I have four rooms I want to tackle this week: the craft room, the kitchen, the master bathroom and our bedroom. There are plenty of other rooms in the house that need plenty of work done, but I think these four rooms will give me the most benefit for the least amount of time.  Which isn’t to say that they won’t take a lot of time, but I spend more time in those four rooms (or would like to in the case of the craft room) than any other place in the house.  I think having these rooms be clean or more organized will have a huge impact on my levels of stress and maybe the cleanliness will trickle out into other areas of the house.

I started in on the craft room yesterday evening. And by that, I mean I mostly tried to get my yarn stash organized. I haven’t had all of my yarn in a single place in a LONG time and I don’t think I realized the magnitude of my stash. In particular, I have a lot more acrylic yarn than I remembered and I have way more spinning stuff (either unspun fibers or handspun yarns) than I realized!  I also found two blankets that are works in progress that I really would like to finish at some point, so it was good to bring those to the front of my mind.

Random Stripe Homespun Blanket (Started in 2006!)

The needles are comically large at 19mm

With all of the acrylic, I think my plan will be to make several blankets for the Snuggles Project. It feels like I have enough acrylic yarn to outfit an entire shelter, so I should start on that! I would like to try to make at least one snuggle a month. It should only take an afternoon or two to make one and I can certainly spare the time.

I also came across another knitting charity a while ago called Wool-Aid and I would like to knit several things for them as well. I have less yarn in my stash for them because they send the items to super insanely cold places and they request that all items be made with yarn that is at least 80% wool. I have a lot of 70% wool/30% acrylic blends, but very few skeins of 80%+ wool. I will be on the lookout for more, though! Again, a pair of socks for Wool-Aid would take an afternoon or two and I can certainly spare that amount of time as well.

I’ve also gone through my Ravelry queue and stash trying to pair patterns with yarns I already have. I have way more than I thought I did (and not all of it is represented in the stash), so I’m looking forward to using it all!  I know some people go on yarn diets, but I don’t think I need to be that extreme at this point. And selfishly, I don’t want to restrict myself from buying more Nerd Girl Yarns which I do not have nearly enough of yet. ;)

Beeswax and Oils

Water is also needed, but I had already put that in the blender in the kitchen so did not take a picture.  The basic idea is to melt some oils and beeswax together, then emulsify that mixture with water.  Then you get lotion!  This time I used 1/2 cup of coconut oil and 1/4 cup of sweet almond oil and 3 Tbsp of grated beeswax.  When I originally made my own lotion, I used 3/4 cup of olive oil and it was a good body lotion, but not a good hand lotion because it was very rich and dense.

I put the oils and beeswax into a glass container (a Pyrex measuring cup in this case) and set it in a pot of water to melt.

Once it’s all melted, you could put in a special blend of essential oils here if you wanted it to be scented. I prefer unscented lotion (though this one smells very faintly of coconut, almond and honey, which shouldn’t be surprising given the ingredients).

The comes my favorite, sciency part of the whole process: emulsification!

I had 1 cup of water in the blender, waiting for the melted oils. Instead of plain water, you can use rose water, or tea depending on the benefits you’re looking for. I think I might try an herbal tea blend next time, though I’ll have to be careful of the scents. I turned the blender on, medium at first, and started pouring the oils in through the hole in the lid. (There isn’t much splash back, but you can never be too careful.)

Just keep blending it! Really try to get it all well-mixed.

After it’s completely blended comes the messy part – putting it into jars and bottles to use. I used a baker’s icing trick (putting icing in a ziploc bag and cutting off the corner) to pipe my lotion into my tiny bottle (which formerly held LUSH lotion) which I now keep in my purse.

The biggest benefit of homemade lotion is that there are no chemical additives or weird things you end up slathering all over you body. However, because there are no preservatives, that also means that yes, homemade lotion can go rancid. Unrefrigerated, the lotion should last 3-6 months and refrigerated it should last 6-9 months, though your mileage may vary. I find that I use more lotion when I know exactly what was put into it, so going through this entire batch in 6 months will be easy.

I’m keeping the small bottle in my purse and the black pot (which also used to hold LUSH stuff) is in my bathroom cabinet, to be used as often as I’d like. The jar of lotion is in the fridge for the time being and will be used to replenish my other containers when they run out.

DIY Lotion Recipe

3/4 cup oil (olive oil, coconut oil, sweet almond oil, other edible oils – play with it!)
3 Tbps grated beeswax
1 cup water (or rose water, tea – play with it!)
Scents (optional)

Prepare by having your water in your blender already. Melt your oils in a double boiler (or makeshift double boiler). Once melted, add your scents, if any. Then pour your melted oil mixture into your blender and start emulsifying! Put into jars or other containers. Will last longest in the refrigerator, but can last 3-6 months unrefrigerated. Slather and enjoy!

Have you made your own lotion before? What do you like to use?

It’s well worth the read if you haven’t managed to read them yet.  I haven’t seen the movie, so I don’t know how it compares, though I think it’s safe to say the book is better. They always are.

I’ve been thinking about what to say about The Hunger Games trilogy that won’t spoil the ending (or anything in the middle), but the good stuff, the philosophical meat of the matter so to speak, can’t be talked about without spoilers.  Even though I believe most people have read the books, I still don’t want to put any spoilers out there (even with warnings).

Reading the books and thinking about them though, got me thinking about dystopian literature in general, of which I am a huge fan.

You’re probably asking yourself how someone can possibly be a huge fan of dystopian literature. Why would someone want to read depressingly horrible stories about people in depressingly horrible circumstances?  Because I believe those cautionary tales are the ones that tell us the most about our humanity.  I will not find any truths or uncover unasked questions in a book about a teenage romance with sparkling vampires and werewolves.  Sure, those types of stories may be enjoyable (certainly not to all, but to some), but they don’t expand my mind, challenge my preconceived notions or help me straighten out my moral compass.

I also have a soft spot for dystopian literature because of my high school English teacher in my freshman (and junior and senior) year.  (My sophomore English teacher was also amazing, but in his own right and unrelated to dystopian literature because we read more non-fiction in his class, which belongs to its own category.)  My freshman year we read a lot of books that pointed to the cruelty and seeming hopelessness of humanity. After class one day, I asked the teacher if we were ever going to read anything that pointed to the good in humanity. To be honest, I can’t remember exactly what his answer was, but he thought about it for a moment and took the question seriously, which was important to me. What I took away from his answer was that it’s important for us to find the good in ourselves and others in horrible situations because that’s when we need it most.

Asking that question changed my life in amazing ways and that teacher became a very integral part of my life, even after I graduated from high school and he moved on to other schools and even though I haven’t talked to him in over a decade.  Every time I read a dystopian novel, I think of him and the conversation we might have about it.  So yes, dystopian novels can be depressing. But I suppose it’s what I take away from such novels that I’m a huge fan of – a renewed sense of optimism and courage.

The Hunger Games does not disappoint in that regard.

What are your favorite dystopian novels?

I also don’t like commercial (even Burt’s Bees) lip glosses or colors so those (about 5, not pictured) will be going to a better home. I may try my hand at homemade lip gloss at some point, but my lips are notoriously sensitive, so it’s not high on my priority list.  One of my weaknesses is Burt’s Bees medicated lip balm as it’s the only thing my lips don’t freak out about.  So I hoard them.  I have two in my bathroom, two (unopened) in my night stand, one at work in my desk and one in my purse. Clearly, I’ve had bad experiences with my lips before and try to be ever vigilant at protecting them.  I understand I may be doing them more harm by over-protecting them, but it would be a tough habit to break.  I’ll have to think about that one.

I just recently found the Tresemme shampoo and conditioner on the right and I was really liking how my hair felt afterward.  But, I’m going to try going no ‘poo again, so it’s time to ditch them.  With a no ‘poo routine, I’ve heard lots of curly-haired people have tamer, non-frizzy curls, so the anti-frizz serum on the left will be unnecessary.  I do have a bottle of mousse that I’m keeping, though I may not ever use it again.  If I don’t, I’ll certainly give it away, but we’ll see.  I had lots of minis from vacations partly because I like to engage my olfactory sense memory by sniffing them once in a while, but they take up too much space.  In the future, I think I will try to make my own solid perfumes with special vacation blends in compact little containers to achieve the same purpose without hoarding mini bottles of shampoo.

Here’s a picture of everything I made this past weekend including dishwasher detergent (clearly not replacing something from my bathroom cabinets, but in the same spirit!), baking soda “shampoo” and apple cider vinegar “conditioner”, deodorant, lotion, toothpaste and solid perfume. I also whipped up more laundry detergent, but didn’t take a picture of that.

I’ll be writing up tutorials for all of these things and reviewing each (Spoiler: I’m a fan) as well in the coming weeks.

What are your favorite DIY household or beauty recipes?

However, in practice, I’m beginning to doubt the actuality of such a rigid plan.  It doesn’t leave much room for starting an unforeseen project or allow much leeway for getting the spinning bug for a few weeks instead of wanting to knit.  With that in mind, I might be tweaking the project a little so that my ultimate goal is still to do 12 Cardigans this year, but maybe it won’t be one each month (it already hasn’t been!) and maybe I’ll knit two of the same pattern if I like one enough.

I’ve changed my queue for the 12 Cardigans enough in the past few months that I don’t think much of it is the same at all anymore!  I’ve added several new-to-me patterns and removed a few of my original queued patterns as well as rearranging most of the order. Now that I’ve discovered Nerd Girl Yarns, I’ve also tried to go through and pick out only Nerd Girl Yarns to use for each cardigan (and anything else I may ever want to knit or fiber I may ever want to spin).

I completed my January Liesl cardigan in Knit Picks Shine worsted. I haven’t taken pictures yet and it still needs buttons. Perhaps I will do that this weekend.

I’m currently working on my Februarian Cardi (February Lady Sweater) in Malabrigo Rios (color is Ravelry Red). I <3 this pattern a lot. I was hoping to have it finished this past Friday, but that is not the case. Still have the last 3/4ths of the bind-off, the sleeves, buttons and end-weaving to do.

In July we will be on vacation for a few days and will be taking knitting with me (naturally).  I plan to knit an Abalone cardigan in Nerd Girl Yarns Clever in Your Ratings Just Went Up.  I’d also like to knit another Abalone cardigan at some point (not necessarily this year) in handspun Nerd Girl Yarns in the Doctor Donna colorway.

I think that’s about as far as I can think ahead at the moment, though – it’ll probably change in any case!

Trying to sort out the transfer totally reminded me of being back in high school though, when I taught myself some HTML and started a few Angelfire (ha!) sites of my own. I like coding, actually. I’ve been tossing around the idea of teaching myself some new stuff, but I haven’t yet found a need for it in my life with the proliferation of WordPress plugins and apps and whatnot.

But, it might be fun to do just as an intellectual exercise. Like word problems or algebra in math. (When I was a kid, I used to do algebra for fun. On summer break. Seriously.) Or the logic class I had to take in college as part of my Philosophy coursework. I can’t tell you how many times I use things I learned in my logic class to clarify my own thinking.

I think there’s a sense of comfort built in to things like math, logic and coding. If something’s not working, you can figure out what the problem is and fix it. You may need to retrace your steps or triple check your work, but you can probably figure it out on your own, fix it and move on. I think that’s part of what draws me to knitting so much. It’s rooted in math and logic and has it’s own code to work with. If I wind up with few stitches than I should after an increase row, I can triple check my work and find out where I screwed it up and fix it.

I can see how spinning and dyeing would be the same. And maybe that’s why I’ve branched out into spindling and dream of dyeing lots of elaborate bumps of gorgeous wools that I will eventually spin on a spinning wheel where I get the exact yarn I want everytime.

It’s working so well, I thought we should do a 90-day Financial Challenge.  We’ll be starting officially on April 1st and our goal will be to spend as little as possible and save as much as possible.  Completely subjective, obviously, but I think we’re going to do really, really well.  And then that momentum will carry forward and we’ll be able to really whip our finances into the shape we want them to be in.

I’ve already started getting into the Spend Less, Save More mindset because it certainly won’t hurt.  I’ve been thinking of various things I can do that can help us Spend Less and Save More.  Immediately, I considered my personal products (shampoo, conditioner, lotion, etc).  I imagine that I am already less dependent on personal products than the average American these days, but I would like to challenge myself and ultimately cut down to just a handful of products, hopefully all of them homemade.  I wouldn’t necessarily be buying these things frequently over a 90-day period to begin with, but I feel like the Spend Less, Save More mindset involves a lot of simplification and this will be a nice way to build some momentum (and finally get my side of our bathroom into manageable shape).

I currently use shampoo, conditioner and occasionally mousse.  I’m hoping to go no-poo again (for the long haul this time) and replace my shampoo with a baking powder solution and my conditioner with an apple cider rinse.  I’ve read that many no-poo followers with curly hair see drastic improvement with their curls so I’m hoping the mousse won’t be necessary in a few weeks!  I have a few other hair products (anti-frizz serum, a texturizer, hair straightener, curling iron, tons of brushes) that I plan on getting rid of entirely, or paring down significantly.

I use a plain, gentle soap which I don’t have any problem with continuing to use as it works for both my body and my face.  I might look into making my own soap, though, just to see if I prefer that better.  I also intend on looking into making my own deodorant.  (I probably just lost several readers, but to each their own.)

I also use a LUSH moisturizer and I think this might be one of the harder things for me to replace.  I might be able to make my own homemade face moisturizer, but honestly, LUSH does such a great job I might keep it. (Though I currently use Enzymion, I think I’d rather switch back to Vanishing Cream.)  I’m not even sure I’ll need to buy another pot of LUSH moisturizer in the next three months the stuff lasts so long anyway.

I have makeup and nail polish that I never wear, so that will also be tossed (it’s all pretty old anyway).  I will be keeping my Burt’s Bees chapsticks, and for the time being (though eventually it might be kicked to the curb also) my Aquaphor.

I did recently buy some lotion, but I will replace that with homemade lotion (coconut oil, beeswax and water) as well.  I also have several other lotion-type products which I will get rid of as I don’t use them and don’t need them.

I’m hoping to go through my bathroom this weekend to take pictures of all my products so that once I pare down completely, I can take pictures of what I actually use and need and compare them. I’m expecting a huge difference! Just thinking of the decluttered counter space this will reveal is enough to make me excited for it. :)

What personal products do you feel you could never ever live without? Which ones could you easily give up?

I wanted to do a quick update on where I am (and try to get back into blogging regularly) in the project(s) I’ve been working on.

I finished my January Liesl cardigan and love the drape of the fabric.  I still have to find appropriate buttons for it and then I should be able to wear it out and about.  I considered using some sort of shawl pin closure until I can find the buttons, but I couldn’t get it to lay right with that.

So, button hunting it is!  I think I’d prefer a simple style for the buttons but haven’t decided on the color.  A black/silver/gray would be very nice, but I think a pop of color (lime green, maybe?) would also be fun.

I swatched for my February Lady Sweater, but have not yet cast on. As today is the last day of February, clearly that won’t be done this month!  But even if it’s done in March, I’ll still count it for February. ;)

I’ve also been working on spinning my 12 pounds in 2012 – got a little over a pound done in January!

For February, I’ve been working at spinning up the 8 oz of Frog Tree yarns Meriboo I’ve had stashed away for awhile.  Just finished plying it all and it is drying.  It was originally intended to be a Tappan Zee, but I don’t think I’ve got enough yards to make it work. Might have to find a cropped cardigan instead, or buy some more.  I also spun up the December 2011 Spunky Eclectic fiber club, Peace on Earth. I’ll also need to spin up another 4oz of fiber – not sure what that will be yet.  Perhaps the Spunky Eclectic fiber club from August, Change.  No pictures yet, but they will be forthcoming.

Most of the spinning I did in January was of the samples I received in the Phat Fiber Sampler Box from December 2011.  I’m using a lot of those for hexipuffs because I’ve succumbed to the addiction/obsession!  I started knitting them up on my birthday and will make them during the in-between times and I’ll see how many accumulate in the next year. My intention is to take pictures on the 19th of each month to see how the hexipuff pile grows, so I’ll share those when I have them.

I’m also working on a Harry Potter baby blanket for a friend. It has to be done by mid-April.  It’s miles of stockinette (with some color changes for the stripes), so it’ll go quickly once I get back into it. (Had to frog and switch needle sizes.)

Whew! I haven’t felt productive this month, but I guess I have been. :)

As a reminder, pattern links are Ravelry links. All photographs from Flickr are copyright their respective owners and used for illustration and inspiration only.

April – Petrea by Amy Herzog

I fell in love with this cardigan the moment I saw it.  Amy’s patterns are always so gorgeous and elegant but simple.  I think this cardigan may have been part of what spurred me to want to do this 12 Cardigans in 2012 project in the first place.  The original yarn called for would cost a fair penny and I miiiight use it anyway because it would be fabulous, I’m sure, but Madeline Tosh Vintage seems like a good substitute and several other projects have been done using it and look great as well.  I’m torn between several colors at the moment, but it’ll probably depend on what’s available when it comes time to buy it.  So far, I like Amber Trinket, Forestry and Lepidoptera.

I have really high hopes for this cardigan and may end up making more than just one!

May – Honeybee Cardigan by Laura Chau

This is a cardigan that I think will be great as a learning experience for me and should also boost my self-confidence as a knitter and as a cardigan-wearer, as I expect it will get lots of compliments, especially after I tell people I knit it myself.  I haven’t yet decided if I will do a full length or cropped version – I think that will largely depend on how fit I am when it comes to making it.  If it’s a good pattern, I might end up making a full length first and then a cropped one later.

I had contemplated using a double ended zipper for this one, but I think that might interrupt the flow and femininity of it.  It’ll be very fun to choose buttons for this I think.

I will use Malabrigo Sock yarn, and I think I’ll use the color Impressionist Sky (though again, that might depend on what’s available when it comes time to buy the yarn).

June – Tappan Zee Cardigan by Amy King

I have 8 oz of Frog Tree yarns Meriboo top to spin up into this cardigan.

I am so excited to start spinning it up (though it will have to wait until after I actually get a spinning wheel).  I am hoping to have the yarn spun and plied well before June, so that I can get more if needed.  Actually I don’t think I’d be able to get the same color, so I’d try for a coordinating color, but I’ll cross that bridge if I come to it.

In any case, I expect this to be an absolute delight and suspect that I may have several Tappan Zees come off my needles in the coming years.

Have you knit up any of these patterns? What do you think of them?

January – Liesl by Ysolda Teague

It’ll be a quick knit (judging from my previous attempt) and I think it’ll be just the thing to get me started with this project! I’ll need to put buttons all the way down the front, I think, just so it fits my body type better, but that’s okay because I like buttons. :)

February – February Lady Sweater by Pamela Wynne

This is a crazy popular pattern, but I’d love to have my own. This will also require buttons down the full front (most likely). I want to use Malabrigo Rios in either Ravelry Red or Purple Mystery. I think if I use Purple Mystery for this (which would be fitting as it’s the February Lady Sweater, my birth month and amethyst is my birthstone), I would definitely use the French Blue for Liesl.

March – The Cooke Cardigan by Amy Herzog

I love the closure Amy uses here, so might try for something similar. I’ll probably end up wearing it open a lot too, which looks great.

I’ll write about the rest in 3 more installments. Don’t want to overwhelm you, or me, with writing about all 12 (plus some standby patterns) at once!

Have you knit up any of these patterns? What do you think of them?