Brown Sugar .... Mmmmmmm

Yesterday I went to a local health food store in search of ingredients for a homemade brown sugar scrub.  I do love me a good sugar scrub, but they are pretty dang expensive and I was looking forward to saving a few dollars by making my own.

I tried this recipe.  I am not going to lie and say that by making this you will save a ton of money, because quite frankly, I had sticker shock when the cashier rang me up!  Those essential oils are expensive and this recipe calls for 3 of them.  If you already have essential oils, then by all means mix away.  If you have unlimited funds and are making the scrub yourself instead of buying it because you enjoy making your own stuff, by all means mix away. If you are making the scrub yourself to save money and don't already have the essential oils ...... try something else!  Or perhaps buy one of the oils for your first batch, add another next time, and so on.  I don't actually think the essential oils did much for me.  I would have been just as happy with just the carrier oil (I bought sweet almond) and the brown sugar.  I also thought the scrub was too dry, even though I used about 4 times as much carrier oil as this recipe called for.

Verdict:  This one wasn't for me, but in clicking around on links I found a version that I plan to try next time.  It calls for avocado mixed with the brown sugar then enough carrier oil to bring the whole mixture to the texture of your choice.  There's something about the thought of rubbing avocado all over my skin that just sounds decadent.  May even add some of those expensive essential oils now that I have them.

DIY!!

I don't normally make New Year's resolutions, but this year I made a couple.

In 2012 I resolve to:

• Finish 2 existing WIPs before starting something new (this was aimed specifically towards my seemingly never ending list of knit and crochet projects)
• Learn a new craft (I am currently saving up to buy a loom so I can start weaving my own kitchen towels)
• Turn the TV off and read more often ("read" includes listening to audio books while I work on my craft projects)
• Find ways to save money and use more natural products

So far (yeah, I know 2012 is only 3 weeks old, but still) I am doing pretty good on all counts.

I have finished 3 of my WIPs, and although I did start a new knitting project, I decided I didn't really like it and frogged it.  I plan to make scarves for the kids and their SOs for Christmas this year and I've finished the first for one of the guys.  Don't look at me like that, I'm not insane.  Although not a New Year's resolution, I did promise myself to be finished with Christmas crafting early in 2012 so I'm not stressed and can enjoy the holiday.

I'm also doing my own version of Project 333.  I have decided that accessories like shawls/scarves do NOT count towards my 33 wardrobe items.  It is my way of making a basic black long-sleeved top go farther.  So, I finished up a shawl I've had on the needles for quite a few months.  I adore it!

And lastly, I finished up a beaded eyeglass case.  This thing is super heavy for such a small item.  It lives in my car and protects my sunglasses from scratches.  Lots more projects in the book this pattern came from that I intend to make.

So that takes care of the first item on my list.  I don't have the money yet for all the things I will need for weaving, especially since I don't plan to buy a tiny loom.  I want to be able to make some larger projects so I'm going to hold out for a loom 24" or larger.  I am looking at rigid heddle looms and not a floor loom.  No need to go overboard lol.  I've been doing some reading and following weaving groups on Ravelry, so I'm getting an idea what to expect when I get my tools.  Hopefully I can get started in April.

The reading is coming along too.  I have a goal of reading 24 books this year.  I recently finished "The Hunger Games", and am currently reading "Catching Fire", "One For The Money", and "A Clash of Kings".  Anyone else read several books at once?

I'm really excited about the last item.  I have always found these great ideas online about making your own this or that, but I've never attempted them.  That is going to change this year.  I got myself a Pinterest account to organize and save all those great ideas, and I will be trying them all.  I started off making my own laundry detergent.  Wish I had tried this years ago!  It may just be my mind playing tricks on me, but I swear my clothes feel softer now.  I will be saving a ton of money by using this, and I like the smell.  So simple and quick to make.

This week, I am making my own body scrub.  Review on that to come.

Sometimes I Can Be

... a total and complete idiot! I have spent the past several days reposting 3 1/2 years worth of photos to my Ravelry account. Why? Well, I was getting annoying emails from Flickr on a regular basis. Since I no longer use my Flickr account, I decided to delete it last week. Ummmmm completely slipped my mind that until recently I was uploading photos to my Ravelry projects from the Flickr account. Every photo I had was replaced with a horrible Flickr "this photo is currently unavailable" graphic! This little project did force me to clean up and organize the photos on my computer, so all was not lost; however, I do not want to do anything like this any time in the near future. What a pain in the butt!

I have been working so much on finishing up my WIPs, I was beginning to come down with a slight case of startitis. In an attempt to head it off at the pass, I allowed myself to knit up a cute dishcloth. 1 project complete for March!



I have only worked on the first of my March blocks for the 2011 Block A Month Afghan. I will work on the others this weekend. This is about the time of year I got behind on last year's afghan. Really going to put effort into not letting that happen this year.



I have completed all the pieces for Paul's Daring jacket. Didn't get a photo of the sleeves, but since they don't have cabling on them, you aren't missing much. I got a zipper today and plan on sewing it in and finishing the jacket this weekend.






Cast on a cardigan for Max and quickly got the elephants complete. This shouldn't take too much longer to finish up. I can have this done in a couple of days if I put my mind to it. I plan on having it done by next weekend. Just need to find the perfect buttons for it.



Finished section 6 of the Babette blanket and got it sewed on this afternoon. I've been working on section 7 this evening and should have it finished tomorrow. Hoping to have this afghan finished this month.

Adding to the Spring wardrobe

I am done with the Leaf T with the exception of weaving in the ends! I am saving that task for tomorrow night. I really like this top. Might make another one in a solid color and use a yarn with a different fiber content. This one is a bit heavy, but it does feel like it's going to breath. Both yarns were ribbon type and they both knit up heavy. The fuchsia is bamboo, and the green is corn. I made the top a bit long, more of a tunic length than a t-shirt length. I'm hoping it doesn't decide to grow when I wash it.



Since I wasn't in the mood to do the finishing work on the Leaf T, I pulled out the Apres Surf Hoodie and worked on it a bit tonight. I'm about an inch shy of beginning the hood shaping, then I'll be ready to knit the sleeves.



I'm about sweatered out for tonight. Time to pull out the Babette blanket for some mindless crafting while watching TV.

Put the last couple of rounds on Paul's hat last night. Another project finished! Back down to 24 projects in some semblance of completeness.



I have been concentrating quite a bit on the Leaf T. Just about finished with the knitting on the main body. The pattern calls for rolled edges at the hemline, neckline, and sleeves, but I really don't care for that look on me. Maybe the rolled edge on the hemline if it was tunic length and a really drapey yarn, but I digress. I will be adding ribbing to all the edges to make the T a bit more structured.

I've also been putting some time into the Babette blanket. Here it is with section 4 added.




Last night I crocheted the pieces for section 5, and tonight I added it to the main piece. This is working up pretty quickly even with each section becoming bigger.



My goal is to finish the Leaf T before February is over. I have already chosen my projects to concentrate on next month too. I am hoping to have the Babette blanket done, and I've decided to pull out the Apres Surf Hoodie and finally finish it up. It's coming up on the right time of year to get a lot of wear out of it.

Happy Valentine's Day

Yesterday I put the final touches on my 2010 Block A Month Afghan. It's a bit, ok a lot more than a bit, bigger than your normal afghan. I went a bit overboard on the borders. Once I added borders to each of the blocks and seamed them together, I should have called it a day, but I had just received Nicky Epstein's book crochet border book and I couldn't leave well enough alone. I do like the additional border I added.



And now it fits quite comfortably on a king sized bed without looking too small.



I finished Paul' gloves last Wednesday and am just now getting around to posting a photo. These were so much more fun to work on than the brown and red ones.



Now, I'm working on a hat for Paul. This is the watchcap from the book "Knits Men Want". There are quite a few patterns in that book I intend to make. Just about everything with the exception of the fingerless mitts. Paul wouldn't be caught dead in those.

We have fingers .... Yay!

I adore handknit gloves. Every pair I've made I have fallen in love with. I detest knitting the fingers on them though. I tend to fly through the main part of the glove then let them sit forever without fingers until I absolutely can't stand it anymore and have to knit them on. I'm not having that issue with Paul's new gloves though for some reason. It took me no time at all to knit the main body of the gloves and I'm making good progress on the fingers so far. Here they are in all their "puckered not relaxed yet fairisle" glory. At the rate I'm going, I should have these finished before this weekend.



I've also been making good progress on the 2010 Block a Month afghan. No photos since all I'm doing now is adding a border to all the blocks. Whatever possessed me to add more to them is beyond me. I should be ready to seam them together this weekend, then next week I can concentrate on the border. I ordered "Crochet on the Edge" and expect it to be delivered in the next day or so. All I need to do is decide on which border to use.

My sock yarn blanket is now as wide as my new sofa. It completely covers both Paul and I, and once finished will be the size of a king sized bed. I met some friends at a pre-super bowl party at one of the yarn shops in town and was stupid enough to bring an entire bag full of yarn and all the supplies to knit, with the exception of the blanket itself. It was a bit too far to drive home and fetch it, so I had no choice except to knit another section to add to the blanket. It is going to take me forever to complete this blanket!