Spotlight on EmbraceBathandBody

Sometimes a seller or product just really stands out. A little bit ago, I was looking for some lip balm on Etsy. I wanted a good product that made my lips feel nice and not all dried out again a little later and in new and yummy scent.

I found EmbraceBathandBody, a relatively new shop (started Jan 08, 2008) with professional looking items and good descriptions. Lanolin is in the lip balm and that really caught my eye because I know lanolin from my spinning and its something I hadn't seen in beauty products before. Maybe I didn't look closely enough because as Lori told me that's where Oil of Olay gets its name. I didn't know you could buy it separate from the wool before.

I asked about it and Lori was very helpful with that and my other questions. I bought two lip balms and am very happy with them. The Dulce De Leche is an unexpected scent that reminds me of sugar cookies. The Peppermint is a very nice peppermint, not too strong. Some of her soaps have me wishing I could smell through the screen.

Here's the shop if you want to check it out http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5528943

Every Day Art

I was making some place mats earlier today and that got me thinking about art that you use. It could be a handmade mug, a knit sweater, a carefully constructed household object - beautiful things that could be decorations, but are more than that. That's how I hope people see my place mats. You could hang them on the wall when they're not on the table.
I have one done and drying right now, the other is laid out ready to felt on the kitchen counter. :p

I did some spinning

I got my spinning wheel set up finally and worked on an idea I've had for a while. I have 3 different colors of shetland wool. I spun a single alternating between the 3 colors. Then I plied it onto itself and two of the three colors are paired randomly.




I like the way it turned out.




I wanted to post this earlier, as in days ago, but Google and Blogger seemed to be having some dns problems.

April Challenge Pin Cusions

I was thinking about making some more pin cushions and I noticed that EtsyFast chose Storms as the theme for April's challenge. These are what I came up with.



Storms is an appropriate theme, and not because of the weather.

New Items

I listed some more of my Constellation Bead Yarn today. I had fun spinning this one, but it was a pain when I put too many beads on at a time and the yarn broke and the beads went flying all over the room! Anyway, it reminds me of stars in the sky somewhere without lots of light pollution. Enjoy.















Ah, this one is a bulky wool yarn (the blue is the same as in Constellation) that I spun up a while ago and was just taking pictures of to list. Maybe you saw it with me at a craft fair. :p I'm really liking my bulky flyer with this one!

Sterotypes

My friends over at KnittingHelp.com were talking about sterotypes today. What do you think of when you think of a knitter? An old lady? I've been told that I'm young for someone who knits. Why is that? There's no age limit! It's a really fun hobby and who cares about your age or gender or whatever. I understand that humans like to categorize things, but sterotypes just aren't that helpful. So many people don't fit in them, that they loose their usefulness as a category. There are people of all ages in my local knitting group and groups I've been in elsewhere.

Pictures Finally

I was finally able to take these pictures of my projects to post. I ran out of yarn for the orange lace scarf. I started it in a hurry so I just used some leftover yarn my friend had. I didn't realize it would be such a pain to find more! I went to the store she bought it at and they don't carry it anymore. They only have Lamb's Pride in bulky not worsted. That was a bit disappointing. I also got a lecture about dye lots. I only asked because the same store might have some left from the same lot. It hadn't been THAT long since my friend was there. Well, I ordered some more yarn and I'll see if it matches. If not I'll make some really long stripes.
















Here is the progress on the hat I've been working on. I'm almost ready to start the decreases.

I know I've been slow to post, but

that can sometimes happen when you get a new job and move a bunch. I'd have pictures of the hat I'm making for my Mom and the lace scarf I'm working on, except that the cable to connect my camera to the computer is about 300 miles away. I'm doing the scarf in orange Lamb's Pride worsted on size 9 needles. It was kind of a hurry to find the yarn and needles to start the project for a knit along, so I hope finding more yarn that color isn't a problem. The hat is in blue and greenish Atacama alpaca on size 4 circs. I wrote out the decreases and am kinda making the color pattern up as I go.