A Little Giveaway :: Yarn

So, I thought I'd offer a little giveaway here, just to say 'thank you' to people who come here every day and who pull up a chair, put on a brew and share our days with us. Just a little 'something'.

Which happily coincides with an interview I gave over on Markers&Thread today. (Go and say 'hi' and check out some Islamic takes on DIY and crafts).

The offer is any hank of my homemade yarn in one of these colours:







There is amethyst, green, a marled yellow and mallard...



... or spring storm grey/blue, tealy duck egg, lake blue, or a marled grey and mallard.



All you have to do to enter is to tell me a)which colour you would like, b) which colour you would like to see in my shop in future, and c) what you intend to do with the hank (stash it or have a project in mind?).

Then leave a comment here to entered in the giveaway once.
Join my G+ followers and share this giveaway post then leave a comment here for a second entrance.
Join my twitter feed and share the giveaway there then leave a comment here for a fourth entrance.
Join my facebook page and share this post then leave a comment here for a fifth entrance.

So, five chances to have your name entered if this floats your boat (and thank you), and I'll pick a winner next Monday.

Thankyou!

Slow Crafting

It's been a slow week. Last week I got KOed by a really nasty flu and not much of anything got done. It takes a while to stop feeling flat, but this interesting spring weather we're having isn't helping much.

As such, creativity is a bit thin on the ground here; I'm running to stand still with everything, and all the knitting, sewing and making that usually keeps me sane have been squeezed out of the equation. It's OK. The dust will settle and I'm hopeful I'll find time again for these things.

But right now I'm squirreling time by the wheel as my babes read, play, work. It keeps me busy enough.

When Swifts Turn Evil

I have a love-hate relationship with this swift of mine. When things go as they should my life is quite happy. Yarn is wound in minutes and life goes on. And 9 times out of 10 things go very well indeed.

But when it goes wrong... dear Lord, what a sour-filled half hour can invade my day. The thoughts of pure evil I would like to inflict on this contraption. How I would love to pound it senselessly into the floor, jump and down on it and then fling it, with every ounce of fury I possess, out of the window into the world beyond.

But of course I don't. Because swifts cost money and it is illegal to hurl metal objects at unsuspecting citizens in this city. No, I simply make a gutteral 'Ug' noise and start the process of untangling.

I will only forgive this skein of yarn if it knits up well... some hanks are so mardy that they carry on their sass right through the process, and it's one problem after another.

I'm keeping my eye on this one...

{Can you spot the rogue ball...}

Spinning Evolution :: The Beginning, Middle, & End

Ready to be placed in the shop in a little while. Will blog when they are in!

Homemade Lotion

A new set of apothecary drawers, replacing the small little basket, ready in time for some winter healing lotion.

The cold is cracking our hands terribly but I still can't bring myself to buy any shop-bought creams when I look at the ingredients in them (everything seems to be a paraben or an alcohol or something I wouldn't want to ingest), so here we have a healthy, homemade alternative.

It really does take less than five minutes for a large jar full of healthy cream. Do make some for your babes too! Recipe found in the tutorials page.

I refrained...

I refrained. I did not make the lap blanket I thought was a foregone conclusion when I first received the fabric.

Instead, I did make the over-sized burlap basket for my spinning needs, and there it sits, large and empty, waiting to filled to the top with fleece. Yes, I'm ready now for a whole sheep.

I also made a cushion cover, for this piece of fabric was one I was mesmerised by - it just took my breath away, and I wanted it to shine a little light all of its own. I made piping to give the cover a finished look, and I love the way it 'pops' whilst nestled with all the other cushions.

And with some scraps I made a small table runner, or mat. Not really a necessity, but it pulls all the new colours in the room together somewhat.

And the best bit? I still have loads of fabric left! Maybe I will make a blanket after all.... *twitch*.... just to scratch that itch....

In the Stash

One of the side effects, so to speak, of me learning to spin (and practicing so much), is that I am steadily accruing skeins of yarn, just for the stash.

It tickles me no end to see these skeins and hanks of yarn sitting there, waiting for a project to take my fancy. I don't know why, but it does. It feels quite satisfying to see a few balls of yarn just sitting. It's like putting by, but in yarn. It appeals the part of my brain that feels the need to stock up and have enough to get by.

If ever I can't get to the shops, my family need not panic. I have yarn. We're OK.

Natural Beauty Lotion Recipes

Continuing the natural handmade remedy love for another day I thought I'd share a couple more simple recipes, not so much for healing, but as part of any beauty and skincare routine.

'Recipe One' is an easy peasy natural skin toner to help remove any traces of oil and leftover soap from make-up removal etc., and the second recipe is a soothing, gentle under-eye moisturizer.





Again, forgive my rustic nature, lack of 'proper' pots and designer labels and let's get on with it, shall we?



SKIN TONER RECIPE

INGREDIENTS

1/2 Cup Rosewater
8 drops of Lavender Essential Oil

MAKE

Mix in a glass bottle, shake and use!





ALOE VERA SOOTHING EYE MOISTURIZER

INGREDIENTS

1/4 Cup Rosewater
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1 Tablespoon Aloe Vera
1 Tablespoon Cucumber juice/crushed flesh
1/2 - 1 Tablespoon (vegetable based) Emulsifying Wax
1 Tablespoon Witch Hazel

MAKE

In a double boiler add all the ingredients EXCEPT the Witch Hazel and boil until wax melted, mix, remove from the boil and mix in the Witch Hazel.

Add to a sterilized jar and leave to cool. You might want to keep this in the fridge and use at night before bed.

Ta da!

With all these wonderful homemade lotions and potions your skin is going to feel as soft as a baby's bum in no time. For those of you asking where to source the emulsifying wax (do make sure it's vegetable-based to avoid the nasties), you can find it anywhere you buy soap-making ingredients from. And eBay. Rosewater can be found in the bake-a-cake aisle usually. Next to food colouring and marzipan... you can, of course, just use ordinary water, but it loses that extra something.

Anyway, go! Make! Enjoy! And come here glowing with good health!



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