Hiatus

I'm sorry, I've been on kind of a hiatus. I can't seem to get into the habit of updating a blog on a regular basis. As of right now I haven't done any DIYing or anything crafty (other the the usual knitting and then frogging process). Brett's mom came to visit this last weekend and she took us to the outlet mall (did I mention she's a great lady?) and bought us a knife magnet. I should have prefaced that with "Brett loves kitchen knives and has a ton so...." I made Brett hang it up above our little dish drying area and I must say that I like it. It does look kind of intimidating at first, you know kind of like that scene in "Twister" where they run in the barn with all the knives? Kind of like that, but I've gotten used to it and it is super handy. It's also cleared up another drawer for us in our kitchen!

Here's what he looks like:

Pretty simple design and shockingly heavy duty.

I also must admit that I have abandoned my etsy shop Autumn Fibers. When I opened it I had visions of people loving my yarns and me not being able to keep up with the demand. I really had no idea what I was getting myself in to when I opened it. Now that I do, I am debating on whether or not I should continue to put money into it. I do love the notifications I get when someone buys a yarn or features me in a treasury but it is a financial investment and I'm not sure I am able to take that on right now. I also have a crazy work schedule that normally is positively correlated with a mountain of paperwork (that I normally have to do on my day off). So perhaps in the near future I will be reviving my shop because lets face it, I love yarn and I loved dying yarn.

I'm on a DIY Role.

Last night I spent a good chuck of my time making mental notes about what projects I was itching to take on. This Bower Power tutorial was near the top, just because I have a jar of sea shells Brett and I collected on our visit to Tybee Beach. Those shells are special because it was my first visit to the ocean and the first visit Brett and I had together.

Look at those piggers!

Ok, back to the point. Since I live in Iowa there was no way I could get an actual sand dollar let alone murder some like Katie did :) so I visited the next best thing...Michael's. I found the shadow box frame on sale for $4.99, I didn't even need a coupon! Instead of using paper as the background for mine I used burlap. Michael's had a 9 yard roll for $4.00. The one thing Michael's didn't have was a sand dollar which was fine really because I'm more of a star fish kind of gal. The following is how I put my sea themed frame together (sorry there aren't any pictures, I didn't think of making this a tutorial until after I made it).

1. Find your shadow box. I wanted one that was perfectly square but Michael's didn't have any so I settled for a 5 x 7 frame. It was $4.99 who could turn that down?
2. Choose your background. I really like the idea of using burlap to add texture and I think it has more of a beachy feel to it.
3. Choose your sea critter. I remember when Michael's had sea horses and a large array of sea friends. The only ones I saw there today were sea fingers (what I bought), star fish, coral, and shells.
4. Make sure your critter fits in your shadow box. This is very important. I thought Seth (I named my sea friend Seth fyi) would fit in his box but I was wrong. So very wrong. I ended up having to cut a chunk of one of his arms off and filing two more to get him to fit.
5. Cut strips of burlap off your roll. I just cut it to make sure it covered the back of the frame. I then used my hot glue gun and stuck the material on. Now my burlap was woven very loosely so I did this two more times to make sure you couldn't see anything other than material.
6. Place your new sea friend in his new home, close up the back of the frame and admire.

Here is how mine turned out (sorry for the not so great pictures).

I love the burlap as a back drop for this.

I love these two together. I just need to get some sand for the jar o'shells.

I also returned a Christmas present for a set of 3 cube shelves. I have always wanted a set of these and since they were the exact price of the present I was returning I figured it was fate. There is a picture of them just laying on my table.

The boy hasn't hung these up yet but I'm hopping this will happen tonight.

I have been working on my Palindrome Scarf for my good friend Steve. Palindrome is a cabled scarf, but I absolutely love it because it is reversible. Yep. No unattractive side that has to be hidden. It's just all awesome cable on both sides. I was hopping to have the scarf done by tonight but I haven't even picked it up today. By the way Steve's girlfriend Christa is also a blogger, much better than me, I assure you of that.

Aww there they are. Maybe Steve can borrow her scarf until I finish his?

The Hunt Continues

The BF and I are still looking for the perfect storage unit for our DVDs and XBOX 360 games. I think we might be going to Wal-Mart to look after the Chiefs game (WE MADE THE PLAYOFFS!). We've already looked at Target and was unimpressed by the lack of options. On a whim I checked Ikea for some storage options and I found this beast:

This baby holds 118 DVDs but is a whopping 77 inches long. Yeah. It would take up the entire wall our TV is on and completely dwarf our 40 inch flat screen so that idea was scrapped almost instantly by Brett. Not to mention the fact that he has some weird opposition to all thinks Ikea. Speaking of Ikea, why are you unable to order half of their products online? I live in Iowa people! There is no way there will ever be an Ikea here, get it together and let me spend my dollars online. So back to DVD storage....I have no idea what we're going to do but something needs to be done because I'm tired of looking at the 69 DVDS on the floor in the living room.

In knitting news I still haven't found a way to link my Ravelry stash page to my blog. I have also attempted to photograph my new yarn purchases twice now and have been unable to do so because of the lack of natural light in my apartment. I did however cast on the socks I've promised to my grandmother. I finally picked a pattern, Wanida by Cookie A.

I cast on 64 stitches using the German Twisted Cast On and knitted two rows of the ribbed cuff before I figured out that I needed smaller needles. Problem being I only have one 2.75, 40 inch fixed circular needle. So naturally I visited Knit Picks to buy the rest of the sock needle sizes. That way I won't run into this problem again. I absolutely love the Knit Picks options needles. I have the interchangeable set that the lovely BF bought me a few years ago for my birthday and a few fixed needles. The large needle sizes have shorter needle lengths which I don't care for but the sock needle sizes are normal length and I love them. Since I do magic loop I get the 40 inch cable, that way if I decide to ever learn two at a time socks I can still use the same needles. Plus I just like having a bit of wiggle room when I magic loop so it all works out.

Do you have a suggestion for DVD storage? What is your favorite knitting needle/knitting method?

It's the Little Things

I am easily amused and please at the slightest things. For example Brett and I went to Pier 1 to find a storage solution for our few (over 60) DVDs. After looking through the store and being very underwhelmed by our options we started to wander and look at other goodies (by we I mean me...Brett kind of just followed me around). While wandering I stumbled upon this beauty:

Not only have Brett and I been looking for a kitchen timer since we moved into our apartment (for some reason our stove doesn't have one) but I LOVE how retro these look. I also love the fact that this timer doesn't buzz when it goes of it rings. You know? Like one of those alarm clocks with the two bells on top? Yep that's how this sounds. I am also obsessed with the fact that it is magnetic and you can just stick him on your refrigerator. I bought the red one. I don't think Brett was as excited with my color choice but I think he'll live. We didn't on the other hand find any sort of storage for our DVDs so the search continues.

In knitting news I have found a yarn shop (the only one) in Cedar Rapids to hang out at and I do so every Wednesday nights while I'm working. The ladies there are super nice and very helpful/supportive. I had been a few times and not bought anything so I had to buy Cookie A's Sock Innovation.

I plan on knitting a pair of socks out of this book for my grandma's very late Christmas gift. I love this book because it not only has sock patterns but it teaches the reader the basic fundamentals of designing a sock. It also teaches the reader how to change patterns from flat to round knitting, and choosing types of stitches and yarn, among other things. I think all knitters could find something in this book to benefit from.

In addition to a knew book my grandmother as also subscribed me to "Knitters" magazine but I have yet to receive a copy and I have also never heard of or seen this magazine before so I'm excited to flip through it. I did buy some yarn and my dear darling loving boyfriend bought my a ton (over $100 worth) of yarn for my birthday. But you will have to wait until I can link Ravelry to my blog to see pictures.

Holy Blog Abandonment!

Alright, so it's been a minute since I've updated or done anything with my blog. A lot has changed since my last update. I have since stopped updating my etsy store (I've abandoned that too), moved to Iowa, and got a big kid job at a non-profit organization. What?! Yeah that's right I'm living a big kid life and as of now it's not too bad but I still miss college. The BF and I are now living together as of late September. He got a job in Iowa and I followed and landed a job shortly after. It worked out really well. Now for the big update. I'm changing the direction of my blog. Instead of posting mostly about what I'm selling on etsy I'm going to focus more on knitting projects, dyeing yarn and techniques (if I ever get anymore bare yarn), cooking/recipes, and home decor stuff. These are the things I have become obsessed with and I need a place to document my successes and undoubtably my failures.

Yay for Sales!

I'm super excited! I just got my second sale in about two weeks. I hope things keep up like this, I know it's not much but after that two month lull of absolutely nothing I'm crazy excited! Here is the yarn I just sold (sorry it's awkwardly large):

I also have three new cotton yarns drying outside. I should have them up in my shop within the next few days. I guess I should buy another spool of cotton yarn to keep up the shop. I think I might buy some roving to make dryer balls. I'll have to research and see how popular they are on etsy before I get crazy though...I didn't do that well enough with my facial scrubbies.

In other news, it's been super stormy in Kansas City. I'm fine with this because I love thunderstorms. Also, it's psych week on the Discovery channel second only to shark week. Sometimes I forgot how much I love psychology.

Back to fiber fun check out this awesome news article related to some knitting vandals: super awesome

I will leave you with that (I hope it catches on).

Dye Fail

Well I have had the last week off from work but I was in Columbia for three days and had a bunch of catching up to do before I could get down to dyeing some new yarns. When I did get around to it I had an epic dye fail. I tried using my regular Jacquard dye on the cotton yarn. I didn't take so when I rinsed the yarn after the dye bath cooled ALL of the dye came out of the yarn. I guess I'll have to get some dye at work and re-do it.

The cotton candy yarn I dyed a few weeks ago might go into the dye bath as well. I'm going to attempt to make a not blinding hot pink yarn and if I put my cotton candy in with it it should go into a half pink half purple yarn. That would be considerably easier to photograph than the super light purple it is now.

In other news I am now in charge of another living thing...my lucky bamboo plant. I named him Brutus and I will love him...and hope that I don't kill him. It shouldn't be a problem this time, the last one I had I put tap water from Columbia in and it killed the whole plant in about 2 days. I've learned my lesson and hope that this one will not peril like the others.