Back to the Grind... with bug bites!

Well, my summer is now over... I am back at school as of today. My coworkers who are back (administration only until next week) are all savagely tan (and wrinkly, ha ha on them), and we spent the first hour of the day sharing stories of what we did on our summer vacations.

It's all good, except for one thing: my feet feel like I am wearing bags of fire ants on them. A few days ago, my feet got eaten alive at an evening party, which was held outside under a tent. The bites have swollen into sausages covered in white welts with little blisters on top. Each step (or blow of the fan) is an exercise in itchy insanity! I somehow managed to put on some flip flops and hobble down the hallway to get to work, but ran back, and plastered the tops of my feet with bandages and medical tape. I also took an antihistamine, and I somehow made it to work. I will hopefully survive the day, and I am crossing my fingers that no one gives me a hard time about walking around barefoot.

The bites hurt too much for me to want to scratch them.

If you were here, I would whine a lot to you. Lucky for you that you are somewhere else.

In other news, I have finished a whole lot of knitting (and a little crocheting). I have finished the February Lady Sweater, Rusted Root (short sleeve sweater), a scarf, a neckwarmer, some slippers, and some hats. I will share pictures soon!

I am a vampire.

Well, sort of.

I am a pretty fair skinned individual. Additionally, I burn really fast - I have been known to start burning within 10-15 minutes, actually. I really have to plan ahead when I might be caught outdoors for a while, because I have to put sunblock on BEFORE getting in the sun... after all, it takes 20 minutes for sunblock to soak in, which is already too late. Lobsterface.

Anyway, I do not like the beach, unless I can be in the shade... it's all hot, and trying to manage sunblock in between dips in the ocean, with some sand mixed in... without shade, it is just not bearable or enjoyable to me.

Case in point: not wanting to go all the way to the beach given my pasty disposition, I went to Walden Pond today. It was gorgeous out today - sunny, light breeze, perfect, really. I even found a shady spot in the sand, spread out my towel, and laid down.

Fifteen minutes later, the sun had shifted and I was in full on sun. There was nowhere else to move to, because it was quite crowded, so I tried to get comfortable. I shifted and squirmed, tried covering my face with a towel, flipped from front to side to back to other side, but it just wasn't working. I was caught in the sun, and was squirming like a vampire turning to dust... it burnsssss, it BURNNNSSSSSS!

I was proud of myself... I lasted an hour. I really enjoyed the shady moment, and I also enjoyed the Bomb Pop I got before I left. Mmmmm. Red flavor. White flavor. Blue flavor!

Handspun One Row Scarf

How is it that I never posted this entry? I wrote it on July 24! I have no idea if this is a repeat because I'm too lazy to check.

I finally knitted up the merino from the Tour de Fleece:




Yay, pretty! I love how the stripes are all random and stuff. I like that it is both ridgy and nubbly. Hooray! I didn't make it quite as long as I could have, though, because I wanted to save some of the yarn to pat and look at.

I used this One Row Scarf pattern by the Yarn Harlot. I used the size needles she suggested. I cast one four fewer stitches.

Ooh, also, I SPUN SOCK WEIGHT SOCK YARN! And, it is even SUPERWASH and there is actually enough of it to make a pair of socks with! I used fiber from Pigeonroofstudios, which can sometimes be hard to get, because people stalk her store and buy it as soon as it is listed! The braids of roving I've gotten have been all stealth and stalk-y. Even worse, she lives on the West Coast and is a bit of a night owl, so she frequently updates her shop at midnight her time, 3 AM my time! But it is lovely fiber. Looky!


I am quite pleased. there is more yardage than in lightweight Socks that rock, so there will be plenty of yarn for some sockies. I'm not sure what I'll do with this... maybe just simple k3,p1 ribbed socks. I like those. How to decide!

Too Cool!

So, I love Ravelry. I mean, don't we all, really? One of the features I find to be very fun is browsing patterns. One day, I might want to look at hundreds of sock patterns, the next day, perhaps I'm perusing crocheted caps. Another way to find beautiful patterns is to take a look at the projects that one's friends have favorited. If I remember correctly, that is how I came across this Hawaiian Flowers Lap Blanket: (Ravelry link)


It's bright and pretty and definitely a departure from the typical "Granny Square" blanket. However, the owner/ creator of this blanket made it a long time ago and has no idea where the pattern is.

Coincidentally, I also found another crocheter on Ravelry who has a blog; her name is Sarah London. She makes beautiful crocheted items, and just yesterday, she had a blog entry where she shared a cool design tip for one of her readers. So, on a whim, I left a comment giving her another challenge: to try and recreate the above blanket. Guess what - she took up the challenge! Check out her blog here - she's going for it! I'll be looking forward to the results.

Let's Get Some Shews!

In case you don't get the reference, you may wish to watch this video on youtube.

Anyway, as Kelly says, "these shews RULE!"

First up, some schmexy shoes from Franko Sarto in black and ivory:


And then some equally schmexy shoes from Anne Klein:


I was at Marshall's and tried on like 50 pairs of shoes, and these two pairs both scored the 'good shoes' trifecta: they were cute, reasonably comfortable (for heels), and were on sale. What more can a gal ask for, except, perhaps, for equally schmexy outfits to go with said shoes? The first pair will go nicely with this ivory lace blouse I have (and either black pants or black skirt), and I suppose the pewter ones would go with a pair of jeans and pretty much any top I wanted to put with it. Pewter is a neutral, right???

Anyway, feel free to invite me to an event where heels would be appropriate, particularly if there is no walking and very little standing involved.

That would be great.

Neti Pot

So, my nose sometimes gives me problems. I have some allergies, and my nose tends to always be runny, but also dry. I won't go into further details. You may thank me now.

Anyway, when I first got interested in yoga, I got a few books, and one of them described using a Neti Pot. The one in the yoga book looked kinda like this one:


What the heck is that for, you might wonder? Well, you put warmish water in it, add non iodized salt, and pour it into your nose. Yeah, sounds gross. I know. You do it while your head is tilted forward, and your sinuses fill up with water, and then it pours out the other nostril. Then, switch nostrils and repeat.

Why would you do that? Well, it is meant to flush icky stuff out of your nose, including allergens and excessive mucous and also germies. The neti pot is gaining popularity; you can even buy them at Wal Mart now. If you would like to watch an educational video from the good people at NeilMed about how to use the Neti Pot, CLICK HERE. If you do NOT want to see that video, then for goodness sake, don't click there! Do not!

Anyway, I bought one. I flushed out my nose. Initially, you get that tangy 'water up the nose' sensation, and then it is kinda weird. And then it is even weirder. And then water starts pouring out of your other nostril. And then your eyes might water just because it is so weird. Not because it hurts or anything, because it doesn't. (Just make sure to add the non iodized salt, cuz otherwise, it stings a lot, evidently)

Afterwards, it did feel nice and clear up there. I will see over time if it helps with allergies, colds, and dry/ drippy nose issues. And will report back if you like. Note: you will all be pleased to know that I will NOT be taking any pictures or videos of the process. That would just be inappropriate.

Whew.

Well, that was quite a weekend. The Folk Festival seemed to have record numbers of visitors - downtown was jam packed with festival goers! Art in the Courtyard was a smashing success, with loads of people browsing the arts/ crafts, and pulling out their credit cards so that they could take a little piece of Lowell home with them.

I was under a big tent with Liz, Candace, and a few others... Liz and Candace were great to share tent space with - we could watch each other's tables when the other had to run out and do other stuff, and our work is different enough to draw in a wide variety of shoppers - it was great!

We ALMOST made it through the weekend without having to deal with the rain... but about 45 minutes before the weekend was over, the skies opened up and gave us downpours and claps of thunder. I got a phone call from a friend about 5 minutes before the rain hit, telling me "Pack now, or you're gonna get wet!" It gave us enough of a head start that we could make sure that none of our important stuff got wet. Thank goodness!

I'm taking today to recover and collect myself to get back to enjoying the summer - it is zipping by so quickly!

Lowell Folk Festival

This weekend is the Lowell Folk Festival, and I have been selling jewelry through Art in the Courtyard. It has been a busy weekend so far - my theory is that people are going crazy and are all happy and doing fun stuff after so many rainy, thundery, floody, yicky days.

I'm sharing a tent with my friend Liz of Made in Lowell , which has been great - she makes beautiful felted and polymer clay items (jewelry, pins, hair accessories, beads, polymer clay covered eggs). It's always nice to share space with someone - it's an extra set of eyes, someone to chat with when things get quiet, it's all good, really!

Anyway, if you are interested, I did some number crunching. These numbers will be more interesting to you if you also sell at craft shows, or if you run a retail-type small business of some sort. (If numbers and stats and stuff like that are not interesting to you, now is where you should go check out another blog on your list - see you soon!)

For a couple of years, I did not accept credit cards - I did not know that such a capability was accessible to me at a reasonable price, and I wasn't sure if the cost would be outweighed by the benefit. Well, through Propay , I think that it has indeed proven to be worth the cost.

Check it out - here are some stats from the first two days:

My number of cash sales and credit card sales were 1:1. HOWEVER, the average cash purchase was about $21, whereas the average credit card purchase was $51! Even when I take into account the credit card fees for these purchases, the average is still $49.30. My conclusion? People spend more money with credit cards than they do with cash, and the fees are worth it. I think that this is probably particularly true at craft shows/ fairs/ festivals, where a lot of vendors don't accept cash, so people become more miserly as the day goes on... they have to save the cash for food vendors, for parking, and other costs where they can't use a credit card.

Anyway, we really lucked out over the past two days - the weather has been lovely, and people have been out in droves. Unfortunately, the weather forecast for tomorrow is less than optimal, but I guess we'll see what happens. Wish me luck, if you get a chance!

Habu Textiles

For EVER now, I have wanted to visit the Habu Textiles yarn store in NYC. However, it has never quite come to pass. So, when I heard that they'd be at the Knit and Crochet Show in Manchester NH this weekend, I squeezed it into my already full weekend schedule - how could I not! Sure, I need to go set up my jewelry in less than an hour, and will be at "Art in the Courtyard" downtown as part of the Lowell Folk Festival... but the trip up north was worth getting up early for, because I just loved the Habu booth!

What makes them so alluring to me? They use very unusual fibers in their yarn... paper, fiber from strange plants, stainless steel, and of course some of the more expected ones... cotton, wool, silk, bamboo, linen... just fascinating! The shopping experience was nice because everything was well marked, and there were a lot of knitted swatches to look at, which was definitely helpful while shopping.



The green one: fiber from a pineapple plant! (Yes, I have a few ideas)
The purple one: cotton, but feels like paper.
The silvery gray one: undyed linen.
The bronze one: 100% sil.
The navy one: silk and... stainless steel!
The tealy blue one: 100% cotton, but feels sooooo soft... how did they do that?
The cranberry one: bamboo

I am just thrilled. Sadly, I must leave my new yarns and go sit outside, hoping people buy my stuff. ;-)

Berry Picking

I have been slacking on my blog posting. Sorry about that.

Last week, I went raspberry picking. (I know... yum, right?) It was a hot, sunny day, so after I slathered up with sunblock, I drove to the farm. I picked a row, and the bushes were just huge! There weren't really any berries at 'normal person height', but there were tons about 7 feet in the air, which is great for me, really. Just look at these huge bushes, taken from my eye level:


The berries were really big, too - this one wasn't even abnormal compared to the others!


Here was a mutant berry:


Here was its skeleton... after I ate the good part:


AND..... I SAW A UNICORN!


Okay, it's really just a goat that lost a horn. Thanks for RUINING EVERYTHING.

Harrumph.

Making Laundry Detergent

Yes. I made my own laundry detergent. Why, you ask, would I do that? Well, commercially made detergents have a lot of fillers in them, and the home made stuff I was buying online was nice, but kinda pricey. I did some research, found a few recipes for laundry powder, and went to town. Here are the groovy, old timey ingredients:


Recipe: 1 cup grated Fels Naptha soap
1/2 cup 20 Mule Team Borax
1/2 cup Arm & Hammer washing soda

I had to chop up the soap:


Grate it - that was loud and fun! (I then chopped it further with the choppy blade)


Here it is, all mixed together:


There was a little soap leftover, and of course, a ton of the other stuff. You only need a tablespoon of it, and it's about 3 cents per load.

I tried it right away, of course. I was a little nervous, because the Fels Naptha soap had a horrible perfumey odor to it. Just awful. But you know what? My laundry came out smelling like warm, fresh fabric, instead of perfume. Even better than commercial detergents!

So, I am pleased.

This little exercise also kinda fits into my New Year's resolution of being more environmentally conscientious... none of the ingredients are yicky in that environmenty way.

I have been knitting....

.... not that you'd know it from looking here!

First off, some successes, starting with "Shrug This, Me Size".


The original pattern garnered a lot of comments about how it fit perfectly... if you were a 7 year old girl! So, I started by casting on more stitches, and continued the raglan increases for much longer than suggested, until things seemed to fit my frame. The pattern was only 30 inches around... who is 30 inches around???

Anyway, I also lengthened the pattern. It has already gotten good use - I just toss it on over a tank top if there is a bit of a chill in the air, and it is just perfect!

Project Details:

Pattern: Shrug This by Toni Kayser Weiner
Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton Ease, 4 skeins, used doubled
Needles: Denise Interchangeables, size 10 1/2 US
Modifications: I cast on eight extra stitches to start out, and did 16 raglan increases instead of the prescribed 12. I then knit 10 inches of body, then did the ribbing and cast off. Had I not done any addition to the body, the shrug would have ended mid boob - and considering my modest bust, this is surely saying something!

Comments: I'm REALLY not sure what adult human the original pattern would fit. There were women who said that they usually buy XS shirts, and this shrug was too small. Additionally, the pattern is only made in one size. However, despite these things, I definitely like the construction and design of this item. It was just the thing I needed to keep away the chill during early summer mornings or late evenings.

Next up, a duo of Noro hats. I acquired a couple of skeins of Noro from friends, and found this groovy pattern on Ravelry for the Noro Spiral One-Skein Hat by Manuele Ducret.



Project Details:
Pattern: Noro Spiral One-Skein Hat by Manuele Ducret
Needles: Denise Interchangeables size 8, magic looped
Yarn: Noro Kureyon, colorways # 138 (the bright one) and 116 (the black and grey one)
Modifications: I got a gauge of 4 stitches to the inch, and cast on 88 stitches. I knit the straight part of the hat for 5 1/2 inches before decreasing.
Notes: I like this pattern! It is simple to memorize, the pattern shows up against the Noro but doesn't take away from the color changes.

I've also been spinning! Here was the fiber I chose; it's from Woolytreasures , and is about 5 oz of merino.


Here are the spun singles. I felt that the fiber was a bit clumped together, maybe even a little felted at spots, but with a lot of predrafting, things turned out very well. I did feel that the colors were very vibrant and well saturated - there were no undyed spots or faint spots.



And here it is, all plied up! My urge is to underply, so I plied it MORE than I thought I ought to, and I think it turned out quite well! There are about 280 yards of worsted weight yarn here, and I'm not sure what to do with it. It's not totally even, there are thick and thin spots, so it couldn't be anything that required a precise, crisp look. There's enough for like 4 hats, certainly enough for a scarf of some sort. I just don't know yet!


I have serious startitis lately. The problem is this: every project I start, I manage to totally screw up somehow, and have to do some major ripping/ restarting. I don't know what the deal is! The Rusted Root WAS finished, but I decided it was too short and have unraveled the bottom ribbing, but don't feel like finishing it. Plus, I have now decided that I don't like the ribbing I did around the neck and sleeves, either. I started the February Lady Sweater, knit to below the armpits, and then decided I really needed to do the next size up. Then, I completed the main part and got maybe 7 inches into one sleeve, then suddenly realized I had knit the sleeve onto the wrong side of the sweater. Rrrrrrrrrrip. Then, I started a toe up sock and I think that I have made the foot part too long.

So, what next? Will I run away from all of these projects, or will I belly up to the bar and actually finish something? All of these projects look like they are going to be really great - both sweaters look like they fit very nicely, and will therefore be faves to wear. but, um, not in their unfinished forms! Aggggh! I even made two hats out of handspun yarn, and had to restart one of them, too! (the crocheted one had to be redone... luckily, it was a VERY quick knit). I'm wondering if I need to do some sort of two hour SUPER EASY project that will be like a reparative experience for me. Or is that just the startitis talking!

Tour de.... Fleece?

Today was the first day of the Tour de France, as well as the Tour de Fleece! Internet savvy knitters and spinners are always dreaming up timely knitting/ spinning challenges, and the latest is the Tour de Fleece.

The idea is to spin along with the cyclists, but on our spinning wheels instead of on bicycles. So, I spread out my stash and surveyed the scenery, to decide which fiber to start with:


Yeah... there are a lot of options there! I decided upon a gorgeous 5 ounce braid of merino from Wooly Treasures on Etsy.

Now, it appears as though most participants are just going to spin like crazy, but my goal is going to be a little different - my goal is to both spin AND knit this up into something, since I've already spun a bunch of yarn and haven't managed to actually KNIT any of it! I think that this is because I'm sort of afraid that the yarn will be inferior and will fall apart as soon as I start to knit it or something! I hope I'm wrong! :)

I started spinning this morning along with the riders. At first, I was all confused and upset, because I could swear that today was Day 1, but it was called "Stage 1" instead of the "Prologue". Where was the prologue? Where did it go? When was it? Fortunately, I figured out that I did not miss out on anything, there was no Prologue this year.

I didn't take pictures of my spinning from today, but will update as I go along.

Jeans!

I am always in search of the perfect pair of jeans. My long legs immediately render most pants of any type completely unwearable. I have no sympathy whatsoever for short people who whine about having to hem pants - at least you have that option! There is no option to lengthen jeans, my short legged friends. Even a lot of 'long' pants only have a 34 inch inseam, which is juuuuust a bit too short for me. Bummer, right?

My second problem is that even when I DO find a pair of jeans that are long enough, chances are they have a too-short inseam or are too boxy in fit, so that the hips are tight, but the waist area is several inches too big. Once again, it is not possible to lengthen an inseam, people!

Now that I am done whining, I will note that a LOT of people have a hard time finding that perfect pair of jeans. Enter the solution: you can MAKE YOUR OWN JEANS! At this website, you select a type of denim, you enter certain measurements, pick a cut (boot cut, baggy, skinny, etc) choose any add ons you like (various pocket designs), and add in any other specifics... and presto! Perfect jeans! Including shipping (from India), most jeans are about $65, which is certainly cheaper than a lot of jeans out there. I am absolutely going to try this. If it works out, I truly may never try on a pair of jeans in a store again. They even have a maternity option, and they even offer a Brazilian cut jean. I have always wanted Brazilian jeans, because they accentuate the posterior, while offering enough seat coverage to avoid 'plumber's butt'. However, they are not made in sizes appropriate for a woman with Amazonian proportions! :)

Now, who says that late night web surfing doesn't pay off! My only problem now is to decide which jeans I want. They have a page of customer appreciation shots, and it certainly does look as though the 'customer is king'... there is one dude who appears to enjoy a TWO INCH FRONT INSEAM (that particular photo is not for the faint of heart), and presto... he gets what he wants! They will make ANY waist size, although the cost goes by waist circumference... there is even an option for a waist size above 68.1 inches.

I am beside myself with delight. I really hope this works out!

Belated 'Vacation' Pics

Every spring, I trek up to two great bead stores up in Maine. I had been trying to decide whether to make more than a 1 day affair of it, and the a/c breaking down in my building over a scorchingly hot weekend sealed the deal for me.

I started the weekend by driving up to Freeport to shop at The Beadin Path, and to do a bit of window shopping in town. I found these nice flowers and stopped to take pictures:


I then drove down to Portland and checked into my teensy hotel room.... the bathroom was down the hall and was hysterically small. Here is the glorious chandelier in my room:


And here is the room itself... I was standing in the 'closet', if you could even call it that. The room smelled like cheap carpet cleaner, but the a/c was delightfully arctic.


I stopped in at a yarn store on my way downtown, and they had a huge number of buttons.



I then strolled around downtown, and made sure to check out the waterfront.


What a very good name for a boat.


If you like a good lobster roll, get one here:


Who is that bewitching woman?


No, it is I who will be sightseeing YOU! (I got that little girl to wave at me, haha)


I don't have pictures of the bead spoils, but I assure you I stocked up on a good number of seed beads.

Knitting Trauma

Lately, I have been running into knitting problems. I was working on a hemp tank top, and realized that I didn't like the look of the gauge I was knitting it at... and ripped the whole thing out - days of work, on size 1 needles. I have knit back up 4 inches, but now am trying to decide if I REALLY want to do THAT pattern, or maybe I might want to do a different tank top pattern.

The tank top is on a time out for the moment.

Next, I found a very dismaying error in my Rusted Root the other night, when I was about 3/4 of the way done with it. Somehow, I added a stitch, and the error lies right in between my boobs. It is exceedingly noticeable., especially when the sweater is on. The problem spot is just to the left of the lace panel, about 4-5 full lace repeats down from the top:


In for a closer inspection:


A macro shot to further highlight the disturbing truth:


Right after I took these pictures, I ripped out about 10 inches of knitting. The error is even above the sleeve area. U.G.H.

Do you know how to pick beets?

Cuz I do! At least, as of today, I do!

I went to visit my friend Heather today, who lives in Newburyport. We started the day by going to a local farm, and we picked strawberries (a whoooole lot of them), lettuce, rhubarb, and beets. We asked another woman in the beet row, and she explained what to do... and then we were off and running!

We made a nice salad for lunch - lettuce, strawberries, a little red onion, some mozzarella and pine nuts, with a little balsamic vinegar sprinkled on top. Yum!

After that, we walked into town and strolled around for a long time, poking into stores, sitting for an inappropriately long time in furniture stores, and generally having a groovy old time.

I'm kinda pooped after being out in the sun all day - I'm going to sleep well tonight, and I'm okay with that!

Hmm.

I had my suspicions a couple of weeks ago, but a definite pattern has now emerged: It appears as though I have been unwittingly cultivating mosquitos in my car. Every time I get in, there are a couple of them lazily bluzzing around, waiting for an exposed part of me to munch on.

To their credit, they have chosen a great place to locate their operation. It's guaranteed that I'll show up almost every day, and when I'm in there, my ability to swat and smash is highly limited: I'm strapped in and immoble, and I'm concentrating on the road.

Little jerks.

*scratch scratch*

Yikes!

Near where I work, there is a low bridge that trains go over. It's under 12 feet tall, which means that a lot of 18 wheelers cannot get under it. Every once in a while, a truck gets stuck underneath. Yesterday was one of those days. As I was leaving work, there was a truck that had REALLY mangled the front/ top of the storage part of the truck. Dunno what the technical term for that is, really... anyway, there were little bits of truck in the road, even, perhaps fiberglass pieces? Cars were driving around the truck, and I did so, as well. However, traffic stopped, and I was stuck RIGHT underneath the lip of the bridge, right next to the crushy part of the truck. Suddenly, the guy hopped back into the truck and started backing up! Chunks of broken truck were raining down on my car, and I was completely helpless to do anything about it!

Finally, traffic moved and I got the heck out of there. I'm just glad a chunk didn't hit the windshield.

May I also mention the weather yesterday? How is 99 degrees in June an acceptable temperature for New England? Plus, two out of two banks agreed that it was 103. Completely gross. That's the kind of weather that a car air conditioner just can't get ahead of, you know? Bleh.

Tappa, tappa, tappa!


Last night, I had my first ever tap dancing lesson! It was really fun! I signed up for private lessons, so I'd learn nice and quick. I learned a few of the basic steps, like the shim sham and the Cincinnati - totally cool! It is a little awkward for now, but the teacher kept saying, 'this is the easiest class I have ever done!" So, I guess I'm catching the drift of it. ;-)