Blanket Finished - Or Nearly

This is a picture of the purlbee color-blocked bias blanket I have now nearly finished. The knitting is done I just have the weaving in the ends and the tassels to do. I love it. It is smaller than I was expecting but perfect for just cuddling on the couch. 

I am planning on finishing all those details tonight and then working on a project I just started last night. It is another shawl and for my mother. I forget what the pattern is called but it is this beautiful lacy almost leafy pattern. We had picked out the yarn when she was up here last. It is this beautiful variegated purple yarn that goes from lavender to a brighter purple to white. It is spectacular and fun to work with. 

I will post pictures when the blanket is all finished but it already looks so good! 

Happy Knitting everyone! 

Cleaner is Better

I shamefully have been neglecting my Monday Checklist. For those of you who do not know, my Monday Checklist is everything I need to clean on a Monday. I do a deep clean (most) Mondays. I have been busy, but that is not really an excuse. I do not know the last time I had done a full vacuum, or made sure everything was dusted in my home, that was until yesterday.

I woke up later than I was hoping. Around 9 (so late for me now a days) and immediately decided to not let that keep me down. I changed and immediately took Ronnie, our lovable dog, on a walk with a running lap around the track on our route. We both felt the immediate change. She was super happy and I had more energy. The day was going to be great. I ate some breakfast and knit until 11. Come on, yarn first right? Then I packed up my car and headed to goodwill. Three bags and a lamp later I was done. They were gone out of my life. It felt great, and I read a few chapters while waiting in the driving lane (we were all parked waiting patiently for our turn to donate things.)

I ran errands, buying lots of fruits and veggies to change our diet into a healthier version of itself right now. We eat 90% organic but we need more fruit and vegetables in our life and I was going to make that happen. Got back around 2 I think. Oh does the exact time matter? And I immediately started knitting again. Oh gosh. But by 4 I was hitting the town. I had finished the section I had been knitting and knew it was time to take action. Quickly I blew through my Monday Checklist. With less stuff I was able to whip through the list with ease. I had less things on surfaces that needed to be put away nor dusted. I was all finished by 5:45. Normally it took me a good four hours to get through it but with less items I didn't have to fight my way through it.

I slept so much better last night. Everything had its place and I didn't wake up wondering where to start to clean. I felt at ease. I know we all dislike it but I have learned that I dislike a dirty home far more than cleaning.

Until next time!

Bogged Down

Hello lovely readers,

I have been feeling very bogged down as of late. Work has been crazy and full of drama and the more I read and watch things about tiny houses the more I wonder if this is even worth it. I have always been the girl who did everything she was suppose to. And to others like me, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that, as long as you are happy. But lately I find no joy from my job, and my work. I am young, very young to many, but I have had a full time job since the time I was 12, not including school. If I wasn't at school I was being a nanny for children, or working at a restaurant and babysitting and then I moved out to Washington as soon as I graduated high school, 1 week after to be exact and got a job 2 weeks after I moved out here, full time. I think the longest time without me working a full time job was 2 weeks actually, those 2 weeks after I moved out here.

I should be lucky I know. Many people are without jobs and cannot pay any of their bills and forced into destitution. I do feel grateful to be working and I do work my butt off while I am at my job. However, I don't feel appreciated by upper management and feel as if I just keep working at this job because I am afraid of if I don't work. My husband has a job. A great career starting job in fact, in the field he has always wanted to work in. I am happy for him. I am happy for the both of us. We are saving money and looking forward to the future. However, I am starting to get sick of looking towards the future. I want to see that happiness and those goals now.

I am absolutely in love with my husband and I crave the time I spend with him. When I am not at work I feel more fulfilled and very content. While I am at work I crave for that time to be more creative, and find myself regretting being at work. My job isn't horrible. I do not have an abusive boss or anything of the like but it just isn't me.

I want to be able to grow my own food and build a small house for my family. I want to be able to have a few goats and chickens and knit and spin my own yarn. I want to be able to go hiking more and enjoy being outside and working on my spirituality more. My spirituality is very based with nature and the elements around us and I have the feeling of being bogged down so much I have almost lost my connection to her great beauty. I want to unplug and commune again. I want to just live. I want to do the things I always talked about doing but now just actually do it.

Now I am going to try to see if I can do this within a year. The planning and hard core savings must ensue.

I am going to talk to my father about getting some of his tools so I can start planning on our next big adventure.

Until next time!

Knitting - Review

If you are a knitter/stitcher/quilter/crafter and you haven't heard of this site, please do yourself a favor and go visit it. They have lots of free patterns and ideas and just the entire website/blog is filled with wonderful crafty things.

Anyways, I recently bought a kit from them with the free pattern that was on their website for the Colorblock Bias Blanket. I fell in love with the design immediately on their website. It is beautiful, simple and just elegant. I stared at it for months before finally pitching out the money to buy the beautiful yarn that was in the kit.

I got the kit in the mail and it was beautifully wrapped with teal-ish blue tissue paper and wrapped neatly in a tight plastic bag so that the yarn would stay protected through the mail. It was a joy to open and immediately I fell in love with the soft texture of the yarn. The only way I can explain is it feels like you just want to rub it against your face and cuddle with it, exactly what you want in a blanket. I couldn't resist and I dropped everything else I was doing (cleaning can wait right?) and started winding the first ball of yarn (thank you for those people in my life who really know what I want for Christmas and got me a swift and ball winder!). The skeins were put together beautifully that I had no problem with winding them into beautiful little balls of yarn. Which is always a dream when you aren't fighting with the yarn from trying to nearly felt on you while trying to get it into a ball.

Next I started to cast on. The pattern is so lovely, I am already thinking of other blankets I can make with this similar pattern. It is simple and mindless and last night as I was knitting in bed I just closed my eyes and let myself drift as I continued to knit it. It is a great knit for in front of the t.v. or just a quiet knit to relax your mind and soul. The kind of knits I really like to do once in a while.

Honestly, if you want a really wonderful lap blanket, I highly recommend this kit. It is a little pricey but it is something that I feel like you would use forever. And if you don't get the kit, at least try the pattern. It is such a lovely pattern. I am loving it from casting on through the third skein of yarn so far and I am sure I will love it to the end.

Organizing Doesn't Mean More Stuff

Growing up watching all those organizing and how to shows on T.V. I always thought organizing was buying lots of cute boxes and book shelves and putting all our stuff into them in cute neat ways. Now as an adult I realize it doesn't matter how many cute boxes you have you will never be organized that way. Organization is about downsizing to what you need and then placing those in places that work best for you. Is it out in the open? Is it on the counter top right next to the stove? If that is what works best for you then do that.

This cleaning out process has really taught me so many things and I have finally come to the realization not to let stuff own me. I have a very decent sized apartment, is is close to 1250 sq feet. We have lots of closets, even if they aren't the most useful and two whole bedrooms for just the two of us. It is a lot of space. Yes I could complain about how small the kitchen is or how there is so many doors (2 doors to one bedroom) that I don't have wall space to hang pretty pictures, or how the halls are narrow so I can't hang pretty shelves. But that really isn't important. What is important is having less stuff in the space we have.

I have found the less stuff I have, the less I want more and the more I want to get rid of even more stuff. What I love is my hubby is pitching in! It is so nice to have a spouse that actually supports you and helps you de-clutter. He bought up himself to get rid of some of his textbooks for IT stuff and some of his chess books. I find that every day, even in the places we have already "gotten rid of a lot of stuff" there is still more things I am willing to part with. And the joy of finally realizing that I do not want to let stuff own me, that I do not care about most of the things I own. Most of it could be gone tomorrow and I would not mind.

It is really freeing. They say it is. You want to believe them, but I don't think you can really realize it until it happens to you. I cannot wait until I get rid of everything I do not need and really living our life instead of letting our stuff live our lives for us.

Take care and until next time,

De-Clutter, Once Again but This Time for Our Dreams

I haven't kept it a secret that I want to own a home with lots of land. The reality is that I leave in a metropolitan area and land is hard to come by. So one thing I have come to learn and start of love is the idea of tiny living. Tiny houses are a huge movement out in the west coast and it is becoming even more throughout the entire country. It is where the home you live in is between 30-500 square feet, with a "small" house being 500-1200 sq feet.

Our current apartment is 1200 sq feet, give or take a little bit and it constantly feels like we stuffed it to the brim. It is a 2 bedroom 1 bathroom apartment with huge storage closets. The problem is they aren't really useful. I have closets, yes, but 2 of them have no shelves what so ever. So they seem to be a toss it in closet and hope the clutter goes away zones. This past week I decided enough was enough. Both myself and my husband come home and we feel like we can't relax. Which is not what you want from the place you call home. We both knew we had too much stuff again (even though it seems like we had just de-cluttered everything) and it was time to go at it again.

In one weekend we were able to get rid of so much stuff. We haven't finished but I will update you on the progress at least.

Our bedroom is organized and completely cluttered free. I am not saying it is a minimalists dream because we have items we like on surfaces and there are a few things in our drawers but what we accomplished was amazing. We cut our clothes I swear almost in half. We had just done this probably a year ago but we really gave up on the things we never wore or were worn past their love point. The closet has nothing but clothes and shoes in it. It is lovely. The nightstands are almost completely empty. We have just a few things we like before bed, such as our nightly reading, journals, a few pens and remotes in them. I love notebooks and found my bottom drawer of my nightstand we empty so I am storing them there until I figure out a better place for them. Under our bed is completely empty. Just the air pump for our Sleep Number is under there. The dresser is completely reorganized and folded. I emptied an entire drawer from my half of the dresser and now my jeans and shorts are folded in it. Our bookshelf has room on it again! We put all our movies and computer/PS3 games on it while before we couldn't even fit another book on it. It feels great.

Our bathroom is completely done. I threw out old cosmetics, tossed lotions I never use and hair products that were way past its prime. We have a very tiny bathroom so we really can't keep much in there and what is in there, needs to be in there. This room was probably the easiest.

Our linen closet is now a linen closet! We love books. Have I mentioned that? We have 7 book shelves in our apartment and all of them full to the brim. (we actually bought 1 of those 7 this past weekend and it is already full). Well that closet was still full of books, well at least half of it was. We completely emptied it and moved all our linens from our bedroom closet to that closet. So, soo very nice.

The second bedroom now has 2 bookshelves and everything is put in its place. I just have the closet to organize, which is mostly empty so that will be an easy job.

Don't look at the living room/dining area however. That is an utter mess. That will be next weekends project.

So much done and yet so much to do!

Knitting Galore

I have written because my hands are too busy knitting. I have knit I think four pairs of socks, a shawl and started on another shawl all within the last four weeks. It has been busy. I finished the pair of socks for my mother. Finished 2 pair of socks for myself in this beautiful color striping yarn. Will post pictures of those soon. Did a pair of scrappy socks (first picture) and the started project with the red color is a new shawl that is going to be for my mother as well. I finished a color shifting shawl which is so comfy. I just need to weave in the ends but it is made from Road to China Fingering Silk blend. So wonderful.

I am tying the quilt still. It is slow going but it has been fun. Hoping to finish that by the end of this month so I can start on my next quilt. Learned a lot and the lessons will be taken in to account. I am finding it still so much easier just to sit and knit than quilt. I know quilting takes time and patience and I do enjoy it but knitting is getting so effortless for me. We shall see how my quilting adventure turns out!

Until next time!

Long Time No Blog

My absence definitely wasn't because I was being lazy! Between knitting socks, blankets and starting quilting (am I crazy?) I have been really busy. Also, it has been getting really nice around the Seattle area and I even got some of my vegetable seeds planted.

Here are some poorly taken (sorry phone camera) pictures of what I have been up to.

The start of my very bright and colorful quilt. I already have my next one planned out. And keep resisting the urge to cut out the fabric and start that one instead. 

The start of my second pair of socks. Trying to show off the beautiful neutral colors to the going to be owner of them.

My first pair of socks. Loved how the grey and black look!

Some of my new flowers and pots I got. The bird feeder is right above this, can you tell?

Beautiful Pictures

I just saw this and thought it should be shared. Beautiful pictures taken by a mother of her children and animals on her farm.

http://www.boredpanda.com/animal-children-photography-elena-shumilova/

New Year and New Hopes

2013 was a pretty good year for me and my family. I got married. It was beautiful and small, just how we wanted it. There is only two days left of the 2013 before we start 2014 and I wanted to just express my goals and dreams for 2014.

I want to save as much money as possible to put towards buying a house. With student loans coming due this January, I know this will be difficult but I want to try to work as hard as possible to only buy things we need and not everything we want.

I want to pay off all our debt and use that money to help out savings. We don't have much debt, but enough that I still have to pay credit cards each month. I want that to be zero.

I want to use up my yarn stash and only use the best of yarn going forward. You can be the best knitter in the world, but if you use cheap yarn your work just doesn't show through as much.

I want to be a more active person and get out and explore more. I want to hike through out Washington and go camping at least a few times this summer.

I have already completed a lot more knitting projects and have been keeping the apartment cleaner so far. I haven't been writing as much but I have also been reading more. Finally catching up on comics and needed reading. I finished a linen stitch scarf for Michael, a little girl tank top I am giving to a friend and working on another blanket and another little girl sweater.

I am going to try to blog more but as you can see it is already January 15th and I have tried to write this post so many times. I am hopeful that 2014 will be another good year. Many things ahead.

Day After Christmas

It is the day after Christmas and my home is a mess. Boxes and paper are strewn about and the kitchen, oh my poor kitchen, looks like the kitchen-aid blew up. My tree is still a lit and the stockings still hung, but this little lady is glad that it is over.

I am so glad it is done. Normally I do enjoy this time of year, but this year it just seemed to overwhelm me. I made Peppermint Chocolate Torte (but really it was a Chocolate cake with Peppermint frosting) and pumpkin bars for the family. (That is the picture from the recipe. Mine didn't look quite as good.) Surprised my love with an xbox one (was that hard to keep from him or what!) and he even surprised me with an entire set of changeable knitting needles (which I have been eyeing for longer than I would like to say).

My sister and my mother loved their gifts and I am so glad. I put in a lot of effort in those two items. The sweater feels like fluffy bunny fur (but it is not, its baby alpaca) and the orange cowl(infinity scarf it doubles up) is made of an organic cotton/wool blend. It is so soft but not itchy. For the knitters out there who are like me and allergic to most wool baby alpaca doesn't have the guard fibers so you shouldn't get irritated by it, but of course feel feel feel. If it feels itchy while you are in the store, it is going to burn/cause a rash when you get home.

Now I just need to survive New Years. Having Nine, that is right NINE people in my apartment for New Years and two dogs. It is going to be a zoo. I feel like I should start baking for it already. But tonight, tonight I am going to be a vegetable at home and kill some zombies on the xbox. Tonight is a night of relaxation. The baking can start tomorrow.

Time Flies!

I cannot believe it has been over a month since I have posted a blog post. Honestly the time has just been flying. I have been working on so many different projects for the Holidays. I finished NaNoWriMo last month and with some extra words to spare. And now I am swamped in the fear that I won't finish the knitting projects in time to have them sent out by Monday.

I am knitting a cowl for my mother, a quick chunky knit sweater for my sister and M has now decided he really wants an Irish sweater for Christmas. Ugh! I don't think the sweater is going to get finished and I definitely know the brown blanket I was working on will not get finished by the new year. It had to be put on the back burner so I could finish the Christmas presents.

Enough blogging and back to working!

Keeping Busy

Autumn is always a time of getting stuff and staying constantly busy. I think it boils down to the harvest is in the fall and the colder weather and the beautiful colors kick us into gear to get stuff done before we are trapped in our houses for the winter.

I am doing NaNoWriMo. It is where you try to write a whole novel in a month (or 50,000 words). It is a great organization which I highly recommend you check out. They do all sorts of cool things for literacy and finding a creative outlet. I donate every year (or at least have the last three years, since discovering it). Great organization and it brings a lot of people together all over the world.

I am also finishing up all the projects around the house. Knitting both the white shawl and the brown wool blanket (that I started over). Trying to get both projects done by the 1st of the year. I also need to knit a few sweaters for the holidays. My sister requested a pale grey sweater. I am trying to find the perfect yarn (which I might find at a new yarn shop that opened up just over 30 minutes away from me in Carnation. It is called Tolt Yarn company, they look super cute already!).

I am also still cutting squares for the quilt. Trying to keep it super easy and simple and doing it when I feel like doing it. I don't want to kill my passion for it by cutting squares non-stop, especially when I have other projects I am working on.

I am also been on a cleaning rampage. Think the next step is to have my carpets cleaned again. They need it. Having a dog and feet track in dirt all the time makes the near white carpet not look so white in spots. Cleaned so much yesterday. Cleaned things I have been neglecting to clean for a while.

I already have plans for the new year (2014! Can you believe it!?) to reorganize our apartment again. Getting rid of more stuff. Since our friend moved in with us (we are helping him to get back on his feet and in transition from getting a new job) the extra bedroom which was my craft/book storage room is now his bedroom. Love to help him out, really I do. It has been nice for Michael to have his friend near too. I know that but it made me realize how much stuff we are still hoarding even after the multiple trips to goodwill and the dumpster. We are only two people, I don't think we need quite so much stuff.

Well this is taking me away from NaNoWriMo! Those 50,000 words are not going to write themselves (and no this doesn't count much to my dismay).

Until next time!

Knitting Projects and A Home Ripped Apart

While we were gone a dear friend of ours, I would say one of the best, got a new job just a few miles away from us. He currently lives in Portland. That is over a two hour drive away. Yeah, not the best situation when trying to get to work on time. We offered to let him move in with us for a month or two until he can find a place of his own near us. Well, because of this I had to clean out my craft storage room, aka, the second bedroom. Our apartment was torn apart. I had to put books into three suitcases (not all crafting books!) and remove all my crafting stuff from the closet. It was a nightmare.

Luckily, I convinced my wonderful husband (oh how I love saying that) to go to Ikea with me and pick up some shelves. I first found inspiration from Posie Gets Cozy's shelves she has. They are wonderful, but they didn't quite fit where we needed them to go. Then I found some different ones!

As you can see I have already put them together and stuffed them to the brim with craft supplies and Halloween houses. I have most of my yarn, my sewing machine, my quilting stuff (just starting out so I don't have much quilting stuff yet), hex signs I have been working on, and a bunch of other little craft things tucked away in there. I moved the bookshelves that were against that wall to under the breakfast bar. They fit perfectly. Now my dining room feels like a wonderful, cozy, completed room. I love it. Now when I have my second bedroom back I will finally have enough storage in my apartment.

Well with all this cleaning of my craft storage room (I always did my crafts in the living areas of the apartment), I found some of my old WIP. I found a Christmas lap blanket I had started that I am not working on again. I found some baby yarn in a beautiful patterned grey color that I am making into a baby teddy bear, and I am still working on my thick wool blanket.

The teddy bear and the wool blanket are still my favorites.

Recipes! And a Box.

I finally got my recipe cards and box! I am so excited. As a young girl I forever yearned after my grandmothers recipe box and cards. They always looked so perfect in her perfect handwriting and the perfect oak box she kept them in. 

I bought this recipe box from 1canoe2. I absolutely love it. It even came with this sweet thank you card.

These photos were take with my phone so please be kind. I will take pictures when I start filling in the cards. It is so lovely!!!

I can't wait to start baking and cooking just so I can fill out the cards! Only family approved cards for this box!

Life Changes, Life Goes On

Life. It is something special that everyone gets to experience. I recently got married (like two weeks ago!) and we came back from our amazing honeymoon and back into our normal routine. We were pretty much husband and wife as it was. We had been living together for over four years and had gotten into our own comfortable life.

That being said, M's friend got a job while we were on our honeymoon that is near to our home. He currently lives in Portland. That is over two hours drive. We offered to let him live with us for a month or two until he finds a place of his own. So I have been busy moving all my crafting stuff out of the second bedroom. Already my home feels chaotic and a mess. The second bedroom is almost empty. I unloaded half the crafting supplies yesterday and put them into bags and suitcases. I did the same thing for the books. We have oh so many books. I really only have a few things left in the closet but I need to make room for them somewhere.

Ronnie thinks we are leaving again. She hates when we leave and I always wish I could take her with us. She is my little girl and I love her so. She has actually been cuddling with us. Full on cuddling. The cat dog wants to cuddle. It amazes me. Last night I was knitting on the couch with a blanket and she pushed her nose under the blanket so that she could lay in my lap as I knit. She never does that. Normally it is a pet on the nose or two and she is gone. Enough attention she says. I think she will like having another person to pay attention to her in the house. She will hate it when he leaves though.

Honeymoon Abroad

Dublin. It was amazing. Not just Dublin itself but Ireland as a whole. You have a question, ask anyone. The food was beyond amazing. Chatted with a few locals in pubs and at breakfast. Know now where America gets its breakfast from. It isn't Germany it is Ireland. So good!

Our hotel was gorgeous, Dublin was amazing. Cork was stunning and all the tours we took were breathtaking. An unforgettable trip and a great honeymoon.

Honeymoon and Wedding Bliss

I leave for Wisconsin today. Nerves are starting to hit. Not for the travel but for the commitment I am about to make. I get married to my wonderful fiance of 3 years (we have lived together for over 4 at this point). I am already packed. I have been packed for days now. I just need to load my laptop and charges into my carry on and pack my personal items.

I got a new camera two days ago. I am excited to use it. Both on our honeymoon as well as for the blog. I am making a decision to be more motivated in my life and capturing moments. Memory isn't everything, especially when you are trying to share it with other people.

I am off for now. I may or may not update while I am on my honeymoon!

Peach Pie and cozy knitting

 

I leave for Wisconsin to get married tomorrow. But I have all this food and produce from CSA that I had to use us before we leave. By the title I am sure you realize that I had a lot of peaches to use. I had never made a peach pie before but I reached for the handy and always yummy smitten kitchen to help me out. As always, she helped me make a delicious and basic peach pie. The flavors really shown through with just the simple spices and buttery crust. She honestly is a woman after my own heart.

While the peach pie was in the oven Ronnie and I cuddled on the couch while I worked on my oatmeal colored sweater. She loves when mom knits. She gets extra blankets and lots of cuddles. Especially when you are making pie late at night.

Gardening in the City - Reclaiming my Passion

Let me just start out by saying living in an apartment and gardening is not an easy task. I love gardening almost as much as I love knitting. I love the feel of dirt between my finger nails and the smell of just good soil. The feeling of watching the plants I nurtured grow. The whole process is wonderful.

Gardening and Apartments are almost two complete opposites. I went back to Wisconsin for a long weekend just a few weeks back and I got a taste at what gardening could be like again. My folks are great people and they have many gardens. I used to love to spend hours out there weeding and trimming and making the gardens look great. They never looked as great as I wanted them too just because the restrictions of them not being my gardens but I took pride in my work. Now the gardens are over run and unruly because my parents neither have the patience, time or passion to do it. I sat down that Sunday morning, gloves on, beat up jeans and an old shirt, hair pulled back and my tools handy. My father literally said "Do what ever you want to get the gardens looking great." I smiled and replied "You really know what that means?" He answered "Yes. Just don't cut down this one tree right here." It was the beginning of cleaning up. I de-headed and pruned and weeded and pulled stuff out. I trimmed trees and worked on getting the garden back to what it should be. I worked for hours, on one flower bed before I was called inside to get ready for a party. I should mention it was my own wedding shower, but my thoughts weren't on it but the plants I was tending to. All the gardeners in my family immediately noticed and came up to me saying how nice the garden bed was looking and what a great job I did on it.

That being said I came back to Washington on that long plane ride half way across the country to my little tiny plot of garden space and my wilting flower pots and felt out of touch. I saw the wilting of my plants and my soul nearly died with them. I had neglected my own little plot because it was grand like my parent's gardens. They have a half an acre with a good 50% of it designated to garden beds. I saw the barely started rock path and the flowers that were for early spring and nothing for the heat of summer. I looked at the black raspberries that were over taking the side of my apartment again and felt discouraged. I felt overwhelmed and underwhelmed in the same moment. It wasn't until I really let that sadness seep into me that I made a change. One day on my lunch hour, after feeding Ronnie (our dog for anyone who doesn't know) and slipped off my shoes and touched each and every plant. I filled up the watering can and gave life back to the burnt plants. I moved the barely started rock path to the other side of the concrete sidewalk to create a nice rain border along the hill. Just with that one little change I was able to make two things look better in one swoop. I opened up the plot of land for more flowers and made the border to my front door look even better but I also re-sparked the passion in me for gardening. I am planning on buying more plants for late summer/fall and planting them this weekend.

I promise to take pictures of the progress and to swear lots at the plot of land that is literally concrete of the dirt world. But I also promise to enjoy every minute of it because gardening is what made me want to start homesteading in the first place and it would be a shame to lose that dream because I lost a part of myself.