Say What?!?

So you know that I have been hinting about a big surprise? Well here it is... I started my own yarn business. And my shop is now LIVE on Etsy, so you should go check it out. After you finish reading of course.

Moose In Socks is the name of my business. I sell luxury sock blanks. What that means is that I sell already knit pieces of fabric that you un-knit, and re-knit into socks. Confusing to non-knitters, but very exciting to people who knit socks. The blanks I have listed now are made of BFL (a special wool) and a bamboo/merino blend. Both are wonderful. Tomorrow (or soon) I should be listing a merino/tencel blend and some milk blends. I also have in the works a cashmere blend (which is so soft... I want to knit lace socks out of it) and an alpaca and soybean blend. They can make yarn out of anything now!

SO, I am pretty excited about this. I have been working on it for about a month now and I finally had enough things in line to start listing. Keep checking back, as there will be a lot more new stuff coming!

Here is the link.

Now I am off to try and figure out how to ply the yarn I spun today! FUN adventure...

A Costco Conversation

The other day I was at Costco (big surprise!) and I shared a table with an elderly couple as I enjoyed a slice of pizza. This was right after the story about the governor going to Argentina to hang out with his mistress broke. They were discussing how crazy that was and also how so and so (the "leader" in the republican run for president in 2012) must be excited because this governor was also a leader in the election. (Which all of this is amazing to me, because how can you be ahead in a race that hasn't even started... ?!?) (Also, sorry I don't know all these names... I have lost interest in politics for the moment... not watching the news has also helped my ignorance) Then they said something I almost laughed out loud at. They mentioned that if the republican party decided to choose Sarah (I assume Palin, we are in AK) to run, they wouldn't be able to dig up any dirt on her and she would be a good solid choice.

WHA??!!?!

Now ignoring the second half of the comment, as I am not going to judge if she would be a "good solid choice" for president... but not being able to dig up any dirt? REALLY?!? You mean because she already digs it all up herself? And makes sure she causes enough waves every day to be in the national, or at least local, spotlight? Every day that J was still here he would read the newspaper online and would be flabbergasted at how SP made it into the news that day. It was quite amusing to me to see him get so worked up.

Anyway, I just found that amusing. I love to hear people talk about things. People are fascinating. I decided to turn on the Today show this morning... it is all about Michael Jackson. Every time I turn on the TV I just get disappointed and remember why it stays off (or only playing DVDs... I see Seinfield in my near future.) most of the time.

Dear Internet Update

Dear Internet,

Just wanted to let you know that our first day apart went well. Most of the day I was at work, so I wasn't tempted by your ways. Tomorrow will be the true test. At home...alone....supposed to be getting work done. Hopefully I don't succumb to your tantalizing allure.

Anyway, I'm pretty proud of myself. And now I am off to bed. And the computer is staying in the living room. Because we are not connected at the hip anymore.

Signed,
Me

Dear Internet...

While I do love you and all of the things I can find on you (the internet) I feel we need to talk. It seems that I have been spending a disproportionate amount of time surfing you instead of being productive. For example, some mornings I will get up at 8 and before I know it, it is almost 11. And I haven't done a single thing... except surf the internet. W is concerned that I am spending so much time on the computer. Then yesterday, L made the comment that I must be on it all of the time as "I find so much cool stuff". So if people who don't live with me can tell I spend too much time on the computer, it is probably time to tone it down a bit.

Don't take this the wrong way. I am forever grateful to Al Gore for creating you, Internet (*grin*). But, I feel we need to spend less time together. I don't want to completely break up... I don't think I could handle that. But we do need to set limits. I think I will try to only spend 30 mins in the morning and 30 mins in the evening surfing you so that I can quilt, knit, spin, bake, etc. all that time in between. I think this may make our relationship more special. They say absence makes the heart grow fonder. While I will miss our marathon moments together, Internet, I must say that I am excited to get back to my life. Please don't be hurt. I will see you tonight.

Forever Yours,
Sally

Tags and Packages

I read a lot of blogs. I have noticed that other people "tag" their blog postings. It is fairly easy to do, just type some words into a little box at the bottom and you're done. I don't tag my postings... I don't really know what the tags are used for. Well, ok, not entirely true. I understand they are for sorting purposes. I guess I just am not sure that readers use them. As a reader of many blogs, I have not used tags for any reason. The whole point here is that if you have an opinion on tagging, let me know. I would be more than happy to tag my postings if readers feel there is a reason for it.

Moving on...

I promised to post about the packages I have received in the mail lately, so here we go. First up is the mystery package from my loving husband. He told me one day that he ordered me something on the internet and if it comes, I am not allowed to open it. So the mystery begins. All week I was trying to get him to tell me what it was, but he is very good at keeping secrets. Then on Friday the package came. He opened it and left the contents on the counter for me to find. It was a package of five or six t-shirts that he bought for the two of us. He is funny. Here is a picture of three of them. I wore my Shrute Farms Beets shirt to work on Sat. I thought it was funny. The dinosaur one is my absolute favorite, but W had claimed that for himself. I might have to get him to order me one too. We are both obsessed with dinosaurs. There is also a shirt that says, "That's what she said"... our favorite joke. :) Can you tell that we only watch TV on one night?? And that The Office is our favorite show??



The other package was from Platformnine Designs. I had ordered some roving to spin and was super excited to get it in the mail. The two bigger braids are mill ends and the small braid is corridale. They are all so pretty and squishy. I can't wait to make them into yarn. I just looked and there is another braid of the Indigo Moon available (which is the one with touches of purple in it)... so if no one beats me to it, that may be coming to my house as well.



The mail hasn't come yet today, but I am always hoping for more packages! Also, over the weekend W has decided that we are going to eat super healthy now. No more twinkies for me. (Which, honestly, I know is good for me... but I'm still really sad about it) We went to Costco and stocked up on fruits and veggies and we joined the Full Circle Farms CSA and will be getting a food box every other week, starting next week. I'm pretty excited. I think it will be fun for us to try and use things that we normally wouldn't buy and get to cook more. W is really good at pulling together a meal when I think there is nothing to eat. I hope to learn that skill. And we bought a Kitchen Aid blender while at Costco, so now I can make smoothies!! Yum!

And if you haven't entered the contest on the Northern Lights Fiber Co blog, you better do that! You have one more day to enter to win a full sized skein of wonderfully soft yarn!!

Father's Day, Solstice, and other weekend activities

Happy Father's Day to all of you fathers out there! My dad said he isn't feeling well so he is staying home. W's dad might go shooting with W later in the day, but until then it is just the two of us! I'm pretty excited about that as I had to work yesterday so I didn't get to hang out with him much.

Yesterday was the Summer Solstice. I can't believe it was already time for that... it seems like just yesterday I was dancing around a snowy fire celebrating Winter Solstice. So, we celebrated by playing Solstice Softball. A complicated game involving beer and running around the bases. I was tricky and carried an empty can in my pocket and pretended to drink. Worked out well. And it was pretty windy which kept the bugs away which was nice.

Another thing that took place this weekend was J going home. He decided to go back to Illinois for a month or so since he wasn't doing anything here. The house is quiet without him. I'm going to be lonely on my days off. It is nice to not worry about walking around in my underwear though. :) And I also think Frito is happy to have the big couch to sleep on again. But we do all miss J. He is pretty much the best roommate a married couple could have.

Well, I have to go get ready to go to Costco. I did get some fun packages in the mail this week. If I get around to it, I will post about them later. One was roving from Platformnine Designs and the other was a surprise from W, which turned out to be fun tshirts. I kind of half thought it was going to be a spinning wheel, but ... the fact that my husband orders me funny shirts online is kind of why I married him. He is so unpredictable. Off to combat shop at Costco.

June Phat Fiber box!

Opening a Phat Fiber box is always like opening a present, and this month was no different. Jessie does such a good job of picking out the little details (tissue paper, envelopes for the business cards, stamping the boxes) that it makes it feel as if each box was put together just for you. (If you don't know what a Phat Fiber box is, PLEASE go to the blog here and read about it. It is a group of AMAZING artists and ... I just can't do it justice. Go check it out. And there are often giveaways, so it is worth your time. But read the rest of my post first!)



I'll start with the cards:



Not as many cards this time as there have been in the past. But it was neat to see my friend's new cards. She runs the Northern Lights Fiber Co (click the link for her etsy shop) and she is pretty much amazing. And the cool little map is too cute. And the little glass bottle has a slip of paper that has the phat fiber blog on it. I don't know how she cut up the paper that small without going crazy! Pretty amazing.

On to.... patterns:



I LOVE the Phat Pacific Octopus pattern. I'm kind of obsessed with cute little baby toys, and this is a great way to use the little samples we get in the box. The Briny Sea Cowl may be what I use my first handspun yarn for as the patter says that it is "ideal for thick and thin yarn" and as a beginning spinner, that seems to be my style! I also love the bracelet, (Rav link) it is a cute pattern and such a small project it may be something I can actually finish. The baby set is adorable, and is a crochet pattern! I love to see a variety of things in the box, and this may be something I make and then pass the pattern a long to my mom who is learning how to crochet.

Next up: YARN!



The little bobbin of is from Twisted Fiber. I love the colors and have to think of something fun to do with it. I got 2 samples from Gale's Art in my box which will probably become some baby item. The colors are very pretty jewel tones. A sample from one of my favorite Phatties, Twice Sheared Sheep, with her new recycled yarn tag on it. I was excited to get a sample that was a heavier weight (worsted) as a lot of the samples tend to be sock and lace. A purple and blue sample from a contributor I had not seen before, Holiday Yarns. I need to go check out their shop and see what they have to offer. Another recycled yarn sample from Octopi Crafts. It is 100% angora and incredibly soft. A lace sample from odd-ish creations. I was very excited about this one because I am in her sock club and I LOVE the sample she sent in! I can not wait for my sock club packages to arrive! A hand spun sample from Stick to your Knittin' Kitten. Funny name! :) I love the colors in this yarn and it is spun really well. Very impressive. And last, I got a sample of K's yarn in the Big Blue World Colorway. It is merino and sea cell and pretty much amazing. Check out her blog as she is giving away a full sized skein of yarn right now!

And last... FIBER!



My color pick of the month goes to Wooly Hands and her Tropical Fish colorway. The colors are so bright and fun! I think it will spin up great with the Queen Jellyfish roving from Platformnine Designs. This roving made of mill ends is super soft and I can not wait to get the roving that I ordered from her in the mail!! Spincerely Yours packages her roving in such a creative way! It looks like a lollipop... I have no idea how she even gets it in there! The colorway is "Sandpiper" and it reminds me of the beach. Liberty Fibers sent in a merino silk roving sample. I'm excited to blend the "shore and sand" together into something fun! TLS included some beautiful blue roving and a yummy lollipop...great bribery! Plum Crazy Ranch and Fiber Art included pictures of her dogs, llamas, and kids on her tag! Super fun. And the fiber looks like a beautiful bunch of fun samples. People were really trying to get her samples last month on the Rav. thread, so I am excited to get my hands on one! Farmgirl Chic included a mohair and wool sample that is super soft. The different blues look gorgeous together. I also recieved some mohair locks in the "Coral" colorway from Wonders Waterfowl. They are really soft and I think will make a fun accent to some of my other samples. And last (but certainly not least) is Tactile Fibers. Their fibers are all naturally dyed, which is really cool. I also found that their label was VERY creative and super informative. Plus, I got to sample four different fibers...yum! They are all very gorgeous and hopefully I can do them justice when I spin them up!

Whew! I hope you all enjoy looking at all of the wonder Phat Fiber shops. And if you didn't get your hands on one, go check out the Phat Fiber group on Ravelry because they are giving away boxes to people who have never got one!!

iPhone 3.0

Apple released the new software for the iPhone yesterday, so I figured I would share my thought on it....

What I like:
Your e-mail can be turned sideways for easier reading. This drove me nuts before, because when I made it large enough to read, would have to scroll left and right... problem solved!
You can now search your e-mail and your iPhone. Not sure what would go missing on my phone, but still cool.
You can turn on a service (for free) that will find your phone if you lost it. It is a GPS thing, so not TOO useful if you are like me and just lose it in your house, but I think you can tell it (your phone) to make noise so you can find it. Could prove to be invaluable to me and I plan on playing with this feature later today.
Voice Memos. You can now record (and e-mail) voice memos to yourself, or others. This is amazing. I hate taking notes on my phone, but have always thought it would be great to be able to record my ideas. Go Apple.
You can now e-mail more than one picture to people. And sometime (after AT&T gets their act together....America is the only place in the world right now that CAN'T DO THIS.... thanks AT&T.) you will be able to send picture messages. Before, only text messages were sent and received by our phones, which was a bit lame because even my mom with her ghetto flip phone can picture message. Sure, she doesn't know how, but it is possible.

What I don't like:
For some reason the text button has changed. It doesn't say "TXT" in it anymore. A small gripe, I know, but it looks very weird to me now.
In the e-mail program it now says my entire e-mail address at the top. This would be useful if it would let me check other e-mail addresses, but I don't think it does, and it just looks awkward as well.

I think that's it. Overall, you can probably tell that the pros outweigh the cons. My complains are aesthtic and not a big deal. They are just little things that annoy me right now and I will probably not even notice in a week. The pros are things I will continue to use for a long time. I love my phone, and I'm pretty sure it was one of the best cell phone purchases we could have made. It may be expensive, but I have had my phone since they came out (which I believe is 2 years now...) and it still works great. It also takes the place of an iPod, GPS, and sometimes in a pinch, a camera. I love being in town and being able to look up phone numbers to places. Or being able to check my e-mail. Or being able to get on Twitter. Gross, I know, but all things that have become a part of my daily routine. If you are in the market for a new phone, I would consider it. They are super easy to use (my friend's 2 year old can use mine...) and amazing.

Wordless Wednesday

Oh, buddy...

I am almost ready to make a BIG announcement on the blog (and no, it isn't an addition to my family, so don't get TOO excited)....just need to get a few more things in order. So be on the look out for that. Trust me, it's going to blow your socks off. :)

I mentioned on Twitter (which was on the cover of Time) this morning that I got dressed around my necklace. Well, I would post a picture, but I am SUPER lazy right now (maybe tomorrow), but it is spectacular. It is the necklace I won in the contest on the Danido Crafty blog. It is a necklace from RiskyBeads and it is called "Secret". I'm in love with it. It is vintage but modern and just plain beautiful. Check out her shop for some beautiful stuff.

I have spent a lot of money on Etsy the past week. I joined a fun club from a Phat Fiber contributor, desert garden farms. I am going to get three months of spoiling! I thought it would be a nice summer treat for myself. I will be sure to post pictures of all of my goodies. I also joined the pattern of the month club for July from my favorite phat fiber contributor, TwiceShearedSheep. I like the idea of finishing something in a month, so we will see how that goes... :) If I can actually get it done, I will think about joining for the following months. I also bought some glow in the dark yarn and a pocket sheep from SheepShape Spinning (another Phattie!). I recieved a sample of her glow in the dark yarn in my May box and could not wait to get my hands on more. I am going to use it to knit a dog walking hat for myself. I've also thought it might be neat to make a pair of socks that have glowing heels and toes. We will see....

And, I may have forgotten to mention it formally, but I rented a spinning wheel from the local spinning guild. It is an Ashford Kiwi and I am in love with it. It is small and compact, and I seem to be getting the hand of spinning which is FUN! So I also bought some fiber from platform nine designs. They are mill ends, so they were a bit less expensive, and I thought it would be fun to practice with them before I dove into some of my more luxurious batts. And another treat to myself, two batts from eXtreme spinning. Her BOGO 60% off sale just got the best of me. Her stuff is AWESOME and I can not wait to get my hands on it.

So, as you can probably tell the Yart (art yard sales) got the best of me the past week. I definately spent more than I should have...espically combined with that fiber garage sale! Good thing I got my first check from the Quilt Tree today. :) Not that my pretend job pays too much, but it does keep me afloat and that is what is important in the summer.

While at work today, I finally broke down and bought something. The latest Buggy Barn book. I am in LOVE with one of the patterns, and W also loves it, so it will probably become a quilt in my house soon. It is not often that W is a huge fan of Buggy Barn quilts, which is sad because I am addicted to them.

Alright, I think that is enough for today. Also, I have decided to do "Wordless Wednesday" posts. I have seen them on some of my favorite blogs and think they are very fun. So check out my first one tomorrow!!

Spinning Garage Sale

This morning K and I got up and went to the Anchorage Spinners and Weavers Guild Garage Sale. Since I rented my spinning wheel from the guild a few weeks ago, I have used up all the fiber I had, so I definitely was looking forward to getting more. When we got there at 9:54 (gates opened at 10) people were already lined up. It was crazy. I thought I would be combat shopping. Luckily, there was plenty for everyone and I walked away with a crazy amount of fiber that WILL become very beautiful yarn.


A look at all of my goodies. The big fiber braids are 7 oz each and the smaller ones are 4 oz.



A close up. I just want to wear them as fiber scarves...they are so pretty.




Some irresistible hand spun yarn. I want to start knitting the rust colored one right now....


And three skeins of my favorite sock yarn for $2 each! What a deal!

This paired with all of the things I bought at the Etsy Yart sales should keep me busy for quite a while....

Dog Pool

So I bought the dogs a doggie pool last night because it was SO darn hot. It is one of those hard plastic little kid pools with pictures on it. Frito had one when we lived in WA and while he does not lay in them, I think he appreciated being able to dip his feet and wonder around in it. I would put ice cubes in it and he would bob them out like apples. Fun times for everyone.

I figured the fun would only be multiplied since we have to dogs now. Snickers isn't as afraid of water as Frito is, so I expected a lot of dog antics.

Instead, today it was overcast and completely gross outside. I don't blame the dogs for wanting to sleep all day, because that is all I wanted to do too.

So hopefully I will have more to report on the doggie pool later. For now, we are all hanging out in bed surfing Etsy and other fun websites.

Nothing.

Since it has been over a week since I last posted, you would think I would be swimming in things to post about. But...that is why I have not posted. I have nothing to say.

Last Wednesday we won our softball game, which was really exciting! W wasn't able to play because he hurt his shoulder, but I played and I was AMAZING. I stopped every ball that came at me (I play 2nd base) and even made a few really good plays. I also got a hit almost every time I was at bat (struck out once) and made a run. Basically, if I improve as much every game as I have been, I will be on the Olympic softball team in no time. :)

I have also been working at Quilt Tree. That has been pretty fun. W always tells me to have a good time at "fantasy camp" since it's not really work.

I've also been getting a lot of work done at home. Almost ready to reveal it all on here. W is doing some scanning for me at work (for some reason, our stinking printer won't scan to a mac....LAME)

Snickers decided today to remember how to escape from the yard. Luckily, he now comes when he is called so it hasn't been too much trouble. I think I got it blocked up enough that he can't get out. Frito always tells on him too...I think because Frito is mad that he can't get out and run around with him.

That is really about it. Sorry I've been having such a lazy summer. It has been so relaxing. One of the teachers from my school saw me at Quilt Tree the other day and said that I looked more relaxed than she had ever seen me. Probably because I'm not worried about being sued.... I love my new job!

Buffalo

The new heading picture is from my drive to Canada in 2007. I just thought the heading needed a change. I tried to find a picture that featured Snickers, but he just does not hold still for pictures like Frito does.

Today was my first day at work at the Quilt Tree. It started out a bit rough...there was some confusion on what time I was supposed to be there, so I RUSHED to work. But, no one was upset, so no big deal! The rest of the day went pretty smoothly. I learned the computer pretty quickly, and it was only a bit of a pain to have only one computer working. Apparently good weather is bad news for a quilt shop because people want to be OUTSIDE not quilting. Which I kind of get, but after my dog park adventure yesterday (tell you about that in a second...) I was pretty happy to be inside for a while.

Soo...the dog park. We like to do something fun for the dogs on the weekend, and this weekend we decided to take them to the dog park. I normally really enjoy taking them to the dog park. They get to run around and visit with other dogs and it is fun to watch them be so crazy. Yesterday was another story. It was a mosquito HAVEN. Literally, I was COVERED in them. I would slap my neck and kill five. It was ridiculous. And since I am more allergic to mosquitoes than the average person, it became a very uncomfortable situation very quickly. At one point we tried to run back but because I was expecting a nice relaxing stroll, I was wearing my Danskos. The running lead to me tripping over a root and almost breaking my ankle. After that happened twice (I just don't learn) I decided to walk quickly. At one point I asked W if my face had any bites on it and he looked at me and with a concerned laugh told me the left side of my face was incredibly swollen. He has since encouraged me to go see a doctor because he is worried that my reaction is getting worse. I was just glad that this morning my face looked pretty normal. It HURT, but looked normal.

I found out today that I won a blog contest! I was SO excited. I enter a lot of blog contests, but I have never won, so this was really cool for me. I will get to pick my prize, so as soon as I let you know what I am going to get, I will let you know! The blogger, Daniella from Danido Crafty, is actually from Alaska, so I thought it was even COOLER that I won. Her blog is listed in the blog roll on the side bar there, but here is a link as well. She also writes for handmadenews.org which is quite the fun website, with TONS of articles about crafting.

I think that is about it. I get my stitches out of my teeth tomorrow. Yea! I'm pretty sure they are going to tell me I have incredible healing powers, since I did so well with the whole thing. :)