Battle of Knits

I finished a book!

FINALLY! Yes, ridiculous I know, to be sooooo excited over finishing a book, but you have no idea! As a child I read everything inder the sun and couldnt get enough to read… as a teen I loved and adored the classics, but somewhere between my short stay in college and my ending up as a stay at home mom, I just gave up reading anything that was not a 3 paragraph article. I loved magazines until I had my son, now if I had time for them, he would surely rip them to shreds before I got past the first 40 pages of advertising! Now, I read a lot on the internet… articles, blogs, and my personal fave— TWITTER! I really think twitter was made for me. I love it… catch my interest with a quick sentence and I click the link if I care enough too. Perfect for my short attention span. Topics range from everything to everything-else and I just think it is the greatest thing since gluten-free bread!

I downloaded the Kindle app for my phone recently and bought Jane Valez-Mitchell’s book “IWant” it was a good read. As I mentioned before it seems to be written in a “manic” fashion… as if she is racing to get the stories out! It slows down to a more book-like pace around chapter 8. I love her advice and ideas about environmentalism and how the average person can do more to help the earth and live a more natural life. Personally I try to do the best I can, using washable towels instead of paper, cloth diapers instead of disposables, I eat gluten-free (not by choice, mind you!) and this cuts down on a lot of processed food in my diet that would be over-packaged in cardboard and plastic. I did buy the re-usable shopping bags, but I always forget them. When I clean in my home I use vinegar and baking soda. I am not 100% enviorment-friendly but I am working on it. I would say to grab the book– or upload it to your kindle or iphone. It is a good book with lots of exciting stories, good lessons and advice for every day life. Over consumption is a HUGE  problem in our country and the more people that realize it and work towards change, the better.

I joined a congo…

http://hyenacart.com/Home2Home/ I joined the Home 2 Home Congo. I will be stocking my items with some other mamas who make diapers. There is some nice diapers and other things in the congo, so be sure and check it out! There is nothing more wonderful than cloth diapering… well, except supporting stay at home Moms!

I am going to let my Hyena Cart lapse, since it is cheaper to go with the congo and it easier to advertise when you have 7-8 other Moms helping! I can also focus more on stocking the congo. Stop by and check it out, tell me what you think!

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MIL Cloth Diapers, well… *Sorta*

Josh’s parents came to visit from New York. The last night they were here they offered to babysit so we could go out.
We had a wonderful dinner at Manuel’s Vintage Room, downtown.
We both had the pear & ricotta ravioli for an appetizer and then the 8oz filet on a bed of arugula and a goat cheese and red-pepper sauce.
We paired it with a bottle of Willamette Valley Pinot Noir.
It was absolutely delicious!

We ended our night with a Sam Adams Summer Ale at Durty Nelly’s Irish pub.
We came home to a sleeping baby and it was wonderful…

Total fake-out! LOL

Marr Haven: He just does not understand!

Look at how wonderfully chunky it is! I am literally smiling from ear-to-ear just typing this! I first read about this yarn on Knitter’s review and I felt like I was in love… I had to have some. Now that I have it, I have to have more! I wound it up and then decided to photograph it… about 30 pictures later… Josh says “How many pictures of that yarn are you going to take?” I just shook my head and kept snapping away. I wanted to get the lighting just right. This is a fabulous yarn and it is hard to capture the softness on digital film.

HE JUST DOES NOT UNDERSTAND!!!

Look, my dog understands… he can see the beauty he can envision the beautiful soaker it will become for Boo Bear!

From the Knitter’s review: ” While many yarn producers bleach their yarns — even before dyeing them other colors — Marr Haven does not. Hence the initially dimmer, just-off-the-sheep color.
And while many yarn companies subject their fibers to a carbonization process, adding acid to the wash to burn up any bits of vegetable matter, Marr Haven does not. That explains the flecks of hay and grass in the spun yarn.
By not being subject to such potentially harsh chemical processes, the fiber remains entirely scratch free and baby soft. It also retains a higher amount of lanolin, giving the fiber that telltale “wool” smell, softer hand, and greater water repellancy.
The yarn is spun on a mule spinning frame, a rare spinning device that closely duplicates a handspinner’s motion, producing a loftier yarn with a soft twist. (Bartlett Yarns is one of the few other companies that spins its yarns on a mule.)
The loft is so great, and twist so soft, that many of the fibers don’t even make it into the strand. They gently pill up on the surface, producing the tiny oatmeal-like pills mentioned earlier.”

It is so rare to find naturally processed wool. It is hard to find sustainable farms and I feel so good supporting the work Barbara Marr does. I touch this wool and I feel like I know the sheep personally… I feel the TLC between my fingers and I know that there is not a single drop off negitivity in this wool.

Perfect for making a wool soaker for my son’s precious bum. Since I started making wool diaper covers I have been searching for the perfect wool. I found it. I have not even started the soaker, but I know this is the best I will find.

I am moving tomorrow afternoon.

So I have the place about halfway packed up. I am making a list of must-brings to the new house. I will be leaving before the boys really get things into the truck, this way they dont have to worry about an escaping dog or toddler. I am happy to get out of here anyway. The baby and the dog can both get out some energy tearing up the back yard and the short walk to the pool and play ground will be nice.

…and then began on the March square… well, it was named “Irish Rose” and it was very pretty… I finished the actual rose part in the middle of the square and then decided to frog it and start a different square when I realized how awkward it would be to lie on top of such a big “rose”… I am really trying to go for a more comfortable blanket at this time, so no more 3-D designs. I decided to go with “Esther’s square” for my March, which is actually a January square, but whatever.

At some point I got the mail and was pleasantly surprised to find YARN!!!

A huge assortment of Araucania Nature Wool from April, a girl on one of my co-op forums. I entered a “yarn for woolies” swap. I signed up as a worker, hoping to make another beautiful skirty for a lucky little girl. The blue and lilac are for me, the pink and pumpkin are for her. She has twins, boy and a girl so I will be working on some shorties as well as a skirty for her! Receiving her yarn in the mail got me thinking about a purchase I made on Hyena Cart… I should have received it by now… it is some delicious BFL called “Starry Night” — I have been in love with it for awhile and finally took the plunge and bought it. I am hoping to find some matching BFL trim somewhere and make it into a Wonderful Wallaby for the Boo.

These were not good.

How is the Gluten-free diet going? Wonderful! Well, until yesterday. I broke down and binged on carbs. Gluten is a delicious thing that I have taken for granted. I have decided I would rather die from a gluten related death than give up my precious gluten. That was the longest week of my life! The deciding factor was pure laziness combined with the complete lack of weight loss. After about 8 days… I didn’t even lose one pound. I blame the depression of looking at that bathroom scale on my full force attack on some REAL french toast sticks followed by a vegetarian corn dog and then a can of veggie soup. After all that I was still hungry, which surprised me. This weekend I intend on consuming the better part of a medium pizza and lots of beer!

You can’t move properly without beer. This is a law of nature.

We did secure a moving truck. Not at first, but after filling out some Internet “paperwork” Josh got a call letting us know we will have a truck at 4:30pm on Saturday. This is great for 3 reasons:

1. I have a hair appointment at 12:15pm, that I no longer have to cancel.

2. We can move this weekend, which does not call for rain… next weekend does.

3. I don’t have to be angry about Josh’s procrastination.

Off to start the skirty for April, finish baking the banana bread, and make taco dinner for the family.

Jon & Kate, I have the answer!

I think Octomom should adopt Jon and Kate’s wayward litter. With Kate gone all the time and Jon living like a fun-loving bachelor, it is time for a real parent to step in and save those eight kids from becoming latch-key delinquents from a broken home. I think Octo-mom can give the much needed “TLC” they deserve.

Perhaps Kate might find Nadya Sulemon as a nice rebound too. They could get married in California and then raise their 22 children together like a modern day Brady Bunch.

Or maybe they should all take up residence at the Duggars house. Michelle Duggar could certainly whip them into shape and show them the light. What is another 24 mouths to feed?

Applewood skirty is finished!