December=cold

It has been a lazy weekend for me as the kids are spending time with their dad. I tend to enjoy the time to myself but find I don't get much accomplished except tv time! I spent a huge chunk of yesterday watching all of the episodes of "Being Human" on the BBC. For any of you vamp or werewolf fans it is a great series if you give it a chance. Here is a link to it While on the supernatural kick I found this on the Vickie Howell blog. The super cute wrist warmers that Alice had on in New Moon. Of course I have to try them being a huge fan! I have seen the movie twice so far and can't wait until the dvd comes out! Here is a link to the pattern I think I will take some time out of my tv watching to start some. I am having some trouble posting links and photos throughout my blog so I will need to learn more about it. As for now you get the idea and I need to get busy with the laundry!

Where did October go? Hello November!

Time has flown by so fast it seems I can't keep up with it all! We did happen to get a visit from a little deer, that is always a nice surprise. This one was right out the back windows. I tried to get a picture the best I could through it so it is not as clear as it should be. On mornings like those I wish I could stay home, knit and stare out the windows, all the time! In reality, between work, my boys, my family and my guy there doesn't seem to be much "me"time left. I have been feeling the stress lately so it is time to get rid of it! So, for this month I am going to make sure I spend more time on me and the things I love to do! Which brings me to the sweater I am going to make. I have been admiring the beautiful bulky wool sweaters that Jen makes and I finally have the yarn ready to go. This will be my first knitted sweater and I am hoping it is as easy as everyone says. I have spun up a bunch of lt green and brown wool which came out gorgeous! I have also been asked to make a shawl and matching mittens which I will be spinning up and getting busy with once the roving arrives. November will be a super busy month for me also, with work, Thanksgiving, getting gifts ready and I am planning a card making party with my friend Alicia. We are going to get our Cricuts together and get creative! Wish me luck on my November venture, oh I forgot to mention I also have to get outside with my camera and take some shots of the beautiful fall leaves, one more thing on my to do list :)

Washing the fleece and falling in love with fall!

Yea, it feels like fall is finally here! I have been waiting for the leaves to start changing colors and I am just now starting to see them on the way into work. I need to bring my camera so I can get some photos to share. The colors are absolutely beautiful shades of brown, reds, and yellows, I just love it! It reminds me of when I worked in the flower shop and how are designs changed for the season. I use to not like the colors, and I couldn't wait to get the Christmas arrangements out but now I can't see how that ever was! I guess it comes with age, not many little kids choose brown as their favorite color either! I think that with most people the eye is attracted to brighter colors in general. Not me, bring on the dark ones as I love black,blue, brown, cranberry you get the picture. On the other hand, I still have the Jacob fleece and decided that last week I would try to wash it, so I scoured the internet for some help. It seemed pretty basic, but I didn't realize how grossed out by the process I would be! It simply involves soaking the wool in a mesh bag in very hot water with soap and then putting it in a rinse bath. I must have went through three cycles and then finally added some lavender essential oil to it as well. I didn't pick through it too much before soaking it as I was taking it out of the box my stomach just started to get weak. It wasn't so much the smell as the texture of it! I felt like I had a box of matted nasty hair with vegetable matter and such. When I placed it in the bath the water went from clear to muck instantly! I managed to get through it, and I will be better prepared for next time (I only washed half of it) but I truly think I will be sending off any other fleeces I get to a processing company! Don't get me wrong I love the fleece, I just now have a much better understanding of what it takes to get it in spinning form. I think it is always a good idea to learn about every aspect of how things are made simply for experience. This is something I have definitely crossed over to my professional life. For example when I thought I wanted to be a nurse I started with the CNA classes first as that can definitely give you some patient care experience! I ended up being a Respiratory Therapist specializing in sleep medicine instead and even now I have been trialing a new autopap by Respironics for sleep apnea treatment. No, I do not have OSA, I just like to try the masks that are available and the new equipment. By the way, if you have OSA and have had a difficult time in the past with compliance you should look for this machine, it is wonderful and extremely comfortable! Message me if you need more information. So onto another subject, I spend the day searching for crochet mitten patterns and came up with this one. It turned out a little bigger than I thought so I will modify the pattern for a better fit. I can see myself making plenty of these for gifts! Happy Crafting!
Carla

My first fiber festival!

I was lucky enough to attend the Oregon Flock & Fiber Festival in Canby over the weekend with Jen. We had a great time looking at all the fabulous yarns, colors, and animals! We even bought a few fleeces at the parking lot sale. They will need to be sent off for cleaning and carding but I can't wait to see how it turns out. In the meantime I have been spinning like mad. I have finished up all seven bobbins full of some green and brown merino for the first sweater that I am going to knit, and I have been busy dyeing with kool aid and spinning everything I can get my hands on! I am really loving my new hobby :)

We survived!

The boys got through the first week of school perfectly! They are glad to be back, well Kel is anyways! Quinn has the tendency to think there are other things he'd rather be doing, and Connor agrees with him! This weekend it is suppose to be very warm up in the 90's so the kids will get in one more weekend of swimming and I will drain it on Sunday. Oh, and lets not forget the season finale of True Blood Sunday night. Woo Hoo! Anyways, it is nice to be back on a schedule :) As for crafting I would like to spend some time on my Cricut. One of my closest friends has purchased one and I loaned her a few cartridges,she is really enjoying it too! I know I will doing something with fiber too. I picked up some roving and blended some batts for a sweater for me. I am going to attempt to knit one so I will keep you up to date! I thought crochet would be easier but Jen swears that knitting it will be easier. We'll see! Oh and I listed a few of my crafts on ebay too, you can find them here Ebay

Back to School!

The boys are officially back to school as of today! It went wonderful without a hitch! Tomorrow my "high schooler" starts his junior year, I don't know where the time has gone! I have to admit I have three great kids! I love my boys dearly and couldn't have asked for more :) So, in between getting ready for school and working I have been spinning and dyeing plus I got to use a friends drum carder and blended my own first batt. I loved it, I can definetely see one in my future if I win the lottery! The following photos are the batt, and the roving I dyed. I spun up the purple and white one it is on the bobbin. I used Grape Kool aide and it smelled good too! Tomorrow I am heading over to a friends house to check out some new fiber she got in and either order some more or pick some up, probably both :) She has been a great help to me and I am grateful, so Jen if your reading this, "Thanks" and I am gonna owe you! I can help you with your sewing machine. I am not a seamstress but I can get you started with the basics. I love mine although I haven't used it in a year or so. The last project was the boys curtains for our new place. I have also posted a photo of the boys on their first day. We were so excited I forgot to take the "before" picture so here is the "after". Happy Fall!

Spinning!

I've been spinning almost everyday this week. I can't believe how much I am really starting to like it. I have spun merino, llama and bamboo and tried angora, that was tough! I plied two different skeins and am pleased with the end result. I tried my hand at some dyeing this afternoon and can see that it is going to take some practice, but allows a bunch of creativity :) I am so excited about this craft and can't wait to learn so much more! There is the Flock and Fiber Festival in Canby, OR which is coming up in three or so weeks and I can't wait Oh, I am also posting a photo of the bag I crocheted a while back. I still need to sew in a liner for it, but I love it and can't wait to start using it. That's all for now,time to get ready for the work week.

Spinning and gardening

My gardening is coming along alot slower than my spinning adventure. After living on the mountain for so many years I put in my first vegetable garden in May. It is coming along very slow, but steady? Seriously, my zuchini plant only produced one and that was a few weeks ago! Strange, must be the altitude or something. I was able to pick some grape tomatoes which turned out huge but not much else is ready. The herbs are doing great, I cut a bunch of oregono and having it drying in my kitchen. I am not sure if I will do it again next year, I'll just have to think about it.

On the other hand I am having a blast spinning with my Ashford! I am getting better and better I just have to keep my eye on the twist and not let it get too tight. I have not tried plying yet but I think I will give it a go this weekend. I watched a video on youtube the other day of a girl spinning a fancy yarn and she was adding in bits of material, lace, ribbon, etc and it looked so great. I would love to try something like that with some glitter/shiny thread or ribbon. I am also wanting to try some dyeing to produce some real one of a kind yarn. Someday....I'll get to it. For now on the home front I am trying to condition the kids into getting ready for school. They have about two and a half weeks and they will be hitting the books. They won't admit it but I think they are ready! Oh, and the Clackamas County Fair in Canby is going on this weekend. Darrell and I will take the kids so they can ride the rides and watch the demolition derby and motorcycle jumps. I am going to go and sneak into the exhibits to see the knitting/looming goodies, hopefully I find some and I am sure I will find something to buy from the vendors, my favorite part!

Lucky Bride

I found this on one of the groups I belong too, I thought it was too cute to not share..enjoy :)

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1205007/Shepherdess-bride-marries-stunning-dress-wool-flock.html

I'm Sorry Card

I needed to make an "I'm Sorry" card for my guy as I haven't been so nice lately! I don't have any excuse other than just being overwhelmed as a single parent with three boys who works full time and just plain stressed! Anyways, I love how it turned out and I am happy to report he did too! I thought I'd share it on Robyn's "My Pink Stampers" site as her thursday challenge. I used my Cricut indie cartridge, I just love the bird designs and the swirly embossing folder too with the Cuttlebug. I hope you like it and find inspiration in my design. Have a wonderful day :)

Spinning Update

I have still been spinning away, I have about three or four bobbins full of some superwash wool that will need to be processed and some photos of the gold that I did. I am proud to say I have finished my first skein of yarn and actually crocheted it into a mini scarflet. I still have to get a photo up but here are some others in the meantime. Other than that my crafting life has been cut short by the men in my life. A cranky teenager and tempermental boyfriend kept me emotionally drained this weekend, what's a girl to do? Get a tattoo! That is exactly what I did with one of my closest friends. We had a great time, tattoos, shopping, a nice lunch. This one hurt a bit more than the last one on my foot but what the hell, I love it. I find it so funny when people tell me ,"be sure you wont regret it in 20 years, I think blahhhh, I'm already 42, I will be glad to be alive in twenty years, and proudly displaying some more! Our next outing however may only consist of a pedicure :) Well, off to get some more knitting done before I have to get to bed. I found some handspun,dyed yarn form Chile I am working on. I also picked up some Manos Del Uruguay to make something for my friend. They are beautiful yarns and will post photos soon. Oh and I did have some Cricut time last week and made these cards , aren't they cute? It was the Wild Card and Celebrations cartridges, and I picked up some Tim Holtz alcohol inks I want to play with soon. Take care ya'll

Big Daddy Cadillac

Darrell got his 63 Cadillac finished and wanted to bring it up and show it off. He spent a lot of time and care in this project. His cars are like my crafts! He took the boys and I for a ride and it was alot of fun. Riding in an old car is like riding in a boat!

Facebook

I'm on Facebook too, so when I figure out how to post a link I will. Otherwise you can find me under Carla Brown Lawler, add me as a friend if you like!

New Roving and a Batt!

I went to Jen's the other night to pick up some more wool to spin. I am so lucky to have her live so close to me and willing to help me with my spinning. She sells her stuff on etsy as hanksinthehood and also exclusively with Paradise Fibers online so if you ever need anything please check with her first. She has great stuff and great prices. Anyways, I am really enjoying this wheel. I did some more last night and tried the wool roving however it wasn't going as smooth as the superwash wool. So in an effort to keep me feeling confident I went back to the superwash. This is a photo of my latest bobbin and it is looking much better! I am hoping to take the time this weekend to wash and set the first two bobbins of the yellow superwash wool I have and let it dry. Maybe I can knit or crochet something with it being my first yarn, there isn't much of it so it will have to be small. I haven't quite yet decided what I am making with the other stuff, I just want to work on my spinning for now. So, my other crafts have gone on the wayside for now. I have a bunch of scrapbooking and card making to do, probably three or more unfinished knit or crochet projects, some wood items and theses charms, jewelry things I was working on. In the meantime I am trying to clear some of my things on ebay. I had a friend ask me today if I thought I was ADD and I said, no unless it comes to crafting. The girls at work are always asking me about my new stuff, they think I'm nuts. Regardless, if your a crafter you can relate! Onto other business, it is going to be hot here and very hot the first of next week. I got a pool up for the boys, not too bigh not too small, a 12x36 so it will work for this year. If we really enjoy it we will upgrade next year for the big boy! I just wasn't sure how much room I had, and it turns out there is plenty! So we will be soaking in the rays and relaxing, hope everyone has a good weekend :)

Spinning

It's been a while since I first stated this blog. I meant to update it weekly or every other week but my life is so busy and I have since discovered facebook. A few years ago I had another blog which I was pretty regular with but other things started taking up more of my time. Regardless, I am back and crafting more than ever! I recently bought an Ashford Spinning Wheel, and I have to say I LOVE it! I have been tossing the idea around the last year or so about one and started looking on craigslist off and on. I found this one is Portland for 150.00! She, I am gonna name her "Stella" because why not name inanimate objects, came with four bobbins, a lazy Kate, 2 old carders, I don't think they are still usable, they look rusted and a small bag of wool which I think I will throw out. It looks really old and kind of grosses me out a bit. Besides, my friend Jen gave me some wool roving when she loaned me a drop spindle and a few books. Well after a few days of reading, watching numerous youtube videos and jumping right in, I managed to spin a few spools. They aren't perfect by any means and the drafting process is a challenge for me but it is so much fun! I can see how it can be so relaxing. It is also a great craft to do at night. I can sit with the family in the living room instead of my room where I have my mini craft studio. Besides when Darrell stays over he goes to be so early and I am banned frrm my own room to craft. Well not really banned, it is just that he crashes early and I am definetly nocturnal. I don't think it would be nice to have my crap laying all over the bed while he is trying to sleep! So, here are a few photos of my wheel, they are great and I would definetly recomend them!

My new craft blog

As if I don't spend enough time on the internet I thought I would start a blog mostly about my crafting. I belong to myspace and facebook too, however it seemed more appropriate to blog on my crafting ADD. So please enjoy and let me know what you think about my crafts. I love all kinds and try most all crafts. I go crazy in craft stores and find myself looking forward to theMichaels coupon every Sunday!