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Lip Butters Now Available!

October 26, 2015 blogtest_2q7z6c 2 Comments

I have listed three lip butters on my Etsy shop!

First, we have the unflavored lip butter. The base is Shea butter, Avocado oil and Beeswax. The unflavored lip butter has no additional flavorings.

Next is the Pumpkin Spice lip butter. The base is the same as the unflavored, but with added Pumpkin Spice flavoring. This flavor is warm and sweet. It reminds me of a pumpkin cheesecake.

The Pumpkin Spice is so good, even a velociraptor keeps it on hand! (Thanks to Jellybean for sharing his dinosaur toy. 🙂 )

Finally, I have Mint lip butter. The mint flavor is bright and spicy, with hints of both spearmint and peppermint.

As I said last week, it’s the beeswax that makes this product really special. The wax is harvested locally by my Father-in-law from his own hives. His bees are untreated and thriving and the wax is a lovely golden color and has a floral honey aroma all by itself. The wax is filtered but otherwise unaltered.

I must give credit, again, for the photos. The staging was my idea, but he took my idea and made it look great. He is definitely the photographer of us.

And speaking of my husband, I just have to tell you. (Warning: This is gonna get a little sappy.) He’s been so incredibly supportive and encouraging. He’s offered constructive suggestions on ways to improve the product or process. He’s great to bounce ideas off of, he’ll give me his honest opinion. He’s taken the kiddo out on Saturday mornings to give me time to get some of these batches together. He’s even helped me get shrink wrap on tubes. He’s helpful, and kind, and even though we’re all stressed with so many changes in our lives, he’s still the calm in the storm. He’s a great cook, an awesome father and the best husband. It’s true we have a little bump to get over, what with the new house, new baby and selling this house, but I’m excited for the next chapter in our lives.

Like a Little Bee

October 22, 2015 blogtest_2q7z6c 6 Comments

We’ve been so busy busy busy lately, but I think we’re about to get a little break for a few weeks.

We made our offer on the house and it was accepted, then we proposed our repairs, and that was accepted. The appraisal was good, our loan has been approved and we’re ready to go. Closing date is the 6th and we get possession 15 days after that. Right before Thanksgiving. Phew. I’m looking at the timeline, and looking at the still-mostly-unpacked state of our current house and it’s all a little overwhelming.

We’ve been traveling so much lately that I’m really behind in stuff that needs to be done. Stocking orders, laundry, vacuuming, grocery shopping… that sort of thing. So I’ve been spending this week just catching up on that stuff (except the vacuuming. I haven’t had a good chance to do that yet.)

I’ve started more sorting and clearing out today and hopefully we’ll make it!

Part of our traveling was our annual anniversary trip to Fall Creek Falls. We absolutely love this place. So much so, that we got married there. Since I was pregnant with Jellybean on our first anniversary, we’ve taken him with us every year. We’ve talked about letting the grandparents keep him for a night, but honestly, I enjoy having him there with us. We’ll see about next year, when there’s two of them!

We always take a big, long hike on the day of our anniversary and this year, we did 5.5 miles. Jellybean walked at least 2.5 miles of that all by himself. Of course those miles were slower, but he really had fun on the unpaved, craggy path. He likes to climb and jump and that was just perfect for him. He even went across the swinging bridge twice!

He was pointing out and saying all the letters. (Yes, that sign has been misspelled for years.)

The overnight lows were in the 50s, so the water was VERY cold. I still think he would have jumped in if we’d let him.

This is how you ride when you’re two and you’ve walked as much as you can.

We all had a good time.

I have a new product to introduce to you. I’ve been playing around with lip balms and lotion bars. I will have these available in the shop within the week:

This lip butter is made with shea butter, avocado oil and beeswax. It is soft, moisturizing and truly luxurious. The unscented/unflavored has a slight hint of honey smell, thanks to the beeswax, but has no artificial flavorings added. I do have plans for other flavors, currently pumpkin spice, strawberry, mint and pineapple tangerine. They will be $3.00 each and available in tubes, pots or slide tins.

Now, let me tell you about my secret ingredient. The beeswax comes from my Father-in-law. He has several beehives and the bees are his current favorite hobby. The bees gather nectar on wildflowers, fruit trees, grape vines, and the vegetable garden. His bees are NOT treated and the wax looks, feels and smells just so good.

The pumpkin spice flavor is up next, after I filter more wax. That has to be done when everyone else is out of the house, so I’m not tripping over the kiddo. My next chance for that will be the weekend, so hopefully I can have that and the unflavored lip butters up in the shop early next week.

Have a great weekend!

A Wee Little Announcement

October 12, 2015 blogtest_2q7z6c 4 Comments

Shopping for a house in a town two hours away is really exhausting. I’ve made a trip there every week for the last three weeks, but the ball is rolling.

I’ve been working away on hubby’s sweater as I have the chance. I have both sleeves done, now, and I’ve started the back, so I’m about a third of the way through. I’m very pleased with the progress of that.

There’s more big news that I can share with you, my friends. This is one of the very few times I will post a picture of my little man on my blog, but this time is worth it:

That’s right! We’re going to have baby #2 late April/early May. In keeping with the candy theme, Jellybean’s little sibling is nicknamed Lollypop.

I’m gearing up for the second trimester, and I’m getting my energy back and feeling the nesting coming on. Perfect timing! And I get to nest a whole new house!

So, yeah, this is on top of everything else going on, but we’ll just get all the hard stuff out of the way all at once, right? HAHA HAHAHAHA

Ahem. Sorry about that.

Have a great week, friends. I’m going to go get some rest. 🙂

Monday’s Update (Late) on a Tuesday

October 6, 2015 blogtest_2q7z6c 2 Comments

This is getting to be a habit, isn’t it?

I’ve spent lots and lots of time adulting this week. Things just gotta get done, ya know? The craziness of preparing to move plus trying to find a new house plus getting this one ready to sell (we can’t find any handy people who want to bid our job!) plus keep up with all the normal stuff we need to do (for some crazy reason, my family still wants dinner. Every night!)

Take all that and add in a toddler who’s dropping naps (woe is me!) and it’s a struggle to get anything done.

I’ve instituted a daily quiet time for the toddler, which will allow me too get something done, and I’m using my MDO time to pack and sort through all our stuff. Which only leaves bedtime for knitting. The plus side is that we can put jellybean to bed early when he doesn’t nap and he usually doesn’t have an issue with that.

I’ve been focusing on my husband’s sweater for the last week or so. I’ve finished one sleeve and made good progress on the second. The pattern is easy and predictable, so after the first repeat, I didn’t need to look at the chart anymore.

This sweater is constructed differently than my cardigan. My cardigan was knit all in one piece with no seams. This sweater is knit with the front, back and sleeves being separate pieces.

Patterns always start with instructions for the back, then the front, then sleeves. I started with the sleeves, though. I do have a reason! The sleeves start out at the cuff, and are only 54 cast on stitches rather than 120-something. I used the first sleeve as a gauge swatch, so I sorta cheated. Turns out I hit the gauge right on the money so there was no need to rip out. Always a good thing.

When I started the second sleeve, though, I realized I forgot to change one of the needles after the cuff. (The ribbed cuffs are usually knit with a needle one or two sizes smaller than the body.) So I knitted the entire sleeve with an 8 on the wrong side and a 9 on the right side. Oops.

I’m not really sure if that will have a huge effect on the overall fabric, but just to be on the safe side, I forgot to do it again on the second sleeve.

I have a few stockings that are washed, blocked and ready for details and personalizing. Two are for the shop and the other two are claimed. One of these nights, I’ll take a break from the sweater and get them finished up.

I have plans to offer some luxurious lip butters and lotion bars in my shop this fall, too. My father-in-law keeps bees, so I have an awesome local source for untreated beeswax. I’m very excited about this!

Tomorrow we’ll be looking at more houses. Wish us luck that we find one we like! Have a great week!

P.S. I wrote this entire post on my phone, since I’ve been to busy to sit down at the computer. I hope the mistakes are few and forgivable. 🙂

Slow News Day

September 28, 2015 blogtest_2q7z6c 2 Comments

I’ve been doing way too much adulting this week.

Most of my free time this week has been taken up with contacting handymen, realtors and bankers. You see, we’re planning a move that has been a desire for several years, but several life events have happened that makes now the right time to go.

So, I’ve had to be an adult and take care of some very important things this week. I don’t like that very much. I’d much rather use my free time to knit and sew, but we all gotta do what we gotta do. 🙂

Anyway, this whole thing will be good for us, once we’re through it, but it is definitely stressful right now.

I have used some of my toddler sleeping time to knit, mostly in the evenings. I’m finishing up my third stocking of the season – the one for my friend Ashley that I’m not sure about the color. I’m going to get them all washed and blocked and then I can finalize the details.

I’ve not made any more progress on the lion costume, although Jellybean asks about it. I might take one MDO day this week and work on that.

I am still working on the spinning challenge occasionally. I think I don’t really enjoy spinning as much as I want to and I’m considering destashing my fiber and spindles. I just really want to be using my free time to knit, not spin, so the tools for spinning are just taking up space. I’ll try to finish up the 4oz I’ve got going now, but I think that’ll be it for me.

Only one photo for you today. And it’s not fiber related at all. We had to have some septic work done on Monday. (YAY, she said sarcastically) Jellybean loves big machines and he was glued to the window watching the backhoe dig up our back yard. Not so fun for our bank account, but great entertainment for a toddler!

As we progress more toward the packing and moving part, things may get slow around here. I hope you’ll forgive a few missed posts. Hopefully we’ll have this all done before the end of the year and I’ll be back in the swing of things!

Have a great week!

Oh No!

September 22, 2015 blogtest_2q7z6c Leave a comment

I totally missed a post yesterday!

I’ve had a bad case of disorganization this week. I do most of my knitting while Jellybean is asleep. My little knitting nest is downstairs on the opposite side of the house, so I don’t make a lot of noise to wake him up. I also knit in the evenings while Hubby and I watch TV. Neither of us likes me to be up and moving around while we’re trying to watch something, so I can’t dig around in my yarn bins in the evening. During the MDO time, I’m usually busy doing housework or other stuff that I can’t do when Jellybean is home.

So I’ve managed to find myself with a project to start, but all the yarn for it put away twice this week. I’ve sat and watched tv – without knitting – twice. That’s unheard of.

I also haven’t had much progress on my spinning. I’m finding it not as much fun as I thought I would when I started the challenge. It’s fine to spin, but I enjoy knitting so much more, and with my limited time available, I choose to knit more often.

That being said, I have made a little bit of progress on my spinning. This was week two of the challenge. I spun half of the fiber and then wound it off onto the toilet paper roll to wait for plying.

Week 3, I spun about 20 grams, which is less than an ounce. Still, it’s more than nothing, so I’m still eligible for prizes in the challenge. 🙂

I’ve made progress on the lion costume, too. The body is done and the hood is going well, so far.

I was so dreading sewing with that furry fabric. I expected it to be thick and messy and hard to deal with. I did take the cut pieces outside to shake out all the fur, but sewing with it has been a breeze. I’m excited for Jellybean to be a lion at Halloween.

The knitting I have been able to do has been stockings. My sweet friend Ashley recently had another baby boy so I am making his stocking to coordinate with the other three I made.

The new baby’s stocking will have two snowflakes on it to be similar to Fenner’s but just slightly different.

I started the new stocking on Saturday, but I’m fairly certain I picked the wrong white. I started the stocking with white, but my notes say I actually used a cream color instead. I will finish the white stocking anyway and put it in the Etsy shop when it’s done.

And that’s pretty much it for this week. It doesn’t seem like much, but I sure am tired!

Have a great week!

What a Busy Week!

September 14, 2015 blogtest_2q7z6c 4 Comments

I feel like we’ve been run ragged this week and it’s not over yet. Jellybean is back in his Mother’s Day Out program, he started on Thursday, and he’s doing well so far.

We’ve had an unusually social weekend, but the weather was awesome for it. I can feel fall in the air and I love it. I got to take my sweater out for a test run in the cool weather. It’s so soft and cozy and it never got itchy unless I was standing directly in the sun. I can’t tell you how much I love it, there just aren’t words.

I’m still on the knitting hangover from making such a large project, but I’ve got some good things on the horizon. I decided to redo Jellybean’s stocking, so I’ve been working on that. I made him a snowman originally, then I designed the train stocking. He does like snowman, but trains are a bigger deal, so how could I not?

It took me a while to get back in the groove of doing colorwork. I think I ripped out and started over at least three times. But I hit my stride on the fourth try and I’m almost done.

I’m planning two more sweaters before the end of the year. One is Jellybean’s annual winter sweater. He didn’t much like wearing the one I made last year (boo hoo) and I think it’s because it was 100% wool. this year, I went for a wool and acrylic blend that feels so soft on the ball, maybe he’ll be more willing to wear this one.

The second is a sweater for my hubby. I picked out several patterns that a) I thought he’d like and b) I wouldn’t mind knitting. Out of that list, he chose the 2900 Pullover by Jennifer Owens. I’ve got the yarn ordered for it, and I’m really excited to make that one.

RAVELRY_Homestead_2900_medium — 2900 Pullover

Lastly in knitting news, I’ve got a few commission stockings on the list, if you’re interested in one, please let me know soon!

I do want to show you another hobby I’ve been working on. I’ve joined a spinning challenge so I’ve been spending a few minutes each day making some yarn.

I’ve had the fiber for years, but I recently rejoined a group on ravelry that’s hosting the challenge. I even bought a new spindle for the challenge. I’m enjoying it, so far.

My plan is to spin all of this into two singles that use half the fiber, then ply them together for a two-ply yarn that I’m expecting to be worsted weight or so. I think the final product should look neat.

And because I don’t have enough going on, I am making Jellybean’s Halloween costume. He said he wanted to be a lion, so we picked out a pattern and I bought all the fabric and supplies together. Now he says he wants an alligator costume, but he’s ok with a lion. If this turns out to be as easy as I think it might, I’ll see about making an alligator, too.

That’s about it in my little world. We’re all busy, but well and I hope you are, too.

This is Not Knitting!

May 18, 2015 blogtest_2q7z6c Leave a comment

Things have been quiet around AbbyCrafty the last few weeks. Even still, it’s not been too quiet for us. We’ve had some medical issues (we’re all fine) and some traveling. In the week before Mother’s Day, Jellybean got to see ALL of his immediate family, including Gigi, his great-grandmother.

I have some commissions I’ve been working on. One set just needs to be washed and blocked. I have a lot of woolens that need to be washed, though, and I just haven’t gotten them into the sink! I also have a sweater repair to do for my dental hygienist. This sweater belongs to her mother, who lives in a nursing home. It’s her favorite sweater and she’s worn it so much that the elbows are worn through.

I’ve been working on some personal projects and working on some patterns, too. The patterns are fun to do. I just need to get photos of the finished products that I like and I can publish them.

To break up the knitting rut, I pulled out this project.

It’s a cross stitch that I started probably more than 20 years ago. The date on the magazine is 1990. I found some places where stitches were not in the right spot and I think that is what made me put it up so many years ago. Apparently I couldn’t count. I’ve spent some time taking out the wrong stitches so I can finish it.

This is worked on 22-count Hardanger fabric. It’s tiny. The entire design will be about 4 5/8″ square.

This design is 100 stitches square. There are lots of designs that are bigger than that, but when you are faced with a row of 100 background stitches in a row, it can be rather daunting. It’s the same feeling of being faced with miles and miles of stockinette. Still, I pressed on.

And on. I like it. In fact, I like it so much it’s hard to put it down. There’s still a lot more work to do on it, but now that It’s going, I just want to work on it constantly. The progression you see here is about a week’s worth of work.

I think this will be really pretty when it’s done and framed.

The Nights Are Long, But The Years Are Short

February 9, 2015 blogtest_2q7z6c Leave a comment

That’s what one of my mom friends is fond of saying and boy, it’s so true.

Today my little Jellybean turns two.

Motherhood is no joke. Jellybean can make me furious one minute and doubled over in laughter the next. I’ve watched this little man grow over the last two years and I’m blown away. We’ve come so far and we’ve all survived.

And there is so much more yet to come.

We had a small party on Saturday with pizza, cupcakes and dinosaur party hats! He got to see Mimi and Papaw, Grandma and Grandpa, and Joey and Julie, and lots of other friends. Mimi and Papaw even stayed overnight and came over to play.

Today has been a nice, quiet day. I offered to take him to the bounce house (which he LOVES!) or to the science museum, but he wanted to stay home and read his new Curious George book (Thanks Mimi!) and play with blocks. We did take a walk down to the lake, but it was too cold and windy to stay out long. Then in for lunch and down for a good, long nap.

He definitely takes after his Mama and Dada in that regard. A lazy birthday sounds just right to me.

Happy Birthday, Jellybean.

Love, Mama

Woah, It’s Monday!

November 3, 2014 blogtest_2q7z6c Leave a comment

Quickly this evening… a very belated blog post.

We had quite the fun-filled week with lots of Halloween activities. Unfortunately, I only managed to get Jellybean into half of his costume and only once. At least that half was cute.

In all our festivities, the little man caught a cold or some sort of virus. Plus, he’s working on that last set of molars (holy cow, the drool!) PLUS, he decided not to nap well today. Ugh, rough day.

Thus, I don’t have anything prepared to show you today. I’ve got a couple of things going that I hope I can show you soon, including the little prop I made for Jellybean’s costume. But it’s been a long, exhausting, day and I am going to bed now.