Rewind…

Earlier this week, I finally was able to rewind those 20 skeins of yarn I’d purchased last weekend.

Lilys Sugar n Creme cotton yarn_2.12.04.13
rewound yarn balls

In total, it took over two hours to rewind the yarn into the yarn cakes above.  Aren’t the colors lovely? The rewinding went fairly smoothly and I only encountered one skein of yarn that had tangles, but I was able to remove the tangles quickly. If I’d encountered these tangles while knitting a project it would have been annoying. To avoid unpleasant surprises, I always rewind my yarn with my Boye Electric Yarn Ball Winder.

Tip for attaching labels after they’ve been rewound

The yarn skeins were much fatter after they were rewound, but I was still able to reattach the yarn label by taping bits of printer paper to the label. This made the label longer, so I was able to wrap it easily around the bigger yarn cake.

Knit checkered washcloths_2.12.04.13
Knit checkered washcloths

 

As you can see, the knitted washcloths are coming along nicely. I knit two natural colored washcloths to accompany the two white ones that I’d made over the Thanksgiving holiday. The white knitted washcloths were originally going to be given to my co-worker, but I’ve decided to gift her with the natural colored washcloths instead.

Limited stash of hand knit washcloths/dishcloths

We now have four knitted washcloths in our home; Two lime green and two white. Last year, I had knitted and crocheted washcloths, but my daughter used them as blankets/afghans for her Monster High dolls. Interestingly enough my daughter and I have both only been using these four washcloths. That should tell you how good these feel against your skin. So yes… these washcloths are getting washed several times weekly. Once I finish knitting more we won’t have to focus solely on these knitted cloths.

Now that my “Secret Santa gift” is complete, I’m going to knit some brightly colored washcloths and dishcloths for our home!

My title, ‘rewind’, makes me think of this…

Take that and rewind it back, Lil’ Jon got the beat to make ya booty go (clap)

It’s from Ushers song, Yeah…

Usher: Yeah! featuring Lil’ John and Ludicrous

[Usher:]
Peace up! A Town Down!

[Lil’ Jon:]
Yeah, (Yeah!) OK!

(Usher! Usher! Usher! Usher!)

[Lil’ Jon:]
Lil’ Jon!

[Usher:]
Yeah, Yeah, Yeah! Yeah, Yeah! Yeaah!
Yeah, Yeah, Yeah! Yeah, Yeah! Yeaah!

[Usher (Verse 1):]
Up in the club with my homies, tryna get a lil’ V-I, but keep it down on the low key, ’cause you know how it is.
I saw shorty she was checkin’ up on me, from the game she was spittin’ in my ear you would think that she knew me.
So we decided to chill

Conversation got heavy, she had me feelin’ like she’s ready to blow!
(Watch Out! Oh! Watch Out!)
She’s saying “Come get me! Come get me”,
So I got up and followed her to the floor, she said “Baby, let’s go”,
That’s when I told her I said

[Usher (Chorus):]
Yeah (yeah) Shorty got down low and said come and get me
Yeah (yeah) I got so caught up I forgot she told me
Yeah (yeah) Her and my girl used to be the best of homies
Yeah (yeah) Next thing I knew she was all up on me screaming:

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah! Yeah, Yeah! Yeaah!
Yeah, Yeah, Yeah! Yeah, Yeah! Yeaah!

[Usher (Verse 2):]
So she’s all up in my head now, got me thinking that it might good idea to take her with me,
‘Cause she’s ready to leave (ready to leave)
But I gotta keep it real now, ’cause on a one to ten she’s a certified twenty, but that just ain’t me. Hey.

Because I don’t know if I take that chance just where it’s gonna lead,
But what I do know is the way she dance makes shorty alright with me.
The way she (get low!)
I’m like yeah, just work that out for me.
She asked for one more dance and I’m
Like yeah, how the hell am I supposed to leave?
And I said

[Chorus]

[Lil’ Jon:]
Hey, Luda!

[Ludacris (Verse 3):]
Watch out!
My outfit’s ridiculous, in the club lookin’ so conspicuous.
And Rowl! These women all on the prowl, if you hold the head steady I’m a milk the cow.
Forget about the game, I’m a spit the truth, I won’t stop till I get ’em in they birthday suits.
So gimmie the rhythm and it’ll be off with their clothes, then bend over to the front and touch your toes.
I left the Jag and I took the Rolls, if they aint cutting then I put em on foot patrol.
How you like me now, when my pinky’s valued over three hundred thousand,
Lets drank you the one to please, Ludacris fill cups like double D’s.
Me and Ursh once more and we leave ’em dead, we want a lady in the street but a freak in the bed to say

[Chorus]

[Ludacris (Bridge):]
Take that and rewind it back, Lil’ Jon got the beat to make ya booty go (clap)
Take that and rewind it back, Ursher got the voice to make ya booty go (clap)
Take that and rewind it back, Ludacris got the flow to make ya booty go (clap)
Take that and rewind it back, Lil’ Jon got the beat to make ya booty go (clap)

Memories…

This made me smile… I did not have a lot of toys as a child, but the ones I did have were cherished and I took care of them. I have fond memories of the hours spent lost in my imaginary world with a favorite toy.

 

Growing Up

 

I still have my first teddy bear, it wasn’t new when I received it at the age of four. It belonged to one of my aunts, she was about 15 when she gave that to  me, and it was my favorite bear for many years. I think the fact that it was given to me by someone who loved it so much made it even more special. Fast forward to the present, despite the fact that it’s obviously ‘well-cared for’ My daughter has claimed it and has a special spot for the teddy bear in her room.

Simple is best…

I’m slowly transitioning into another juice cleanse. While most of my meals are juices, once daily, I’m consuming some solid food.

Avocado and tomato_2
Avocado and tomato

 

This meal was all raw; avocado, tomato, onion and a variety of freshly ground herbs and spices. Although the meal was simple, it was delicious and quite satisfying. Leftovers can be wrapped in nori sheets and consumed.

My daughter loves wrapping raw veggies in Nori so some day soon I’ll surprise her with this in her lunch. My daughter eats healthy and does that without any prodding. But, why should I be surprised? She’s been consuming fresh produce since she came into this world, initially when I was nursing her and later she was introduced to a wide range of produce prepared in a variety of ways. So she knew that produce, grains and legumes are delicious and nutritious.

More knitted washcloths…

Since my last post, about washcloths/facecloths, I’ve made two more washcloths. So…. a total of five were knitted (four washcloths and one dishcloth) while I was on Thanksgiving holiday.

Knitted washcloths_1.12.1.13
Knitted washcloths; 3 Checkered and 1 seed stitch washcloth

 

Two of the facecloths will be gifted to a coworker. I’m her ‘Secret Santa.’The rest are staying at the house! These aren’t the first dishcloths and washcloths I’ve knitted. I did make some last year,  but one day they disappeared! Of course, I knew where to look, in my daughters room. I found them on the beds of a few of my daughter’s Monster High dolls. I didn’t mind her using them, but I told her she needed to ask me first. Since that time she has.

Cotton and wool yarn_1.12.01.13
Newly added to my yarn stash; 16 skeins of Sugar N’ Creme yarn and four skeins of Paton’s Classic Wool

 

Yarn sales are awesome

The above photo shows all the yarn I caught on sale recently. While I normally don’t purchase yarn from craft stores, AC Moore had a sale on Paton’s Classic Wool and Lily’s Sugar N’ Creme Yarn; 4 for $5. I use Sugar N’ Creme along with Peaches  for knitting washcloths/dishcloths. That day, I purchased 20 skeins of yarn. By the way, Paton’s Classic wool felts wonderfully.  I have a few felting projects that I’d like to do within a few weeks so the sale came at the appropriate time.

Rewinding the yarn…

You know… I might go back and purchase more cotton before the sale ends. Once my gifts for my coworker are complete, I’ll pull out my yarn winder and rewind all the yarn. If you want to know why I rewind the yarn, check out my reason for doing just that in the post I wrote about my Boye electric ball winder.

Knitting washcloths/dishcloths are the perfect small project to try new knitting techniques

Since the cloths are so small they make the perfect tool for trying out new techniques. When I’m playing with new stitches/techniques the items made are usually made into something doll size so I can give to my daughter, but now since I have a great supply of cotton, I’ll be trying a few techniques with the various washcloths that I knit. The Principles of Knitting: Methods and Techniques of Hand Knitting has many wonderful stitches and I plan to try a few on the various cloths that I make.

Knit two washcloths/dishcloths weekly?

Since I now have so much cotton yarn, I really have no excuse not to honor my commitment of making to handmade cloths (washcloth or dishcloth) per week, right? If I hold to that commitment, I should have a nice collection of both in about six months.

Another juice cleanse

While I juice daily, I haven’t gone on an extended 100% juice cleanse in about two months. Recently, I’ve been thinking about going on another one and I finally think I’m ready to begin. I most likely will begin my cleanse on the first day of the week, which would mean I’d be starting this Sunday. If that’s the case, I most likely will reschedule some of my advance posts so I can share some of the juicing recipes I use throughout the week. It will be similar to my past juicing regime, so they’re will be plenty of greens and very little fruit.

I can’t knit just one…

This has been a very relaxing Thanksgiving holiday for my daughter and myself. Besides the daily cooking and other household chores we have done nothing. Well… I take that back our ‘nothing’ has been creative. I’ve been knitting and my daughter has been writing and drawing with her Wacom Splash tablet.

Knitted checkered washcloth_3

 

The past few days I’ve been knitting dishcloths for our house and this morning, I set aside a few hours and started knitting a few facecloths for a coworker. I drew her name and so I’m her Secret Santa.

Knitted checkered washcloth_2
I’m almost finished knitting the second checkered facecloth

 

I wanted something a bit fancy, so I decided to make checkered facecloths. I used my own pattern. The face cloths are a combination of purl and stockinette stitch done in small blocks, giving it a checkered appearance. You might recall that this past July, I’d knitted a checkered cowl. In that pattern I alternated between purl and seed stitch. Do you know that my daughter has already claimed that for her own? Now that the weather is cold, she wears it to school daily.

But back to those washcloths/facecloths…

Since I don’t know the color scheme of her home, I chose white cotton for my yarn. I must say, I really enjoyed knitting for a few hours today and since my project is small I easily completed one facecloth and am almost finished the second. Besides this present, I will add some homemade bath salts, sugar scrubs, a sew an embroidered bag to carry everything. I think this will make a very nice spa gift package, don’t you? We all deserve to be pampered now and again. I most likely will add a gift card too.  I’ll be sure to post a picture once everything is finished.

Nine Inch Nails – The Hand that Feeds

“Don’t bite the hand that feeds you!” is a saying I heard my mother say since I was young. She still says it occasionally about some people.  If you think about it, you do have people that prey on folks kindness, and will attack those that are helping them. I always thought that was a bit silly and destructive. Not everyone will be your doormat and let you continue that sort of behavior, I know I will not tolerate being treated in that way.

On the flipside, you can turn on the ones that are controlling you. Some people never find the strength to break free from that and continue to be abused by those who’d love to control them throughout their life.  It’s not always easy to break free…I say it’s better to break free and move forward, regardless of how difficult that might be. I’ve been in both situations, and they both happened when I was much younger. Both types of abuse stopped working on me years ago.

 

Nine Inch Nails is one of the many groups I enjoy listening too, so I was thrilled when they came out with a song that talks about this topic.

 

Nine Inch Nails: The Hand That Feeds

You’re keeping in step
In the line
Got your chin held high and you feel just fine
Cause you do
What you’re told
But inside your heart it is black and it’s hollow and it’s cold

Just how deep do you believe?
Will you bite the hand that feeds?
Will you chew until it bleeds?
Can you get up off your knees?
Are you brave enough to see?
Do you want to change it?

What if this whole crusade’s
A charade
And behind it all there’s a price to be paid
For the blood
On which we dine
Justified in the name of the holy and the divine

Just how deep do you believe?
Will you bite the hand that feeds?
Will you chew until it bleeds?
Can you get up off your knees?
Are you brave enough to see?
Do you want to change it?

So naive
I keep holding on to what I want to believe
I can see
But I keep holding on and on and on and on

[8X]
Will you bite the hand that feeds you?
Will you stay down on your knees?