A Wonderful Afternoon

Its a beautiful afternoon. To wonderful not to enjoy some time out side in it!! So I packed up the Cable and Lace scarf and outside we went.
Our journey brought me to a picnic table near a small lake. Its a very peaceful place. Almost makes me feel like I am all alone. There are a few ducks that paddle close by filling the air with their chatter. The sun is hitting me just right that I appreciate its rays while a light breeze helps keep me cool. I feel calm and relaxed. Which is a nice feeling compared to the hurried pace I have been going at.
I am going to go back to enjoying my peace before I must enter reality again. I just wanted to share with you what a wonderful afternoon I was having and some pictures I couldn't help snapping. Hope your Saturday has been nice and relaxing.
Till next time,
Amanda

It must be spring!

Hello everyone,

Here it is Friday again! Gee whiz where does the time go? Speaking of time, I know I promised pictures of a certain finished hat by now, but I haven't had the time to model it or even get it modeled and snap pictures of it. So you are just going to have to be kept in suspense!

I believe Spring must finally be here! The days are so warm now, I have every window in the house open and the fans going. Not to mention the greenery I am beginning to see about the place. This reminds me how badly I am in need of getting outside and playing in that dirt!

I could tell Spring fever must have kicked in for me when the other day I began to attack my cupboards. Dear Husband and I like to buy in bulk whenever we can, its cheaper that way. Not initially but in the long run it is! So here not to long ago when he was at the store and I asked him to pick me up some flour, this is what he came home with...

A twenty pound bag of flour. Wow! The amount of cupcakes that can be made just boggles my mind.  I could barely fit it into my small cupboards! I did finally manage to shove it in there but it was a pain to get to.  Plus once it was opened I worried about it spoiling, and  I didn't have any air tight containers. Now I was going to have to go to the store and get some and that wasn't going to make Dear Husband happy because that  was $$ out the window!

Then the old saying "Necessity is the mother of invention" came to me, that and I started to think about what my mom would do(which took me back for a moment. What? Come on how many of you out there are going to admit that you are suddenly becoming your mother and like it right off the bat?) My mom would put extra flour into Ziploc bags and store it in  the freezer till she needed it! Brilliant! And then I remembered I had this guy just laying around waiting to be useful.

I put most of the flour into the freezer and the left over into this cookie can I had. Mmm...I see a future DIY project coming up. Bet you can't guess what it is? To dress up the can of course! Maybe some nice scrapbook paper and a pretty label. Yes I think that will do the trick!

I didn't have time to finish the rest of the pantry cupboard, but I at least cleared up some space by doing the flour.  What about you? What has Spring fever go you doing? Any cool trick you have come across that makes cleaning and organizing easier?

Have a great TGIF and weekend! I hope you get lots of spring stuff done! Gotta run.

Till next time

Amanda

Tempted and Testing

Hello everyone. How was your weekend? Mine went by to quick and was gone in a flash! My friend JoJo came from Washington for a visit on Friday and stayed thru Saturday. It was brief but so fun. I was very excited about her visit because she is so creative in the housing department! Oh and not seeing her in over a year had something to do with that too. I will have to tell you more about the diagnosis she gave my house later. Today I wanted to talk about the iPad and other tablets. Recently my computer decided to take a dive. This has me looking into other prospects to meet my computer needs, even though Dear Husband thinks he can fix the computer. I want to be prepared for the worst. I have been eyeballing the iPad and even the Samsung Galaxy tablet for some time now. But I have always wondered if I would love one and feel as comfortable with one as I am with my laptop. The only way I was going to know how well it worked for me and my routine was to actually use it. And not the quick glance and swipe kind of use, that one does inside of Best Buy. So I set out to my local library where I knew I could check one out and play with the iPad to my hearts delight. This is yet another reason to love your library! That is where I am currently writing to you from. The library. With an iPad. I am liking it very much. A lot actually. What about you? Do any of you have an iPad or tablet that you are just in love with and don't know how you managed to live without it for so long? What do you use it for? Has it replaced your use of the laptop? I am dying to know. One thing I am having difficulties with is posting photos. I can not seem to get the page up that allows me to upload photos. Some more playing around may be called for. Well I best run the only bad thing about the library is that there are time limits! Till next time, Amanda P.S The hat is finished!! I will be posting about it tomorrow!

Its been a month

It has been a crazy month! And I am not sure what exactly has made it crazy. All I know is that I feel it. Anyone else feel like it has been a crazy month?  There has been something going on every week and weekend. There have been friends that have come over, friends that I am still expecting. Attempt's to organize my spaces(earlier posts have eluded to this, with the promise of more to come. I am still working on that), which end up being more like me moving my stuff from one side of the room to the other without actual progress being made! I started a new job.

Now the weather is starting to become more and more like spring! I have seen different one's out in their yards, doing the spring work, getting the ground ready for gardens and flowers! Which of course brings to my mind my own need to get out and play in the dirt. I have never seriously done this. What I manage to accomplish this year will be my first legit attempt. So of course now I feel like panicking. What if I do it wrong? I don't know what I am doing! Where on earth am I going to put things? The very thought of it all nearly reduces me to tears!

This week has felt the worst out of the whole month! Maybe it has been because my routine got thrown off.  My computer decided it was going to quit! No, not completely die on me, ha that would have been a kindness on its part if it had. If it had just slipped off into computer land and left me with its shell I could have dealt. I would have been sad and a little mad. But then excitement would have over taken me at the thought of getting a new computer, followed of course, by crushing reality at the cost of a new computer. Especially since I am the type that if I have to buy something new I want to do it right. When we are taking about that kind of $$$ I want the best and I want it to last me a really long time!  So I can look back and say "hey in the end this only cost me a cent a day"! It sounds cheaper that way. Alas my computer has not done that. In fact most of the functions are working OK. I can go to word doc and type up a letter, poem, the great American novel(Hey I can dream, can't I?). I can edit photos on there to my heart delight. However the one thing I actually want to do, it refuses to do!

What is that one thing you may ask? Ah its to connect to the internet! I have a lot of my routine counting on my computer to do its duty and get me to the internet! You see I brew my self some coffee in  the morning, I need to otherwise I look like this. While the coffee is

brewing, I get the computer started and the internet page up. From here I proceed to check on all the blogs I like to follow. Its my version of reading the newspaper, only I get to read what really interests me and makes me happy. Don't get me wrong I want to be informed and try to be so, but really let's admit it the newspaper has a lot of sad and depressing stories and who can take that kind of punishment first thing in the morning? Back to my routine. I have coffee and the blogs. After reading what my fellow bloggers have to say, I turn my attention toward my own blog. I look forward to sitting down and writing what has happened to me over the weekend, what new knitting project I have just started or some other random ideas and thoughts. But I didn't get to do that this week! All because the computer refused to load web pages. That's why it seems like I just fell of the planet this week.

Dear Husband says my computer just needs a good all across the boards systems update, all for the sum of $40 beans! I suppose in comparison that is better than a whole new computer. My fear however is that we spend that money, it doesn't work, leading me to throw the computer under a passerby's truck wheels in a fit of craziness and thus resulting in a non working computer! On the bright side hopefully it works. So I may retain what little sanity I have left.

One thing that has stayed constant thru this whole month has been my knitting. I may have missed an evening or two where I did not get the knitting I wanted to done. However all in all I have been productive.  I am making great head way on a hat that I have had sitting on the needles for well over a year(haha pun unintended). That is just too long of a time to have something on the needles. While I console myself and say that I have had ever so many other projects that I have finished, I still think that is too long. There is a scarf in my bucket that has had the same fate and I am so close to finishing it I just need to do it. I admit I am easily distracted. Another pretty yarn and pattern comes along and I am a goner! I have high hopes of

finishing up this hat this weekend! I have already begun the shaping of the crown!  The hat is worked in seed stitch thru the whole body, with an inch and a half ribbing on the bottom of the hat.  I will have to model it or get my good friend AnnE to model it for me! I think the hat is going to need some flair though. So I am thinking of making up some flowers in pink, red and orange maybe to put on the side. Guess we shall all have to wait and see.

 I have also gone and started a new scarf. Ah, what has happened to the Stockholm scarf? Has it been finished and you just happened to miss it? NO. It is currently on hold. I believe I have told the sad tale in a previous post, click here to read more on that. So while I am waiting to finish up the Stockholm I thought I should get a start on another scarf that I promised to a friend ages ago! I am working with Kid Merino in a Red Cinnamon color way. Its just gorgeous and so delicate. This is my first time working with super fine lace yarn. I am almost afraid of breaking it right in half. This is going to be a delicious knit I can't wait to see how it is going to turn out.

Further exciting knitting news, I received this in the mail earlier this week! I can't wait to try out my samples. I have only heard good things about this product.  I will let you know what I think.

My my look at the time. I have to be off to get the house some what decent for company that is coming in today and staying the weekend. Have a wonderful Friday everyone and a great weekend! I hope this next week is much better, and that I can get my routine back. I would hate for it to be another week before I am on here again!

Till next time,

Amanda

P.S It has been a month since I started this blog. I think it is going well. I can't wait to say its been a year! Or five years!

Paint Happy

Hello everyone!

How is your weekend going so far. I have been painting! It has been so lovely outside, sunny and warm that spring projects have been beckoning me to go do them! Dear Husband thinks I am paint crazy! He insists that I paint everything in my path! I do not however paint everything in my way.  Just some things, that really really need it. Besides painting something is the cheapest way to change your look, or get a face lift without spending LOTS of money. And that is the kind of budget I have, the DON't spend a LOT of money budget!

Anyway back to the beautiful spring day and how I had several things laying around in my work in progress craft room(more on that later) that had just been waiting for a good day to be taken out and spray painted! So here you go its show and tell time:

Before:

Here is the little French Press I picked up the other day at Goodwill for $1.99(I love finding good deals)

Here it is about to be spray painted

 After:

TaDa it is now a pretty Cherry Red French Press all for under $6. Now that is what I call a bargain!

 Next up to be painted was a fruit stand Dear Husband had from before we were married. I forgot to get a before shot of it in my excitement to paint it. Just imagine it dark green!

This guy is going to hold my lovely yarn I wish to display! Because my yarn stash is definitely bigger than this basket can hold! I will get a picture of it with the yarn here in a few days!

A green vine rack with hooks got thrown into the mix too!

And finally I had this cd tower. That's its original purpose but I have never used it that way! Instead it holds little trinkets I have collected!

Here it is in all its brown glory! It wasn't too bad looking but I thought it need pazzaz! mmm Maybe Dear Husband is on to something?? Nah!

Now it is a pretty Cherry Red! It will go nicely in the craft room/ Guest room as a pop of color!

There you have it! All that I have painted today. It wont be the last. There is another little table roaming around here that needs a facelift of some kind, plus our bedroom is in desperate need of painting. So stay tuned to the drama that has been named the House Wars!

Till next time,

Amanda
P.S on a knitting note I am almost done with the Stockholm Scarf! See... Course also note those little strings

of yarn right next to it. Do you see them? That is what I have left to work with to bind off! Do you see the deli-ma I have just run into? I clearly under estimated what the pattern called for in yarn yardage. When I calculated I admit, I got cocky. I did my math and I said "Hey that is close I will be fine! I have been fine in the past with plenty left over!" Well  not this TIME! Here I am so close to being finished! So I am going to try and see if I can finish with these few short strings I have left! And if not I have to break down and buy a whole new ball for the last 20 stitches!

The House Always Wins

That is the name of the book I started reading last week. Recently my dear Husband and I moved into our newly bought home. Its an old house, or trailer to be exact. I will be honest living in a trailer is not what I had in mind for our first home. However, our budget is tight and we were tired of renting. Plus everyone has to start somewhere! I thought to myself, the location is wonderful, the yard has potential. This will be a wonderful crafty test, I thought to myself! I will get to be so ingenious and crafty. I will finally get to put all those home decor mags I have to use. All those hours of watching HGTV saving for this very moment will finally all come together. I had one thing right. It was going to be a test. I got into the house. did a little of painting before the furniture moved in. After that pff any creativity seemed to go out the window. I partially blame life. Suddenly I had to get the kitchen unpacked so it was useable so we could eat. The idea of just having take out forever crossed my mind, but Dear Husband knocked that idea right out. Then the bedroom needed to resemble some order so we could find our clothes and sleep. Now I am battling with the office, and the craft room/ guest room.  We need an office set up so we can stop misplacing bills, so we can find where we laid that important receipt and the list goes on and on. you know what I mean! Never mind that Tax season is upon us and Dear Husband needs a work place, plus did I mention the paperwork we can't find! So yes I blame life and her ability to  not slow down therefore forcing us to conform!

Now that we are mostly settled(except for the office and guestroom/craft room of course) I have taken a look at our home and been trying to decide what I want to do with it. I would be flipping thru my magazines and standing in the middle of the rooms pondering on it. Nothing I could get nothing. I was a blank slate. Perhaps I am expecting to much. All along I have been envisioning my home like this:

  When in reality I have this(this is a picture for sure worthy of a before and after shot I am still working on the after part but soon I will get to that). I am all for dreaming big, but perhaps I am being a little over the top! Something just can not be reached. I mean if I want my home to look like a Country Victorian home I will have to move or completely rebuild the one I am in. Which sorta defeats the whole point of getting this place, which was to stay in budget!  But I want my home to be cute and beautiful and comfortable! So now what do I do? Well that is were Marni Jameson is here to save the day. I stumbled upon her by pure accident. I was in the library just perusing the isle in the home and art and craft section when the title of her book grabbed my attention. Then her writing sucked me fully in. First off I was happy to find I am not the only person who finds herself into this kind of predicament.  There are many of us out there who are afflicted! I discovered a problem I didn't know I had. The problem of "I like so many looks I don't have a look" I have a hard time committing to one look. Shoot half the time I am not sure what look I even want to go for. Am I Modern, Old World, Contemporary?? Its a little confusing. I am no professional that is for sure!
Well Marni hit it on the head. She said that there are three things for good home design:

• your home needs to function and absorb your lifestyle
• your home needs to reflect you-but beautifully
• your home needs to your haven, a calm port where you come to relax and recharge

That sounds simple enough. Oh but there is more don't you know? She then poses a question. What are you planning to do in your home? And be brutally honest. YIKES! I don't think I have seriously considered this thought. That really changes things about how I look at my house and what I was thinking of doing. Because lets be honest I am NOT going to become a Sculptor or musical composer like Mozart! However I do have other questions that come to mind.  Like Do we plan to have a lot of company? Are there going to be kids in the future? How big DO I REALLY WANT that craft room to be? How important is a craft room to me?  I like how Marni is thinking. She is not your average Home decorator interior writer, in my opinion. I am going to go back to reading now, I must learn what else she has to say. And in the mean time ponder on what exactly I am planning to do in my home. I will keep you posted on the progress of this.
Till next time,
Amanda
P.S. Heehee I think only a book lover could take a topic they want to talk about and turn it into a book review all at the same time!

You Know You Are a Crazy Knitter When...

1. Just walking into the Yarn Store and seeing all those vibrant colors and yarn fumes helps calm you down after a stressful day(beer? who needs beer? I have Yarn!)
2. You watch movies only to see the knitted items a character is wearing!
3. You watch a movie and then rewind a pause the same spot over and over again trying to figure out the pattern on that cute hat the actress is wearing(I am guilty of this with the movie Life as we Know it. Admit it the hat Katherine Heigl is wearing for about a min in that one scene is adorable)
4. You have stalked some one in the store because you like the hat/scarf/mittens they are wearing
5. You have to take at lest three projects with you anywhere, because you never know what you may want to knit. Like its, OK to knit the scarf in the car, but the small baby hat is more suited for walking around the mall with or in the book store. I am this bad about books too! That is why Dear Husband bought me a nook, to help my poor back from breaking from the weight of it all!
6.  You watch movies because some one is knitting in one of the scenes! 

Friday Freebies

Ah Friday is upon us. I have made progress on Stockholm here, but as you can tell I am not quite ready to take it off the needles yet! Shucks I was hoping to have it done by now! Oh well I am almost there. It will not be much longer especially if I concentrate and get some good knitting time in tonight! Maybe I will sit and watch the long version of Pride and Prejudice, with Colin Firth in it. That would help.

Any way here we are at Friday. It's a beautiful morning! How is the weather where you are? There is a slight nip in the air making it a perfect day to wear a hat!  Today is the last day of work, for most of us anyway and I know I am looking forward to the weekend. Anyone else have plans for the weekend they are looking forward to doing?

 I wanted to celebrate the end of the week with something then it dawned on me, what better way to celebrate TGIF than with some lovely free knitting patterns! I am crazy about hats right now! I have one tam sitting on my needles begging me to come knit it up quick so I can wear it! And I am itching to do more. I was digging thru Ravelry last night looking for some cute inspiring hats, and its no surprise I found some! Here are a few that I picked out that I can't wait to do and wanted to share them with you! Just click on the name and it will take you directly to Ravelry where you can download the pattern absolutely free! I threw in one from Craftys too.

Slouchy Hat with Picot edging  I love slouchy hats and the picot edging on here is lovely. When I saw this I thought of my friend Eliza! I just know she would love this hat! She would look adorable in it! Now the only question is who will make it? Shall I make it for her, or will she beat me to it and cast it on for herself?

Lotus Hat This design is beautiful. I love intricate details!

Hinagiku Hat Another slouchy hat! I am not in love with them by any means!

Ribbed Baby Hat I had to throw in a baby hat for fun!  Because who doesn't love making hats for little babies heads?

Berry Baby Hat Ok I lied I had to add one more! Isn't this hat just adorable? I am seriously thinking I should make this bigger for me! That wouldn't look to silly to see a berry hat on a grown woman would it?

16 sixteen cable hat Oh my hands are really itching to do this hat! I love the cables. They are different than most cables I have done!

Yellow Scalloped Hat from Craftsy. Finally the last hat! This looks like something I would wear down at the beach while visiting my family in California!
Hope these patterns spark some inspiration for you all! Have a wonderful day and a great weekend!

Till Next Time,
Amanda

Mid week already???

Good Morning! How was everyone's weekend? I know it seems a little late to be asking that question, with  us being in the middle of the week and already looking forward to the up coming weekend. But I ask it none the less. My weekend went well, busy with all the things that makes ones weekend full. Running errands you didn't get to in the week, having friends over for a laugh. Then my weekend turned into Monday which was manic(yes the Bangles song Manic Monday did come into my head as I typed that!), but had a nice ending(more on that in a min). From Monday I leaped into Tuesday. Where the house demanded I clean it upon the threat of the dust and hair on the floor actually becoming some kind of wooly creature that would try to rule my house and terrorize me at night! I could not have that! By the time that beast was tamed it was time to go off for an appointment and that was my day! I didn't even get in a single stitch of knitting in.  Ooooh, perhaps that is why dealing with today seems so bleary! I didn't have my fiber fix! For those of you who knit you will know what not getting your fiber fix can do to you! Its much like skipping that much needed cup or two of coffee in the morning! No sane person would do it! However it does happen so I am just going to have to deal with it. I now want to share with you some of the little things that happened to me over the past few days. Check out these guys below, I found them on my way home on Saturday from my inlaw's place. They were pretty eager to see who the idiot was standing out in the snow with a camera in her hand taking photos wildly! I like to think this white one is pretty used to this sort of treatment and posed for the shot!

I think the llama's are so cute(I am fairly certain that they are llama's that is what my research has led me to conclude. If anyone knows better, please have a good laugh at my expense and then kindly correct me!) I love that I live in an area where they are raised. I hope to scout out who sells or maybe even gives away some of the wool so I can start on my plans to begin spinning. It just feels like the next step I should take as a knitter!
Also on Saturday a dear friend of mine gave me a surprise gift that brought me delight to no end! She got for me the perfect gift for knitter, besides yarn and needles that is!

A Knitting Stamp set!!! So now I can make little handmade stamped cards to go with my handmade knitted items! I just love it. I have already used it to make up a little tag to go on a scarf that I sent to a friend! If any of you knitters out there would like to have your own beautiful set like this click here. Now come to think of it Saturday was a pretty good day.

On to Monday. or Monday evening to be more exact. I went to my first sit and knit ever. I say my first because I don't count the numerous times I have sat and knitted with my friends whom I know and also knit. I am talking about going where I know no one and the only thing that will bond us initially is our love for yarn! So Monday evening I strolled into the local Barnes and Noble head over to the cafe and grab a tall cinnamon chai tea latte, and head over to where I see the group had gathered. I walked up and started off with a joke, mainly because laughing is how I ease my own tension. I said "Hello my name is Amanda and I have a knitting addiction!" That set them off into a round of giggles. Introductions were made, I took my seat and began to knit. That was it. That was all there was to it!  There was constant chatter all evening! I was not the only new face there either. The group name is called Spinning Yarns: Lit, Knit and Crotchet Club. As the group name suggests we discussed books, what kind we like to read, who were we currently reading. I loved it! There was a mixture of people there, a Librarian, a Math Teacher, a Nurse, mothers, sisters, a book collector. All of us from different walks of life, most of us strangers to the others, yet we sat there chatting like we had been life long friends! I love that the power of knitting can do that. I love that we love knitting and art fibers so much we can not help but want to gather together however often we can and enjoy them together, even wanting to draw others into our fold! My Monday night ended on a very good note. I was elated and plan to join the group again next month when they meet! How about anyone else? Do you have any good, or maybe terrifying stories of the first time you went to your local yarn store for a knit night or joined a knitting circle? I must be off I have a million things to do today! Have a Wonderful Wednesday all you crafters and knitters!

Till next time,

Amanda

In Honor of Reading Month!

 The Give Away is now Closed. I will announce the winner on Monday! Thanks to all who entered.
Reading has been a life long passion of mine. I remember being quiet young and my dad taking me to the library, letting me browse the books for hours and then we would sit down together in the reading pit and he would read me a story. Sometimes it wasn't a story, maybe it was the Comic Strip he so dearly loves, Calvin and Hobbes! Those are such fond memories of mine. So it is no wonder why I came to love reading. I loved the characters I got to engage with and lands I got to go. This of course was way before the love affair with knitting ever entered my life. I feel a bit bad actually. Knitting has just swept me off my feet, so that I don't get in as much reading as I would like. Why I used to chop thru a book in a week, sometimes two books! Fortunately for me the books do not hold the knitting against me. In fact they have embraced it and showed me that just because I love knitting doesn't mean I still can't have my time with the books. There are so many books on knitting from tutorial to fiction, that the two loves are blending together quiet nicely.

I loved reading so much that I had wanted to become a Librarian so I could be around books all day. Alas I did not become a Librarian, much to the disappointment of my high school librarian, but it is on my to-do list still so maybe one day. Then I could be a knitting librarian! But that is not the point of this post today. We are in the month of March(goodness really? Already? My how time flies), and March is National Reading Month. Yippie! In honor of National Reading Month, and as a way to Celebrate the launching of this blog(heehee I sound like I am launching a ship) I am doing a book giveaway! I thought long and hard about what book I should feature for the give away. Should it be a mystery, lighthearted, romantic, a combination of all?? Then it hit me, the only proper thing to do is give away a book that had something to do with knitting or yarn! After all that is what over 90% of this blog is about. I am happy to announce that the book in this months give away is, Needles and Pearls by Gil McNeil(I am in no way compensated for having featured this book. It is of my own accord).

Knitting is supposed to keep you sane right? But what happens when life starts to unravel? Follow the story of Jo Mackenzie as she adjusts to being a single parent of two lively boys after being widowed, and the highs and lows of her new knitting shop. This book is the sequel to The Beach Street knitting society and yarn club. This book is an excellent read and you can't help but get lost in the world of the characters.

This give away will be open till the 9th of March(I want to be able to get the book to the winner before the month is over so they have something good to read before the month is out). I am so happy to be doing my first giveaway. Its very fitting that it be a book and about knitting. To enter please leave a comment about any great books you have read recently or perhaps a childhood memory you have about reading, along with your email address so I can get in touch with you to notify you of winning and obtain your shipping information. If you leave a comment and become a subscriber or follower you will receive one additional entry point for a higher chance to winning. If you do subscribe or follow, please leave another comment stating so, this is how you will gain your other point. The winner will be chosen randomly. Happy Reading Month everyone! Let the comments roll!

Till later,
Amanda