Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Rainy Dayz

So much to do...






I don't work so one would think I would have an endless amount of free time. Maybe I sign up for too much or I think I should spend most of my time with my husband and kids which will not change. :)






One of the things I signed up for the past few months was a KAL (knit-a-long) swap in my blue swap group. This has made me so happy and forced me to branch out of my comfort zone. Well, anyway, those who are participating are also making prizes for those who finish and this morning I finished the prize I will be giving away. I so love this purse now I'm not sure I want to give it away, but I will.








Next, I am going to Midwest Masters and the classes I took have homework. Uck! I don't care how old I am, I still hate homework. However, this homework will result in some awesome pocket making abilities. Sweet!






Rummage sale time! I love my rummage sales and this year I need to find a few things. Caleb is almost out grown his summer cloths so I need to find more for him and Joel could use some more summer pajamas. Easy peasy and I should be able to take care of that with just one weekend. :)

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Knitting Swaps

I've been doing Ravelry swaps for over six months now. I enjoy getting to know the wonderful knitters around the world and sharing yarns from where we are. These women have truly inspired me to do things I otherwise might not have. For one, I've sold some purses, second, I've knit some crazy complicated items, and third I've taken some very different knitting classes. Sure it's about knitting but because I have that confidence I have the confidence to do other things now too. Just the other day I reapplied for school so I can finish what I started, and I'm also looking at doing some other things.


Some other great things that have come from these swaps are surprises! There is a group I belong to, Swaps of Colors and Themes and the ladies all know I sew because we had two people flake out and I helped fill in by sending some purses. Well, just yesterday I received a package in the mail from one of the ladies who wants me to take the next step and start selling my products online. She sent me a bunch of Vogue sewing magazines and catalogs and even some knitting booklets for babies and small children. I was so very touched I cried. It's crazy how someone you will probably never meet can touch your heart so very much!!!


On a slightly different note, I joined a group, Guilty Pleasures/Good Karma where we send out amazing luxury packages, but before we can take part we have to knit up something for donation or make a monetary donation to a charity. Well, it felt good to not only donate some knitted goods, but also know there is a whole group of ladies doing the same thing. Then we all ship out a package to an assigned partner with luxury items. Well, I got my dream yarn which came all the way from India! And some other awesome indie yarns which makes me so happy. My swap partner also sent me some other awesome luxury items like some cool colorful knitting needles and some super awesome body scrub stuff. Here are some pictures!










While some of you may feel these swaps are just crazy nonsense, they help this stay at home mom feel warm and fuzzy which is all that matters!

Friday, April 15, 2011

Entrelac

So, since I'm not in school at the moment I take knitting classes at the local yarn stores in my area. I consider myself very lucky to have two awesome yarn stores so close by for exactly this reason. Anyway, my most recent class was for a knitting technique called entrelac. I'm not sure where it started or anything, but I saw a huge entrelac blanket somewhere and asked what it was called and thought to myself, I must learn that. So, in my class I learned how to knit entrelac and a mobious and how to put them together. I think you need a picture to fully understand, I know I did.

This is a picture of my second entrelac mobious on needles. Crazy, cool!


This is my finished project!

Mobious means twist, I guess.



Oh I suppose you want to know what it is you are to do with this odd shaped thing. You wear it like a scarf. I wanted to wear mine this spring, most like a necklace. The first one is smaller and fits like a cowl where the second one will accoplish what I want. Crazy!

On a similar note Brandon and I are working tirelessly to get ready for school this fall. There is a ton of paper work involved with higher education. Both of us in school and taking on homeschooling. Now that is crazy! Next week I plan on making more soap so... Yay!