Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Knitting

Hello hello!

Is it windy in your neck of the woods?  Here in Southern CO, the wind is blowing like crazy!  Not a good time to bike ride, I am missing it but have a stationary bike that I can ride.

Having more time indoors makes me want to knit/crochet.   Drum roll please!!!!

TADA!!!  My very first pair of socks!


Aren't the stripes so neat?  Now I know that the toes do not match, my tension improved so much that my second sock is smaller..that's ok.  I do not think anyone will notice when they are on my feet.  Do you?  

And if that is not awesome enough, my friend Karen shared her sock pattern with me.  We had a Sock A Long via texting and phone calls. I am forever grateful to Karen for not only her friendship but for taking time out of her day to check in with me, she took pictures of her sock to share with me and answered my zillion questions so patiently.
No more row counting!  I used 2 sets of circulars.  Working with worsted weight wool is decadent.  I really do enjoy the thicker ply yarn. The pink sock worked up in 2 days.  YES!  Two days!  I was and still am in shock, I couldn't believe that I could knit a sock in 2 days.  


Watch out world!  I am on the loose and have lots of sock yarn to choose from.  Having my own yarn supply can be dangerous.  :-)

Until next time, may your feet always be warm and cozy!


Wednesday, March 9, 2016

Finishing Projects

Good afternoon!

I am so happy as the weather has been delightful!  Windy but warmer..oh the joy of wearing only a light sweater.  I find that winter jackets are so confining and just uncomfortable.  The mornings are still brisk but refreshing too.  I started riding my bike every day that I am at the shop, it feels fabulous!
I had a HUGE Soapy order in October.  I was so excited to think that my shop was chosen to create gift sets.  220 Gift Sets to be exact!  My customer was delightful and gave me plenty of time to get the soap sets whipped up and shipped out.  Before the holiday rush I ordered more molds and the rest of the supplies that I would be needing.

Towards the end of January I poured the first batch of Blue Stars.  I knew that it was going to be a process but I was up for the challenge.  With 10 molds I was able to pour 2 1/2 times, the first set of Stars that I made were Blue...


Then it was on to the Red...






Lastly the White Stars...

After all of the soaps were set,  they were individually shrink wrapped.  Yes folks!  I wrapped each and every single one of them.  660 stars were finally ready for the next phase.

The next phase was labeling, I punched out all of the labels, prepared the ribbon and star garland, then printed the custom labels.




And then..it was time to put them all together.  I am so lucky, I can work on projects while I am here at the shop.  I started putting 25 sets together each day until they were all ready for packaging.   
 After a few weeks, all of the gift sets were packaged up ready for their trek to Florida.  It was so rewarding and just a tad bit sad.  Managing my daily routine to include these gift sets had become the new normal for me.
 Throughout the process I learned:

* daily schedules and routines are key to my success and help me stay on track.
*  establishing a healthy eating lifestyle and daily exercise ensures that my brain and body are working together.
* take time to just breathe, nothing is as big as it seems if you just slow down anything is possible.

If you would like to purchase your own set of Star Soap,  you can find them  here.

Until next time!