Spring Soap

Here's half of a batch of lemongrass soap. The other half is in various places in and near Washington DC, given with the washcloths as hostess gifts. I found this as a kit at SCRAP, believe it or not. Though I also make soap from my own recipes and ingredients, the kit from SCRAP was a real deal and very easy! Everything was premeasured. (SCRAP stands for Scroungers Center for Reusable Art Parts--it is like an art/craft thrift store and a very dangerous place to enter : ). I think the rest of this batch will be used by my family. I often make soap near the holidays--easy to make lots and a simple, consumable gift. We usually end up with just a bar or two left so it sill be nice to have a bit of a soap stash now. This soap lasts a bit longer than most commercial soap and is fairly mild to the skin.

Sock Yarn!

Here's my birthday yarn, purchased at Stitches DC. It is Art Yarns Ultra Merino, color 105. I think it will fit this segment of Project Spectrum quite well as April and May focus on green, pink and yellow. Now, I have only to choose the appropriate pattern to make the hand painted yarn sing!

vacation washcloths

Here are the vacation washcloths. The pattern is the ball band washcloth from Mason-Dixon Knitting. I used lion brand cotton for the yarn and played around with the color so that I could use up scraps of cotton I had not only in my stash, but in a ziploc bag I keep of small bits of yarn that you couldn't exactly call a ball, but that I can't throw away. I'm not sure how some of the color experiments worked, but they are pretty low risk experiments. Any comments on color? I am trying to figure out color theory a bit more.

The pictures....

So, here's proof that we are actually here. We've taken very few pictures, as many of the museums are hard to take photos in, or photos are not allowed. Mostly, we're just trying to soak things up as we see them.

Vacation knitting

So, no pictures yet, but vacation knitting is breezing along! So far, I have knit another Panta identical to the one below and 4 ball band washcloths. I also visited Stitch DC for my birthday and bought sock yarn with birthday money from my mom. (Thanks, Mom!) I'll have pictures to post in the next couple of days, perhaps of us in DC, as well.

The well planned knitter!

So, here are my packets to take along on vacation! I am so proud of my planning! I often take way too much or forget to pack anything at all for myself on vacation. Each packet contains the yarn, the appropriate needles AND a photocopy of the pattern to eliminate carrying excess books. I'm so organized : ). I'll also make a packet to work on Hailey's pirate doll.

Some smaller projects...

I've been having fun with some smaller projects--a panta headband and a couple of baby/toddler hats. The panta was made from yarn from Artfibers that I've had in my stash for a couple of years. It is gorgeous yarn and so much fun to work with! I've got yarn enough to make one more if I use a bit of a contrasting color for the band along the back of the neck.

The purple cotton is from SCRAP, again, it's been in my stash for ages! The pattern is from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. I just need to make the i-cord for the larger hat, which will travel with us to DC as a gift for a friend's daughter. I wound up making two because the first is definitely WAY too small for Ella--no matter, I'll just stash the smaller away until I need a baby gift. It would go nicely with the Baby Bolero from One Skien that I have of the same yarn.

I added one ball of chocolate colored Lion Brand Cotton to my stash. I am planning to make washcloths along with homemade lemongrass soap to give to people who host us while we are in DC. The chocolate color will look so yummy along with the other colors I already have. It's all packed away and ready for the plane! Hopefully, I'll have more to report when we return from our trip!