Moving Tip

The Sailor and I are in the throes of packing chaos at the moment. I now have a love hate relationship with cardboard. And tape. Packing paper and bubble wrap are also pretty high on the list. I'm exhausted and we haven't even packed the moving truck yet. (Don't even talk to me about the days of driving ahead...)

For much of my life, I have been what some people call a professional nomad. I generally love the packing process as well as the travel itself. It gets me excited about the destination -- the people I'm going to meet and the new things I'll experience. But this is the first time I've moved with real furniture (and not just a desk and chair), plus I have quite a lot of kitchen stuff. Despite following most of my spring cleaning tips, the boxes are still piling up.

So, understandably, I've been a little more frazzled about this move than others. 

Earlier today, in between trying to figure out what else to pack in the box with the cast iron cookware, I looked into the living room and saw the Sailor, casually watching TV. He was sitting in my favorite IKEA chair, surrounded by boxes, packing paper and bubble wrap. 

Clearly, the TV was not yet packed (deep breath...), but the Sailor was pretty chilled out about it all. 

He reminded me to take a different kind of deep breath and to just S-L-O-W down. This move is meant to be an adventure. This year, I'm also supposed to just chill out. And then he made me laugh.

I'm glad the TV isn't packed yet. I'm thinking that instead of packing one more box tonight, I'm going to finish knitting a dishcloth (anything more complicated is beyond me and/or already packed at this point...) and watch a comedy with the Sailor.

My best moving tip so far? Laugh. Laugh a lot. Moving is stressful. Saying goodbye to friends and family is emotional. Going somewhere new can be exciting and scary at the same time. 

Laughter? It is generally good for the soul, and can make you feel better within seconds. 

What's your favorite moving tip?

Down on the Farm

In the midst of the craziness of packing and moving, I spent the past few days with some of my closest college friends at a farm. We cooked, we laughed, we sat on the porch and watched the rain, we drank local wine, and we reveled in the simple life that farms seem to offer. 

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm sure having a farm is hard work. But there is no denying the simple pleasures that we gained from spending even only a few days at one. 

I mean, how can you not smile when you see these faces?  

The four of us gals have been spread out over the globe since college, and every now and again, we manage to all gather at the same location, at least for a short time. Family commitments, schooling, class schedules, projects, house sales and moving dates made this particular get-together nothing short of a miracle.

Sometimes there are all kinds of activities and busyness when we gather. This trip though, we pretty much just chilled. With giant life-changing situations happening in each of our lives, this farm gave us the chance to simply relax together. 

Personally, I spent a lot of time in my felt slippers, knitting and looking at the view.  

I even managed to get myself out of bed early enough to watch the sunrise a few mornings. 

 

We didn't solve the world's problems during our stay, or even most of our own issues. But we did talk, laugh, and hash out quite a few of them. I at least drove away from the farm a little less high strung than when I arrived. 

 

In addition to missing my friends until our next reunion, I will definitely miss this view... but I feel full of farm goodness.

More Small (or even Big) Kitchen Hints

In mid-May, I shared some small kitchen hints with you. Over the years, I've discovered two other things that make my life easier in the kitchen (no matter what size), especially when baking. 

1. Use a Parmesan cheese shaker for flour. 

I wish I could take credit for this one, but I can't. I read it somewhere a while back -- a magazine or other blog. Who knows, but I want to kiss the person who suggested it. It has revolutionized my baking. I'm the kind of person who bakes, puts the dough in the fridge to chill and then puts the flour away. Then of course I need more flour to roll the dough out. My flour is stored in a back cabinet and is not easy to just 'grab'.

But now, I can just grab the shaker. 

Bonus: instead of sticking my doughy hands in the flour, I can just shake, and wipe off the container later.

Shake, roll, bake. 

Speaking of rolling out dough...  

2. Keep a ruler in the drawer with your other utensils. 

I really am terrible at eyeballing measurements. The Sailor can take one look at something and tell you the dimensions pretty precisely. I'm relying on him to pack our moving truck. I still am befuddled as to how our stuff will fit into a smallish moving truck.

I can't tell you how many times I've had to go out and search for a ruler in my craft stuff because I want to be sure my pie dough isn't too thick, or the cookies are at least roughly the right size.

By keeping a ruler nearby, I no longer have to guess! Choose a plastic ruler for easy cleaning. 

What's your favorite kitchen hint?

Sheep Part II

I shared with you the fluffy cuddly sheep earlier this week, and now I'd like to introduce you to the flat flock. 

They started out cuddly -- as all balls of yarn generally do. 

Their body parts even became little pieces of artwork along the way. 

(I may have had a little too much fun posing the body parts.)

Then the parts finally became sheep -- flat sheep.

My friend saw this original sheep pattern on Etsy and also a few of the actual handmade sheep for sale in the same seller's shop. She wanted enough to hang from a mobile. Then she remembered that I crocheted, so she asked me to make them for her instead. 

My other friends chipped in for the supplies, and we gave the mommy-to-be a gift she's not likely to forget. 

The Sailor got in on the photo action and said the 'farmer' needed a motorcycle to corral the sheep.

So there you have it... the whole flock of sheep!

The Sheep

A few weeks back, I wrote a post on several yarn works in progress, where you may have seen a glimpse of the headless knit sheep. A few days ago, I mentioned gift-giving and I showed off a little handmade yarn card. Thankfully I didn't reveal the actual gift, because apparently the recipient actually does read this blog! 

Yesterday, my friend from school days had her first baby shower, and she got to keep this awesome sheep pillow. Now you get to finally see the sheep, in all of his glory.

After I finished my little (um let's say, BIG) sheep friend, I sat with him on the couch and wondered if I could actually give him away. Sheep are quite cuddly, especially when made with knit bobbles. 

I had never knit bobbles before, and even though I was tempted to try to convert the pattern into crocheted bobbles, I stuck with the knitted ones. I do think crocheted ones would have been faster and perhaps easier, but I'm glad I tried something new.

I modified the pattern slightly by totally over-stuffing this thing. I think it was meant to lay like a pillow, but I wanted my sheep to stand up on his own. I also crocheted four legs instead of knitting the two long ones. Having only two legs looked funny since he wouldn't be laying on his side. (Not that you can actually see his legs, since he's rather rotund.) 

My friend chose a sheep theme for her nursery, so of course the pillow fits perfectly. 

The sheep, getting a bath before getting stuffed.

I wanted to also give my friend something she could use right away, since apparently newborns don't really need giant over-stuffed sheep pillows for sleeping.

On the other hand, my mother has always told me that you can never have too many blankets for a newborn. At her suggestion, I picked out a grass green color for the blanket. The cream colored one on the right was a baby gift for another friend.

I managed to find a little sheep applique for the corner of the blanket.

There's even more sheep to show, but I'll post the rest of the flock later this week.