Goals Update...

Well, I'm seriously failing at getting everything done I had planned on. 

Goals:

-Finish unpacking

-Fill etsy shop and get it really up and running

-Fill a few more boxes to donate/get rid of

-Take donations to donation centers/thrift stores

-Purge all of my papers

-Learn 3 new stitch patterns (knit or crochet)

-Finish making all my old t-shirts into t-shirt yarn and find a pattern for a rag rug that fits the space I want it for.

-Have that dreaded conversation about the future  (we still don't know what's going on for next year, much less the next 5 years)...

-Work to get myself out of this depression

-Participate in yarn along every week that we are home (and I have a knit/crocheted item to show.)

-Do some bread baking

To Do's by Month:

September (Dear Sept, How are you over already and how do I not have the most important things done??!)

-Decorate for Fall

-Make and send birthday gifts to my parents

-Make orthopedist appointment for Dec (now we may not be in PA for Dec, so I need to call and talk to them)

-Find a pediatric dentist and doctor and make dentist appointment for Oct and 3 year appointment for Nov

October

-Pumpkin picking!/Hayride

-Decorate a pumpkin (a first for Alex!)

-Halloween decorations

-Trick-or-Treating or small Halloween celebration (not sure what our new complex's/community's rules are for trick-or-treating

-Add making a birthday and Christmas gift for my husband

-Add October Event for my mom's group

-Add finding a doctor for myself and getting in for an appointment

November

-Birthday/Thanksgiving celebration

-Birthday trip (train ride and remaining day of hotel paid for and scheduled)

-Decorate for Christmas

-Finish making Christmas gifts

-Send birthday gift and card to FIL

-Add wrap gifts for the boys

-Add make a gift for Alex for Christmas

December

-Wrap Christmas gifts

-PA trip/Orthopedist appointment for Alex

-Make and take birthday gift to MIL
A bunch of my goals are somewhat in progress.... I've done a bit more unpacking, filled multiple boxes for donation (but I'm not done yet and the thrift store that would take our donations isn't close by), done plenty of knitting and crocheting, but only one yarn along, which I really miss doing.  Alex and I did make pita bread one day, but I want to make sourdough before the end of the year. I've definitely learned some new stitch patterns (cabling and chain/honeycomb stitch and I learned to crochet a round.)  I was sick for several weeks and need to get myself in to see a doctor also... I have trust issues with doctors and am having trouble choosing one for Alex.  I'm always seeing a ton of feedback for certain doctors in the area.. but unfortunately there's negatives for each one.  I think there's still plenty of time to get him in for all of his appointments... I just need to suck it up and choose one, knowing I can always change doctors again if we need to.

I also had to add a few things to my list of goals and I'm sure I'm forgetting things.  This does not bode well for my ability to get everything done. 

It has been awhile Yarn Along.

No, I haven't stopped knitting, are you crazy?!  I've just been... busy?  Well... that sort of covers it I guess..  My husband found an online work from home job for a few hours a week that I hope he is able to hang on to for a long time... He has heard that they just drop their sub contractors at the drop of a hat with no warning and for no reason...  He also has an early morning position (allowing him to go right to his classes afterwards) starting soon at a retail store... we had been hoping for somewhere with health insurance so we didn't have to continue paying out of pocket, but so far no luck.  Anyway, my husband's working on the computer when tasks become available (normally late at night or early in the morning) doesn't really allow me to do any blogging. ......and when I do I'm normally exhausted and not sure how much sense I'm actually making!

My reading time has been spent on homeschooling sites, reading through curriculum, saving interesting pages and coming up with new activities for my little boy.  I've started to feel so less passionate about my desire to homeschool, which scares me because it is something that I have always wanted to do.  I think all the negativity I get from family remembers and friends is getting to me.  There is a big homeschooling group here that I am working to become a part of for the fall, so I don't worry so much about socialization once we get involved with that group.  When it comes to the educational part of homeschooling.... how many 2 year olds do you know who know their alphabet, numbers and actually have any level of word recognition? I only know one, mine! (I'm sure there's many others, I just don't know any.)  I feel very passionately about teaching him and he loves to work with me, so while he's enjoying learning, making good progress and getting enough socialization, I don't see the problem.... it just gets tiring answering all the "why" questions and defending myself.  Hopefully once we're an active part of the homeschooling group around like minded families, I'll start feeling really excited about it again. 

On the knitting (and crocheting) front..  I've been knitting and crocheting up a storm.  Sorry if any of these are repeats... I can't recall exactly which pieces I've shown before, but I think most, if not all, are new.

tons of headbands in the light colored basket waiting for ribbon to secure the ends, cabled headbands, face scrubbies, tiny owls for barrettes...

Close up of some of  the many cabled headbands I've been making

More face scrubbies

I must have over 100 ends to weave in, which I'm not exactly excited about!  I also followed and completed (not shown) my first intermediate pattern for my dad's birthday.  It was a celtic cabled cloth that was meant to be a dish cloth but came out super thick so I told him to use it as a heat pad to cover up less pretty ones. Most of my pictures look the same as my old yarn along pictures, because I was using up scraps from other projects and trying to work through all my yarn (with both of us having been out of work for quite a while there's not really any leftover money for yarn)...... Then I went out and bought 6 or so skeins of cheap cotton one Sat afternoon because they were on sale for a little over a dollar a skein.... the next day I decided to just go walk around A.C.Moore because they have a nice train table for customer's children to play on (which my son ADORES) and I thought it would be a nice activity for my parents who were visiting and son.  I also knew that there was a drawing in each store for winning yarn... figuring I had no chance I was just browsing with my mom (and helping everyone in the yarn aisle who was trying to find something, I really should get a job there) while my dad played with my son at the train table... suddenly, my name was called over the loudspeaker.  Guess who won $100 worth of yarn?? ME!  (My mom is always winning things, I contribute some of my luck to her being there, I never win anything!) I had to buy it that day from what they had and of course I hadn't brought along my cell phone to call my husband and ask him to look up patterns and read them to me, nor did I bring any patterns with me!  So, I bought pretty yarn that was normally out of my price range.  I'll have to post a picture of it.. it's so pretty and makes me so happy!  Of course they were out of a lot since all the ladies in the area who love yarn were there hoping to win (yes, I did get some dirty looks) were there loading up their carts with yarn.  Anyway, I'm trying to use up the rest of my old yarn first and drooling over patterns trying to pick the perfect pattern that my new yarn will match up with. Part of my purchase from the winning was yarn for a scarf for my mom's Christmas gift, which will have to come before anything for us. 

Linking up to Small Thing's Yarn Along.

Goals...

My friend Amy over at Sew Adorable recently celebrated her birthday and made a list of goals that she hopes to reach before her next birthday (one for each year of her life so far.)  Since my birthday isn't even 5 months away... and because I'm headed into old age (just kidding) I wont be making a goal for each year I've lived, but I've been inspired to make a list of goals I hope to reach (as well as a bit of a to-do list) before the end of the year (my birthday is only days after that.) 

Goals:

-Finish unpacking

-Fill etsy shop and get it really up and running

-Fill a few more boxes to donate/get rid of (I did a huge chunk of this after getting interrupted while writing this post.  My closet is starting to look so much better!  Unfortunately it was several pairs of self destructed shoes that had to go into the trash and only a few good pairs for the donation pile and some purses.)

-Take donations to donation centers/thrift stores

-Purge all of my papers

-Learn 3 new stitch patterns (knit or crochet)

-Finish making all my old t-shirts into t-shirt yarn and find a pattern for a rag rug that fits the space I want it for.

-Have that dreaded conversation about the future (kids, me going back to work/or not, moving, money, etc.) with the hubby... After we get admission responses.... wait.. that one will probably not happen until next May (at which point our savings may be gone already...) giving us yet again only a few weeks to pack up and move.  Maybe I should add packing up in preparation to my list...

-Work to get myself out of this depression

-Participate in yarn along every week that we are home (and I have a knit/crocheted item to show.)

-Do some bread baking

*There isn't anything on this portion of the list that costs anything right?  Please tell me there's not*

To Do's by Month:

September

-Decorate for Fall

-Make and send birthday gifts to my parents

-Make orthopedist appointment for Dec

-Find a pediatric dentist and doctor and make dentist appointment for Oct and 3 year appointment for Nov

October

-Pumpkin picking!/Hayride

-Decorate a pumpkin (a first for Alex!)

-Halloween decorations

-Trick-or-Treating or small Halloween celebration (not sure what our new complex's/community's rules are for trick-or-treating

November

-Birthday/Thanksgiving celebration

-Birthday trip

-Decorate for Christmas

-Finish making Christmas gifts

-Send birthday gift and card to FIL

December

-Wrap Christmas gifts

-PA trip/Orthopedist appointment for Alex

-Make and take birthday gift to MIL

All in all it doesn't seem like that long or difficult of a list...the depression is kicking my butt though.  It's all I can do just to drag myself through my daily housework and taking care of my son most days. 

Yarn Along

Joining Small Thing's Yarn Along again this week!

I forced myself to attempt to be social with the moms in my mom's group outside of playdates this past week.  That's really not a normal thing for me... I HATE leaving my little guy at home.. even when I know he's just having fun playing with daddy and barely missing me!  Anyway, I chose to go to a crafting and coupon swap.  I got a LOT of work done on one of my projects... mostly because I was so anxious I barely spoke and just concentrated on what I was doing and speaking when spoken to.  I finished the body of the large gnome I started last week.  

The giant gnome came out "ok".. I think I like the smaller ones better.  He still needs arms and unfortunately I need longer needles to manage the hat..  A mom at the craft night said she has some circular needles that were willed to her that she was planning on donating since she already has too many.  She said she would bring to the next craft night for me.  I was so surprised by her generosity and am very thankful to her.  I wonder if she knows she's fueling my knitting addiction :-)  It will be so nice to be able to finish projects that I don't have the right size/length needle for!  My mom also mentioned my aunt sent her old straight needles that she used to make socks for her late husband with that she no longer needs...  At this rate I'm going to have more needles than yarn!  

I had another nice surprise when I went to organize my remaining yarn.  I was pleasantly surprised by 2 (and a partial) skeins of cotton yarn. I'm down to about 1 and a half at this point.  I love cotton yarn!!!  I started knitting up some more child wash cloths for my etsy shop (no, I haven't listed anything yet.. hoping to by the end of next week!)  The first two came out quite well.. I don't remember liking this yarn as much when I made things for Knit for Japan but I really like the way it came out this time.  I love aqua and green/blues. 

I don't even know where my book got to... Between the craft night, company, mall walking with a new friend and a couple of "THOSE" days with my little guy and our one dog having (spiteful) "accidents".. I've barely had a chance to keep on top of my laundry (it didn't help with Pip relieving himself on a big stack of clean laundry.)  Yet somehow I find time to knit...... hmm..  My priorities are a little backwards sometimes. 

For those of you following my weight updates...  I'm about equal with last week.. maybe a pound down but since weight fluctuates so much during one day.. I don't really consider that a loss.  I went on my first mall walk with a friend today (and we're planning on going a few times a week) to get in some exercise with free AC and I have started swimming a few days a week.  Diet is still about the same.. though I'm pretty sure I went a little over my goal a few different days.  Why do cashews have to be so addictive (and high in calorie)???!  I also made vegetarian taco salad ... darn cheese and sour cream!  Since we nearly always eat vegan I know it's just a once-in-a-while meal but it's still guilt inducing (and delicious!)

Feeling Stressed Out

I feel like my mind is in a permanent state of panic and anxiety.  Panic over money, panic over the future, panic over the stability of our family, panic over the thoughts of going back to work and saying goodbye to the days of being at home with my son....  Panic panic panic.

Eventually the panic gives way to full on shut down of my brain.  Someone... please lead me to my bed.  I would like to just crawl in and hibernate for a few years until our problems are all solved or we are living on the street.  Ok, so we'd never really wind up on the street... but sometimes the thought of having to ask to live with one of our parents sounds worse than sleeping on a park bench somewhere. 

I've spent a ton of time in the past few weeks reading job requirements (yes, there is actually work here) and coming to the same depressing reality that I'm not qualified for them or they pay so little I wouldn't be able to afford an accredited daycare/preschool.  The night jobs are all heavy lifting jobs meant for big strapping young men and aren't near by (nor are they in a terrific area to work late at night.)  I finally found a work at home job that had great reviews and was very flexible and had a great pay scale.  Great, right?  Why yes, yes it is... for all the people who applied and were hired.  I found a post by a woman in my mom's group with a few links to openings, but by the time I clicked the links the positions were filled! 

People keep suggesting nannying or an in-home daycare...  I tried that once.. and maybe it was the extenuating circumstances in my life... or maybe I just wasn't the best match for the little one I was working with... but it was a disaster.  Lets not even bother to mention I was only charging $7 or $9 an hour... and what was supposed to be in my home turned into me dealing with rush hour traffic first thing in the morning and took close to an hour to get to for only a couple hours of pay.  The few people I know that I would gladly baby-sit for when they need it... I wouldn't want to take money from.  I have a horrible time taking money from anyone even when I earn it. 

I keep coming back to my etsy shop and keep making attempts to make things for it.  I have a stack of beaded bracelets, several pairs of earnings and some baby wash cloths ready to list... I don't know what it is but I'm having trouble getting myself to list them.  I don't know if it's fear of failure... fear that I don't realize how much my products suck (I really do try to have high standards for what I make) and people are going to be disappointed... who the heck knows.

If my shop fails (or in addition to it if we need additional income as I know sales can be slow) I'll probably wind up posting my info on my mom's group for people who need some house work done and who are willing to deal with a crazy and constantly changing schedule (due to hubby's schedule) and occasional flakeyness when we will all undoubtedly get sick. 

Yarn Along

Joining Small Thing's Yarn Along again this week!

Sorry for the sideway photos... I took them right off my camera unable to change them.  I'm knitting gnomes this week.  So much for not knitting so much.. this heat is killing me!  Plus, they knit up so quickly!  I found the pattern from another yarn along-er's blog Plain and Joyful Living, here is a  link for anyone who is interested.  I've never really been able to follow a pattern so the fact that mine came together ok was a real motivator for me to keep playing with the pattern.  I made a plain "doll" form by changing some of the stitches, making some increases and decreases here and there.  In the second picture that's the beginning of a giant gnome.  I'm not positive what I'm going to do with them all yet... Alex has already claimed the lavender and small green one as his but I think the big gnome may be a big sister gift for a friend who is having a baby and maybe two little ones for the younger "big" siblings. 

Still reading the same book as last week.  I actually really enjoy it because it's more like a book of short stories.  It was actually written from Carl Sagan's writings after he passed away so some of the chapters seem like they're just short copies of his musings on different subjects.  My husband thinks I will especially enjoy the chapter written by his wife.

For those of you who read my post last week and are interested in a weight update, I am DOWN from last week.  Wiifit makes it difficult to tell exactly how much since it goes up and down (or maybe that's just me and not understanding completely how it works.) but I think I'm down somewhere between 6-8 lbs.  It's progress :-)

Yarn Along

Joining Small Thing's Yarn Along again this week.

First off I'd like to apologize yet again for my terrible pictures... I really need to convince one of the cameras in our home that it likes to take close up pictures in doors with terrible lighting......

*gasp!*  Could it be?!  A book?!?!  Why yes, yes it is.  I recently picked out the book Billions & Billions  Thoughts on Life and Death at the Brink of the Millennium by Carl Sagan from my husband's "library".  The fact that it was sitting  next to The Faynman Lectures on Physics that my husband reads just for fun made me assume that it would be way over my head.  However, so far it is not... there's even a little cartoon drawing on page 8 to breakdown the idea of  having to count to three hundred seventy eight billion and two.... I've enjoyed what I've read but I'm reading it very slowly... Every time I'm interrupted (which is quite often) I go back and read what I had just finished reading so that I'm not losing any of what is said.

 I've done about as much knitting and crocheting this week as I normally would have done in a "normal" day.  I finished a washcloth that was more than half way done and casted on the one in the first picture.  I'm trying to concentrate my me time to things that are physically more important than my sanity (which is what my crafting maintains.)  Anyone that knows BMIs and can see what those numbers are knows that I'm in trouble.  I live on a relatively strict diet and try to consume no more than 1.500 calories in a given day.  The max number given to me by my diabetic health nurse when I took a course on diabetes nutrition was 1,650 calories per day.  I try (and fail horribly) not to beat myself up over numbers (pounds) when it comes to my weight and I try to focus on my blood sugar and how I physically feel when it comes to my energy.  If I maintain good energy and a healthy blood sugar level I have the ability to loose additional weight.  If I loose 20 lbs and still feel like garbage I'm going to spend a lot of time sitting around doing nothing and slowly the weight will just come back.  It's hard though to not get excited when I see -2.4 pounds... My mind automatically goes to hey if I lose 5 lbs a month I can loose over 50 lbs in a year and be skinny in 2 years!  Then I gain a pound, cry (even though I know weight fluctuates more than that in a day) and spend the day mopeing around.... and no, that's not me being sarcastic that 1 lousy pound destroys my self esteem... I had a melt down over 1 pound just last week.

That all being said I may not be getting very much knitting done for the rest of the summer..  I don't handle heat well due to some health issues I have and with 100+ degree weather I'm staying inside where it's hard to find quiet exercises that wont bother my downstairs neighbors.   I've been pulling some very late nights (or does 5 AM make it a painfully early morning??) when it's semi-cool in here, trying to be active (our home has never been cleaner.)  I am so looking forward to fall when it cools down and I can go walking outside.  We live feet from a lake and two parks and a mile from a very nice library.  It kills me that I can't deal with the heat long enough to take my son all of those places.  I went to take the dogs out around 1PM the other day and felt like my entire body hit a wall half way down the 3 flights of stairs... it was so hot I felt like I was going to pass out.  In normal weather I can take those stairs full speed up and down with out losing my breath..... Oh how I wish we had moved north instead of south!

Yarn Along

Joining in on Small Thing's Yarn Along again this week.

Since last week the never ending blanket has received a few more rows and I'm now ready to move onto the next stripe of color.  I know I would loose count after about 2 minutes if I ever tried, but I'd like to know how many stitches are in each row.  I get so sick of seeing the same color over and over again that I'm always relieved to go to the next stripe color.  I realized on about the last row of this past stripe that I must have some how purchased the wrong yarn and did nearly an entire stripe with the wrong yarn!  Considering that stripe took me about 3 months to get through with all the other things I had going.... it's going to stay incorrect.  This blanket was the first crocheted thing I ever started so I know the beginning is all wonky anyway.  It's a blanket... that has already started showing the signs of being in a house full of dogs and a little boy (how did finger paint make it to the carpet and the blanket????).  My husband warns me that he plans to sit wrapped in it while he studies and eats and he plans to make a horrible mess of it... so I'm not stressing how perfect it is and trying not to think about how much yarn (money) and time have gone into this darn thing.  Some days I'm ready to fasten it off and give it to my husband to start abusing.  He says he'd happily wrap it around himself like a mummy (it's current shape and size would be similar to a giant scarf.)

I knitted up a few trial baby wash cloths in attempts of making a "perfect" one so that I could make a set of matching baby wash cloths and create a little bath set for a gift.  So many "friends" are currently expecting and I would like to have something to give them.  So far out of the 3 I've made they're all different.. I keep buggering up the edges.  I'll accidentally do too many knit row on one edge and too few on the next.  I fear I'll never get out of the basic stockinette or knit projects... no fancy edges... just lucky if I manage to get the edges even.  I'm somewhat jealous of other people's posts about "nap time knitting" or knitting after their child goes to bed.  On the other hand I kind of like that he's always awake and here with me.  If he was sleeping a lot, I'd be alone with my thoughts more. My little guy sleeps very little (no naps and we're lucky for him to sleep 8 hours through the night) so all of my knitting is with him racing around and sometimes physically pulling my work out of my hands so he can climb into my lap (or onto my head.. which ever he's feeling like doing.)  I've been pulling some very late nights to get ontop of my house work and some other crafting projects other than knitting... some days I feel like I can barely see straight... no surprise that my knitting isn't perfect.  The adults in this home are extremely stressed... extremely.  I wont bore you with the details

Spot bot and potty in the background... Thankfully the spot bot is only out because of a dog getting sick.. Alex hasn't had an accident in quite a while!!

No major reading again this week unless you count the hours of children's books reading and pulling out my anatomy books to help my husband with something for one of his classes.  It's rare that I'm able to help him with something.  For the most part, I've been too concentrated on what I've been doing around the apartment to do any real reading.  I did happen to watch a documentary during some of my alone time that I HIGHLY recommend.  It's called My Flesh and Blood (it's on netflix) and it follows single mom who raises 9 (?) special needs children that she has adopted for a year.  It's a tear jerker for sure.  I've always wanted to adopt and have considered adopting a special needs child, so to me it was very interesting. It is extremely sad... but worth watching in my opinion.  I got so into it that I barely got any knitting done. It reminded me of the six years I spent working in an alternative school program.. not necessarily in a good way, but it's always nice (in a way) to be reminded of how good I have it and how lucky I am.

Yarn Along

Joining Small Thing's Yarn Along again this week.  Since finishing my projects for Knit for Japan (that were finally mailed out yesterday) I've had trouble finding a crocheting/knitting project to get into. A low yarn supply isn't helping.  I hope to get my t-shirt yarn cut soon so I can start a rag rug. 

I've done some teeny tiny flowers using embroidery floss meant for a piece for my mom's birthday, since I doubt the swiffer covers are going to happen.  I think I finally have a little rhythm down for making them but they're still not quite what I envisioned.  However, I have plenty of embroidery floss from my cousin's friendship bracelet making days that she passed on to me a few years ago.

I've also picked up the never ending blanket again... Still on the same band of color I was months ago but in the past 2 days I think I've finished 3 or 4 rows.... It doesn't sound like much but the rows take at least an hour and a half to get through.

Even only a few feet on it at least someone can curl up in it...

Not much news on the moving front... We wont know for sure until mid-March at the earliest.  So far from what my husband has been reading about his top 8 picks (4 masters only programs and 4 PHD programs) and their acceptances, Virginia seems to be the most likely possibility.  However, if he keeps up his 4.0GPA, I doubt he's really going to have any trouble getting into 7 out of the 8 schools he choose.... however GRE scores will tell us more.  Ok, enough of that, I'm tired of thinking about it!  It's going to be another less than 2 months of notice on where we have to move to (or not have to move at all if he goes somewhere around here) and there's not a darn thing I can do about it!

Crafting

I spent nearly two hours "organizing" (more playing than organizing probably) my old crafting supplies today with my little guy..  I had a big bin of this and that from my childhood crafting days.  I know there's at least a little bit more coming my way the next time my parent's visit so it was motivation to go through my unorganized bin and see what I had that I didn't remember.  Gimp, plastic beads, part of my beading loom (I hope the second part comes with the stuff from my parent's house), a bunch of shaped sponges for stamping with paint (those went into the kiddos' crafting supplies), a few styrofoam balls, 3 or 4 tiny little ribbon flowers (SCORE), a few wooden crafting pieces, some antique drawing pencils, potholder loops (but no loom :-( ) and more seashells than I'll probably ever use.  I'm thinking about using the styrofoam balls and shells to make some more shell covered balls, but after they're done I'm hoping to pare down my shells to only my favorite ones.  The ribbon flowers went into my crafting hutch along with a few googley eyes, wooden pieces and some teeny pom poms...  The gimp and plastic beads.... back in the bin for now.  I should really set up a crafting supply swap with my mom's group. 

I pulled out a Christmas ornament making kit that looked simple.  I'm not sure if it's something that I'll want to keep or not.. but it's something to keep my hands busy.  I haven't been able to really get into a project since all of my knitting and crocheting for the Knit for Japan project.  I still have to finish my hat but I think everything else is just about ready to go.  I really need to rewatch that youtube video on pulling the top together.  My husband has been monopolizing the computer struggling to make the decision of whether or not it would be better for him to just get his masters or if he really wants his phd.  He knows how much it is to ask us all to continue living in our current circumstances for 7-8 more years feeling like we're never going forward, and then winding up having to pay off school loans for 2 years (more or less.)  I'm ready to support him in whatever he decides but part of me would take a sigh of relief for him to be done sooner rather than later.  Of course on the other hand calling him Dr. Daddy would make all of us happy and I'd love to know that he went as far as he wanted with his schooling and not just stopped part way to make it easier on us. 

Anyway, back to my crafting... I've been crocheting tiny little embroidery floss circles and hoping to add some beads into them (I've been inspired by http://beadknitter.blogspot.com and some of her beautiful knitted beadwork) for a birthday gift for my mom (though I still can't find any in my stash that quite work yet...how that's possible I'm not sure) but I can't finish it until I pick up some chain and little jump rings.

Still trying to get them just right.. there are also some flowers in this shot

I also picked up the never ending blanket again but I didn't manage to get even through one row before I had to put it down to do my mommy duties.  It's so much more rewarding to do small projects where I can see my progress.  Those silly little circles whip out in about 3 minutes, if that.  Dishcloths/washcloths 3 days max.  Scarves a week and a half max.  I was going to start a swiffer cover but decided since I don't own a swiffer I should probably see if I can borrow one from someone to make sure I keep it to the right scale.  I tend to knit and crochet way too tightly and I'm afraid I'll make a few of them for my mom and they wont even fit her swiffer.  Ohh, I want a new project to work on that I can be successful with (that it will be possible for me to finish this year!)

Must... have... LESS

Maybe this sounds a little backwards considering the society we currently live in but I feel freed by having less.  Every time I bring a bag of anything into our home (be it groceries, clothing, crafting supplies, etc.) it makes me feel anxious.  Having to box up your life and pack it into a small space (especially if you do it every year) is very eye opening.  My husband and I stood marveling over our little storage pods.  Those four little metal things are holding our life is what we said...Though in reality they are holding all the things that hold us back is more like it.  Our family is our life, NOT our stuff! On the other hand that's not what we said as we were scrambling boxing up the last of our junk and running it out before the tractor trailer came to pick them up.  "What is this?", "Well we can't use it and no one will want it why do we have it??" were common phrases we found ourselves using, getting frustrated with the other person.  We filled giant trash bags with my husband's oil, and other grimy unrecognizable chemical stained work clothes and threw them away.  We filled MASSIVE double sized plastic totes with my clothing and shoes that I decided I didn't need and donated them...  We filled box after box with books and magazines and donated them.... We filled boxes with kitchen supplies and mugs and donated them.... and still I look around at all this excess and wonder how we're still surrounded with "stuff".  The problem is that we use 99% of it and if I find something we don't use it goes in the donation box immediately.  So what to do... what to do...


Lately, I've been working to cut through my yarn "stash" and have probably used up at least 35%+ on Knit for Japan.  Every little piece of yarn left can be linked with a project I'd like to do in the next year and a half (yes, even my little left over pieces.)  Somehow, the thought of running out of yarn saddens me... knitting/crochet addicts will attest, no yarn doesn't feel good.  Well, with no funds to buy more yarn and me not really wanting to bring any more "stuff" into this house (even if it is yarn.) how can I still have yarn to keep my hands and mind busy?  I think most of us have heard of t-shirt yarn, right??  I saw this blog entry at http://www.luckypennymake.com/luckypennymake/ with a tutorial for t-shirt yarn making by a very nice woman named Barbara, got up, picked up my big basket of laundry,  walked into my bedroom.  After you see how easy it is to make with Barbara's tutorial I think you'll do the same! To be honest I think I got most of my t-shirts in grade school through middle school.  I may be young but I'm not fresh out of middle school!  I looked at myself in the mirror... clingy, worn out, slightly stained/discolored t-shirt that rides up.... that's what I'm constantly wearing.  It doesn't look good.. and although it feels good (as in it's soft) it doesn't feel good to look at.  Why do I have all these nice shirts I never wear?  Yes, my little boy is doomed to get yellow mustard or some sort of berry juice that will never come out on my shirt... and when that happens, it happens, it's just a shirt.  So I grabbed a big plastic bag, dug through my literally overflowing dresser drawers and started throwing shirts in.  If it was 100% cotton and wasn't flattering it went in the bag.  I kept maybe 2 over-sized shirts that I didn't care for/about for painting, heavy cleaning, etc... but the rest went.  I opened my pj drawer and glared at the two granny nightgowns that my mom gave me when I was pregnant.  I hate them.  They're comfortable and airy, yes.  They also are exactly what you see old ladies wearing... they're also 2 sizes to big and make me feel like a blimp.  I lived in them for months... I wore them while I was hugely pregnant, after I had 2 surgeries and after I left my job, was depressed and didn't feel like bothering to wear real clothes... they're stained, faded and hideous!  They're also 100% cotton.  Into the bag they went!  Into our closet I went... white clingy, discolored long sleeved shirt, you're 100% cotton?  Awesome, I'd never feel comfortable answering the door wearing you anyway!  Form fitting t-shirts that don't cover my post-baby stomach properly and are too worn and stretched out to donate?  Into the bag with you!  Oh, it was so freeing!  I nearly filled the bag!  I should really take a count before I finish cutting them all up.  My dresser drawers actually close now!  Granted, I'm a little behind on putting laundry away right now....  So I will have my yarn, I will have another project (crocheting and knitting rag rugs.) and I will have less clothing.  All in all it feels like an accomplishment.  

Another purging project was that of our socks.  Any socks that were worn into holes that I couldn't repair or were so shot they wouldn't stay on our feet they were so stretched out were bunched together and stuffed into a long knee high and given to our dogs as a toy to tug and chew on.  The remaining socks will be used to dust and clean with.  I learned from this particular purge that my husband doesn't have many socks and he really abuses the ones he has...  Me... socks last me years, probably because I'm normally running around barefoot.  I'm also a girl and have socks in probably every color of the rainbow... and some of my socks are striped with rainbow colors.  Not necessarily my taste but I like getting socks for gifts.. honestly.. sometimes the weirder the better.  I normally dress pretty reserved... it's fun to see people's expression when I cross my legs and they get a view of my crazy socks. 


On going is our book, movie, cd purge.  My husband sold a few of his comics which I know was hard for him, but he did it so that he could have a little spending money for an online Marvel comic book subscription site... It's better for us to have less in our home and opens up the ability for him to read as many comic books as he wants.  As I've mentioned before we also both pulled together a bunch of textbooks and books to donate to his college's library book drive.  My husband is down to 3 cds... mine.. are somewhere in packed away but I should probably donate mine somewhere also once they're pulled out. 


My "de-stuffing" of our life process is currently just picking away.  We did those major purges less than a year ago and haven't brought in much more so the bulk of what is going is gone.  At this point it's just lessening things slowly and getting rid of what's really worn out and only replacing what's necessity.  Although I try to keep this philosophy going in all areas of our home, some things are really hard to let go of.  


Pictures... I can't part with, in fact I have a ton I want to print and put in scrapbooks.  I hesitate to get started on that right now though. 


My son's baby clothes that were kept are in my parent's attic several states away so I don't have to even think about them... but it would be hard to part with them all.  Most of the clothing that I wouldn't have emotional trouble parting with are very worn and chances are they wouldn't be as appreciated as I would like to think.  Most of it came from bag sales at thrift stores where it couldn't be sold.  Much of it is in pretty bad shape... but my mother couldn't turn down $5 for a big bag of baby clothes, and it was worn by my son (if the really tattered stuff was here I'd probably be going baby t-shirt yarn crazy!)  The pieces that are in really good shape have a lot of sentimental value.. I didn't buy much for my son when I was pregnant and he didn't have much in his smaller sizes so nearly everything from 0-12 months is something I can remember him wearing all the time.. or I'll remember where I got it from or who gave it to me.  Plus... in our current financial situation if we were to have a "surprise" (which I would honestly very, very, very, very happily welcome) I wont have the funds to replace it and having very few friends who could even pass on clothing to us. I feel like I should at least keep staple things such as cloth diapers and baby blankets.  At minimum I at least want to keep the blankets that were made by different family members even if we never have another child.  


That all being said, I'm slowly trying to part with outgrown toys and clothing that is here.  I'm also not keeping every drawing, painting or scribble made by my little boy, I've accepted that I just can't.  I'm making an active effort not to just replace things like crayons, markers, paints and playdough when it runs out.  I can make playdough when we want to do some sculpting and crayons as well as markers seem to magically appear and our supply seems to somehow get bigger instead of smaller when I think we should be running out.   When we were visiting PA and I was cleaning out boxes of my "stuff" that my mom came across we found two giant boxes of crayons that were barely used.  Alex will still be writing with crayon when he's in college to use up all the ones we have a this point. Since one of the things we have the least of is paint, we'll have to do some crayon painting! The truth is more like the moment we find a child in our area that is ready for crayons and doesn't have any, we'll be passing on bunches of ours. I hope to replace many of our art supplies with more natural supplies.  I would like his art supplies to be more quality over quantity but someone in our financial situation can't really be picky.   I don't really buy coloring books.  Between what I learned in one of my art for young children courses in college and my own personal beliefs, coloring books are not for us.  We have a couple that were gifts and ones that were more activity books than coloring books that I kept for long car trips so that we don't have papers slipping onto the floor, but we use a lot of one sided scrap paper that my mom brought home from work for when we're at home.  My husband doesn't even buy notebooks unless one is required.  We all use that scrap paper and then recycle it when we're done with it. 


I probably in someway should be considered a hoarder.  And not just because my apartment is currently a mess.  That my friends has been caused by the 2-year-old tornado that has been leaving more destruction in his path than normal.  I have the hardest time parting with things that most people would consider trash.  Take a top sheet from a set that the fitted sheet has been worn through and I'll hold onto it.  It's possibilities are limitless.  The ones in our home have been used for kitchen table forts and more currently for dog bedding.  Of course this hot weather is making me wish I had kept one for fort use as one of our pups chewed holes in their sheet bedding immediately.  Our big thick blankets make the fort too stuffy.  And just today I came across an adorable idea for upcycling an Altoid box!  Can you believe I found one at my parent's and tossed it in the recycle not even one month ago!?? And of course we've stopped buying non-essential, sugar filled things like mints.  Every time someone new comes into our kitchen I get the "didn't you bother taking out your garbage before I came" look because of my counter full of glass jars.  Yes, I keep glass jars from some different things to keep left overs in.  They're all neatly lined up and clean.. but people just assume they're trash.  I can't tell you how many times people helping me clean up after a meal have just tossed them in the recycle to "help me out"....  No matter how much I try I can't explain my disdain of plastic food containers to someone who thinks nothing of filling their kitchen with plastics. 


Maybe I'm strange in my thought processes... but I actually feel a sense of relief when I can get rid of things or when something has been all used up.  I feel like I can breathe when I see empty shelves, collapse and recycle boxes that used to be clogging up my life.  Of course, it feels 1,000% better to find usable things that I thought there was no purpose for and re-purpose them for something my family needs or pass them on to someone who will use and appreciate them too. 

I learned something today.....

I still have about 10 boxes that need to be unpacked... and although I have tried to peek through them all I cannot for the life of me find my little recipe box.  I'm not a following recipe kinda gal for the most part... Sauces, casseroles and soups I can just follow my nose and eye to get them to turn out well (most of the time.)  However, when it comes to something baking related, I don't do it often enough to just start throwing things in bowls and have it come out properly.  Tonight when I came to the realization that we had some left over potato pieces (mostly skins), some cooked veggies, pasta sauce, cheese (for once!),  peanut butter (no bread) and some baking ingredients... I decided on a veggie pizza.   Homemade crust (which I've made plenty of times... just not in the last 7 months.) is easy... but I just couldn't recall the ratios....   So I called to my husband from the kitchen "Look up a pizza dough crust for me.  Oil, yeast, water, sugar, flour as the ingredients."  Well, he was only half paying attention and apparently believes all cooking is a breeze.  So he reads out some measurements... 4 1/2 cups of flour... 1 3/4ths tsp salt (which he read as thirteen fourths and started calculating  and spouting out how many tsps that would actually equal.. sometimes Mr. Smarty is a little special) and so on.  I followed his directions, corrected him on the salt measurement but he told me ice cold water to go with the yeast I stopped.  "That can't be right", I said.  Well it was right.... only this recipe calls for being refrigerated over night, pulled out for 2 hours, rolled out, sit for another 2 hours and then cooked on a kind of pan I don't have in a completely different oven from what we have.  *Blank stare at husband*  I could have sworn I said look up a simple recipe...   I refuse to waste the 4.5 cups of flour... and I could swear there's probably SUPPOSED to be some amount of sugar in it even if it's only a tad......but I have some super fancy special pizza dough that will probably be done by sometime next century.  Ok yes, I'm probably being a bit dramatic and it will be more like tomorrow but I blame it on a dinner of peanut-butter on celery and some left over pieces of potato skin (not fancy potato skins mind you.. just the brown kind that surround the potato, even I had to pull out the ketchup.) It probably wont wind up turning out terrifically but if it's edible, I will be happy!

So yes, I learned something tonight... when it comes to cooking... don't trust second hand directions....

Beating down my anxiety....

I'm tired of hearing myself complain.  I'm tired of being lonely and wishing I could successfully find friends for my little boy... online mom groups haven't gotten us anywhere... People plan playdates and don't show up or never finalize plans...  I need something to force myself to be active in the community, unfortunately church groups are out (don't ask), my son is too young for scouts and it REALLY is too hot to just be constantly outside waiting for kids to come outside.  It must have been fate... just as I was feeling like it was impossible to find something to do that wouldn't cost me money and feeling pretty down that the 3 people in my local mom's group that had emailed me about getting together and then never emailed me back when it came to picking a time or day..... I saw it.  "Event planner needed" ... Obviously for a free mom's group, no planner is going to be paid BUT... I read the description... aside from the title of the planner it was 100% me!  Someone to plan cooking, couponing, crafting events??  Uh, yes please!!  Not only will signing up to do something force me to beat down my pterodactyl sized butterflies but it will be something that I pretty much live to do anyway!  I still find the term "Domestic Goddess" planner super cheesy...... but I've got the mythological  heading-towards-knee-length hair down, now just loose a 100 or so pounds and I'll even look the part :-)

I'm not sure... but I think he's imitating me...

Yarn Along

I'm so happy to be joining Small Thing's Yarn Along again this week.  I really missed being able to participate while we were in PA for my sister in law's wedding and visiting family for 2 and a half weeks.  I wrote an update on my knitting and crocheting for "Knit for Japan" earlier this week (it can be found here if you're interested.)  Thankfully since then I have finished the in progress washcloth, started and finished a second one in that size and started a child sized one.  I expect to finish the one that is in progress and have the chance to sew up the crocheted hat.

That's all the knitting and crocheting going on around here until after I finish the remaining WIPs in this donation pile and ship out this pile (probably Sat.)  No reading aside from children's books...to be honest I'm in the midst of doing quite the opposite of reading lately... With the addition of another move next year I'm trying to part with everything I can force myself to part with... I fought myself for a few hours and added several of my beloved textbooks to my husband's pile of text book donations to NCSU... not my science ones mind you... I plan to be buried with those (I'm only half joking really...)  This next move will be our 5th move in 5.5 years...... To be honest that alone is making me feel stressed out.  Someone joked with me that we're like a military family... but I know military families.. the military tends to do the packing and moving for you.  As much as I hate having people touch my stuff I know they do it the right way and that there's insurance if something gets broken..  It doesn't work that way when it's just you and your husband trying to do it all.  With not even having 1 person to help us move boxes or furniture and being on the 3rd floor we're going to have to hire someone to come and help us move everything out (we did it for the first time moving in here and my goodness it's such a huge help.)  No clue on where we're moving... I keep crossing my fingers for Ithaca NY (Cornell)... but it could be as small of a move as 20 miles for Duke or Chapel Hill.... or it could be Virginia... or Ohio... or Massachusetts...  Yeah, I'd really like to have a clue.  We should know by mid Jan '12 (moving in May '12)... I suppose it beats the last move where we had less than 6 weeks of notice to find a place to live, celebrate the Christmas holiday, pack up and move several hundred miles away.  At least this time I know it "should" be the last major move for a while... though I said that about 6 months ago when I thought my husband was going to continue getting great financial aid and be able to double major.  This time it's for his graduate degree (he's heading right for his PHD from his BA in Chemistry that was originally supposed to be two BSs one in Chemistry and one in Physics-- yeah, he's a smarty) so if everything goes well we SHOULD be staying put or at worst moving a few miles to a different apartment.... you know.. close enough that I could at least drive back and forth easily.

Feelin' Funky...and not in a good way

I'm stuck in a horrible funk.  Motivation is lost, depression keeps rearing it's ugly head and I am just stuck.  I feel like I can't move forward.  I've had some serious revelations about who I am lately, and how little I relate to the average person and all the people in my life.  Even the most wonderful and accepting people I know I can't talk to because when it comes to politics and religion as we butt heads.  The people I've thought were my friends consider our friendship a one way street it seems.  They can call me when they have a problem that they need to talk out but if I try to call or email them I never get a response.  There are literally less than 5 people (husband included) on this planet that even bother to call and see how I am or return a phone call.  Guess what, 2 of them are my parents (and their motivation to talk to me involves making sure my son is a part of their lives... it's all about him, not staying close to me.)  A handful... maybe 4 keep in contact with me via Facebook... but most of them are sporadic about it.  I understand the world doesn't revolve around me, believe me I know, but I'm the kind of person who normally drops everything the moment my phone rings to at least make sure there's not an emergency or someone isn't having a melt down. 

For the first time boxes filled with stuff are at a reasonable level that I should be able to sort through and eliminate with in a few months.  For the first time all but one piece of furniture is exactly where I want it.  For the first time I'm almost unpacked and have things where I want them.and everything is organized..... In 6 months I will most likely have to pack everything up and be prepared to move again.  The chances of getting to go where we want are slim.  I like this town... I really do... but I have no ties.  No friends, barely even a neighbor who I say more than hello to.  I can't stand the heat.  I want to be somewhere where it snows (where my husband is close enough to walk to school), I want to see lightning bugs every summer night,  I want to know I'm finally close to home... you know.. an apartment that with in a 10 mile radius we're likely to settle down permanently after my husband finishes grad school.  I know I have unrealistic dreams about finding the perfect home that we could lease to own (I'm so tired of apartment living)... you know.. a place where they'd let me garden, paint the walls, maybe put down something other than crappy wall to wall carpeting that makes my allergies go bizzurke.  Somewhere where my son is not close enough to breathe our neighbor's cigarette smoke.  Somewhere I can put up all my pictures even if they make a hole slightly larger than a regular nail.  Somewhere I know I'll be there longer than a year....

My projects have more than out surpassed the number of hours in a day...  A good day lately is a day I manage to go to bed with out wet laundry still in the washing machine and an empty kitchen sink.  I can't remember when we did more than just vacuum the obviously dirty areas. Our carpets look filthy even though there's no obvious reason for the marks.... leave it to two dogs and a two year old to create filth that seems to appear magically.  I go through more rug shampoo than hair shampoo easily. 

I have more "stuff" than any normal person needs... but I'm too freaking sentimental to get rid of most of it.  I'm overwhelmed, sad and lonely and there doesn't seem to be an end in sight.  It's too hot to venture out and be outside for long periods of time... my sun burn will attest to that.  Yes, I am in a funk....  Don't normal people get this way in winter?  I guess I'm just not normal.. but that shouldn't come as a surprise. 

My Knit for Japan Update

The deadline to ship out items for Knit for Japan is coming so fast.

I'm sad to say I only managed to finish 4 large crocheted adult scarves (2 cotton 2 acrylic), 1 small toddler/child scarf (acrylic), 1 child wash cloth (cotton) and I have one adult sized wash cloth (cotton) ~1/2 completed.  I also have one hat (acrylic) that is crocheted but needs to be assembled... The sides are sewn together but I need to re-watch a tutorial on how to pull the top together and then I need to sew on my sad pom-pom.  I learned something very important from this endeavor..... Crocheting hats makes me angry!!! My work will seem so nice and even... no obvious mistakes... then I look at the top and somehow it's all crooked and looks like I've decreased from the beginning through the end.... If I actually did or not I'm not sure.  I need some serious practice making hats before I get involved with a hat project again!!  I'm so glad scarves and wash cloths were accepted for Knit for Japan!

With a deadline of July 15th I feel the need to plan to send out my box of donations by Sat.  I figure in a week's time I *should* be able to finish assembling the hat, finish the wash cloth and maybe whip out another child sized wash cloth.  I fear if I wait any longer to send it out early that my work may wind up being one of my many "good intentions" projects that never goes anywhere...

Next on my list of yarn related projects:

Complete 2-4 stripes on the never ending blanket (that's where I'll run out of yarn this time)-- 2-4 weeks

2-3 Washable cotton Swiffer covers for my mom's birthday in late Sept --- Probably about 2 weeks for each

Make "yarn" out of old cotton garments that are truly over due to be turned into rags- a day maybe 2

Use "rag"/t-shirt yarn to make a rag rugs for under the kitchen sink and outside the shower and under the dog's water bowl. --- Probably close to a month for each... but maybe less as the "yarn" will probably be thicker than what I'm used to.

Find a knitting/crocheting charity project that I can work on more slowly than Knit for Japan so I can make sure to keep working on family projects. 

.......Something tells me that I'm going to be working on these projects until the end of the year... Where does time go??!?  I probably shouldn't even try to process the fact that Christmas is less than 6 months away and my dad has a birthday in Oct exactly a month after my mom's birthday.... I don't have time to squeeze in learning how to knit socks and whip out a giant pair of men's wool socks do I????!?  You know if they would turn out well he'll request about 10 more pairs by Christmas...

And let us not forget I have sewing (cloth wipes for DS, pillow cases) and other crafting goals as well and an empty etsy store that needs to be stocked.  I need to earn some money to supply my crafting therapy (or addiction depending on how you look at it) right?  I think I'm going to go brew some sun tea so I can caffinate myself up... I need to learn to live on less than 4 hours of sleep to be able to do everything that is expected of me and what I want to do!

Hoping to join the Yarn Along this week.  I've really missed it while in PA for my SIL's wedding for the past 3 Wednesdays.

A Must Needed Purge

We're back!  Two and a half weeks pretty much just flew by in PA.  Nearly every day was filled with a big (expensive) activity to make one special little boy very happy..  All thanks to Mom-Mom, Alex knows what a theme park is like, was able to ride on "the" Thomas the Train, played arcade games at Chuck-E-Cheese and the list goes on..  Pictures and more details than you can stand are sure to follow....

Our trip did not go quite as planned.  Between a summer cold for all 5 (my parents included) of us and some heavy and disheartening realizations about many of the people I've chosen to include in my life, more of our trip was spent in unhappy reflection that I wish to think about. 

A brief meeting between an old friend and I sparked even more unhappy self-reflection about both my own issues and my own downfalls as a friend.  She shared some very personal and very painful things that have been happening in her life.  I wish I could have said more than "I understand"... because I'm sure to her me coming anywhere near "understanding" what she has gone through is laughable.  I wish I could have told her I KNOW what it's like to be hit by someone you love (even if it wasn't for an extended period of time), I know what it's like to be psychologically abused for years and I know that it is somehow even more painful to find the inner strength to just walk away.  I wish I could have told her I understand her other struggles as well even if they're not quite the same... even if we don't have "quite" the same disease.  I KNOW what it's like to struggle to force yourself to do something that is supposed to be one of the most natural things in the world.  I KNOW what it's like to hide from activities that force you to eat around other people... I know all too well what it's like to pretend to just be "normal" while hating yourself for every piece of food that goes into your body.  I know there is no escape from having to eat and that it is a daily struggle.  I also know that she is on her way to a better life because she was honest with herself and her loved ones.. and that she will have the support she needs to "recover" if there is such a thing. 

My husband and I both came home ready to purge "things" from our lives.  We both went through our textbooks, sold 2 of them and donated at least 15 others.  This isn't an easy feat for book loving nerds like us... but it was something that needed to be done... now if only I could part with some more of them... I am in love with my science text books.  Today is the first day that I'm being left "alone" (with our dogs and Alex of course) since getting back yesterday morning and as soon as I can force myself to pull my heart out of my toes I hope to go through my shoes and get rid of a bulk of them and hopefully find a pair of usable sneakers to replace my ratty, hole covered ones I've been wearing.  Much has changed since I posted about how long we will be staying here and we will now be moving most likely in May 12 (saw that one coming didn't I??) when my husband graduates with his Chemistry BA (it was supposed to be a Chemistry BS and a Physics BS or BA in 2014.. but unfortunately that wont be happening due to.. you guessed it... financial aid.)  I can't help but keep my fingers crossed yet again for his acceptance into Cornell University (they were the only school to turn him down for his undergrad degree) but I know his chances are slim even with his intelligence...  Because of us he doesn't have time for extracurricular activities...  If being a wonderful person and the best dad counted he'd be in with no problem.. and his current rank of 1 out of over 5,000 students speaks for itself when it comes to his book smarts.  I wish they could know him... I wish they could know about his plans for his future.. what he wants to do for the planet and for other people.  If they could know him they couldn't turn him away.  Unfortunately there's no way for that to happen... Life isn't fair and we'll move on.  Whatever graduate program he goes into will be lucky to have him and hopefully they will be able to foster his abilities and help him find the RIGHT job to help him follow his dreams.  I know because of him the world will be a better place to live once he's done with it. 

Now... for my wifely and motherly duties... I physically need for us to be more organized for our next move and there is no way to get to that point with out just getting rid of things!

Preparing for some crafting withdrawl....

As I pack for a 2 + week trip back in PA I keep finding myself adding crafting supplies to my "to pack" pile.  I already have 3 scarves that need ends woven in, a hat that needs its' top closed up and a pom-pom made for its' top, enough yarn to make at least one more full sized scarf and a child sized scarf (all for Knit for Japan!--see side bar for info) as well as my sock needles, fingerling and all kinds of hopes of free time sitting in my parent's backyard with my phone hooked up to their wifi watching youtube videos on sock knitting while my son runs wild and splashes in the kiddie pool with a minimum of 4 sets of eyes watching him so he doesn't drown.  I also have a ton of activities planned for us to attend, 3 days of wedding stuff for my sister-in-law, a date night with my husband (or for my husband and his brother if I decide I'd rather stay home and knit, HA!) with FREE tickets to the new X-Men movie and a bunch of offers for a "quick drink or coffee" with old friends (that you know will turn into a.. come back to my parent's house so I can take Alex home and put him to bed.. then let's chat for a while...which turns into 3, 4 AM!).  So, why do I continuously find myself saving all kinds of recipes for soaps, lotions, candles... and what not for my new etsy shop and find myself thinking that I should really pack my glycerin and molds..... I also should take those picture discs with me so I can take the opportunity to organize the rest of my pictures and order them.  Let's not forget I also promised to go through the remainder of any of my stuff that's at my parent's house... I lucked out having a boy that I didn't have to take my big bins of dolls and their clothing... and shoes... and million other pieces! 

I always do this to myself!  Of course if I under-pack/plan and run out of things to do.. then I'll just "have" to take the 10  minute drive to A.C.Moore and then the 2 minute ride from there to Micheal's (and I hear there's now a Hobby Lobby like an hour away!!) to just get myself through the trip.  There should really be a 12 step program for crafting addiction.  Knowing my addiction I would have to spend the night after the meeting making up some sort of fancy embroidered list with the steps on it or something... In all seriousness though, I will have all of what.. 2 or 3 quiet early nights sitting around at my parents' that I will actually have any time to do any crafting if I'm lucky!  I need to prepare myself to get a whole lot of nothing done for close to the next month between packing and unpacking!

My Crafting Space Part 2

So much has changed in my crafting space since my last post on it!  I'm so excited for it to be so much neater and easier to access everything!  I've been managing to get "something" crafty done nearly every day!

Some broken jewelery of my mother's was repaired and packed up for our visit.  Other broken pieces saved for the beads, clasps, bits of shiny chain, etc were broken down and categorized (un-savable/unusable pieces were thrown away).  I was pleasantly surprised with how well my little one was about the whole endeavor.  He actually helped me sort the larger beads by color and put them into their designated space.  I only had to fish out 5 or 6 that wound up in the wrong place (thankfully they were not seed beads!) It is amazing how much space just doing that little bit cleared up.  I also had to rearrange my beads and findings as I gave up my little cardboard box that held them in place so that my husband could ship out a trade-in. I keep odd beads in little segmented bins and all of my more bulk beads kept in mini ziplocks categorized by size and color then I categorize them by shade and group similar colors together in larger bags.  Thankfully this is something I did way back when I was living at home so now I just keep up with it as something breaks or I find a great clearance find.  Findings such as clasps are kept in larger containers (like the kind you may see embroidery floss kept in.)  Thankfully they were re-purposed from my childhood beading days. I keep one for gold, one for silver and a smaller one for bronze colored findings.  I also have a few small trays that I use for crystals and current projects. 

I pulled out some less-Christmas-y Christmas cookie tins and used them to organize what little sewing supplies I have and used a mini fabric tote bag to keep all of my iron-on appliques in.  A small vase holds my pin cushion to keep them as far from tiny hands as they can be.  I'm considering putting a safety lock on my hutch just to be extra safe. 

My sewing machine is actually set up (with its' embroidery unit hooked up) for the first time in my home!  A mom from my new mom's group offered to help me learn to sew (with out even having met me before) and helped me get it all set up and actually gave me all of her embroidery thread to play with since she doesn't currently have an embroidery machine.  My slight OCD of course made me go through it all unknot and trim the stray ends that had made a little mess and hook all the little ends into the spools.  If nothing else when it's time to give it back to her it will be neater and easier for her to use!  Of course I haven't really been able to get any sewing done as there's still a bunch of things I need to purchase to get started (stabilizer, new replacement needles, regular thread, a little thing called fabric... though I do have a sheet and some t-shirts ready to practice on.) We're getting ready to head to PA for a visit to my parents and my husband's sister's wedding.  My mom told me she has a bunch of sewing and quilting supplies that she isn't using right now (and probably wont be able to use until she retires) that I can have for the time being.  I'm really hoping that this is the beginning of me learning a skill that will help me as a mother and home maker and in addition help me create things to sell in my etsy shop.  I still don't have anything listed (Knit for Japan is taking my crafting time for the most part until July.) and am trying to take some good pictures for my banner.

Scrapbooking supplies were re-organized and used!  Here is where the... my crafting-space-isn't-too-neat-and-orderly-yet-but-I-don't-care-because-I'm-having-fun part comes in! 

My Cricut saw its first bit of use in probably nearly a year.  I not only actually had a place to use it but also trusted my little guy to listen when I told him to keep his fingers away from the blade and leave my little knife for removing pieces alone.  I can't say that I've felt that way before and considering the machine is loud enough to wake him there hasn't been that many great opportunities to use it.  I enjoy using my Cricut but I'm finding it to be rather useless when it comes to what I need to use it for.. however maybe replacing my mat and using some different types of paper will remedy my issues.  I'm glad it was a gift (as were all the cartridges and accessories except one or two things) because it seems like you need a huge cartridge library to really be able to use it, which makes it kind of a money pit.  Maybe once I get even more into my crafting I'll see if I can find some other people in the area that will be interested in trading cartridges back and forth. I don't have much scrapbooking plans for the next 2 months (other than hopefully ordering pictures.) I would however like to get my etsy shop started up and create tags for my products.  I'm getting closer and closer to being ready.  I want to make sure I have QUALITY items to sell and not just junk I threw together.  I want my items to go through some test runs..(and am currently using about a gallon of a test run of liquid hand-soap that was kind of a flop due to the poor quality hotel soap I used to make it... my liquid soaps will be vegetable based and well.. not icky! :-) )

I was disappointed to find out that not only had one of my good scrapbooking glue sticks had dried out completely having never been used (here's a big hint that I don't do enough crafting!!!) but my other glue sticks aren't nearly sticky enough to use on card stock.  Guess it's time to add them to my little one's crafting bins... yes.. my two year old has crafting supplies.. We do lots of creating in this home!  Most of our supplies are things like stringing beads, pipe-cleaners, markers, crayons, play-doh (until it runs out and we make home-made!) and other things that can be used over and over but we also do some paper crafting for family cards.  I *think* he's ready to use a glue stick.. my apartment complex's carpeting is not ready for him to use liquidy white glue yet!

In other news we have new cell phones with crisp, clear cameras!  Some outages and new towers sent our old phones for a loop and they started to not work properly.  We begrudgingly decided it was time to replace our phones as they were nearly as old as our relationship.  However, when we logged in to see if we qualified for any discounts we found out that we were able to replace BOTH of our phones for FREE!!  Whew!! Nice new phones with good cameras, all covered with nice shiny paint and screens that stay in!  We blocked all the expense features but even with out any extra money we can access Wifi in our home! AAAWWWWEEESOME!  Maybe I'll be able to blog a little more often now since I wont have to wait for the computer :-)

Yarn Along

Joining the Yarn Along at Small Things again this week. 

No real reading other than children's books this week.  My son is finally actually sitting down and letting us read to him now!

The simple ribbed crocheted scarf I started for the Knit for Japan collection last week was finished last night and another was started. This is most likely the last skein of yarn I will be able to get through before the cut off for collections for Knit for Japan.  Life has become complicated with me opening an etsy shop (nothing is in it yet, but I will post its information when it is) and discussing the possibilities of working on opening another etsy shop co-run with the wonderful woman teaching me to sew. 

Normally I am much more long winded (and have more pictures) but today I am just not in a blogging mood.  I just finished making a police report concerning the vandalism of my car.  About half of the cars in the parking lot of our (very nice) apartment complex were keyed... But my car was special.  The individual felt the need to scrawl the letters "F U" into the side of my car.  I have had no confrontations with anyone here and always make an attempt to be pleasant, wave and say hello to everyone... I know it isn't personal (nor where the other TWO separate keyings of this same car) but it breaks my heart to have my innocent two and a half year old point to my  car and say "Look Mommy, F U!" (he loves to read letters) as if it is a special note just for him on my car...

Yarn Along Number 5

Joining Small Thing's Yarn Along again this week.

Currently reading "Wool Pets" by Laurie Sharp for some tips on needle felting.  To be honest I was too impatient to get much beyond the title before cracking open my new bag of roving and barbed needles.. I'd say what I did turned out pretty well considering I've never needle felted before.

Simple ribbed scarf for Knit for Japan freshly off my crochet hook.... And another one is in the works.  My hat from last week is questionable.... I sewed up the sides but I'm not sure how the top is going to come together and haven't had time to carefully work on it undisturbed. 

Made Somewhere Between Sunday And Monday...

This weekend my family and I attended Carolina Fiber Festival.  It was held at the Raleigh Fairgrounds along with NC Festival so it was somewhat of an overwhelming event.  We didn't expect it to be as large as it was and didn't take our stroller the first trip there and didn't stay as long as we had planned (2.5 year olds don't like to walk long distances and get heavy fast...).. nor did I get a chance to really look through the beautiful yarn for sale.  Imagine tons of carnival games and rides....

... and thankfully some free healthy fun for little ones!

Sat night I pulled out a little kit I had purchased a few months back and I was immediately hooked.  I knew I didn't want to stick to just using kits... To be honest they're kind of cheesy... and aren't exactly all needle-felting.  The kit I have requires additional colors to be added by sewing threads over the felting. 

Needlefelted bee that still needs yellow accent threads sewn on.

We decided to go back on Sunday and I was sucked back into the same section of felting fibers.  The yarns throughout the same ranged from $25-95+ so it was all a bit out of my budget range.  The roving however was much more reasonably priced than what I'm used to seeing in chain craft stores.  So on Sun while holding large ziplock bags of 9 assorted colors in large chunks for $15 I caved... I chose 2 instead of the 4 I was drooling over and walked up to the person selling the fibers.  I asked a few questions (I'm always concerned with the treatment of the animals/where the fibers come from, what they're dyed with etc.) and preceded to pay for the roving.  I would have preferred to find naturally dyed fibers but I decided to settle for what I could afford!  I'm a beginner needle-felter anyway.. there's a chance I'm going to felt $30 worth of wool roving into a giant mess, right?

 My first attempt at a little creature turned out best of all.  Unfortunately I was unable to get a clear shot of it (the lighting stinks in here)... It still needs a face added but I was too sleepy by the time I got to that stage to deal with any more intricate decorations.  Each tiny swirl on the shell was done with an almost thread sized piece of roving and took longer than the entire turtle.  I am now wishing I had done a dark shell with light colored swirls.  

Turtle

My second creature didn't turn out quite as well but then again it was probably getting very, very late at that point.  I think it will be more clear that this little guy is a frog when he has a pair of eyes and a mouth and not a green cat as my husband thought when I first showed it to him.

Frog

I unfortunately realized the bags I bought did not include yellow or orange.. two colors I need to make a little goldfish and a bee for my little guy.  Thankfully I had a golden brown to create the belly of the turtle.

I'd like to say there is plenty of time for more needlefelting this week but I've fallen behind on my Knit for Japan projects.  I finished the hat (all but sewing up the top and adding a pom-pom) and it DOES fit an adult size head!  I also finished a matching scarf (all but weaving in the ends) and started a second scarf.  At minimum I will have those three things finished in time but I would like to at least make a handful of washcloths to send also.