Goals are not a January 1st kind of thing. Set them weekly. Set them monthly. Set them so that you are moving forward and always trying to progress. Life can grow stagnant without them… beware.

 Hannah B. 

25 Things Every Woman Needs to Know 

Fall Turns Me into a Creep

Photo by  Kimberly Davis (she has some great photography!)

Fall has officially arrived here. I can say it's officially arrived now since I've spent the past week freezing cold, and finally caved and pulled out a jacket and the long sleeve tees.

I've noticed, however, that fall has turned me into a mega-creep. Why? The sweaters. I realized yesterday that I had spent the majority of a meeting staring at the sweater of a co-worker. I could make that sweater, I had started counting stitches in the cables and such, then realized I had been staring and should probably stop.

It's been happening in classes too. I have to snap myself out of it. I am in the process of knitting two sweaters for myself, but still. All these sweaters! I need more!

I find myself resisting the urge to skip classes so I can cozy up on my couch with a cup of Milo or hot chocolate (managers special at Kroger, only 59 cents!) and my sweater in progress. I could have it done by Saturday if I didn't have these dang classes and that thing called work.

And all those lovely fabrics in the closet waiting to become quilts. There are just not enough hours in the day. Sigh.

In other knitting, I've discovered that The Yarn Haven is an official drop off spot for Project Linus. So this beauty, Red, White, and Blue, that has been languishing in the closet at my place, will be taken with tonight to Knit Night to be off to a new home!

HAPPY FALL MY FRIENDS!

What I Learned from PBS

I like PBS. It's pretty cool. The other week, I happened to watch a random sewing show on the local PBS station and I learned how to do this:

(It's one block on a much larger quilt, which will hopefully go up on the Etsy site once it's ready to go!)

Car Free Friday! (Or Saturday)

When it comes to saving money, I like to look at big things and little things. In the past week, I've filled up my gas tank twice. Once on Friday, and then again on Tuesday. In the three days between gas prices went up 11 cents per gallon. And over the course of a month that can add up to a couple of dollars.($3.96 for me if I fill up three times a month, that's more than it costs for me to get some dinner at Taco Bell.)

I'm into saving dollars and cents here and there, because over time they will add up to something amazing (like the down payment on a house).

Now this got me thinking about life back in Utah. At USU there was a campaign for "Car Free Fridays" in hope of making a difference in the air quality in Cache Valley, especially during those winter inversion months.

It was ridiculously easy for me to go car free in Logan, I mean, I lived a mile and a half away from campus where I both worked and studied. I could bike, or use one of the two free public transit systems that operated in my neighborhood.  I only really NEEDED a car on Sundays to get to church down the hill.

While it really is a small financial difference, I still have a designated car free day where I am now. It's Saturday. And on weeks like this week, Fall Break, I make it a point to try to have more than one car-free day. Less driving means less gas consumption, and less wear and tear on the car, so car bills are slightly lower.

 So, my tip for this week is for you to look at your week, figure out which day you really could get by with not using your car. This may mean rearranging times when you shop or run certain errands (I shop on my way home from work one night instead of doing it Saturdays), or running errands closer to home so you can walk or bike, but you can do it.

It might also help if you set up a reward for yourself for not driving that one day a week. I exchange that day for driving out to Knit Night.

Remember, it's those pennies that count when it comes to savings!

President Tanner and President Faust Agree

“Always remember that you can go much further on respect than on popularity.”

N. Eldon Tanner

"No Greater Honor: The Woman's Role"

 

As quoted by James E. Faust in

"The Virtues of Righteous Daughters of God"

Two Words

Manager's Special

(Just because it's a little dented, or the box is bent a little doesn't mean it's going to kill you when you eat it. And only paying 50% or less of the retail price? You will be saving like crazy!)

An Adventure With Wool and Kool Aid

I'd been hearing rumors for awhile that you can dye yarn with Kool-Aid. So, when I found Kool-Aid on Mangers Special at the Kroger, I stocked up.

Black Cherry, Grape, Fruit Punch, and Strawberry

 A few weeks later an opportunity came up in one of my swap groups on Ravelry. It's an open-round-robin style swap where someone posts and item and the first person to claim it, gets it. Then if you claim, you are the next person to post something. Well, a fellow Raveler posted this lovely Cascade 220 Sport yarn in beige.

It was perfect for my experimentation. A neutral color, free, and wool. Which I'm told is essential for Kool-Aid dyeing to work.

So, armed with my Kool-Aid and yarn, I braved the world of Google and landed on knitty.com's tutorial on Kool-Aid dyeing. And while doubtful, I followed the instructions. I spent Friday night with a pizza in the oven and this on my stovetop:

Since I was nervous about how it would turn out, I chose the Strawberry Kool-Aid. (Don't ask why that is my line of thinking, it just was. Probably because I like to actually drink the Fruit Punch.)

I let it boil, then cool. I then drained it using my handy dandy colander, which also let me have a first glimpse of what the final color might be:

But, I also know that color changes as it dries, so I diligently hung it in the bathroom, then my bedroom for TWO WHOLE DAYS. Curse the humidity here, in Utah it would have been a couple of hours....
Then this morning I took this:

And wound them into these:

(Don't mind the financial books under the yarn. We all know where my passions and hobbies lie.)

Not too bad for my first ever try. There are a few light spots in both skeins. They are more obvious in the skein on the left though.

Now, to decide what this yarn is to become. I'm thinking another Honey Cowl perhaps? (I've already made three this year, one is in the Etsy Shop!) 

I feel like I'm ready and rarin' to go for my yarn dyeing workshop later this month with the ladies at the Yarn Haven. We're going to be doing sock yarn, which I cannot wait to try out!!!