May Day YARN SALE!

Knit Wit (no website to link, sorry) in Olathe, KS is having a May Day Yarn sale TOMORROW (Saturday May 1st). I don't remember exactly the percent off, but she has some SERIOUS sales!

Yarn shop is located in the mini-mall at 151st and Ridgeview, just east of I-35 in Olathe, KS. Actual address: 1825 S Ridgeview Rd, Olathe, KS 66062. Phone: 913-780-5648.

I got the Classic Elite 4 Seasons yarn from Jan's sale bins there at something like $3/skein. Unbelievable deals, go on and get you some. Sorry for the last minute notice, I totally forgot.

The Happy Homemaker's Kitchen Counter

Nothing like fresh handspun yarn soaking on the counter, huh? Dangit. Sure wish I WAS a happy homemaker. I'd have my day all mapped out...
wake up, get kids ready for school
have a hot tea and check on the etsy shop, return any emails, list more yarn
Do housework for 2 hours
Lunch
Spin, knit or dye for the afternoon
Meet the kids after school
Cook a family dinner from scratch
Spend evening with family, watch star trek with husband, knit a bit
Dream the blissful sleep of those that don't have to work a full time job.

*sigh* Husband thinks my day would be more like...
wake up grumpy, knit knit knit, slam something on the table for dinner, knit knit knit.

Guess we'll never know for sure.....


The clearing of the cotton stash continues. I'd show a completed photo of the purple sizzle sweater IF I COULD FIND THE DAMN THING! Yes, I've once again lost not only yarn, but an entire sweater IN MY STASH. I know it's in there somewhere, just can't seem to find the thing anywhere. Last seen at the Sunflower Knitting Guild meeting. I remember shoving it into a drawer..... it only needs blocking and ends woven in. Damn.

This is Tomato from the book No Sheep for You! It's also now available as a free download from ravelry. I still need to do neck & sleeve edging and it'll be done. I've got an embarrasing amount of cotton still in the stash so will have many more summer sweaters for my daughter and I hopefully completed soon.

Used up some leftover artyarns supermerino for picc line covers. Pretty cool how the pooling changed with the different stitch counts on the two tubes, huh?

Picc Line Cover FREE PATTERN

Click the button above for a ravelry link to my free pattern for knitting up Picc Line Covers. Picc lines are used for people with CF (cystic fibrosis) or for those fighting other long term illnesses that require them to have iv antibiotics/meds administered through a picc line. It's like a cosy for your arm. :) It helps cover the bandaging and helps keep the little tube end from getting caught up on anything. It's easily removed or pushed up/down for nurses to check the picc line when needed.

When Joey was in the hospital they recommended we cut off an old sock. Ick. First of all, totally not fashionable. Secondly, it doesn't fit and flops about. Thirdly, I'm a KNITTER for cripes sake. I can do better! A few years back, I knitted up a couple picc covers for donating to some CF-ers I'd learned about from a post on the blog FINDING JENN. My son was so healthy at the time, it didn't even dawn on me that I may want to knit one for him. Ah well. Thanks to the donation of some scrap superwash yarn from Chery I was able to whip one up in an evening for my son. **Not that I had no superwash worsted yarn, people the size of my stash is a scary thing...I just had no time between running back & forth to/from the hospital and home and work and such that she just told me she'd bring it to me. I love knitting friends so very much!

ANYWAY, it's a great project. I recommend using superwash wool as it's soft, washable and retains its shape, bouncing back through all the wear & tear. Wool, wool blends or whatever you've got can work. Just please put a care instruction card with any you make. Our local guild has this project in queue for a charity project soon, but I thought I'd get the word out for anyone interested in making a difference with some of your left over yarn!

Please click HERE for a map of U.S. Care centers from the CF Foundation's website. Feel free to rav msg me TREASUREGODDESS or email me at TreasureGoddessATkcDOTsurewestDOTnet (replacing the at's and dot's with the symbols--you know what I mean) if you'd like to send any picc covers to me to distribute.

There's also a group on ravelry now! Click HERE to check out the group!

I was lucky enough to meet (via ravelry) the woman who inspired the picc line covers, findingher. She rocked. I love that she used knitting, crocheting and crafting to help her deal with a really crappy illness and its effects on her life. I am always amazed at how much knitting can help us deal with the hard times in life. Elizabeth Zimmermann really had it right..."Knit on, with confidence and hope, through all crises."

Thanks all, happy knitting!

Light Box, TreasureGoddess Style

There are some amazing tutorials on building light boxes out of pvc pipe, white material, clip on lights, etc out there on the innernets. This is my high tech version, which works very well, I may add. I've got a white-backed quilt thrown over our table & two chairs in the screened-in porch. It works great, lets me get pretty good shots on sunny or cloudy days and easy set-up/take-down. I think it's fabulous. Cost $0, and nothing extra to store away in our overcrowded house!

Yarn. Don't leave home without it.

The yarn gods must be having quite the chuckle. In one day I've been stuck in traffic, on an hour and a half conference call AND waited in a doctor's office for 25 minutes. All. Without. Any. Knitting.

The horror! I normally have a project bag with a sock in progress in the truck's console. There's usually another WIP shoved in the bottom of my work backpack. The current project is carried about in my purse. Normally none of these gets any play time during the day, but they're there. Carried about. Just. in. case.

Well, for some freaky reason, I decided to CLEAN OUT the work backpack. AND the purse. And the sock project bag is still in the garage from when Jeff took the truck to the farm. I have this totally rational and not-at-all overly dramatic fear that my project bag will return from one of his farm weekends full of ticks, so all forms of fiber are removed from the vehicle until it's deemed tick-free. Issues? I gots them.

I'm gonna restock my emergency knitting to never have to live like this again. I don't know how the non-knitters do it. Sitting in a waiting room without knitting? Just SITTING there? cripes almighty. I can tell you one thing, it won't happen to me again. Emergency knitting project. It's a good thing.

Happy weekend everyone! I plan on spinning up some of this loverly wool fiber from wooliebullie I got at Knitting in the Heartland. Also am knitting away on cotton stash...hope to have a few FO pics next week.

Felted Wool Bead Bracelet Tutorial

Here's a long & visual tutorial post for you. If you'd rather just save time & effort, feel free to check out my etsy shop TreasureGoddess and buy a completed bracelet for yourself or a friend. :)

SUPPLY LIST:
Felted Wool Beads (create your own or look on www.etsy.com for suppliers) in ranges of colors/sizes. I make most of my bracelets with combinations of sizes 1 cm, 1.5 cm, and 2 cm.
Sequins 5mm size, picked up at the local craft store.
Elastic Beading Cord I found Stretch Magic .5mm size worked well. Strong and thin enough to make it through the wool beads.
Needles I used DMC Chenille needles size 22 (longer needle & sharp)
Misc silver beads picked up from local craft store. Mix & match for a unique look.
Glue I HIGHLY recommend G-S Hypo Cement. It's got a needle like tip for accuracy and promises NOT to glue your fingers together, but is waterproof and super sturdy.
scissors

Click the picture to see a larger view














TreasureGoddess Etsy Shop



Happy Crafting!

My dirty little secret....

I'm knitting a summer sleeveless sweater. No surprise there, right? Well, the surprise/little secret is that it's, well, knit of *cough* *cough* cotton *cough* *cough*. I know it. It's disgusting. Just after blasting the world of knitters out there for not following through with their sheepy selves and succumbing to the NORM by knitting with cotton instead of wool as soon as it gets hot outside, I go and do the very same thing! Oh the shame! cripes. Well, after ONE day of over 80 degrees inside my house I decided that I was, in fact, insane to avoid cotton yarn. I went immediately to break out the cotton. SO immediately I didn't even skein & soak the crap. Nope. I am knitting this frogged and kinked up 100% mercerized WORSTED WEIGHT cotton yarn as is from those horrid little balls. Wound way back in the day before my skeiner & ball winder (or the yarn baller as my husband calls it).

I'm knitting another Sizzle by Wendy Bernard, who's patterns I heart very very much. I knit the one linked here in red mercerized COTTON and wear it often, so now it'll have a twin in purple. It is a pretty fast knit, I've knit up the back and half the front over the weekend.

BABY UPDATE: Niece baby is gorgeous and healthy as can be. Got to hold her for about 2 hours the other night at the hospital. We rubbed bellies and I got her to fart then quit squawking and was happy as could be. It's a gift. Babies love me, almost makes me want more of them, but then I remember that they get bigger and start moving about on their own. I'll stick with Aunt-Hood. It's a good gig.

COW BABY UPDATE: 3 cow babies delivered healthy so far. Seven more pregnant mommas waiting still. Here's a new little one only a few hours old. Jeff & his buddy helped with the delivering. I stayed in KC and left the cow baby belly rubbing to the husband. :)


Edited to add...I am in NO WAY bagging on those that knit with cotton. I respect you from afar. I am more of a sheepy wool kind of knitter. I'm known for wearing 100% merino sleeveless sweaters through the 90+ degree HUMID weather of KC. I don't mind WEARING cotton, I'm just not a fan of KNITTING with the stuff. The combination of HOT FREAKING WEATHER coming and a stash quite crammed with cotton yarn from my first days as a knitter means more of these cotton knit sweaters are probably in my future.

Farm Babies and People Babies!

Two of our momma cows have had their calves! YAY! Now we've got 8 more preggo momma cows left to go. We're actually total suburbanites with a partnership in a farm about 1 1/2 hrs south of KC. Ok, I'M a total suburbanite with a massive fear of ticks. My husband and children are much more country-acclimated, but there's hope for me yet. Hubby is on his way down to help out our partner with the birthing and such.

The "Crazy Momma" as we call the cow in the photos below is one that's still expecting now. These photos are about a year ago, so she's much bigger now. I just love the expression on the face of the grumpy cow on the right, don't you? I've SEEN that look directed at me many, many times in my life from other NORMAL moms, so I relate to "Crazy Momma" and sure wish her luck & a speedy gentle birth of her calf. A year back, Jeff had dumped off one of the hay bales that was also covered with vines & growing bits of vegetation into the pasture. All the other momma cows were patiently taking mouthfuls from the edges, but Crazy Momma went busting right into the center of the bale, getting her head stuck and hollering while flipping her head all about, finally pulling free and wearing her little stylish wreath of vegetation for a couple of days. She even seemed to sashay her big ol cow butt around the place, quite pleased with her new stylish accessories.

In other baby news, one of my sister in laws is scheduled for her c-section TOMORROW and somehow the idea of KNITTING for the new baby just didn't quite get into my head. HOLY CRAP! We're 90% sure it's going to be a little girl (their 2nd) but the little one was not cooperating in her sonograms, so you never know! I'd better whip up a little hat or something tonight, huh? PEOPLE BABY hat, not cow baby hat. This newest member of our family is the little sibling to THIS pile of cuteness. If the new baby has a tenth the personality of the big sister, my brother & his wife will sure have their hands full. I LOVE that girl, can't wait to meet the new little one! BABIES!!!! I freaking LOVE being an aunt!!!!!

There may be a sighting today.....

Nice weather, good sunlight, green grass, bags full of handspun yarn......
There may have to be a CYG photo-shoot sighting today.
The Crazy Yarn Girl shoots again?

Have a fabulous fiber filled day everyone! As I click through blogs admiring the beautiful flowers that are the sign of spring approaching, I realized that in our own strange little way, we've got signs of spring as well. Instead of tulips & daffodills pushing up through the soil, we've got scatterings of colorful bits of popped water balloons among the grass from when the temps hit 50 a week ago and the children decided they MUST don swimsuits, have a water fight and jump on the trampoline with water balloons. Hey, I never said we had SMART children, just CREATIVE ones. They spent the remainder of that day wrapped in blankets shivering, but proud as heck of their adventure.

My signs of spring are that I'm drawn to pastel shades of wool. Wool. It's the every season marker, right? Have you heard of those knitters that PUT THE WOOL AWAY for the spring & summer knitting? They knit something called COTTON. Insane. Freaking insane. Oh, and that just means MORE WOOL FOR ME! WEEEEEEEEEEEE Here's one of my little signs of spring. I think this one's going to have to stay mine.....not sure what it wants to be when it grows up. BFL & Shetland wool just scream spring, right? I'm thinking maybe an easter bonnet style headband....it could work. And yes, I do realize that orange in my stash may not scream SPRING to anyone else, since it often screams SUMMER, WINTER and FALL. But that's what this yarn is screaming to me today. I can't help it if I've got schizophrenic yarn. :)