Last week I posted my initial reactions to Arm & Hammer Essentials laundry detergent. To recap - smaller bottle so yea for less packaging. Smells like Pixie Sticks and baking soda. Eh, ok but it's not Gain. But it is a more conscious choice. So, Dear Readers, don't think I haven't be letting my laundry pile up (much) I have been using it. The verdict....it's good! It cleans really well and the smell is nice out of the washer and the dryer. I will say, it's not Gain good, but it's great for the fantastic price and the my markedly lessened eco-guilt while doing laundry.
Haven't been doing a lot of knitting this week. I take that back, I did quite bit of knitting on my bamboo scarf (pics later) but I messed up the pattern because it's premiere week on TV so I got distracted from time to time.
Annoucement - We were approached by a charity in New York about the need for yarn and scarfs for the elderly and homeless. More details to come, but I'm hoping that Granola Yarn blog readers and customers will want to help out. And of course, there will be something in it for you :-) !
I'm just not up to designing the perfect purse right now. I was all geared up and then all inspiration up and left. I blame it on global warming. Seriously...it's friggin' HOT here in Ohio. So I decided to plead with the Gods of Autumn and knit a scarf. If I knit it, fall will come. I sure as hell hope so.
Anyway, I picked up my Vogue Knitting Stitchionary Vol. 1 and just fell in love with Big Bamboo. But I'm not going to knit it with bamboo yarn, naw, that's just too obvious. I'm going to use several different colors of O~Wool Balance. I've started it with Sunstone and then I'll pick the next color on my mood.
Now, I've been eyeing Balance for sometime. This is the first time I've knitted with it. It's beautiful. So tweedy and reminds me of super soft, broken in jeans even though it's 50% organic cotton and 50% organic Merino. To me - it screams fall. I'm not a fan of cotton generally - I find it difficult to knit with but this is the softness of cotton (even more so than some) but the ease of wool. And so many of the colors go well together! Anyway, I love it. And hopefully it will do the trick and the hell like temperatures of today will be a distant memory.
I understand your pain. You've ordered yarn online before, only to be disappointed by color or texture. Obviously online yarn shops do their very best to capture the yarn beauty, but monitors vary. You go to Granola Yarn and see the llovely yarn. Looks good in the pictures, but you are leery to purchase anything. You don't have a LYS to go to or they don't carry the more unique yarns.
Worry no more my friends! I'm proud to say that we now have sample cards! Ordering by manufacturer, you'll get all the yarns we carry. It's a great way to be sure you'll be happy with your purchase. What's going to make you even happier? Order Sample Cards and get a 12% off coupon with the sample!
Not. Going. To. Make. Another. HAT.
I keep telling myself that. Seriously, no more hats until I make something else. It's so very hard though, you know? I think everyone has a soft spot for different items. I know some people love socks (I'm just not there yet), some like sweaters, some just like to knit squares. I once ran into an old lady at the craft store who said she could only knit dishrags because of her eyesight. It made me sad until she started describing the one she started that morning. I had absolutely no idea what she was saying. It sounded some complicated and I think to her dish rag equaled antique lace. She still had it going on, let me tell you!
So, I'm on the quest for a perfect purse pattern. I have round bamboo handles for it. I just needs to find it. Many something with mitred squares? ANd then....FELTING IT. I already have colors and yarn picked out. I'm going with The Fibre Company's Organik. It's 70% Organic NZ Wool, 15% Baby Alpaca, 15% Silk. It's got a great sheen to it. I want to do something with Sienna, Chocolate Brown, Ecru, & Golden Harvest.
Becoming more environmentally conscious is a journey. I've spoken before about my eco-guilt. It's that pang in the pit of my stomach when I'm too lazy to clean out a tin can and I toss it in the garbage bin instead. Cross my heart - I have got out of bed at night to rinse something because the images of my green bean can sitting in a land fill surrounded by stinky diaper and gooey banana peels (sorry to anyone eating out there).
In my quest for greener living is a journey paved in recycled bottles and baking soda cleansers, but it's a journey nonetheless.
Now, I love a lot things. Chocolate, yarn, my husband, writing and Gain detergent (not in that order - much love hubby oh mine!) But today I have to talk about my love of the Gain. I was a Tide girl exclusively for years until a recent trip to North Carolina. Our cabin had a washer/dryer. Yea, yea, I know - "a cabin with a washer?" I like my outdoors time in doses so the cabin was great - laundry, dishwasher, hot tub, satellite and of course, A/C. Make fun if you want, but I hate to be stinky and hot (and without TV for that matter).
Anywho....
So the cabin had Gain. I was skeptical to say the least. Then I smelled it. OMG! Why hadn't anyone told me of the glorious scent that is Original Gain???? Serious - it's simply heaven. And the scent stays with the clothes. Laundry ambrosia. Randy laughs at the love affair I have with the stuff and I promise all of you, I am not getting paid a cent from the fine people who make it.
But then, my eco guilt kicked in. All those perfumes and chemicals I'm sending through the water supply. For a while, I would just smell Gain and the sweet, sweet scent would mask the guilt.
While shopping yesterday, I looked at my Gain. Come here my lovely....wait, what is that? Next to the Gain I saw Arm & Hammer Essentials - "Plant-Based Soaps". "Harnessing the Power of Nature". And "$3.59". Like most everyone, when I think of manufactured green cleaning products, I think PRICEY. But wow - three fiddy (yes, fiddy) nine? Good price. Still, I reach for Gain. Then the eco-guilt (and my love of saving a buck) begin building deep inside. Essentials has all biodegradable plant-based soaps, no dyes, no phosphates or bleach and it's TREE FIDDY NINE.
So I did it. I saved money and the environment by purchasing my first green laundry soap. Gain, I have foresaken thee. Now, I have yet to try it.:
Initial Reactions: The scent is a cross between Pixie Sticks and "clean". I know that doesn't sound nice, but it really is. Plus it's 2X concentrated, so the bottle is easy to lift and carry (and less packaging to muck up the earth). That's a plus for me, Girl O' Bad Back.
I will be starting laundry today, so I'll report back later with my findings. In case you're looking for this reasonably priced soap, here are a couple pictures of the packaging.
Hoorah! I finished Peace Fleece Onion Dome Hat today. It was a really fun project, but it fits just a bit too snug on my noggin. For anyone out there thinking of making it for an adult, you might want to go up a needle size. Or maybe I'm was just super ultra mega tight knitter this time around. I'll most definately make it again because it was a lot of fun to do and easy.
Because this one is a little tight, I think I'll hold onto it until the local Coats for Kids drive. Maybe I'll make the gloves to go along with it!
Just a quick update - back to packing shipments!
During the car trips over the last week, I was able to get more done on the Peace Fleece Onion Dome Hat . I have never professed to be an expert knitter, so there are no "brainless" projects OTN for me. With that said, I will say this is not all that taxing. I can talk and knit and even watch tv and knit this. Hopefully it will be finished this weekend.
My apologies. It's been nearly a week since my last post, but we my husband's grandmother past away over the weekend, so we've been out of town and I haven't much felt like writing. Now that the funeral is over, I'd like to pay homage to one of the sweetest women I've ever had the pleasure of knowing.
Mazy Potts didn't knit or crochet to my knowledge, but in her 94 years she became an expert cookie maker. Never in my life had I tasted such a chocolate chip cookie. Her recipe was no secret - she wasn't the type to hold in something like that. She shared it with everyone but no one could quite do it the same. If I do recall, the first time I was exposed to her cookies I ate enough to win a competitive eating championship. They were like nothing I ever tasted. Nothing fancy, no crazy ingredients but her cookies restored my faith in simple cooking.
I have a favorite cookie memory. Last year, Randy and I were taking a trip to New England. Randy comes from a large family and it turned out our departure weekend was the same weekend as a family wedding. So we went to the wedding and left from there. His mom told us she set aside a few of Grandma Mazy's cookies for the trip. I don't think I could have been happier if she had bars of gold for us. Needless to say the cookie made it all of 50 miles - I kid you not.
Grandma Mazy loved cards. And you wouldn't know it by looking at all 4'10" of her - she was quite the card shark. I remember the first time I played Euchre with her. I was SURE I had a good hand (naive, silly me). After I called trump, I heard this light, yet maniacal giggle. Could it be this tiny old woman, the epitome of grandmotherliness was going to take great joy in wiping the floor with my ass? Oh yeah...she did. This was also the woman that would playing smack your hand when you were about to win; always with a playful grin.
Grandma Mazy enjoyed her half beer. She'd never drink a full one, one of her daughters would always be happy to split one with her. In a glass. With an ice cube. Of course, she'd always have a couple "half beers"....
I remember saying goodbye to Grandma Mazy on my wedding night. As Randy and I left the reception, we stopped by her hotel room. She was bleary eyed, but wanted to wish us well one last time. I remember thinking about all the weddings she's attended over the years and wondered if they made her think about her own wedding day so many years before.
Mazy Potts had 5 children, 23 grandchildren and 32 great grandchildren. She was the wife of a farmer, retired from the IGA. But who was she really? She was a woman with a heart of gold with more than enough love to go around. I'm glad I was lucky enough to know her and will miss her dearly.
Rest in Peace, Grandma Mazy...enjoy some cards and cookies in heaven.
I completely forgot the last time I placed an order from O-Wool, two of the Balance colors were backordered! Cathy from O-Wool was nice enough to call and let me know they had some and to make sure I still wanted it. But of course! I just love their yarn. Not only is it all organic, but the colors are yummy. Balance is a tweed yarn (50% Merino/50% cotton) and the two new colors are Butterstone and Agate. Check 'em out! I will say the Agate looks BEAUTIFUL next to the Butterstone and Sunstone.
As many of you may have noticed, most yogurts no longer have resealable plastic lids. The companies say it's to cut down on environmental impact so at first I was all for it. According to Stonyfield Farm:
By
switching to a foil lid, in one year
Stonyfield Farm will:
A.
Save enough energy to power over 180 U.S.
households for a year.
B.
Create a net savings of over 106 tons of solid waste.
C.
Save over 800,000 gallons of water.
That is indeed fantastic news for the environment! Do you feel it? Do you feel the "BUT" coming on? Yes, there's a but coming up.
BUT!
I reused my yogurt containers! Yes, I didn't reuse all of them, but those containers are perfect for small bits of leftovers, screws, nails, stitch markers....you name it, I used it! After a while, the ones used for food would get tossed in the recycle bin because plastic does breakdown over time releasing the nasty chemical bits.The wonderful people at Stonyfield will send you lids for your yogurt - which is great, but after reading all the pros for NOT using lids, I'm going to feel guilty asking them for lids! Environmental guilt....ick.
In my quest for a more environmentally conscience life I see equal importance in recycling AND reusing. What do you think? Which is more important or impactful to the environment? Recycling or Reusing?
