Friday, July 27, 2012

Home Sweet Home!

I'm a little scared...
Home Sweet Home
but also SO very excited!

I was happy to discover it felt just as roomy inside as it did last weekend when I first saw it. I was actually afraid I'd be disappointed. lol

Looking forward from the bedroom:
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The cats are going to LOVE that loft above the cab!

Looking toward the bedroom from the front:
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Reilly got the grand tour and seemed pleased. I definitely need to put a stool at the foot of the bed though for him.

The bathroom:
IMG_6609
is across from the shower:
IMG_6607
where the kitty box will live. =)

I know it's going to be a huge adjustment, but I know I can do it!

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

a little slower now

Well, the craftiness has slowed a bit the past week. Other things have taken priority lately - things like showing my trailer, packing up and shopping for an rv. I bought an rv this past weekend! It's a 28' class c and I really, really like it. I can't wait to get in there (and out of here) and start personalizing it a bit and getting the critters adjusted to the space. I have a feeling the cats will LOVE the loft above the cab. Thankfully, it's new enough that the decor is not hideous so I get to work around neutrals. =) Pics will come soon. I pick it up on Friday!

Craftiness has not completely come to a screeching halt. I've been working a bit here and there on my crochet bag and made some progress:
I love how the yarn is flashing. =) I just started the 3rd ball last night. I'd originally thought this yarn would make a good summer purse, but things have changed in the year since I started this. lol I'm considering tossing out that idea and instead turning it into a basket/bag for the rv - bathroom maybe? I'll make it a bit taller and work in some slit handles so it can be folded over for sturdier sides or left tall and carried by the handles.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

MORE socks?!

Seriously? The last ones sat on the needles hibernating for over a year. These? Four days start to finish. =)
 Done!
Okay, sure, they're knit on much larger needles (US sz6 rather than sz2), but still. Working them two-at-a-time was definitely the right idea and I have every intention of doing socks in this manner in the future. 
Love finishing one sock only to have a finished pair! The self-striping was fun too.
Untitled
I love the afterthought heel with self-striping. My heel needs a bit of fine tuning, but these are meant as slipper socks so it's all good. =)
(Ravelry project link)

So... what's next? The crochet bag I haven't really touched since March! I've been working on it a bit since finished those socks and am nearly done with the 2nd skein now.
(Ravelry project link)

That leaves only one other project on the needles and that's going to have to wait until it cools down... a LOT. Alpaca and 95+ temps? Not gonna happen!

Sunday, July 15, 2012

an afterthought

This morning, I set up my little loom as a 7" square to make some dish/wash cloths:
I used a strand of Lily Sugar 'n Cream in "country stripes" along with a strand of white. I really like how they turned out! Super quick, super easy... and a great way to use up some of my dishcloth cotton. =) I could easily get 5 of these from one skein of the stripes held along with a solid and have extra for another project.

The project I mentioned winding yarn for in my last post? I started these on Friday and they're coming right along!
These are my first socks done two-at-a-time... also my first afterthought heels... AND my first time working with my own hand-dyed self-striping yarn! =)

Friday, July 13, 2012

FOs! knitting and weaving

Yes, really! I finished multiple items!

First up, socks that I started back in March 2011!
I finally pulled these out this past Sunday (they looked just as they did in this post) and started working on them, finishing them up this morning. =) LOVE them!

I also tried out my new loom kit!
I set this up as roughly an 11.5" x 18" rectangle and got to work. I followed the instructions in the included booklet and while this process was okay, I'll do things a bit differently next time and probably be happier with the results. I'd intended to make two of these and send them to my mother to be used as place mats, but I think this is a little loose for that and I'm not loving the edge. The drapiness of this fabric makes it a good towel though so I added a loop to hang to dry and it's now living in my kitchen with my sheep towel.
I doubled this yarn up, but I think a thicker yarn would make a nice fabric using this method. I will place the pegs on the right side as I go next time rather than setting it all up beforehand. There just isn't much space between pegs for the tool to pull the yarn through with them in place.

While winding the linen for the towel, I also wound a skein of my hand-dyed self-striping yarn for my next knitting project... =) 

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

socks! and baking

Well, sock and a half... almost. =)
After I posted Sunday, I finally pulled out the sock that's been hibernating for well over a year (since mid-April 2011!) and started working on it! 2 days and I'm to the heel. =) Should have that finished tonight and then it's the home stretch! Woo! Still a super easy pattern to memorize (Ravelry link) so it's pretty brainless which is good since it's still pushing 100 degrees here every day.

What else have I been up to in this unwanted heat? Baking. No, not me thankfully. My new-to-me a/c is keeping me almost comfortable, but weirdly I've been itching to bake. Could be the three eps of Cupcake Wars I watched yesterday. lol Anyhoo, as long as I bake early in the morning, it's not a big deal. So, this morning, I made up some bread dough and while that was rising, I made up a batch of cupcakes!

These are the "Chlostess" Creme-Filled Cupcakes from Chloe's Kitchen:

Next time, I'll thin my creme filling out a bit more, but these are yummy as is!

That bread dough?
That became cinnamon swirl bread! This one's a bit more wonky than usual, but tastes just as good. =)

Sunday, July 08, 2012

FOs, 50% off and dyeing

 I finally used some more of my hand-dyed yarn!
I used about half of the gradient purple/teal yarn on a knitted cat toy and I wanted to use up the last half skein of Noro from my stash so I crocheted up a couple more toys with it. I ran out on the second so I finished it off with some of my hand-dyed yarn (the one with the bright green). Felting was a pain. My washer is a top-loader, but it's less than a year old so apparently much more gentle than my old machine. lol I ran these through 3 times in hot water, then popped them each in mason jars with a bit of dish soap and shook away, alternating with cold rinses. I finally got tired of shaking and decided they were felted enough. The cats won't mind. =^..^=

Michaels had a 50% off coupon this weekend. I went shopping...
I sold my kitchen table and chairs earlier in the day and had cash in hand. First, I hit Michaels and picked up a set of Clover interchangeable circular needles. I've been thinking about sorting through and purging some of my knitting needles. Now, I have to! lol Well, I don't have to, but I'm going to now that I have an interchangeable set. =) I have too many straight needles leftover from my early knitting days, back when I actually used straights. I can't even remember the last time I used a straight needle for anything. I don't even really use the dpns anymore, opting instead for circs in nearly every situation. I prefer wooden needles, so most of my metal ones should go to someone who will use them. That's a good project for these hot days! I'd printed two coupons for Michaels so I took the 2nd to Jo Ann's and finally picked up the loom kit I've been wanting for a long time. I have linen yarn in my stash purchased with the intent of knitting dish towels for my kitchen. Now, I'm thinking of weaving some up instead. =)

I did tackle that ball of strawberry yarn in the pic. I found it in the clearance bin and hadn't yet tried dyeing superwash yet. I hanked this and gave it a soak, then put it in a shallow dish with a little water and mixed up a strong blue Kool-Aid (2 packets mixed berry and about 1/2 c water) and squirted across the skein. After nuking to set, I mixed up a weaker solution (1 packet mixed berry) and squirted some of that around after shifting the skeins around a bit.
Not sure exactly what I'll use this for, but nice that it's washable! =)