Handmade Gift with a Family Tie - Day 3

Following our rhythm N and I began our day together discussing our families before he left for work and I set about completing my daily tasks. Family is such an important aspect of our lives that for this reason I feel so strongly about this gift. As simple as it may be this all purpose salve has a history to it, N's Opa has always spent every moment of his life doing something to benefit his family, one of these pursuits happened to be Bee Keeping and until quite recently we have all enjoyed the lovely honey and beeswax which he harvested. Sadly he is no longer capable of such activities and we have all gently rationed out what is left of so may years of love. N and I happened to be in possession of one of the few liquid honey batches ( he usually preferred solid) that he ever made as well as a tiny amount of beeswax, this morning over our coffee we finally decided how best to share this gift with our families.

                           

Packaged along with small jars of honey I made a batch of all purpose salve simply by shaving the beeswax and adding the honey to an apricot oil over a double broiler until melted. This may seem basic and easy but I think it's rather fitting to make a gift that is meant to soothe and protect us when that's what he spent his days trying accomplish.

Handmade Holidays - Day 1

This year N. (Hubby) and I are making a fully committed attempt at creating a simple and joyful handmade holiday season. Throughout December each day I will post one or more of our ideas and projects in the hopes to eliminate some of the stress that seems to come during the season. Each year I always try to go bigger and better than the last...and the end result is always disappointment, stress and fights! Last year was the first year we decided to cut back and slow down and we had a much nicer holiday and really enjoyed each other and so this year we're going even further.

A simple holiday to us means no new ornaments except for the single yearly ornament we pick to commemorate a special memory from the past year, a major cutback in budget, a lower carbon footprint, less waste e.g. reusable wrapping and no paper gift tags (I'll share my ideas for that later).  And especially using what we already have I have so many stashed craft supplies and yarn that there is no reason why I need to buy more.

So that's our plan use less, buy less, slow down a lot, enjoy the season more, simplify and above all else appreciate the blessings of our home and families.

In preparation of this year's change I began very early to plan our budget, gifting and donation lists and decorating ideas. Which brings me to one part of our handmade gifts. This summer I made in addition to my regular batch of strawberry jam an extra batch to be stored and used as gifts for the holiday season.

These little jars will be topped with scraps of Christmas fabric and tied with ribbon as part of family gifts and unexpected guests and hostess gifts. And because I spent the preparation time in the summer, in less than an hour these will be fully ready to be gifted!  And really who doesn't love homemade jam?


Wishing you all a simple Holiday season!

New name and a new pattern!

I've decided to give my little blog a new name, knitting seems to have stolen my sanity so I might as well give in to it... it's always best to humour obsessions...especially ones as consuming as yarn and knitting. But I really do have to give credit to my hubby for the new name because he's the one who thinks I knit too much ( really what's too much?) and that I drink way more caffeine than I should (pshaw to that) so thus to him I became the Jittery Knitter and it just seems to have stuck.

Anyways on to the pattern bits, you know the good stuff. I was in Little Red Mitten and I happened to pick up the last skein of Wisdom Poems Yarn in colourway 172 ( they really are small balls at only a 109 yards) but it was sooo pretty in all it's pink and teal glory and I just couldn't leave it there alone now could I? So home it came and then I was left with the dilemma of deciding what to do with this lovely lonesome ball....and that's how My Poems Single Skein Wristlets came to be ( now don't get me wrong they are very simple to make so it's really a pattern in the loosest sense)

Poems

Materials: One skein of Wisdom Poems Yarn (109 yards), a set of 4mm size 6 dpn's and a needle for sewing in the ends.

For first cuff start working from inside the skein and cast on 44 stitches.
Knit in 2x2 rib for 5 1/2" inches.
At start of next row K2 P1 cast off 7 stitches continue in rib pattern for the rest of the row.  ( If you want a smaller thumb opening cast of a smaller number e.g. 5 stitches...just remember to cast back on the same number you cast off)
Next row K2 P1 re-cast on 7 stitches ( or same number you cast off) and continue in rib pattern for another 1" inch.
BO in rib pattern. Weave in all ends.

For the second cuff work pattern exactly the same only start working from outside of the skein.

Which will leave you with just enough to make two of these little guys! And no waste...even better! Perfect for gift tags which is what I'm intending to use this year.

Endless Spinning

Ooops a little posting lapse...but on the upside I've managed to get a ton of crafting done lately..yay for me! So lots to share in the coming days. I've been spinning like crazy my little spindle and bag of roving comes with me everywhere. Who would have thought you could get so much completed in a car ride?

This book Respect the Spindle: Spin Infinite Yarns with One Amazing Tool was really helpful when I was looking for help, although there is a lot of great information available on the internet this book really set me on the right track ...it's really not as easy as it looks let me tell you.

Unrelated Stuff:
~ Finally finished my Olympic Knitting Shawl...had to wait for more yarn but it was well worth it the shawl is the perfect weight for this weather and is always close at hand. Details and finished pics on my Ravelry page.
~ The baking soda shampoo thing and I did not a good match make, although my hair was clean and actually brushable I liked it but... and this is a silly but.. it wasn't as nice and bouncy shiny like it is with commercial shampoo :(

Going to enjoy the rest of this wonderful spring day!

Useful Books

In the never ending search for helpful information about sustainable and simple living. I've come to rely on these books for everyday use.

The first  for it's wide coverage of topics, makes it is an excellent source for starting your journey. Each subject has some great tips and information, just keep in mind the book is more of an overview to get you started. I find myself turning to reference this often whenever we decide to tackle a new task.







The next being a more in depth look at raising animals on a small scale, we foud this the most useful when choosing to raise chickens.












No this book doesn't fall into the same category as the other two but is a beautifully written book. And is a wonderful way to learn to make do and work with all the many materials your home is already filled with. She also offers some great tips about thrifting.






What are the books you find useful around your home?

Olympic Knitting

In anticipation of spending many hours glued to my television this week with the Vancouver 2010 Olympics coming to a close I cast on a simple knit. In other words mindless knitting.

Thus the beginning of the "simple yet effective shawl" from Laura Chau. Her original pattern calls for chunky weight wool, but I wanted an all season wrap so I used a worsted. Details and pattern link here at my Ravelry page. And true to my prediction I have been stuck to my couch I'm so proud of all our Canadian athletes they've been doing such a wonderful job, but amazing efforts from all countries teams really. (see including everyone...thats the Canadian way) By the end of the weekend this soft, simple shawl should be off the needles. Oh and speaking of needles I'm really liking the new circulars i picked up by chiaogoo.

            Happy weekending to you all!

YUM!

We're having company over this coming weekend, and I was looking for something to drizzle over grilled fruit for dessert and I finally tried this little bit of liquid heaven. All I can say is YUM. This butterscotch sauce  will now and forever be my go to sauce. Five ingredients + five minutes= amazing goodness.

 Obviously I had to try it... for quality control purposes of course. And again YUM. As a side thought, lately I've really come to understand how much of our monthly budget was spent on things I was quite capable of doing/making  for myself and at less than half the price I would have paid for them. Now not only do I feel more confident in my own home and abilities our rainy day savings is actually starting to grow. Two very good things if you ask me.

Lemon butter and Hope

Hello chicks! It would seem in the crazy days of this past year I have lost my blogging way. But I am back and have plenty to share....including this gem lemon butter...who would have thought? This is so creamy and wonderful I could eat it with a spoon, okay I did but still sooooo good.

The recipe made 2 half pint mason jars we kept one here to enjoy and the other went to my father in-law with a batch of fresh scones for his birthday which I might add were very well received.

Things are starting to look up around here we've recently embarked on quite the adventure and my hope has been renewed for a miracle. I'll share as we get farther into the process I just needed to pass on some good energy. Anyways the sun is rising and I'm off to start breakfast for Hubby.

Spring Ahead!

Had a wonderful day today...the sun was shining and snow was melting everywhere, I also talked Hubby into a trip to the quilt shop which definitely turned into a very successful outing indeed! Ahhh perfection..

So naturally I'm quite enamored with my new finds so I'm off to gaze lovingly at them and plan some new projects. Later chicks!