Tag : yarn

25 posts

I have been so focused on creating that I completely forgot about blogging. I tend to do that. My focus shifts and I have tunnel vision. Of course, it’s always hard for me to complete each project. That’s a whole other issue of mine. Many UFOs aka unfinished projects. Amid this creative explosion, I’m trying to devote a bit of time daily to cleaning, organizing and purging unused or unwanted “crafty crap” as Mr. G calls it.

Let start here with yesterdays crafty diversion. It started with me finding a bunch of small styrofoam balls that I’d used to make knitting Christmas ornaments. I thought it might be a good starting point for a yarn ball wreath.  I dug out my bin of yarn and gathered my other tote bags and came up with my color scheme. While I had all of it out I made the executive decision to toss 3 UFOs. I just wasn’t interested in finishing them anymore. How freeing!!!

My fabric stash and sewing supply hoard are much further out of control.  I love fabric. I have gotten rid of a bit. I gave it to a co-worker whose girls learned to sew this summer. They started a scrunchie making business. They’ve earned enough to buy themselves the trampoline they were begging for. Isn’t that amazing!?! Anyway, Mini-me and I have been following their progress. Mini-me loves scrunchies too. They are not cheap to buy. Once she found some pink velvet in my stash, I knew I’d been making some scrunchies too.

We picked out some fun fabrics…now her hair accessory bin is overflowing! I don’t envy the girls at all. Those scrunchies are kind of a pain in the you-know-what. Digging through my fabric did get some other ideas going. Once J goes back to college in a couple of weeks,  I’ll set my sewing machine up in his room again.

Yesterday was HOT and HUMID! We had two rounds of severe storms…thankfully the worst of it missed us. About a 30 min minute drive from here had tennis ball size hail. YIKES! Before the storms came I was going outside to secure anything that might blow away and I saw this in the backyard…

A turkey hen and her chicks…or whatever they are called. She was much bigger than I thought one would be. And very protective. She chased a grey squirrel that happened to jump from the tree…it was pretty comical. Do you see my compost “garden” in the far left middle of the photo? The plants are still thriving. LOL

With the weather so gross I decided to have a refreshing beverage. It’s almost like drinking a mimosa to me. Pretty tasty.

The weekend was really hot as well. I decided to do a bit of work on the computer where it was nice and cool.

I’m creating some printable pages for junk journals. I’m thinking about reopening my Etsy store with digital downloads for some passive income…all to support my crafty habits.

I also got this in the mail last week. I ordered it when they had a 20% off sale. I’m super excited about this project. I have until February to complete and send it back.

So as you can see, I have been busy…just not in the blogging world. I think part of it may be the fact that I have been slack on using my planner. I was definitely more on track when I used it daily. I know I need structure in my life but willy-nilly suits me.

Next week will be a scheduled post if I am disciplined enough to get it done. I have training on Tuesday all day and them Mini-me and I are taking the red-eye to Montana! I’m so excited. I’ll have lots to share about that the following week.

What are you doing today?

Crazy!! We are 10 days into December already.  It’s been harder than I thought to keep up with journal writing each day.  I have been collecting things to add to my journal and keeping my thoughts organized though so when time allows I’m able to get it down on paper. 

Here are just the first few pages.

The craft sale at school was kind of a bust last week. There were meetings scheduled most days in that space both before and after school…prime shopping times. I spent more than I made. Such as this little mouse ornament.

Isn’t he cute!?! When I saw him I knew I had to get him.

And of course this mug!!!!

You had me with pink. Then add the glitter and brown words. This is technically the second mug I have bought from her, then first one was a coaches gift for Mini-me volleyball banquet. My friend and co-worker does such a nice job with these custom mugs.

On Friday last week I started to get another tickle in my throat. Yep…sick once again. This time I got it bad! I had to call in sick today. I’m not even sure I’ll be able to work tomorrow. I have no voice…barely a squeak at times. I still feel pretty cruddy.

I think I got a little cocky thinking that I’d gotten this far into the year with just a mild sniffle here and there. I know better than to tempt fate like that again.

While I sat huddled under my blanket in my favorite rocking recliner, I knit this cowl for my girl with the yarn I shared two weeks ago.

I love the chunky yarn…such great texture.

I’m about to go make another cup of tea and do a bit more snuggling under my quilt.

What are you doing today?

Welcome to T stands for Tuesday where we share a little about whatever the heck we want along with our beverage of choice. Pretty easy rules, right?!? Here’s my adherence to the rules…

Since I am finishing up my extended break from work….6 days off… Woohoo!…. I thought I’d share a few highlights.

Wednesday evening, Mini-me and I went to MOA (Mall of America) not to shop but to pick up J.  So cool that he can take the bus right from campus to home…or relatively close.

Thursday, we enjoyed a lovely meal at my in-laws. I brought the stuffing aka: dressing as it is unstuffed. I wrapped the dutch oven in newspaper and towels just like my parents taught me when I was a kid.Later my BIL followed us home to extend our visit a bit. We hadn’t seen any family in a couple months which is sad when we are only about 20 minutes drive from one another.

Friday, we decorated for Christmas….it’s our tradition to decorate the day after Thanksgiving. No Black Friday shopping for us. Only twice in my life have I braved that chaos. No thank you!

Saturday was so quiet I can’t even remember what we did…or didn’t do.

Sunday Mini me and I made the first batch of lefse of the season. So yummy.  Of course, later In the day Mr. G and I had to deliver J back to MOA to catch the bus back to college.  Just a few short weeks and we’ll be driving up north to get him for winter break.

Monday I spent going through some totes in the storage room. I was able to reorganize and purge enough stuff that I have one completely empty tote. Mini-me and I brought a pile of stuff to Goodwill to donate. They always give a 25% off coupon when you donate…so of course we went in to see what they had. Mini-me found some yarn…she’s requesting another cowl.

I did manage to work on some creative pursuits as well during this long break.  You can check out the previous two posts for my vintage linen remake and art journal page. I also continued work on my personal journal and completed my December Daily journal. It’s all ready to go! I’m thinking I’ll do a video with a flip through perhaps. It has WAY too many pages for photos. WAY more than I need but hey…I’m still learning with this process.

The current experiment is rose gold tint for Mini-me

She’s been trying little bits of it all through the break but tonight decided to go all in. I helped her spray it in damp hair…now she’s waiting to rinse.

I think it will be fun regardless. Besides…it’s temporary. When I go, I go all in with the pink hair…permanent style.

Tuesday is back to reality for everyone.  All good things come to an end. I do really like my job, so its not all bad. I just miss my free time. My mini-me time. Gosh, it’s going to be really hard when she goes off to college. *sniff*

 

What are you doing today?

My life in the petri dish of school has continued. Just as I was feeling better, I was hit with the crud again. I missed Thursday of school last week. UGH!! GERMS EVERYWHERE!!  I feel good now with the exception of a residual cough congestion cough. So frustrating.

I did start a new project on Friday and finished it up over the weekend. I learned how to use a different kind of knitting loom with a completely different stitch thanks to Pinterest and YouTube. I love all the resources we have at our finger tips these days!loom knit cowl

I followed this blog post to learn the new stitch. The kind of yarn I’m using doesn’t really show any stitches and I think perhaps in part of it I messed up. Thank you forgiving yarn…no one will never notice it.loom knit cowl

It’s so soft. I wore it to school yesterday as a snugly edition to my outfit.

loom knit cowl

Sorry for the poor photos. I took these after dark last night.

Speaking of photos…I’m nearly done with January. Here are the next six of the challenge.

24. begins with s…stickers

25. my morning view….everyday

26. thank you for….coffee

27. in the night….Marvin waits for me to top off his bowl before bed each night

28. text…dictionary pages covering my ancient fridge

28. magic….just the tip of the iceberg of the cards we’ve been collecting since 1994

I’ll need to pick my new challenge for February. These photo a day challenges really keep me stretching my creativity even when I can’t create hands-on.

Work, errands and archery are on the list today…
What are you doing today?

I am super late getting this posted. Yesterday was a scheduled day off for school although it’s highly likely that school would have been released early due to the blizzard that rolled through.  On the bright side…Mini-me took her knowledge test and got her learners permit yesterday. I let her drive a bit in a parking lot on our way home. It was crazy slippery already at 11am.

(fyi…this will be a photo heavy post)

Lets back up a bit….last week I was super excited about the Vikings playing for a spot in the Super Bowl. Yep…they lost. By a lot. It was almost as if they didn’t show up. Don’t get me wrong…I’m still a fan. Always a fan but I’m not going to lie it was disappointing.

Me circa 1976 sporting a Vikings Fan club button.

The game was so stressful to watch that I kept myself busy knitting Little Hats for Big Hearts

When I switched to crochet the pattern got away from me. Not really sure what this might end up as…certainly not a hat.

I’ve continued with the January photo challenge…this month is going really well and a fun challenge to think outside the box at times.

13) floral

14) faceless portrait….faceless portrait of a Vikings fan

15) new….my new Vikings shirt

16) wall….local tribute to Prince

17) thoughtful

18) cool

19) paper….embarrassed to say only part of my collection

20) reflection

21) day off

22) scenic…out for a drive at the start of the blizzard

Last night we waited and waited and waited for the plow to go through so we could clear the driveway. The snow just kept coming getting deeper and deeper. Finally we heard it come barreling down the street at about 8:30. The four of us suited up and began to dig out.

Fast forward to this morning…I get the call that school is delayed by 2 hours! Hooray! In the meantime Mr. G leaves for work.  Then I get an email to district staff telling us that school is now closed for the day. The kids were screaming for joy and passing the news along to their friends since the automated call had not come through yet. The joy was lost a bit when they realized the chore we still had in front of us….moving a ton more snow.

The drifting sure looks pretty but makes crazy mounds of snow in other places.

My garden is in the deep snow.

The kids worked hard shoveling while I pulled the drifted snow off the roof.

The struggle was real. We got a foot (30 mm) of snow in total that drifted in crazy ways.

Since we were all tired and hungry I took the kids to breakfast. I had buckwheat pancakes. They were so good!! I was so hungry I almost forgot to snap my photo for T stands for Tuesday!

What are you doing today?

That’s what I decided to call my near inability to follow a pattern. I’ve decided that I’m ok with that. I crochet mainly for myself making dishcloths. My stemware really doesn’t care if I have too many or too few stitches. Why should I?interpretive crochet

Honestly, I can and have followed a pattern…once for sure.  The green hexagonal dishcloth proves it. I’m pretty sure the purple one is correct as well. The rest of them..not so much.

interpretive crochet

I tend to crochet when I’m waiting or watching TV. I think its the TV that screws me up with the whole pattern thing. OH well. They are pretty and will certainly clean dishes so that’s all that matters.

Incidentally…the purple yarn is the last of my cabbage dyed yarn.

Now that we’ve had a bit of snow that stuck for a few days…although it’s mostly gone again…I’ve been getting into a festive mood.

Christmas tree at night

The tree looks so pretty even with a meager amount of ornaments this year. The ones that are on the tree are not breakable just in case.

Marvin enjoying the lights

Marvin enjoys lounging on the tree skirt and so far has only knocked two ornaments down.

tea for wrapping duty

I enjoyed a cup of tea yesterday morning while wrapping a few presents.

crochet

And even my crochet is a festive green color. I know I have tons of flaws, mistakes and goofy stitches in this one. I did it while watching TV, basically in the dark with Mini-me. It doesn’t matter though since this will just be a dish cloth. My stemware really doesn’t care if the stitches are right.

Mr. G is on vacation again this week so I have no idea what the day has in store. It’s kind of fun to have a blank slate once the kids are off to school.

What are you doing today?

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