candle making!

so last Christmas i got a Michael gift card from my aunt and uncle and i bought candle making supply’s, and almost a year later I’ve finally used them! i just didn’t have anything to make a candle in previously, but i hit up the dollar tree with a friend of mine and picked some cute little glass containers.  i also decided to document my first real candle making experience.

these were the containers i picked up at the dollar store, they are pretty thick glass, i was happy i was able to find something of decent quality there. i bought three, but only had enough soy wax to make two, oh well. one more to make another time i suppose 🙂

the soy-wax before i melted it down and added the color

the first one i made was green, i one of the next pictures you’ll see how much lighter it was once the candle cooled and hardens

the next one was a teal blue color (mostly because i couldn’t get the leftover green wax out of the container i was melting it in, so i had to pick another wax color that wouldn’t make a murky brown when mixed with it, haha) also cooled to a much lighter color

the finished cooled candles, not exactly perfect, but i love them! there are some darker bits in both from where the colored wax didn’t melt completely, probably my fault for not getting it to exactly 175 degrees, ill know better for next time. i cant wait to make more with different scents, i just went for standard vanilla on this one but I’ll venture into other scented territories next time.

sadly the Christmas knitting was never completed, so i failed terribly this year. well i guess i shouldn’t say it was never completed, cause i did finish one fabulous hat that has a button on it, but other one i was making turned out incredibly small and probably wouldn’t even fit a child, so i didn’t finish it. i did make a pattern from the new issue of knitty already, duet. It came out quite good, but i didn’t check my gauge so i’m really not sure if its the proper size for a human either, my bad. i really need to start doing swatches for things like hats apparently.

I’m not sure I’ll update again before Christmas, so Merry Christmas to my 5 (if that) readers! haha 🙂

long time no post

wow, its been awhile, but i have a good excuse….well kinda. I’ve been extremely busy find an apartment, moving into the apartment, and getting used to the new job. I’ve been slowly unpacking and making my new home feel homey, but its not done yet so i’ll refrain from sharing photos of it. The living room is nearly done, but i’d love to be able to get a coffee table, but we just can not afford one yet. Perhaps someone will get rid of one and donate it to the ‘i’m poor and just moved, help me’ fund, haha.

i went to walmart today in search of some christmas wrapping paper, frames for some artwork i have and other random things i keep telling myself i need, and i found the best winter candy in the entire world! Bob’s Soft peppermint Sticks. I love these things, and they are great if you make a nice hot mug of cocoa and then stick one of these suckers in. They melt and make the cocoa all minty and even more delicious, yum! so i think everyone should go to there local store and pick some of these things up. If you are anti-walmart (i prefer not to go there, but i do anyway) CVS sells soft peppermints, they arnt sticks, they are bite sized, but very soft and extremely tasty, so thats another option.

So i guess cause this is a knitting blog i should probably update a bit about my knitting progress. The fabulous grey sweater i’ve been knitting is still on hold, and i’m also working on the hat the i mentioned previously. In addition i’m picking out different things to knit for people for christmas (obviously at this point in the game its all little stuff, i procrastinated wayyyy to long) and casting those things on. Now this one hat i’m making is a pain in my ass, i love the pattern but the itty bitty cables take forever! i’m slower then death when it comes to making cables, and the smallness just doesn’t help that!

Well, i was till cruising on the hat despite the small cable issue up until yesterday. See the board the pattern is on in the photo, well its a magnetic board, and i mark the row i’m on with the magnet, but when i moved it the stupid magnet came flying off cant i cant for the life of me figure out what row im on! I thought i knew, then like halfway through the knitting the row it didn’t look right to me, and i had to rip back. I’ve started and ripped back a few times and am still not completely sure where i should be. FRUSTRATING. I’ve set it aside for right now in hopes that maybe when i’m more clear headed and havent looked at it for a bit i’ll be able to figure it out. ughhhhh.

I’ll try to update more often now, after all i’ll be finishing lots of projects soon…well thats the plan anyway, but i suppose thats all for now.

new job, and the county

First i’d like to state that the picture of the alpaca has nothing to do with anything, i just found it on my camera while uploading other photos and remembered how darn cute the little guy is. I took it a few weeks ago while at the Common Ground Fair with Genna, i wanted to take him home, along with a few angora bunnies.

I started a new job last monday at a credit union in Lewiston, which is fantastic. I love being employed again, its hard to get use to waking up early, but i’ll figure that part out eventually. I’m currently commuting an hour, but looking for a place in that area so hopefully i find something soon. i have a feeling i wont be able to afford internet right away, so that might be a bit difficult cause i’m kind of an addict.

This weekend i headed up to northern Maine for a friends wedding, and during the 3 hour drive up i had Ian pull off to the scenic view of Mount Katahdin cause he had never seen it before. Sadly it was kind of cloudy so we couldnt see much but i snapped a photo anyway. You can sort of see the lovely fall colors in the photo, but due to the lack of sun and cause its almost past peak they dont look as fantastic in the photo as they usually do, i still love fall in maine though. The wedding itself was lovely with a fall theme and instead of table numbers they were differentiated by Beatles songs, and each table had its own bottle of wine with the Beatles song title on it. I took that home, and im sure it’ll be pretty tasty.

My sweater is on hold for a bit as a work on a project for a friend that i wont delve into much hear in case they happen to stumble across my blog, i do have it linked on my facebook page after all. And soon i’ll have to start Christmas knitting, i should really start looking through my pattern books so i’ll start to have some sort of idea of what i need to purchase, though i am going to try to make most of it out of stash yarn cause its more economical…and i ran out of room in my yarn cupboard, OMG!

And one last thing, i highly recommend the band Owl City, and the singer, Adam Young, sounds just like Ben Gibbard (the singer of on my favorite bands EVER Death Cab for Cutie) so you should go download or buy the CD, or at least the single “fireflies”

spinning

I went to the Common Ground Fair on Sunday with Genna, and despite the drizzly rain it was pretty darn fantastic. There was fiber EVERYWHERE, and whole tent devoted to spinning! Now, spinning is something I’ve tried, but i have not really succeeded at, haha. The picture to the left is an example of my poorly spun yarn, i cant seem to get it to hold its twist, as you can see its not twisted very much. One of the woman in the spinning tent was using a drop spindle with the whorl (heavy part) at the bottom, and it seemed like it would be easier, so I’m thinking about investing in one. 

I also picked up some fabulous fiber at the tent for Oasis Farm Fiber Mill, it has angora in it so its incredibly soft. I cant wait for my skills to improve so i can spin with it, its just fantastic, and the color is beautiful. There were also

quite a few angora bunnies for sale at the fair and if i had the funds and the place to keep one i definitely would have invested in one, adorable! i just wanted to pick them up pet them, hopefully one day i’ll have the room one.

On to pre-spun yarn, haha. I ordered some red wool yarn to make Rosamund’s Cardigan from the Fall ’09 issue of Interweave knits, i cant link it cause the only link i know is a ravelry link, and not everyone is signed up on there. I’m pretty excited about it though, and its red for a change! I’m really trying to get out of my blue/purple/gray phase. I did just realize that i also bought red yarn for a summer tank i want to make, and pink yarn for yet another top, so i guess my next step is to move out of the red category. On to greens and yellows, haha!

Anyway, i thought i’d share a photo of the progress on my Multiplicity sweater, I’ve finished the back and now I’ve started on the front, so much stockinette stitch, omg! Its looking good though, and once i get the front done i don’t think it’ll seem as daunting, or so i hope. Also, now that I’ve got more yarn i should actually be able to finish it, so i hope anyway!

stuff i want

I guess i shouldnt have classified this as a knitting blog, cause i hardly ever have knitting stuff to update about, oh well! I’ve been rather bored lately, seeing as i’ve been unemployed for 6 months, so i’ve been browsing a lot of shops online. Window shopping without leaving the house, score! So i’ve picked out a few things i’d  love to have in my currently non-existant apartment.

First, this fantastic office chair from The Container Store

you get to sit on Bungee cords! i actually tried it out when i was at The Container Store down in Massachusetts, its fantastic and incredibly comfortable. I bet it would look great with the Ikea desk i posted about last month. The bungee chair in all colors is apparently on back order right now, which is okay, maybe by the time i have a job, and apartment, and the money to pay for it they’ll be back in stock, haha!

Next item i want, this slightly boxy but still fantastic Coffee Table from Ikea!

The reason why i love it is actually cause i saw something VERY similar, possible the same one, on the show Carter Can! It has a bunch of storage cause there is a drawer that you cant see in the picture, and its glass top. On the show they got some nicely patterned place mats and put those under the glass top and it looked lovely. I’d like to to that, or possibly use some pretty fabric, or maybe even place a bunch of photos under the glass top. Either way, its extremely versatile and you can make it match the decor in your room. So even though its boxy and a wee bit fug i still want it for my non-existent apartment.

And finally, the last object i want is the lovely Round – Back Chair, also from Ikea.

I love round back chairs, i actually have a chair currently thats similar. Its white though, with a slightly hideous pattern, and the back is a-symmetrical and slightly sea shell like. I think round back chairs are a lot more comfortable then square ones, but thats just my opinion. Most likely i’d get rid of the throw pillow though, i’m one of the few people in the world who are anti-throw pillow, haha. I think they are annoying and uncomfortable.

So i suppose thats the end of my furniture i want list, there is more, i just dont want to post it all.

Anyway, i’m going to the Common Ground Fair on sunday with Genna where i plan on picking up some fantastic yarn, and possibly roving that i’m sure i’ll share when I get back!

Red Sox!

So on Tuesday i finally got to attend at Red Sox game at Fenway Park in Boston, it was so worth the 25 year wait! And i can not wait to go back, which i hope is soon 🙂 I didn’t bring my SLR with me so most of my pictures are pretty crappy, my point-and-shoot does not have a very good zoom on it, oh well. The picture to the left is of Jason Bay up to bat, he has  a nicely formed butt, as you can see.

The only terrible thing about the game (other then the over priced beer) was that i missed Papi’s record breaking home run cause i had to use the bathroom. apparently the pitching change does not take nearly as long as i think it does when i watch on tv, oh well.

I’ve also started on Season 3 of Battlestar Galactica so far its slightly depressing, but i have hope!

Anyway, the fantastic Genna got me a gift card to Knit Picks for my birthday and i’m trying to figure out what i should get, there are to many options! I’ve been thinking about getting the ball winder, but then i’d have to get a swift, which i cant afford right now seeing as i’m unemployed and everything. Knowing me i’ll probably just order some fantastic yarn, suggestions are welcome  though:)

Google Addict

i started using “Google Reader” and its amazing! i wasnt a big fan of going to each blog/site, which means i never did, haha, and now i dont have to! all i have to do is add the url to my google reader and when i check it it will tell me if there has been a new post, its FANTASTIC. Now i’ll actually read new blog posts, go me! Speaking of blogs, send me the URL’s of some good ones, i’m completely terrible at finding them.   Then i made igoogle my home page and i can see my gmail, google reader, weather and my gchat all there. so yeah, in the span of like an hour i became a google addict, haha.

So, i finally got to use my knitpicks Zyphers, i have mixed reviews, mostly because of the light weight thing. When they say “light weight” they mean it! its like i’m not holding anything at all, its just weird!  I prefer to have a little weight to my needles, so i’m probably going to switch back to my nickle-plated ones at some point soon to finish up my sweater. I do, however, think they will be fabulous with slick yarns because they are more grippy (or some would say ‘sticky’) then my nickle plated ones. So, most likely when i finally make something out of the fabulous 5000 yards of silk yarn i’ll be using the zyphers, then i wont have to worry about slippage. And i’m not quite sure of this last part because i’ve only used the size sevens, but the tip doesn’t seem as needle like, so therefor i shouldn’t stab myself to death, fantastic! Overall i liked them, i just prefer weightier needles, so i’ll probably just use them for smaller sized things.

And i’ve been slacking big time on my sweater, fail! so i suppose i’ll go work on that now…..and don’t forget to send me blogs to read!

Options!

I got my new zypher needles in the other day!! sadly, i was in Boston for the last 5 days, I just got back today and haven’t gotten a chance to try them out yet, which i’m not very happy about. They are beautiful though and look (and feel a bit) like glass. I hope they feel as fantastic to knit with as they look. I ordered more zippy cases for my needle binder with my yarn order the other day so that should be in soon to.

Another thing about being gone for 5 days, i haven’t gotten to work on my sweater at all, which is pretty depressing. Then again, five days of not knitting has let my index finger heal, i ripped a hole in it knitting a blanket on size 4 options needles (the nickle plated ones). I ordered the zyphers in the small sizes in hopes that wouldn’t happen again.

While I was down in Boston I got to visit both Ikea and The Container Store, and i want to live in either of those stores! i bought a fabulous bed side table and put it all together tonight, as you can see by the picture above. I even took photos of the time at the begining and end of the project, a little less then 2 hours, not bad if i say so myself. Its a pretty tall table for next to a bed, but my bed is pretty tall, so i don’t really care. and i LOVE all the storage it has. My mom mentioned that i should paint my yarn cabinet white to match, and think that’s a fantastic idea. first off, painting is a bit easier then staining, and then i wont have just one random piece of white furniture in my room.

So, who wants to come paint my yarn cabinet then? just kidding…..kinda

yarn fail

So i’m knitting away on multiplicity, i’m up to the arm holes on the back, then i started flipping out. I ordered 10 balls of yarn, but i am nearly done the 3rd ball and im still on the back, that cant be good. So i go and double check the yarn needed for the sweater and i apparently reversed my numbers and ordered to little, FAIL.

I just placed an order for more yarn and put in a little note mentioning the situation and what dye lot i want if they happen to have any left, which i’m hoping they do. Now, for attack plans if they dont! i’ve been thinking if there is a big difference between the dye lots i’d hold off doing the ribbed cuffs on the sweater and i’d make those cuffs and the flowey shawl like coller part out of the different dye lot. If you look at my previous post you can kind of see what i’m talking about, i think it’ll be okay, but i’m really not sure. I suppose i’ll know more when i get the yarn in and i can see how well it matches. I’m pretty sure i over bought yarn now, i only need like a skein more and i bought 4, haha. Its always better to have to much then to little though!

Anyway, i should stop worrying about my yarn troubles, i’m off to boston tomorrow and wont be back till tuesday or wednesday, i get to help my friend move apartments, yay! well, thats only one day of it anyway, the rest should be fun and include an ikea visit!

Mulitiplicity

Just thought i’d share a photo of my multiplicity progress, i’m about 8 1/2″ into the back of the sweater, and considering the fact that its dk weight yarn it knits up quite fast, its pretty exciting. I picked the grey color because, well, i make boring color choices, haha. Everything i knit is either blue, purple or grey, its a very bad habit.

I’ve been working on buying some other color yarns, for example i have a light pink for a summer top i’m going to be making, and a dark red for another summer tank top.  Oh, and last time i went to the yarn store i picked up some HOT PINK yarn from greece, yum! no idea what i’m going to make out of it yet though, perhaps a lacy scarf, i bet my sister would want it though, she loves hot pink.

so i guess i’ll add in a picture of my stash then while i’m at it…

you cant really tell how much blue and purple i have from that shot, but trust me there’s a lot. Apparently when i rearranged it a few weeks ago i hid all my boring colors and put the brighter stuff out front. The yellow is left over from a baby blanket, i also made a really cute tam out of it. the bottom shelf isn’t yarn, its boxes with picture frames that i need to paint and swap out pictures (i don’t really need high school photos framed anymore) and also some leftover fabric from a purse a made a few weeks ago.  the cupboard itself is unfinished and needs to be stained, you can do that for me if you want, i HATE staining, haha.

hmmm, well i suppose that’s it.