Happy Easter!

Consolidation

Guess who's moving back in with Mom. It's temporary, and will give him some breathing space to catch up for his next place. So now he is consolidating his space into mine. And I am shifting my two rooms of stuff into one. My bedroom now doubles as my fiber/craft space as well. Can we survive it? I have no doubts!

(Don't look too closely at the photo...it's a really bad cut and paste job!)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

What Your Shamrock Says About You

You are unselfish, responsible, and a good leader. You contribute a lot to your community. At times, you can be self-righteous and stubborn. There's no better way to do things than your way. You consider yourself a lucky person. Luck always seems to be on your side. You are creative, innovative, and complicated. You definitely have a unique spin on the world.

The Shamrock Personality Test

Body Polish

Need a remedy for dry winter skin? Me, too! This scrub is great. It's cheap, versatile and leaves your skin feeling smooth and quenched. Give it a try.

My basic recipe:
1 cup sugar or salt
1/2 cup oil of your choice
a few drops of your favorite scent

Mix well. Place in an empty glass jar with lid. It will keep longer in the refrigerator. (Bring to room temperature prior to use.) Portion out the amount you will use for your spa day, rather than dipping wet hands into the whole jar. (The photo above is about 1/4th of the recipe.)

After bathing, spread Body Polish on wet skin using circular motions with fingers. Rinse well in a warm shower. Be very careful stepping in and out of the shower. Dry off with a fluffy towel.

Feel free to make it your own. By varying the oil choice and the scent, you can have a different spa treat every week.

Feet of Firsts

New techniques and a bit of a review of Noro yarns.

During a recent trip to my LYS, I picked up a couple of skeins of Noro Silk Garden. I had heard many folks marvel over this yarn and decided to give it a try. My first impressions were mixed. The colors are amazing. The hand is rather rough and it seems to be full of vegetation. Oh, well. I was up for something new. I chose colorway #252; blues, greens, black and gray.

When it comes to knitting socks, I'm more of a traditional kind of girl. But, since I was in the frame of mind to try new things, I also decided to use some new-to-me techniques. Looking through many of the toe-up methods, I chose to use Judy Becker's Magic Cast-on...I love it!!! (Check out Cat Bordhi's video.)

Another technique I hadn't yet used is the short-row heel. I followed instructions by Kim Salazar. It went well, but I definitely need to practice this one.

I finished my first sock and was feeling pretty good about it. I started to rewind the second skein so I could begin with the same color at the toe. Arrrrrrggghhhh! A huge knot hidden in the center of the ball totally ruined the flow of colors.

Since this happened, I have notice a real dichotomy among knitters where this yarn is concerned. One camp will defend it no matter what stating the knots are part of its charm. The other (which I think I lean toward) maintains that there is a better way to connect breaks during spinning. I am sure there are many factors involved at the factory of which I am not aware. However, as a spinner, connecting breaks and blending colors were some of the first techniques I learned.

In any case, I "cut and pasted" my skeins together so that my socks were almost matching. I'm pleased with the end result. Now let's see how they wear!

Here's a simple recipe for my socks: Use size 5US double-point needles.

Tie-Dye Scarf

The soft brushed wool blend yarn I recently dyed "told" me it needed to become a scarf. It needed to be simple, quick and work well with the tie-dye colors.

By combining double crochet and single crochet, more texture was added without detracting from the yarn.

The yarn was recycled from a very soft white sweater. It took the dye well, but maintained its halo. This softened the overall look of the intense dye colors.

Adding the fringe to this very long scarf, gave it even more of a 1970's feel. I love it! I've written up the pattern and made it available here for free. Enjoy!