That’s how I would describe my progress on pretty much everything lately…slow. I spent almost a week working on the same knitted afghan square, and I need to have the entire afghan completed by February 11th.  I will start on a new square today and hopefully get the last few done soon so I can get the squares blocked and joined together. I’m so excited to share pictures of the completed masterpiece!

My weight loss isn’t going too well either. I’m still working out with my kettlebell every other day and also walking or working out with DVDs…and I’ve been at it a couple weeks now, and have lost nothing. My scale had shown a couple pound loss about a week ago, but now it’s right back to where it was. I’m a little embarrassed because at the end of this challenge I’m supposed to submit an after picture…and I just know I’ll look exactly like I did when I took the before picture. I’m discouraged, to say the least. But will try to keep going until the end of February…hopefully longer than that, but it’s doubtful if there aren’t any results.

Anyway, I need to go take a walk soon, so I better get going. Hopefully I have better news next time!

I have about 15 squares done for my afghan so far, and I need to hurry and finish them so I can take my finished afghan to use as a visual aid for when I teach the church ladies how to knit next month. I got most of these patterns from the Knit and Crochet Now! website. It’s been awesome learning new stitches and techniques! I will definitely post a picture of the finished afghan!

I decided this year to not make any resolutions, as I always break them. However, I DO need to lose weight, so I’ve joined a weight loss challenge that involves the use of kettlebells. I know this is a bit off topic, but my crafting has slowed some the last week or so as I’ve been focusing on shedding some pounds. I’m continuing to work on my sampler afghan and hope to start on a new square tonight…and yes, I did promise a picture of my progress…but I admit, I haven’t done that yet. Anyway, a link to the challenge is here if anyone wants to join me. The thing I’m most happy with is that my husband has been working out with me. He doesn’t have a kettlebell, but a weight works well instead.

Usually I’m pretty competitive, but this time, I don’t care if I “win” or not…losing weight is prize enough for me…

Anyway, this challenge lasts a month, so hopefully I can lose a few pounds during that time. I will try to keep working on new crafts and posting in here whenever possible, but if I’m absent for awhile, that’s why.

Wish me luck!

I received the book, “Not Tonight Darling, I’m Knitting” for Christmas and just finished reading it a few days ago. It was written by UK author, Betty Hosegood in 2006 and published by David and Charles Publishers.

I found this book to be….interesting. In a good way, I suppose, but as a knitter I prefer knitting books to include patterns, or at least tell me how to do a technique I’ve been wanting to try. This book has none of that…but it does have some interesting knitting history that I wasn’t aware of and also includes a very helpful chart describing what those horrible care instruction pictures mean on yarn bands.

Overall, this book struck me as a good book for non knitters to read, as it seems to be trying to convince the reader to start knitting. It emphasizes that today’s knitters are not the old ladies of the past, but instead are young and hip.

Since this book was written in the UK, I stumbled upon a few words and phrases I had never heard before and had to google. Here’s the list I came up with:

Fusty: apparently this means dowdy or frumpy.

Go like the clappers: google says that this is a phrase unknown outside of the UK and no one seems to know its origins…but it means to move quickly.

Gilet: This is some sort of vest.

I had fun reading this book and especially the pictures of the old knitting patterns. The history was also interesting. I’ll definitely have to share it with my non knitting friends!

I’m updating from my Hotel room and thought I’d share pictures of the custom order Bible cover I just shipped off today. I thought it turned out great!

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Other than that, things are going okay here in Boise. My father-in-law is doing good and we’re having fun here in the big city!

I was really hoping to get my new soap listed today, but with church and a board meeting and pot luck to follow, that just didn’t quite get done. Also, early this morning, my father-in-law had quintuple bypass surgery, so tomorrow we will be driving two and a half hours to see him in the hospital. Which means, my shops will be open, but nothing will be shipped until Wednesday.

When I come back I have some pictures to share!

The new jewelry is all up and ready for purchase in my shop! Yay! I also have a new ear warmer that I need to get listed, so be on the lookout for that soon!

I was planning to get pictures of my new soap yesterday, but a migraine headache stopped me, so I hope to get that done tomorrow.  I made the cheesecake soap about a month ago, but didn’t really like that the scent isn’t very strong, but I’ve decided to put it in my shop and list it as a “light scented” soap. I also have a fresh batch of “blacksmith” soap, and while I like it, it’s different than I was expecting. It smells a bit more like cologne than I thought it would. Still a very nice scent. I also have plans of making a roasted marshmallow soap as well as some fruity soaps as well.

I also plan to get a book review done and posted in here soon.

Oh, and I’ll try to remember to get a picture of the sampler afghan I’ve been working on…I’ve been wanting to show it off!

In October and November I did a couple of craft fairs, and got a lot of stuff made that I didn’t list in my shop…then I promptly forgot about them…until now! I’ve found several new jewelry pieces that I have been listing today. I have 4 pieces listed as of right now, but will hopefully get the rest of them up soon…maybe even tonight if I get time. It feels good to get some more stuff in my shop! I also have a couple of new scrubbies for my soap shop and hope to make a batch of soap soon…I’ve been dying to make either some roasted marshmallow soap or Blacksmith (it smells a little like a Blacksmith shop…very masculine!)

In other news I’ve been working on the sampler afghan from the show “Knit and Crochet Now!” on PBS…it’s coming along just fine, and is a bit of guilty knitting, as I’m planning on keeping it for myself. I’m also planning to use it to illustrate the different stitches and techniques when I’m teaching others to knit.

Anyway, that’s my little update…hope to get more new items soon!

To view my new jewelry items, go here.

It’s almost 2:00 am, but I think I’m getting things figured out. Even though there’s already an “about” section that talks about who I am and such, I thought I would elaborate and give more information. I live in Idaho with my husband and two wonderful kids; a ten year old daughter and 9 month old son. I first fell in love with crafting when I was eight years old and my mom taught me to crochet. From then on I’ve had a blast creating new things.

I have two shops on etsy, one for my knits and the other for soap.

When I’m not crafting, I enjoy cooking, playing guitar, singing, writing novels and poetry, photography, gardening and camping.

My Wonderful Family

I have already added pages to show off my knit and crochet items as well as my jewelry and soap. I will be adding more photos to these sections as well as adding another page or two. I still have some wonderful dolls and stuffed animals to show off as well as some photography and paintings! If you’re interested, I’ve also included a way to join my mailing list on the side bar!

I’m acting on one of my New Year’s resolutions and establishing my own site for my business. I knit, crochet, make jewelry and other crafts as well as handcrafted soap. Be on the lookout for much more to come!