Fun with Knitting (and Quilting)

Is Greener Cleaner?

I often wonder with all this talk of going green and companies offering "greener" cleaning formulas what's the hype? DO they clean as well? because generally they cost more...WELL I want to be greener and save some green! So thanks to Pinterest (are you a member yet? if not you should go join!) not only do I have a new addiction, but I have found a bunch of greener and cheaper alternatives to all those sparkly bottles you see in the store...but yeah they sound good but do they work?

First up Shower and Tub cleaner! I was skeptical at first... OK this stuff is amazing!!! It works better than any commercial stuff I've tried...and believe me I've tried tons of them! I used green Dawn, just because that was what I had on hand!  Just mix this up...spray your shower walls down  let it set a bit wipe it down! It really gets rid of the soap scum and hard water marks! EASILY!  I love it!

So now after some Rave reviews I've caved and made my own laundry detergent from Being Creative. I've been contemplating trying this for some time... It was super easy to mix up! (ALL the ingredients could be found at my local Walmart, though I already had the giant bin of OxiClean) I just used a plastic storage bin to mix up all the ingredients, and being lazy I used my food processor to grate the Fels-Naptha. (totaly looks like shredded cheese!) Which totally freaked out Amos but he quickly recovered and came back into the kitchen. I put some of the mix into a cute little container to keep in the laundry room. Filled up a 6lb empty Oxiclean bucket and I need to get myself another little container to keep the rest in (the bin it's in now isn't air tight-ish....) I'm figuring this will last us for close to a year! (since there's only 2 of us in the household) Seeing as I was spending $15 or so a month on detergent $20 for the year is a pretty grand deal! (I'm figuring my per load cost at about 11 cents per load homemade as opposed to around 80 cents a load for the commercial stuff!)

Next to try maybe dishwasher detergent? and Homemade 409 spray...OH and the fabric softener! I may be obsessed!

More needle organization and Amos

So my pockets I ordered came in and then I started organizing.. ...It should be much easier to find my needles now but I'm not sure I love this system. It's actually going to take up more room than my old messy basket....hmmmm It's not quite done yet but it's almost there. I'm still working on figuring out organizing my sock needles.

And Amos just loves to look out the back window and watch the dogs behind us playing in the snow!

And he's decided he likes his coat ....he will prance around in it when it's cold...he thinks he's pretty cool when he goes on his walk in it! Then after his walk, it's time for a nap!

Toby says hey don't forget about me! I'm cute too!

Amos!

So I sort of left of the fact that we had to have our Dear Sweet Abby put to sleep in September. She would have been 8 this month. She had what we believe was a VERY bad reaction to Rimadyl. I tell you  no other dog I have will ever take it again. It was sad and horrible and I still miss her so much! I often feel like it was my fault for giving it to her and not getting her back to the vet fast enough and insisting on finding out what was wrong before it was too late....I still have a very hard time talking about it.

 

So rather in wallow in sadness(which is what I was doing)...we decided to get another rescue dog...we were in no hurry but figured we'd troll around petfinder and see what there was to see...we knew we wanted a lab/lab mix 1-3 years old...and yeah the first pup we went to see came home with us! He came up licked me and sat on my lap! He's from Canine Lifeline (And yes he came with name-we thought about changing it, but Amos fits him, really!)They had the cutest video of him posted and yeah we had to go see him!  Looks like the video's not there any more bummer!
And what a joy he has been! He's such a good boy! He's just over 1 year old and we think a German Shorthair Pointer/Lab mix. He's wiggly, silly, and cuddly and just a cute little (well 65lbs) sweetie! He and Toby get along well and he even likes the kitties (though they are still unsure of him!)

"Mom do I really have to wear this coat?" Yes Amos, you aren't double coated like your brother!

I am out of control!

Well let me start by saying it's not uncommon that I have several many projects going at once. There are usually several different types of knitting (socks, sweaters, shawls) going on-you different types for different occasions. Then there's the sewing and quilting too.

But I currently have 6 yes six sweaters in rotation on the needles(and one needing sleeves set in...sigh...just think if I'd just focus on one than I get it finished...LOL So here they are in no particualr order:

The Greenfield Cardigan, I have stalled out on the garter sleeves in the round. I do not enjoy this. I think I'm going to rip it back and knit the sleeve flat and seam it.

Up next isMothed from the Deep Fall 2010 Knitty. I saw this fell in love and in a weak moment purchased the yarn. It's a very simple knit...just knit knit knit...great for days with low/no brain power.

Then there'sLia also from Knitty The body has been done since October. During my 2 snow days last week I knit up the sleeves & blocked now I just need to sew them in

Fourth is Seneca by Jared Flood, this is out of the fabulous new Malibrigo Rios..the yarn is scrumptious! It is done up to the arms/yoke. I haven't knit the sleeves yet. I got put aside when...

CKW decided to to a KAL for Dark and Stormy by Baby Cocktails. I did manage to use stash yarn from my ill fated February Lady sweater. I am going to run out of yarn though, so I just purchased antoher skein from a fellow raveler. Hopefully it will spur me on to finish it up. (Plus seeing Corrie's makes me want to finish mine! Isn't hers fabulous?!)

So what's a girl to do when she has all these sweaters on the needles...start another of course...this one is Pasha a free pattern. I plan on modifying it to not be cropped....I just couln't resist...

All these sweaters will hopefully be finished up before the end of sweater weather..though with todays temps being in the low teens it doesn't seem as if spring will ever come..so I guess I'll keep on knitting.

Toby says.. all mama ever does is knit!

A little tip for your Saturday

So don't you just hate it when you are working with a knitting book or some other book that is soft cover and keeps flopping shut on you and you lose your page, or worse break the binding on it?

Well here's my tip for the day...get them spiral bound! For a few bucks you can go to Kinkos, or better still (or should I say cheaper) OfficeMax or any place like that..they will do it for you! It's so nice! Makes leaving a page out and open for you while you work a short row heel or even for when I try to copy a pattern for myself(I like to write all over them but not in my books). I am slowly getting my most used knitting  books done! It's great...Now that I'm thinking of it...I should get some of my cookbooks done too!

Here's my 3 latest editions:  
Nice neat and so much easier to deal with!  
 I will say that getting these three books done cost me $14 at Office Max. I had 2 done awhile back at Kinko's and paid about that much for two so OM seems a bit more economical...I'll be going there from now on!

Enjoy!

Today a recipe

Today's post is brought to you by WINTER...yes it did finally decide to come back and with a vengeance...it's cold here and for me cold weather means tea, hot tea...lots of tea...and lots of kinds of tea. I have found myself in love with loose leaf tea lately I have this really cool teamaker I believe I've blogged about it before. I love it...Any whoo some on someones blog (I can't remember now) I came across this recipe for Chai.  It's super easy and super delicious. I mix up a batch and it keeps in my fridge for a few weeks or till it's gone..

 

Instant Chai Mix

1 tsp ground Ginger
1 tsp ground Cardamom (you can get it at most grocery stores or World Market)
1/2 tsp ground Cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground Nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground Cloves
1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk (I use the low-fat kind I'm sure you could use fat free too)


Mix all the dry ingredients together. Place the sweetened cond. milk in a container and slowly add the dry ingredients mixing in well and thoroughly. Keep mixture refrigerated in an air-tight sealed container (I use gladware or tupperware).

OK, so now that you have this sugary concoction, how do you use it? Simple, simple.

1. Brew some strong tea (I like to use strong an actual Masala Chai tea blend but any tea is good. I have even used your basic Lipton tea. I also think you probably want to stay away from flavored teas as the flavors may compete with each other.)

2. Add mixture to your tea to taste (I use about 1 tablespoon per a big mug of tea).

3. Mix thoroughly and ENJOY!

The Final Four

Wow again I have been a terrible blogger. I swear that I will get on a schedule, then I don't..Oh well. Summer has flown by again, and I start back to work tomorrow. Another exciting year I'm sure!

So in my flurry to finish up some things before I go back to school I bring you  4  sweaters finished in the last few days! The three blue/teal ones were all finish ups. The pink sweater was a cast on Friday night at 11PM and Bind off Sunday night at 11PM. More details on each after the official photo shoot by Pam at Knit Night Thursday.

From left to right we haveKnitting Pure and Simple Neck Down Wrap Cardigan, Girl Fridayfrom Knitty, Mythosalso from Knitty, and Wrenna from French Girl Knits.

 Wrap Cardi and Girl Friday

Mythos and Wrenna

A pretty good way to finish up summer vacation I'd say!

This is why

Turquoise/teal is one of my 2 favorite colors:

Look at that water it is SO beautiful!

On the other hand this is NOT why purple is my other favorite color! Wow was the main area of this ship purple, and sparkly metallic purple no less! WITH color changing LEDs inside!  I LOVE purple but man this was a bit much purple even for me! But the cruise was still a great time!

Ken and I just got back from a spur of the moment cruise. About two weeks ago we decided to book a short cruise for a quick get away, so we did. I had a voucher from the airline so my flight was free, and Ken's was fairly cheap. Then we got a good deal on a 3 day cruise leaving out of Port Canaveral. Our ship left Thursday and was back in port Sunday morning. We went to Nassau, Bahamas for a day.and had a day at sea. When we got to the airport in Orlando it was only 10 AM and cruise didn't leave till 6, so since we couldn't check our bag, we rented a car, found an outlet mall (yay for Loft outlet), and had a nice lunch. Then we drove back to airport (yay for Sprint Navigation on my phone). Just as we were about to start boarding a huge storm blew through and blew the luggage belt thingy into our plane apparently putting a hole in the side (boo for delays, Yay for knitting to keep me busy) So eventually the airline got another plan and we were on our way several hours late. But we did make it home safe and sound, about 1AM this morning. Luckily I didn't have to work today (boo only a few more weeks off...Yay a few more weeks off) but Ken did..bummer for him. So I'm trying to get laundry done and what not...I still feel a bit like I'm moving on the ship though LOL, hopefully that will clear up before golf league tonight!

Tea Time

So I have been knitting(the broken rib tank...and the spring garden tee for adults, cowl neck tank, and a wrap cardi) and sewing(made a baby quilt, made a batik quilt top, and sewed like 3 skirts)  like a mad woman....more on that later!

But I have another obsession these day too...iced tea... a little les than a year ago I discovered Teavana..and a whole new "world of tea" opened up. I've always liked iced tea and hot tea (I'm not a a big pop-or soda-depending where you live- drinker) but relegated myself to to the tea bags in the store. After visiting a Teavana in Columbus and spending about $80 on tea and a tea brewerI spent most of my time making hot tea..since it was coming into winter and fall. But now summer is here and all I want is iced tea..and so now I have all these wonderful different loose leaf teas..Rooibos, Mate, Herbal, Black, and Green. I'm having a great time mixing them all up and creating fabulous blends...I think the last two days I've drank 32 ounces each day! My favorites are theRaspberry Riot Lemon Mate, andBlueberry Bliss Rooibos these days...I mix them with black tea, or my herbal Strawberry lemonade...they are just DELICIOUS!

Toby is not impressed....

Have a great 4th of July weekend!

With a heavy heart

It is with deep sadness that I say good by to my dear friend Noemi. She was a wonderful & kind person, and amazing teacher who was loved by everyone who's life she touched. She was tragically taken away from us too soon.

I am still numb and in shock. It was less than a week ago that we were talking about what we would all do on on our summer vacations. The what if's of the accident still hang in the air.

After she passed I was sitting outside and a hummingbird flitted by and paused on my shoulder for just a few brief seconds. I take it as a message from her...letting me know that she is OK. Her suffering is over and she is now at peace with the Lord. Please pray for family, they need all the support they can get.

I love you Noemi and will miss you dearly.