Fiber projects, Mail Call, SP10-Don't you wish you were the lucky recipient?!

OOOoo look at that freshly spun yarn...OOOOoo. This is hadn dyed alpaca blended with hand dyed silk. I am mixing a bunch of this up for my SP10 Spoilee (who hopefully does not read my blog...but she won't know till she gets her first sets of goodies). This is SSSOoooooooo SOOOOOFFFFT! I plan on filling an oversized coffee cup (because she says she is always on the lookout for them...and we have a store that sells a lot of them for cheap) with the carded fiber roving. Floofy drink UP! *ding-ding* HA! Literally...floofy...

I got a mail call today! I got a box from the whenever group for the bottle swap. Three skiens of perfectly colored Lullaby yarn, a sock pattern, and some yummy rose scented soap! I think these would look nice as a beaded snood!!

This is one of many things I am sending to my SP10 Spoilee. She wants to learn how to spin...well here comes the means, the tools, and instructions to do so along with a 1/2 pound of extra fiber of the same color. WEeeeeeee! Coffee?? I love this organic free trade coffee!! Coffee!!!! I've got a crazy coffeee high......EEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Here is the BF working hard at trying to add some sparkle to a piece of his bracelet where the gold leafing has rubbed off. He hates his picture being taken. Tough-I say! I am a shutter bug! *click-click-click* Gotcha!

Until next time...

I went bikin...and found it needs to be tweeked...

I went biking today...but I quickly found out that the chain wants to slip when I have it in first gear and I try to get up and go from stopping. Damned nearly ate the handlebars a couple times because of it!!

I went down for my coffee...and it was FREEZING! I cannot imagine trying to bike in the middle of winter with below zero temps. OWE! My ears are numb....but I did manage to rummage up a scarf. It's almost too small and it smelled bad so I spritzed it with some Frebreeze before heading out. I wrapped that around my face and neck, and bundled my hands up in mittens. I wore my boots with some wool socks and wore TWO t-shirts under my winter coat. WOW...I was just warm enough.

After that I walked over to the grocery store (in the same lot) and bought a poppy seed and almond muffin because they did not have my favorite of banana nut....NEVER AGAIN!! OOOooh that muffin did not agree with me and was soon making an unsightly appearance out the back side as I was trying to enjoy myself shopping at Hobby Lobby!! Not fun having to fast walk across the entire damned store to make it to the bathroom before you feel like you are gonna implode. Humph!! I'll get something else next time if my banana nut is all sold out.

You know, the mail went today and I thought it would not because of Good Friday...so I kept the mail in!!! *face-palm!!*

Then I biked down to Hobby Lobby after trying to sit and mind my business and eat the muffin. Can't a chubby gal sit on a public bench and eat without people gawking?! WTF is there to see!? I'M EATING-OUT IN PUBLIC-WITH NO SHAME-AND ENJOYING IT....GET OVER IT!! *big eye roll* Retards.

Anyways....I had to stop a couple of times because the hills around here are KILLER! Owe...my thighs...

I locked the bike up along with taking the front tire off because my coil wouldn't stretch as far as I needed it too and I had a hard time getting that damned sucker back on when I was ready to leave! I got it down though...just took some practice. It's an easy release thing.

I shopped in HL for about 2 hours...taking my time and looking at everything. I rarely have the pleasure to take my own damned time to shop. I bought enough wooden letters to spell out my name on the headpiece I will eventually make for my belt rack display. I also found a discontinued Lilac patterned, post-bound, photo album on the clearance shelf...with no price. That's always fun to deal with at the checkout. I got it for $8. Sweetness! I love Lilacs! They remind me of home and summer days of a house filled with the sweet scent of the giant lilac bush that grew right outside one of the living room windows. AHHHhhh....I miss those days. It has pages for slipping photos in but I can easily convert it into a scrapbook.

I also bought some cotton to knit a snood out of for my Pamperee in SP10. I need one too to keep my hair out of my face when I am biking.

I also bought some D rings and some overall snaps for the strap I will eventually make for the bike bag I just made. I need some buttons but they really didn't have a stupendous selection so I waited on those. They didn't have much for pre-cut wall plaques either which was a disappointment.

Then the frames were on half-off so I bought two document frames to frame my certificates in from karate. Lots of sales on things I need!

Next I headed down to Red Robin for some fish and chips...MMMMmmm good.

The last stop I made was at Menard's to buy 6 more oak slats for the belt display rack, some super fine sandpaper, and a straight heavy duty bike cable. Then I ended up walking more than I biked home because of the hills and then because there is no bike lane along Monona Dr. I don't feel safe enough to bike on the road and count on the people driving over the speed limit, yackin on the cell phone, to see and avoid me.

Whew! I feel like I do when I do a lot of walking only it was biking....a lot of it! WHEW! Tomorrow I will take my bike to the shop and have them take a look at the chain. I've got free adjustments for a year from the shop I bought it from. I got several "Nice Bike" comments from strangers as I was lockin it up or unlocking to leave. And the bank teller even asked about it. Wanted to know where to get one like it and what brand it was. I let her know it was a comfort bike so she would know what to ask for when she went shoppin for one. She complained they cost a lot, I agreed, but also said I feel it is worth it. You get what you pay for...something I have learned the hard way over and over again when I buy something cheaper than X brand and have it brake a short time later. HUMPH! I hear the Scwinn bike products are crap anymore because they have sacraficed quality for QUANTITY and cheaper material for cheaper products. Apparently it shows.

OOOOoo and I also got some fair trade coffee from the grocery store which I am so enthused about! Finally! A local source for organic fair trade coffee! I'm drinking some of that right now...MMMMmmmm....should be drinkin water. Oh well!

Until next time...

I wanna bike!!

I am gonna ride the bike today....COLD OR NO COLD!! It's below freezing now. and windy, but it is supposed to get above...if only a smidgen above. Grrrrrrrr...what is up with this cold! I wanna bike! I want to get coffee, I want to hit Menards, Shopko, and Hobby Lobby and then ride back for lunch at Red Robin. That should be around 8 miles altogether. I dunno if I own a scarf...I've never needed one. *rummage-rummage-rummage* HUmmm...

Until next time...

Felting success!!!

The before and after pictures. I think the bag needs to go through one more cycle and it will shrink just a bit more. It is not shrinking lengthwise as much as width wise...something I forgot to take consideration of before the sample was toast...literally. Using size 13 needles I knitted a base of 24 stitches and 24 rows wide, then picked up stitches along the other three edges and knitted 36 rows deep. I LOVE the color graduation which I accomplished by blending the different dyed lots of Lincoln wool. I did the icord bind off which was a mind boggling to learn but once I got it down it went really quickly. Then I knitted the flap. I originally calculated 18 rows on 24 stitches...but 18 seemed a bit short to me so I went till I ran out of that batch of spun yarn which turned into 25 rows. Then I picked up stitches along that edge and icord BO.


Makes a nice hippie hat!!

The results are a bag that is 8 inches wide (2 inches smaller than I was shooting for) 6 inches wide (which was what I wanted) and about 12 inches deep. The flap did not felt completely for some odd reason after two complete wash cycles (I have a pay-per-use washer in the apartment building I live in). I think I will try to felt that part by hand or add some fiber to it and needle felt it in. Right now it is drying with a wrapped photo box inside of it to help keep the shape. Now I think I will have to add a draw string through the sides at the top of the opening because it wants to bulge outward when there is nothing in it and the flap is closed. I am very proud of this! Then I plan on adding button close straps to the back of the bag so that it can be buttoned on and off the handle bars. Then I need to knit a strap, get some brass D rings, and a pair of clips for the strap so I can take remove it when I want too. I still need to knit the two pockets, but I need to clean and dye up some more wool. I used every last bit that I dyed before. What a great use for such a course wool!

The rest of the bag is pretty well felted and I LOVE the way the Lincoln turned into a bunch of loopy-loops all over the bag!!

Until next time...

SNOOD! SNOOD! Where art thou!!!

God forsaken asjkgaisuofgdsafhbdsnagsfyudfhbjew lots more bad stuff and more beaching....lots of beaching.

I cannot, for the life of me...find a snood pattern other than this fish net one that just looks....fishy. Bernat has a page called Snood pattern, BUT IT'S A COWEL NOT A SNOOD!!! It's a flippin winter head warmer NOT A HAIR NET!!

*faint*

Why is it so hard to find a decent snood pattern to knit??

Until next time...

How hard can it be? VERY!!!

How hard is it to find the webpage of the band that my Brother is apart of? Well...very hard. I tried to search for him and I get a million returns for the superman Reeves, Keanu Reeves...and every other Reeves EXCEPT my Brother Reeves. Cripes!!

I thought I had saved the bookmark on yahoo....uhhhh....nope. Crap.

Until next time...

Karate Certificates!!

They finally gave me my certificates for my white and gold belt after I asked about them. I am one proud womyn! I blocked out all but my initials for my own protection.

Now I need to get MORE frames!! Time to hit Gordmans this weekend!!

Until next time...

Cold, Sunny, Dyeing Day

It's a great day to Dye. :P

I dyed both of these inthe same pot at the same time....how odd the color differences!! Silk likes to SUCK up the fushia dye. The alpaca (in the strainer) has red-violet tips and blue everything else. I was shooting for voilet-red (because I seem to be attracted to that color for some odd reason recently) but I got more of a wine color which is just as nice. I used brilliant blue, fucshia, and fire engine red in equal anounts until the paper towel I was using to test the color had about the tone I wanted. I am gettin low on blue dye so I am gonna have to hit the local art supply for some more of that and some salmon and purple.

I am trying another batch this time using lilac purple, fire engine red, blue, and fuchsia. Should be interesting as yet again the silk seems to want to suck up all the red and fuchsia.

Until next time...

Kitchen Misshaps....OH BOY....

Remember that pretty turquoise felted square??

Look at it now....

What happened?

I put it in the oven, after warming it up and turning it off, to "cure" so that the oils would seep into the wool.

Well the BF came home and decided to bake some pizza...turned on the oven to preheat...failed to check to make sure the oven was indeed void of any craft objects....10 minutes later....

Toast. Wool Toast.

As soon as I smelled it I yelled OH SHIT-there's something in the oven!!

Open the oven door and woof! Cloud of stinky smoke billowed out....One toasted wool square....commin right up! If it had been in the oven a minute longer I think it would have caught fire.




Here is me...great...I gotta knit another sample and felt it again....

Here is the BF...uhhh...whoops....did I do that?! Sure does stink....

The house smells like burnt plastic ware....yuck!! I've reminded him yet again to always check the oven to make sure there are no forgotten craft projects in the oven. No, this is not the first time this has happened.

LMAO! I laugh now but I was upset at first. It's okay now. I can knit another one and felt it-not the end of the world. I think of it as getting lots of felting experience. All in the day of a forgetful crafter.

Until next time...

Waterproofing....test #1

Humm so I have been trying to look into how to waterproof wool garmets but everytime I tried to search for "waterproofing wool" I came up with a whole lotta links about baby diaper covers...WHAAaaaaaaaaaaa?!

Then I stumbled upon Lenolin that I could buy. But then I started thinking...wouldn't any 'ol natural oil work? SO I am testing mineral oil and coconut oil on my felted swatch to see what happens. First I warmed the peice in the oven and spread the oils over one half of one side of the peice, then placed it back into the oven to facilitate obsorbtion.

I'll let you know how it turns out!

The keyboard took a crap the other day so now I am having to get used to this new one which is quite a bit louder and shaped a little differnently so I keep hitting the wrong keys. ARGH!

And I was trying to search (again) through google for the bird sanctuary that is up north wisconsin. I cannot for the life of me remember the name of the place but Google is not being of much help today. GRrrrrrr...I get EVERYTHING but what I am lookin for! WTF!!! It's one of those kind of days I guess.

Until next time...

IN the beginning....there were laxatives....oh crap...

In the beginning...

The handle bar bag begins!! I had to stop knitting because the rest of the yarn is drying. Although the next bit of spun yarn is quite a bit thicker than the first one so I will not be doubling it as I have done with the yarn used to knit this first bit. So far so good!

....there were laxatives...

The BF read something off the back of my chocolates I got today...
"Excessive consumption may have a laxative effect"....

...Oh crap...

I ate most of those chocolates today (so good!!)...so if I dissapear for a day or two...You. Will. Know. Why.

LMAO!!!

Until next time...

MATH!!!! Run for the hills!!! Handle bar bag calculations...OYE!

I am sittin here tryin to figure out the math to calculate the rows and stitches need to make a felted handle bar bag. My sample came out about 2 inches smaller than before it was felted. I want a bag that is 10x10 and 6 inches wide-perfect size for the handlebars I think. Upon knitting another sample I've got my gauge at 2 SPI and 3 RPI. Now I need to add 2 inches to all my measurements for shrinkage so that gives me 12x12x8.

To get 12 inches I need to cast on 24 stitches, and to get 8 inches wide I need 24 rows...how odd is that that both my SPI and my RPI are the same?! How can that be!! *brain is farting....*

TOOT-TOOT!

When I get the width I need for the bottom, then I will pick up the stitches along the other three sides (following directions for this bag found at knitty.com)

Then I will need to figure when I get to the 12 inch (36 rows) mark that I need to bind off three sides of the bag and continue to knit the flap in a reverse stockinette (so the loops are on the outside and not the purl bumps). I will need a flap long enough to cover the top and long enough to fold down half the front and button close (button for now). So that would be a flap of 8 + 5 =13 inches long = 39 rows. Now do I want to try the iCord bind off, because it seems a little confusing at this point!!

Then I want a front pocket to hold my MP3 Player that will be sewn on after it has been felted. My MP3 player is a little less than 2 inches wide and 4 inches deep/long...tack on the 2 for shrinkage...4 inches wide and 6 inches deep/long = CO 8 ST, knit 18 rows stockinette.

Am I making sense thus far?

Then I want another pocket to hold...whatever smallish things that I may have like my ID on the inside. That will be 3/4 the width and half the depth....so 8 x 5 plus 2 for shrinkage = 10 x7 = Co 20 st, knit 21 rows stockinette.

Does all that make sense?

When I get it felted and dried I will be cutting openings for buttons, several of them to adjust the flap when I need too. Then I plan on buying several over sized buttons from the LYS.

You should see the yarn I am making. It is graduated from turquoise to blue (blended at points to get the graduation in color), then from blue to purple, and finally purple back to turquoise with yellow in between.

Sweatness!!

Until next time...

Belt Display Rack-Easy...Patience? HARD!!!

I am so excited about this latest project, a display rack for my karate belts. Why buy one premade, when I can make one for half or less of the price? I see them being sold on Ebay for $20 plus $10 shipping...but for that much money, I can buy all the supplies I need and then some to make my own. Granted it LOOKS handmade, but that is a BONUS plus I can say "I made it" to those who inquire. Right now there are only slats for four belts, but come payday I will get enough oak boards to make a 10 level rack.

I used 1/4 wood pegs to stick the boards to the back dowels which are square hardwood dowels. I love Menards! I then drilled a 1/4 hole through all the slats at once so that they would all have the same off center holes. LOL Then I took each slat, number then and placed them on the dowels and marked where to drill the connecting 1/4 holes. A bunch of pounding later, they are attached without the use of unsightly screws and nails. I had to saw off the ends of the pegs and sand them flush to the boards before applying stain (classic cherry) and right now a layer of poly is drying on them. This is so simple to make!! All I will need to display the belts is some double sided velcroe strips (the kind they sell to keep cables organized).

It needs a headboard. I looked at one of the Goodwills to see if they had something about 2 feet long that I could paint over but they did not. I am not sure what kind of headboard I will add, but I will want to engrave it. I think I can do that with the router attachment for the dremal tool. I'd like to engrave my name in Chinese characters and then engrave my name in english below it. That sounds too fancy for my skill level though. Wood engraving would cost too much I think so maybe I will just get some asian rub-on accents if I can find any and then just add my name in wood letters so it pops out. Hummm...I still have some money left on my Bday Hobby Lobby gift card....time to hit the place again!! One of the wood hobby shops should have already shaped headboards with routed edges. I'll have to browse online first to see what is available.

Until next time...

Doctor's Visit: GOOD NEWS!!!-farm visit, karate, Goodwill finds

Good news! My high blood pressure is under control-and without the use of drugs! YIPPIE!! My highest they have recorded had been 150 over 190...really high. This time I was 138 (I think...can't remember exactly) over 150 and I lost 2 more pounds!! KICK ASS...literally! I had the IUD removed as well while I was there but I am still spotting...damned it. I hope that this acne I have developed on my back will go away now and so will the severe cramps and spotting I get after intercourse. Doesn't make it all that fun when you have pain after such a wonderful thing...Humph!

According to the doc...I am perfectly healthy! She was concerned about the joint pain I am experiencing and wants me to see a regular doc (this was a gynecologist visit) about it. I guess. It is something I can just deal with. What are they gonna tell me? Loose wieght. Then I say, I'm workin on it. All that for how much money??? *face-palm* I can get federal assistance for the gynecologist because the state is concerned about the health of woman in that area...but when it comes to getting help for regular health care...forget it! What a screwed up place we live in.

I visited Windridge farm yesterday to see Lotti, the sheep I adopted. Her fleece has a fine and tight crimp to it. I cannot wait till I get it! I didn't get any pictures of her because all the sheep were weary of me. Stranger! Stranger! They all baaaed. She had goats too that were super friendly and loved to be petted like they were dogs or something! CUTENESS! One had a kid that was so bouncy...and what was his name? Grasshopper. LMAO! Because he is always hopping about full of energy!! Momma was always calling him and he would never come or return the calls. Little brat! LOL The sheep loved us like we were best friends after the lady got a bucket of grain out. *face-palm* I got to get friendly with a week old lamb...HOW CUTE!

Since I had to pick the BF from work at 3 yesterday I got back into town around 1:30 so I went to Archivers on the far west side in Middleton. I found a bunch of nice papers and stickers on half off-backgrounds for future karate pages I told myself. Then I went for some lunch at Macaroni Grill and got some ooOOOooo so delicious Chicken Cesar Calazone made with pizza crust...MMMMm OMG!!! It was soooooooooooo good!! It was $7 but they gave me a frickin plate full of it so I had plenty to share with the BF and for dinner later on. After getting up at 4AM yesterday morning, when I finally got home, I crashed. I took a nap and I slept sooooooo hard! Then I had to get up to get to Karate class...oye...not fun. I did get there and I was full of energy after warmed up. We did some different things, and it was really fun! We also learned the front round kick of which I need to practice on today.

This morning I went to the Goodwill on the east side and found more goodies! I found what looked like to be a brand spankin new dehydrater by Magic Cheif for 5.99, and a small coffee press for 3.99, and a latex kinda thang to bake muffins in for 1.49. I gotta stop going there! I always spend money!!

I am testing the dehydrater out today by drying out some organic apples I bought over a week ago now. They are starting to get soft so I want to dry them before they spoil. I love apple chips! I really love the store bought apple chips but they are really fatty. I want some banana's next so I can made banana chips!!

Until next time...

SWAG!!! Booty!! Goodies!

I got a package of swag today in the mail!!! A frequent reader of my blog offered me her cardweaving supplies that she no longer needed and of course I am always up for crafting freebies! I got those two items and a bunch of other nice surprises!! CHOCOLATES.....MMMMmm, Dove Sugar Free Rasperry cream choclates...MMMMmmmm. I'da never thought that sugar free could taste so fine!! OOOOo....orgasim in my mouth!!
She also sent some asian themed fabric that I could line my handle bar bag with when it is finished as a reminder to keep at it and get heathly! WONDERFUL!
Lets not forget that cute crocheted sunny-sunflowery scrubby!! It will be put to good use!
Maven I love it all so much! Warm fuzzies go out to you!


I found this animated gif from the Matrix. He is doing Ju-jit-ju...yeah I can spell that...but anyway...way cool!

Until next time...

Harry Potter and the Dark Lord Waldemart

Watch the amazing adventure of Harry Potter defeating the evil Lord of WALMART!!! LMAO!! KICK ASS!!