Easy Recycled Gift Bag

I was sorting through our many photos, as tonight is my monthly Scrapbooking Night Out, and came across these two pictures which I thought I'd share with you all.  The photos aren't fabulous, but the idea I believe is one worth sharing.

 

We were invited to a 1st birthday party for a daughter of a high school friend and then promptly forgot about the party until the morning of.  We needed to come up with a gift and fast.  Luckily, I had a gnome doll already knit up and Sam chose one of his own books, Peter in Blueberry Land by Elsa Beskow, to give to baby Erica.  Now, all that we needed was to wrap it up, but  there was our true problem.  We don't use gift wrap.  I usually make a wrapping cloth or bag to give along with the gift, but all I had on hand was Christmas themed.  I didn't have any fabric, but I did have some old jeans that I had been using to patch the knees on Sam's pants (really all his pants knees blew out at once and I sewed 9 pairs in 3 days - whew!)  It occurred to me that I could just seam up the bottom of a pant leg and would have an instant gift bag.  So, I did just that and then finger knit some bulky weight yarn (on the car ride over to their house) to tie it closed.  I was so pleased I cannot tell you!  Now, we could have just gone out and purchased a gift bag and tissue, but it really goes against our principles on waste.  This bag was reusable and best of all recycled too!  If you have any old jeans on hand I recommend you give it a try.

Joining in with Linda for Creative Friday on a Saturday!  

Yarn Along - Homeschooling and Superior Socks

So, I'm only into the 4th week of homeschooling my seven year old and already I'm thinking of changing our curriculum.  Did/does this happen to any you?  Sam has been very resistant to the Waldorf based lessons and after attending our MHA Homeschooling Conference I'm seeing that there are many, many other ways of teaching that might suit Sam better.  Individualized teaching is a major perk to home educating right?  I've started by reading this simple book called The Three R's by Harriet Beechick.  I like it, but it's a little loose for me.  I'm realizing I like lessons spelled out a bit more with flexibility for sure and Sam likes games, modeling and anything active.  We're going to head out to the only homeschool bookstore in the state, Heppner's Books, this afternoon and see what they can help us find that might be a good fit for both of us.

Knitting wise I am still working on the socks I started from our trip to Lake Superior.  I decided to step it up a bit and get them finished (usually I just keep them in my purse to fill in any down time out and about) as it is getting noticeably cooler here.  I just used Wendy D. Johnson's Gusset Heel Basic Sock pattern and added a knit three purl one rib to it.  I'm pleased and can't wait to wear them.

Joining in with Ginny for Yarn Along.

Lake Superior Trip With Socks

Since we are homeschooling this year, we decided to take a trip the weekend after Labor Day instead of before with the thought of less people, traffic etc.  Did it work?  A resounding YES!  We ventured north, as Minnesotans are wont to do in the summer time, to Lutsen, MN along the northern shore of Lake Superior.  It is where I went as a child with my family, where we went for our honeymoon and as a young couple and I couldn't wait to show Sam the beauty of it all.  We stayed at Cascade Lodge, which has been around since the thirties, in one of their "cabinettes" meaning 4 "cabins" in one building.  It was cheaper and still woodsey, but I think next time we will stay in a cabin with a kitchenette to save on food expenses.

 Sam and Dan at Gooseberry Falls - High Falls section on the journey north.

 Dan and Sam at Cascade Falls State Park.   

Finding a walking stick along the way is a must for this family.

Cascade Falls looking like root beer at the bottom don't you think?

 Dan and I with Lake Superior in the background.

Lake Superior coastline at Lutsen, MN.

The blazing fire Dan and Sam built on the rocks of the shore on our last night there.

Me wearing the socks I just finished on the trip and starting up another pair.  

Winter is coming soon you know.

Here's a close up of those socks.  I can't find the yarn tag to tell you what yarn/colorway it is though.  

 Here's the socks I started up north from yarn (Fortissima Colorpack 1) I purchased at Yarn Harbor in Duluth.  A little more Caribbean blue than Superior blue, but it's a nice remembrance from our trip.

 We enjoyed all the hiking, waterfalls (really can anyone have enough of seeing waterfalls?), the city of Grand Marais, The Angry Trout restaurant in said city, swimming at the community pool, playing tether ball and Foosball at the Lodge, knitting, campfires, stargazing and lastly the serene beauty of Lake Superior.  Did Sam enjoy the trip?  Why yes, yes he did.  In fact he kept saying "This is so Awesome!" so many times Dan and I couldn't stop laughing at his exuberance.  What a trip!  We loved it so much we're going back next year, that is, the weekend after Labor Day.

Oh, and I'm still working on the socks.  Just turned the heel today!

Joining in with Nicole for Keep Calm Craft On.

Fresh Off the Wheel - Pastel Rainbows

Hello everyone!  I was inspired last night after putting Sam to bed and spun up this mini yarn skein of about 70 yards.  Using my favorite angora/wool blended cloud roving for one ply and for the other ply some wool roving that my friend Judy of mamajudes on Etsy plant dyed in a graduated pastel rainbow colorway.  Judy uses a mixed breed roving from Brown Sheep Company which is strong and makes a firm ply, but it's not the softest.  Since I value softness, I felt that to make a pleasing yarn it really needed to be blended with the angora.  This is also a good way to make the plant dyed fiber stretch a bit farther.

  Here is the skein along with the rovings I used to create it.

 A closeup before washing.  It will "bloom" fluff out some more after having a bath.

I wish there was more yardage as I very pleased with how the skein turned out.  I still have some of both of the rovings in which to make more yarn and I think I'll sell that as yarn instead of knitting toys from it.  How many yards do you think is needed to make a useful skein of DK/Worsted weight yarn?  

Joining in with Linda for Creative Friday.

Yarn Along - First Grade and Mittens

I'd like to say I'm reading some incredibly witty totally enthralling book, but alas I cannot.  Lately, I am spending my nights reading and re-reading the curriculum we chose to educate our 7 year old son .  It comes from here and is based in the Waldorf methodology.  It is in itself a very interesting read, don't get me wrong, but sometimes I feel a bit lost in the cosmos of Waldorf schooling.  Some aspects of it come very naturally to me and other are a bit confounding.  I'm beginning to see why so many homeschoolers label themselves as "eclectic", taking bits and pieces from many sources, as it's hard to make everything in a single curriculum work for your child.   It's our first year homeschooling and there is much to learn for both Sam and I, so I think I will be spending much more time with this "book' for the foreseeable future.

On the fiber side of my life I am knitting up a pair of mittens for myself.  I just finished a pair for my mom to match her mother's day hat (photos to come soon) and I thought I would do the same for mine.  What?  You don't knit yourself hats for mother's day?  You totally should; it's a good tradition.  The pattern for the mittens is a simple one and I don't know whose it is or where I got it from, but I use it every year around this time.  I'm enjoying knitting with two circulars instead of double pointed needles as it seems to have taken care of my "ladder" problems that I was experiencing before on my first attempt.  The yarn is some handspun of my own, which I thankfully made enough of, and is a mix of BFL, alpaca, domestic wool and silk.  It's really scrumptious and squishy.

That's all for now.  Joining in with Ginny for Yarn Along.

In Search of the Perfect Bunny Rabbit and a Giveaway

Have you ever knit with angora yarn?  It's ever so lovely and soft as it passes through your fingers.  Since embarking on "The Naturals" kitty cat gang and knitting one of the cats from my gray angora hand-spun yarn, I've been a bit obsessed with angora and can't stop knitting and spinning with it.  My fiber comes from a lovely woman named Mary Lou who runs Angora Gardens along with her daughters.  I met her this past Spring at Yarnover, the annual knitting/spinning/all things fiber conference here in Minnesota, and the moment I touched the fibers she had for sale I was hooked.  I purchased her grey cloud roving, which is a blend of 60% sheep's wool with 40% angora fiber, that day to spin my own yarn.

I had plans for the freshly spun angora yarn to line mittens and hats for some extra soft warmth, but my plans took a turn to toys instead.  What better fiber to knit stuffed bunnies with but with bunny fur itself!  So, now that I knew what I wanted to knit with my yarn I embarked on finding the perfect bunny rabbit pattern.  The two I liked best was this one where the bunny is made from a simple square of stockinette knitting and this one which is knit in the round using double pointed needles.  Neither was quite right until I combined them and gave the ears of one to the body of another, thus making, in my eyes, the perfect bunny.  This bunny, along with it's predecessors, are in my shop now for purchase.  But, you can also win one in a giveaway over at Linda's blog Natural Suburbia where I am a new sponsor.  Head on over to Natural Suburbia tomorrow to learn some more about me and my business Simply Playing and of course see how you can win the sweet angora bunny pictured in the third photo below!  

Good luck everyone and have a joyous weekend!

  Bunny number one I thought the ears were too floppy.

 Bunny number two I missed having any back legs and  found the pattern a little too fussy for my taste.

  Bunny number three I just love!  All four legs, simple pattern and ears that stand up - perfect!

Yarn Along

 Fall is coming, so I'm told, although the Summer like temps tell a different story here in Minnesota it's time.  Time for what you ask?  Why school and sweaters of course!  This will be our second attempt at Homeschooling our son Sam.  The first time was when he was 4 and what can I say, I just wasn't ready for it?  Now Sam is 7 and we are starting first grade at home this year.  We're dipping our toes in slowly and taking it day by day.  So, I thought I would do some more general reading and this book "The Homeschooling Handbook" came highly recommended.  Thus far I am really enjoying it - very palatable style.

Sweaters on the other hand, I have lots of experience doing and they are my all time favorite item to knit.  I am making Sam another Wallaby sweater this year.  His modifications are no hood and extra long arms so he can stick his thumbs out of a hidden hole in the cuffs (think fingerless mitts attached to the sweater arm).  We purchased the yarn at Yarn Harbor in Duluth on our way home from a long weekend along the North Shore of Lake Superior.  Sam chose good old Cascade 220 in a the fancy Paints Blue colorway.  I was thankful for this because normally I have to talk him down from a very expensive yarn to something more reasonable on my wallet.  

Joining in with Ginny for Yarn Along.

Fresh Off the Wheel

I'm in the midst of a summer cold which has settled into my head in these last few days of August.  So, sitting here in my favorite chair (one of those Poang Ikea bent wood chairs in case you're wondering) resting, I look over to my spinning wheel and the half finished yarn being plied and I think "I have enough energy for that".  I then sit and pedal my way through finishing the skein of yarn.  It's a lovely blend of merino wool, which is the white ply, and a plant dyed mixed fiber batt in pastel  tones.  The skein came out a worsted weight with only about 140 yards.  It's destiny will be knitted cats and gnomes I think as I'm just not quite ready yet to sell my yarn as well, yarn.

 

This is the completed yarn wound on my Ashford Jumbo Flyer Bobbin.

 

And here it is wound on to a Niddy Noddy.  I count how many wraps to determine yardage.

  

Lastly you see it wound into a skein form.  Lots of winding in making yarn!

Now the yarn is still not ready to knit with and must go through a soak with a little soap to set the twist and let the fibers "bloom" or puff out so to speak.  Then I'll rinse it and hang it dry.  When it's dry I'll take the skein and place it onto a swift and use my ball winder to wind it into a center pull ball ready for knitting.  After I started spinning yarn I have deep appreciation for the amount of effort goes into each skein.  Of course, mainly machines do these tasks now, but still the amount of steps really is amazing.

Joining Linda on Creative Friday on a Thursday :)

The Naturals Gang

Let me introduce you all to the new cats in my shop - The Naturals.  As their name implies, they are made with un-dyed all natural fiber knit up with my own hand-spun yarn in a variety of fibers.  The cream kitty is made out of Shetland sheep's wool.  Domestic sheep's wool (this mean it's from the USA and is a mix of many breeds of sheep) and Alpaca fiber (the Alpaca's name was Chip - cute no?) make up the cream and caramel model.  While the dark brown cat is made out of Shetland wool too, it's a completely different shade do to the breeds variety of colors.  Lastly, we have a sweet little gray pussy knit in a sheep's wool/angora mix from a lovely local angora rabbit breeder.  So soft!

I am always amazed at the variety of expression that occurs upon completion of this simple pattern.  Some look feisty, some a bit quirky, but always cute don't you agree?  Should I make an all caramel alpaca too to round out the color selection a bit?  What do you think about matching knitted gnomes?  Maybe angora knitted bunnies with little white angora pom-pom tails?  Hmmm...  I definitely have toy making on my mind today!

Joining in with Nicole for Keep Calm Craft On .

New Look!

Hello again.  How have you been?  I haven't visited this space for some months now, but as always I am going to try and be more regular about posting.  Here's wishing me good luck!  

So, you may have noticed I have a new look on my blog, Etsy shop and Facebook page.  My amazingly multi-talented friend Emily designed them especially for me.  

Isn't she just the best!  Check out more of her artwork here. 

 Some little ad buttons for advertising on other blogs.

The change began as I learned to naturally dye and spin my own yarn.  Both processes are truly trans formative and so exciting that they have turned the direction of my work.  I will still be making knitted and felted toys for babies and children, but will discontinue making magic wands and garlands.  Instead, I will be offering items made from my hand-spun yarn as well as skeins of both hand-spun and mill spun naturally dyed yarn.

Progress may be slow or fast depending on how this year of homeschooling my 1st grader progresses.  I'm super excited about both endeavors and will be sharing them here in this space for you to follow along.  Have a great rest of your week!

Dolly Blanket

Do you remember this yarn single that I spun a while back?  Well, I finally plied it with some white Shetland-Finn yarn and I am super pleased with the result.  It's pastel Springy, soft and squishy.  All good things in the world of yarn.  Since I'm not ready to sell it as just yarn I started knitting a basic dolly's blanket from it and by being so simple, the yarn really stands out.  As you can see it's just plain garter stitch which makes for nice end of the day knitting.

It will be listed in the shop this week if I can find time to finish it between getting over my cray cold and weeding in the garden.  Don't you love weeding after a rainfall?  The weeds just slide out - so satisfying!

Joining in with Nicole for Keep Calm Craft On.

Rainy Day Train Ride

It was a very rainy Saturday morning when we took a drive to Osceola, WI to take a trip back in time on the Osceola Saint Croix Valley Railway.  Along for the ride was myself, my mother Jean, my niece Anya and my son Sam.  Unfortunately, my husband Dan had to stay home due to catching my cold from the previous week.  Although, feeling poorly he was happy to have the house to himself to sleep in peace and quiet while we were gone.  Here is our hour and a half ride in pictures.

 

The train consisted of coach cars, dining cars, box cars with gates over the open doorways, observation car and even an old mail car.  Once the conductor punched our tickets we were free to roam the cars at our leisure.  The ride was smooth and went by quickly and before you knew it we were back at the depot.

The sun decided to shine upon our return giving the children a chance to see the engine up close and play on an old caboose car.  It was a fun excursion with great volunteers happy to answer all the many questions the children asked.  If you are in the area I would recommend a visit to anyone young or old.

Fresh Off the Wheel

I haven't had time in the last week to spin at my wheel due to being sick.  When sick I just don't have the focus I need for spinning.  So, last night I sat myself down and spun up the rest of my "A Wee Garden Path" batts from mamajudes.  That single along with another single of Blue Faced Leicester/Tussah Silk that I had spun earlier made more of the yarn that I used for this project.  Since I'm making mittens to match my mother's hat I thought I too would like matching mittens for my Mother's Day hat.

Here is the yarn on my niddy noddy which is used to wind the yarn from the spinning wheel bobbin into a skein.  Please excuse the dark photo; it's rather gloomy here in MN this morning.

 

And here is the yarn wound into a skein.  Next, I just need to soak it in water to set the twist, hang it to dry and lastly wind it on my ball winder.  Then I'm ready to start knitting this pattern!

 

 I chose a simple plain mitten pattern as the yarn itself is really the focus.  What are you up to on this Friday morning?

Joining in with Linda for Creative Friday

Yarn Along

Coming in a little late for Ginny's Yarn Along as I was finishing all those teethers and rattles to send off to British Columbia Canada.  I'm so relieved to be done - phew!  Now I get to focus on something just for fun like Mittens in May! or reading from my latest book The Power of Less by Leo Babauta.

I'm making the mittens for my mom to match her Mother's Day Hat as I had lots of handspun yarn left over.  Here is the pattern I chose which is a very simple basic mitten.  I'm struggling a little bit with "ladders" at the intersections of my double pointed needles so any pointers on avoiding them would be greatly appreciated.

The book I'm currently reading is all about simplifying your life so that you can achieve your goals.  The great thing I find about The Power of Less is that it helps you realize very easy "doable" things you can change to calm the clutter in your life i.e. do you really need to check your email 15 times a day?  And that when we calm are minds and environments we can then focus on what we want to achieve and actually do it.

What's on your needles/hooks and what books are you reading these days?

Rainbow Rattles and Teethers

I'm finishing a wholesale order of rainbow baby rattles and teethers and thought some before, middle and after photos might be fun for you to see.  I did forget to take a picture of all the knit pieces before they were sewn together so you'll just have to image that part. 

Here they are freshly knit and all assembled.  

My "before" shot.

 

This is after three cycles of agitation in my washing machine with hot water and olive 

oil soap (do not use detergent when felting.)  

My "middle" shot.

And lastly, we have the finished product with all the fuzzy bits removed and the wooden 

rings rubbed with my beeswax/olive oil finish.  

My "after" shot.

 

For the first time I dried the teethers and rattles in the dryer on low as I am pressed for time to get them finished.  I was pleasantly surprised to find the wood in even better shape than when I let them air dry.  

You can always learn more don't you think?

There you have it natural wool felt and wood toys for the baby in your life!

A Mother's Day Hat for Me

It always comes to pass that I knit a lot on Mother's Day weekend as knitting is my favorite pastime.  This weekend it was especially true since I was, and unfortunately still am, sick and all our plans had to be cancelled or not include me.  So between naps, sneezes and lots of trips to the bathroom (drinking all those liquids you know) I knit a hat for myself.  My Mother's Day gift from me to me.  

I chose the pattern Pup Tent and used some more of my own handspun as the yarn.  For the colored single I spun from a plant dyed wool/alpaca/silk blended batt from mamajudes called "A Wee Garden Path".  It was inspired by the April theme "A Secret Garden" of the Phat Fiber Sampler box of which she contributes to each month.  I have yet to snag one of these elusive sampler boxes containing all different fibers from "Indie" artisans, but I do regularly enter their blog's many giveaways hoping to snag a goodie or two..  For the grey single I used a blended roving of Blue Faced Leicester wool and Tussah silk which I purchased at Yarnover from Sue's Luxury Fiber which can be found on Etsy.  I then plied the singles together and got a worsted weight yarn.

Here is the end result and a close up of the patterning.

The patterning would be clearer in a solid color, but I still like the tweedy look of the handspun.  I'll try and get a photo of my wearing it when I am feeling better.  I modified Pup Tent by increasing the length of the ribbing and only knitting 2 repeats of the patterning section.  It was a pretty simple knit, although I did find myself ripping back quite a few times a redoing sections I assign this to being sick.

How was your Mother's Day?

Joining in with Nicole Keep Calm Craft On