The scrap blanket is moving along, and seems to be growing fast. I am thankful for this project, as even on my busiest days I take the 40 minutes to knit my daily square.
Month: February 2019
WIP Wednesday
I had the whole day to myself, thanks to a dentist appointment and in-laws that love to babysit. I had planned on getting a lot of knitting done, but I got sucked into other projects and didn’t even pick up my needles. I’m making some progress on my projects, but not much.
I started a new pair of socks. I had to reschedule Jess and the start of our Green Bay Packers KAL, so I cast on a pair of Rose City Rollers. I wanted a fast pair of socks so I have free needles next weekend when we start the KAL. The yarn I’m using was a scarf until two weeks ago. I knit the scarf for John years ago and he never once used it, so I decided it could find a new life as socks and I could clear out something from the closet. 
The yarn is Strand Yarnworks in the Cigars and Cabernet colorway. The heel is random sock yarn from my bag of fingering weight yarn for my scrap blanket. I don’t love the combination, but I don’t hate it enough to rip it out. I think it will look better when it is complete.
My sweater is moving along. I have about 10 rows left on the back. I’m sure the front pieces will fly. Or maybe I’m just telling myself that.
Instead of knitting today I spent my time tearing out messed up seams sewing. I made a Fen Shirt, as the I loved the Fen Dress so much. I like the shirt, but if I make it again I’ll make it longer. I’m tall, and the shirt is a little too short for my taste.
After finishing my shirt I made some cold reliever bath bombs. I used lavender, eucalyptus, tea tree, and peppermint essential oils in the bombs (thank goodness for Pinterest, I know nothing about essential oil blends). They smell wonderful. I left out the food coloring, because I don’t like sitting in food coloring. We are on our third cold of the year in our house, so I think we will be using these soon.
I also spent some time feeling extra awesome about my dress after my cousin Claire pointed out what great taste I have. It is rare that something I wear is actually fashionable, so it is nice when it happens.
I hope you are having a good week and making progress on your works in progress.
Creativity Abounds
I haven’t been knitting as much lately. Winter has wreaked havoc on my hands, and there are days where knitting is painful to my dry hands. Because of that I’ve been exploring other creative outlets.
Last weekend I made bath bombs. I love bath bombs, but can’t bring myself to spend $5 on something that lasts 20 minutes. Money is literally going down the drain when you use a bath bomb. It turns out bath bombs are crazy easy to make. I had all of the ingredients in my house, so I didn’t even have to buy anything. 10 minutes after pulling up a recipe on Popular Science I was cleaning up as my 7 bath bombs dried. 
I will be making these again. Since making this batch I’ve purchased a big bag of citric acid and more essential oils on Amazon. I’m sticking with my silicone baby food container for now (there was a time when I thought I would be making all organic baby food for the kids, then I realized I need sleep), but I might upgrade the molds at some point.
On Sunday I had a chance to be creative in a way that was new to me. I went to a painting class for a friend’s birthday party. It was so much fun! They gave us canvases with a sketch of a fox and a butterfly on them, then walked us through how to paint them. I’m happy with how my painting turned out, and I hope to put it up in my craft room someday (when I have a house that isn’t a glorified tiny home).
There was a slushy boozy punch, which really helped the festive atmosphere and relaxed my perfectionism enough to allow me to paint.
Tomorrow the kids are spending the day with John’s parents. My plan is to sew a shirt. After my success with the Fen Dress (which I’m wearing today) I want to start another project. I cut out the pattern for the Fen shirt last night and plan to iron the fabric once it’s out of the wash. With any luck I’ll have a new shirt to show off tomorrow night.
I hope you are staying creative this winter! Do you have any crafts you love that you think I should try?
I Made A Dress
One of my resolutions this year was to make, thrift, or mend a clothing item if I need a new one. I hadn’t sewn a garment since I was in college (20 years ago), and that was pajama pants (not a difficult thing to make).
I’ve started attending a new church (OK, fine, “sporadically attending” would be a better way to phrase that). People at my new church dress up on Sundays, and I don’t have many dresses. I decided to go crazy and make a dress.
I made the Fen Dress by Fancy Tiger Crafts. Is it perfect? Hell no. Is it done? YES! I’m looking forward to wearing it for the rest of the winter. I used flannel, so the dress is nice and cozy. It’s basically pajamas I can wear in public.
I made lots of mistakes while making this dress, several you can probably see in this photo if you are an avid sewer. I have a hard time loving crafts that I’m not immediately good at. I did enjoy the process enough to want to sew more. I would like to get to the point where I’m OK at sewing. I don’t know if I’ll ever advance to zippers.
The Fen Dress pattern comes with a shirt version of the dress. I think I’m going to make that next. I want to see if the process goes better the second time I make the pattern.
Do you sew? Do you have any easy sewing patterns you would recommend? What is your favorite thing to sew?
skinnytaste Week 8
This week I made American-Style Cheesy Beef Goulash and Macaroni from the skinnytaste One and Done cookbook. John really liked this recipe and has requested I make it again. The kids and I didn’t really love this one.
It was fast (I used the pressure cooker) and easy. I think in the end I’m just not a goulash fan.
FO: Audrey Socks
I finished Audrey’s socks today. I like the stripes.
I do not recommend having a 4-year-old model socks. There are many more arm movements involved than you would think.
Meanwhile Elliot only wants to go to the yarn store now. He is mad every morning when we go to the Y instead of the yarn shop. He is basically saying what goes through my head every morning (except the part about the trains Percy and Gordon, I’m not a big Thomas the Train fan).
I hope you had a productive Thursday. Only two more days until our next snow storm.
mildlygranola 