Falling Behind

So, it's summer and I'm still falling behind.  There's something about having nothing that *needs* to get done that really makes you get very little done.  I've been weaving, hanging out with the hubby, watching movies, shopping, working on color guard... And yet, I've been meaning to blog for three days, and I'm just now doing it.  Oh well, I guess, more pics for you today!

First off: here's the green/purple/copper scarf.  (I still haven't taken real pics of it yet, so this is all I've got.)  I like it though.  It's softer than my kitty's fur (which is suuuuper soft.  Lol.)

And here's the sneak peek of the latest project.  (By now, its already finished, just needs to be washed and such.)  It's very similar to the one I made my mom for Christmas, but it's pretty skinny and has a lot more leno lace in it.

And here's my delicious granola!!!  It turned out really great, and I can't stop eating it, so this will probably be a regular recipe at my house.  I just love granola cereal, and it makes me feel pretty good about myself because its pretty good for you.  (Maybe not this version though; there's a LOT of sugar in it!)  I found the recipe on pinterest, and it comes from another blog, delia creates.  You can see the original recipe here!  I followed the recipe but only made a half batch this time.  (I hate to waste my ingredients in case I don't like something the first time I make it.)  Though I love the sweet taste, next time I might try it with a little less sugar so its a little healthier.  But it is DELICIOUS!!!!

Also, we went to the beach the other day and found these while we were walking!!!  Yay!  Conch shells are so rare to find around here, I was totally excited.  These are really cool because they look so old, thick, and worn down!  Yay!

Besides all that loveliness, I had to make a presentation for a training seminar I have to go to all next week for teacher stuff.  Whoever decided that teacher training should be smack in the middle of June was dumb.  It's very un-fun.

Also, I have one of the three songs choreographed for the marching band show!  Uniforms are officially ordered!  And flags are all decided!  Yippee!!!  I'm on a roll!

So even though I have been pretty productive this week, there's still no excuse for my poor blogging habits.  :(  I'm hoping to get a new project warped today, so wish me luck.  I have something totally different planned for this one!

Ending Note: Here's my life motto right now: "Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men..." Ephesians 6:7  (Boy is that hard!)

Pretty In... Purple!

Here's a pic of the first scarf that I finished the other day.  I got the ends all twisted nicely for the finishing touch.  I decided not to iron it out or anything.  I really like the messy look with this one!

 

And... I had a fabulous hair night when I wore this scarf for the first time, so I thought I'd share that too!

 

(It's really hard to take pictures of the back of your head in the mirror, so they're not the greatest.)  But the pretty purple flower clip was made for me by my good friend Cassie!  Thanks girl.  I miss you!

I spent the morning making cool fondue and cinnamon chips for bible study tonight.  (I'll have to take a picture of that when I get the platter all made up.  It looks delish!)  And then we spent the afternoon at the beach.  So, all in all, I'd say its a pretty good day so far!  I hope you are having an equally lovely day!!!

Done and Done

Well, as you can tell, I didn't get around to the photos that I promised yesterday.  I was a little busy... doing nothing in particular!  Let's see, I made stuffed shells for dinner (YUM YUM), I made willy worm (a dessert that my mom's family made when she was a kid that involves home-made pie crust, cinnamon, sugar, and butter - its delish), I watched "A League of Their Own" and cried of course, I went to Jo-Ann's because I was out of the green bamboo/silk that I needed for the latest project.  Yeah, that was about my day.  I LOVE summer!

So, here is the "sneak peek" of my latest project.

And as you know, I'm not so great at taking photos on the loom, so this was the best I could do.  The two yarns are great: a blend with a fabulous colorway from Conjoined Creations and the green bamboo/silk.  So, I combined the two for a subtle Houndstooth pattern.  It's pretty wide, and I'm planning it for a shorter neck cowl.  We'll see what it looks like after its dried.

And here, the previous project and this one are hanging in the bathroom drying after their first bath!

So, I'm excited about both!

Also, Thomas and I just saw "Snow White and the Huntsman" today.  It was really good considering that the main actor is not great at her job.  It was a really cool take on Snow White where she gets to be a hard core princess who takes on the evil queen in her own right.  I like the stories where the princess gets to have a hand in saving herself, but of course, every princess needs her prince; she doesn't have to be so helpless that he gets to have all the fun defeating the baddies!  (There's a British word for you!)

Beach Bum and Back Ache

So... I'm officially a day into summer (because I had to go in for a little bit yesterday morning) and I already have a back ache from weaving too much!  I spent all of yesterday evening weaving and did a good bit this morning and afternoon to finish up the project I started on spring break!  And before I could even finish it, I already warped the loom for a new one!  Pics tomorrow hopefully!

Also, we went to the beach today and LITERALLY had it all to ourselves.  I'm not kidding, for a while, I'm pretty sure we had about a 1/2 mile in each direction where there were no people whatsoever.  And, of course, I forgot my camera.  It was also so calm that sometimes there weren't even any waves.  I have never seen the ocean looking like a lake before.  But it was such a peaceful afternoon!  I LOVE living in Florida!!!  Yay!

Random Quote: "Dark have been my dreams of late."  ~Said by Theoden King of Rohan in "Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers"  (One of the reasons I got so much weaving done in the past day: we've started another of our trilogy binges.  And we're watching all of the Lord of the Rings movies right now!)

HAPPY  SUMMER!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yesterday=Swimsuit, Today=Sweater

Well, today is quite different than yesterday.  60 degrees, drizzly, and windy is a stark contrast from yesterday's 90, sunny, and HOT!  But, its alright.  I've gotten some baking done and a little more spinning.  Last night, I just sat in front of the tv and watched "Contact" (Love that movie, btw).  I haven't sat and watched a movie by myself without working in FOREVER, but my wonderful hubby made me!  ;)

So, even though the loom isn't warped, here's a pic of the materials for the next project...  Yummy!

Weekend's almost over. :(  Only 5 more days until the next one.  :)

Take THAT Time!

Rachel - 1; Time - 0

So, somehow, tonight I found the time to finish my houndstooth scarf!!!  But first, here's another one of my Christmas gifts that I missed about the other day...

Yay!  10 inch shuttles!!!  They were so great and convenient this project!

Now for the finished Houndstooth scarf!!!  It's super duper long (over 80 inches) and amazingly soft and fuzzy!!!

I really like how it turned out!  It's bold and different from anything I've done before!

Unfortunately, I spent my evening doing this instead of working... oops.  Oh well!  Fun is better!!!

Just a Little Pinch...

So, since I have thoroughly neglected the blog recently, here is a little pinch of several different projects, etc.

Here's the scarf I made for my mom for Christmas.  It turned out well, if I do say so myself!

And here's the scarf I made my mother-in-law for Christmas.  It's funny because I bought both of these yarns months ago, knowing that eventually, they would go to these two specific people.  People really do have colors that match their personalities in my opinion.

 And, as you can tell, the photos are not high quality because I took these right before stuffing the scarves into a suitcase and flying to Missouri to visit said families for Christmas!  I'm lucky I got both of them finished in time, so good pictures were pretty much out of the question!

And finally, here's a pic of the current project on my loom!  My parents got me this fuzzy, soft yarn for Christmas, and I'm trying out the Houndstooth Plaid pattern (partly just because the name of the pattern is awesome).  I'm liking it so far!

Well, that's all for now!  I'm sure you will see some pics of my other Christmas gifts soon!

BTW, if you haven't seen "Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows" or "Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol" yet and you're even a little bit interested, GO SEE THEM!  They're awesome!  There's your vitally important and extremely helpful tip of the day!  ;)

2 Down, 1 To Go

Midterms, that is...  You know, I'm pretty sure writing finals for students to take is much more stressful than actually taking them!  I mean, I have to sit down and write all 100 questions from scratch.  AND I have to come up with all the wrong multiple choice answers too.  That's really challenging.  And SUPER time consuming.  So, I've got World History and French 1 finished, and I'm powering through French 2.  Not to mention the fact that I still have to write study guides too!  Yikes.  I am so excited for finals week because its going to be a piece of cake once it comes, but my brain may run away before I get to that point!

On the weaving end though, I have taken some time away from working (which is always welcome, but still feels like a mistake considering how far behind I get) to work on my latest project.  Its coming along really nicely.  I absolutely love the color and feel of the yarn I'm using.  However, I don't have any updated pictures because it looks pretty much the same with the pattern I'm doing.  I do love the was the Leno Lace is working in.  I can't wait to get it off the loom and see how it looks then.

Well, its a kind of dreary weekend here in Florida.  It's been raining off and on, but the tempurature's nice.  So, Lo and I are sitting on the covered porch watching the rain fall while I make up wrong answers to French questions!

7 DAYS OF SCHOOL TO GO!!!

Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down

So... I only went to school for a half day today... THUMBS UP!
The reason was because I had to go to the dentist... THUMBS DOWN.

I'm blogging right now... Thumbs up.
When I actually sat down to clean off my desk... Thumbs down.

I started a new weaving project the other night... Thumbs way up!
And got absolutely no work done that night... Thumbs down.

I really like the weaving design of this new project... Thumbs up.

The pictures just don't do it justice... Thumbs down.

Only 8 school days until Christmas break... Thumbs up!
Still 8 school days until Christmas break... Thumbs down.

:)  (If that wasn't random enough for you, then I don't know what you want from me.)    ;)

Stuff and Stuff

So!  Guess what?!  I wove this weekend!!!  Yay!  However, there's not really much to see in that department because it looks about the same as it did when I started, there's just more done.

However, Thomas and I went to the Art of Sand Festival in Viera on Sunday afternoon.  And it was a good way to spend part of the afternoon.  There were sand sculptures made by artists from all over the world, so there was a lot of different art.  Here are some pics!

 Yay fun!  So, anyway, its Monday, so I should actually be working right now.  So... I guess I should get back to that!

Superwoman

Well, it's Saturday again, which usually means I'm in for another weepy blog post.  However, since the hubby is not up yet.. slacker :)... I thought I would blog now, before the day could get all mushy and philosophical!  So... what's on the blog menu for today?  I have a big long to-do list that I'm dying to get done because I REALLY REALLY want to weave.  You know, work on that scarf that I started like a month ago and haven't touched since.  But, Thomas is working a short shift today, so I've got less time than usual to get everything done... So here's the list.

1. Finish grading French tests
2. Grade French papers
3. Finish grading History tests
4. Enter grades in the gradebook
5. Plan lessons
6. Type up lesson plans
7. Work on my growth plan
8. Pay bills
9.  Clean my desk (it's thrown up all over the room again)
10. Laundry
11. Fix chicken casserole
12. Catch up on my ESOL class
13. Fix Thomas' wallet
14. Clean out the fridge
15. Breathe...

That's all I can think of right now... but I'm sure there's something else I need to do too.  So, let's see if I can be super woman today!

Playing Catch Up

Well, I have been in a weaving frenzy this weekend, so I'm really behind on photos and updates and everything.  And I don't have time to catch up now before work, so here is a completely unrelated update!  I'm in another treasury!  So check out the Uniquely Gifted dynamic treasury on Etsy!  My Ocean Blue Handwoven Scarf is featured!

 

I'm working on a new line right now, so I'm so excited to take pictures and get everything listed... keep watch for that in the next few days!


Off to start another work week...meh.

Random: Right now, Lo is sitting on Thomas' desk, yelling at me to come pet her.  She is crazy, I'd better go obey!  :)

Silk!

Well, I have now finished my most recent project!  This new scarf is so soft and beautiful that I just had to wear it today!  As I've mentioned before the extraordinary yarn used to make this scarf is from Conjoined Creations (www.conjoinedcreations.com).  If you are into weaving, knitting, crocheting, or anything that you would need yarn for, check out their website!  Their colors are AMAZING, and you get beautiful, high-quality yarns for great prices!  They also have a list of stores all over the country that carry their yarns listed on the site, so you may have a store near you!  Seriously... check them out.  I'm in love!

Here are some photos of the new scarf!

 

What the photos don't convey is that this scarf is so so so soft and super light and airy.  And it has nothing to do with me, I just wove it up.  The beauty is 100% in the yarn.  I just love it!

Well, that's all I have to report for the day, other than the fact that the Etsy shop is still on the way.  You can be sure that I will post about it whenever I get it running!

Random:  It is a beautiful day where I live today, so I've got all the windows open, and I think it's the perfect day to bake an apple pie.  So, that is what I will be doing next!!!  Yum!

Circus

Hello blog!  So, once again, my husband has been home with me a lot this week, so I haven't done a ton of weaving.  This, and the fact that the project I was working on was a slow weave, contributed to a week with not many updates in the weaving category.  However, here are the photos of my newest finished product!

The type of yarn is called "Circus" which I love!  And the colors are amazing: purples, blues, pinks!  I bought this yarn in bulk (because it was sooooo much cheaper that way), and I was pretty nervous about it because I hadn't worked with it before, but I LOVE IT!  Yay!  Super soft and cuddly (Great timing now that winter is almost over!)

Also, I've been working on setting up an Etsy shop, but it's not ready yet.  So, I will post the link and everything once I get it all done.  (Either I'm an idiot or it is a lot harder than they make it seem...)

That's about it for today.  Like I said, it's been a slow week again.  But, I'm getting ready to go warp a new project right now with another new yarn I haven't used before!  We'll see how it goes...

Random note:  My husband and I saw "The Adjustment Bureau" on Sunday and it was AMAZING!!!  I LOVED it!  I'm such a sucker for those impossible love stories!  It takes such nerve to look something impossible in the face and do it anyway.  Wow!  I just wish I could be that brave!  (Special note: be careful on taking my advice on what movie to go see, I'm all to apt to like just about every movie ever made! :) )  But seriously, the movie was INCREDIBLE!  I so want to go see it again like right now!

Random note #2: I finished the Chronicles of Narnia this week!  So, I will end with a beautiful quote from The Last Battle: "The term is over: the holidays have begun.  The dream is ended: this is the morning."  Love it!  Thank you C.S. Lewis for the best books ever written!

Happy weekend!

Unproductive Week

Hello dear void.  So, this week has been pretty unproductive in the weaving world for me.  My husband's been working days mostly, so when he's home with me in the evenings, of course, we hang out.  So, I haven't gotten much done.  But that's ok with me!  (Also, I'm off work tomorrow, and he's at work all day so I guess I know what I'll be doing... bring on the cheesy chick flick and yarn!)

Anyway, I have done a few small tasks.  Number 1: photograph my last two projects (yay!), so here they are!

The idea for this one came from Jane Patrick's book that I mentioned a couple of posts ago (The Weaver's Idea Book).  She gives a pattern, but of course I didn't actually follow a lot of it.  It's pretty cool with the gathered ruffley things.  It's woven pretty tightly (not the plan), so it still needs a few washes before it limbers up to where I'll really love it.

And this is the eyelash scarf I have been working on.  I'll tell ya, it was way more work off the loom than on.  I wove this sucker up in about two hours, but it's taken me FOREVER to finish it.  I don't love the knots, but there's not really much I can do to change that now.  I guess I'll have to keep it in mind for next time.  But, I LOVE the colors.  Aren't they so rich?!

Number 2:  I inventoried my yarn stash.  So, now if I finish something off, I will know exactly what it was, where I bought it and how much it cost.  Why will I ever need to know that? I dunno, but I love inventories.  (Yup, I know, I'm weird.)

Um... number 3: I have a plan for documenting all my work in a better way.  Have I put this plan into action? ...no... um... moving on.

So, I got a new pair of shoes in the mail today, and I opened the box and guess what I found?!

Just kidding.  But she did jump in just as soon as I got the shoes out, and she's been napping in there ever since.  It's ridiculous really.  She's just like a child.  You buy them a nice, plush, comfy bed to lay in, and they sleep in boxes and on pieces of paper you throw on the floor.  Really.  Awesome.

Anyway, as if that isn't silly enough, another randomness to end on... did anyone catch the "You've Got Mail" reference at the beginning of this post?  (I love that movie!)

Catching Up

So, it is a Sunday night, and I'm doing what I do almost every night... sitting at home, watching a movie, and weaving!  (I'm a crazy partier, right?!)  Anyway, I thought I would take a break and post some more photos of projects I have made so far. Enjoy!

This is probably my favorite project so far.  The colored yarns are a silk/bamboo blend and they are amazingly soft and silky.  You can't really tell from the photo, but the darkest stripe is a beautiful mulberry color.  Love it!

And this pair is a hand towel and wash cloth made from 100% cotton.  (My first project that wasn't a scarf!)  They turned out pretty well even though I was winging it.  Lol!

And this last one is a very light, summery scarf.  For this I used four different colors of blue and just warped the colors randomly.  I love the twisted fringe on the bottom; I think it gives it a nice finish.

And lastly, here are some photos of what I have been working on tonight!  I'm not really making anything, I am just working on a sampler of a bunch of different stiches.  So far I've played around with Danish Medallions and Leno Lace.  I'm using really bright, contrasting yarns so that it looks cool and so that I can figure out what I did wrong when I mess up!

This one is the Danish Medallions.  The top row is a plain version, and the other two are different variations.

Here is the Leno.  There are like a billion variations of this (and the Danish Medallions), so you can pretty much make up whatever you want to do to create a bunch of different looks.  Either of these can make really cool fabrics, or they can just add an interesting trim to something.  (I'm thinking that the Leno would make wonderful light, airy curtains...hm ... I think we may see more of this in the near future!)

Anyway, photos of the eyelash scarf are coming soon.  I'm just trying to figure out what to do with the fringe; they're kind of plain and ugly right now.  So I will post pics when it's all finished and pretty.  Well, with these photos, I am almost all caught up on documenting all of the projects I have made so far!  Oh, and I got some new storage for my yarn today... I should have taken a before picture of my yarn drawer; it was absolutely bursting!  So I bought two plastic drawer things today, and all of my yarn still doesn't fit in them!  I guess I will have to buy more, the only problem is that I still have to make room for them in my tiny apartment.  Oh well, I guess!

And, something silly to end on... hm... well, I guess it is silly enough to say that I am once again reading The Chronicles of Narnia!  And, I am currently on The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (which is BY FAR my favorite), so I am going to put away all my weaving gear and go read!  Yay!  (Once again, I'm such a partier!  Good thing my husband knew I was a nerd before he married me!)  So, I'm off to Narnia!  Good night blog!

(Just kidding... Another something silly:  So I titled this post "Catching Up" and now all I can think about is the line from "Pirates of the Caribbean: the Curse of the Black Pearl" when Jack Sparrow is steering the ship through a frightful storm to the Isla de Muerta.  Mr. Gibbs asks him why he's in such a good mood, and Sparrow replies with a wicked smile, "We're catching up."  So, that is just running over and over in my head right now.  RANDOM!!!)

Recording Your Work = BORING!!!

So, in the articles and books I have read about weaving so far, everyone says that you should keep detailed notes about all the projects you make so you know exactly how to make it again or what went wrong or if any ideas did or didn't work, blah blah blah.  So, I decided that when I finish a project, I should type up what yarns I used, what reed I weaved on, what colors, etc.  But... that isn't really fun, so after a few projects, I kind of fell behind on it.  I'm just too excited to start the next project after I finish the last one to want to sit down and do all the boring detail work.  But, this morning, I made myself a huge, long to-do list including chores, shopping, laundry, and everything else I could think of that I should do today (I love to-do lists; I feel so organized with them, and then, when I finish a task, I get to go cross it off the list.  I get such a feeling of accomplishment from it.  Silly huh?  Oh well), and I decided to add the task of recording my few recent projects.  Now, I have only made four projects since I last recorded anything, but I have been working away for the last hour, taking measurements, counting warp threads, doing calculations, and I'm STILL not done!  Seriously!  I just want to do the fun part, but the logical side of my brain says, "well, what if you want to make another one of these someday?  If you didn't write it down, what will you do then?"  Pshaw.  It's annoying.  But, I'm doing it anyway... until I decided to take a break and get on here to waste some time from my to-do list.  I'm really just putting off cleaning my apartment.

Anyway, since I've been rambling on about the projects I've made, I guess I should post some pictures here!  (BEWARE: my photos are not very good.  Some of the colors look weird, and I just can't seem to get the lighting right (even though I work for a professional photographer and should be able to figure these things out).  So, here goes.

 The scarf pictured above was my very first project on my loom!  I made on Christmas afternoon in just a couple of hours.  I was so impressed with how easy it was to figure out how the loom worked and everything.  The warp is a rich red wool yarn, and the weft is a multi-colored chunky yarn.  The base color is pink, but as you can see, it weaves up with a beautiful rainbow pattern!

 

 This scarf was my second project, which I made the day after Christmas!  Once I got the loom, I could hardly walk away from it!  This one uses the multi-colored chunky yarn from the weft above for both the warp and the weft.  It's super fluffy and soft.  I love it!  (I also learned later that you're not really supposed to use a chunky yarn like that for the warp because it could break really easily, but isn't it cool what you can do when you don't know the rules to follow them?!)

 This scarf is one of my favorites so far!  As you will probably figure out throughout the course of this blog, my favorite color is purple (closely followed by a specific shade of coral).  So, obviously, I love this scarf!  The warp is a skein of variegated purple colors aptly named: Berries.  And without even planning it, the warp threads turned into beautiful stripes of lighter and darker shades!  (And here the logical part of my brain reminds me that if I hadn't taken notes on this project, I probably wouldn't be able to replicate it in the future if I wanted.)  I love it, and it's super warm and cuddly!

 

This last one was my first attempt at any kind of pattern whatsoever.  Very simple, I know, but it was a big step for me.  The photo doesn't do the green stripes justice, they are so so soft and beautifully colored.

Well, I think that's enough project photos for today!  I should probably get back to the laundry and such.  And I hope to get the to-do list finished so that I can start a new project today.  I went to a new craft store with my mom and mother-in-law this weekend, and I got some really cool stuff!!!  If you've read this, I thank you.  And, to end with a silly note.  Here is what happens when I get my loom out to try and start weaving...

I don't know what Lo's fascination is with my loom, but anytime she can get near, she lays down in it!  Crazy cat!  She's so cute!