Two acres of Echoes

           

Our beautiful front yard...

door squeeks

Hello? Echo

Anybody still here?  Hellooooooo?

I don’t really know where to start, other than, Hello.  I’ll catch you up by saying we have (finally) moved successfully, and have been living in our own home for about 6 weeks or so.  My goodness was this an adventure, in the truest sense of the word.  I will be exceptionally happy if I never go through buying a house again.  It’s a lot of work.  And at this point, it was all completely worth it. 

my favorite tree...ever.  It's soooo pretty!

            Our house is beautiful – if a little empty.  We are still working at tracking down some furniture for our “Library” and we are in desperate need of area rugs what with entire house being floored in 12”x12” white tile!  It’s cold and somewhat sterile at the moment.  Although slowly and surely it is becoming a true (gigantic) home for the two of us.  Jon has been busy pretty much every single weekend with yard work.  Fortunately, for him, my dad lives two doors down, and has been able to walk him through the process quite well.  That, and he’s been able to lend Jon all the tools we don’t have quite yet.  Like a lawnmower and pruning shears – just to name a couple.

            And fortunately for me, my mom is also two doors down – because you know, they’re married – and she has been able to give me a hand unpacking boxes and getting various rooms set up.  I have oddly not gotten around to setting up my sewing studio, which would be really odd, if I weren’t doing a metric crap-ton of knitting currently.  Which – you like my segue here? – brings us to one of the main reasons for this welcome-back post.

            My giveaway.  Saying “I’m sorry” doesn’t really express my feelings.  I feel horrible about walking away from (yet another) unfinished project.  That is not at all how I wanted that idea to end.  And, because I am no longer allowing myself to “burn bridges” I have returned to make it right.  For you.  But also for myself.  Because acomplishing things is important to me in a way it never has been.  And I promised myself when I started this blog that I would not just abruptly leave it hanging. 

            So, here I am.  Wanna get some free stuff??  Do you?  Come on!  Of course you do!  We all do.  I do!  So, here is how this is going to work.  I am going to randomly pick a number between one and twenty-one (the number of comments on the giveaway post).  There is absolutely NO scientific method to the picking of this number, I’m just picking.  So, with without further ado:

            drum roll, please

Aaaaaand, the winner is –

Contestant Number Four.  That’s right folks!  Number 4.  Pickle, is our winner!  Come on up and claim your prize! 

            You can refer back to the original post to see all the amazing stuff you have won.  It’s honestly pretty exciting, if I do say so myself.  I hope all of my darling readers aren’t so frustrated with me that you’ve walked away to never ever return.  That would make me very sad.  And I accept it if you have.  Because sometimes that’s just life.  We clean up the messes left behind.  And, on the good days, we give awesome yarn to a complete (lovely) stranger.

            I am going to contact you, Pickle.  I am also going to see if Jamie over at Scissors and Steam – who also just came back to her blog) will put a blurb in a post to help let Pickle know.  When I can get ahold of you, I will be sending you an email with all the pertinent info.  Once again, contratulations my dear!

Happy happy Friday!

~j.b.


Oh, p.s.

I will honestly be back...very soon.  I have two+ months of stuff to talk about, people!  You really didn't expect me to stay quiet forever did you?!?  Ha!

Breakfast of Champions...

Greetings, my lovelies, on this nearly bright Tuesday morning!  This is what I had for breakfast.  It was meant to be my dessert last night, but I had a migraine, in its place.  Go me!  I think it may have been worth the wait, though...because I think I may not have snapped a picture of it last night.  And I would be sadly unable to blog about it.  And what would my life be then? And yours?  Lacking, for certain.

Anyway, while this may seem highly inappropriate for breakfast, this is from the woman who would gladly eat pie or ice cream in place of more common breakfast goods.  Such as cereal or *gasp* toast!  But, before you cry "but it's whipped cream" at me, know that it actually isn't.  It's home-made greek honey yogurt.  I'd like to claim I made the yogurt -- which is on my to-do list -- but I bought it at Whole Pay Check (tm).  I did however mix in Honey, a teeny tiny bit of agave and some vanilla extract.  It's a much cheaper way of getting the yogurt we love without having to spend as much or visit multiple grocery stores.

As far as the fruit goes.  *giggles maniacally*  This is soooo good!  I cored and sliced strawberries.  Macerated them with sugar, a splash of orange juice, some vanilla extract and some orange zest!  They are ridiculous, and should be illegal.  In fact, I'm sure they are in like three counties.  But I don't care.  Because they're delicious.  Very.

At any rate, I am loving all the comments my giveaway post is receiving.  This makes me a happy person.  Which is what you want.  Well, it's what I want in any case.  There's just a couple more days left to sign up, so go...leave a comment.  I promise I won't bite.  Mostly.  On a good day.  Haha!

Happy Tuesday!
~j.b.

Nonsense and a Giveaway!

Edit: this give-away is now closed.  I will be posting the winner in the next couple of days!  Thanks for your patience!

 Edit:  I have just made it easier to comment, and opened the comments up for all.  I am sorry to anyone my previous settings may have disqualified from the giveaway.  Don't give up, yet.  Just come on back!  :D

The day has finally arrived!  It is time for the giveaway!  And there are even options for this one.  I want to first say Hi Hi to all arriving from Scissors and Steam, and say Thank you for stopping by.  I know you're just doing to get free stuff, and I'm totally and completely okay with this.  I'd do it too.  Haha!  No, seriously, I would.  I have.  You're in good company.

So, this is mostly a Thank You (!) to all my followers and readers for putting up with the lax postings over the past few months.  And for reading when I'm sure I had nothing interesting to say other than moaning about my health.

Firstly, the rules -- I know, the boring part.  There are two steps to entering this give-away, and they should both be completed.  #1) Become a follower -- I promise I will not jump off a bridge...mostly.  #2) Comment on this post and let me know that you are a follower -- you know, confession time -- and say something funny.  No pressure, just say something, anything...I really don't care.  Just want to hear from you.

If you already follow this blog, just comment and let me know.  

You will have until the 7th of April -- I was going to do this on the 1st, but thought that might be kind of mean -- to enter in the drawing.  I will make the announcement of the winner on Monday (the 9th).  I will pick the winner as randomly as I am able to.  I know there's a tiny little app you can get that will pick a random number, but there really is no such thing as an algorithm that can truly pick a random number.  Plus, I don't know where to get it.  So...rambling over.

Let's get onto the important part. 

The first and best part -- in my opinion which isn't biased at all -- in this giveaway is the Stitch Markers from last week's Tutorial.  You will receive:

 

This set will actually include two more of the small orange and blue markers.  I just don't have pictures of them all.  So, all totaled, you will receive one large marker, plus four small markers.  A pretty good deal, if you ask me!  :D

Next, you will get to choose from one of two different colorways.  Here's the first:

There will be enough yarn here to complete a pair of Fingerless Mitts from PurlBee's blog.  The pattern for which I will print off and include in a page protector.  There will also be quite a bit left-over from each yarn for another small project.  Here is the second choice:

Each choice will contain two skeins of Cashmere Blend yarn from KnitPicks, and one skein of 100% Alpaca.  Also from Knitpicks.  Please understand, no substitutions are possible.  Sorry.  

I am also going to include the two sets of needles needed to complete this project -- although I do suggest you make a swatch to determine your unique gauge.  And if the needles I send don't work, then...you have two sets of dpns you didn't have to pay for!  Woot!  

Alright, I think that's it.  On Monday-ish the 9th of April, I will make the announcement.  Best of luck to all who enter, and May the Odds be Ever in Your Favor!  Why I just quoted Hunger Games is completley beyond me.  Forgive me, please.  I promise no one will die.  Really, I promise.  Stop looking at me like that!  

Happy Thursday,

~j.b.

Rain, rain...every day!

The weather has been lovely here.  And by lovely, I mean rainy and dark and dreary and beautiful.  I absolutely love this weather.  I always have.  It was this type of weather that first started me writing poetry -- along with serious depression -- and I've always had a thing for Lightening storms.  I think they're magical and powerful.  

This weather makes me want to curl up in a blanket -- hand made, of course -- and knit or read...or write.  Just depends on the mood I'm in.  It's also great tea weather.  Which is my beverage of choice.  I just found Teavana, and it's pretty much heaven in a cup.  Or a pot. Which is how I make it.  I drink a lot of tea.

I stopped by today, on this dreariest of dreary days to let you, my readers and followers, know that I am going to be having a give-away in the next couple days.  And it's going to be a wonderful one.  I'll be posting it as soon as Jamie, over at Scissors & Steam finishes her's up.  After you've received her give-away (lucky lucky) head on over here and check out mine.  I'm quite excited about it, and you'll all love it too.  

I'll give you a hint.  *whispers* it's going to contain fiber!!!

Make sure you pass that on.  And I'll see you all soon.  

Happy beautiful rainy Tuesday,

~j.b.

As promised...

So, I have finally taken all the pictures, and now I just have to write out the tutorial for making Stitch Markers.  I will also be selling these in my Etsy Shoppe, and I think I'll have a give-away for a set of Stitch Markers, for those not interested in making their own.  Because I mean, those people do exist.  Heh.

Here's where we start.  Gather your supplies:

The wire cutters and the beads shown above will be different in the following pictures.

You will need:

• Fox-tail beading wire
• Two different types of beads (one focus bead, and two each of a smaller bead)
• Crimp-beads (not shown)
• Wire cutters
• Crimp-pliers (necessary for crimping the crimp-beads)

Step 1:

Grab a small section of the beading wire and hold onto it.  I usually leave the length of it attached to the spool.  This way I waste much much less of it in the long-run.

String a crimp-bead, one of the smaller beads, your focus bead, and another of the smaller beads onto the beading-wire.

Create a loop in the wire, by sliding it back through the tops of each bead.  Just be careful not to pull the loop completely closed, because you will have to scrap it and start over.  It will cause a permanent kink in the wire.

Slide the wire all the way through, and out the end of the crimp-bead.

Now, using the crimp-pliers, press on the crimp-bead, closing it around the beading-wire.  On most crimp-pliers, there are two indentations.  You want to use the one that is smooth on one side, and serrated on the opposite side.  This will put the correct crimp in the bead.

Now the bead is crimped, and the wire will not slide around and/or out of any of the beads.  Your Stitch Marker is secure.

Next, you want to clip the ends of the wire.  I stop about 1/16th of an inch from the crimp-bead.  I don't creep closer, because I don't want to accidentally cause the crimp-bead to fall out.  Experiment, and find what works for you.

And here you go!  All three of the Stitch Markers ready to go.  I like having a set with one "different" bead to use a beginning of round marker.  

Alright, there you go!  Hope you enjoyed the tutorial.  Come back later -- possibly today, maybe tomorrow -- for the giveaway!  For those not interested in making their own.  Or anyone else who wants cute free stuff.  Sign me up!  Oh, wait...I made these.  Guess I can't be part of the give-away, can I?  Dammit.

Alright.  Enjoy your Friday night.  Jon and I are going to see Hunger Games and to dinner.  Hope you have fun plans, too.

Happy Friday

~j.b.