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!

The never ending queue

   Oh the Ravelry Queue ....yes all you knitters know what I'm talking about... the never ending queue, about once a month I get the bright idea that I am  going to clean up my queue get some of those long ago marked projects cast on and finished up.

   Well let's say that's a better idea in theory than in practice. In my head I say okay no more pattern searching for awhile and than my knitting heart says "wouldn't that Christmas stocking your working on be wonderful with some knit stars"... and off I go.

    Hours later with 4 new patterns added to my queue and a stack of knit stars sitting next to me I know for my sanity I need to just go with the flow and knit what the heart wants to knit and queue the rest for another day.

See knit stars attached with vintage buttons...right? I know.

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.

I LOVE this thing/ AKA ereader cozy

I am absolutely in love with this thing! My sweet, dear hubby picked it up for my birthday and I haven't put it down since. Kobo ereader was just released from Chapters this month and has pretty much sold out everywhere and now having used it I can understand why. But of course thats not the point of this post...ok well partly anyways. Loving my Kobo so much I just couldn't toss him in my bag (p.s. he is now known as kobo jim....don't ask) knowing all the wear he would be exposed to, so I whipped up this cute little cozy in an evening and now he's safe and sound :) and that makes everyone happy right?

Basket Weave Dishcloth Pattern

This is the my pattern that I designed for my favourite knit dishcloth. At 9"x9" and textured makes it the perfect cloth for everyday use...plus it's kinda pretty too, and why can't functional be pretty?

Basket weave cloth pattern:
Materials: a set of 4.5mm needles and about 40-50g cotton yarn

Notes: ~Pattern Row 1 and Pattern Row 2 each consist of 4 repeat rows. So each set of 4 counts as 1 pattern row...does that make sense...I sure hope so.
           ~ Remember to keep first 2 stitches and last 2 stitches of each in garter

Cast on 40 stitches
Knit 2 rows in garter

Pattern Row 1: K2, *K3, P3*  repeat ** to last 2 stitches, K2
  Repeat 3 more times for a total of 4 rows

Pattern Row 2: K2, *P3, K3* repeat ** to last 2 stitches, K2
  Repeat 3 more times for a total of 4 rows

Repeat Pattern Rows 1 and 2 for a total of 12 Pattern rows
Knit  2 rows
Bind off in knit

Aprox 9"x9" when finished

I make these all the time to use as decorations on wedding or house warming gifts. Makes an excellent face cloth as well.

New Pillows!

 Soo... it's been awhile and my throw pillows definitely needed some refreshing. I've had them for awhile and they just didn't match our home anymore. I think I'm happier with these new ones...the dogs sure seem to like them anyways lol.  A bit more relaxed and cozy thats for sure, our old ribbon and satin ones were stuffy and itchy and not so cozy.

I have to admit I used a thrifted bed sheet for the base of the blocks and it's sooo soft and worn in perfect for a cuddly pillow and even better for a sunny spring nap ;) I used raw edge circles for the quarters cut from scraps out of my bin and just made a basic envelope back to slide the pillow form in...easy right? 

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!

Somedays you just need fudge

This in our house in the perfect bad day treat it's quick and easy but tastes just right. Known as "Cheaters Fudge" no candy thermometer required. All you need is:

1 bag good quality semi sweet chips

1 bag good quality milk chocolate chips

1 can condensed milk

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/4 tsp orange ectract

Melt everything in a heavy bottomed sauce pan until smooth pour into 8" square pan and chill until set. Store in airtight container.

Enjoy!

2 Hour Headband

I love this headband! And the best part you ask? Well it only took a total of two hours to knit...now thats my idea of instant gratification. Plus it's super cute and goes with everything.

This one is perfect for cooler weather but a lighter one is definitely in order for summer. Pattern here.

Jumping on the no shampoo bandwagon

I've finally worked up the courage to try the no shampoo thing, this on my part has taken a lot of consideration. I am one of those people who has to wash my hair everyday, it's very fine and gets oily faster than you would believe.  After a lot of looking around and taking in a ton of information this is the formula I've come up with to suit me.

First I washed out really well two old shampoo bottles and got to work.

 For the first mixture add:

1/4 cup of baking soda

+

3/4 cups of warm water

Into one of your bottles and shake really well (make sure to shake each time you use it)

This one I apply to my dry hair and work it in really well and let it sit for a couple minutes than rinse well.

For the second mixture add:

1/4 cup vinegar

+

1 cup water

+

1 Tbs vanilla extract

Into second bottle and shake well.

This one I apply after I've rinsed out the first baking soda mix, work it in really well and let it sit for a couple minutes and rinse.

So far this is seems to be working and the vinegar smell is completely covered by the vanilla ( my husband says it smells like I've been baking all day lol). To make application easier I put it in as you would when colouring your hair line by line right to the scalp. That seems to work the best for me, hopefully this sticks, we'll see I'm still on the fence.