A Winner and a Finish

Hello all,
I used a random number generator for the first time today.  Fun!  And he picked #4.

gossamerbabeJune 19, 2012 5:08 PM

Congratulations!! Will be following your blog definitely, new blogger myself and love the way you write! :)

I will be emailing you shortly to get your address.

Camp Loopy Project #1 is done.  Whew, I was right down to the wire on this one.  Tuesday I knitted most of the day and finished it that night at about 8:00.  That was too close for me.  But, it is finished and submitted to The Loopy Ewe.

I present to you, Folded!

A close up of the detail on the front.
I knitted a medium and it is still a bit big through the body.  On it's Ravelry page, people have knitted it to be close fitting and also really loose.   This will be perfectly cozy for the winter.
I used Madelinetosh Tosh Sock in the color Tern.

And now on to my next camp project.  UMMM, I'm gonna have to spend a lot of time on this one.  I will update you soon.

One thing about living in Alaska in the summer, is that you get lots of visitors.  Mostly people who used to live here and have moved away.  In the last week, I have been to a picnic (where everyone but me turned into a lobster from the sun), and dinner out with some friends from Germany.  Tonight three couples are coming over here and then Sunday we are going to big reunion picnic.  Ack, too much food!!!!

Enjoy your weekend and Happy Crafting!!!!

A Sunshine Hug

A very long time ago, in a far away land.... oops, wrong story.  Anyways, a very long time ago I joined a traveling scarf group over in Sunshine Land.  Everyone in this group is super nice, and the yarn is just fabulous.  If you have never tried Dani's yarn, you must!!!  The colors, oh my!!
Last week, this showed up in the mail.

I got it all washed and blocked and now I just have to wait til winter to wear my hug.

Jam!!!!  I made some with apricots/blueberries, and some that had a few bing cherries in them.   We already ate a whole jar of the apricot/blueberry!!!  I wish I could grow fruit like this.  I would can it all!!!

I bonked my head pretty hard yesterday so the next few days I have to take it easy.  I got quite a bit done on my Folded sweater.  I think I just don't like to knit sleeves.  I think they should just take a few minutes cause they are small, but they seem to take forever!!!!!

Happy First Day of Summer!!!

Post 100 and a Tiny Giveaway

According to Blogger, this is my 100th post.  As sporadic as I am, I can hardly believe it.  So, in honor of this day I am having a little giveaway.  If you have read my blog for awhile, you have seen that hubby and I made some soap this last winter.

Just leave a comment and I will randomly draw.  The prize will be two bars of our handmade soap.  This is the soap that I use all the time now.  :)  The giveaway will close on Tuesday the 26th.

Thanks for visiting!!
Happy Crafting!!

Camp Loopy Sweater

I'm making pretty good progress on my Folded sweater.  I really like it so far.  I have most of one of the sleeves done too!!  I have until the 27th of this month to finish it.

This little thing showed up at my house the other day.

I swear I must be afflicted with the sleepshopping disease.  I tell myself I don't need anything new and then stuff just shows up!!!  And it just so happens that I love polka-dots!!!!

Right now I am totally pooped.  We had three days in a row of mostly sun so I knew I needed to get the decks stained.  I started at 9 this morning and at 5 I had both decks stained and some of the fence.  I ran out of stain and I wasn't going to the store looking like I did.  I am a very messy painter!!!  It feels so great to have that done.  If it is still nice tomorrow I might run to the store and grab another pail of stain and see how much I can get done before work.
Tonight I am going to work on my sweater.  My yarn for the next Camp Loopy project came in the mail but I haven't even opened it yet.  Also a couple of more packages showed up.  There goes that sleepshopping again!!!!
Happy Crafting!!!!

Random Springtime

I think it is springtime.  I know "summer" starts in just a little over a week, but we are slow here.  Not many flowers blooming, except those pesky dandelions!
I took this picture the other morning at 4am.  Yes, I am up that early to go to work.

Next week it will be even lighter still.  This is the best thing about living in Alaska.

My cat decided that the sunny deck was the best place to take a nap.  I think he is just out of it.  Tooth hanging out and crazy eyes.

I'm still working on my Mystery Block of the Month.  They are pretty fun to put together.

Ack, I see where I ironed in a wrinkle!!!

I am saving my Camp Loopy for the next post!!
Happy Crafting!!!

Finding the Time

I have to admit that I am a bit jealous (ok, a lot jealous) of the bloggers who seem to get a ton of crafting done.  Lots of them have small children and I just don't know how they do it!!!
Me, my children aren't small anymore.  So where does my time go?  As I have been working around the house the last few days I have been making a mental list.

Things I Spend Time On:

Work- I only work part time.
Exercise- ok, probably spend a bit more time than normal in this department
Cleaning- I am a bit of a neat freak, so yes, this takes up an abnormal part of my day.
Shopping- meh.....Unless it is fabric or yarn, but that is almost always ordered.   I do need new work shoes and some new jeans but they can wait.
Cooking- Probably normal here, I make dinner most nights and bake every few days.
Yard Work/ Outside stuff- This is seasonal and I am a fair weather type of girl.  Spring is a big
outdoor time and I have to remove the snow when it comes.
Internet- Normal??  I am always doing something else at the same time.
Sleep- I really need 9 hours but usually get 8
Interacting with Family- I have figured out that this the thing I spend most of my time on.  If it is helping a kid pick out college classes, looking at these cute new shorts that they found online, or just jabbering with them while they are having a snack, this isn't going to change.  No matter how many cozy quilts I can make for them or giving them a stack of cute new gloves, it can't take the place of face time.  :)
Laundry-It gets its own spot.  I swear mine is possessed.  I can get it all done and the next day, dirty clothes.  I don't do my kids laundry, thank goodness, or I would never emerge from the laundry room.


So I suppose that leaves me exactly 38.2 seconds per day to work on my "Projects".  Yipppeeee!!!!

Some of my upcoming "projects".

Some of these will be made into hubby's favorite jam.

This thing.  :)

Not the broken part. (That happened in a big storm last winter.  A tree from the neighbors house fell across the road and broke it.  Hubby is going to fix that.)   I am going to stain it and the decks.  If I can get a day without rain.  And yes, there is another one on the other side of the driveway!!

Flowers!!  Love them!!!

I added some annuals around my perennials.  I'm not sure if it will show up but I started with white, went to pinkish, and then went to red.  Sorta like a ombre.  You can also see that I had a helper.

I did order the chandelier for the laundry room.  There are good and bad reviews.  If it looks hokey, I can dress it up with some of that sparkle paint that I am dying to buy.
And hubby will have 3 weeks off of work soon, so that is when the sink will go in.  I found something that was much more reasonably priced.  Not gonna spend a fortune on a sink for just laundry!!!!
The poor storage room has just been sitting there with just the edging done!!!

I have been brainstorming for ways to find more time.  Anyone have any great ideas??  Things that work for you??   Please share!!

Now, my Camp Loopy project is beckoning me!!!!
Happy Crafting!!!

More Camp Loopy

I've been knitting away on my Camp Loopy Sweater.  We've had some nicer weather so I have had to spend some time outside working in the yard, but the sweater is now about 10 inches.   I have exactly three weeks from today to get it finished.

Folded

You see that little stitch marker on the bottom??

Yup, I knitted it right into the sweater.  Only I could do something like that!!!  Maybe I should leave it as a design feature!!!

I must feel confident that I am going to be able to complete this, cause I am already excited to hear about the next challenge.

Anyone recognize this??  It is last years Designer Mystery Quilt, Block 1.  I've been itching to work on these blocks but like I always say, I run out of time!! 

Block one is Done!!!  Block two is cut out and sitting on my cutting mat, very patiently.  The amount of fabric in this kit is so generous that I will have a bunch left over that I can use for my Farmer's Wife blocks.  I haven't used any of Fig Tree Quilts Strawberry Fields on those blocks yet.

Time to get "all the things done" so that I can knit, knit, knit like crazy on my sweater.

Happy Crafting!!!