My Weekend In Photos

This past week we were in Nevada County, CA enjoying the ranch life. I do enjoy getting out of the city and seeing the great outdoors.  There is something so serene about nature.

    
    
 We got to visit with a new piggie and the horse… 

  And of course there was some crafting involved. The wooded areas around the ranch were perfect to find pine branches, holly leaves, and acorns. I created a wreath and an Advent centerpiece.

    
  I hope you had a lovely weekend!

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Sweater Nails?!? This is supposedly winter’s newest nail art trend. I really like the cabling pattern, yet I won’t be DIYing these nails. This looks like a job for the professionals. 🙂

 Would you try this trend?

Quick Post

I am grateful for what I am and have. My thanksgiving is perpetual. – Henry David Thoreau 

I ❤️ The Purl Bee

Oh  The Purl Bee how I love thee. Let me count the ways…

• I love your gorgeous fiber choices. Your  designers do an amazing job using great fibers (think alpaca and  merino wool) in amazing colors.
• I love your simple yet classic looks. There is nothing more appealing to me that a clean line with interesting design aspects.
• I love your free patterns not only for the designs, but for their diversity. 
• I love your tutorials, as I am not keen on videos. Your format of pictures and written descriptions is perfect for me.

So why this profession of love? Well I have a big vacation time coming up, and I have decided to make one of Purl Bee’s fabulous designs (if all goes according to plan). Now is the time I need to start planning out my yarn choices so I can order the yarn. Which project would you choose?

*Thank you to Elizabeth Barrett Browning for inspiring this post and for writing one of my favorite sonnets (How Do I Love Thee? Sonnet 43) 

Workin’ the Wool

So I finally finished all of my custom orders. My customer ordered a simple stockinette beanie. Easy enough right? Well not really. She saw the hat below and wanted her hat to be the same colors. Problem is I had no idea where I bought this yarn nor did I remember the brand. Ugh.

Inspiration Colors

I searched yarn.com  and I finally found Plymouth Yarn Boku in Color #10  (wool/silk blend). It was stated to be a self-striping yarn with gradual color shifts and this dye lot featured blues, teals, and greens. Yay!

I have to say I ordered the yarn purely for the colors. I had never used this brand before and the content blend was not my favorite. I find that this type of wool can be scratchy while wearing it. However, the colors were perfect so I took the risk.

The plus of this yarn is the gradual color changes throughout the hat. Visually it looks so pretty. Kind of like sunset in the mountains. Yet, there were two major negatives that I could not get past. #1 the coarseness of the fiber and #2 the fragility of the yarn. Let’s  first talk about the frailness of the yarn. I am a tight knitter and this yarn made me very conscious of that. Three times I pulled too tightly and the yarn broke! Talk about extra ends to weave in *sigh.*

To tackle the roughness factor I knew I could soften up my hat in the blocking process. A little internet research affirmed my thinking and I made sure to give this hat an extra long bath. I soaked the finished hat in a cold water and shampoo bath for about 5 hours. Thankfully, when I checked out the dried hat today, it was much softer. Yay! I had my fiance try it on and he was not bothered by the wool texture. Let’s hope my customer’s son won’t be either.

So would I use this yarn again? Probably not. However, if you enjoy yarns like Noro then this would be a solid substitution.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is 30…

 Yesterday was my 30th birthday. I went through some mixed emotions about turning another decade older. It felt a little sad to be leaving my 20’s behind. However, by the end of the day I was feeling great. Just because I got older doesn’t mean anything had to change. Quite frankly it is just a marker to set new goals to accomplish. 30 is going to be one of my best years yet. I will get to marry my love, travel to new places, and learn a new hobby. What hobby you ask? Yep I am taking up the drop spindle! Someone paid attention to all of those *subtle* emails and got me a great b-day present. In addition to the spindle, I also received lessons. Yay! My first lesson is next week so check back to see the result.

Here is to a year of new adventures!🍾

Just a Thought

He who works with his hands is a laborer.He who works with his hands and his head is a craftsman. He who works with his hands and his head and his heart is an artist.

~Francis of Assisi  

A Wedding and a Craft Fair

Weekends are the best. Especially when there are fun events to fill it. This weekend we headed south to Monterrey/ Carmel for my college friend’s wedding. It was a lovely affair. The setting felt like we were in some forest oasis. There was delicious food, amazing company, and great dance music.

 Sunday was the big Artisian/ Craft Fair for my fiancé’s school. There were many amazing crafters at the event. I was in awe of some of the items people were selling. There was pottery, sewing, body products, and photographs. Sorry I don’t have more photos, but I was busy with my table.   

 I had set a goal of selling 8 items, and I ended up selling 19! Woot woot! It was so great to hear people’s feedback and see them walking around with my products. Nothing beats being able to gain insight into a shopper’s mind. 

If I did another fair I would include more hats with variegated yarn as well as hats with details (e.g, buttons, bows). People really seemed to enjoy the unique items that can only be handcrafted. Yay handmade! 
 

Race Weekend

So I am turning 30 in 11 days. I know I am ONLY turning 30, however, leaving my 20’s behind seems a little scary. Earlier this year I vowed to myself I wanted to achieve a few things before the big 3-0. One thing was to step up my fitness game. Enter my goal: Run in an organized race by November. Well folks I can check that off the list! I ran in my first 5K race this weekend.

The run took place in Golden Gate Park on Halloween morning. Here is a lake in the park. Eerie right?!?

Since the race was on Halloween it was encouraged that you run in costume. I dressed as a black cat and my fiance was Waldo.

The race started and we got off to a great start. Unfortunately, around 1.6 miles I started loosing steam. My fiance thankfully had some encouraging words  and we finished in 30:04!

Boy did that finish line look glorious! I have to say I feel super proud and accomplished. Maybe I can train for bigger races…half marathon maybe? (haha)