Early this morning, I went online and purchased the BaByliss BABTT4073 Pro TT Tourmaline Titanium Steam Straightener for my daughter. The flat iron retails for about $150, however I purchased it for $69.
My daughter has super curly hair, and while she loves her curls sometimes she wants to wear it straight.
Of course, I don’t want to purchase a flat iron that would damage her hair, and so (several months ago) I started researching the flat irons that used steam. I’ve been wearing my hair in dreadlocks for about eight or nine years, but before that time, I had naturally curly hair. I’d only choose heat appliances that used steam for my hair, since it’s much kinder than dry heat.
Originally I was looking at Denman flat irons, I’ve used some of their products, and love them… but I still kept searching. This past July, Chelotopia, a fellow Raveler, gave a glowing review of BaByliss flat iron in her Going Natural post. I decided to check them out. I must say that was impressed with the reviews I read about the product.
The flat iron has a steam feature so I know it won’t be as damaging as one without. I can’t wait to try it out! Based on the numerous glowing reviews I’ve read about the flat iron, I don’t think I (or my daughter) will be disappointed.
The yarn was colorfully packaged, and included was lovely postcard type picture featuring more of their gorgeous yarn…
Malabrigo Baby Lace Amoroso and Apple Green
but the outer layers of both yarns was a bit dusty. Which is surprising, who wouldn’t want this colorful yarn?
Malabrigo Baby Lace Merino Apple Green, so soft and squishy!
I brushed it off and it seems fine. And while I’d love to rewind the yarn today, I simply don’t have the time. My daughter and I are playing with what arrived in her package. The skeins are tiny compared to my worsted Malabrigo yarn, but that’s to be expected. It’s lace weight yarn. Which is a big difference from worsted weight yarn. The yarn companies turn around time was fast, I placed my order on 12/30/12 and received it today, 01/02/13. Since I didn’t need a rush order, I chose the slowest route and still received it fairly quickly.
Perhaps later this week, I’ll do a comparison between those two yarns? I’m currently working on a knitted hat using the malabrigo singly ply (worsted weight yarn) and I should be finished within the next few days. I’ll wait until I have crocheted/knitted a nice amount of hats, before they are distributed. I’m definitely loving every minute of the time I have to play with fiber, many times I only have a few moments, but I still enjoy them nonetheless.
Lovin’ Every Minute Of It! Why, I haven’t heard that song by Loverboy in years…
A bit of a narcissist, isn’t he? Keep living in that bubble, buddy! 😉
There are areas which I can improve… and I actively work on making improvements.
I don’t make New Years resolutions. I’ve always found them to be a bit silly. Why should I wait to make improvements? Nope, I make short and long term goals throughout year.
It’s been a busy day with work and crafting, and now things are starting to slow down. Early this afternoon, I received my fiber package from Just Yarns… Say what? Wasn’t I just writing about this yarn on Friday? It’s that lovely Malabrigo yarn, that I’ll be using to make hats for cancer patients.
I must say I’m impressed with Just Yarns turnaround time. I selected the cheapest way to send the fiber since I wasn’t in any rush to receive my order. I have plenty of projects to keep me busy, you know. But, it was nice that my package arrived to me less than three days later. Thanks so much, Just Yarns!
My first impression of Malabrigo is…
Whoa, this is some seriously soft yarn! Can I make a big yarn nest and just roll around in it for a while. This yarn is single ply it’s softness/texture resembles my hair. I wear my hair in dreadlocks aka locs.
Malabrigo Yarn: Hummingbird
What’s really awesome is that even though this yarn is 100% wool, if I hold it against my cheek or neck, it’s not making me itch! Most animal fibers make me itch like crazy. It’s a bit odd since I can crochet or knit with animal fibers as long as it stays in my hands. My hands aren’t as sensitive as other areas of my body. This Malabrigo wool is made from made from 100% merino wool. I’ve done my share of research about the yarn, and have read that some users who have unpleasant reactions to animal fibers, seem to be fine with merino.
Malabrigo yarn: Amor Intenso
I’m thrilled that I’ll be able to use the Malabrigo lace yarn I ordered for myself.
Soft & squishy Malabrigo yarn
In total, I ordered five skeins of yarn…
Malabrigo yarn cake
I’ve even got a chance to rewind one of the hanks into a cake. I was a bit concerned about winding it with my Boye yarn ball winder, but I took it slow and didn’t have any issues. Even better there were no knots! I’m looking forward to making these into hats for some well deserving cancer patients.
Loving Just Yarns
I’m really liking Just Yarns, and might use them as my main source of purchase for most things fiber related. Besides the speedy delivery, their yarn prices are reasonable, and I was impressed with their emails letting me know the status of my order. Additionally, the yarn was nicely packaged also. And that’s not the best part… I receive points by purchasing from their store! Which then I can use later to reduce the price of a purchase. They also have a referral program so if someone joins using my link, we both receive points which can be redeemed for a future purchase.
Offering such a service, is a great way to keep customers coming back, don’t you think? I’m thinking about using my points when I purchase the Hiya Hiya Steel Sharp (large) set. I can’t get it from them now since they’re sold out. Oh well… I can wait. 😉
There’s another free knitting pattern available, the catch is you have to take advantage of this offer before the end of Jan 1, 2013.
Browse through Anadiomena’s designs, choose one pattern you like, and don’t forget to enter the following code at check out: once upon december
This works out perfectly since I’ve been hunting for a wrap for my nine year old daughter. She has a piano recital this February. She takes private lessons, and her piano teacher assigns three piano recitals yearly. The children are expected to dress semi-formal. I always choose outfits that my daughter can wear more than once, but this February I’m coming up empty. My little princess is growing so fast, that she’s already outgrown the outfit I’d set aside for this occasion! Checking the stores we haven’t found anything that either of us likes, and so she’s asked me to sew her outfit. We’ve settled on the fabric, and I’m designing the dress myself. The only thing I thought was missing was a wrap.
Early this morning you could find me hunting for an appropriate (crocheted or knitted) wrap. I didn’t see any I liked until I stumbled upon this Ravelry post about Anadiomena’s generous pattern giveaway. I discovered (while browsing through her gorgeous designs) that she mainly creates items for girls! Sweet! There are enough adult designs in there too, so definitely check out what she’s offering. Anadiomena designs also has a blog.
I’m making the Silversage bolero to accompany the dress I design for my daughter. She adores boleros and is thrilled that I’m knitting one for her. The pattern calls for DK weight yarn, but I might see if I can pull it off in laceweight. Before I stumbled upon the pattern post, I’d ordered Malabrigo baby merino lace weight yarn specifically for my daughter’s upcoming recital, so I might use that…
Malabrigo Baby Merino Lace Apple Green
I also ordered this for someone special…
Me!
Apple green is one of my favorite colors, and I have just the outfit I’ll wear this with (After it’s turned into a beaded shawl– or perhaps a cowl.) The above yarns are Malabrigo baby merino lace weight yarn. I thought I received a fairly good price, since they were $8.80 (apiece) for 50 grams/470 yards. I paid even lower with the discount. I purchased the yarn from Fabulous Yarn. You’d think I’d have a lot of crocheted/knitted items, with the amount of items I make, but I don’t. I don’t hold onto many things, so most of the items I make are given to others or donated to the various volunteer organizations I’m involved with. I guess you could say that I’m ‘selfish’ in that I crochet/knit when I want and for whomever I want. 🙂
Knitting: To cast on or not…
I’m thinking of casting on Jewel of the Sea sometime today, then again I might not. I haven’t crocheted or knitted anything since the hat I knitted on Christmas Eve. I haven’t lost my fiber mojo, I’ve just been occupied with other things… but my hooks and needles keep tempting me. Last evening, I did take out my Hiya Hiya Sharp needles, and admired them. I love knitting with them, and I can’t wait to see how they do with Malabrigo lace weight yarn. One of these days, I’ll get around to sharing my finished objects and works in progresses. I have many of them, impatiently waiting in draft mood, just waiting to be published here at Celebrate Life.
Don’t forget…
To take advantage of the free knitted pattern, browse through Anadiomena’s designs, choose one pattern you like, and remember to enter the following code at check out: once upon december
Late this afternoon, while my daughter and I watched Monsters vs. Aliens, I rewound most of the yarn I purchased during Knit Picks Cyber Monday sale. It took me long enough, right?
The process lasted almost the entire movie, which was fairly quick based on the amount of yarn I had. To speed things up, I used the Boye electric yarn ball winder that I’d purchased a few months before…
And while I’ve seen my share of complaints about this product (most seemed tied to people who used the winder with a swift– I wind mine directly from the yarn ball) thus far mine has been doing a good job. Thanks to a 50% off coupon from Michaels, I snagged mine for half the normal price. Which ended up costing me a little over $40. And in my book it’s already paid for itself with the amount of yarn I’ve rewound.
Here in the USA you can use the major craft stores (JoAnn Fabrics, ACMoore, and Michaels) coupons interchangeably. Because of this, I never pay retail price at any of those stores. I always use the 50% off coupons.
But back to the ball winder, the only complaint that I have about the Boye electric yarn ball winder is that it won’t wind large skeins of yarn. It’s not the winders fault, it’s not meant to wind jumbo skeins of yarn. If I wanted that I could have purchased a jumbo winder. But since I don’t have too many large skeins of yarn (outside of my small stash of acrylic yarn) I didn’t think the jumbo winder was worth the purchase. I’ve been able to wind 210 yards of worsted weight wool without too much of an issue. Naturally I can wind more yards of lighter weight…
I’m imagining some people might be wondering why do I even need a ball winder? Yarn companies usually sell yarn pre-wound so why do they need to be rewound, again? The reason is simple, it eliminated the unexpected surprises one might encounter when working with store wound yarn, such as tangles or more knots than normal in store wound yarn. Also, I love a center pull yarn (beginning yarn strand that starts a fiber artists adventure) and that’s not always easily found with store wound yarn.
Yarn cake
Rewinding the yarn eliminates those unexpected surprises, and it also means I get a perfect center pull cake of yarn every single time. 😉
A few places where I volunteer, I use my crafting skills (crochet and knitting) to make hats for NICU babies and cancer patients.
It’s a wonderful situation, they receive a hand knit item from a stranger who wants to help in some way, and as a process crafter, I get to do what I love… create items without hoarding the crocheted and knitted items. I must say lots of prayer are spoken while I create these special hats.
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal;
Matthew 6:19-20
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
A lot of the passages I read in the Bible serve as ‘gentle reminders’ for myself. I dislike waste, and hoarding finished objects I’ll never use seems a bit wasteful (at least for me.)
Malabrigo yarn; Amor Intenso
Yesterday, I saw these yarns on the Just Yarn website. Aren’t they gorgeous? And while I thought about holding onto them for myself, I realized that I really didn’t have a project.
Malabrigo yarn; Hummingbird
When I placed the order (a few moments ago) I did so because I realized that I could use the yarn to make lovely hats for cancer patients! I chose the above colors because I like to see bursts of color in whatever I wear, and I know there are cancer patients who share my passion for color too. I was fortunate enough to snag the last three skeins of Amor Intesio!
I’m still undecided on the type of hats I’ll make with the yarn. I’ll wait for the yarn to arrive, and then make a decision. Often once I have touched the yarn, I know exactly what it’ll become. I’ll either create my own design (which I do quite often) or I’ll choose one of the numerous hat patterns I have on file.
Merino sheep
There’s a few ‘firsts’ going on here…
I’ve never ordered from Just Yarns and I’ve never used Malabrigo yarn. I’ve heard great things about both. Many fiber artists rave about the softness of Malabrigo yarn, so naturally I’m looking forward to working with the fiber. The Malabrigo yarns I ordered is worsted weight, and it’s single ply. It’s also 100% wool, and comes from shearing merino sheep.
The name, Malabrigo, was a bit curious to me, since I remember it sort of meant ‘bad shelter’. Say what? That’s kind of a strange name to give to a yarn company, wouldn’t you say? After some quick research this is the reasoning the company gave for choosing that name.
The name comes in part from the village of Mal Abrigo in Uruguay. There are several towns of that name in South America (in other countries) but that was the one we had in mind. It is called that because it is extremely windy and back when people rode horses and needed to take shelter for the night, it was known for being a terrible place to stop.
The founders also said that they were inspired by a place so cold that everyone camped out in their homes knitting warm, wooly sweaters together. I like that image! Creating with our hands, is something my daughter and I do when the weather is too cold to venture outside.
Most of the places where I donate crochet or knitted items require that you use synthetic or non-animal fibers, but there are a few places where items made with animal fiber is appreciated.
Early this morning, I went online and purchased the BaByliss BABTT4073 Pro TT Tourmaline Titanium Steam Straightener for my daughter. The flat iron retails for about $150, however I purchased it for $69.
Late this afternoon, while my daughter and I watched Monsters vs. Aliens, I rewound most of the yarn I purchased during 
