{this moment}

Crafting on a Budget

With the cost of everything going up—groceries, gas, electricity, I mean everything—and salaries staying relatively the same, we’ve been looking for ways to tighten our proverbial belts lately.  The good news is not having a lot of money to spend on crafting supplies doesn’t mean you can’t afford to craft—that is, if you know how to craft on a budget.  This topic has been on my mind a lot lately as I scrimp and pinch in some areas (I can be a cheap-ass) in order to spend (or splurge) in others.  Here are some of the common-sense strategies I use to keep crafting affordable yet still creative and fun.

Find money in your pocket? Stick it in a jar. This strategy really works, even if you’re only saving in five-cent increments. The best is when you find a ten-dollar bill in your pocket—don’t put it back in your wallet for convenience store crap or over-priced half and half, stick it in your jar.  The same goes for coins you get back as change—take them from your purse or pocket and deposit them right into your jar when you get home.  Treat it like found money and spend it guilt-free.  Make a deal with yourself that you’ll only spend the money on crafting supplies when it reaches a certain limit; mine is $50.

Do you know why my limit is $50?  It’s because that’s how much you have to spend at knitpicks.com in order to get free shipping.  Why spend money on shipping and handling fees when you can spend that money on yarn instead?

I almost always buy my yarn from Knit Picks’ catalog/website. That’s right.  I don’t need super-expensive yarn in decadent fibers and colorways in order to enjoy my craft.  I knit to knit, moreso than to obtain a finished object (after all, one can just go to the store and buy a hat, right?).  I’ve been buying yarn from Knit Picks for so long and from so early on in my knitting career that I actually haven’t experienced many of those expensive yarns, so I really don’t know what I’m missing (I think not much, but who knows).  I like the fibers, colors and feel of Knit Picks’ yarn, and they keep coming out with new and interesting yarn and colorways.  They’ve come a long way since I found them in 2005, and until they do me wrong, I’m going to stay a loyal customer.  The prices are right!

Find change lying around the house?  Put it in the aforementioned jar.  The change I find lying around usually belongs to my husband, and I started confiscating it years ago when it really annoyed me that he leaves his stuff laying around (it’s more than just a few coins).  I was surprised when he started noticing the disappearance of his spare change, and it eventually motivated him to pick it up and put it in his own jar.  (Damn!)  But he isn’t always so neat, and after a few days on the dining room table or baker’s rack, that change is mine.  I don’t think I would take Nathan’s money it if was lying around, but he’s not old enough to have his own pocket change yet.  And when he is, I hope he’ll save it up in his own jar, just like his mama.

Make a list of your crafting supplies and let the list grow before you go shopping.  It’s hard to stick to a budget when you buy your crafting supplies one at a time, but when you make fewer trips with longer lists the costs are easier to keep track of.  Also, when you have a long list, you’re less likely to buy things you really don’t need.  P.S.: Don’t forget to bring the list with you to the store.  I, um, sometimes forget, which defeats the whole purpose.

Have a plan.  If you’re in the craft store and you want to buy something that’s not on your list, be sure you come up with a plan for it and can really use it.  It would be silly for me to say not buy something that’s not on your list in a craft store (although that’s my general policy for staying on-budget in non-craft stores)—it’s one of the best places to get lightening bolt ideas and formulate awesomely creative plans in the blink of an eye.  So when you do come across something great that you didn’t expect to buy, be sure you have a plan for it before you leave the store, even if it means buying one or two more things for the project before you leave.

Get reacquainted with your stash.  Go through your stash of crafting supplies every few months to remember what you have.  You’ll be surprised about how many items you’ve forgotten about; I did a recent sweep of just my yarn alone and found lots of yarn—and nearly finished projects!—that I had forgotten all about.  It’s astounding, really.   Maybe you’ll get some new ideas to use up the supplies you have and postpone a trip to the craft shop.

Be resourceful.  Save crafty or otherwise useful items you think you’ll be able to use in a craft, but do so sparingly.  Before I throw something away, I ask myself, Can I really use this?  Often times the answer is no, but sometimes I get a yes.  I don’t want to become a hoarder, so if I can’t immediately think of a possible use for an item and it’s not particularly special, I chuck it.  The special ones, like my Huckleberry tea tin from our honeymoon in Yellowstone, are worth saving even without a plan.  I saved a faux leather box from my husband’s wallet to make this awesome photo box for his Father’s Day gift. 

That’s all I have for now.  If I think of any other ways to craft on a budget, I’ll write another post—maybe it’ll become a series!

Yarn Along

I missed my chance today to take a decent photo in daylight.  My apologies for the bad lighting and wrinkly couch cover backdrop!

I cast off my first of the June socks last night and picked up my market bag again today and started sewing down the picot edges.  I hadn’t touched it since before last week’s yarn along!

I’m back in the pattern-making groove because 1) I know I won’t finish my June socks in time and 2) I’m exited that Knit Picks accepted my Birds in Flight Socks pattern.  (Yay!)  Thanks, everyone, for your good luck wishes and for keeping your fingers crossed (and in one case, eyes!) for me.  The positive vibes definitely helped.  : )

The pattern is being test knitted as we speak (thanks, Ellie!) and I’ll knit up a sample to send them soon.  Hopefully the pattern will be for sale on Knit Picks’ website within a month or two.  I think the business of creating and selling original patterns will interrupt my self-imposed sock-of-the-month club, but I guess I’ll have to okay with that for now.  I was already thinking that gardening was taking up some of my valuable knitting time, so this is just one more thing to do in my free time.  And that’s okay.  For now.

Next I’ll submit my market bag pattern to Knit Picks, but not before publishing it here and on Ravelry.

I’m almost finished reading Knitting Without Tears (practically cover to cover!), without casting on a single new project—although I was very tempted.  I’m getting lots of great ideas from this book, and I still can’t believe I’m reading a knitting book recreationally.  It is so good.  Elizabeth’s tips and methods are so smart and I just hope I can remember them all when the time comes to use them.  There were places in the book where I really wanted to use a highlighter, but I don’t want to mark up a book I love so much.  I guess I’ll just have to read it again and again!

Pottery Before and After

I got my final pieces back from the kiln, and although they were a little over-fired, I’m happy with how they came out.  Especially the toad house.  Wanna see?

I made the toad house shaped like a toad (duh), and decorated him with a garden scene—grass, a toadstool and a cloud in a turquoise sky.  The inside was painted with a glaze that has crystals in it.

I haven’t had the chance to place the toad house in my garden yet, but I’ll put it in a shady place with a saucer of water nearby and a wet rag inside to keep it cool and moist.

I love the surprise involved when a piece back from the kiln—this is the only form of art I’ve done where you can’t watch the final product develop as you work.  The glaze colors are usually nothing like the final color after firing.  You think you know how it’ll come out, but it’s always exciting to see a fired piece for the first time.

I forgot to take a picture of the toad house right before it went into the kiln, but an even better before-and-after example is my flower vase.  I pressed a flower print into the clay and glazed it so only the indentations (stems, leaves and flower outlines) kept the green color.  Flowers were then painted blue, and then I glazed over the whole thing in clear (which goes on a pale, minty green).

Before:
 

And……

wait for it……

after!

Cool, right?!

Living in the Country

There are times when I get frustrated and slip and start dwelling on the downsides of living in the country.  It seems to happen more and more often as the inconveniences pile up and I let the disruptive business of being a caretaker’s wife get to me.

It only took a walk on the farm this weekend to remind me what we have here and the reasons we wanted to move to the country all those years ago.

Lots of open spaces.

Remnants of what this old farm used to be.

Wildlife everywhere I look.
 

Peaceful streams and lakes.

Milkweed in the wild areas and the butterflies it attracts.

Shaded paths less taken.
 

A boy with a sweet face who I hope will love nature just as much as I do.

Fun in unexpected places.

Wild flowers and bright blue eyes.

Have a lovely week!

June Socks Update

Last night I documented my progress on my June socks (they're awesome!) and what I think of the pattern so far on my knitting blog.  Just in case you're interested!

{this moment} Sun Worship

The Green in June

So often I’m inspired by nature—for crafts, cooking, knitting (believe it or not), baking, activities, decorating, the colors of my blog—you name it.  It’s no wonder I love living seasonally—each season brings so much to look forward to, and when you get bored with the status quo, the season is most likely just about to change.  What variety!  Come to think of it, the changing of the seasons is probably the only form of change I embrace.

In summer, I love how I’m surrounded by the most awesome shades of green on this old dairy farm.  Green is my favorite color and right now it’s everywhere I look.  (Hopefully we won’t have a drought this summer and it’ll stay that way.)  Green grass, green fruit trees, green farmer’s fields, green Indian Cigar Trees, green wild raspberry bushes, green wild and weedy areas, green kitchen garden, green, green, green.

Here’s a glimpse of some of the green in June on this old farm.

Oops, how'd that get in there?

Yarn Along

Today I’m joining Ginny’s Yarn Along on Small Things.

I finally cast on my June socks last night—with just 10 days left in the month!  Gah!!  It’s doubtful I’ll finish them in time, but maybe I’ll come in close.  With so few days left in June, I decided to bag my own design inspired by my Indian Cigar Tree in summer and knit a pattern with leaves on it that would work with my yarn.  The pattern is Midsummer Night’s Dream, and the yarn is Knit Picks’ Stroll Tonal in colorway Canopy.

Let me tell you about the colors in this yarn. 

Overall, I’d say it’s emerald green, which is my favorite shade of green, but each of the seven tones in the ball is beautiful and striking on its own.  As my husband helped me wind the hank into a ball (he begrudgingly serves as a really good—and free—swift), I was transfixed by each color as it passed me on its way to the ball winder, shiny-pebble style.  WOW.  I could not wait to cast on.  I took these photos out on the front porch in hopes of accurately showing this yarn’s true colors.  The photo came close, but they're much better in person.

My market bag is coming along well, too, and I’m almost done designing and, by default, knitting it.  I came up with an interesting and useful way to make the handle so it’s not made of too-stretchy garter stitch but doesn’t have any roll to it—stay tuned!  I hope to release the pattern within the next week or so.

The bit I’m most excited about is today I submitted my Birds in Flight sock pattern to Knit Picks’ Independent Designer Partnership program.  If they accept my pattern, Knit Picks will sell it on their website and possibly in their catalog.  I have no clue how many catalogs they print for each run, but my pattern it would get in front of a lot of knitters’ eyes.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

I’m still reading EZ’s Knitting Without Tears, and I find myself reading it whenever I get a minute here or there, so I’m making better-than-usual progress.  I’m chuckling over some of her word choices—some of them completely unfamiliar to me—and I’m still savoring the experience.  I’m already dreaming up what Nathan’s winter sweater will be like—even though I haven’t even cast on his fall sweater yet.  It’ll definitely be a seamless raglan.  Now to figure out the colors and the details.  Intarsia?  Fair isle?  Cables?  This is the most fun part.

Good knitting,

Kelly

Just a Mom

I’m still in a decompressed state from the weekend (that’s a good thing), and I’m so glad I get to stay this way all week because I’m on vacation from work!  That’s 10 blessed days without worrying or thinking about work.

Now don’t get me wrong—I love my job and I love being a freelance writer.  Other than becoming a mom, it was what I dreamed of, my all-time goal, when I found out such careers existed back when I was an intern.  And I love my client.  Literally.  I actually, really love her.  Outside of work, we’re great friends, and when we’re on the clock, we make “the most awesome team ever”—her words—and I agree.

The best part of being a freelancer is that I get to work from home and can be available in a heartbeat unless I’m on a conference call.  It was especially convenient while Nathan was nursing—our babysitter would just knock on my office door and tell me he’s hungry!

But even though I have the best possible scenario for work, nothing beats the rhythm of my days at home with Nathan.  (I work three five-hour days a week, so I have four days a week where I just get to be a mom.)  Our days together have such a great rhythm and flow, with some parts of our day flexible and changing and other parts regularly scheduled, more or less, like lunchtime and naptime.  It’s a luxury for us (me) to do whatever we (I) want during our downtime.  These days are more relaxed and pleasant, run more smoothly (for me, anyway) and are clearly more fun for me.  : )

I think the days are about the same for Nathan—that’s the biggest benefit of having a babysitter come to our house.  I don’t have to wake him up early in the morning, he gets his meals at the right times and in his own high chair, he gets to nap in his own crib and he gets to stay in the familiarity of his own home.  These are major bonuses, plus I can be on the scene in seconds if anything crazy were to happen and I can sneak kisses from Nathan just by opening my office door.  It really is great.

For me, my rhythm is totally off on the days I work as I try to cram everything in before the babysitter gets here.  I find myself running around, trying to straighten up and clean the kitchen from breakfast…tossing laundry in the washing machine because it’s the only time I can do it…calculating how much time I have left and what else I can get done…and then, of course, I want to spend time with Nathan before I have to close my office door.  By the time I’m done working for the day, he’s already up from his afternoon nap and I’m on Nathan duty—and all I want to do is spend time with him doing something fun (and not catching up on chores).

For these 10 days I’m going to savor every extra minute with my beautiful, smart, sweet little boy.  I’m enjoying not having every minute of my day scheduled around my work and chores, and instead, my day is centered around my son and the fun we can have together.  We’ve already picked strawberries, waded in the baby pool and visited the zoo with some friends—a lot of fun for this strawberry- and animal-loving water baby. 

Leaning forward to see an animal at the zoo.

Our boys in front of the bison pen at the zoo.

This week I can do laundry whenever I please, take Nathan somewhere fun whenever the mood strikes me, spend a lot of time outdoors together, do a little gardening and rest a bit while he naps—something I don’t get to do on the days I work.  I’m so happy that I can be just a mom.  You know, just.

A Photo Box Gift for Father’s Day

My husband is a hard person to buy for.  He doesn’t really need anything and doesn’t ever want anything—except for underwear, plain white t-shirts and thick socks.  (Who is this guy?)  And since it’s too hot to wear heavy, hand-knitted socks, I always resort to photo gifts for Father’s Day.

When I saved the faux leather box from T.J.’s wallet (Nathan’s Christmas gift to Dada), I didn’t know what I’d use it for, but I knew it would be something good.  And I was right!

  

I made this awesome photo box in one short night in my craft room while Nathan slept and T.J. played computer games. 

It’s essentially a paper accordion with photos of Nathan and T.J. glued to each panel, folded up into the faux leather box. 

I made the paper strips for the accordion out of scrapbooking paper cut slightly smaller than the box and folded them over themselves lengthwise back and forth to create the accordion. 

 

I then glued a new strip to the old strip until I had enough folds to fill the box.  (Note:  When checking for strip length, take into account that you’ll have photos glued to each panel, taking up more space in the box.  I chose to only glue photos to the “right” side of the accordion, but you could also glue photos to the “wrong” side if using double-sided paper.)

I measured and cut my photos so they’re all the same size and the patterned borders around them are even.  A little measuring and a good deal of eyeballing and glueing later, I had 21 photos glued to my accordion. 

I then glued the first panel of the accordion to the inside of the faux leather wallet box and cut out a thin piece of corrugated cardboard to serve as the cover.  The cover should be the same size as the exterior dimensions of the box.  The cardboard was salvaged from a box one of Nathan’s toys came in (I save all kinds of useful stuff like that), so I covered both sides with scrapbooking paper to make it look nicer, glued a family photo to the outside and glued the accordion to the inside.

I hot glued a piece of yarn to the back of the box and tied it in a bow around the front to keep the photo box closed when it’s not being used.

T.J. had barely taken a sip of his morning coffee when Nathan and I bombarded him with Happy Father’s Day wishes and he had to “read” the photo box to Nathan as if it was a book. 

It was a cute moment, and for us, this little photo box holds recent memories that we’ll be able to recall any time we pick it up.  It lives on our TV cabinet for now, and I hope it stays there for a very long time.