Meet "Miss Millie"

She's here she's here, my Majacraft Millie is here. I got my wheel on Friday and have been spinning away over the weekend. All three bobbins are full :) Now I just have to empty them so I can spin some more.







There are a couple of scratches on her but nothing major.





I have also been watching a lot of the Olympics and Knitting a bit. My Bird in hand mitts are coming along. I will take pictures of those as soon as there is some sun in these parts. I should be finished with them in a couple of days. I am also working on my sock pattern and writing it up and knitting it. I don't know if it will be done before the Olympics are over but maybe shortly after.

I also got some lovely things in the mail this last week. My Woolgirl sock club came. I think this is my favorite so far. If you want to see spoiler pictures you can check here. I also got some Spunky Eclectic Roving from somebody on ravelry. I loved this roving when I first saw it and it was one of the reasons I joined Spunky's club. It's called "Flowering Weeds" and it was the June shipment.

On the family note...nothing really new there. Just the fact that I found out how sneaky my little one is. I went to go check on the boys in there room and I left Cierra in the living room. When I got back to the living room she wasn't there. I called her and no answer. I checked the kitchen and there she was with a box of Goldfish crackers snacking right out the box. She didn't even dump them out. It was too funny! Thank goodness I don't have anything dangerous in any of the cabinets that she can get to...let's just say I learned not to put things down there with my first kid :)




Hope that everyone is doing well. I will try and check back in sometime this week. Thanks for stopping by. Happy knitting, spinning or crafting in general :)

A week in Review

Hi all. Just a quick post with lots of pictures to review this last week. Hope that you all are enjoying the last days of summer. I know that we are. I'm trying to keep the boys busy so we are out of the house as much as possible.

Last Friday was Cierra's first Birthday. I made her cupcakes. They were so yummy and cute if I do say so myself :) I have been spinning a lot lately and I finally bought my first wheel. A lightly used Majacraft "Millie" for $175. I couldn't pass up a great deal like that now could I?It should be here next week sometime. I will have lots of pics when it does get here.

In the mean time here is a picture of my latest spinning wip on my Ashford spindle. I plan on entering this yarn in the Puyallup Fair at the end of this month. Wish me luck :)

Spunky Eclectic Romney in "Eclipse" Colorway. This is July's shipment. My first of many :) roving shipments from her.

I also got my Hush Hush Handspun Hootenanny gift from my wonderful swap partner Susan. Who is blogless. She sent all kinds of goodies....just look at all I got!

She even sent little goodies for the kids. She is so sweet. Thanks again Susan you are so AWSOME!!! I was cheated out of a box during the coffee swap last October and was turned off of swaps forever, or so I thought. This was the best experience. I think she changed my mind about swaps.

I also got my dkKnits "Wool dye for Ewe" August shipment. I think this is my favorite so far. Of course I say that every time but this time I really mean it (or at least until the next months shipment) There is no name for this yarn. Becky is so cool. She has her own version of Knitting Olympics going on for sock clubbers and non sock clubbers. If you are interested let her know here. (rav link)

Speaking of Olympics I have entered in the Ravelymics. I am on team Blue Moon. I have entered in Mitten Medley. I started knitting my Bird in Hand mittens in Blue Moon Sock yarn. "Aquaboy" and "Lodestone" colorways. Loving this knit so far. Wish me luck. I hope that I finish these.

I also entered in the designers discus. I have a sock pattern that I need to knit up and write a pattern for. Hopefully I finish this one. I know that I have teased you all in the past with sock designs coming soon...but this time I really hope that I can accomplish this goal.

I also entered in WIP Wrestling. There are a pair of socks that I hope that I can finish. But we will see. This is the low man on the totem pole if you know what I mean.

I'll leave you with a couple of pictures of the boys playing at the park. I love when they get along and do "teamwork" That's what they call it when one helps the other. This was a rare occasion where I had a camera to have proof that they do get along most of the time :)

Ki loves some hop scotchI forgot to tell my sister that D'Andre said "Mom this flower is for Auntie Shawna...can we send it to her?" So I took a picture so she would know that he was thinking about her. (Love ya sis)That's all for now. Next post I should have a lot of picture of my new to me wheel :) Squee...can you tell I'm excited?! XD

Happy Birthday CiCi CiCi stinky lady :)

Cierra Petal Goodwin

One year already...where does the time go?

3 days old

3 months old
6 months old
Today :)

Little lady you have brought so much love and joy to our family. You are silly, sweet and oh so loveable. Your daddy and I are so greatful and truely blessed to have you as our daughter. I can't wait to see what the future holds for you. Your brothers, daddy and I love you very much, Happy Birthday ladybug!

I'm back :)

The kids and I got back to Washington on Tuesday. I know I am a slacker I should have wrote a post when I got back but I have not really been in the mood to type. We had such a great time in sunny California. We spent most of our time in the pool at my parents house and by the end of the trip the boys learned how to swim without floaties and they could swim the whole length of the pool. I even taught D'Andre how to do the "dead mans float". See...

We also spent a week in Georgia to visit my in-laws. Travis spent his 10 day vacation there and we met him. We hadn't seen his family in 5 years. My father in-law had never met Kizaiah and they both got to met Cierra for the first time. It was a nice week. Travis and I actually got to spend time alone...with no kids. We haven't had time alone in about 3 years. That is a long ass time! We went to lunch together and all we really talked about was the kids but it was nice to eat without having to cut someones food or having a baby to feed :) We will have to do it more often now we just have to meet people around here that can watch out kiddos.

I took a lot of pictures while we were on vacation, too many to post on the blog but if you want to see them you can hop on over to flickr and check them out. I will be adding them a little bit at a time.

I also celebrated my 29th birthday on Friday. My husband surprised me with a yummy cake that he made, it pays to be married to a military cook :) Check out his handy work.

It was so good too.

My parents and Travis are going to be giving me $ to buy my first spinning wheel...do you guys have any suggestions? I am going to be going to my LYS to try some out soon, that is if I don't buy one before I get a chance to try any out. I am so impatient!

Well that's all for now. The next post will have some updates on my WIP's and fibery goodness. I will leave you with a picture of me and the kids. I got my dad to snap a shot of me and the kids before we went out with my grandma.

I know Kizaiah looks crazy but it's hard to get all 3 kids looking in the same direction to take a decent picture.

Talk to you all soon. Thanks for checking in on me :)

Drive By Post

Hi all this is just going to be a quick "Drive By Post" My family and I are still on vacation. We just got back from visiting the inlaws in humid Georgia and now we are back in Sunny California. I hope that you all are well. I have been knitting and spinning lots when the kids and I are not in the pool or at the beach. Here are some pictures of some footies I finished and some of the kids enjoying our vacation.
My basic footie pattern. Cast on 60 sts. Work 2x2 rib for 5 rounds, knit 2 rounds and start short row heel. Easy and a great scrap buster :) This is a shot that my sister took of me wearing them in the waterfall of my parents pool. She thought I was nuts. (Don't worry no clorine in the pool it's just salt water) Yarn: My sisters leftovers of Yarn Pirate in "Isobel" colorway. I still have plenty to knit another pair if I want or a little pair for Cierra :)I will have a longer post when we get back to rainy Washington. I just wanted to let you all know that we are still alive and haven't melted in this heat :) Enjoy the rest of July and I will write again soon.

Hush-Hush Handspun Hootenanny Questionnaire

1. How long have you been spinning? What skill level do you consider yourself? I have only been spinning since may 3rd 2008 :) so I consider myself a beginner

2. What kinds of yarn do you create (singles/2-ply/3-ply/art yarn)? so far I have created singles and 2 ply
3. What do you spin with (spindle/wheel/both)? right now I spin on a spindle but I will be getting a wheel soon....in fact I am going to get one for my birthday next month :)
4. What are your favorite fibers to spin with? Anything you don't like? So far my favorites are superwash merino and merino/tencel. But I am up for trying all kinds
5. Who are your favorite crack dealers fiber sources (etsy or otherwise)? I love squoosh, yarn pirate and dkKnits. But I would really like to try funkycarolina, pigeonroof studios, bee mice elf and freckle face fiber.
6. What kind of fiber do you want to try? I am open to all kinds of fiber
7. Is there any techniques you would like to learn? I would love to lear how to spin silk hankies
8. Do you dye fiber? If not, would you like to learn? I don't dye fiber but maybe some day in the future I could try my hand at some dyeing :)
9. Do you have fiber prep tools (and like to use them) or would you prefer ready to spin fiber? I would prefer ready to spin since I don't have any fiber tools
10. What do you do with your handspun? What projects have you completed? I take lots of pictures of my handspun for now. I am trying to find a great knitting project for my only finished skein
11. Are you in need of any spinning gadgets (WPI Gauge, threading hook, etc)? Yes I am in need of fiber gadgets...whatever you think might be helpful to a newbie
12. What colors "fall into your shopping basket"? Any colors you just can't stand? always blues, I like pinks, greens, silvers, purples...I'm pretty easy
13. What is on your wheel/spindle right now? squoosh falkland roving in "Ice Cream Cone" colorway and dkKnits Sugarspun roving merino/tencel in "Water Garden" Colorway.
14. What other crafts/hobbies do you have? Knitting, Sewing and candle making
15. Other than crafts, what are you passionate about? sudoku and fill-it in's I like puzzles
16. Do you have an online wishlist? no but I should make one
17. Is there anything that you collect? yarn and fiber
18. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What magazine subscriptions do you have? not really, and I don't have any magazine subscriptions but I do buy every interweave knits that comes out when I can.
19. When is your birthday? July 25th
20. What book or movie character do you most resemble in personality? That's a hard question I might have to think about that one a bit
21. What is the climate like where you live around this time (need to know for careful shipments of anything meltable)? I am currently living in the Beautifully rainy state of Washington... I am a California girl at heart so the rain is hard to get used to
22. Tell us one weird fact about yourself! Hmm...I guess the fact that all the money in my wallet has to be facing the same way with the one's at the back of the stack then the five's and so on...I'm pretty weird about that I guess. That's the only part that is organized about me :)
Favorites
favorite painting/picture(link): I have a few favorites but mostly picture of the sea and a beautiful beach always make me happy
Candy: Chocolate, Snickers, Milk duds (notice a trend)
Food: Mexican food
Drink: Coffee, Pepsi, Sweet Tea
Movie(s): old 80's and early 90's movies, The Goonies, Overboard, Pretty Women, The Karate Kid...I know I'm a dork :)
TV Show(s): Grey's Anatomy, Samantha Who, Desperate Housewives, Days of Our Lives
Book(s): Can't think of One off the top of my head but I like to read Memoirs and Scary Stories
Guilty Pleasure(s): Staying up til the wee hours of the morning knitting, spinning or sewing when I know my 3 small kids are going to get up early the next day.

Happy Birthday Dre Dre

D'Andre Christopher Goodwin:

MischievousBrave

Awsome Big Brother!

Sweet

Silly

Smart, Funny a Wonderful Son...Thank You for being you. Your Dad and I couldn't ask for anything more we are truely blessed to have you as one of our sons. You are an All Star. Love you and Happy 6th Birthday Little Man!
I can't believe how fast time flies. My baby turned 6 yesterday. Happy Birthday Son You are Truely loved!

WARNING: Long Post & Lots of Pics!!!

This is going to be a long post with lots and lots of pictures. Basically cause I have been a slacker in the blog department.

I have added alot of goodies to my stash thanks to the purchases of my lovely customers who have been buying lots of Punky Pouches and Circular Needle clutches and keeping me busy at the sewing machine...I can't thank you guys enough. Here are a couple of my latest goodies that I bought the past couple of weeks with my "Candy Money"

Last week was a Yarn Piratey week and thanks to Ravelry I scored some lovely destashed booty :)

Yarn Pirate Merino/Tensil Sock Yarn in "Patina" Colorway.

Yarn Pirate Merino Sock Yarn in "Kalamata" Colorway.

Georgia updated her shop last week and I scored some lovely roving to add to my growing Spinning stash. 5.2 oz of BFL Roving in "Axel" Colorway. It's obvious that I'm already in love with Yarn Pirate Yarn I know that I will love her roving too :) Can't wait to get this on my spindle.

Speaking of Roving I also got this beauty. It's dkKnits SugarSpun Roving 50/50 Merino/tencil in "Water Garden" colorway. This is soooooo incredibly soft I just want to sleep with it on my pillow. Go to her shop now she is having a Spring Cleaning Sale.I also got my June "Wool Dye for Ewe" Sock Club from Becky of dkKnits in my custom colorway "Punky Plum". This is one of the coolest sock clubs that I have ever been in. She custom dyes each customers colorway. Each one is different and will never be dyed again. I love it Becky Thanks!

Speeking of Custom colorways I had a yarn colorway named after little ol' me. I had a great swap with Jessica of Life in Lilt Creations. I swapped her 2 Punky Pouches for 2 skeins of beautiful yarn. Twist sock yarn in "Punky Purls" colorway

Twist sock yarn in "Fiesta" colorway.

This yarn is sooooooooo darn soft. 400 yards of Superwash Merino. so lovely Thank you Jess. I love it. If you want a skein of your very own I think that this will be added to her shop.

In spinning news I finished my very first usable Handspun yarn. 26o yards of Superwash yarn. I got 19wpi so I think that makes it lace to light fingering weight. Any ideas of what to knit with it?

In other crafting news I made Cierra's summer dress. I made a size 2. My baby is getting so big and I wanted her to be able to wear it for a while. It's Huge...oh well she will still be wearing it Next week when we got to California and Georgia for the month. I think it will be able to fit her for a long while what do you think? Haha look at her face. It's like she is saying "Mother Please!"Speaking of vacation... The shop will be closed from Friday 13 June at 9pm pst - 22 July. You can still place order from now until then so I have time to make the bags and send them out to you. I will have internet access while I am gone, so feel free to convo me if you have questions or would like to order Punky Pouches. I can make them when I get back. Well that's about it for now. Thank you all for reading this long drawn out post. Happy Crafting.

New Bags and some Knitting

Hi all...I have been doing some sewing and a little knitting. Here are some pictures of my FO and WIP's.

Mini Pleated Beauty Bag. I modified the dimensions on Amy Karol's Pleated Beauty Handbag from the Bend the Rules Sewing book. The one in the book was so cute but I think that it was way to big. This bag is so cute I almost don't want to sell it at the shop. :) I guess I can always make another one. The Sweater in the picture is of my Wicked Sweater using Dream in Color Classy in "Deep Sea Flower" Hopefully I finish it before the DIC KAL is over. Wish me luck.Here is the "Charming Handbag" from the same book. I kind of winged the pattern on this one. It's not the same dimensions but it's basically the same structure as the original. This will be in the shop soon too.

I also started knitting again...when I get tired of sitting at the sewing machine. I cast on for 2 pairs of footies using the scrap yarn that my sister sent me. The first one is knit using size a 3 circular needle and Yarn Pirate Sock yarn in "Rosie" and the second one is knit using a 1.5 circular needle and Yarn Pirate Sock yarn in the "Isobel" colorway. I love how the second one is stripping up...I can't wait to finish these. And I added some more lovely yarn to my stash. dkKnits Technicolor Dream Toes in "Ding Dong Cart Dayz" I love these colors :)

That's all for now I will update again soon. I have a couple more bags that I am going to be working on and some more yarn and roving coming in the mail. Thank you etsy buyers for helping support my habit :)

Thanks for reading & Happy Crafting!