!!! Thankful for Friends !!!

Thank you for yesterday! Your comments reminded me that at the end all, I have an amazing group of people who do support me and my endeavours. Thank you for coming along for the ride and listening to my whining. Etsy is hard work. While I'm not afraid of hard work, hello, lazy butt, I am a child of technology that I've gotten an expectation of instant gratification.

On to funner things....Do you recognize the guy in the picture above? His cat eyes, sleek black skin...those are fins in front of him. Tonight I'm going to make his wings....Yes! You got it! It's Toothless! Love Toothless! James' birthday present is going to be this guy. Yes, I give my kids handmade stuff for their birthdays. Usually pre-family birthday party, but I think this guy will be the envy of his cousins. He is just too cute!

A while back Julia and I bartered. I love bartering. If I can trade an item or service for an item or service in return, I feel like I got a deal. I'd have rocked the medieval ages. Julia sent Jesse's pants back with these adorable applique decals, butterflies and daisies. Jesse loved them, I loved them. Great job, Julia!

Every Saturday, Jesse makes me write out a list of things we have to do. Whether it be cleaning or errands, she wants the list and then she checks it off. This is completely her, I'm just the messenger, errand runner, facilitator.

The guy who did our Halloween night video, also gave Jon this framed picture of Jon and Josh with Jon sitting in his skull chair. It is an amazing picture. Even my DSLR wouldn't get this crisp because of the lights. Lens and higher quality camera really do make a difference. I am thankful he is around to capture these moments.

My tags have been a huge hit. I love love love them. Originally, I had a problem with the tags, and after messaging the Etsy seller, she did another batch for me. These new ones are washable and much more durable. This label is sewn onto James new hat. I feel the need to continuously provide new hats to my kids.

Peace and It's a Fuzzy Eyebrow Tuesday!

Monday Free for All

Hey! How was your holiday? Are you still recovering from turkey induced somnolence?

I'm finally off nights. Nights pretty much kick my butt. But I do them for a variety of reasons and being this close to the holidays, working nights means lots of time to craft. I think I did a total of 1 to 2 projects each night, so approximately a dozen items got made in the last two weeks.

One item I especially love because I love the yarn and have been hoarding it for several years *ahem 4 years*. It is Moda Dea Washable Wool. LOVE LOVE love this yarn. It has a great sheen, is 100% wool and washable. Crocheting with it was a dream. To my sadness, they discontinued this yarn shortly after I found it. I get a feeling of dread when I see discontinued yarn, because I know I'm going to love it. Then I get panicky and want to buy up all the available stock on-line. Then I realize that is gonna cost me a lot of moola I don't have.


So I had one measly skein in real teal and you'd think I'd make me something, so I could keep this wonderful yarn.


I tell you true, when I say, it was until the final stitch that I deluded myself into believing I was making an adult sized hat. See, because I used the weight of yarn the pattern called for, a bigger hook, I truly believed I'd get an adult sized hat. I mean mathematically I should have. Bigger hook means bigger item.


It's a baby sized hat. I'm done having babies and my babies heads were never this small. My vagina will tell you that, if it spoke.

Not sure what I'm going to do with this gorgeous hat. Maybe give it to Jesse for her baby dolls? Just seems like a misuse. This hat and yarn were made for love. Who's gonna love it? I could keep it just to pet it...Or not. Any ideas?



Don't mention Etsy, because today, I'm full of less than optimistic thoughts for that venture. I've had one sale, one skein of grape color sock yarn. Very little positive feedback and the people I'd thought would be interested, aren't. It's enough to make me take everything down and start handing the stuff out to the homeless. Which isn't a bad idea, just it makes me sad that my beautiful red diamond shawl could be used to wipe somebodies butt.

Which takes me back to why I craft. I craft for me and during the time and effort it takes to make the items (don't let me tell you it doesn't take long because it does), I grow attached to the pieces. I've given most items away and with the lukewarm reception of Etsy among my friends and family, I wonder if that is just it. My stuff is good enough to get for free, but not to pay money for. Crafting is a way of life for me. I wake up in the morning and think of yarn and hooks and needles. It is the same drive singers feel or writers. They HAVE to sing or write, it just bubbles from their soul. Well, yarn makes my soul sing. It is a connection to my heritage, to the women before me and currently with me as I travel this road of life.

Mondays aren't for the faint of heart. Aren't you glad you got to the maudlin part of this post? So, what makes your soul sing?

Peace and More Crafting Tonight!

Black & Red Tunisian Wrist Warmer

So sad I missed Monday blog post! I swear the day is lost to me. Working nights seriously does a number on my keeping track of days. I got up at 10AM on Sunday (I know I know, I slept in) and went to work at 6PM, got home at 7AM Monday morning, went to bed, got up at 6PM and went back to work. Here I am after sleeping 5 hours today. What day is it again?

Night shift is pretty rough. It takes endurance, mentally, that is. My job is such that I am able to knit and crochet on the night shift. Day shifts are a little different and I typically work on the computer. But it is what it is and a 7PM to 6AM night shift allows me a little leeway to craft.

That is what I have done. I've made up two sets of these reversible wrist warmers. They are tunisian crochet in Caron Country yarn, which is an acrylic/wool blend yarn. Great yarn. Love it. They will fit a size 7 or 8 hand. Did you know hands are sized? Me either. My hand is 7.5 inches and these have room to fit a little more snug. I'm a small sized woman, but the size chart says I have a large hand. Weird.

I've listed one set on my Etsy shop. Take a look! Free shipping Nov 23 till Dec 23. I'd really like to move most of the stuff, so I can by more yarn. Pretty please, buy my stuff! Or "like" me on Facebook, just type in Rottnluck in the search bar. It'll come up Rottnluck aka Sara. I'm having a giveaway on Black Friday if I can get 25 likes before Thanksgiving. It may or may not be a pair of these arm warmers. *hint hint* And if you'd like to Favorite my Etsy shop, that would be awesome, too.

Peace and Rock on Tuesday!

Girl Scout Quilt

A while back I mentioned I wanted to do a tie quilt. I showed ya'll pictures and in that time, I've done three more quilt tops. The one picture above is for a special Girl Scout I know. Her momma and I go way back to elementary school. We just spent the weekend together at the cabin and prior to that I stayed with Jenn on my way to Texas. The kids and I crashed out on Lauren's (Jenn's daughter) bed.

I mentioned to Jenn that I'd like to make Lauren a blanket, since she is getting bigger and is decorating her room.


I originally was going to crochet her one, but then I went to the Fabric Shack and saw this Girl Scout print fabric. It is a Robert Kaufman fabric print and is the perfect colors for Lauren. It also celebrates her being a Girl Scout.

This is a peek into my living room. These are larger squares (10 inch), so I had to lay them out on the floor. As you can see, I'm a mess. Laundry on the couch, basket full of outgrown children's clothes, paper filing on the entry table...This is completely normal and chaos reins 5 days a week. Sometimes I tackle the house and we get some peace (order) for a few days.

Oh! And just to keep ya'll updated, we are a week out from Thanksgiving and the castle is still standing in my front yard. Ya'll remember it took Jon till April to take down the Christmas tree, right? I'm sure our neighbors love us!

Peace and Have A Great Weekend!

This Hat Needs a Name

A while back, I was inspired to dye some more of the bare Lamb's Pride Bulky yarn I purchased from Sheep Shed Studio. Basically, if you stalk the website or the Ravelry group, Carol will let you know when they will be getting some Honking Hanks. I LOVE Honking Hanks. I averages out to about $5 a skein. Retail for this yarn is $7 a skein. The fact that I am able to hand dye my own makes this worth it.

Lamb's Pride Bulky has become my go-to yarn for warm hats. They work up quick, I can wear them for hours and not get sweaty hat head or itchy-takethishatoffme feeling. I just love these hats.
To dye this yarn, I made a batch of scarlet red, tied the skein above the pot so only half the skein was in the pot. Let it cook for an hour, squeezed out the excess, and flipped the skein to dye the other half black. I figured it would be best do dye the lighter color first, so the area of bleed would be minimal. What I got was a fun splashing of gray/silver.

The knit 2, purl 2 pattern makes a nice stretchy hat that will fit child size to adult man sized heads. I love this versatility!

Here is an early morning picture of the hat on James. He is snuggled down watching his cartoons. I'm working nights this week and next, so I'm sorry for not reading your blogs. Literally, I go to work, come home, get the kids off to school, take a shower, take a Tylenol PM and then get up in the evening to go to work. What I am doing during the 9PM to 6AM shift is getting lots of knitting and crocheting done. Three shifts in and I've gone through five skeins of yarn.


This hat needs a name, give me a hollar in the comments on what it should be called. Nobody has claimed it, so I'm still deciding on a home for it. Hollar if you want it. Ha!

Peace and Loving seeing the Sunrise!

Erica's Scarf

My friend Erica posted on her FB status that she was allergic to the acrylic blend scarf she bought at Limited. I offered to make her one out of Lamb's Pride Cotton Fleece yarn I had. She said she'd love a handmade scarf.

She sent me a picture of the devil scarf and it had some pretty ruffles and was all black. This is my version of ruffles.

The pattern is one off the top of my head. I tunisian crocheted a base body of the scarf, over 6 feet long and 3 inches wide. Then I added the ruffles by putting four double crochet stitches in one stitch and eight dc stitches in the corners. Easy pleasy, and I was pleased with how it turned out.

Lamb's Pride yarn is considered the "work horse" for yarns. They make sturdy, durable, great yarns. I've fallen in love with every line of yarn. The cotton fleece is definitely a go-to yarn for garments and items you want to have great drape, with good durability. I washed the scarf in the washer (though the package says dry clean only) and it turned out fine. I have a front loader and washed it on warm. It was my test drive before sending out an item. So, just so you know, Lamb's Pride cotton fleece can be washed.

So, how is every one's week going? I'm working nights 9PM to 6AM and wonder what ya'lls lives have going on.

Peace and I'm Knitting My Fingers Off!

P.S. Are you loving the tags? I am!

Summer's Gift

Summer is a friend in Indiana. She just had a little boy to make her family a perfect 4 person, 2 girls, 2 boys family. I wanted to send her a hat for the new baby and asked her what color. She said green. Green is pretty much telling me cart blanche, whatever shade makes me happy.

I chose Vanna's Choice in emerald green for a crocheted hat for Mr. Miles.

Papa got a red knit hat in Vanna's Choice.

Lola got a crocheted hot pink hat with punk black stripes and leg warmers I made way back when for her.

Yes, that is totally a cat paw on the hat.

Momma got a light green crochet hat in Lion Brand Cotton Ease.

So, there is my second RAK of the season, I hatted the entire clan in Indiana.

More RAKs went out and I'm going to have fun sharing them with you!

Peace and Send a few good thoughts to Summer and family as they help Mr. Miles get through the colic.

Cumberland Hills

Over the weekend, we went to Grandpa's cabin near Lake Cumberland.

Now you have to be pretty special to learn the location of Grandpa's cabin. I have known Jon's family for almost 2 decades and the first time I was allowed to go to the cabin was last year. We are talking EsPeeECeeEyeAyeEll!

It doesn't have a mappable address and is way back in the hills of Cumberland. His cabin is tucked way back off the road and down a long road that the state forgot to pave when they came through the area and paved all the roads a few years ago.

We did things like:

Hiking

Knitting

Rock Throwing
Bathtub swimming

Admire 1940's Decor

Eat

Color

Play DS

Teach the Younguns how to knit

At the cabin, it is a time to relax. There are no TV's, telephone, Internet, or other forms of electronic entertainment...unless you bring them. We brought a portable DVD player, the DS and our phones. It was the perfect complement to the hectic busy life we lead. The chance to spend a weekend in a musty cabin, reminiscent of Girl Scout camp, with 1940's decor, in tight quarters, with a view of nature people pay good money for...It was just what we needed. My friend, Jenn and her crew, came down, too. They added a fullness to the weekend. It is always good times to introduce city dwellers to the cabin and nature.

We took them hiking. A hike which one of them thought a stroller would be a good idea. Her idea of back to nature was a state park with paved walking trails to hike on. Our idea is "over the hill, into the gully, hike hike hike and billy goat yourself out".

The baby who is 18 months old, came along on the hike. His momma and aunt carried him down the hill and through the gully, but when it came time for the "billy goating", Jon and I took turns carrying him up the hill.

I missed my mei tai so much on that climb. The baby only cried once when I accidently poked him in the face with a stick I was moving for James as James climbed. Poor baby. I felt awful and handed him over to Jon, where baby boy promptly laid his head down and fell asleep...as Jon climbed the hill. He was plumb tuckered out.

After the hike I overheard, "Let's go find civilization. People!". I laughed so hard and then we took them rock skipping.

Great weekend, great people and good times! I think we should make it a yearly event.

I'd considered making a weekend getaway for some momma's a yearly event. Oh the fun we could have, but momma's are generally busy people. I'm not sure how well it would go over having limited hot water, bunk beds, foam padding to sleep on, wildlife...actually if she is my kind of woman, it would be fun. What do you think? Would you spend a weekend "getting back to nature"?

Peace and I LOVE My Bed!

Stitches N Stuff

I visited a LYS in Longview, Texas when I went down in October. I had visited this store previously on my 2009 March trip to Texas and blogged about it here. After rereading that blog post, I realized how far down the rabbit trail I have gone with this crafting thing. Because now I know better. What do I know? I know that the Stitches N Stuff LYS is an amazing yarn store.

Experience is a teacher. After my experiences of various yarn stores, seeing the selections, meeting new people, meeting new yarns, needles and hooks, this LYS has become one of my favorites.

First off, the ladies are really nice. They are sisters and have been running this yarn store in East Texas since 1984 (I believe).

Secondly, the selection is a great mixture of wool, silk, bamboo, cotton and acrylic. Maybe even some cashmere was in the shop, but I can't remember off the top of my head.

This shop is geared towards crafters with a little extra to spend and an eye for fun colors and yarn.

There was this little itty bitty skein of Debbie Bliss Pure Silk. OH MY Gosh, guys, this yarn was amazingly soft. I wanted to take two or three home with me and make a scarf, but at $15 a pop per skein, I just couldn't validate it. I swear though, I will someday, get me some of this yarn.

What I did get on my FIRST trip (hehe!) was a skein of James C. Brett Marble Chunky in a pretty pink multi-colored. It is 100% acrylic and you get over 200 yards of yarn. This yarn is gorgeous and oh so soft. Link to Paradise Fibers with reviews of other knitters and crocheters.


I also purchased a Baby Papoose pattern (which the store owner had written). She had a sample sitting out on the table and I just fell in love with it. As of this writing, I have made the papoose and sent it as a gift to another crocheter. So, I'll post pictures of that next week. It was another one of my RAKs. If you love the pattern, call the store and I'm sure they would mail you out one. Phone number is on the bag pictured above. The pattern was $4.00 Or download off Ravelry for $6.49. I recommend supporting the store, but whatever is easiest for you. Sue Childress is the pattern designer. She has some amazing patterns and is oh so nice.


Jesse was with me, and girlfriend picked out two adorable little skeins of Ella Rae Bamboo Silk yarn. She does not have expensive taste, at all. *insert sarcasm* Here is a link to Knitting Fever dot com where if you click on Buy, it'll ask for your zip code and tell you where to find this yarn near you. Trust me, put this yarn on your list of yarns to try. It is gorgeous. I forget how much it was, but it was not so cost prohibitive as the Pure Silk and it was just perfect for a little item for Jesse. She has a good eye. She picked a cranberry and lime green color. ha!


On my SECOND trip back to the store, I purchased another skein of the Marble Chunky in blue colors. Convinced my sister she needed to pick up crocheting again and hooked her up with two little skeins of yarn and a crochet hook. I'm not an enabler. At all. Just ask my friends and family.



I bought mom a pair of circular bamboo needles in size 4 (?). Hers were looking a bit sad. She had pretty much knitted her tips dull. The yarn I sent her was from Ohio (another LYS visit, I'll tell you about later) and was superwash Jojoland yarn in green, brown and tan. Which mom promises to make James a sweater out of. I'm excited to see it.

Peace and My Favorite LYS! Too Bad it is 1000 Miles Away!