Monday, December 28, 2009

Our wee little cupcake








(in case you missed the hint, we're having a boy)

Saturday, December 19, 2009

A cupcake in the oven

(fabulous illustration borrowed from: http://blog.roseflash.ca/category/illustration-friday)

So there's something going on that I realized I've started talking about on Facebook and have failed to mention on my blog...I'm growing a cupcake, er baby! I'll be 17 weeks along tomorrow and am due June 1, 2010.

So far things are going well (with the baby anyway...I've been sick and having issues but the baby seems to be just fine) despite being labeled "high risk", which so far has just meant extra monitoring and an ultrasound every 4 weeks (no complaints on that here!).

Because we have been "blessed" with needing extra baby viewage we were able to see the baby last Wednesday AND find out gender a little early (most women don't get their "anatomy check" ultrasound where they check out all the baby's parts and gender until 20-24 weeks...mostly because most women only have a couple of ultrasounds their whole pregnancy). So we're having a.....BABY! lol Sorry. You thought I was going to tell you the gender, eh? Well I will. Just not yet. The night before our ultrasound Husband decided he thought it would be fun to wait and tell everyone on Christmas....so that's the plan. We'll let you know later.

Anyway...that's our fun news. Thanks for letting me share. :-)

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Fun Christmas Knitting Project Idea

I was poking around on Ravelry today looking for for Christmas patterns and found this fun thing:

Christmas Lights
Available for download on Ravelry for $4.99























One person had it styled as a cool scarf:

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Fun new blog

I just discovered today that one of my friends has a great blog that I never knew about. Not only does she have an adorable little girl and mad photography skillz, but she blogs nearly everyday. Unlike certain blog owners who shall remain nameless.

Anyway, if you're looking for fun and crafty inspiration, fun stories about life with a one year girl or super thriftiness, check out my friend Patti's blog at: http://brettandpatti.blogspot.com/

Monday, September 14, 2009

Cooking MacGyver Style

There is a special place in my heart for doing things differently. Like when Joe and I moved from Boston to Portland and drove cross-country, we utilized what we had (a car) to make lunch a la Manifold Destiny. You can check out our blog entries on this here: Our Little Lunch Experiment Take 1, lunch experiment take 2 and Mmm burrito.

So today, when I was scouring the internet for something completely different but happened upon a post about how to make chicken and cous-cous in your coffee pot I thought it was BRILLIANT. It almost makes me want to go acquire this kind of coffee pot just to experiment to see if it might work.


What about you? What kind of creative cooking (or otherwise) exploits have you undertaken to do things just a little differently than the rest?

Saturday, August 22, 2009

And now for something completely different...

So a co-worker made a comment to me yesterday when I asked if she had made something on her desk and said, "Yeah, I'm not really into super lame crafts." So inspired by Amy, here is my post highlighting my favorite, not-necessarilly-super-lame, but definitely quirky crafts of the week:

1) Fake Dog Poo Knitting Pattern
I am not even joking. I found this two nights ago and couldn't stop laughing. For only $0.50 it can be yours. Find it on Ravelry here.


2) Fish Hat [Dead or Alive?]
I actually really really like this pattern. And what's not to like about a hat that looks like a giant fish is eating your head? But you've got to admit....it's quirky. 1,127 Ravelry knitters who have made this pattern can't be wrong! Find it for free on Knitty here or on Ravelry here.


3) Babies in a Blender
It's a hat. It has plastic baby appendages. It's....really weird. In fact, it's so weird, I'm really surprised this woman doesn't live in Portland. It's not a published pattern, but Ravelry users can see it on Ravelry here.


4) Womb
A knitted womb, that is. So in case yours has gone missing, you can knit yourself a replacement. Also featuring pirate version, "biological" clock version and anti-hitch-scrotum version. Pattern available for free at Knitty.








That's all for now! And don't forget: craft weird. It's the Portland way!

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Help me name my new "pet"

In the spring, pretty soon after we moved into the house, I bought a beautiful fuschia hanging basket that has flourished and done pretty well for itself...


But the heat wave that we had 2 weeks ago killed it dead. So after failing to be able to revive it, I went to take it down to trim the long dead branches and something flew out of it but I didn't really think much of it, until I got it on the ground and saw a nest with some eggs in it! A bird totally moved into my hanging basket!

This picture was taken a couple days later and you can't see the eggs because it's up pretty high and the bird was mad I was getting close to the nest, so I tried to stay back a little bit.


This is what she looks like:



She's pretty little. Maybe only 2.5 - 3 inches tall. Does anyone know what kind of bird she is? Even better, does anyone have any good name suggestions? Please share in the comments!

Sunday, August 2, 2009

For the blanket incompetent

You all know the Snuggie, right? The blanket with sleeves for people that think using a normal blanket is too complicated? Or who wish their choir robe was jut a tad warmer so they could use it as lounge wear?

They have solved the problem every dog owner has...how to keep your dog from being jealous of your Snuggie. Introducing the Snuggie for dogs (no joke!)


I have no more words.

Friday, July 3, 2009

Rockin' the Granny Puppy Panties

So, a couple weeks ago, our littlest one entered into her time of, um, "bark mitzvah" as one friend put it. We had waited too long to have her spayed and so now, we're dealing with the results.

Husband was a little freaked out by a puppy having a period (previous traumatic experience involving the human variety) so it was left to me to find protective options for the little one. Which is fine. I am the mama afterall.

My brother in law (a vet tech for the Army) suggested we could even use baby diapers if doggy diapers were too much. Dog diapers, for the record, are re-freaking-diculous pricewise.... $15 for 12 of them. Human diapers cost $8 for 36...for a high end brand even. For a while we were cutting holes for her tail in some pampers until Lola discovered that she could chew through the diaper to make a hole. Which wouldn't be so bad if diapers didn't contain a powder that expands when it comes in contact with liquid to make little crystals. Let's just say Lola was very thirsty for a few days and had some less than pleasant expereinces on our walks until it got out of her system.

So on to plan B: cloth diaper. This was the original option we wanted to go with (espcially since that's the option we'd choose should we ever have non-furry children), but cloth puppy diapers are also really expensive: $26 for the size Lola needed...and she is a wee one. But we got one anyway since eating diaper crystals isn't exactly good for her. We really needed a few, though, since I wanted to be able to rotate through at least two so I could wash them.

I thought about knitting a back up, but thought it would take too much time. Then I thought I could maybe sew one for a little time and a lot less cash.

With the store bought diaper as my guide, I traced out a pattern onto an unfolded paper grocery bag. I bought some fun cotton fabric along with some snuggle flannel (for lining) and set out to get my studio in usable-enough shape to use my desk and sew at it.

It took a few days (mostly to get enough stuff put away in the studio that I could see my workspace) but in the end I busted it out. I'm sure I did some things wrong (I'm pretty sure I did the bias tape part wrong and there is probably a better way to do elastic) but I ended up with a functional pair of puppy panties that are way more cute and fun than the ugly expensive one I bought at the store...complete with velcro, elastic and edging. This may not sound like much but I think up to this point, the most complicated thing I've ever sewn in my life was a very basic cotton dress that my mom held my hand step-by-step more than 10 years ago as I made it. So this felt like moving from the sand box to the desert ovenight. And I did it solo.

Anyway, check it out:



Not too shabby, eh?

I've got some more fabric, so I'm going to make another one and try a different construction technique to see if I can figure out a better way to do it.



Visit thecsiproject.com

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

I love presents!

Today, my co-worker, Tana, dropped this on my desk.  Someone had left it in her box in a different part of the building:




The photo isn't the highest quality (took it with my camera), but it's a piece of yellow legal pad paper that someone wrapped around something to make an envelope.  On it, it says:
Tana - 
Would You
Please give to Carissa Bonham -?  from a friend

:-)

Inside, I found this:

How freaking cool is that?  On several levels:

1) LOVE the packaging.  The cardboard looks like a cupcake and the dental floss container is pink with a cupcake on it.  Fun stuff.

2) It's cupcake flavored.  Admittedly, that part is a little strange but I love the idea still.


So if you're out there - thank you mystery-cupcake-dental-floss-gift-giver!

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Fun New Cupcake Stuff

I have recently acquired some fun cupcakey things.  Let me share the love with you.  :-)

Fun cupcake thing #1: 


I bought it because I hate when I buy a coffee at Starbucks and the last quarter of it is cold and I end up throwing it out.  Yuck!  I frequently get my coffee double-cupped to provide some additional insulation but I feel bad about the extra waste.  My new cup cozy keeps the contents either warm or cold and gives you a more temperature neutral place to put your hand.


Fun cupcake thing #2: 
"Cupcake dreams key fob" Wristlet Keychain  from Jimmy Pickles on Etsy.

One thing about me that only a few people know is that I loathe to take multiple trips from my car and into the house / work / etc.  I will totally overload myself with 3 trips worth of things just to avoid having to come back.  Beacause I do this, however, I have the unfortunate tendency of dropping my keys just as I'm trying to put them in my lock.  Which is a real bummer when your hands are full of stuff because then you have to put all your stuff down, pick up the keys, open the door, and get all your stuff inside.  This key fob is nice because I can loop the keys around my wrist so I can't drop them.  See?


Fun cupcake thing #3: 
"Buttercream Cupcake" flavored shower smoothie (combo shampoo, shower gel, bubble bath).  I bought it at Ulta yesterday with my sister.  Right now they are having a "buy 2 get 2 free" sale as well, so hurry in for yummy flavored shower stuffs.  If you don't have an Ulta near you, you can buy it online here.

Saturday, May 9, 2009

The Crazy Adventures of Scooter Girl

This is another post that's a bit overdue but last week Scooter and I had a fun adventure.  On accident, though all ended up fine.

Longtime readers of this blog might remember that last summer, Joe and I bought a scooter because 70 MPG for gas beat the heck out of the 18 MPG our car gets, and when we were facing threats of $5+ a gallon gas last summer, we felt like we really NEEDED to do something. 
 SO we bought a scooter.  Here's a pictures of an in-need-of-grooming Jack modeling the new scooter:


Anyway, the scooter doesn't save us gas unless we ride it.  So as long as the weather is moderately OK, we take the scooter instead of the car unless we need the car for carrying large objects or many people.

Last week we had a rash of bad weather at the beginning of the week but on Friday morning, things had cleared up.  Husband called as I was getting ready for work to tell me that the weather was super nice so I would probably want to take the scooter to work.  Now, something in the back of my head told me I supposed to take the car to work.  But 
since I couldn't remember why, I figured I must have just written off the week due to bad weather reports and all would be good.  So off to work I zip on the scooter.

Fast Forward to me getting ready to leave.  I'm gathering my things togheter, making sure I've done my appropriate closing-of-the-office type tasks and I remember "Oh yes....I need to remember to get directions to the place I'm looking at the drum carder today."  And then it hits me.....Drum Carder.  I'm going to look at (and probably buy) a Drum Carder today!  Which is great.....except drum carders aren't small and I doubt it's going to fit in my scooter's top case.  Crappola!  And my house is 45 minutes in the opposite direction I need to go in order to see it.  :-(  Fie!

Well, I decide I'll head over anyway.  I'll at least look at it.  Decide if I want it (who am I kidding, I've been offered the price of the century on this thing...Unless it is totally inoperable, I'm sure I'm buying it) and worse case scenario, pay for it and come back the next day with the car.

I get there.  One thing leads to another and I'm paying for it and walking over to the scooter with it to see if it fits.  Not in the top case.  hmmm.  I do have a bungee cord.  Um, well, let's just see.... Hey, that's feels pretty secure.  I think.  Gosh.  I hope it makes it down the highway alright.  Well, I'll keep my back against it and if it feels loose, I'll pull over.

And about half an hour later, I'm pulling up at home delerious and skeptical that I made it home
 with the thing in tact.  But I did!

See?

(the non fiber people probably don't "get" this post...that's okay.  I'm just amused that I got a piece of eqipment worth a few hundred dollars home by strapping it to my scooter with a single bungee.)  

Phat Fiber

I can't believe I didn't blog about this already!  I think I was gushing on Ravelry and so forgot my blog hadn't seen this yet....the April Phat Fiber Box!  The pictue below if just a teaser, to see the rest of the pictures, visit my flickr set dedicated to the April box here.
 

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Soap in a Sweater

Joe's birthday was this week and one of the things I made him was a soap in a sweater.  I found the very easy-to-follow directions here.  So now the soap has its own built-in wash cloth.  :-)

Step 1: Card Misc. Scrap Wool to make a mini batt



Step 2: Tear off end and overlap to make a large place for wrapping up the soap

Step 3: Wrap the soap in the mini batt

Step 4: Wrap batt-wrapped-soap with a loosely knit mesh netting with attached single crochet rope for hanging


Step 5: Wet and rub the soap to felt it by hand until it looks about like this:


I'm sharing this with:
Visit thecsiproject.com Photobucket

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Plans for Global Domination

When I was in college, one of my mentors [half] joked that I had a 5 step plan to take over the world. Determined. Stubbon. Gonna make it happen no matter what. That was me. It still kind of is.

That's why I love love love this journal I found on etsy.


It's only $11 which isn't bad at all. I'm not sure I could justify it to the hubster, though. "But honey. I needed somewhere well labeled to keep all of my plans to take over the world. My standard issue notebook just wasn't cutting it anymore." Probably not. And it's not my birthday anymore, either.
Hmmm. Maybe once I get my shop restocked and do some sales I can justify the expense.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Wheel spun!

My alpaca endeavor has finally turned into a wheel.  A Lendrum folding wheel (single treadle) to be exact.  Just in time for shearing so I can actually do something with alpaca come shearing season in May.

And of course you know I've been playing with my new baby.  So now I have 2 projects (well, 1.5 actually) to share:

Wheel Spun #1:

2 colors of "Crumb" (superwash colonial wool) from The Cupcake Factory...cool blue raspberry and acai berry carded together with tinsel from the craft store and spun on my new wheel (squee!!!):









Wheel Spun #2:

Superwash Cake Batter (superwash merino wool) from The Cupcake Factory in the Neapolitan Colourway.  Split in half lengthwise then split in half again and opened up like a book to make 2 balls.  Spun on the lendrum and andean plied (I've only got pics up to the plying part....but I'm hoping to get some spinning done this weekend in my down time while I'm away at a conference so I'll do the 2nd ball and snap some photos).












Monday, December 28, 2009

Our wee little cupcake








(in case you missed the hint, we're having a boy)

Saturday, December 19, 2009

A cupcake in the oven

(fabulous illustration borrowed from: http://blog.roseflash.ca/category/illustration-friday)

So there's something going on that I realized I've started talking about on Facebook and have failed to mention on my blog...I'm growing a cupcake, er baby! I'll be 17 weeks along tomorrow and am due June 1, 2010.

So far things are going well (with the baby anyway...I've been sick and having issues but the baby seems to be just fine) despite being labeled "high risk", which so far has just meant extra monitoring and an ultrasound every 4 weeks (no complaints on that here!).

Because we have been "blessed" with needing extra baby viewage we were able to see the baby last Wednesday AND find out gender a little early (most women don't get their "anatomy check" ultrasound where they check out all the baby's parts and gender until 20-24 weeks...mostly because most women only have a couple of ultrasounds their whole pregnancy). So we're having a.....BABY! lol Sorry. You thought I was going to tell you the gender, eh? Well I will. Just not yet. The night before our ultrasound Husband decided he thought it would be fun to wait and tell everyone on Christmas....so that's the plan. We'll let you know later.

Anyway...that's our fun news. Thanks for letting me share. :-)

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Fun Christmas Knitting Project Idea

I was poking around on Ravelry today looking for for Christmas patterns and found this fun thing:

Christmas Lights
Available for download on Ravelry for $4.99























One person had it styled as a cool scarf:

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Fun new blog

I just discovered today that one of my friends has a great blog that I never knew about. Not only does she have an adorable little girl and mad photography skillz, but she blogs nearly everyday. Unlike certain blog owners who shall remain nameless.

Anyway, if you're looking for fun and crafty inspiration, fun stories about life with a one year girl or super thriftiness, check out my friend Patti's blog at: http://brettandpatti.blogspot.com/

Monday, September 14, 2009

Cooking MacGyver Style

There is a special place in my heart for doing things differently. Like when Joe and I moved from Boston to Portland and drove cross-country, we utilized what we had (a car) to make lunch a la Manifold Destiny. You can check out our blog entries on this here: Our Little Lunch Experiment Take 1, lunch experiment take 2 and Mmm burrito.

So today, when I was scouring the internet for something completely different but happened upon a post about how to make chicken and cous-cous in your coffee pot I thought it was BRILLIANT. It almost makes me want to go acquire this kind of coffee pot just to experiment to see if it might work.


What about you? What kind of creative cooking (or otherwise) exploits have you undertaken to do things just a little differently than the rest?

Saturday, August 22, 2009

And now for something completely different...

So a co-worker made a comment to me yesterday when I asked if she had made something on her desk and said, "Yeah, I'm not really into super lame crafts." So inspired by Amy, here is my post highlighting my favorite, not-necessarilly-super-lame, but definitely quirky crafts of the week:

1) Fake Dog Poo Knitting Pattern
I am not even joking. I found this two nights ago and couldn't stop laughing. For only $0.50 it can be yours. Find it on Ravelry here.


2) Fish Hat [Dead or Alive?]
I actually really really like this pattern. And what's not to like about a hat that looks like a giant fish is eating your head? But you've got to admit....it's quirky. 1,127 Ravelry knitters who have made this pattern can't be wrong! Find it for free on Knitty here or on Ravelry here.


3) Babies in a Blender
It's a hat. It has plastic baby appendages. It's....really weird. In fact, it's so weird, I'm really surprised this woman doesn't live in Portland. It's not a published pattern, but Ravelry users can see it on Ravelry here.


4) Womb
A knitted womb, that is. So in case yours has gone missing, you can knit yourself a replacement. Also featuring pirate version, "biological" clock version and anti-hitch-scrotum version. Pattern available for free at Knitty.








That's all for now! And don't forget: craft weird. It's the Portland way!

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Help me name my new "pet"

In the spring, pretty soon after we moved into the house, I bought a beautiful fuschia hanging basket that has flourished and done pretty well for itself...


But the heat wave that we had 2 weeks ago killed it dead. So after failing to be able to revive it, I went to take it down to trim the long dead branches and something flew out of it but I didn't really think much of it, until I got it on the ground and saw a nest with some eggs in it! A bird totally moved into my hanging basket!

This picture was taken a couple days later and you can't see the eggs because it's up pretty high and the bird was mad I was getting close to the nest, so I tried to stay back a little bit.


This is what she looks like:



She's pretty little. Maybe only 2.5 - 3 inches tall. Does anyone know what kind of bird she is? Even better, does anyone have any good name suggestions? Please share in the comments!

Sunday, August 2, 2009

For the blanket incompetent

You all know the Snuggie, right? The blanket with sleeves for people that think using a normal blanket is too complicated? Or who wish their choir robe was jut a tad warmer so they could use it as lounge wear?

They have solved the problem every dog owner has...how to keep your dog from being jealous of your Snuggie. Introducing the Snuggie for dogs (no joke!)


I have no more words.

Friday, July 3, 2009

Rockin' the Granny Puppy Panties

So, a couple weeks ago, our littlest one entered into her time of, um, "bark mitzvah" as one friend put it. We had waited too long to have her spayed and so now, we're dealing with the results.

Husband was a little freaked out by a puppy having a period (previous traumatic experience involving the human variety) so it was left to me to find protective options for the little one. Which is fine. I am the mama afterall.

My brother in law (a vet tech for the Army) suggested we could even use baby diapers if doggy diapers were too much. Dog diapers, for the record, are re-freaking-diculous pricewise.... $15 for 12 of them. Human diapers cost $8 for 36...for a high end brand even. For a while we were cutting holes for her tail in some pampers until Lola discovered that she could chew through the diaper to make a hole. Which wouldn't be so bad if diapers didn't contain a powder that expands when it comes in contact with liquid to make little crystals. Let's just say Lola was very thirsty for a few days and had some less than pleasant expereinces on our walks until it got out of her system.

So on to plan B: cloth diaper. This was the original option we wanted to go with (espcially since that's the option we'd choose should we ever have non-furry children), but cloth puppy diapers are also really expensive: $26 for the size Lola needed...and she is a wee one. But we got one anyway since eating diaper crystals isn't exactly good for her. We really needed a few, though, since I wanted to be able to rotate through at least two so I could wash them.

I thought about knitting a back up, but thought it would take too much time. Then I thought I could maybe sew one for a little time and a lot less cash.

With the store bought diaper as my guide, I traced out a pattern onto an unfolded paper grocery bag. I bought some fun cotton fabric along with some snuggle flannel (for lining) and set out to get my studio in usable-enough shape to use my desk and sew at it.

It took a few days (mostly to get enough stuff put away in the studio that I could see my workspace) but in the end I busted it out. I'm sure I did some things wrong (I'm pretty sure I did the bias tape part wrong and there is probably a better way to do elastic) but I ended up with a functional pair of puppy panties that are way more cute and fun than the ugly expensive one I bought at the store...complete with velcro, elastic and edging. This may not sound like much but I think up to this point, the most complicated thing I've ever sewn in my life was a very basic cotton dress that my mom held my hand step-by-step more than 10 years ago as I made it. So this felt like moving from the sand box to the desert ovenight. And I did it solo.

Anyway, check it out:



Not too shabby, eh?

I've got some more fabric, so I'm going to make another one and try a different construction technique to see if I can figure out a better way to do it.



Visit thecsiproject.com

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

I love presents!

Today, my co-worker, Tana, dropped this on my desk.  Someone had left it in her box in a different part of the building:




The photo isn't the highest quality (took it with my camera), but it's a piece of yellow legal pad paper that someone wrapped around something to make an envelope.  On it, it says:
Tana - 
Would You
Please give to Carissa Bonham -?  from a friend

:-)

Inside, I found this:

How freaking cool is that?  On several levels:

1) LOVE the packaging.  The cardboard looks like a cupcake and the dental floss container is pink with a cupcake on it.  Fun stuff.

2) It's cupcake flavored.  Admittedly, that part is a little strange but I love the idea still.


So if you're out there - thank you mystery-cupcake-dental-floss-gift-giver!

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Fun New Cupcake Stuff

I have recently acquired some fun cupcakey things.  Let me share the love with you.  :-)

Fun cupcake thing #1: 


I bought it because I hate when I buy a coffee at Starbucks and the last quarter of it is cold and I end up throwing it out.  Yuck!  I frequently get my coffee double-cupped to provide some additional insulation but I feel bad about the extra waste.  My new cup cozy keeps the contents either warm or cold and gives you a more temperature neutral place to put your hand.


Fun cupcake thing #2: 
"Cupcake dreams key fob" Wristlet Keychain  from Jimmy Pickles on Etsy.

One thing about me that only a few people know is that I loathe to take multiple trips from my car and into the house / work / etc.  I will totally overload myself with 3 trips worth of things just to avoid having to come back.  Beacause I do this, however, I have the unfortunate tendency of dropping my keys just as I'm trying to put them in my lock.  Which is a real bummer when your hands are full of stuff because then you have to put all your stuff down, pick up the keys, open the door, and get all your stuff inside.  This key fob is nice because I can loop the keys around my wrist so I can't drop them.  See?


Fun cupcake thing #3: 
"Buttercream Cupcake" flavored shower smoothie (combo shampoo, shower gel, bubble bath).  I bought it at Ulta yesterday with my sister.  Right now they are having a "buy 2 get 2 free" sale as well, so hurry in for yummy flavored shower stuffs.  If you don't have an Ulta near you, you can buy it online here.

Saturday, May 9, 2009

The Crazy Adventures of Scooter Girl

This is another post that's a bit overdue but last week Scooter and I had a fun adventure.  On accident, though all ended up fine.

Longtime readers of this blog might remember that last summer, Joe and I bought a scooter because 70 MPG for gas beat the heck out of the 18 MPG our car gets, and when we were facing threats of $5+ a gallon gas last summer, we felt like we really NEEDED to do something. 
 SO we bought a scooter.  Here's a pictures of an in-need-of-grooming Jack modeling the new scooter:


Anyway, the scooter doesn't save us gas unless we ride it.  So as long as the weather is moderately OK, we take the scooter instead of the car unless we need the car for carrying large objects or many people.

Last week we had a rash of bad weather at the beginning of the week but on Friday morning, things had cleared up.  Husband called as I was getting ready for work to tell me that the weather was super nice so I would probably want to take the scooter to work.  Now, something in the back of my head told me I supposed to take the car to work.  But 
since I couldn't remember why, I figured I must have just written off the week due to bad weather reports and all would be good.  So off to work I zip on the scooter.

Fast Forward to me getting ready to leave.  I'm gathering my things togheter, making sure I've done my appropriate closing-of-the-office type tasks and I remember "Oh yes....I need to remember to get directions to the place I'm looking at the drum carder today."  And then it hits me.....Drum Carder.  I'm going to look at (and probably buy) a Drum Carder today!  Which is great.....except drum carders aren't small and I doubt it's going to fit in my scooter's top case.  Crappola!  And my house is 45 minutes in the opposite direction I need to go in order to see it.  :-(  Fie!

Well, I decide I'll head over anyway.  I'll at least look at it.  Decide if I want it (who am I kidding, I've been offered the price of the century on this thing...Unless it is totally inoperable, I'm sure I'm buying it) and worse case scenario, pay for it and come back the next day with the car.

I get there.  One thing leads to another and I'm paying for it and walking over to the scooter with it to see if it fits.  Not in the top case.  hmmm.  I do have a bungee cord.  Um, well, let's just see.... Hey, that's feels pretty secure.  I think.  Gosh.  I hope it makes it down the highway alright.  Well, I'll keep my back against it and if it feels loose, I'll pull over.

And about half an hour later, I'm pulling up at home delerious and skeptical that I made it home
 with the thing in tact.  But I did!

See?

(the non fiber people probably don't "get" this post...that's okay.  I'm just amused that I got a piece of eqipment worth a few hundred dollars home by strapping it to my scooter with a single bungee.)  

Phat Fiber

I can't believe I didn't blog about this already!  I think I was gushing on Ravelry and so forgot my blog hadn't seen this yet....the April Phat Fiber Box!  The pictue below if just a teaser, to see the rest of the pictures, visit my flickr set dedicated to the April box here.
 

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Soap in a Sweater

Joe's birthday was this week and one of the things I made him was a soap in a sweater.  I found the very easy-to-follow directions here.  So now the soap has its own built-in wash cloth.  :-)

Step 1: Card Misc. Scrap Wool to make a mini batt



Step 2: Tear off end and overlap to make a large place for wrapping up the soap

Step 3: Wrap the soap in the mini batt

Step 4: Wrap batt-wrapped-soap with a loosely knit mesh netting with attached single crochet rope for hanging


Step 5: Wet and rub the soap to felt it by hand until it looks about like this:


I'm sharing this with:
Visit thecsiproject.com Photobucket

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Plans for Global Domination

When I was in college, one of my mentors [half] joked that I had a 5 step plan to take over the world. Determined. Stubbon. Gonna make it happen no matter what. That was me. It still kind of is.

That's why I love love love this journal I found on etsy.


It's only $11 which isn't bad at all. I'm not sure I could justify it to the hubster, though. "But honey. I needed somewhere well labeled to keep all of my plans to take over the world. My standard issue notebook just wasn't cutting it anymore." Probably not. And it's not my birthday anymore, either.
Hmmm. Maybe once I get my shop restocked and do some sales I can justify the expense.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Wheel spun!

My alpaca endeavor has finally turned into a wheel.  A Lendrum folding wheel (single treadle) to be exact.  Just in time for shearing so I can actually do something with alpaca come shearing season in May.

And of course you know I've been playing with my new baby.  So now I have 2 projects (well, 1.5 actually) to share:

Wheel Spun #1:

2 colors of "Crumb" (superwash colonial wool) from The Cupcake Factory...cool blue raspberry and acai berry carded together with tinsel from the craft store and spun on my new wheel (squee!!!):









Wheel Spun #2:

Superwash Cake Batter (superwash merino wool) from The Cupcake Factory in the Neapolitan Colourway.  Split in half lengthwise then split in half again and opened up like a book to make 2 balls.  Spun on the lendrum and andean plied (I've only got pics up to the plying part....but I'm hoping to get some spinning done this weekend in my down time while I'm away at a conference so I'll do the 2nd ball and snap some photos).












 
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