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Woot! We ordered some yarn directly from Lion Brand and it arrived!!

I was a bit surprised the were able to pack all our order in two boxes but then again, the boxes are slam full!! I was so excited, I tore into it before thinking to take pictures

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We ordered 9 skeins of the fisherman's wool in brown for a special order cloak. Keep an eye out, I am sure to be blogging about it. They want the floor length hooded cloak with sleeves.....I think that is called a robe but if they want to call it a cloak that is fine with me!!

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Kristina's stash - she loves the specialty yarns. We ordered some Merino wool, several skeins of the Moonlight Mohair (it has mohair in it!!) and some fun fur (you would be amazed what you can make with fun fur!). Pretty nice collection and I am sure you will see some fun and interesting items come from this box!

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We ordered quite a large assortment of the homespun yarn. Originally we didn't really like the homespun - that extra little ribbon would catch on the crochet hook. Then we switched to larger hooks and wow! Now we love love love it and it can make some beautiful items. These colors should work up into some pretty pretty crochet creations.

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Cotton! We did purchase more cotton then anything else. We figured with summer coming that cotton would be a good choice to work with - natural, easy to care for and looks good. We purchased extra white and natural so we could play with dying it ourselves with some natural dyes. Should be great fun!



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I already snagged some yarn and starting dyeing - here is a few of the finished skeins. Once dry we have to untangle them because I thought it was a good idea to throw them into the washer. Who knew?

Thanks for reading and keep coming back! More exciting crafting coming up!

 
This coming Saturday (12/3) we will be attending our last craft fair of the year. With Thanksgiving just past and the Christmas holiday's fast approaching, I thought we would take a look back at our first fair this year. Actually our first fair as vendor ever!
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The craft fair was being held at the Durham Armory and we lucked up with a table on the inside. We were also able to set up the tables the night before and I for one appreciated that opportunity. This being our first fair, I was unsure how to set up our items to best attract attention so I needed that extra time.
I think the tables turned out great! We did rearrange a bit during the day but that's probably typical for any vendors.

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Our booth was near the roll up doors so it was a bit breezy first thing in the morning. Ok really until around noon. Here is Kristina trying to warm up with some free coffee. Unfortunately the coffee was barely warm. The ladies were unsure how to use the armory coffee pots and we sampled it about an hour before a soldier came in to show them how it's done.

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The inside of the armory was full of vendors of all kinds. We met some really awesome crafters and artists, got a chance to view a variety of artwork, learn some hints and tips for future craft fairs and even made some sales of our own. All in all I think it was a successful first event and we both look forward to having a booth at more fairs. Look for us!!


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Here is a photo of our Durham Craft Market booth. You can see we have changed our tables around a bit and added more great items for sale. We have an awning to give shade and support a chain down one side to hang our clothes and purses on. We made some cute hat stands to display the hats better as well. Some with little 'arms' to show off the scarves.
I can tell we need longer tablecloths to hide our bins!

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Close up on the chain/clothes rack set up. For the indoor show we will be using our original clothes rack made from PVC and painted a light purple. Greg made the rack and the hat stands. He plans to make another rack, like a coat rack, that we can use to hang the purses when we are indoors and won't have the chain.

Will post I am sure about how the Durham Holiday Fair after it is all over. Wish us luck and lots of sales!

 
Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! Will blog about our fun day and give thanks later but for now I thought I would post this info about gardening. Enjoy!
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I  wanted to share a great idea I came across when I was researching composting for the garden. Composting in a zip lock bag! That's right, you can compost  a gallon bag at a time using a zip lock bag, compost appropriate scraps and your refrigerator.

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Basically I am taking a gallon sized bag and adding my fruit and veggie scraps, egg shells, coffee grounds (with the filter) and tea bags.  For compost remember not to add any dairy, meat or oils to your bag as those items can make an odor and attract pests (like mice! yuck!).

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_ I just dig a hole (or trench), drop in the scraps and cover it back up. The worms do the rest.

I have found that I can start a new bag every Sunday and bury it the next Sunday, it has a good bit of materials in it and that gives the worms plenty of time to munch before I add more (I am alternating between 4 of the beds). So far it has been working great, takes little time or effort and hopefully will improve my soil for spring planting!

  Some great places to get more info on composting:

http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/organicgardening/compost_pf.php
http://www.plantea.com/compost-materials.htm
http://www.thegardeningguru.com/index-21.html
http://www.compost-info-guide.com/
http://www.epa.gov/osw/conserve/rrr/composting/index.htm

While you are out there feeding the worms remember to stop and smell the flowers! :)

 
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It's been awhile since I did an update so thought I would do one today :)

We have adopted a dog from the local animal shelter (will be blogging about that more too). Here is my son, David, introducing Layla to our back yard. You can see the raised bed gardens are a bit overgrown.

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Speaking of the raised beds, I think they worked pretty good! The main bonus, less weeding!

We had a great crop of tomatoes, lima's and green beans.
We canned a lot of the tomatoes and ate everything else. Here is a pot of the last green beans we picked. I planted three kinds of beans and meant to track which did best. I totally forgot and so we had an assortment of beans each time. They were all yummy!


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Here is a cool picture of some of my hardscaping. A neighbor gave me this old bike - two flat tires, no brakes but the frame was still good. I 'planted' it in the side yard and planted morning glories by the tires. They only came up around the front of the bike but they look so cool!


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Here's Lalya chilling out in the yard with her Kong. These are cool toys you can fill with snacks or peanut butter, they can chew on the toy and try to get the snacks out. Great way to keep the puppy entertained while we are out of the house.

Well that's about all my excitement. Catch up with you again soon! Thanks for reading!
Millie


 
_Happy New Year!! Let's all start the year off right by donating time, money or whatever we can to help others. Here is a great charity that you should have in your area (google it) for the kids: http://www.blessingsinabackpack.org/
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_Information from their website: Blessings in a Backpack is a program that feeds elementary school children whose families qualify for the federal Free and Reduced Price Meal program, and have little to no food on the weekends. According to their research, better test scores, improved reading skills, positive behavior, improved health and increased attendance have all been attributed to the success of this program.

 

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I was looking at the recent fundraisers and was so touched by the story by Trinity. She wanted to sell her suncatchers to raise funds for the Backpack program.

There are highlights as well of other fundraisers from  young children, teenagers and adults. Even some celebrities!

You can help out by donating, fundraising or adopting a school! So many ways to make a difference in a child's life.

We live in North Carolina and the Food Bank of Central & Eastern NC participates in the Backpack program (http://www.foodbanknc.org/programs/backpack/index.asp). Here is an awesome mural about the program and it's impact on the children, schools and community.
We will be planning some donations and a cool fundraiser so keep posted! Please share with us your favorite charity!
 
_Opposites attract or so I have heard often. Opposites can also be very complementary. Kristina and I have been working together for awhile now in our etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/2crochethooks
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While Kristina and I are a lot alike, we are also very different.

Kristina loves the beach and ocean, sun and surf, sand and gentle breezes, and her dream home would have her situation as close to the shore as possible.

I think the beach is a great place to visit but definitely not my dream home location.

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I am waiting for retirement to move to the mountains! I love the view of the mountains, the beautiful trees and growing things all around me, the ups and downs of the horizon and the chance to have cool summers and some snowy winters.

Kristina is willing to visit me here but not so much interested in living here.

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In our creative work, Kristina loves to make hats. She makes so many styles, in so many colors, in so many sizes. She loves the quick, easy projects and the quick sense of satisfaction that her goal was reached. With her busy schedule and two sweet but active younglings, 15 minutes at a time is about all Kristina has to spare!

Kristina is branching out to some other projects as well - headbands, scarves, bags, gloves and more. She is the driving force behind our tarn and plarn projects. As well as running our websites, advertising and researching our suppliers.

She loves to dream up new patterns and then create a new item from those patterns, maybe something not even seen before!

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I like bigger projects, ones that take awhile to complete and I don't care if I follow a pattern or create my own. Actually I usually forget to write the pattern down so have to create the item twice lol. With no babies at home and a stay at home type of personality, I can typically devote about 2 hours a night several nights a week to a project. This let's me really spend time working out a pattern whether it's my own or a published one.

Afghans, shawls and other clothing items have my attention right now but that is always subject to change.


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Kristina is fashionista too! She loves 50's style clothing and cool, hip and fun fashions like this picture. She loves the swirl of swishy skirts and she typically is wearing skirts except to work, where she does wear jeans or pants.

She loves fun and funky fashions, anime, sprites and fairies and cute and sassy accessories.



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Me, blue jeans and tie dye shirts are my fashion choices. I love me some tie dye!! :) I wouldn't know high fashion if it hit me in the head and jumped on my shoulders. I don't even typically use a purse but load up all my pockets. Only thing cool and funky about me is the colors in my tie dye!!

I could go on and on but I just wanted to show a bit of how we are different and yet get along so well. I think we inspire each other, help each other with comfort, suggestions and some great ego boosts when needed and we definitely get more done together than we do apart.

Thanks Kristina for being so awesome!! :)
If you are part of an opposites team tell us all about it!
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