FINALLY! Cast-on Socks!

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! Above are a few of the little It's the Balm Socks (from Simply Notable) I knit up for holiday gifts. They were kind of a test knit to see if:

1. I liked knitting with sock yarn &
2. I could understand sock construction

The construction uses an after-thought heel and after reading this post about them, I KNEW they were for me!
Even though the socks are little, they were INCREDIBLY fun to knit up! Suddenly sock yarn wasn't scary. In fact, it was actually enjoyable to knit with! I was AMAZED at this discovery! I decided that, after the gift knitting was finished......I WAS CASTING-ON SOCKS! Two at a time & Toe-up!

So......yesterday morning, I printed out instructions for Judy's Magic Cast-on, then CAST-ON! I'll be "winging it" without an "official" pattern. After the toe increases were complete to the size of the foot (64 sts), I began a k2, p2 rib on the top of the foot. After the waste yarn goes in (for the after-thought heel), I'll continue the rib around the leg portion of the sock. Finally, I'll cast-off with a sewn bind-off (which is VERY stretchy). Anyway, that's my plan!

Here's the first day of progress:

I'm pleased with the results so far! Socks aren't nearly as SCARY as they sound!

A Christmas Swap at JCCF

One of my FAVORITE groups on Ravelry is JCCF. It's a great group of ladies who knit and crochet afghan blocks to make blankets for injured rodeo cowboys and cowgirls in conjunction with Justin boots Cowboy Crisis Fund.
In October we began discussing a soap/washcloth swap (If you've never participated in a swap, I HIGHLY recommend it). Being the swap junkie that I am, I committed immediately! As November grew close and we would soon begin the process of questions of preferences for the swap (things like favorite colors, scents, treats and various other goodies we would receive in our swap package) it happened. I came home from work and my hubby informed me our old computer had crashed. It had no power. None. What-so-ever.
I did NOT want to miss a swap. I had to figure out a way to participate even WITHOUT a computer. I contacted Wendy. She happened to be the only person I had a hard copy address for. That's mostly because she is the one we send our blocks to.......She's the one who sews them all into BEAUTIFUL blankets.
Long story short......Wendy got me in contact with my swap partner Jennifer. Through a series of text messages Jennifer and I were able to  complete our swap packages. Here's what I sent to Jennifer:

 

 

 

A knit washcloth, scrubby mitt, vanilla & honey soap, a sock ornament with lip balm, a ball of yarn ornament, a tin with knit labels, M & M's and a magnetic list pad.

 

 

Then, here's what Jennifer sent me (and, I have to say, I LOVE this package!):

 



A crocheted cloth (nice work Jennifer!), SEVERAL types of soaps, a massage bar, peppermints, lotion and the CUTEST little knit Santa ornament you've ever seen. Which, now that I look at the picture, is not there for some reason. I can fix that though.........

Not the best picture, but, isn't he adorable? Anyway, thank you, thank you , thank you Jennifer! Also, a big thank-you to Wendy for your help in this swap!

In conclusion......a couple pieces of advice. Join a swap & maybe jot down your addresses in something old fashioned like an address book. Just in case something happens to your computer!

Coffee Soap

Now that I've dabbled in soapmaking (see this post), I thought it was time to tweak the recipe a little. Don't ask me why. I'm just this way. Some of the body scrubs/soaps that I had found on Pinterest had coffee as an ingredient.

I LOVE everything about coffee, but I gave up drinking it because, well, basically, I just drank WAY too much of it! I could have cut back, but, who am I kidding, there was NO WAY I could just cut back! So, I gave up drinking it. Altogether. I still LOVE the aroma and even find myself walking down the coffee aisle in the grocery store just to smell it!

Anyway, soap with coffee really appealed to me. I think I had also read (and I could be wrong about this) that coffee is good for the skin. So-o-o-o-o here's the soap I made:

Coffee Soap

3 bars of unscented mild soap (Dove, Ivory, etc.)
9-12 Tbsp. strong brewed coffee
5-6 Tbsp. coffee grounds

Grate the bars of soap into a large bowl. Add brewed coffee. Microwave at 1 minute intervals, stirring in between, until soap is melted. Being careful to avoid soap bubbling over the bowl. Add coffee grounds and stir until smooth. Spray molds with a non-stick spray. Spoon soap mixture into prepared molds. Level top of soap off with a knife. Let cool. Again, I cool in the refrigerator, in case it makes a difference. Once cool, remove soaps from the molds and wrap in plastic wrap (or pretty paper). If desired-label and tie with twine, ribbon, or pretty yarn. OH! Of course a pretty cloth like this one (also pictured above) from Simply Notable is the perfect finish!

Just a warning......THEY SMELL YUMMY!

The Project I Just Couldn't Finish.....FINISHED!

That's right! FIXED (if you don't know what I'm talking about, see this post) & FINISHED! The project I just can't seem to finish is done! YAY! It looks pretty good too!

Since this is going to be a gift.....SURE hope another block doesn't come apart!!!!

Canning Tomatoes (and fruit, too!)

September is almost over and we've been busy canning as much of summer's splendor as possible. It's such a good feeling to have your pantry filled with jars of homegrown fruits and veggies. Even if you don't grow a garden, you can still take advantage of the fresh produce available. Think U-pick orchards, fruit stands, farmer's markets, even your local grocery store! There's lots of fresh stuff out there.

Since tomatoes (and fruits) are high acid foods, they can safely be canned with the water bath method. Pickles also use the water bath method since you add a vinegar solution  to the jars before canning. However, you MUST use a pressure canning method when canning low-acid vegetables, meat, poultry and fish. It's the only way to guard against harmful bacteria.

So, let's get started with canning tomatoes!

Here's what you'll need:




Water bath canning kettle

Clean canning jars

Canning rings and new lids

These are also a few helpful tools:

Magnetic lid lifter

Jar lifter

Wide mouth canning funnel

Oh! Yeah! and your tomatoes!

First, you'll want to remove the skins. To do this, bring a pot of water to a boil. Add tomatoes to boiling water a few at a time.

When skins start to split, transfer tomato to a bowl of ice water to cool for several minutes.

Once cool, the skin will slip right off (this method works for peaches, too). Cut out core, stem and any imperfections. Cut tomato into halves, quarters, slices, cubes, chunks or a gloppy mess like mine......whatever you prefer!

Let's get those canning jars ready!

Bring a pot of water (big enough to fit 1-2 canning jars) to a boil. Place jars into water sideways, so the water is both inside and outside the jar (sorry, I didn't take pictures of this step). Let set in water for a minute or so (just enough to get the jar hot). Remove jar.

Pack tomatoes into the jar pretty firmly. I tap the jars onto a folded towel to shake the tomatoes down. Make sure there is at least a 1/2-inch from the top (head space) Add 2 tsp. lemon juice.You can also add 1 tsp. salt and fresh or dried herbs (if desired) to the jar. (These amounts were for quarts, cut the amount in half for pints). Add water to jars (again leave 1/2- inch from the top). Wipe the lip of the canning jars with a clean towel to remove any food debris. Dip a new canning lid into the boiling water used to sterilize jars for about 30 seconds to soften the sealing material. Place the lid onto the canning jar. Place a ring over the lid and tighten down (just hand tight......don't over-tighten!). Place completed jar into water bath canner rack. Repeat this process untill the canner rack is full.

My rack holds 7 (pints or quarts). Yours may vary. If you run out of tomatoes, fill the remaining jars with water. You still want the amount of jars in the rack so the others don't bounce around and break. Fill the canning kettle about half full of water and bring to a boil. Turn heat down and CAREFULLY set canner rack into boiling water. Add more boiling water until jars are covered about 1/2-inch. Cover kettle. Turn up heat and bring to a rolling boil. Now start your processing time. All my canning books call for 50 minutes (pints and quarts) for cold-pack (that's the process we used) tomatoes. (Editor's note: after checking Ball's canning website their processing time is 85 minutes for cold-pack tomatoes. Shows you how outdated my canning books are! ALWAYS a good idea to check for updated information to insure food safety! LOVE the internet!) When the time is up, turn off heat and remove jars. Let cool on the counter. I place a towel under them to soak up the water. As they cool you will start to hear the jars seal. Plink, Plink, Plink! When the jars are completely cooled check each jar to make sure they have sealed. To do this press in the center of the lid, it won't flex back up if it is sealed. If any jars didn't seal you can refrigerate and use within the next few days.Wipe the outside of the jars clean, label and move to a cool dark area for storage.

Fruit is processed in a similar way. Check out Ball's canning website for recipes and processing times.

Soapmaking Experiment

I can't really say I've ALWAYS wanted to learn to make soaps. It just seemed interesting. I had pinned a few soapmaking sites on Pinterest. I decided to check them out. After reading through a few tutorials ( here & here & here), I couldn't believe how simple soapmaking sounded. Now, I'm not talking about "from Scratch" soapmaking (using lye). I'm talking about starting with (unscented) mild soap and adding to it. I made myself a list of things I would need and went shopping.

Here was my list:

Mild soap bars (I found a 10 pack of unscented Ivory for less than $4.00)
Soap molds (I paid about $3.50 each from Michaels-actually less since I had a 20% off purchase coupon)
dried lavender (which I dried myself- see this post)
essential oils (again-made myself- this post)
oatmeal (I already had at home)
glycerin (for liquid handsoap-somehow I forgot to look for this......I can get a little distracted when shopping.....so, I have no idea what this would cost)

I decided to start with the molded soap bars first. The liquid soap sounded easier, but, hey, why start with something easy? I started with the Homemade Oatmeal Soap Recipe here and then added my own twist. I'm not sure I can do ANYTHING as directed. First, I decided I should DOUBLE the recipe. Here's my version:

2 bars mild unscented soap (Ivory or Dove)
8 to 10 Tbsp. water
3 to 4 Tbsp. homemade Lavender essential oil (if using purchased essential oils, use 2 to 3 drops)
6 to 8 Tbsp. coarse ground Oatmeal
6 to 8 Tbsp. dried Lavender blossoms

Grate 2 bars of soap into a Microwavable bowl. Add water. Microwave for 2 to 3 minutes (in 30 second intervals, stirring between) until soap is melted. It will foam up. Make sure it doesn't go over the bowl. Stir in Lavender oil. Coarsely grind the oatmeal in a blender or food processor. Add oatmeal and dried Lavender blossoms to soap mixture. Stir to combine. Mixture will be about the consisntency of cookie dough. Spray molds with vegetable oil. Spoon soap mixture into molds. Press firmly to compress mixture into the mold. Level off top with a knife. Let cool. If it makes a difference, I cooled mine in the refrigerator.

Once the soap is cooled, CAREFULLY remove the bars from the mold and wrap in plastic wrap.

That's it! EASY! Right?!?! Add a label. Tie with ribbon or a pretty yarn. Combine with a knit or crochet face cloth or a scrubby mitt like these for a nice gift.



Now, onto liquid handsoap. This seemed like the easiest method and yet, I had a little trouble with it. Here's the recipe I followed (Liquid/Gel Soap). Sounds simple enough, right?

On my first attempt, I grated a bar of Glycerin type soap that I had been given. It has an AMAZING fragrance called Sugar Blossom. I never really measured the amount of grated soap. It just kind of looked like about 2 cups. I added the 1/2 gallon of water. I did measure that! That's when I realized that I had never bought the Glycerin (despite having been to the store SEVERAL times since the first shopping trip). I could have waited until the NEXT time I went shopping......but, I got to looking at some liquid hand sanitizer I had. Lo and Behold......one of the ingredients is......GLYCERIN! Not the MAIN ingredient, of course, but I could improvise! Starting to see why I might have had a little trouble?

Anyway, I decided to add about 6 Tbsp. hand sanitizer to the soap and water. I cooked the mixture over low heat until the soap was dissolved. Then transferred the mixture to a half-gallon jug. It seemed a little watery, but, I figured it might get thicker once it cooled. The next morning, it was still watery, so, I grated a bar of Ivory soap and re-cooked the mixture until the Ivory soap was dissolved. Then put it back into the jug to cool.  When it was cooled, I had a sort of thick jelly substance that WOULD NOT come out of the jug!

I reread the part in the recipe that said "for a less thick gel soap, use 1 gallon of water". That should work. I began digging the soap out of the jug. Once it was all removed, I added another 1/2 gallon of water, recooked until it was liquid again, then put it into a gallon container.

SUCCESS! Finally! A gallon of liquid handsoap!

Here's the actual recipe I ended up with:

2 bars of soap (grated)
1 gallon of water
2 Tbsp. glycerin (or 6Tbsp. liquid hand sanitizer)

Mix ingredients in a large pot. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally until the soap is dissolved. Transfer to a jar and cover tightly.

I found a pretty pump container in the bath accessories department to put the new soap in. That and a pretty knit or crochet face cloth or scrubby mitt would also make a nice gift, don't you think?

Lavender Harvest

Lavender is, HANDS DOWN, my favorite plant! Since I've enjoyed it's bloom ( and fragrance) for a couple of months now. Well, and since Fall is fast upon us. It's time to harvest all that FABULOUS fragrance. Most of my perennials I just leave alone until spring. We live in a COLD winter climate and to insure the best survival of perennials in that type of climate, it's best to leave all those stems alone through the winter. HOWEVER, Lavender is my exception.
So-o-o-o-o-o...... Harvest season is in full swing. First, I prune the Lavender stems just above the main body of the plant. My favorite plant is a variety called Provence ( I think......never saved the tag though). It has long stems and blooms with a wonderful aroma. I have two different ways to preserve the blooms.

Dried Lavender- Simply bundle the stems and tie with string (or yarn!) and hang to dry. One dry, you can arrange the stems in a vase for a dried arrangement. Or, you can remove the dried blooms and store in an air-tight container for later use. I must admit this is a fiddly, time-consuming process, but it's well worth the effort!

Lavender Essential Oil- Cut the blooms from the stems and place in a glass or ceramic (non-metal) bowl. Cover with olive, safflower, or canola oil. Microwave for about 30 seconds to warm the oil. Then set the bowl out on the counter (in the sun, if possible) for about 24 hours. Press the blossoms lighly with the back of a spoon to press the fragrant oil from them. If you want a stronger scented oil, you can now remove the soggy blooms and add fresh blooms, repeating the process. Once you're happy with the fragrance, strain the oil through cheesecloth or a coffee filter into a clean bottle. I scrub the labels off my old olive oil bottles and reuse.

Now you have Lavender oil to use in lotions, soaps or a few drops in bath water. Use Dried lavender in soaps, sachets, potpourri......You know, wherever you want that fabulous fragrance!

(Editor's note: Other herbs and spices can be dried or made into essential oils in the same manner. Here's what I'm thinking for oils.......Lemon Balm......Vanilla bean.......Cinnamon stick.......Rose petals.....Rosemary......the list is endless!)

What to Do? What to Do?

I've mentioned the project I just can't seem to finish. I decided to try to finish it during Ravelry's Ravellenic games (during the Olympics). I was making good progress when the games ended. Basically, I had completed crocheting the blocks together and started crocheting the edging. I knew it wouldn't take me long to finish the afghan now! About halfway through the edging and then.......This.

No-o-o-o-o-o! I wanted to cry! I wanted to frog! After all this time! WHY?!?!?! I have to tell you, though, when I first started this project I really had no good method for weaving in the ends. This comes from being a sort of "learn-as-you-go" kind of girl. I'm pretty sure I can fix this block. The BIG problem.......I'm planning on giving this as a gift. Is this going to happen again? What to do? What to DO?
So.....Here's what  I think I've decided to do. Fix the affected block. Then.......wash the afghan and see how many other blocks come apart. Then.....fix those blocks. Because, REALLY, what else can I do?

Ravellenic Challenge 2012

Here's the progress I made during the Olympics on my Ravellenic projects:

1. Homespun Granny Afghan- This was my MAIN project and I must say that even though this won't be finished by the closing ceremonies.......I got quite a bit done on it! I only have 3 more blocks to sc onto the last strip! Once that strip is sc to the main afghan and an edging added, it will be done! I know what you're thinking......what about ALL those ends to weave in? HA! I've been weaving in all those ends as I go! See this post  for a tutorial of how to do that.
2. 3-Hour Cowl- By the second day of the Olympics I was SO pleased with my progress on the afghan..... I went ahead and cast-on this project as a travel project. I probably should not have done this as my vacation ended the third day of the Olympics. After I went back to work, (along with some other things I had committed to) I didn't get alot of knitting or crocheting time, so I had to abandon this project halfway through to continue to make progress on my afghan. Now we all understand why this blog is named "My Life's Little Distractions"!
3. Charity Blocks- No progress. Didn't begin any of them. These will be waiting for me AFTER the Olympics!

Even though I didn't complete any of my projects......The Ravellenics helped push me to TRY to finish up a 5 year-old project. So, that's a good thing!

Crocheting (or Knitting) Through the Olympics

As a way to promote knitting/crocheting while watching the Olympics. Ravelry created the Ravellenic Challenge. Well, it's now less than 24 hours away from the opening ceremonies (and the mass cast-on). So, I've lined up the projects I HOPE to complete in the 2 weeks while watching the Olympics.
Here they are:

Homespun Granny Afghan

I haven't worked on this for almost 2 years now. I grew so-o-o-o-o-o-o bored with it! I REALLY want to finish it! I'm hoping the Ravellenic challenge will push me to complete it. It's my number 1 goal.

BUT......I also lined up a few other projects. In case I finish this faster than I think (or more likely, get sick of working on it).  A few blocks (3 to be exact) for my favorite charity JCCF. Two pink ones for our annual "pink blanket" to be raffled to raise funds for breast cancer awareness. As well as one for our "regular" blankets to go to injured rodeo cowboys and cowgirls. These are the patterns I've chosen. Freedom and Ribbons of Courage.

Then.......in case I need a little knitting. I found this SIMPLE knit cowl called 3 hour cowl. I enjoy making cowls and this looks like a quick knit. I've got a bunch of Bulky yarn I need to use up and wouldn't these make FABULOUS Christmas gifts?

That's my plan.........I'll let you know how it goes!

"Ponytail" Holders

Get it? Sorry.......I just couldn't resist! Not the best picture either......my model wouldn't co-operate! But, you get the idea. Anyway, I found this tutorial at Lionbrand. It was just the type of project I needed. I've been in sort of a knitting/crocheting slump lately. Kind of ho-hum projects that are taking me WAY too long to finish. They shouldn't. They just are!

These ponytail holders seemed like they would crochet up pretty fast and also make nice little gifts. So, I dug through my stash and found a few yarns that I thought would make nice hair ties. Here's what I found:



Some glittery yarns. After finishing the basic holder, I decided a little lace edge would be pretty. After you join the with slip st to beg ch 3 here's what you do: *ch4, sc to top of the next dc; repeat this stitch around to where you started. Finish off.

Textured and Self-striping yarns. After finishing the basic holder, I just added a round of sc to the top of each dc just to give it a little edge. You could easily do a hdc if you preferred. Maybe even a different color?

Novelty yarns. These I just held the novelty yarn together with a fingering weight yarn and crocheted the basic holder.

So, dig through your stash and see what you can come up with. They take very little yarn (maybe 20 yards?). Very little time too!

Free Plants (part2)

I think I've mentioned my obsession with Pinterest. I found a tutorial from The Burlap Bag about re-growing celery from planting the base. Sorry, you'll have to look up the tutorial yourself......I could NOT get the link to work. Even though I've been to the site and wrote down the link correctly. I just CANNOT get it to work. It's beyond my control.

Anyway, it's another free way to get plants. All right. You have to BUY a stalk of celery, but, really, what are you going to do with that base? Throw it away? Compost it? Or, in my case, feed it to my chickens? Basically, you cut off the base about 2 to 3 inches (put the rest of the celery in a zippered bag for future use).

Dig a hole. Place base in the hole.

Cover with soil. Water. In about 7-14 days it will start sprouting.

AMAZING!

Steeked Coffee Cozy

I recently joined Simply Notable's group on Ravelry. Their summer challenge is to make a colorwork coffee cozy (or two). Now, I've actually dabbled in colorwork. Really, is there anything I HAVEN'T dabbled in? One member recommended the pattern Steek this Coffee Cozy. This seemed like a good idea. I'd never tried steeking before and my colorwork had been limited to 3 colors max. So, I dug through my wool stash and found a turqouise for the MC. Then, I found a brown, rust and tan. Still needed one more color. Decided a Navy blue would look good. I'd buy that later. I could still cast on and knit quite a ways before I needed that Navy blue. Who knew I wouldn't be able to FIND a Navy blue. After checking 3 stores,  decided to go with a purple in place of the Navy.
Now, this seemed a little strange to me, you knit the bottom ribbing flat. When you finish the ribbing, you join in the round to knit the chart. Then you go back to knitting the ribbing flat. Once I finished all the knitting it was time to prepare the piece for steeking.

Reinforced area before cutting

Then, I just took out those scissors and cut between the reinforcement. I tried to be careful not to cut the tails. Does it make a difference if they're cut or not? I don't know. So, I just avoided doing that.

After cutting

After that, it's just a matter of picking up stitches and knitting the button and buttonhole bands. OH! and weaving in all those ends of course. I still have to find and sew on buttons, but otherwise......FINISHED!

Free Plants (part 1)

In the spring, I rarely get in a hurry to weed. About this time of year there are quite a few weeds in my flower beds. There are also small seedlings of actual DESIRABLE plants.

Lemon Balm and Seedlings

Catmint and Seedlings

After my plants have bloomed, I could go out and harvest the seed, store it all winter and plant it the following spring. That seems like a lot of work when nature will do all of this for me, right?
Now, you do have to be able to tell the difference between what is a weed and what is a plant seedling. That's not too hard though, your plant will look like a miniture version of the large plant. Here's what to do next:

Determine if the seedling is in an area  you want it to continue to grow in. If it is, just start watering and feeding it in that area and let it get bigger. But, if it's not and you need to transplant it. Gently dig up the plant trying to keep as much of the soil around the root ball as possible.

You could certainly now transplant that seedling right into the desired home and water in. You would probably have to supply some sort of shade to the plant during the hottest part of the day (12pm to 3pm) to keep the seedling from wilting until it is established.

I transplant into containers of soil and water in with a water-soluble fertilizer. Then I move them into an afternoon shaded area of the fenced in garden area. This also keeps the chickens from uprooting the newly planted seedlings. Once the plants are rooted out I'll transplant them in their chosen spots.

More 2012 BAMCAL Blocks

I've noticed that I haven't updated my progress on my afghan blocks lately. These are all blocks that I have been crocheting for Ravelry's group 2012 Block a Month CAL. So here they are:

Lion's Mane. I actually did this one a while ago. Somehow I missed posting it though?

Julieanny's Stained Glass. Don't ask me why the color is so wrong on this photo. I used the same yarn on this as the others. I also photographed in the same place about the same time of day. Yet......the photo still is yellower than the rest of the squares. I just don't know.......

Gem Star. I just couldn't pick a color......So, I did one of each of the colors I'm using. In case I haven't mentioned it yet.......I'm using Caron's One Pound yarn in Lace, Black, Off White & Taupe.

And finally......Cool 2B Square. This is probably not the best photo of this square. It is a quick, easy, fun little square. I'm making 4 of these and by the third square, I can ALMOST do this one by memory. That's all for now, but there will be more to come!