is on the opposite side of the house. It reaches all the way, so no need to buy a new hose. I love that. Perfect for the cheapskate in me. ;) Anyhow, after that it rained a bit, so no need for the hose. Then today I had to take myself to urgent care to get some meds for a bladder infection (ouch) so I hadn't had a chance to water yet. Well now it is raining so once again, no need for the hose. I am glad I don't have to be out there in the dark cold watering. However, I do look forward to doing that in the nice warm sun. Since it is looking like rain will be coming off and on now I think I will snag the very next nice afternoon and get some more seeds down with the kids. If I pass a single day up it could leave me a week behind my target. I hope they have as much fun as me poking holes with their fingers and getting dirty.

2008-03-26T10:05:00.007-06:00

Edamame~~Edamame~~Cuke~~~Cuke
Carrots~~~~Carrots~~~~Peas~~~~Peas
Onions~~~~Carrots~~~~Lettuce~~Lettuce
Onions~~~~Carrots~~~~Carrots~~~Lettuce

That is the layout of the garden that I have decided on. I checked a companion planting site and don't see any issues with it. The only crops they said shouldn't be planted together are peas and onions, so hopefully I have those far enough away. I really don't see any other way to get them farther. If you think I have made any bad choices, please let me know quickly since I will be getting quite a bit of this in the box in the next week or so. The top of the garden is East, and the fence in the picture. Our house is a few feet away to the North. I am also planning to put the tomato boxes along the side of the house, though not too close as I want to make sure they have the appropriate sun.

So I am planning to plant the remaining peas, as well as one crop of carrots, onions, lettuce and radish in the next few days. Then I will wait a week or so and plant the remaining crops of onions, carrots & lettuce. I am hoping that will help the harvest stagger just a bit so we always have fresh veggies. Edamame, squash, cucumbers, peppers and tomatoes will go in when it is warmer. I am not sure when exactly yet. I have to check the mountain for snow!

My plant varieties:

Little Marvel Pea
Rainbow Mix Carrot
Medley Blend of Hybrids Summer Squash
Radish Mixture
Lettuce Blend
Salad Bush Hybrid Slicing Cucumber
Onion sets, tomato & pepper plants will be bought locally
I requested edamame seeds but if they don't arrive, I will order some Midori Giant.

I love peas

2008-03-25T10:29:00.003-06:00

especially ones in a pod. ;)

So far still only peas have been planted, but here is some current pictures of the garden. Can you guess which square has been planted?

A boy and a box

2008-03-20T13:45:00.005-06:00

A couple weeks ago Rob built my box with some help from me and Damien. It was a bit of a tougher task than we anticipated, complete with a broken drill bit! Turns out a pesky knot in the wood was stronger than the bit and busted that sucker right in half. Luckily no one was harmed in the making of our lovely redwood garden box. :D

The box is currently sitting where that chair on the right is. I filled it with a mixture of equal parts Grandma Z's organic compost, vermiculite and peat moss. I have quite a bit left over so I have decided to build 2 triangular tomato raised beds.

Today I finally mapped out the definite layout for planting. I have been wavering back and forth on how many squares of certain crops to plant. I finally just put my foot down and decided them once and for all. If we have too many of a certain veggie I will just share with my friends. I also planted the first crop of Little Marvel Peas. The second one will go in next week, so that we have a continuous harvest of yummy peas.

I will get a picture of the current box later when my camera batteries are charged, and also list out the crops and when they will be planted along with the layout. For now I am snuggling a sleeping toddler.

Oh, I almost forgot! We have also decided to tackle the swampy area in the yard by making it fruitful rather than just "dealing" with it. So, we are going to use some pavers and make a curved raised bed of at least a foot. In that bed we will plant raspberries & strawberries. What a delicious solution! I can't wait. Special thanks to my neighbor for showing me her garden and helping me come to a much better solution than icky gravel to deal with the drainage issue.

Knot in the garden

2008-03-10T18:07:00.004-06:00

but I was earlier. That is about all the humor I have right now though, so enjoy it while it lasts. I have been working on getting the garden going the past few days. Saturday I spent shopping for supplies, yesterday I spent building the box and discussing with my neighbor some ideas, today I hauled bag after bag (including a 3.8cu foot one) all by myself and mixed them all and filled our raised bed number one. Shoot I had a fancy name for it and I forgot. I will remember it and post a picture of it. I have some pics but I need to get them uploaded, and I will post a more detailed update as well.

My Grandpa is very ill and was moved to hospice today. My Mom & sister are flying across country right now trying to get to him before he passes. I am positively devastated. I love him so very much and can't imagine how my Grandma must feel to be losing the love of her life who she has been married to for 65 years. I wish I was in Florida with them right now. I am trying to stay busy here instead with manual labor hoping the physical ache can take away some of the heartache I feel.

I still knit

2008-02-24T08:15:00.002-07:00

Some things for trades...

Mama has a brand new 'do

2008-01-17T18:02:00.000-07:00

I donated my almost butt length hair to locks of love. Don't I look sassy? ;)

I'm a sucker

2007-10-24T10:59:00.000-06:00

For a good vacuum that is. I have been wanting a Dyson forevah and a day. Maybe it is my turn to win one. And for such a good cause too. I saw this awesome contest and knew I had to enter. Win a Dyson “Pink” Vaccuum in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month You should enter too!

Rock Me I'm an Alias!

2007-10-09T09:34:00.000-06:00

I saw this funny meme on Erika's blog and she tagged everyone who read it. So, here are my contributions.

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car) Sammy Expedition
2.YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fave ice cream flavor, favorite cookie) Phish Food Chocolate Chip
3. YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name) Smah
4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal) Black Zebra
5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, hospital where you were born) Robin Kennedy
6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first) Mahst
7. SUPERHERO NAME: (”The” + 2nd favorite color, favorite drink) The Pink Apple Martini
8. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers) Edward Herman
9.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names ) Lee Neal
10. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME: (Your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter) Lambert Louisville
11. SPY NAME: (your favorite season/holiday, flower) Autumn Daisy
12. CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now + “ie” or “y”) Strawberry Robey
13. HIPPIE NAME: (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree) Coffee Cherry Blossom
14. YOUR ROCKSTAR TOUR NAME: (”The” + Your fave hobby/craft, fave weather element + “Tour”) The Knitting Rain Tour

If anyone is still reading my blog, consider yourself tagged! Leave me a comment and I will come see your uber cool new alias!

My favorite kind of sandwich

2007-10-08T13:28:00.000-06:00

Bananafish labor of love

2007-10-08T13:27:00.000-06:00

Big & small

2007-10-08T13:26:00.000-06:00

2007-07-11T14:40:00.000-06:00

The soaker is a hybrid ribby minus the gusset on BBR "Lakeside". I dyed that yarn with a whole bunch of leftover dyes and ended up loving it sooo much. I have a bit more of this colorway, but I am not sure what I want to use it for. The pants are some Cascade Eco that I got in the Magic Yarn Ball Swap from Tami. I lurve it sooooo much! My own pattern, which was inteneded to have flared cuffs, but DH thinks they look funny so he picked a seed stitch cuff. I was waffling anyhow since I wanted to make them a bit longer than Scarlett needs now so they would last all winter. I have a ton of this left, so I think I will be making some shorts for her next summer too. The colors are a little off in the picture. The blue is more aqua, not as teal as in the picture. These are the longest inseam I have knit and I was pretty surprised at how fast they went. Almost 10 inches!

2007-07-11T09:19:00.000-06:00

What kind of knitting needles are you?

You are interchangeable.Fun, free, and into everything, you've got every eventuality covered and every opportunity just has to be taken. Every fiber is wonderful, and every day is a new beginning. You are good at so many things, it's amazing, but you can easily lose your place and forget to show up. They have row counters for people like you!
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A cool contest!

2007-07-08T09:44:00.000-06:00

I am always entering raffles & lotteries, and today I stumbled onto a very cool babywearing one. http://adventuresinbabywearing.blogspot.com/2007/07/babywearing-tip-of-week-podonbutai.html . You can win a new carrier courtesy of http://www.all-natural-mommies.com/ . Check it out!

2007-06-24T20:30:00.000-06:00

Gratuitous Cuties!

2007-06-18T20:09:00.001-06:00

Sweet Scarlett

And my High School Musical star-in-training:

Tag, I'm it.

2007-06-12T10:46:00.000-06:00

I've been tagged for a meme by Joyce. Here goes nothing. LOL

#1 Is it about the finished item or about the process of knitting? Some of both? Has your focus changed one direction or the other over time?
For me it is definitely about the finished item. We are always in need of knitted goodies here or for gifts, so even if I just want to knit and relax, there is a nice prize at the end.

#2 How do you view mistakes? Do you think they give your project character? Is it important to have one, as my Aunt says, because only God is perfect? Or would you rip all the way back to row 5 of your husband's finished sweater knit on size 3 needles to eradicate a mistake no one else would notice?
It depends. If it is for a gift or a customer, absolutely I frog it back and fix the mistake. For Scarlett though, I gauge (pun intended lol) how bad it is, how noticible, does it affect function, etc. and then decide what to do.

#3 Would you rather knit a project that is comfortable for your skill level, or do you prefer a challenge that requires you to figure out new things?
A challenge all the way baby.

#4 What is something you really want to make but haven't yet? What holds you back? Is it money, skill level, time, fear of the unknown or something else?
I am going to make a sweater for me. There is always something else that needs knitting forst though. And I haven't even taken the time to find the yarn I want for it. I suppose if I would get off my behind and get the yarn I could just knit on it here and there. I will have to figure out exactly which yarn I want first!

My beautiful girl

2007-06-08T23:03:00.000-06:00

Darn camera!

2007-06-08T22:56:00.000-06:00

It ate the pics of the dipes I sent out on Monday for some customs. They were so gorgeous too. One of them was some fabric I have been hoarding, the gorgeous Baby Nay Jade. I think if I finish up enough diapers on Sunday to stock for Friday, I will cut one out for Scarlett. With her pretty red hair the cool aqua will look fantastic. So instead I have some pics for you of dresses that I dyed. I did a demo video for the Valley Bums since a bunch of mamas were wanting to learn LWI. Didn't do as tight of variations as I usually do, I was looking for a slightly different look and I am pleased. The top dress is for a charity raffle for Patsy's family. I will post the link when I finish the package. It will be the dress, some yarn and a diaper - all matching. The other two dresses are for Scarlett. I also have one more blank of the top two styles, but am trying to decide colors. I was thinking Ice Blue and Marine Violet for one, and Coral Pink & Ice Blue for the other. What do you think?

For your viewing pleasure

2007-06-07T21:32:00.001-06:00

She said I couldn't do it....

2007-04-10T10:57:00.000-06:00

Start and finish in one day that is. But I did! See what a good kick in the rear does? And I got her back too. I told her there was no way she'd finish her longies one night while we were chatting. Guess who finished? LOL. These are some small shorties for my good friend Erika's new baby. We are all anxiously awaiting baby's birth so we can know if baby is pink or blue. Any guesses?

Some pretty sights

2007-04-05T15:26:00.000-06:00

These sets were for our launch at a new congo www.LaDolceVitaCongo.com . They both went to repeat customers, one is a friend and fellow congo-mate and is on it's way to Italy right now. :)

I may be a lazy blogger

2007-04-05T15:17:00.000-06:00

But I am certainly not a lazy knitter! The top pair I did not knit myself, they are hand-me-downs that I re-dyed to cover some staining.
Some 3-ply Targhee dyed by Brad of WWBN in a custom colorway for me. This stuff is so thick and heavy they would stand up by themselves I think. Totally bulletproof for bed though, and of course we love the colors!

Earthy Rainbow BFL again by Brad of WWBN. Cute little capris for Scarlett.

Caramel Apple BFL dyed by me, soaker pattern by me too. I originally planned some shorties out of this, but wasn't crazy over the pooling so I decided it would work as a soaker and I wouldn't be sad covering it up underneath something. LOL. All my mama friends love the pooling though, so maybe I'm just a bit crazy.
This is some merino/silk/alpaca blend dyed by Mich/Belladonna, with bfl for the contrast. Love these capris on Scarlett!

A very special squishy baby

2007-02-11T12:11:00.001-07:00

Will get to wear these soon! I have been waiting to post the picture of the gift I made for a good friend's baby boy, until she opened it. She has finally seen it, so here it is! I knit up a pair of shorties with a Curly Purly waistband and my own pattern for the rest. I also dyed two shirts and put some cute iron-ons on them. I also handed down to him my beloved Munki Sushi outfits. *sigh* I can't wait for modeling pictures!

Knitting on the go

2007-02-11T12:06:00.000-07:00

I saw this cute idea online of a knitting on the go pouch, but of course there is always somthing I don't like about mass-produced items. So to the drawing board I went. Okay, wee maybe just the cutting board. LOL. Jordan's friend and fellow knitter is having her birthday party today so we made one for her and stuffed it full of goodies. Fabric from Jordan's stash, along with a skein of merino yarn and dyeing tools, and a homemade row counter. The row counter is going to go on a clasp, but we still have to go to the craft store to buy it.

D&E&S

2007-02-07T13:12:00.000-07:00

Dye and embellish and show... I have been pretty unmotivated with knitting since I got sick last week. So instead I dyed a shirt for Scarlett and put some really nice iron-on appliques on it. Asian fan and blossoms. Tonight Jordan and I are dyeing the yarn for our Magic Yarn Ball Swap. Hopefully it will dry completely tomorrow so we can wind it and mail on Friday!

It's a collaboration of FIVE Sewing Mamas!

2007-02-05T13:38:00.000-07:00

That's what I realized when I got Scarlett dressed Saturday evening. Mocca dress by Erika of Bugz*N*Bean , mary jane soft sole shoes by Jody of JoShoes , diaper by me , with lucky 13 fabric I bought from one of the Pams, and the hippie Santa wool wrap by Candy of Bizzy B Hive .
It feels so great to see my daughter wearing almost all wahm stuff all of the time. Even most of her rtw has been either dyed or altered in some other way by me.

It's killing me too

2007-01-26T08:35:00.000-07:00

Not being able to show a pic of part of Jessica's blessing gift is as hard on me as it is on her not knowing what it is. Only one more week.

In other news I have finally got my room almost totally cleaned up so I can get back on track with some sewing and destashing.

OTN I have started Zaftig. I have to say though that it is incredibly boring to knit TEN INCHES of garter stitch only 8 stitches wide. Especially with a stretchy yarn on small needles. I need to get it done though so I can get started on the cups before tomorrow's knit and chat. I'd like to get familiar with the pattern so I can actually chat instead of keeping my eyes on the pattern.

Rainbows = empty needles!

2007-01-19T09:48:00.000-07:00

Can you believe it? I can't. Nothing on my needles as we speak. I need to cast on Lolita Legs and get started on a top secret gift for Jessica Gy. Well secret from her. Bwahahaha! I finished the cuffs on this soaker for my chunky baby last night. Curly Purly soaker with BFL for the waist and cuffs, and luxury merino/silk/alpaca blend from my friend Mich. Size large with added width in the cuffs and extra short rows because not only does Scarlett have some thunder thighs, she also has a big caboose. LOL.

Gratuitous cutie shots

2007-01-18T20:45:00.000-07:00

Here's the dragonfly shorties in action. I still need to embroider the dragonfly on them. Not sure what color to use though!

Warm Fuzzies

2007-01-17T14:21:00.000-07:00

I finally took the time to knit myself a pair of fingerless mitts. I decided to do Natalya and did them with some WOTA. Unfortunately I still have problems wearing wool. WAHHHH! I am going to have to make another pair in something else scrummy. Maybe Bamboo or Soy! Not sure what to do with them. Maybe I'll gift them. I also whipped up a Calorimetry the other night when I couldn't sleep. Very cute on Jordan, but it looks really funny on me, so it's hers.

Batteries

2007-01-15T12:57:00.000-07:00

They are always making me nutty. I wish they would work when I need them. Way too often I go to take a photo or video and they are dead. I think I need a new set of rechargable ones since these hardly hold a charge at all. The other night, we were playing Clue and we heard Damien upstairs on the microphone so we went to check it out. He had plugged in Rob's microphone to Jordan's amplifier, and was doing a cooking show with his new playkitchen! Complete with "Bam" and all. Unfortunately the camera chose that moment to die. Then last night I wanted to take a picture of Scarlett while she was sleeping and realized my batteries were not charging like I thought. I guess they were loose in the charger. She looked so precious like a little doll with her bright red cheeks and pale rest of her face. I feel horrible that she is sick, but darn she looked so cute!

Charge batteries, charge! I need to get some pics done so I can finish a trade. Yarn for stamp pads. Cause ya know I *need* another hobby!

No surprise there!

2007-01-15T12:53:00.000-07:00

What kind of yarn are you?

You are Merino Wool.You are very easygoing and sweet. People like to keep you close because you are so softhearted. You love to be comfortable and warm from your head to your toes.
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And a very Happy new Year to you too

2007-01-09T19:54:00.000-07:00

I think I need to downsize...

2007-01-08T11:59:00.000-07:00

So, I'm working on Natalya , in WOTA dyed by Erika in her Enchanted colorway, and I look down and see the funniest thing!

I think I need to get my rings sized down! I had them sized up a half size to 5 after I had Jordan, and now that I am nursing two kiddos, my fingers are all boney again. I thought it was hilarious though that I didn't even notice till I needed the cable needle again. LOL.

I'm bringing sexy back!

2007-01-08T11:54:00.000-07:00

I got these a while ago and forgot to mention them. They need to be knit up in time for Valentine's Day. A special little surprise for my hubby. Betty , Lolita Legs , Zaftig for me!!!! I think I am going to do the stockings in the Wine and the corset and bra in the Charcoal. I wonder though if I dyed the Charcoal with some black it would take it evenly. Hmmm...

I am a lazy knitter

2007-01-08T11:49:00.000-07:00

So, I dyed this yarn a while back and it spent some time curing in my stash even though it had plans. I finally got around to knitting it up and now it sits, needing some kitchener and elastic. Me and my lazy ways. BFL aran hand-painted with Wiltons in Dragonfly. I love how it looks kettle dyed due to how the dye separated when I painted. Perfection Pants pattern in shorties for Scarlett. Psst... 18" waist ~ 22" hips ~ 19" rise. OMG she's huge!

Love for my girlies

2007-01-08T11:41:00.000-07:00

A couple of items I knit for my daughters for Christmas...

Fetching for Jordan in Malabrigo dyed by me. I CO only 35 stitches and magic looped on size 7 needles. These were a big surprise for her. She had been asking for a pair for months and I kept saying I didn't know how to knit them. LOL.

A bunny for Scarlett. This was knit with some yarn I got in a dyed yarn swap from Katie. I think a heavy worsted/aran and it came from the UK. Scarlett kept stealing the ball of yarn when I was knitting this, so I think she was pretty happy to get it. Well as happy as a 6 month-old can be. LOL.

Getting to know you: Holiday Version

2006-12-17T10:04:00.000-07:00

1. Eggnog or Hot Chocolate? Hot Cocoa
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? he sits them in front of the fireplace
3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? white this year
4. Do you hang mistletoe? yup
5. When do you put your decorations up? the weekend closest to my birthday (12/4)
6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? STUFFING!
7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child? When we celebrated Hannukah and my parents would give us a present every day for 8 days.
8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I always knew he wasn't real. *sniff*
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? we have in the past, and I know at least one gift we are opening this year.
10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? With our special ornaments. We get a new one each year. We have a small living tree, so no room for the balls.
11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? love it!
12. Can you ice skate? YES!!!
13. Do you remember your favorite gift as a child? no.
14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? being happy and healthy
15. What is your favorite holiday dessert? cookies
16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? getting our tree
17. What tops your tree? nothing this year
18. Do you prefer giving or Receiving? giving
19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? feliz navidad. LOL
20. Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum? today yuck. LOL.

Happy Birthday Damien!

2006-12-17T09:47:00.000-07:00

Yarn for the bazaar

2006-11-03T09:18:00.000-07:00

Hungry anyone?

2006-10-24T15:33:00.000-06:00

This hat is knit with 100% Peruvian wool, hand-dyed with kool-aid. The sushi set was knit with 100% cotton yarn, with the exception of the Nori which was done in wool. So yummy!

I can sew too

2006-10-20T17:08:00.000-06:00

Imagine that! LOL. What craft do I not do? The top 8 dipes are Scarlett's and the bottom 3 I made for Bella in trade with Jessica.

The oh-so-fun process of dyeing roving

2006-10-20T17:02:00.000-06:00

The dyeing process...

Drying:

In the dye bath:

A whole lotta balls

2006-10-20T16:57:00.000-06:00

Some of the wool balls I felted this week, and a cute face thrown in for good measure!

The sweetest model

2006-10-20T16:56:00.000-06:00

Sweet Scarlett Pearl in her Picky Pants knit with Loro Baranquerro colorway from Malabrigo merino. Knitted hat courtesy of Erin, another Sewing Mama. Shirt dyed by me, and diaper sewn by me.
More pics

Longies & wool balls

2006-10-20T16:45:00.000-06:00

Ah geez - I am so blog-clueless. I can't figure out how to get these pics in the right order! These longies are knit from lovely Uruguay merino in Vino de Borra, with Marron Oscuro trim.

Some roving I dyed to make felted balls with.
Another pair of longies for Scarlett. These are also knit with merino from Uruguay. Autumn Forest colorway.

These are the Summer Sunset colorway I dyed a while back.

And finally some felted wool balls. These are up for sale in our shoppe. www.NurturingThreads.com

I've been busy!

2006-09-06T11:52:00.001-06:00

Sorry for no updates for so long. I've been busy sewing for the grand opening of www.nurturingthreads.com . Check us out! Jordan's Sophie bag that I dyed and knit for her.

Wicked Wench colorway. One skein went up for auction for Patsy, and one skein I kept.

A soaker I knit for Bella on the left & a matching one for Scarlett in the middle. One more for Scarlett on the right from my Georgia Peach colorway. I knit that a long time ago, just forgot to take a picture.

This dress is up in the HC, but it is soooo grogeous. If it sells I will dye another for Scarlett.

Jordan's Sophie bag per-felting.

I've been busy!

2006-09-06T11:52:00.000-06:00

This dress is up in the HC, but it is soooo grogeous. If it sells I will dye another for Scarlett.

Jordan's Sophie bag per-felting.

Jordan's first dye job

2006-08-10T10:00:00.000-06:00

Jordan is participating in a magic yarn ball swap with some of the local girls. She wanted to dye her yarn, so I let her do it all herself with some koolaid. All I did was wash the yarn for her. This is her "Autumn Leaves" colorway. Done with a mix of Black Cherry & Cherry, and Mango.
She also made stitch markers for inside and made some extra for sale. She already traded the bottom set for some wool. That's my girl. Building the stash already. LOL.

It was a dye party!

2006-08-10T08:53:00.000-06:00

Had a dye party at my house Friday night and here are my creations...
WOTA handpainted with Procion dyes. "Grape Crush" colorway, Plum Blossom & Ice Blue.

Malabrigo 100% merino handpainted with Procion dyes. "Summer Sunset" , hot pink, Antique Gold, Plum Blossom. A bit brighter than I'd hoped for, but I am sure it will look gorgeous as some longies for Scarlett.

2006-07-22T21:29:00.000-06:00

This is a Warm Hearted Woolies Plain Wrap in size newborn that I knit for Scarlett. However it was too small so I decided to dye it in this colorway for a mama in our local moms group. She's having twin boys in September and cloth diapering for the first time. I handpainted it in a dip dye look using procion dyes. It doesn't have a name yet, but I used bright yellow and cerulean blue.

Another view.

Some cotton yarn in Wildfire for a Boogie tank top I am going to knit for Jordan. Look for the knit and show next spring. LOL. I'm not even going to re-hank this. It's gonna get wound into balls straight away since it is liek 800 and some odd yards. Dye colors Tangerine and Fire Engine Red.

Some more WOTA that I kettle dyed. I like this one better than the other. Sour Taffy colorway using kool aid colors orange, a mix of blastin' berry cherry & ice blue raspberry lemonade and a mix of lemon-lime & berry blue.

I'm a dyeing fool

2006-07-22T21:25:00.000-06:00

This is an 8 gore skirt made out of muslin and LWI in my Wildfire colorway - Fire Engine Red and Antique Gold procion dyes. For Jordan. :)

Cherry Rainbow (named by Zack) WOTA from Knitpicks. This was my first time kettle dyeing and I used kool aid in the following colors: cherry, lemonade, orange, lemon-lime, berry blue and a mix of blastin' berry cherry & ice blue raspberry lemonade.

The other side of the skein.

This one I handpainted with Procion dyes and it is called English Rain. I used Ice Blue, Avocado and Forest Green. Oh, it is Fishermen's wool.

This one is also Fishermen's wool and called Heavy Metal. Also handpainted with the following procion dyes: Black, Cerulean Blue and Bright Yellow.

Got Tofu?

2006-07-20T16:02:00.000-06:00

Dyeing the wool

2006-06-18T18:55:00.000-06:00

Orange, Black Cherry & Slammin' Strawberry Kiwi:
Lemonade, Lemon-lime & Berry Blue. Jordan picked the colors for this one since it will be her Sophie bag.

Here is my first attempt at dyeing wool yarn. I used Fishermen's Wool and koolaid, steamed in the sun. Aren't they pretty?

Sophie, sophie, sophie

2006-06-14T11:20:00.000-06:00

Pre-felting:

Sophie bag in Noro Kureyon color #170.

New knits for new babies

2006-06-14T11:18:00.000-06:00

Three sets of hats and bibs for my swap partners in the expecting swap. All knit with Peaches and Creme 100% cotton yarn. The bib pattern is free from knittinghelp.com and the hat pattern is from Creature Comforts. Easy peasy I memorized both patterns already.

Curly Purly

2006-06-14T11:16:00.000-06:00

Second project is another soaker. This one knit using the free Curly Purly pattern and some organic wool in a purple and pink colorway I got off the trading post at MDC.

Leaping in

2006-06-14T11:14:00.000-06:00

My first project is the LTK Original soaker. Knit with some Cascade Eco hand painted in Chocolate Pink. Yummy!!! Size newborn for sweet Scarlett