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Some Stash Down Progress!

Normally, I don't post on the weekend, but I just had to tell you guys about my stash down progress. As you may know, I'm working on eliminating at least 50 skeins of yarn from my stash this year. It's not a super hard goal to reach, but I acquired over 40 skeins of yarn from various sources, so that put me way behind. I finally made some headway this week.

I went through just one small area of my stash where I normally keep the yarn for charity projects. I just haven't had the time to do as much charity knitting as I used to, and I felt bad. My mom started knitting hats for LeeLee Hats recently, and has a very, very small stash (seriously, it's like half a drawer in her dresser) I wanted to help her out. I gave her TWENTY skeins of yarn! They filled a reusable grocery bag to the brim, and were super packed in there. She seemed to be very happy with her spoils. There's a little bit of everything in there. Some sparkly eyelash stuff, bulky, worsted, baby yarns and much more. Twenty skeins left the stash which made me very happy. Plus, the yarn is going to help out some deserving babies, which is an extra dose of happy. I'm going to be giving her some more looming lessons in the near future. I want her to be able to do stripes.

I also knit up some stash. I used two teensy balls of yarn for more bows. The blue is dish cloth cotton, and the grey is some random worsted acrylic. This makes a total of 22 skeins eliminated from the stash. And I'm still knitting lots, so I'm sure I'll get more out of here soon. Overall, this brings my count to minus 13. Only 37 more skeins to go! 

My Week In Instagrams: March 29, 2013

It's Friday! I have the day off for the holiday, so I took advantage and got some Etsy work done. More about that later on in the post. This is what I've been up to this week!
Rick is an awesome cook. This week he made bacon wrapped filet mignon, over caramelized onions, a fried egg and toast. Super tasty, and a wonderful breakfast. I'm so spoiled with how well he cooks for us.
Winston has been really good this week. He has days where he is a total grumpy pants, and hates everyone, but we haven't experienced that for a few days. He's so cute when he sleeps, I can't help but take pictures of him doing it. Seriously, I looked through some folders on my computer today, and found a few dozen snaps of him snoozing. Somehow, yesterday, he cut open his paw pad on one foot. It looks pretty gruesome but it doesn't seem to be bothering him. I'm hoping it heals up soon.
I often get cravings for very specific foods. The other day, I really wanted a single Reese Peanut Butter Cup. Just one. So Rick and I went to the convenience store and picked up a couple packages of them. They were buy one get one free, so there was no way I was turning that down.  We got a couple other little bits and bobs, and came home. We watched The Following, and Bates Motel while munching on our spoils. I'm really enjoying both of those shows. Have you watched either of them? What do you think?
Thursday was Winston's third birthday! We got him a cheeseburger like we've done for the last two years. He did really well wearing the crown before we gave him the burger. This year was a Whopper from Burger King. He loves his burgers! He's so funny when he eats things that aren't dog food. He sniffs and sniffs before he'll eat it. Rick is in the process of putting together Winston's burger eating video. We record him eating his burger every year, and Rick puts together a short video. The ones from the last two years have been hits. I can't wait to see what music he picks this time.
I got an order for some hair bows from a friend of mine. She's the one that got the pink head band with the white flower. She also picked up a hair bow when she came to the craft show, and now a bunch of her friends and coworkers want some. I had some very specific colour requests, so I had to dig stuff out of some of my bins. Some people have been asking how much yarn I have. These four bins are less than half of what I have. I have four more of them, filled to the brim, as well as the drawers you can kind of see behind the bin, on the right. There are three sets of those too. And those bags in from of the drawers are filled with knitting/other crafting supplies. I'm sure you can understand why I'm doing a stash down this year! I'll update you on my progress in that department on Monday.
Like I said earlier, I have today off work. I took some pictures of the rings I've been making lately, with my iPad, and got a few listed in the shop. It's really nice being able to take and edit pictures without having drag out the camera and tripod. Much more convenient for small things. I will be adding more earrings at some point in the next couple weeks, and take the photos in the same way.
What have you all been up to this week? Do you have any exciting plans for the weekend? I'm going to be working Saturday, and visiting family on Sunday. Not a bad weekend, I'd say.

Wednesdays are for Gratitude: March 27, 2013

Happy Wednesday! I've been busy knitting these past few days, and I didn't even realize it's already halfway through the week. Every Wednesday, I post a short list of things I am thankful for. There have been studies done that people who show gratitude lead happier, more productive lives. I don't like arguing with science! Here goes!
Rick  /  Winston, who turns three tomorrow!  /  Friends I haven't seen in ages, that I finally saw recently  /  Some people ordering hand knits from me  /  New ideas for things to make and sell  /  Facebook  /  My yarn stash  /  Etsy  /  Informative videos  /  Our new elliptical trainer
What are you thankful for this week?

Monday Update: March 25, 2013

Well the weekend is over, and it's almost Easter. That means lots of candy, good food and a few extra days off work for me.
This weekend, I had a craft show at Essex High School that went alright. I didn't sell a whole heck of a lot, but I had fun. I was set up near some of my best craft show friends, which made the day that much more fun. I met some awesome new people at this show as well, ones I will be happy to see at future shows. I also got some ideas from other vendors and customers for some new thing to add to my line. I have one idea that I think is going to be a great one, I just need to get the supplies necessary for it. And the tools. It's a little outside what I normally make, but I think it's pretty awesome, if I do say so myself.

Now, onto what I've been knitting this week!
You saw this first picture of the giant knitting on Friday, so not much needs to be said. The last picture is the pile of yarn I had after I ripped it. I have about a foot done in garter now, but I haven't really touched it in a little while. It's a bit of a work out to use these gigantic needles.
The other two photos show some of the soon to be bows I've made the last little while. I used up five teensy balls of yarn on the bows in the first picture. I'm counting that towards my stash down. So that brings me to +9 this year. I'm slowly but surely making progress. I'm going to box up a bunch of yarn to hopefully sell, or at the very least donate. That will definitely make a visible dent. Crossing my fingers that I will actually be able to part with some stuff. The second bow photo is actually a pile of dark purple bows. I'm trying to get a good variety in the colours, so I don't want to do too many of any one particular yarn.
Now I end with a question: For your metal jewelry, do you prefer silver, gold or another colour (gunmetal black/grey) Please let me know!

My Week In Instagrams: March 22, 2013

Happy Friday! The weekend is almost here, and that means it's craft show time for me! Tomorrow, I will be at Essex High School from 10:00 until 4:00 selling my knitwear, and earrings. I'm super excited. I'm going to have a whole rack of stuff that's on sale for super low prices and hopefully, I'll clear some of it out. I need more space! Now, onto what I've been up to this week
Crud, I just realized I already talked about these pretty tomatoes in last week's post. Oh well, I think it's a pretty picture, you get to see them again! A lot of people I know are already planting the seeds for their gardens indoors to get a nice start on the growing season. We have seeds and what not, but I'm not sure if we're going to be attempting a garden this year.
I made a pretty mustard yellow treasury the other day. I want to get back into the swing of many them regularly. They really helped bring traffic to my shop, which is really what I need to do. I don't know how some people make such popular treasuries, but I need to figure it out! I want to be on the front page one day! If you have any suggestions for treasuries, please let me know!
We had Chinese food the other day. Egg rolls, mushroom fried rice, wonton soup, chicken balls and much more. I really like Chinese food, even though it's terribly unhealthy being that it's all fried and what not. I don't think I'm doing myself any harm by having it as infrequently as I do. Like Cookie Monster says, It's a sometimes food. I opened my fortune cookie at the end of the meal, and was told that "my enthusiasm inspires people". I couldn't help but laugh. I was in such a crappy mood, and the farthest thing from enthusiastic. If nothing else, it boosted my mood a bit.
Onto the second part of the crappy food this week. Rick and I were both kind of grumpy the one night, so we treated ourselves to McDonald's. Yeah, emotional eating, whatever. I know I'm guilty of it. I got a fish sandwich, and shared my fries with Winston. And before someone decides to post a snarky comment about how I shouldn't be eating out, and I should be saving money instead, both of our meals cost us less than $12, and we used coupons. I've gotten some rude comments on here, and my Tumblrs from people who think they know what's best for me. Argh, I shouldn't even be posting about this, lest the get the satisfaction of knowing I am annoyed. Oh well.
Now, onto the healthy eating! I cooked up some mushrooms with plans of making an omelette. When I noticed they were starting to turn brown, I decided to use all of them. Which would have been way too many for the omelette. I ended up making wraps with them. Added some thyme, a little mozzarella and a teeny bit of ranch, and I was set! I love mushrooms and thyme together. The only thing I would change about these would be to cook the mushrooms for longer. They still had quite a bit of water in them, so the rolled wraps leaked mushroom juice out the back end. Minor problem, but easily fixed.
I also made a fried egg on toast with cheese. Not the healthiest meal, but definitely better than some. It was absolutely delicious, so that counts for something, right?
Last night, I made another batch of Indian lentil soup. Lots of carrots, onions and lentils, with some vegetable broth, and spices. It took me a couple hours to make it from chopping to blending, but it is so worth it. I still have to work on getting the spices just right, but it's not bad for being only the second time I've made it. And considering I have no idea how to season things, I'd say it's pretty good. It's currently sitting in a big bowl in our fridge, waiting to be eaten. I'll probably be bringing some to work with me today.
Last but not least, some knitting content. After making the soup last night, I decided to bust out my 24mm needles. Yes, 24 millimetres, or pretty much 1 inch. I was holing three strands of worsted weight yarn together, and doing stockinette stitch but I didn't like the way it was looking. The fabric was great, but it was rolling so badly that I just hated it. Even if I'd put a garter border on it, it would still roll pretty significantly. If I was using wool, or a blend, I would just block it, but since it was 100% acrylic, I wasn't going to even try that. So, I ripped it out, and now I'm doing it in garter. I'm not holding my breath that this will become something awesome. This is basically my doodling or sketching. Trying new things, to see what I actually like, and what to pursue. Hopefully I can get something I like.
I'm off to work now. I got called in a couple hours early. Not sure why exactly. This doesn't happen often, unless someone called in or had to leave early. Hopefully it's not too crazy tonight!
How has your week been?

How to Find Me When Google Reader Disappears

As you may have heard or read, in July, the main RSS aggregator that I know of, Google Reader, is going to disappear. As of right now, I don't know if they're replacing it with something, or if it's just going to *poof* and go away.
If the latter happens, I would still love for you to be able to read my blog! There are several ways to do this.
The first, and easiest, is to "Like" my Facebook page. All you need is a Facebook account! Just click "Like" and you'll get an update every time I update this blog. As an added bonus, I also post about sales, events, and other exciting stuff. The only downside to only following this way is that Facebook likes to play around with hat they do and do not show you. I'm not up to date on the way all their stuff works, so just keep in mind that you might miss stuff from me.

The other two ways are quite similar. They are Bloglovin and Hellocotton. They're both RSS aggregators like Google Reader, so they shouldn't be too big of an adjustment.
Just click these buttons to follow with the respective services and you'll be all set!

     

I'm not an expert on any of these services, so make sure you keep updated on what they're suggesting. If you have any questions, you can go ahead and ask, and I'll do my best to answer for you!

Wednesdays are for Gratitude: March 20, 2013

Happy Wednesday! I've spent today knitting, and weaving in ends, and watching TV with Rick. It's been a good day so far. If I didn't have to go to a work meeting at 8:30 (on my day off!) it would be a great day.

This is what I'm grateful for this week

Rick and Winston  /  New television shows  /  Good smelling candles  /  The Knit Girllls  /  Mini skeins of sock yarn  /  Twitter  /  A roof over my head  /  Some of my coworkers  /  My family  /  My health  Good food

What are you grateful for this week?

Monday Update: March 18, 2013

Happy post St Patrick's Day! I hope you're not feeling too ill this morning, as I know some are. All that green beer and food is making some of my friends look a little green this morning. I didn't partake in any festivities this weekend, I didn't even drink a beer. That's a little out of character for me; I usually have at least one beer on the weekends. This whole weight loss thing is always at the back of my mind, so every time I think I'm going to eat/drink something that's not the healthiest, I ask myself what's more important: happiness right now, or long term happiness in the future? This isn't me saying I never allow myself to eat stuff that isn't good for me, in fact, we had McDonalds for dinner last night. But, I try to think about what I'm putting in my body. That being said, I will probably be having a beer after work tonight. It will likely be an apple cider beer, so I can pretend it's kind of healthy.
Anyway, onto what I've been knitting this week! I don't have pictures of everything, but I do have quite a few. I have been working on making loads of head bands so I can be well stocked for the fall shows. I have almost a dozen waiting to be sewn up in my WIP basket. There are a few other almost finished objects in there as well. Since I got this basket, I've been keeping all my stuff in there until the ends are woven in, and I tag them. Then they move to my craft show bin. It helps me keep track of where everything is, and I like to do things production line style, so this facilitates that. Sew everything. Trim all the ends. Tag everything. I feel more efficient that way.
Onto what I've been knitting!
This head band is a custom order for one of my friends. She asked for it a little while back, and I just hadn't gotten around to making it. The head band was easy, it just took some time to figure out how I was going to make the flower. Most of the flowers I see on this style of head band are crocheted, which is something I just can't do. Once I figured it out, it was super quick to make. I'll definitely be making more. Actually, I have another headband just like this ordered, so it will be sooner rather than later.
I got back on the hexipuff train last week. I knew I needed to crank out a bunch if I want to be finished this thing in any reasonable amount of time, so I was just going to make a couple and hopefully feel a little better about it. I ended up making eight of them in just a couple days. I'm nowhere near caught up, but I had a lot of fun making them. The first one that started me down the rabbit hole was the red and aqua striped one here. It looks awesome, this is a favourite colour combination of mine, but it was a pain in the ass to actually knit. Doing stripes in the round on DPNs is something I didn't really enjoy doing. I don't know if I'll be doing many striped ones, that aren't self striping.
These are the first five puffs I cranked out. The top grey one is actually sparkly, and I love it. It's KnitPicks Stroll Glimmer yarn in the Chrome colourway. I think I have two skeins of it. My parents got it for me in my Christmas yarn package. The two blue ones are yarn from Evermore Studios. The rainbow and blue is yarn I got from a destash on Etsy. I'm loving the way these puffs are working up!
I laid out all the puffs I had made, and I have 21 at last count. (This doesn't include the puffs later on in this post) Together, they're not even large enough for a seat cover, so I still have quite a ways to go. I am having fun knitting them, which is the most important part.
I tweeted that I wanted to make the hitchhiker shawl, but didn't have the money in my PayPal account to purchase the pattern. I wasn't looking for a handout, just lamenting my broke-ness. One of my knitting friends from a gazillion miles away gifted me the pattern on Ravelry, and it brought a tear to my eye. I feel so lucky when things like this happen to me. I will definitely pass on the gesture when I can afford to do so. I pulled a skein of Lanitium ex Machina's yarn out, and got to work.
The colours are working up beautifully, with no pooling in sight. I'm up to twelve points. I would be a little farther along if I didn't goof up in the middle of a row and have a really wonky stitch. I had to rip back about 3 points to fix it. Totally worth it, because I know that if I didn't, I would notice that mistake forever. I'm slowly but surely building my personal accessory collection. This is going to be shawl number four (I'm pretty sure anyway) that I've knit for myself. I can't wait to finish it, but in the mean time, I am enjoying the knitting process.
I finished up the last few rows on a loosely knit orange neck warmer. I've had this on the needles for a few weeks, but haven't really been actively knitting on it. I had only about 3 rows to go before it was done, so I cranked them out and bound off. It's a 5x5 rib with an unknown yarn on size 11 needles. The yarn is from a bag of mill ends at Zellers, so I have no idea what it actually is. That's one thing I'm really going to miss when Zellers is gone for good. Just a couple more weeks to go. With the yarn that is left in the skein from this, I am doing a summery scarf on the same size needles, and I'll also be making a head band or two later on.
I made a few more puffs with the Evermore Studios yarn. The blue one at the top finished off a mini skein which brings my number down one. But! I had to get a skein of black Red Heart Super Saver to knit up the head band I mentioned at the beginning of this post. So no change for the week. I will be going through some of my stash this week or next and getting more yarn ready to donate. I'm starting to realize how overwhelmingly huge my stash is, and I know I need to start paring it down, or there will be problems.
What have you fine folks been up to this week? Any fun knitting you're working on?

My Week In Instagrams: March 15, 2013

Congratulations, you made it through another week! I know I'm running late with this post today, but I was at work this morning at the time I usually post. Silly work, getting in the way of fun! Anyway, this is what I've been up to this week.
Last Friday, I picked up some random bits and bobs at the grocery store. We don't go grocery shopping and come out with a cart load very often. It's usually one or two bags at a time. There are a few reasons for this, but the big one being that we find it easier to do it this way, and get stuff as we need it. We seem to have less stuff go bad this way. I picked up more groceries today, and we're probably getting more tomorrow. It seems like we buy often, but since it's so few things at a time, it still works out to a very affordable amount per month.
I've been working out on the elliptical just about every day. I don't do it for very long, but I'm working my way up. Most of the time I do about 15 minutes per session. I want to get up to at least 45 minutes I am enjoying it, which is the most important part. I haven't weighed myself in a few days, so I'm not sure if I've lost any more than the last time I checked in. I'm very happy with the way things are going. Rick and I actually went on a walk with the two dogs this afternoon, when I got home from work. It was a short one, but we're hoping to go as often as possible. Once the ground dries up some, it will be a lot easier. We walk along a trail that gets pretty yucky when it's raining/snowing. And we've been getting a bit of that lately.
On that same healthy note, this Mug root beer is in our fridge has been tempting me for a while. We picked it up before I started on the healthy lifestyle plan, and this was left over. I've only had one this week, and there are only a couple left. Hopefully I can put off drinking them for as long as possible, and use them as a treat when I reach a few goals I have.
Winston has been pretty good the last little while. His attitude has improved, and he's been more playful than usual. He likes to sleep really close to the door, or in this case right in the doorway, so he can keep an eye on the cat when it goes to eat. It's kind of hilarious, seeing Winston go from being pretty much sound asleep, to chasing the cat around.
A couple days ago, I made some pretty healthy oatmeal cookies. I used a "recipe" I found on Tumblr that was pretty simple to follow. I changed it up, and made it my own. The recipe for these is at the end of the post. I hope you enjoy it! It's super simple, even I did it, and I can't bake worth a crap. I'll definitely be making more of these. I ate them all within a couple days, so I'll have to make sure I ration them out a little better. I can't help myself when I make something delicious!
Now, to counteract all the healthy goodness of those cookies, we went to Arby's to download podcasts and OS updates. I got most of my stuff downloaded, and Rick got some of his. I ate three sandwiches and drank a Dr Pepper. I was only a couple hundred calories over for the day, and got on the elliptical that night. I finished about where I needed to be according to the app I use. For anyone else who is interested, I use MyFitnessPal. It's free, and easy to use. I can access it from my phone and iPad which is convenient.
In knitting news, I started a Hitchhiker yesterday with some yarn I won from Lanitium ex Machina many moons ago. An internet friend gifted the pattern to me on Ravely, and it brought a tear to my eye. I was so happy that she was so kind. I'm loving the pattern, and it's knitting up beautifully in this yarn. I'll post more about it, and other knitting stuff, on Monday. I have quite a bit to show, which makes me super happy.
Today, when I picked up the groceries, I saw some nice, red tomatoes, that actually smelled like tomatoes! They're from Mexico, though. I live in the tomato capital of Canada, so buying foreign tomatoes is something I do my best to avoid. I can't wait till I can buy fresh, local tomatoes, that were grown outside and not in a green house.
I hope you have a good weekend! Don't get too crazy with the St Patricks Day celebrations though. Be safe!


Here it the cookie recipe, and keep in mind the measurements are approximate.

-2 bananas, mashed
-2 heaping tablespoons smooth peanut butter
-2+ cups rolled oats
-2 tablespoons "add-ins" I used unsweetened coconut and chocolate chips, but you could also try raisins, Craisins, M&Ms, peanuts or anything else that strikes your fancy. But keep in mind, these add to the calories in each cookie.

-Heat oven to 350F
-Mix the mashed bananas and peanut butter until well combined
-Add the oatmeal, 1/2 cup at a time until the mix holds together. You might need more, I didn't measure exactly how much I used.
-Add your mix-ins of choice. Use less than you think you'll need. You don't need a lot in each cookie to get the flavour.
-Scoop onto a cookie sheet sprayed with oil. The cookies don't really spread, so make them the size you'll want. I got 15 good sized cookies out of this much, but make more or less, depending on what you prefer.
-Place in centre of preheated oven and cook for 10-20 minutes. They're done when they're more or less solid.
-Remove from oven and let cool. If you don't gobble them all up right away, I'd keep them in a covered container for
I calculated how many calories were in each cookie with MyFitnessPal, and it came out to less than 70 each. Which isn't bad, considering their size, and all the healthy stuff in there (fibre, protein, potassium etc)

Wednesdays Are For Gratitude: March 13, 2013

Hello everyone! It's Wednesday, and that means one thing for this little blog: the day I list things I am grateful for. There have been studies done that say those who show gratitude are happier, more productive people. I'm not going to argue with science! Here's a short list of things I'm happy to have in my life:
Richard  /  Winston  /  My family  /  Healthy oatmeal cookies that I baked yesterday  /  Hexipuffs  /  Instagram  /  MyFitnessPal  /  Losing 5 lbs  /  My internet friends  / Colourful yarn
What are you thankful for this week?

Monday Update: March 11, 2013

Happy Monday! I just woke up, a little before 11, and I feel like my day is already half over. I need to work on sleeping less; this is annoying.
This past weekend was full of work. One of my coworkers passed away in the early hours of Sunday morning, in a car accident, so that put a downer on our day yesterday. I'm waiting to hear on funeral arrangements and that sort of thing. It's probably going to be a few days until that happens.
I haven't been knitting much the past few days. I don't know why, possibly because I've been sleeping 12 hours a day, but I can't be sure. I have eliminated another three skeins of yarn from my stash. One was larger than my head. I gave them to my mom for more baby hat making. She's been pretty productive in that department, which is awesome. It makes me feel a little better about slacking off. These bring my stash count to +14. I'm also working on clearing out some small skeins from my WIP basket. After I finish a project, I just throw the left over yarn in there, in hopes of using it for some smaller projects. This doesn't always happen, but I'm working on it.
I've also been listing new items in my Etsy shop. I added some old stock at ridiculously low prices, as well as some newer stuff on sale as well. I put up all the head bands/ear warmers I've made so far. I haven't sold any yet, but I really hope I do. I literally have NO MORE SPACE for finished knit items. My storage bin is beyond full. This causes a problem when I want to knit more, because there is nowhere for it to go! I have to figure something out to remedy this problem. The most obvious one was to get more stuff sold. The second is to slow down on my knitting, and make items that condense the yarn more. The third "good idea" was to add more storage space. I think I'm going to do a little of that. Knit smaller items, and store them in a reusable grocery bag with the rest of my knitted things. This one seems like a good idea.
Now, onto some other goals. Back in December, I shared some goals I had for this year. One of them was to get fit. I've been working on this the past couple weeks. Rick bought us, mostly me, an elliptical off of Kijiji a few days ago, and I love it. Unfortunately, a piece fell off the other day, so I haven't been able to use it. I just have to get an Allen key to tighten something, and but the nut back on, and everything will be right as rain. With watching what I eat, using MyFitnessPal, and adding some extra exercises in throughout the day I've lose 4 pounds. Yeah, I know, that's not much, but it's a start! I haven't done anything drastic as far as changing my eating habits. I still have hot chocolates, and sweets, and junk food. If I cut them out completely, I rebound and binge on them as soon as I have them available to me. I have to do things slowly in order to make progress. I'd rather take things one at a time and make slow progress, than go really quick, only to knock myself back.
I also set myself a goal of taking more photos. I've done alright in that area. I'm not photographing as much as I thought I would be, but I'm not really going anywhere or doing anything to justify taking them. I need to work on that too.
How are all of you fine folks doing? Are you still making progress on your new years resolutions?

My Week in Instagrams: March 8, 2013

We've reached the end of the work week for most, and I'm pretty much just starting. I worked one shift so far this week, and now I'm working the whole weekend. Most days, I prefer weekends, just because it's busy, and it makes the shift go by faster. But the way it's going right now, I'm thankful for any shift. Soon it will pick up! I have to keep telling myself this.
This is what I've been up to this week.
I mentioned last Friday that I picked up a 6 pack of Shock Top Honeycrisp Apple Wheat. Well, I tried it that night. No joke, it's one of the best beers I've ever had. I love wit/white/wheat beers, and this one is no exception. It smells like fresh apple cider as soon as you open it. It's really smooth, and not overly apple-y. I will definitely be getting more of this. It is a seasonal brew, so I'll have to keep an eye out for when it is available. I'll probably also get some of their other types.
At the craft show, I was knitting quite a bit. I used some of the sparkly pink yarn I picked up at JoAnns to make a pair of boot cuffs, and a matching headband. With the left overs, I made some bows a couple days ago. Haven't gotten those photographed yet, but they're looking pretty cute! I made a few other things at the show. I'll probably have a sewing up marathon before my show at the end of the month, and you can see everything then. With these bows, and some stuff I made from another skein, I eliminated two more balls of yarn from the stash. Small ones, but like I've said before, I have to start somewhere.
You also saw this earring rack last week, before my Dad and I made some adjustments. I picked up the teensy weensy clothespins when we were in Michigan, and they were MUCH too small to use over the cord my Dad had put in there. It was an easy fix, and less than a half hour later, the improved rack was ready to go. It fits a ton of earrings, which is awesome. It got most of them up off the table, which was my goal. I got several compliments on it, which I passed along to my pops. You can't really tell in the photo, but there are dowels on the top that I put my rings on. I didn't sell any of those, but I will be making more of them, for sure. I want to get some of those up in my shop as well.
I am so incredibly happy with how Lucy's blanket turned out. It's the perfect size to tuck into her cradle now, and transition into a crib or stroller blanket. I have leftovers of both colours, and I might make something for Christine that matches. A hair bow or brooch maybe? I'll have to see exactly how much of each I have before I make any decisions.
Winston has been kind of weird lately. I mean, he's always weird, but the past few days it's been extra strange.
he likes to carry his pig ear around, and bring it to the cat to see if he wants some. He's the most gentle dog when it comes to toys and such. He still has all but maybe one of the toys we've ever got for him. He's the same way with pig ears. It can take him days to finish one. Chew a little here, a little there, carry it around for a while. Oh, wait, I can eat this thing!? I swear that's how he thinks. I'm not complaining. We save money on toys and treats this way.
Rick's been making some fantastic food lately. He picked up some groceries while I was at my parents and that's turned into some pretty yummy meals. Wednesday, we had asparagus with lemon juice, couscous-quinoa salad with tomatoes, zucchini and mushrooms, and bacon wrapped filet mignon on a bed of fried onions, mushrooms and garlic. That makes us sounds fancy! It was very good, and I love how well Rick can cook. I'm so lucky that he makes amazing food for us.
Yesterday, I spent some time working on photographing new and old items to put up in the shop, and on my Facebook page. I have an album on the latter full of scarves for as little as FIVE DOLLARS. Yeah, I might be crazy, but I need to clear out space in my KNK storage abyss! The bin hasn't been even close to closing for aaaages, and now it's even farther. I knit much faster than I sell, and I need to remedy that. It's so hard finding a balance between knitting and promoting. I should start getting into the habit of posting and tweeting stuff daily again, that seemed to help drive traffic to the shop. I'm going to be bringing all the super sale stuff to the show I do at the end of the month and have a discount basket on my table. Hopefully that will help clear things out if the Facebook album doesn't do it.
We also picked up an elliptical machine yesterday, which was... fun. I used it while we were watching Wreck it Ralph, and my legs were burning. I think I'll enjoy using it.
This week just about did me in. I was quite busy for a good chunk of it. I'm looking forward to a couple days off again next week.

Wednesdays Are For Gratitude: March 6, 2013

Today is going to be awesome. I have the day off work, and I have lots of plans to get stuff done. Here's hoping I can get motivated to do them all.

This is a short list of what I am grateful for this week:

My family  /  Richard  /  My (ever expanding) yarn stash  /  Winston  /  My best friend Christine, her husband Adam, and their baby, my niece, Lucy  /  Oatmeal  /  Video podcasts  /  Taco Bell  /  Inexpensive American beer  /  My brother and his girlfriend  /  My friends  /  My iTunes library

What are you grateful for this week?

Monday Update: March 4, 2013

Just a quick hello this evening! I had a busy weekend, and I am still decompressing from all the excitement. I'll tell you all about my craft show later on this week.
The most exciting thing that happened recently is meeting my niece. Christine had little Lucy almost 2 weeks ago. My Mom and I went to visit this morning before heading to bring me back home. I gave them the blanket I'd been knitting, that you all have seen peeks of over the last couple months. They both loved it. Lucy was a little fussy when Christine first handed her to me, which pretty much caused me to panic. I'm not good with kids. I rocked her a little bit and she settled right in. I like her a whole heck of a lot, and she seemed pretty content with me. This doesn't mean I'm having kids, for all of you that are going to suggest it.

My Week in Instagrams: Friday March 1st, 2013

Everyone is probably saying it, but holy crap, when did March get here? This week has been a fun one. I have it off work, so I've been quite productive. You can see that from the picture overload. I'm going to try to keep this one from getting too long.

Rick reheated some of the lamb stew for us. He threw and egg and some tomatoes in there, as well. WE stirred a little sour cream in there, and it made it even better.
This is Rick's mom's cat, Jazz. He likes me a lot. I don't mind him. Winston loves playing with him, they're pretty funny together.
I knit a head band for myself out of some sparkly yarn. I also have boot cuffs to match. I'm going to wear those this weekend.
I made and packaged quite a few earrings this week. I haven't done any four packs, as far as I can remember, but I loved the colour gradient I got form these pinks.
I bought a pack of lamb shoulder chops when we got groceries recently. Rick cooked us up a couple. It's been pointed out that these look like two horse heads facing each other. Now that it's been said, I can't un-see them.
With the lamb, we also had potatoes, cabbage and onions. The chops are under all that good stuff.
I bought some fun socks a while back. I really liked these orange and pink ones. Nice and bright!
When Rick brought me into Windsor on Wednesday, we went for all you can eat sushi. We got hand rolls and they were pretty good. I had a hell of a time ripping through the nori at first, but after I got past that, I was golden.
After sushi and some other errands, we went to see Warm Bodies. I really enjoyed it. I didn't know it was an adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, but now that I've read it in some articles online, it totally makes sense!
When I got to my parents, my dad gave me the rack he built for my earrings. The cord in the centre is in the process of being replaced with some thin wire. The clips I have to put the earrings on there are super tiny.
My parents have a panini press, and I made peanut butter and banana sandwiches for my Mom and I yesterday.
Mom took me to Wendy's after going shopping. After Wendy's, I visited my friend Lauren of Whimsical Warmth. We got crafty and played with her dogs. It was lots of fun.
When I got home from Lauren's, I watched The Knit Girllls and worked on head bands. I forgot to take photos of those, but I made two out of the mustard yarn. That eliminated one skein!
Dad and I went grocery shopping in Michigan today. One of the major perks of living in a border city. I ended up picking up a 6 pack of another flavour of Shocktop: Honey Crisp Apple. We went to a liquor and craft beer store, and I knew I'd find something I'd like. I can't wait to try it!

Now, onto the stash down! My mom bought me three skeins of sequin yarn from Zellers. The price was great, and I'd had my eye on them for a while. I got one in silver, and two in light blue. These will be turned into boot cuffs and a head band. Hopefully each skein is enough for a full set! I also bought two skeins of sparkle yarn when I went to Joanns today. These were a bit of an impulse purchase. When I got up to pay, I found out they were on a ridiculous sale. I paid about half of what I was expecting. If I wasn't on the "stash diet" I probably would have run back and picked up some more.
This puts me up five skeins. BUT! I knit one into the head bands. AND I gave two to my mom to make  into LeeLee Hats. AND I'm giving six more skeins, and fairly large ones at that, to Mel of Trinkets and Treasures for some of her crafty goodness. It's all yarn that, although I do like, I will likely never get around to using. This means I am at minus 4 for the week! This brings me to +19 overall. I hope to make some progress on this very soon. I'm knitting as fast as I can.

How are all of you fine folks doing? What's the weather like where you are?