WIP Sweater

About a month ago, I was out of town and stopped in a yarn shop looking for a space to crochet. It was a lovely spot and the owner and her grandchildren were wonderful. The sweet granddaughter was my little friend for the day showing me all around, helping me choose yarn, telling me about her half-started project, and giving me her opinion of the project I was working on. Simply adorable!

I did, with my little friend's help, find some pretty purple cotton-wool blend to take home. After looking around a bit, I found the perfect use for my yarn via Aethestic Nest. Following her directions, I used up most of the 200gms of deep purple yarn I picked up on this baby sweater.

I couldn't get a picture that does this yarn justice- it's actually deep purple with a gentle sheen.

Lastly, although the body is finished, I still need to find the perfect buttons. Maybe something clear or purple or even wood-grain would be nice.

Deals, deals, deals!

Have you tried couponing? I'm not going to be making the cut for TLC's show Extreme Couponing, but I have been managing to build up a smallish stockpile of products we use regularly by combining couponing and store loyalty programs.

From today's trip to CVS, I got
3 Gatorade G Fit Series snacks and drinks
3 Hallmark car-shaped gift boxes (about 8x10 in size)
2 packages CVS pantiliners
3 12-packs of Pepsi
1 box of CVS bandaids
1 candy bar

Total paid out of pocket $9.94 (after coupons and using my previous ECB)
+ I earned $5 in ECB for my next trip

From Rite Aid, I got
2 bottles of Gain dish detergent
1 bottle of Scope mouthwash
1 padlock

Total paid out of pocket $5.04 (after coupons and using my previous UPR)
+ I earned $3 in UPR for my next trip

So in summary, I spent a total of $15.00 today for $48.00 worth of products. And I have $8.00 left to use in the future. I'm definitely not a pro at this, but I've found what works for us and I'm happy with the results.

If you're interested in learning more about this topic, I recommend checking out Money Saving Mom. She has a lot of great tutorials on getting the most from couponing, and she regularly posts other free offers.

Happy Shopping!

A Very New Skill

This summer has been so relaxing. It's the first time in a few years that I've had the time to simply do nothing. Ahh...

In the last week or so, I've finally begun feeling relieved, unburdened, rested, healthy. It's helped me relax to take care of some of the items on my to do list... and to simply leave some items alone for now.

I haven't been doing as much crocheting or crafting or posting, but I'm ok with that. I am finally feeling truly rested.

With all this resting, though, has come the space to try out a completely new skill- knitting. I'm showing you my first project- as you can see, it ended up wonky.

It was just a simple wash cloth to practice my new skills, but made wonky when I tried to add a border. Still, it makes me smile to see the smooth stockinette in the center.

Here she is in all her wonky glory!

By the way, I now know firsthand how the stockinette stitch can curl.

Blessings!

Inspiration

It's been so long since I last posted. I've got a few WIPs going on, but nothing ready to show off yet.

This afternoon, I was looking at the beautiful projects linked up at icrochet. This pillow totally caught my eye. It's such a nice use of granny squares and I love the little flowers on it. Wouldn't it be lovely as an accent piece?

Source: Amona