15 Minutes of Magic

So, what with prepping for a fiber show and a busy kid oriented schedule, my house has gotten a little...well...slobbish.  So, I am doing something that has worked for me in the past and is already working for me now.

I am taking 15 minutes per day per 'hot' spot in my house to set a timer and work diligently on that area.  I have already done our bedroom and living room and need to also do the kitchen.  If you were to come over, you would not think that my house was tidy in any way, but already with just the 15 minutes I spent in the LR and BR, I can tell that it is not quite so bad.

So, everyday this week, I will spend 15 minutes a day in each of these rooms and by the end of the week I will have dedicated over and hour to each room.  Because I certainly do not have 3 hours in one day to clean right now.  By next week, I will branch out and work on other hot spots while spending 10 or so minutes maintaining the rooms I have already done.

This is nowhere near the overwhelming thoughts of hankering down and doing it all in one day.  And maybe the habit will stick this time.

Embalm and Scary On

I did a small update last night at The Shop of some fun seasonally colored fibers and a couple of bags with some awesome fabric that I found.  It's a play off of 'Keep Calm and Carry On'.

I made a couple of the medium sized drawstring bags that I make out of fat quarters and then I experimented with making an unlined tote out of the remaining half yarn.  It has french seams and I finished off the top with some bias tape since that part is pretty ugly and usually hidden by the lining on my lined bags.

With this color way, 'October', I just used all of the colors that make me think of this time of year.  So there's black, pumpkin orange, acid green, and purple.  This one is on BFL.

This one is a take on another color way of mine-'Harvest Moon'.  Only instead of gold, I used the bright green and it's name is 'Zombie Moon'.  This has dark blue, purple, black, and acid green and is also on BFL.

 This one?  I was playing around in my dye pots trying to achieve a gradient.  I have experimented in the past with it and had varying degrees of success.  This one turned out well.  It's blue, dark pink, and orange on organic polwarth.

So, I have also been working on relabeling my products.  Yarn and fiber will now have a label like the one on the left.  My old labels were mostly hand written and hung off of the skeins/braids.  I was going for a more professional/less mangleable tag.  I think it looks good,

 This is most of the fiber that I am labeling and naming to take to Kid n Ewe.

 These are the skeins of DK that I am taking to Kid n Ewe.

Right!  So I have been a busy girl-and still having trouble getting time at ye old sewing machine.  I hope I can do it all!

A Weekend 'Off'

Well, off of the internet for the most part.  I stayed busy and read a book instead of putzing around on the interwebs when I wasn't up to my elbows in dye pots.  I dyed the rest of the fiber for Kid N Ewe in November and a few skeins of self striping yarn.  My goal is to dye 2 skeins of self striping each night until I have what i planned.  I also am gonna dye up some District 12 because I have none of that and it is a very eye catching and striking yarn.  It's my color way that I dyed to look like coal fire.

I am sharing a booth with a couple of other ladies-Rebecca of Lazy Cat Knits and Katie of The Barbed Dragon.  We are all a little Doctor Who mad, so there are plans for a Doctor Who section in the booth.  Hopefully it will go over well!

I ma having trouble, of course, getting everything done in the speed that i want to get it done.  I have barely sewed at all, but hopefully now that the lions share of the dyeing is done, I can buckle down and get to cutting and sewing.  And, if it's sunny enough later I plan on having a small shop update.  I got this great fabric on a whim that says 'Embalm and Scary On' and I have some bags that I made with it.

Just Keep Swimming

Today I went swimming for the first time since before the surgery.  I swam a whole 100 meters, but I figure little steps to start up again.

My goal is to swim at least twice a week, walk at least three times a week, and bike at least once a week.  I am hoping that at the least I can keep my joints lubricated, and maybe even feel good too.

Trucktruck Go Boom

(I did try to blog last night from my ipad since R was playing a game on our computer, but the ipad was glitching on this site)

So, a few weeks ago, I get stuck with our 1995 Toyota 4Runner when I have to go to Cleburne.  Generally Ray drives it to work because I go more miles in a day than he does and the truck gets something like 12 miles to the gallon.  I noticed that the truck was vibrating when I went above 50mph.  I thought, 'Well, THAT's new'.  so I tell R and blah blah blah, he adds transmission fluid? and that seems to calm it down for a couple of days.

On Tuesday, I went to my knitting group and he went to class. He came home and was all, 'Gah, the truck is gonna splode!!!'.  So the boys and I take him to work yesterday morning and I call my mechanic-He has been my mechanic since I was a teen and he is fair and good (David at D&H Auto Repair in Arlington if you need someone).  David says, 'Welp, usually when a car vibrates like that its the tires but I can't tell till I look at it.  Bring it in tomorrow.' so I say okay, hang up, and call Ray.

I tell Ray what David had said and we decide to take it up to our tire guy in town so we can see if that is what the problem is and save a trip to Arlington.  I get a call on the way home from tap class from R asking me to pick him up at the tire place.  Because sure enough one of the tires IS bald on one side.  But That's Not All!  The CV joints are in really bad shape and the Universal Joints are not even there anymore.  I think there was something about the drive shaft?  Apparently, it was a miracle that nothing had gone kablooie or that our engine hadn't just fallen out in the middle of the road.  R, understandably, didn't feel safe taking it on a 30 minute interstate trip to Arlington.  So, the guy at our tire shop has hired a mechanic to fix bigger trouble and he is gonna get it so that we don't risk dropping our transmission in the middle of the road.  But, from what I can tell, there is more work than that that needs to be done.

::SIGH::  I KNOW, logically, that having a cash car is cheaper since you only have to pay repairs and not a bunch of interest on a car payment each month, but this is hard!  I feel like we wouldn't keep having mechanical problems if we could afford a car payment every month.  We pay less on getting the truck fixed in a year than we would pay for a down payment, monthly payments, and higher insurance each year.

But, I am not gonna lie.  Sometimes I want something shiny and less than 5 years old.

October Phat Fiber Box, A Coupon, and A Give Away

This months theme for the Phat Fiber Box is 'Brewing up a Storm'.  Again, not one that gets my fires going, but I was inspired none the less.  That is one of the things that I like about participating in Phat Fiber-I am pushed artistically to do things and be inspired by things that I wouldn't otherwise think about.

This month I dyed 2 yarns on my Silky Sock base-80% Merino/20% Silk 2 Ply and man, is it a lovely yarn.  it has such a lovely sheen to it.  And I like that it is not super wash, so it will hold a 'block' for people that want to do do true lace work with it.

                                                              Dark and Stormy......

Sunshine on My Shoulder.........

And I also sent in some Spooky Witch bags.....

I had to take my photos this month with my phone because I am pretty sure O has absconded with the camera to make 'movies' with it.  So, I think it is in their room.

Here's a super secret coupon for the 3 people that read my blog....

Use PhatOctoberBlog to receive 25% off your order of $30 or more at Brazen Stitchery. This coupon expires at the end of October.

Also, if you do not feel up to shopping right now, this is your opportunity to WINA BAG!

Comment on this blog post by October 20 and a randomly drawn commenter will receive a small project bag made out of the above witchy materiel.  Good luck and may the odds be ever in your favor.

My Hair is Dirty

So, I got out in public with the family and I am wearing an older Plaza Theatre Shirt that has a bleach spot on it and some comfy but plain drawstring shorts.
 
I looked in the mirror before we left and noted that my hair needed a wash and told myself that I would probably see someone I know because I was looking so rough.

Sure enough, within 5 minutes of arriving I am spotted by a friend of mine.

But that's not all!  Because of my Cheaper By the Dozen shirt, I am recognized by a 'fan' who wants to know when next I will be on stage and then chats with me for a few minutes.

If I had left my house looking clean and fresh, I would have seen no body I know.

Spokktacular!

Well, I am finally getting around to putting my Halloween items up in the shop.  It's a bit later than i wanted it to be but dang if that ear infection didn't knock me on my butt for a couple of weeks.

Here is Fred O Lantern-a orange and black self striping on silver sparkle 2 ply sock yarn...

 I love these bright green bats!

Spooky and fun ombre jack o lantern faces-how fun!

And what says Halloween that witches on broomsticks?

Ants in my Pants

Last night I was vegging on the couch, wanting to go to bed but needing to tie up yarn to dye today, so I got up to go to the bedroom and see if Ray wanted to chat with me while I worked.  On my way down the hall, I felt something on the back of my arm and brushed it off.

Then, noting that Ray was asleep, I came back out to the living room and plopped on the couch intending to look up a show on Netflix to watch while I worked.  Then, as I was looking at my screen, an ant crawled onto it.  I smooshed it and jumped up.  There were ants all over my smaller couch.  So I hollered for ray to help me find the Orange Guard and I commenced to spraying and smooshing the ants to non existence.

Just another fun Friday night in Texas.

Me Oh My Oh Pumpkin Pie Oh

Pumpkin pie is not my favorite pie.

My home made pecan pie is my favorite.

Or Melissa's chocolate pie.

But, you see, pumpkin IS good.  And It's even better in Blizzard form from DQ.  Oh, man, I saw on the sign that it was their 'blizzard of the month' this month and it is on my list of gotta haves!

A Blog a Day

This month I am challenging myself to blog everyday.  Well, starting today.  I am trying something new  with the laundry in my house.  Due to surgery and then a really righteous ear infection, 2-3 times a week laundry was just not getting the job done.  So this week I am doing a load a day.  Yesterday I had  the bright idea to ask my kids if they wanted to hang laundry or fold laundry.  They voted fold-so while a new load is going on the line, the one from yesterday is being folded.  Then by the time I get back in the house, all that needs to be done is put the laundry away.  I feel rather brilliant now, even though this was a simple idea.  This means, if I keep it up, that laundry will not sit for days upon days without being folded.  Shoot, i have a couple of baskets back in my room that have sat clean and unfolded for at least 2 weeks.  So, maybe I will tackle that soon.