It's Time to Start Comparing

Today a new grocery store opened in town.  We didn't add another one (we have 2) but our Country Mart was bought out by King Cash Saver the end of last year.  Our other grocery store is a Save-A-Lot.  It was a no brainer before, SAL was much cheaper 99% of the time.  I needed tortillas for lunch so I went in to "check out" the new store.  WOW!  It looks nice and so different.  No more orange and green, it's now red and black.  They have a lot of new products and thankfully some that we could only get at Country Mart before.  I can't wait to go back when I have more time and really check it out better.  I did see a lot of organic and natural products on the shelves, which we didn't have much of a selection before.  I also seen some things that were cheaper than SAL.  The 2 that stuck out were bananas and milk, both of which we but weekly.  Time to make a price book again.  KCS is closer than SAL. It's only 2 1/2 blocks where SAL is a little over a mile.  KCS is open 6am to 10pm 7 days a week where SAL is only open 8am-8pm M-Sat and 8-6 Sunday.  I'd rather walk to KCS than SAL!  If you aren't familiar with KCS the best I can describe it is it looks like a cross between Food 4 Less and Save-A-Lot or Aldi's the way the store is set up.

Knotty Yarn

What a beautiful end to a busy day!  My pictures never look as good as the real thing.  Thus sunset was absolutely stunning!  It's rare that I even get to see them.  When I do and they are as pretty or prettier than this it makes them even more enjoyable.

After even more busy after the sunset (post coming soon on that) I sat down in my rocking chair, listened to KNVBC Radio online and took care of some knotty skeins of yarn.  I like balls better then skeins.  I don't mind sitting and rolling them and dealing with the knots most of the time.  Only when the knots are impossible, which isn't very often, do I not like it.  Do you like balls or skeins of yarn?

Thanks for stopping by!

Plarn

Sounds like a naughty word doesn't it?  LOL!  It's not a new concept to me but yet it is.  Plarn is plastic bag yarn.  One of the ladies in my crochet group has challenged us to make a sleeping mat for the homeless.  She has a mission or something like that that makes them and delivers them.  I'm not making a mat right now but I am making plarn!

I haven't counted how many bags I have cut up but I can say it's been 1 regular sized plastic grocery bag stuffed as full as I could get it without them falling out.  It took me most of the evening, with interruptions, to get 2 good sized balls.  They weighed about 2 1/4 ounces each.  That was quite a bit of work for those balls.  It's estimated to make a sleeping mat from the pattern the lady shared you need 500 to 700 grocery bags.

 Today I decided to re-roll my balls of plarn.  That way I can choose to have red/blue or orange/green.  I mostly have the red/blue because it's the grocery I shop at most.  The orange/green will probably just be with what I currently have because that grocery store was bought out the beginning of this year and is changing names and everything.  I'm guessing from seeing their logo that the bags will have red print on them.

Then there is also brown colored bags that we get when we shop at Dillons.  Family Dollar has yellow bags.  Neither of those stores I shop at very often though.  So my stash will probably just be red/blue.

I do have a brown, but's it a much heavier plastic bag.  It comes from our hot dog bun packages.  Right now I just have 3 bags, but there will be more.......

Thanks for stopping by!  Don't forget to leave a comment.

I Found More Yarn!

I know it's exciting isn't it?  I had started a new slouchy had using this Head Hugger pattern for my guide, but going off on my own with the size.  I discovered I didn't have anywhere near enough yarn for what I was trying to accomplish so I frogged it and made the rainbow scrunchies I posted about the other day.  I thought I had more of that yarn but I could't find it anywhere.  I can't remember now what I was looking for but I was like "hey check this out!"  It was stashed in a bag with a project (and wasn't being used) instead of in the yarn tote.  I'm glad I found it because I used it all up and most of what was left from the smaller ball I had.  I went ahead and made that slouchy hat....

Im calling it a "dread hat".  That was the intention for it.  I have had several comments on the hats I do have for sale that the "bag" needed to be bigger to accommodate big hair and dreads.  This "bag" can be worn tied closed or open on the bottom.  I think it turned out pretty cool.  I sure don't have enough hair to even begin claiming it for myself.  I would like to make more but they sure use a lot of yarn!

SO I weighed the project and it appears it used about 5 1/2 ounces of yarn.  I used the Redheart Mexicana yarn.  I love that yarn and always have!

Off to work on another project!  See ya tomorrow I hope.  Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to leave me a comment :-)

HHM

As I look outside my window:::
The ground was wet when I got up but it wasn't raining. I didn't hear any rain or thunder so it must have been a misty drizzle. The rest of the week looks good though.

 
Right now I am::: 
Sitting here typing this on the new iPad we got for the square pos system at the castle.  I'm trying to run the battery down. It's always plugged in and I know it's not good for the battery. Anyway besides that and taking care of customers I have a cuppa earl gray tea brewing 

Something funny from this past week:::
We've had a few nice days this past weekend which allowed me to open the window upstairs.  Fuzzy was super excited!  She sat in it for as long as I could see her when I walked back across the street anyway.

Currently Reading:::
"The Bridesmaid" by Beverly Lewis I finally renewed my Kansas Library Card and dan download e-books again from the "cloud library"  Almost finished with this one.  Over half way now :-)

On my to do list today:::

I've already gotten the incense soaking that I'm out of and there is no mail today so I don't need to pay bills.  Not sure if we will be going out of town tonight so I'm not really sure what we are going to do. I need to work on and finish up our tax stuff to get to our accountant. I have a slouchy hat to work on and there is always cleaning that can be done.

Today's Lunch:::

Most likely bologna sandwiches and chips

Preparing for Warm weather:::
It has still been warm/cold/warm/cold. More warm than cold now it looks like.  At least from the extended forecast.  Still just getting ideas on how to better prepare for summer this year.  How to stay cool is the main thought.



What I am crocheting:::

Still working on this slouchy.  I have started on the second ball of yarn for it.
From the camera:::

Something I Recently Made:::

I don't have a picture for you, but hubby made some amazing jalapeno cheddar bread this past week.  It was pretty amazing!

Praise/Prayer List:::
PRAISE, both hubby and I seem to be on the mend.  Hardly any coughing or congestion now.

Prayer My grandpa, he is 97 and still hanging in there.

Prayer My niece....still in foster care but in constant contact with family.

I'm joining Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom for HHM.  Go visit her and the rest of those who have joined in. 

Thank you for stopping by and visiting.

I Found Another Favorite

SO I was digging through stuff to get one of my ZOTE laundry bars to make more laundry soap the other day and I came across this Taste of Home cookbook from 1998.  I'd forgotten about it.  I've been enjoying looking through it and reading my notes on recipes.  I have found a few new recipes I want to try that I haven't made before.

Homemade Laundry

I have been doing laundry by hand for almost 2 months now.  Why? Well Our local laundromat has a lot of broken down machines and the owners, being older, aren't wanting to put a lot of money into fixing things, or so I have been told.  It makes it hard to get a machine sometimes, especially when someone else is there and washing a month's worth for a family.  I just asked nicely on a local facebook group how the community could help spruce up the place.  It turned into a bashing session of different people saying things about me and on and on.  Well one guy said "why not get a washboard and go down to the river".  So I took his advice, sorta.  I DO have a wonderwasher that I love love love, so technically not washing everything by hand.

2 T-shirts is a load and it struggles with washing a pair of jeans.  Therefore there are a few things I DO have to wash by hand.  You cant believe how dirty the clean clothes were!  I spent nearly 2 weeks rewashing them and washing real dirty clothes to get them clean.  They smelled awful too.  They didn't smell clean.  It didn't matter how much laundry soap I put in the washer.   For the most part I used Zote laundry soap when I started washing by hand.  That stuff is AMAZING!  I used a lot of [off brand] oxy cleaner too.  Some items I had to wash multiple times to get them clean.

Now a month and a half later, doing laundry is a bit easier.  So far I have been able to keep up with it.  I just do a little each night as there is drying room available.  Smaller non bulky items I wring out by hand.  What do I use to wring out the bugger things?  The wringer on our mop bucket.  It does a pretty good job.  Some day I want a spin dryer.  Something similar to THIS ONE.  It would make getting the water out of the clothes much easier and drying time much quicker.

Now for the laundry soap?  Well I still have store bought liquid that I use occasionally.  It only takes at the most half a teaspoon for a load.  I have noticed though, which I find odd, is sometimes it makes our clothes smell like smoke.  We are non smokers and we aren't around any fireplaces, etc.  What I DO like to use though, like I mentioned above, is Zote laundry bar soap.  I bought several bars a few years back because I was wanting to make homemade laundry soap, but never did.  I also got them for $1 each!  SO what I have been doing is shaving a bar of the laundry soap and adding 2 scoops of the [off brand] oxy cleaner to it.  It's Amazing and takes about 1/2 teaspoon per load.  With all the extra washing I did on the first bar, it has lasted a month and a half.  I'm expecting this batch to last a bit longer.  But still it cost me so little to make, it's not that big of a deal.  LOL!

I know there is more I could put in there, if I followed the recipes found on the web, but why?  I have soap and the oxy cleaner stuff.  Together they do the job and it satisfies me and hubby.  Also if there is a smell that you can describe as "clean" it's our hand washed clothes.  I don't need any artificial smell ingredients added to my laundry, it would just add to the cost too.  :-)

Project Finished and a Yarn Bowl

SO here's the finished black cotton slouchy hat.  It turned out a little bigger than I would have liked.  It's because I increased one more row and didn't decrease 2 rows.  I hope the person who requested it is happy with it.

Probably not what you expect as a yarn bowl.  It's really a planter.  I got it for Christmas from my sister.  I think it's perfect!  Kitty cats and yarn.  It holds the random balls of yarn and prevents them from rolling off the table and around on the floor.

Rainbow Scruchies

My hair is so fine and thin that I have problems with any hair ties, even barrettes don't like to cooperate.  Today I hooked up a couple of rainbow scrunchies.  I like the bottom one the best.  They definitely stay in my hair better than just the plain old hair tie.

Weighing Yarn

SO I asked my fellow yarnies if you could weigh a project and find out how much yarn you used.  In theory it should work but no one had a definite answer for me and I couldn't find an answer in the internet.  I had this bright idea to see if my theory worked.  Of course it has to be all the same kind of yarn, and I'm guessing if it's old (like you weigh an old project to determine amount) the weight may be a little different.   That I will have to wonder about for a while unless someone has an answer for me. ;-)

SO I was using sugar & cream black cotton yarn.  It was a 4 oz skein.

 Here is the WIP weight, since it was an after thought.  It weighs 4 ounces

Here is the finished project weight

The left over yarn weight

and both together again. Finished project and leftover yarn.

So in this case, this project worked out just perfect.

I have weighed yarn for a friend.  She got some of those pretty caron cakes and one looked way bigger than the other.  Both were the same brand/color/dyelot.   One did way a smidge more, like 1/4 an ounce or so, but we decided the reason one looked so huge is one was wound tighter than the other.

Thanks for stopping by!

HHM 2/13/17

As I look outside my window:::
The sun is shining.   That's a plus.  It's only to get up to 57 today, and rain tonight.  57 is still a little on the chilly side for me.  70-80 is much preferred.
 
Right now I am::: 
Happy!  I was looking for a crochet pattern that I shared with friends and actually created, but never printed off the pattern.  After about a 2 hours search I finally found it.  I'm printing it off this time because I would like to make a few more.

Something funny from this past week:::
gosh, I can't remember anything.  I know something had to be funny.  I must need to find some mental brain exercises and do them.

Currently Reading:::
"The Bridesmaid" by Beverly Lewis I finally renewed my Kansas Library Card and dan download e-books again from the "cloud library"

On my to do list today:::
I need to print off a few things later, Clean the cat box, and well I found the pattern I was looking for, and hopefully go out of town.  I have a slouchy hat finished that I just need to sew in the tails, for an order, and I am currently working on another ordered slouchy.

Today's Lunch:::

We ate McDonalds:-/ I know, I know.....I had fries and a quarter pounder with a cuppa hot vanilla caramel tea.

Preparing for Warm weather:::
It has been warm/cold/warm/cold. It still can't seem to make up its mind. We seem to be having more warm days than cooler days though and the nights haven't been as cold.  BUT With it getting warmer it means it's nearing open window season.  We can't afford new windows, and our windows are old, old, old. It's the original widows and the building was build in 1920.  You can imagine what the wood is like.  I had an idea to replace the top windows (where most of the trouble is at) with painted thin wood, something like paneling, and framing up like we did the one we fixed last fall with boards holding the window up but still allowing the bottom window to open. This would also allow homemade screens to be set in the windows.  Hubby liked my idea so we shall see how it goes.  It would make it look nicer and would help keep heat/cold out.  Sorry if it's hard to understand.  If we do it I will share pictures.


What I am crocheting:::

I'm working on another slouchy hat for an order.   I'm thinking I want to make the new pattern instead of this one.  The customer hasn't prepaid, and just wanted a slouchy with a bigger "bag" for their dreads.  The other pattern might be cooler looking.  We shall see.


From the camera:::

Something I Recently Made:::

So I had some strawberries I wanted to use and it just seemed like a waste to just eat them.  I found this Cobbler recipe on Pinterest and thought Why Not?  Hubby and I ate almost the whole thing.  There is 1 serving each left.

Praise/Prayer List:::
PRAISE, my boys and a friend of theirs made a weekend trip to Pennsylvania for a Magic the Gathering Grand Prix event.  They arrived and returned safely.

PRAISE  My sister has a job!  She was jobless for several weeks.

Prayer that hubby and  can get well.  We both have a little of the cruddy stuff that's going around.

Prayer My grandpa, he is 97 and still hanging in there.

Prayer My niece....still in foster care but in constant contact with family.

I'm joining Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom for HHM.  Go visit her and the rest of those who have joined in.

Thank you for stopping by and visiting.

A Little Tapestry Crochet

Our Friday Night Magic group is having a free tournament the last Friday of this month. They need a prize.  I told hubby I would come up with something.  I decided to make a plains mana symbol dice bag.  I haven't done a lot of tapestry crochet, but this one is the best one I have made.  There a re a few boo-boo's but I'm not going to tell you where.  ;-)

Finished minus the drawstrings and weaving in the ends.  It's approximately 6" tall and about 4" wide.  Just guessing I didn't actually measure it.

Here it is all finished.  Whew!  I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out.  I plan to tackle another one in a few months for another tournament prize.

Library Visit

Like the library is literally 2 blocks away.  Why have I not used it more?  It's because I'm usually too busy and their hours and my hours just don't coincide very well.  I have been trying to get out on slow days and visit though.  I haven't been to the library, in way too many years!  I have discovered that they have a rather large selection of DVD's to borrow.  That's what I have been getting.  Most of them aren't something we all would watch as a family, but there are a few.  I have also just now renewed my state library card which allows me to "check out" e-books.  It expired back in November.  Probably explains why access has been denied here lately.   Something I need to check is the magazines to see which ones the library subscribes to now.  I'm sure it has changed since I made regular visits in the past.

One last thing.....hurry and get it before the end of the Day today, Friday, February 3, 2017. Living on a Dime has their Valentines e-book for FREE!

Things to Accomplish in 2017

I know I'm running late, but you know how it is.  Better late then never, right?

There are 4 things we (hubby and I) want to accomplish in 2017.  Actually more than that, but these 4 main things are important to help achieve the rest.

1.  Put in savings at least 5% of what we pay ourselves to go towards a vacation this fall.

2.  Put at least $20 additional each month towards the building loan payment

3.  Pay off one credit card

4.  Really get away and take a vacation longer than a day here and a day there and coming home each night.

4 Things I personally want to accomplish in 2017

1.  Read a devotion once a day.

2.  Actually get back into the habit of reading/listening the Bible every day.

3.  Complete at least 1 maybe 2 projects in my crochet "time out box" (unfinished projects)

4.  Actually finish one maybe 2 crochet blankets to give to one of my family members for Christmas.  I currently have 2 started (and 1 in the time out box from 26 years ago).

Here are 3 things I NEED to accomplish in February

1.  First and most important finish putting receipts in quickbooks and get everything delivered to our accountant.

2. Finish a crochet dice bag for an MTG tournament prize for the last friday of the month. 

3. I have 2 slouchy hat requests.  I didn't take any money up front for them and I gave no guarantee on when I would have them finished.  

So Far how are We doing for 2017?

1.  We have about $60 in savings towards a vacation

2.  We have put $45 extra towards the loan

How am I doing for 2017?

1.  I have managed to read/stay caught up with a daily devotion, since January 6th, Using the "You Version" app on my phone.  Baby steps, right?

How am I doing for February 2017:

1.  I'm working on a little at a time on getting those receipts taken care of.  I'm Making progress.

2.  Soon as the dice bag is finished (it's about half way finished), since I need it by the end of the month, I will start on the slouchy hats.  I purchased the yarn earlier this week, and I figure I will just make them and put them out for sale.  If the right people come in then I'm good, if someone else buys them I'm still good an can make more.

As I accomplish things I may add new things I want to accomplish.  I know there are more, but the additional accomplishments depend on these before I can continue.

Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to leave a comment.

Tunisian Picture Washcloth ~~ Peace Sign

I'm pretty excited about this!  Normally you only see this as a knit project (I'm not a knitter), but I have figured our how to create this with tunisian crochet.  I haven't figured out how to "read" a knit pattern and transpose it to crochet, but if I have a graph I can make them.