tiny owl knits swap: sent

Hi, and happy Friday!

I recently participated in a swap on Ravelry, in the Tiny Owl Knits group.  A quick explanation of how Ravelry swaps work: One person is the swap organizer, and they post a questionnaire on the message board for the group.  Anyone who wants to participate answers the questionnaire, and then the swap organizer matches up participants.  Sometimes it's a straight-forward exchange, where you send goodies to the same person who is going to send goodies to you, and sometimes it's more of a round-robin situation, when you send a package to one person and receive a package from someone else.  The Tiny Owl Knits Common Room Swap was the latter kind, and it was so much fun!  Tiny Owl Knits is the designer of the Beekeeper's Quilt, which I've been knitting for about a year now, and since most of her patterns are whimsical and foresty, I tried to stay with that feeling for the swap package I put together.

Today I'd like to share the knitted items that I sent to my lovely swap recipient, Robin.

 

Cotton Leaf Washcloths-- these were very quick to knit, and two of them used up less than one skein of Sugar and Cream dishcloth cotton yarn.  I packaged these with a bar of lavender-scented L'Occitane soap and two of the beehive candles I shared in my last post, like a mini-spa in a box.

I also knitted the Damson Shawl by Ysolda Teague in the very, very soft Anzula Cloud.  It's a merino/cashmere/nylon yarn and it truly does live up to its name-- when you put the shawl on, the knitted fabric settles gently around you, just like a puffy knitted cloud.  I definitely plan on making a Damson Shawl for myself, too.  It has a unique, fluttery shape when it's worn that gives it a capelet sort of silhouette.  The pattern was perfect train-knitting.  It wasn't too complicated to knit on in half-hour segments, but it was interesting enough to keep my mind from drifting off during my commute.

I also sent along a hexipuff, since Robin is also knitting the Beekeeper's Quilt, and 10 mini-skeins of yarn for hexipuffs.  Each mini-skein was 30 yards long, so hopefully she will get at least two hexipuffs out of each one, maybe three, depending on her knitting gauge.  

Tomorrow I'll share the amazing package that I received from my wonderful knitting-fairy Effie!

♥

adventures in candle-making ♥

Happy Wednesday!

On Saturday, I attempted a new-to-me craft project-- candlemaking!

It was lots of fun, and not nearly as complicated as I'd thought it would be.

 

I made six vanilla-scented beehive candles!

I originally made these because I wanted to send a few to my partner in a swap over on Ravelry.  I sent out her package yesterday, complete with two candles!  But I don't think she reads my blog, so it should be okay to give you a sneak peek. :)

 

First I made a makeshift double-boiler with a soup can and a saucepan and melted some paraffin candlewax.  In another can-and-saucepan arrangement, I melted yellow solid candle dye and vanilla fragrance, then added that to the wax.

 

I dipped some candlewick into the wax to prime it, so that the candle will light more easily, and threaded it through a rubber candle-mold.  Then I put the mold into a jam-jar of cold water, and when the melted wax reached 190˚F, I poured it into the mold.  The cold water helps the candle cool and solidify.

 

When the candle was completely cool, I peeled back the rubber mold and trimmed the wick.  I repeated the whole process five more times, and ta-da!  Beehive candles!

Bucky was very helpful-- he snoozed in a box on the kitchen floor.  Occasionally he got up for a snack, which was so exhausting that he had to go back to sleep.  

It's a rough job, but somebody's gotta do it.

I hope you're having a wonderful week!

♥

pennsylvania flowers

Happy Saturday, lovelies!

Today I'd like to share a few photos that I took at my mom's house before I moved.  

 

 

Today I'm trying something new-- I'm making my own candles in the shape of little bee skeps!  

My first one is cooling at the moment-- I'll show some pictures when they're finished!  Bucky is contributing to the project by sleeping in a box on the kitchen floor.  He's a helpful guy.  

Have a wonderful Saturday!

♥

hi there

Hi there!  I've been settling into my new routine, exploring my new neighborhood, and just generally getting into the new-ness of things.  I think I'm finally ready to work blogging back into my schedule!  I've been taking lots of pictures and doing lots of fun decorating and knitting projects, and I'm excited to share it all with you!  I'm going to try to get back to posting a few times a week.

By the way, that picture is the view from my kitchen window every night at sunset.  It turns my off-white walls to gold and pink and lavender.  It's a pretty magical view to come home to.

I hope you're doing well, I'm looking forward to catching up on all of your blogs and projects!

♥

summer blooms

Hi there!

I hope you're all enjoying the beginning of summer (or winter, for friends in the Southern Hemisphere) and staying safe through all the crazy weather we've been having lately!  Thank you all so much for the many sweet comments and emails I've received after I posted about my new apartment and new job.  You guys are so sweet.  ♥  Everything's going really well.  I love my new job, and living in my dream apartment is... well, it's like a dream come true.  The kitties love it here, too-- they spend their days lounging on the windowsills, watching birds fly by and watching ships and tugboats on the bay.  

Today I'd like to share a few photos that I took at the Highline a few weeks ago.

 

I love the simplicity of these white flowers-- and the undersides of their petals are pink!

 

 

 

It is so wonderful to be back in the city every day for work, close to so many of my favorite places and enjoying the bustling energy of New York, and I love going home to my quiet, calm apartment in the evenings.

How have you all been?  I'm so behind on blog-reading!  I'm going to make some refreshing mint iced tea and catch up.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

♥

apartment!

Hi there, and happy Monday!

I hope your week is off to a great start.

Today I'd like to share a few photos of my new apartment!

Here's the living room-- the framing on the walls is one of my favorite details about my new place.
I also love the extra-wide windowsills, which will be the perfect place for Bucky and Cocoa to perch as they watch the birds.

And the kitchen...

...and the other side of the kitchen!  

This will be my bedroom.  My closet has two rows for hanging clothes, hooray!  The hallway into my apartment has a closet, too.

I found this hatched little egg right outside my building.  

It was the perfect welcome to my new nest.

Have a wonderful day!

♥

daffodils and a new home

Hi!

I hope you're all doing well-- it's been a little while since I've posted.  But more about that later.

First, I'd like to share a few photos of one of my very favorite flowers-- the daffodil!

In what felt like only a few days, the weather here has gone from chilly and gray to sunny, warm, and beautiful!  The daffodils are in full bloom.  Some are big and showy...

...and some are teeny-tiny!

     Ok, so about the radio silence coming from my blog lately-- I've spent the last few weeks travelling back and forth to New York interviewing, and I'm going to be starting a lovely new job in just a few weeks!  Yay!  And since I'm going to be working in the city, I need to live a bit closer.  I had looked at some apartments a few weeks ago, just to get a feel for what exactly I wanted.  Of course, there was one apartment that I absolutely fell in love with.  Top floor, amazing views, cute neighborhood, 

cat-friendly, bright and sunny, reasonable commute-- everything I would have included if I was to describe my ideal apartment.  I was happy to see that my dream apartment does actually exist, but I was sure that it would be gone by the time I was ready to move.  I kept checking online to see if the listing disappeared, but somehow it stayed available.  When I was hired and started looking for a new home, I was sure the apartment would be gone, and that the online listing just hadn't been updated yet, but I called the real estate agent who had shown it to me, just to check.

It was not gone.

I'm moving in next week! 

YAY!

I'll share some photos of my new nest over the next few days, but posting will probably remain erratic until I'm settled into my apartment.

I hope wonderful, exciting things are happening in your life, too!

♥