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!

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!

Toocute!

 

Too cute not to share! Merry Christmas everyone!

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!

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!

Spring break!

So this year there is no cruise or trip to Vegas, but I've been having a grand time none the less! Last Sat. we had my niece's wedding shower..and then Sunday was the traditional hang out with family Easter. Yesterday I went shopping with friends at Grove City PA outlets..and scored some good deals on summery stuff. (they weather has been so great I only want to think about summer stuff).

Then todayPam, Jessica, and I headed down to Smith's in Oberlin..shocker..I had never been there before! How did I miss this amazing yarn shop? Oh such nice stuff! and Nice people! Plus their 100% wool was on sale! So I scored well...got a skein of Ella Rae for a shawl, some Queensland Pima Fresca for some sort of summer cardi, and some bright blue Queensland Rustic Wool for something else.

Next we stopped at Bead Paradise, so many amazing beads, I left with a collection of little cat heads for some stitch markers.

Then we headed off to lunch, which was a hard decision because there are many yummy choices,but we decided on Lorenzo's for pizza and it was delicious...Then we had to do a travel through Ben Franklin, because why not...I even managed to pick up 2 skeins of dishcloth cotton there!

A jolly good day I say...now I'm waiting on the rain and cold weather to come rolling in..Perhaps I shall straighten up the yarn room....

Oh Happy Day

So today was a wonderful wonderful snow day. I knew early in winter (when we had NO snow) that it would come back to bite us...and well February has been snowy.

But I'm not complaining because I got today off..What did I do with my time you ask?

My day started like this

Well I did a tiny bit of sewing...I hemmed 2 pairs of pants..was going to make a bag, then I didn't.

I frogged 3 sweaters for the Ravelympics

(I only have picts of 2 so far)

I also finished my Burberry Inspired Cowl.

Then I was nice and shoveled the driveway (our snowblower is broken), I swore I wasn't going to clear it but I did...must have been inspired by the cowl...

Then I thought about doing some more sewing but I didn't (my sewing machine just came back from the hospital)..My "unofficial Ravelympics" project was calling me. I'm hoping to finish it by Sunday night. I can't officially use it but I cast on too soon, but not soon enough for it to be a WIP either..so it's my own crazy goal.

Abby Says "Lets go play in the snow!!!"  Toby Says "Lets just take a nap!"

A week late

and a dollar short? LOL

Well I don't make New Year's Resolutions. But I do have some goals for myself this year..

1. I really need to get more organized! I've started that will my sewing room. It's a much more functional space now! My goal is to try to keep it that way!

2. Since my sewing room is more organized I hope to do a bit more sewing. I have several quilt tops that are done...and the quilts need to be put together and quilted!

3. I'd also like to try to do a bit of garment sewing.

4. I need to slowly go through the rooms of the house and clean up and get rid of stuff I'm not using. Starting with my kitchen!

5. I need to go through my UFO's and decide am I going to finish or frog?

HMM I think that's a good enough list for now!

Happy New Year everyone! I hope it's a good one!

AHHHH organization

With everyone posting their recap of 2009 I thought hmm I should do one. Then I though nah...

So here's what I've been up to...

My sewing/crafting room looked like this:

Disaster Central. It was getting worse and worse. (This is all the junk that was in the dresser) Finally I couldn't take it anymore! I set aside time from vacation to revamp and reorganize the space! I finally got rid of the old (like I got it from a friend who was throwing it out-it was in her POTTING shed! my first year teaching-16 years ago) dresser.

 We had a cube book case in our basement we weren't using anymore and bought some bins for that to replace my drawers.

Then I bought 3 bookcases to replace my mismatched cheapo ones, hey they were on sale at Target. And more fabric bins for those. It looks so much better and streamlined...though my hubby laughs and says you have to much crap in here! (I haven't even yet ventured into the bedroom where most of the yarn is!)

It's almost done.A few projects to finish up and put away yet. I need a couple more bins, and I want to get some binder clips and cards to label the bins on the outside so I don't have to dig every time I'm looking for something. I'm so much happier with the space! AHH doesn't that make you feel better? I know I do..I was ispired to make yet another box bag!

Happy New Year Everyone....

DONE!!!

OH thank God the scrubbies are DONE!!! It was down to the wire...but they are finished and packaged. I love these scrubbies but man are they a pain in the butt to make. The netting is just so difficult to work with....

In other crafting news I made up some wine charms for a friend at work.

Next I decided the ramekins my mom wanted for Christmas needed a little decorating...

They were just plain white...I did resist the urge to get more creative and just did this simple band.

Then after finishing the scrubbies, I decided that I should make my aunt a cowl for Christmas.(crazy I know) I have her in my dad's  family exchange and her only idea was "a donation to your favorite charity" so I had some Patons Shetland Chunky Tweed in my stash so I decide to make a cowl to go along with the donation. Now this doesn't need to be done till Jan 2 and it's on size 13s so I'm not to worried about it. I'm using the Yarn Harlot's pattern for the 1 row scarf..only I'm making a cowl and I think I'm going to add 3 buttons to it..should be cute.

I will leave you with the adorable snowmen my students made for their parents for Christmas. We made the pom poms and everything.They were also a pain to make them and I'll never do them again, but man are they stinkin' cute!!

Merry Christmas Everyone!