Friday, July 27, 2007

Just Dishcloths

Have you joined this group yet? Just Dishcloths

Well, then what are you waiting for? It was started by my girl, Spiff and is a spam-free group that gives you one knit and one crochet dishcloth pattern a month. She also spreads it out over 5 days which is really nice so you can just do a little a day and also make something useful and quick every month. Last month we made a cloth called the Spastic Checkerboard...I would show you a picture but um, I'm already using it.

The fabulous Tink made our group a little button which is beyond fab, so steal it (but please save to your server) and join the group. You'll love it.

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Posted by Wannabe @ 12:51 PM :: (4) comments

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Hello, pictures?

That title is for my sister, Sara. Yeah.

So I've been a bit busy doing this...



...which is why blogging and knitting has been thrown to the wayside. We started homeschool preschool this past week. We aren't going turbo or anything...just spending an hour a day of structured time and then at least one activity in the morning each day.

This is The 'Nut's first try at writing her ABC's:


I think that's pretty amazing for a kid that turned 3 in May. The Mister reminded me that the alphabet ends in Z, not V when he saw this...pa-lease....we stopped when she was clearly getting overwhelmed. I'm all about a no pressure learning environment at this point. So after this we did some stories on animals and played with animal stickers on paper. We also played a game of Chutes and Ladders. That's pretty much the extent of what we are doing right now.
Today we went to the library and I let her pick out and fill a big bag full of books so instead of writing today we will just do an extra long story time and maybe color or do some puzzles. It's so fun watching her learn.

On the knitting front, I did finish Trekking sock #1. I was actually thinking about gifting these to my MIL for Christmas...that is until I tried them on...um, no. They ARE MINE MINE MINE! I'm going to cast on for the second sock tonight at knitting so they should qualify for the SAM4 KAL for August. WOOT! I was lucky to get Karen as my group leader (okay, that sounds like rehab or something)...I'm so lucky and want to make her proud. ;) Mwah.





I'm hoping to cast on for a Melody Shawl this weekend if I have some time and maybe start on a sweater...you know since it's only 100 degrees today. ;)

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Posted by Wannabe @ 12:32 PM :: (6) comments

Friday, July 20, 2007

Green Week Days 4 & 5

Overcommitting. This is my specialty. Like overcommitting on blogging on a week that I have so much going on.

Green Week Day 4: Those who inspire you to live more green

This is an easy one for me. It would be my good friend, Mikael. We met 7 years ago and I've mentioned here before on my blog...she has taught me so much about how to live more simply, live more earth friendly and even introduced me to cloth diapering with the diapers I have been using for 3 years (which incidently I ended up WORKING FOR the company that makes them several years back). I'm also inspired by the all the wonderful ideas here in the Flickr pool on how to live more green.

Green Week Day 5: A promise and a few more ideas

A few more ideas that I haven't brought up yet this week. Go in your bathroom or kitchen and tell me what natural products you use and what you think you can do to change what you use to be more earth friendly and cruelty-free to animals and the environment. There are so many small steps you can take.

To find beauty products that are cruelty-free you can visit: www.leapingbunny.org
To find cruelty-free, earth friendly products you can go here and visit Skin Deep: www.cosmeticsdatabase.com

Here are some products that I use and LOVE that pass both the tests:
Trader Joes Shaving Cream in Honey Mango (paraben free, cruelty-free, and vegetarian)
Trader Joes Moisture Shampoo and Conditioner (cruelty-free, organic, vegetarian and sodium lauryl/laureth sulfate free)
Burt's Bees Citrus and Ginger Root Body Wash(cruelty-free, paraben free and sodium lauryl/laureth sulfate free)


Please share some of your favorite natural products with me.

Kel posted a promise that I absolutely adored on her blog today so to round out Green Week I'm going to cut and paste it here:

My Promise
Dear Earth,
As your friend, I promise to consume (eat, drive, etc…) only when necessary. I promise to stop and actually smell the roses, notice the sunrise and be thankful for all of the natural beauty that surrounds my daily routine. I promise to vote for leaders who are thoughtful of you. I promise to shop locally and support small business. I promise to plant indigenous species. I promise to go to the pound when I want a pet and not a designer puppy warehouse. I promise to always work for peace first. I promise to use what I have, be thrifty, walk whenever possible, and scream from the mountaintops that we can change the tide. I promise to tread as lightly as possible.
xo


I hope this week has inspired you to look around you a little bit more, notice things that can benefit your health and the health of our planet and allow us to preserve our beautiful planet for generations to come.

Oh, and KNIT ON. After all, knitting is green too. It helps curb mass production. ;)

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Posted by Wannabe @ 1:38 PM :: (3) comments

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Green Week Days 2 & 3, COTW and a new sock

Yeah so I meant to post yesterday and then got busy. Sorry ya'll.

Day 2 for Green Week was How to Use Less Water. This is something I'm really bad at. I take 20 minute showers, I do lots of laundry, I rarely turn off the faucet when I brush my teeth....ehem....I'm not so hippy-dippy when it comes to this. So help me! What do you do to conserve water? Give me some practical ideas besides setting a shower timer and turning off the faucet!

Day 3 for Green Week is Using Less.
This is a big one for me. Using less is something you REALLY have to think about on a daily basis. Some of the things we do are: use Klean Kanteens for our water instead of water bottles, running our ceiling fans 24/7 to help use less A/C, unplugging items that rarely get use, using cloth diapers and cloth grocery bags. There are so many ways to use less paper and plastic. If we have to use plastic, say to store our CSA produce, we reuse it. I label all the bags with what items I store in them and since I wash everything once it gets home there is no need to wash the bag between refilling.

What are some of the things you use less of?

I forgot to post this past week's cookie of the week so here goes:


Another cookie pizza. This time I made it on the Pampered Chef Pizza Stone and topped it with kiwi, starwberries and blueberries. We brought this out to my aunt's house when we went over for dinner this past weekend and it was a hit!

I started a new sock this week....Garter Rib from Sensational Knitted Socks in Trekking XXL color #100. I am LOVING this yarn. LOVING. It has a tight twist and doesn't split and the colors are so interesting as they are striping when knit up!


And the reason I can't keep knitting projects or yarn out in the open...Meet Levi, my 5 year old tuxedo cat...who ate the first sock I ever knit...and who loves yarn!



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Posted by Wannabe @ 1:57 PM :: (9) comments

Monday, July 16, 2007

Kermit was SO wrong...

when he said...it's not easy being green. It really is. Easy being green. In response to Kel's blog post about being green and trying to make the planet a better place to live in and to preserve what we have without being wasteful, I decided to join Green Week on Flickr.

Each day this week, in accordance with the "topic of the day", I will be posting something "green" that our family does with hopes to inspire you and give you new ideas to try yourself.

Today's topic is Using Less Paper.

Our family does recycle as much as we can even though we don't have pickup where we are. We take a weekly trip down to the town recycling center with our glass, plastics, paper and cardboard. But that's not quite enough for me. Yes, we recycle, but it's also my goal to recycle less because I am USING less. Take for instance a Starbucks paper cup. I meet up with my local SnB knitters each Thursday night at Starbucks. That is 4 paper cups a month and 4 sleeves a month of waste right? Well my hubby and I also frequent Starbucks during the week. Say once a week...another 2 cups (1 paper..mine, 1 plastic, his) and 1 more sleeve A WEEK. That total could be about 8 paper cups and 4 plastic cups and 8 sleeves A MONTH. Imagine that waste? I've started using a reusable sleeve made custom for me here whenever I'm at Starbucks. I figure this way I save 8 sleeves a month. I've also started using regular mugs at Starbucks when I am going to be staying there instead of going thru the drive thru. Most locations do have large mugs or cups to use...you just have to ask. So how about trying that? Order a CUSTOM $6.15 reusable sleeve (that you will get LOTS of compliments on!...oh and they make super gifts...pair one with a Starbucks gift card for a birthday or Christmas gift) and using a regular mug when staying to chat at your local coffee joint. The earth will thank you for it.

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Posted by Wannabe @ 1:34 PM :: (8) comments

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Cookie of the Week & Peppermint Flavored Heroin

Yummm...doesn't that sound tasty....ye-ah.

Well okay, this is really last week's Cookie of the Week since we haven't made this week's yet...I think we'll make Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies tomorrow. Last week's cookie was 4th of July themed...it came out purdy.



This is a slightly modified Pampered Chef recipe. All you do is bake sugar cookie dough in whatever shape you want...I used my Pampered Chef cookie stone. After it's cooled you mix one 8oz package of cream cheese, 1 cup of sour cream and 1 cup of powdered sugar until mixed well and spread it over the top. Then I like to make mine look like a flag for the 4th with berries, but I've also made this on the Pampered Chef Pizza Stone and topped it with kiwi, berries and pineapple. Yum.

In knitted news...I HAVE FINISHED SOCKS! A PAIR A PAIR A PAIR!!! My Charades are done...I got a little bit carried away with my photo shoot so just humor me already.








Specs:
Pattern: Charade Socks by Sandra Park
Yarn: Yarn Pirate Superwash Sock in Rosie
Needles: Size 1 Susan Bates
Mods: Just picked up 2 extra stitches on each side of the gusset to accomodate for my wide feet...so I worked 64 for the leg and 68 for the foot.
Problems: I encountered some issues with the yarn actually. It bled like CRAZY. Like tomato red, blood red. The white portions on the sock are now dirty pink. I contacted Yarn Pirate and she is sending a new skein to me for free which is over the top sweet. I don't know if it was the SOAK wash (she had someone else have the same problem this week with SOAK and heavy bleeding) or if it was because the yarn wasn't treated or not rinsed out enough...but whatever...she was AWESOME and her yarn is the nicest sock yarn I have knit with! I won't stop either. :)
Awesome scale: 5 out of 5 awesomeness stars. The pattern was AMAZINGLY written. The yarn was perfect to work with and didn't split at all. It was a completely enjoyable first sock PAIR process. :)

As far as the Peppermint Flavored Heroin....well, you'll just have to watch Charade, the movie that the sock pattern was named after to find out what that's all about...you want to see it....Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant..."swoon" and "le sigh" all in one breath.

Up next: Trekking XXL socks in Garter Rib Pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks.

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Posted by Wannabe @ 1:59 PM :: (16) comments

Tuesday, July 3, 2007

Contest Winners

Thanks so much to everyone that left a comment for the drawings. So many of you came out of the woodwork, so to speak. I love getting lurkers to delurk. :)

The drawing happened this morning in my kitchen. Since Miss Buggernut was the object of the contest I let her pick the winners. Each person that correctly guessed that she got a HAIRCUT and was also a knitter went into one drawing. And since not one non-knitter guessed correctly, everyone that commented went into the second drawing for a pair of Puffluna earrings. I cut up pieces of paper for each drawing, put them into separate bowls folded up and let the 'Nut pick one piece out of each bowl. And the winners are:

Karen from Musings of a (mostly) Self Taught Knitter wins a skein of Plucky Knitter sock yarn in a custom Wannabe colorway

Embee from Logorrhea wins a pair of tag earrings from Puffluna.

CONGRATS LADIES!!!

Don't worry all...I'll be holding another contest soon to give away more prizes from my favorite indie shops! Stay tuned.

And without further ado....the haircut pics....Miss Nut got 7 INCHES cut off last Wednesday!




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Posted by Wannabe @ 11:00 AM :: (9) comments

musac love

XM Station 818 - Flight 26

podcast love

reading

The Twilight Series by Stephenie Meyer

viewing

Fringe, Mad Men, Man vs. Wild

eating

Vegan Yummy

drinking

Coffee with soy milk

exercising

Every moment of my day is exercise..hello, I chase after a 4 year old!

knitting

Clapotis, Donyales Socks, Highly Regarded Mitts, Berry Hill Mitts, Philadelphia Eagles Broadripples

doin' this

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spoil me handmade

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