Summer Goals

In no particular order….

1. Relax

2. Hang out with friends and family

3. Organize our apartment

4. Decorate the apartment better

5. Spend more time outdoors

6. Go camping at least once

7. Sort through old paperwork and get a working filing system going

8. Do lots of fun craft projects and learn new techniques

9. Write letters

10. Watch TV less

11. Make more fresh meals

12. Save money

13. Find a local knit/craft group and go regularly

 

Quite the year…

2007 was really an amazing year. My first move away from my hometown, my first wedding anniversary, and the beginnings of a lot of long-held dreams coming to pass. There were also a few low moments, like the robbery and regular life difficulties. All in all, though, I really love my life right now.

I’m looking forward to what this next year is going to bring. My band, Ladder, just released our first single online at www.myspace.com/jladdermusic and we’re in the process of getting CD copies pressed. A large local radio station (Energy 92.7 San Francisco) messaged us on Myspace to ask for a copy of our songs – which might be getting air-play soon! How awesome is that?!? The guy from the station is even going to send in our tracks to possibly be included on a compilation CD put out by the station.

What I’m most excited about at the moment is that Nathan and I have finally found a church that we really feel is the best fit for us. It’s alive spiritually and a very vibrant community. We had made some friends at the other church we had been going to, but it didn’t feel like the right fit. This morning we went to Living Hope Community Center in Emeryville, which is actually pastored by an old friend from Santa Barbara. Both Nathan and I have been feeling a bit depressed on a spiritual level and not being truly connected to a local church community has left us a bit worse for the wear. I know a lot of our Aqueous friends that we talked to when we visited over Christmas have kept us in our prayers about this and I’m very thankful.

Both Nathan and I felt touched spiritually at this morning’s service and God just spoke right to our hearts and we knew before we even talked about it that this was the place for us – it had that fundamental element we were looking for. And wouldn’t you know it that they are currently in need of help on the sound team and need vocalists on the worship team? God’s perfect timing I tell ya!

LHCC’s theme this year is growing as sons and daughters of God through discipleship in Jesus. I think what Nathan and I were missing was that clear focus on learning to be a true follower of Jesus, not just how to be a Christian. Even though that simply sounds like a difference in semantics, there is a real, deep difference. I’m so excited about joining with this faith community on this journey.

I still have a couple weeks left of break, although I’m sure they’re going to go by MUCH too quickly. I’m hoping to finish getting things caught up at home so I can start the semester off on the right foot. I’ve had enough of a break at this point that I’m ready to get some stuff done and get things a little more settled in at home (a feat which would be a little easier if someone else wasn’t home so often as well, haha!).

So far I haven’t been sitting on my butt, though. I’ve been doing a fair amount of cooking. I’ve made two batches of soup, most of which I froze in jars so I can have meals to quickly prepare. I’ve also done some baking (cornbread, banana bread), and that’s been pretty fun.

And of course, I’ve been knitting and crocheting! Here are a few FO’s:

Crocheted Bath Poof out of Sugar ‘n Cream Cotton

Matt’s Hat out of Cotton-ease – Christmas Gift

Mom’s Felted Bowl out of Crystal Palace Taos (two strands together) – Christmas

Veronica’s Fetching out of Cascade Cash Vero – Christmas

I’ve got another FO, but I don’t have a picture yet.

Here are a few in progress using techniques I haven’t really done before, or haven’t done much of…

Luna Moth Shawl out of Misti Alpaca Handpainted “Purple Pleasure”

Annetrelac Socks (Entrelac technique) out of Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Merino

(from Loop & Leaf – a new Awesome Local Yarn Store in Santa Barbara).

I also have some new stash yarn that I’m excited about…most of it has been cast on the needles to become something, but here a little yarn porn for you yarnies who read this

Crystal Palace Panda Wool (Bamboo, Wool, Nylon) to become “Citrine Socklets” – Purchased at K2Tog

Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock “Black Purl” – Purchased at Knit & Pearl Boutique in Santa Barbara

I think that’s enough for now!

 

Lots of Knitting

At the moment the priorities in my life are God, Nathan, family, friends, music, knitting, other stuff. Knitting has been keeping me sane in the crazy busy-ness of life right now. One advantage to my long commute to school is that the 40 min leg of the trip on BART is prime time for working on knitting projects. I bring a project with me pretty much everywhere I go and I’ve been able to get a lot done. I’ve really surprised myself because I’ve managed to make huge progress on my Holiday gifts. I’ve only got one and a half things left to go!

On top of that, knitting is starting to bring in extra income. I’m working on a custom pair of gloves for a woman who came into K2TOG looking for someone she could hire. My boss referred her to me and she wants two pairs at a price that’s worth it for me. And I’ve had two people request that I make them knit items that they would pay me for.

I’m considering putting some effort into selling my knitting, maybe opening an Etsy store or something. I’m gonna see how things go with the glove thing and maybe put some extra effort into things once Christmas break starts.

Most of my knitting is up on Ravelry, but here are a few highlights of what I’ve been doing:

Easy Flame Lace Scarf – Malabrigo Laceweight (Pattern from Knit & Tonic)

Dashing – Cascade Venezia (Pattern from Knitty.com) For Nathan

(The first one is actually completed, but I don’t have an updated picture yet)

Two-Ball Touch Me Hat – Meunch Touch Me Due

Felted Bowl – Crystal Palace Taos – Christmas Gift

(Before Felting – It’s been felted and is currently drying)

Lastly, I have to gush about Ravelry. I absolutely LOOOOOVE this site! I’ve got all my current in-progress and all my new projects listed. I did an inventory of my needles, and I’ve been keeping track of my knitting books and stash. It’s so helpful for finding patterns and people’s notes and experiences with particular patterns. It’s one of my favorite websites now. Here’s evidence of myRavelry love (and my birthday presents from my family as a little extra).

 

So, things are a little busy…

….if you can’t tell by the lack of posting. I am VERY happy to have a regular schedule now, though. I was about to go off the deep end if things didn’t settle down into some form of a schedule. One thing I learned, or at least was reinforced, is that I am most definitely a planner. If I don’t have at least some sort of routine, I go bonkers trying to figure out how and when to get things done…so much that it pretty much renders me useless and totally ineffective at getting anything done.

Anyway, I have no idea how long this post will be. Hopefully I will finish all my thoughts, but I wanted to at least post *something* of what’s going on in life at the moment.

While my schedule is pretty demanding and I have to really stay on my toes, I am LOVING being in school fulltime again! The faculty here are amazing. I don’t have a single teacher I don’t like. Even the classes that I’m technically re-taking (theory, musicianship and piano), I am learning so much more than I did the first time around, and I can tell that I’m internalizing it a lot better.

I’m also discovering new and exciting things about my voice. My voice teacher told me I have a big ol’ Cadillac of a voice that I’m driving like a Civic. I’ve usually thought of my voice as being lighter, airy, and more ethereal in it’s sound. But as she was having me go through some exercises to get a feel for my voice, she told me it sounds “rich and chocolatey”. For anyone familiar with the different types of Opera voices, she described me as a lyric soprano. This was all news to me!! But I am SO excited to see where things go. Even in the two lessons I’ve had, I can tell that my voice has more depth to it than I ever realized.

In my fiber world, I finally got an invite to Ravelry, so I’ve been uploading some of my info slowly but surely. I need to get picture sof my projects up, but I have to transfer them to Flickr first for that to work.

I’ll update more as soon as I get a chance

 

I CANNOT WAIT!

I want in on the Ravelry, but I’m #1912, so I got another two weeks or so to go before I can finally get in to the site I keep hearing so much about!

*impatiently waits*

Ok, so it’s been a while since I’ve updated. Things have been BIZZAY and I really need to update our joint blog. But I’m here so I’m updating this one first. You lucky readers you

Things have been kinda nuts and up in the air, but overall really good. We got moved in with the help of Ryan and his neighbor (they got it done FAST!) and we’re getting settled in now. It’s been pretty laid back since I’m working part-time and don’t really have a set schedule yet, and Nathan is in the process of job searching.

Speaking of jobs….I’m working at a yarn shop! It’s the perfect job for me at this point in life. I don’t feel overwhelmed with details, my boss, Ellen, is great, and I LOVE the atmosphere of the store better than the other local stores. She’s also keeping her store as environmentally friendly as possible, with local and/or “green” yarns. AND, she’s really made an effort to have affordable, quality yarns, so I have a lot of choices to pick from even if I’ve only got a little bit of fun money!

This month, I’m essentially getting her online store up and running, and once that’s up (by September 1), I’ll be doing order fulfillment. So if you want to order any Crystal Palace yarns or needles, order them from k2tog and I’ll get to pick them up from the warehouse, package them up, and send them to you! I am so excited about seeing the warehouse! I’ll be in heaven!

As far as projects are concerned, I’m still working on Wicked. I only have two more rows till I take off the sleeves and continue with the body. I am sorta surprised that I’m actually sticking with this project. Normally I get bored and end up putting it aside. I think the colder weather up here is motivating me!

I did start another project, though. I’m working on an Irish Hiking Scarf in Cascade Venezia (super soft merino & silk blend) in a deep purple color. It’s going to be a store display for September and then I’ll be wearing it all winter, haha.

On the home front, since I’ve had more free time than I’ve had in, well…. forever, I did some baking yesterday! I made whole-wheat/semolina rolls and corn bread muffins. YUM! We were out of bread, but I had the stuff to make it, so I did. Although, I have to admit, I screwed up my first attempt at bread-baking here. In our old apartment, I could turn the oven on and let the dough rise on to of it. Well, that doesn’t work for this oven!! The dough started BAKING in the bowl since the oven was releasing so much hot air. I don’t know if the stove is slightly defective or what, because I’ve never had the top of an oven get so hot like that. I mean, the bottom of the dough was actually turning golden brown! Unfortunately it wasn’t edible so it got tossed *sigh* The next day, the muffins got made first, since those don’t have to rise. Then I just turned the oven on warm and it was perfect.

Well, I gotta go. Time to get ready for work!

 

An FO, a UFO, and a haircut

I officially love Fetching! As I was working this pattern, I realized that working on DPNs is my favorite way to knit. I definitely need to learn how to knit socks.

In the meantime, I learned the cable cast-on, how to make a thumb (using waste yarn, pulling it out, then picking up stitches), and do a knit picot bind-off with this pattern.

AND, this is a feat for me. I finished it in TWO DAYS! I started it at our WWKIP (World Wide Knit in Public) Day event and finished it last night (and not late either). I worked on it while I was chatting with ladies at my church’s 3rd Annual Ladies Spa Day so I got a good chunk done there.

I still need to work in the ends, but it’s basically finished. I also made sure to start the next one right away so I (hopefully) don’t get catch “second-sock syndrome” (a knitters “illness” in which the second item in a pair is not made, or delayed, because the knitter loses interest in the pattern). We’ll see how successful I am, considering the number of UFOs I’ve got stashed away. People, I am sick. SICK!

Speaking of UFOs….here is the Clapotis. Horribly neglected for the past few days, but still in my WIP (Work in Progress) bag.

I love this pattern, and I love this yarn. It’s such a beautiful color and texture. I think it will be my favorite scarf for the winter in San Francisco.

I think it’s kinda weird that I’ve been so interested in knitting cold-weather items. Perhaps I’m subconsciously preparing myself for the colder climate in SF (sheesh, I’m talking like we’re moving to Wyoming or something, ha!), and using this as my therapy. All I know is that I’m going with it!

Hopefully I’ll finish that tank top sometime before summer ends so I can actually wear it. Or maybe I’ll end up working on it in the winter so I can feel closer to summer. I am so weird.

Lastly, going back to my Ladies Spa Day reference, I got my hair cut! I also got my eyebrows a bit more under control, thanks to the wonderful women at my church. For the past three years we’ve done a spa day where brunch and various treatments are available to the women and guests for FREE! It’s an awesome opportunity to spend time together and fellowship as women and be pampered. A number of women in our church are skilled in various areas, so it makes for a fun day.

This is kind of a weird picture – it’s at a funny angle, but I was having a hard time getting Nathan or I to get a good picture. Most of you who read this will see it in person soon enough anyway!

By the way, if you look closely, you can see that my shoulders got a bit burnt at WWKIP. I wasn’t expecting to stay as long as I did, and I paid for it – I really need to find my sunscreen!

PS: I forgot to mention the cool new sidebar gadget. I discovered My VisualDNA through Tracy and Chauntel’s blogs. And I liked it so much that I personalized it and put it up here. It’s pretty accurate in describing me if you go to the website and view the details of each “label”. I don’t know where you gals find this stuff.

 

Audition!!

I feel like it went REALLY well. We’ll see what the outcome is in a week or two (or however long it takes them to deliberate).

I went in feeling confident and it turns out that I knew two of the panelists. One was my voice teacher when I was in the Applied Music program at SBCC (which you have to audition to get into), and the other was a faculty member that Nathan was close to and has heard me sing at various times at SBCC.

I took the rest of the afternoon off and it was delightful.

 

Craft and Purpose unite

Disclaimer: Depending on your definition and comfort level, part of this post may be considered over-sharing. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

So I’ve been on a journey lately to simplify my life and my home, and be a bit more purposeful in how I live. Part of this has been de-cluttering (motivated largely by the impending move), part of it is making more earth-friendly choices, and part of it is making more wallet-friendly choices.

(Oversharing about to begin)

The Land Down Under
Nearly a year ago now, I switched from using tampons to using the Diva Cup. I had a variety of reasons, but the main ones were financial and environmental since it’s reusable. Considering that women use about 16,800 pads or tampons over their lifetime, that’s a HUGE savings of both money and landfill space. The Cup has paid for itself a few times over by this point (it’s generally around $30, but I’ve seen it for as little as $20 online) and it’s still got at least another year, if not a few years, of life left.

Not only that, but I don’t have to worry about the toxins that can be found in standard tampons (it’s debatable that this is an issue, but I would rather not risk it), or the fact that tampons soak up vaginal fluids that are necessary to maintain a healthy pH balance in the land down under. I’ve also noticed that some of my period “symptoms” have actually changed for the better since I started using it too. I have a feeling it’s linked to the pH balance factor.

Anyway, there are a lot of other reasons I could tell you about as to why you (or if you’re a man, your wife, sister, etc) should try it out, but I’ll get off my soapbox now.

My point is, I decided to also start switching over the cloth pantiliners for backup support.

The first one looks like crap and I put one of the snaps on backwards, but hey, it was my first try. The one on the right is the pattern I think I’m going to go with. It fits perfectly and is very comfortable. I used a cotton jersey fabric I had on hand and it doesn’t slip around either (using flannel on the bottom also helps with that…some have had success using pads and liners without wings by using flannel).

Eventually, I’d like to get some natural (non-dyed) and/or organic cotton to use, but for now I’m using the fabric I have on hand.

(Oversharing is over now *wink*)

Sewing
It was really nice to pull out the sewing machine after a long hiatus too. I think I might try making one of these purses next (discovered on Abby’s Knits and even cooler looking in person). I love bags, especially roomy ones, and I think these would also make awesome gifts for the birthdays coming up in my family and for Christmas.

Food!
Another aspect of the whole simpler living business is food. I’ve been buying bulk from the IV Food Coop for the last month or so and I love it! They have excellent produce there as well. It’s a little more expensive, but the quality is even better than Trader Joe’s and I limit it to just a few things (avocados, bananas, apricots, and lettuce at this point). I’m sure the dairy is very good there too, but TJ’s prices are half the coop’s, so I can’t justify that.

They have a lot of bulk goods including spices, baking items, beans, cereals, nuts, dried fruits, chocolate-covered items, and also things like oil, peanut or almond butter, liquid soap (Dr. Bronner’s), and yeast.

So far, the bulk items I regularly purchase there are white and whole wheat flour, semolina flour, yeast, brown rice, oats, cornmeal, polenta-style cornmeal, sugar, choc chips and whatever misc things I might need. I love that I can get *exactly* the amount I need, and a lot of it is either organic or close to it.

I’ve been making more things from scratch too. I’ve really been enjoying baking our bread and smelling it as it bakes. I’ve worked out some kinks and have begun experimenting with recipes.

Below I’ve got the latest batch of bread along with homemade cornbread. The bread is from a basic recipe that I’ve used to make wheat bread. This time, I used about 1/4-1/2 C semolina flour in place of the white flour to add extra flavor. It turned out really well and I finally got the bread to rise to sandwich size. This was also the first one I baked in glass rather than metal and used the bulk yeast from the coop. I think the glass bakeware made a big difference in the second rise.

I really have loved this process. I am a natural domestic!

 

*ergh*

I’m just about to head home to eat lunch, change and spruce myself up a bit, warm up my voice, and then head to the Music Academy for the scholarship audition for the Santa Barbara Foundation music scholarship.

I am SOO NERVOUS right now! Hopefully once I start warming up I’ll relax a bit.

I might end up taking the rest of the afternoon off too.

 

Crackyarn, Clapotis, and the Kiss

Evidence of my newfound addiction. I saw the update on K&P’s blog yesterday, stopped by after picking up Nathan from work and bought a hank, once I got home, I cast-on for a skinny Clapotis.

PS: It is actually “Indigo”

I’ve also had some other projects going on lately. This is a puzzle version of The Kiss by Gustav Klimt. We bought it over a year ago (maybe even two years now) and never got started on it. This is what we’ve gotten done in the last week (and we weren’t watching TV or movies all last week). IT IS RIDICULOUSLY HARD. I didn’t think it would be this difficult. I’ve been working on it on my lunch breaks and we’ve both been working on it in the evenings.

It’s 1000 pieces (there are actually some in a box off to the side, so that isn’t even all of them) and 26×17 inches.

This is the Home Resource Binder I recently put together. A reference guide to our family, if you will.

Notice the lovely decorations instead of the Ugly Black Bar. Hee.