Visits

My sister came up to visit yesterday with two of her friends, and we had a good time basking in the beautiful weather! We went shopping, soaked in the sun at the beach, and made some necklaces. Our most exciting moment involved a volleyball rolling into lake Winnebago, the wind blowing it pretty far out, and a drunk, creepy, fully clothed man jumping into the lake to retrieve it. Also, I almost drove away without Maggie--whoops! Hopefully when I get my car I will be able to return the visit!
Today, Jackie and I went shopping in Neenah and Appleton. We did a tour of organic food stores, knitting, beading, and crafting stores. I keep bothering Jackie to start a blog--hopefully my persistence will pay off. We were both amazed at the gluten-free selection at the organic food store, I got gluten-free brownie mix, mac and cheese, and a bunch of different instant curry mixes. Yum! The woman at the checkout saw that I had gluten-free mac and cheese mix, and she asked if I meant to get real mac and cheese... That is perfect proof that most gluten-free food is just a little gross.
All in all, a pretty exciting few days.

Works in Progress

This week my dad came up to Oshkosh for a few days to help me look for cars, watch my sister play in her 6v6 soccer tournament, and just to visit in general. He also brought Sid who was very well behaved the whole time. Every time my dad and I pulled into a car lot, Sid would start to get anxious and start whimpering because he knew we were going to be leaving him alone in the car for a while. I am under the belief that Sid is half cat. He woke me up his last morning here by jumping up on my stomach. When I opened my eyes Sid is sitting on my stomach with a little ball of cotton yarn shoved in his mouth. He is the strangest little dog...














I have also been working on dyeing some roving for my Etsy Shop. I am dyeing them in 4oz. batches, and trying out my acid dyes for the first time as well. I feel pretty bad-ass with my dust mask and acid dyes. I will have pictures later this week of the dried roving.












To dye the roving, I first soak it in water for about an hour or so to get it fully wet. Then I slightly ring them out (without agitating) and lay them in a big glass baking dish. After that I mix my dye in a 10% Vinegar (acid sets the dye) and 90%water mixture, and paint the yarn with the dye. Lastly I set the dye by heating it in the microwave.

Dekalb Visit

Nate and I visited Dekalb this weekend to register me as a student at NIU, and all in all we got quite a bit of stuff done. We went to a few little shops, including the Yarn Exchange, which was probably the most wonderful yarn store I have ever been in. (goodbye checking account!) We didn't find an apartment yet, and nothing around campus looks like it is open, so we will probably be living off campus.
I will be starting there at the end of August, and I have two part time Graduate Assistantships so I get my tuition paid for, and I get a monthly stipend as well. In other words, I will have a lot of free time to work on art! Hopefully Nate can find something he is going to like too- I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
I would also like to say that I have been keeping the friends and families of the Virginia Tech students in my thoughts and prayers. It still baffles me how anyone can have that little disregard for the lives of themselves and others. It is a true tragedy, and sadly, in our generation, it is something we are almost to the point of getting used to.
In crafty news for today, I am almost done with my Brea Bag from Berroco. So far I am loving the pattern. I'm using Red Heart (gasp!) yarn because I started it when I was home two weeks ago, but I really like the texture, and I will probably be making a second one with a bulky yarn because I like my bags big.
Lastly, I thought I would share with you one of my favorite salads. I have been eating it all week for lunch, and I haven't tired of it yet.
It is a spinach salad with feta cheese, walnuts, dried cranberries, and raspberry vinaigrette dressing. I really love the way that the slight bitterness of the feta cheese goes with the sweetness of the cranberries.

A Case of the Mondays

I've been working on these little pretties this last week, and am working on putting them on my Etsy site today. I have about 20 pairs, and am going to stagger a few each day to try and bump up traffic to my site.














I have also been making little button sets, but I don't think that they will sell too well, so I am going to try and make a bunch of larger buttons and some clay pendants that would be similar to the earrings only larger.

In other news, Nate and I are heading to NIU tomorrow and staying overnight so that I can sign up for classes and we can look at apartments and jobs etc. This is going to be an extra-busy summer considering we are going to be moving, starting at a new school, getting new jobs, and getting hitched. Yikes!

The Agenda

I am hoping this blog encourages me to finish some of the many many crafts and projects that I have half-completed. Right now I am working on a bunch of pairs of earrings, and some necklaces with hand-painted wooden pendants. Hopefully I will have pictures to share with you tomorrow.
I am also doing research on spinning wheels, and have it narrowed down to a Louet S17 ST or a Fricke S16o ST. Both are about $250 and have very similar features, If anyone has a strong opinion either way, drop me a line :).
I have been writing up a pattern for these armwarmers to sell on my Etsy site, and I would love it if I could have a few people who would like to try it out, again- just drop me a line.

So yeah....

I have decided to start a blog even though I already have about 15 million other hobbies. I will hopefully (fingers crossed) be giving frequent updates on my crafting, art, cooking, and traveling adventures. Hopefully I can figure this all out!