Wow! It's been a minute since I posted! I don't have any fun pictures or projects at the moment, but I wanted to let you all know that I'm still alive, and there are some fun things coming to Twisted Stitches THIS FALL!  If you would like to know what I've been up to these last few years, check out my instagram account at the following: https://www.instagram.com/drewhilda/ . You can see a few guest blog posts that I wrote here: http://wondrasworld.blogspot.com. See you all soon!!

Fall colors afghan

Recently, my friend, Wondra Vanian,  came hime from wales to visit.  As a welcome home gift, I bought her a couple skeins of Bernat Softee Chunky-one in pumpkin, and one in dark taupe.   She was born on Halloween,  so to say that Halloween is her favorite holiday is an understatement.  The idea behind the colors was to give her some fall colors to remind her of home.  I quickly fell in love with this cheap acrylic yarn, and the ideas started flying through my head.   So, I bought myself four fall colors and started crocheting.   Unfortunately,  bernat didn't have a good green color, so I got a skein of Loin Brand Hometown USA super bulky yarn in Oklahoma City Green.  That yarn is a bit softer, but just a little more expensive (we're talking about $.50 a skein...which isn't much,  but when you're buying a ton of yarn it adds up,  and I'm on a budget! ) I bought one of each color,  and I figured that would keep me busy for at least a couple weeks because of my work schedule...at LEAST until payday so I could buy more.  You'd think that's what would have happened...it took me about two hours to crochet through ALL FOUR SKEINS.  But, I'm excited about the project.   At the moment, I can only afford four skeins per check,  so the blanket is taking a while.   So here's what I have so far:

After I ran out of yarn,  I still wanted to crochet,  so I made these from a pattern I found on ravelry.com:  

They keep my hands warm at work while I type.  I'll post more pics of the Afghan as it grows.  In the meantime, have a great day! 

Craft store finds

I recently got a new job.   One that actually pays the bills.  To celebrate I decided to go to Joann's!   They had some wonderful deals that day!  Here's what I bought: 

The Star Trek fabric is going to be an apron, and the spiderman fabric is going to be a pair of pajama pants for my guy.   

I'm pretty anxious to get started!   I DID start on the hat already!   It's going to be awesome.   I'll post more pics later!!

New Resolutions

I know it's a little late in the year to a be making new resolutions, but I'm in a bad spot, mostly financially.  I've just had a hard time getting back on my feet, and it's frustrating.  So, I've decided to re-evaluate my life.  (At least how I handle certain fallbacks).  I've made a few goals for the coming month that, I think, are extremely attainable.  

1)  Take a walk every day.  I need more movement in my life.  Walking is great exercise and can be a great meditation.  Which leads me to my next goal...

2)  Start a gratitude journal.  With such hard times, it's really easy to loose track of what makes me happy.  I've been letting myself slip into the black, and I need it to stop.  

3)  Start the envelope system.  It's simple-I have an envelope for groceries, for example, and, when the cash is gone, it's gone.  I want my checking account to be purely for bills.  

4)  Do at least 3 craft shows this summer.  Pretty straight forward on that one!

So, there's no time like the present to get started, eh?  So, I'll leave you with something that makes me very happy.  

green cleaning machine

Let me talk about baking soda for a minute.  It is probably the miracle product of all time.  You can use it in baking, cleaning, laundry, beauty, etc....and I DO!  It's great for cleaning because it's softer than the finish on stoves, sinks, tubs, and various other household appliances.  As most of you already know, I live in an old apartment with really old, vintage appliances!  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my vintage kitchen!  But, I've always been bothered by the baked on crud around the burners.  I knew something could be done, but I refuse to use harsh chemicals!  Cue the baking soda!  I decided to make a paste with water and asking soda and scrub the dickens out of the stains....turns out I didn't need to scrub as hard as I thought!  Some small spots didn't come out, but I'm going to try hydrogen peroxide and baking soda on those.  

Stove top before:  

This picture was taken AFTER I cleaned with glass cleaner.  How gross is that baked on crud?

Stove top after:

I think I'll take it!!

The baking soda even worked on my teapot:

I didn't take a before pick of this, but it had baked on grease all over it from cooking (I'm beginning to think I'm a sloppy cook!).

And my stove in all its vintage glory:

it's that time of year again...resolution time!

With Christmas behind us it's time to focus on the new year.  I have a lot of goals this year and have kicked my motivation into high gear!  First, I wanted to redecorate my bedroom.  On a small budget, that can be hard, so I decided to only do a little at a time, and only use recycled, thrifted, or sale items. Originally, my mother was going to buy me a cube storage unit from ikea to put in the center of the room, but I moved my furniture around, and it turns out that it won't fit.  Not with the existing couch at least.  Maybe if I bought some chairs, but it's not in the budget right now.  So, I had a problem.  I STILL need the storage--my living room is trashed with all the stuff that was in that room! My friend told me about a set of lockers that was in the high school before they ripped them out my sophomore year.  That's perfect!  Even more perfect was the price...$20!  I plan on painting them and putting them where the desk was.  I haven't decided on a cheveron pattern or chalkboard paint....maybe I can find some white chalkboard paint and dye my own so I can do a chevron pattern With chalkboard paint!  

My second goal was to be more social.  Tricky, seeing that I'm a hard core introvert...I thought I'd start out slowly and have people over once a month!  So, the idea to have a "Kick Ass Craft Night" was born.  The first one is on January 29th, and is going to have a LOT of bacon and booze....and crafts of course...no power tools though...I promise!  (Maybe)...

presents

I finished Christmas present number 1 on schedule!  I really liked how it turned out.  At first, I wasn't sure about the yarn (I've been known to be a bit of a yarn snob), but it worked out in the end.  

I made a last minute button change decision.  The original choice was bright red, but this one was bigger and more sophisticated.  I don't regret the decision.  

I went to my local yarn shop to get yarn for some more of my projects and received some surprising deals!  I got enough yarn for two hats and a scarf, PLUS two vintage knitting books for under $20!  Yay!

The yarn I bought for the scarf reminds me of a candy cane.  When I work with it, I use my peppermint lotion, so when the recipient wears it, it will smell like a candy cane too!