There are some lost posts!

I am not sure what happened but, I tried to post a few times from my iphone and they are not here.
That's not cool.
I wonder what happened. I had some new finished projects, and an update on my canning..... damn.
I have to see about getting some photos uploaded from my phone so I can make it up.
Hope to post soon! Blogger is fighting me tonight on my laptop.......

Crafty, homemaking vacation.....

This week I am on vacation, and for me that means getting some stuff done. Projects that take some time, and care. New things I've never tried before, or never made time for.

Today is Blackberry Jelly, a second attempt at body wash and hopefully a few small batches of some peach recipes.

So, Blackberry juice is on the stove with sugar, gaining heat and waiting for jars to  sterilize in the water bath. It is shocking how much sugar is called for in the jelly recipe I am referring to...... Shocking! I wish that books, or even the pectin packages would give a ratio, and reasons..... 7 cups of sugar to 4 cups of  juice, really? Even the tome "Joy of Cooking" gives no reason for this craziness.... Also all the recipes ask for fruit in a poundage, but don't list how much juice your going for in cups..... 4 pounds of blackberries made into juice, add 3/4 a cup of sugar. Thanks for that. I have reduced the sugar to 6 cups, it still seems crazy! Since the recipe calls for 2 packages of liquid pectin, i will chance it.

Not much to look at......

After the movement into jars, all it will be is dark purple jelly in jars!

As for the previously mentioned body wash, i was giving a Pinterest idea a shot. There are several pins for body wash on the cheap, basically most of them are: grate 8oz. of your preferred bar of soap, add to 6 cups of water on the stove and melt. Let cool, place in containers, and use. Some call for additional glycerine, some do not. So I bought some lovely smelling cheap, low chemical list in the ingredients bar soap, and grated it up. 

 

It smells lovely! 

The wonderful thing about this method is that you are not using an active lye component, which is the hazard in soap making at home. The bar soap has the lye in it, it 's done it's job and is no longer active. The tough thing is it was really hard to tell what I had at the end of the process yesterday. I thought it hadn't worked. I did not have any glycerine on hand so I skipped it. I had a chunk of soap solidifying on the top of very watery soap. Awesome. No there is no picture. 

So I considered......" Ok, I will go grab some glycerine in the morning, and try again."

I was astonished this morning when the pot was filled with a solid (yet creamy) soap! It was too thick to transfer to containers, so I added some water and put my plan into action. 

It's cooling now. Here's hoping the additional water and 2 teaspoons of glycerine are going to work out! Lol.

Hope you are having a great summer, more to come......

Another one bites the dust!

Ok, so I am really enjoying the Zig Zag Pram Blanket, so much in fact that I have completed a second, and began colour tests for the next.

It's a great.... not boring, but not crazy patter for a baby blanket big enough to be useful, but not caught in the buckles and clips. 

This one ended up with 21 white stripes total. The original intention of the pattern was as a scrappy blanket, for sock yarn leftovers. There ate several on Ravelry like this, one solid and a verrigated second colour. Some even use gradations, and those are beautiful too. I can see myself making a scrappy one, as well as trying several other options. So far it's been super satisfying. You should try it!

Things on the go!

I have a few new things on the go...... I started another Christmas Stocking(!)

Sadly I have no photo but, it's only the toe and a bit of foot, so nothing really spectacular yet. 

I have two new shawlettes on the go. An "Old man of Storr" in handspun  i traded a friend for......

As well as a "Inflourescence" from a new book in Indigo Moon. 

Neither are particularly large..... however they ate just what I needed to have on the needles before the next complicated projects!

Do I have plans? Oh boy yes! More on that later. Happy summer crafting!

The way of the blog.......

It's the way things go.......... things that fall by the wayside when life offline is demanding.
LOL

Let's see, I have been updating my Ravelry projects with my iphone app. Yikes.... all technical and stuff. I updated with a Blogger app too, maybe that will make it easier to get to this place.

My sister had her third baby and he's a cutie!
Other than that I have been working on cleaning up projects that have been accumulating and languishing. Not much progress.... I mean the reason that they languished in the first place was loss of interest....... oops.

So... checking up on you all, and hopefully I can keep up this summer.

Happy crafting peeps!

Whoops!

How did I get here?
I should be knitting... or tidying the mess I made trying to get things in order around here.
But, since I'm here and your here.....

I finished my Steampunk Cowl. Yes I did. It's soaking...... a better, more complete photo next time.
I used some very brassy beads on Diamond Luxury Baby Alpaca Lace in the lovely blue here.

Hope your weekend was nice and relaxing! Thanks for Family Day Christy Clark, we really are enjoying it.

What I worked on today!

Here is what I worked on today.... just a quick overview of the items I am trying to get finished up. All of these are UFO's....

Meaning I have had them going for a while. The Socks don't have a Ravelry project page, as I am always knitting socks..... and it seems pointless, but I was thinking of making  a "Socks 2013" project as a catchall.

So the small green object is a sweater I call Green Magic. I love the yarn, and I have a bit to say about the pattern, the Prospero Hoodie, but I will post about that later. The blue is a second Jeweled Cowl that I was persuaded the other night to not rip out as my preferences about bead weight may not be those of others that would love to own one. Of course, as I mentioned ..... socks. Both are the second of a pair. Honest.
More posts to come! Thanks for stopping by comments and questions are always welcome!

Inspired

I was very inspired by the shirt painting that I did for a gift, mentioned in a previous post.

I decided to keep it up, and painted one for myself too.

The black paint you see is the previously mentioned glitter paint. This is by Martha Stewart's craft line. The paint container says it's good for wood, metal, glass and fabric. Wow...... impressive stuff.
So this is a test you might say as I have plans for future projects that will need a nice fabric paint.
I bet you're wondering if it worked.... well I painted it and tossed it into the dryer a few times. Then I wore it and then I washed it.

Sugar Scrubs!

As I have previously mentioned.... I made a bunch of sugar scrubs this past Christmas.

They were fun and easy, and honestly they make a great gifts. I really encourage you to try them out and enjoy them. All the recipes were pulled from Pins on Pinterest. I will link to the original posts from the fantastic bloggers that were kind enough to share them.

Ginger Coconut Body Scrub
Coffee Mud Scrub
Sugar and Spice Sugar Scrub
Vanilla Sugar Scrub

If you look through these scrubs, you will see similarities in the proportions and ingredients. Sugar scrubs are a great thing to make and really you can make them out of any combination of scents. Sugars have different coarseness and affordability, so that can change what you make. I had a ton of white sugar left and we are eating less of it so it was a no-brainer to use it up in the scrubs. Adding scents and other things like coffee make things more interesting and personal.

My game plan for all the mixes was to assemble the dry mix first and then add the oils. Much like baking. Some blends have a looser texture when you mix, so you add more sugar, and if you find that the scrub is drying out before you give the gift, add more oil and mix it up well. The point is to have a oily mixture, but you still want to have the texture of the sugar. I chose to use Grapeseed oil and Rice bran oil. Both are easy on the skin and absorb well. The recipe that called for coconut oil was infused as instructed, I love coconut oil, but not all of my recipient's were keen on the idea.

Well, this was one of the things I tried out, and there are more to share. I hope you consider trying this out for yourself or a gift.
I should make one for me.........

So, another stocking

Yes, again..... I knit another one.

I like the traditional colour. I was thinking that this would be great for a family member, but I am not so sure now. That is another issue.... it's not that I don't think they will like it, I just think it will fit another family better.

I did a interesting inside detail, and I really like the way it turned out. What do you think?

I always make a flap that I tack down inside the stocking, previously I have done stripes but I thought this was a bit more fitting. I have a pot on the stove dyeing some green yarn for the next baby stocking.
Yes, another.
I have no idea what is wrong with me.

Did lots of things!

Wow, my Crafting was busy this past holiday season. Knitting was only part of it.

I know I am not alone, and I have a ton of stuff to share. But first I am going to show off a gift that I made for a swap.

We have done this in the past and it was great to get involved with the gang again. This is for a good friend who has moved up country and came back to join us for the gift exchange!
So it's a bit of a selection of goodies. A Coffee sugar scrub, knit hat in an alpaca blend, cute note book, some chocolate, leather bracelets made with "noodle beads" and a heat bag set.

I was really into the sugar scrubs this year, and made them for all the ladies in my family. They were a hit, and that made me really happy so I made this one inspired by a drink that we all enjoy at the end of a party night. (thanks J, you rock)
The final addition to the gift was a hand-painted shirt

I love painting shirts and I haven't done it in ages.... this was fun and inspiring, the colour is totally different in life. The paint actually has a combination of black and silver glitter and when you photograph it, the silver dispersal. Oh well..... the shirt was awesome and she loved it so I win!

Next year should be just as fun! Next post.... more things I did! LOL