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knitting, Socks

Socks from 2015 – Part 3

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Still moar socks!  If you missed the first two installments, here are links for Part 1 and Part 2.

DSC_1411Plain Socks Again
Pattern: Sock Knitting Workshop
Designer: Alysania (yours truly!)
Needles: US 1.5 (2.5mm)
Yarn: Schachenmayr Regia Fluormania in, “7184”
Ravelry Project Link
Who couldn’t just love this colorway?  Blue and Orange?!  I’m in!  Arguably my favorite color of the fluormania color line, these (again) had to be plain socks to show off the color.  I really love how the transition from color to color isn’t perfectly clean and even and there’s a little bleed over, almost like a watercolor painting.  I’m also pretty thrilled that the socks are almost opposites of each other in how the colors lined up – blue on one toe, orange on the other.  They’re just perfect, and again, this is a great workhorse sock yarn and I’m sure they’ll last me for ages.

 

 

DSC_1424Hand Dyed Socks
Pattern: Hermione’s Everyday Socks
Designer: Erica Lueder
Needles: US 1.5 (2.5mm)
Yarn: Artsygal Colonial Nylon Blend, hand dyed by me.
Ravelry Project Link
The pattern was really simple so the socks knit up very quickly.  There’s enough of a pattern to not be plain old socks, but not so much that the pattern is lost in the color.  The yarn was hand dyed by yours truly at a dye day class taught by ArtsyGal.  It was the first time I’d dyed yarn, so it was fun experiment and I’m glad I finally knit with the yarn which was dyed in 2008!  Oof!  So, this is some pretty well aged sock yarn, but thankfully not past its prime.  I love how the pooling worked out to look like waves of color instead of striping or spiraling.

 

 

 

DSC_1433Fireball Socks
Pattern: Sock Knitting Workshop
Designer: Alysania (yours truly!)
Needles: US 1.5 (2.5mm)
Yarn: Zitron Trekking Pro Natura, hand dyed by me.
Ravelry Project Link
You’ll forgive me for yet another plain sock since this one is pretty neat, right?  I dyed this skein from a blank base myself, measuring how much yarn it takes to knit a row and then mathing it all out so I could get stripes like this.  Then it was walking laps around a set of chairs in the kitchen to re-skein the yarn in the right length, dye, reskein again into a smaller skein and FINALLY knit the yarn.  They buying/dyeing was done in 2008 (seems that class gave me ideas), and they were finally knit this past year and I’m IN LOVE with them.

Sepia Saturday

Sepia Saturday 319

 

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Our Sepia Saturday prompt image this week featured a photo of a group of Mennonite women ironing, dated 1951.  Here I have a single woman and while it doesn’t look like she’s ironing, she’s doing something in the kitchen area, and there’s laundry hanging on a line, so it works for me!  Plus, it’s probably dated about to the same year.  The back is unlabeled, so I don’t know who the woman in the photo is.  It’s likely that Leon Kitko, my grandfather, took the photo, but by  1951, his mother’s hair was already mostly grey based on other photos, so I don’t think this was her.  There are two boys’ shirts hanging on the line in the photo, so if it was taken later (1957 or so?), it means those may be the shirts for my father and uncle, but that’s definitely not the interior of the place they were living (I don’t recognize the wallpaper) and the woman doesn’t appear to be a match for my grandma.  So, I’m stumped!  Either way, it’s a neat photo, taken candidly, of daily life.  The woman has a rather fancy sheer apron on, but there are some pretty dirty socks hanging on the rack by the wash tub.  There’s something about the fact that this was photographed probably by my sneaky grandfather being silly against the fact that there’s a really neat scene captured here that I just love, and I’m glad I could share it with you this week even if we haven’t quite figured out the identity of the mystery woman.

Sepia Saturday

Sepia Saturday 318

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A boy and his dog for Sepia Saturday this week.  It was SUPER easy to match to the prompt photo this week since we have dozens and dozens (possibly hundreds) of photos of family pets from the Kitko side of the family.  Pictured here is my grandpa Leon Kitko and Tippy the dog.  The photo is dated 1946, so this means Leon was 13.  Location is in the yard of the family home in Beccaria, Pennsylvania – on the far left is the church we see in a number of other photos.  I’m not quite sure why the back of the photo is labelled twice – perhaps the pencil was starting to fade and was re-done in ink later.  On the label, Leon is called, “Buddy,” which was his childhood nickname.  In fact, it was such a commonly used nickname that, as the story goes, when he went to his first day of school, the teacher called his full name during roll call and he didn’t respond.  Being a small town, the teacher knew who he was already, so she asked him why he wasn’t responding.  He replied, “My name is Buddy, not Leon.”

Over the years the family had a number of pets, but there are quite a few photos of Tippy through the years which is nice to see.  Our pets have such short lives in comparison to ours, and it’s  nice to see that they held a prominent enough spot in the lives of my ancestors to make it into saved photos.

Subscription Boxes

Kloverbox February 2016

 

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Alright, Kloverbox, you made up for last month!  A very Valentine’s Day themed box, even if it arrived today (Feb 19th), five days after Valentine’s day.  All of these products are things I’ll use, and the box has four full size items which is great.

  • Small Keys Be My Valentine Soap – 1 bar / $5 – (Full size)  It smells amazing, and the ingredient list is really lovely –  oils, clay, and dark chocolate, no artificial colors, fragrances or other non-natural ingredients.  I’m not sure if I should save this for washing my face or use it in the shower!  Also included is a coupon code for 20% off at the Small Keys etsy store.
  • Balanced Guru Hug Me Long-and-Sweet Body Butter – 4 oz / $19.99 – (Full size)  OH WOW.  Okay, not I’m not big on mint, but this smells a lot like chocolate mint  since there’s both cocoa butter and spearmint oil listed in the ingredients and I really like it.  The body butter isn’t smooth and creamy in the tub, it’s more of a harder, solid lotion bar consistency.  It  actually came out of the container in one solid lump when I opened it which I rather prefer!  It makes it easier to apply since you just grab the chunk and rub it on your skin instead of digging into a pot of cream and getting it all under your finger nails.  It’s probably due to the fact that the box came in from the cold and I tore right into it, so the consistency may change when warmer weather comes.  Either way (as a solid or butter type product), I’m loving this.  I believe this was the item that was supposed to be in December 2015’s box but didn’t make it on time.  Really well worth the wait!  This is a company I’m really growing to love – affordable body and beauty products that have simple, organic ingredient lists.  There’s also a coupon code for 25% off at Balanced Guru.
  • QC Naturals Karan’s Cleanser – 4 oz / $16.50 – (Full size)  It smells completely amazing.  I’m a huge fan of musky/ambery type scents, so when I saw frankincense oil on the ingredient list, I knew this was going to be a winner.  For a cleanser, it doesn’t foam (on purpose), the consistency is more like a toner, and it basically uses the Oil Cleansing Method to clean by dissolving/suspending dirt in oils instead of stripping away every last bit of oil and moisture on your skin.  I gave it a try already and while I was surprised at the ick that came off on the cotton ball, I’m not sure I’d use this as  an everyday cleanser.  I can see using it for a quick clean before putting on makeup, but for the pre-bedtime face washing, I still like good ole soap and water.  It may be a mental thing, but it didn’t ‘feel’ like it was cleaning even though I could see that it definitely did.  Old habits can be so hard to change!  Still, it smells delightful and I’ll definitely be using it, maybe in combination with a scrub or before a mask.  There’s also a coupon code for 30% off at QC Naturals.
  • Theo Chocolate Cinnamon Love Crunch – 1 bar / $2.50 – (Full size)  The product card lists the value as $3.99, but on the website for Theo Chocolate, it’s listed as $2.50.  Either way, what a pleasant surprise!  I’m a huge fan of dark chocolate, so this was perfect for me.  I was a little worried that the cinnamon would be that fake red-hot heart cinnamon and be way overpowering, but was happy to find that the cinnamon was rather subtle and complemented the chocolate nicely.  Not a bad price for a really good bar of chocolate too!

Overall value is $43.99.  The box costs between $25 and $22.50 depending on subscription length, so the value still well covers the cost of the box even if the value this month is on the lower end of the spectrum (understandable after last month’s big value box).  It was  nice to see this month’s box arrive mid-month instead of end-of-month, and I am genuinely happy with the contents, delivery time, and, well, everything!  In case you’re interested in subscribing, here’s my referral link for 15% off your subscription.

knitting, Socks

Socks from 2015 – Part 2

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On to the second installment of my adventures in sock knitting from 2015.- for Part 1, click here.

DSC_1410Vanilla  Socks
Pattern: Sock Knitting Workshop
Designer: Alysania (yours truly!)
Needles: US 1.5 (2.5mm)
Yarn: The Alpaca Yarn Co. Paca-Peds in, “Carribean Chocolate”
Ravelry Project Link

The pooling worked out almost like a self-striping yarn with these, and I rather like how the brown and turquoise work together.  The yarn was soft and squishy with only 20% alpaca content, so it’s soft but still has that classic wool bounce and sproing.  Just your basic socks again since I didn’t know what to do with yarn that wouldn’t work for intricate patterns.

 

 

 

 

DSC_1428Stretchy Socks
Pattern: Sock Knitting Workshop
Designer: Alysania (yours truly!)
Needles: US 1.5 (2.5mm)
Yarn: Crystal Palace Yarns Panda Cotton Print  in, “Fall Herbs”
Ravelry Project Link

Another plain sock.  I’m sort of mystified how the same yarn can knit up into two very different socks because the pooling lines up differently, but it’s really rather interesting too.  The yarn came put up in two balls, so I suppose the one was just a hair enough different, or my gauge was that different between the two socks.  Either way, I’m not a huge fan of this yarn – when I wore them, they stretched out like crazy and almost didn’t stay on my feet.  I’m not sure if maybe the elastic is too old (the yarn had been ‘aging’ in my stash for quite some time) or that the bamboo and cotton overpower  the elastic.  I’m hoping a machine wash in warm water may bring them back to life.

DSC_1421Jaywalkers
Pattern: Jaywalker
Designer: Grumperina
Needles: US 1.5 (2.5mm)
Yarn: Zwerger Garn Opal Feelings in, “1702”
Ravelry Project Link

This yarn was just begging to be Jaywalkers with those HUGE stripes.  The coral and red colors look like that in real life too – it’s super hard to distinguish between the two colors.  For the heels, I did the heel flap and turn in yarn from the opposite end of the ball so that I wouldn’t mess up the striping pattern.  I think I forgot to do that on the first one and then remembered for the second.  Great, basic workhorse sock yarn with fun colors and a super quick (3 day!) knit.

Subscription Boxes

Goodbeing (formerly Goodebox) February 2016

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Not a real winner of a box this month for me, Goodbeing.  There are a couple of subscription box sins here for me including silly foil packets and pink.  UGH PINK.  I’ll get into it in more detail in the contents, but I honestly feel like for all the preferences and customization available for this box, it’s basically gone out the window for the past two boxes.  Despite having my preferences set for no health products, I keep getting tooth paste and items I specifically set my preferences against.  Also, due to my age, I’m just automatically getting anti-aging and firming products that I don’t want.  Wrinkles are natural!  I have no shame about my age, and really how much can any product stop or slow the inevitable march of time.  I’m much more concerned with the fact that I’m 35 and still have pimples (and dry skin, go figure).  Wrinkles are the LEAST of my skincare woes.  Oh, the theme for the box this month is, “Love Thyself and Others,” which is a wonderful theme, and perfect for February, however I don’t really feel like the theme was a theme outside of the bracelet.  I suppose it gets a little hard to both customize a box and carry out a theme at the same time though.

  • Shea Radiance Advanced Firming Cream – 6 oz / $55 – (Product is approx .5 oz, value of $4.50)  It smells REALLY good – warm and ambery.  The full-size product is super expensive though and I don’t think this is something I’d buy on my own.  I just don’t buy the firming claims, even if it is a nice cream.
  • Shea Radiance Intense Body Balm – 5 oz / $50 –  (Product is approx .5 oz, value of $5)  This is a thicker formula than the previous, almost a mousse, and smells a little like cake batter.  It’s a little greasy, but definitely thick and will be great for dry winter skin.  Again, because of the cost, this isn’t something I’d buy, but the sample is nice to try.
  • Shea Radiance Unscented Body Cream – 6 oz / $40 –  (Product is approx .5 oz, value of $3.50)  Another body cream.  THREE in the box.  I’d probably have rather had one larger sample instead of three tiny ones since they’re all variations on the same thing anyway.  Another nice but expensive cream that I’ll no doubt use up, but wouldn’t buy again.
  • Vapour Plumping Lip Gloss – .13 oz / $24 – (Product is full size)  LIP GLOSS!  I’m never disappointed with lip gloss since it’s one of the few makeup items I actually wear on a regular basis.  I don’t really feel like this plumps my lips at all (and I mean really at all, not even a bit), but the formula is nice, not heavily scented/flavored, not sticky, enough color without being too much.  The color I received was Mischief, a deep plum color.  If this is the only item I like out of the box, it still covers the cost!
  • Kahina Brightening Facial Serum – 30 mL / $72 – (3 packets at about 3  mL each, approx value of $24)  Another REALLY expensive product that I probably wouldn’t buy again.  I’m always dubious about claims like this, and with three tiny foil packets, I won’t really be able to tell if it works or not on discoloration from acne.  It’s a nice thing to try, but yet again, not something I’d buy because the price point is just too high for me, personally.
  • Bedrook & Bloom Smart Ash Teeth Whitener and Detoxifier – 32 g / $30 – (Product is 1 gram, value of $3)  I received this in the Kloverbox for August 2015 and didn’t like it AT ALL.  My teeth didn’t feel clean after using it, and there was charcoal mess EVERYWHERE.  In the sink, powder that poofed out when the little container was opened, dribbles on my clothes, gross gross gross.  It’s just completely impractical in this powder format to use.  I actually felt less clean and ‘detoxified’ after using this.  SUPER disappointed to see this in this box since this isn’t something I wanted or needed as indicated with my preferences.
  • Rafiki Health Bracelet – 1 bracelet / $10 – (Product is full size)  Okay, it’s a great cause – the bracelets are made in Kenya and one bracelet provides healthcare for one month to a child in a community overseas.  However, the bracelet color for Healthcare support is pink.  If you’ve been keeping up with my blog, you already know I hate pink.  LOATHE pink.  This is a complete waste for me, though I’m sure I can find someone who will like it.  The cause is worthy and I do like that, but  it’s just absolutely not me and I know I checked off “None” for pink on my survey.

The overall value is $74 which is on the higher end for this box.  In spite of the good value, I’m not really into it this month because the only thing I’m interested in is the lip gloss.  The other items are great (except for the ughpink bracelet and the Smart Ash), but not items I’d ever want to spend that kind of money on.  There are other products that cost less and are just as great, so I’m disappointed that all of these are all such high ticket items and there’s not better cost-variety if that makes sense.  When you take out the two items I have absolutely no interest in, the value only drops $13, so it’s still a great deal, but I’m just.. underwhelmed this time.  Last months box was, IMHO, far better!

Sepia Saturday

Sepia Saturday 317

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This Sepia Saturday featured a group of men standing with golf clubs.  None of my family were golfers (poor coal miners seldom have the time or money for golf), so I was a little stumped.  In a flurry of scanning over the past few weeks, I came to this photo of three men all neatly lined up on their bikes and I thought, “AH!  There’s my image for the prompt this week!”  It may not be a sport per se, since in Holland it’s more a method of transportation than a sporting activity, but I thought it would fit well here.  On the left is Doede Jaarsma (1911-1995) somewhere in the north of the Netherlands.  The back of the photo is labelled, “Douglas and Friends,” and was probably written on after he took on the Americanized name of Douglas once arriving in the USA.  The photo looks more like it was taken about 1930 when he was a younger man, so I have to assume it was either in/around Tjerkgaast in Friesland or in/around Uithuizen in Groningen.  Two of the three men have one hand in a coat pocket, and the trees have no leaves, so I have to imagine it was a mighty chilly day to be on a bike.  It’s really a brilliant photo and they’re captured while riding and not while standing still which is pretty neat (and tough to do with those old cameras).

Subscription Boxes

BOOM!Box February 2016

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I don’t even know what to say.  I thought hey, that first official BOOM!Box was incredible, there’s just no way to top that.  I WAS WRONG.  First off, I’m not Jane Austen’s biggest fan, so when they announced the theme was, “Most Ardently,” featuring a Jane Austen theme, I was pretty much indifferent.  I’ve read her books, seen some movies, it’s good stuff, but I’m a horror and dystopian fiction sort of gal.  Needless to say, when I opened this box and saw Zombie Jane Austen, I was BLOWN AWAY.  I didn’t even know this was a thing (hello, welcome to the rock I live under, it’s cozy here), but HOW PERFECT?!  I’m amazed at how well they work a theme out across so many  different products.

  • Attic Journals Notepad – $7 –  As the product card states, the front and back covers are taken from a Jane Austen inspired deck of bridge cards.  I love little notebooks like this to keep stashed in my bag for taking on-the-spot genealogy notes when I don’t happen to have my tablet, so this is super handy and will fit perfectly in the front pocket of my everyday bag.  Attic Journals Link
  • Geeky Hostess Darcy’s Delight Tea – .6 oz / $10 – TEA!  I received the flavor, Darcy’s Delight, which is a blend of Oolong, orange peel, osmanthus, and green sparkling sugar.  Of course I brewed a cup right away.  It’s a great black tea with hints of orange and sweetness which may be the perfect tea for a snowy day.  Geeky Hostess Link
  • Optimystical Pendant – $25  – Normally something like this wouldn’t fall into my style range, but I actually really dig this and can’t wait for an opportunity to wear it!  The chain is gold tone with a gold fountain pen tip charm and a wee corked glass bottle  that contains a bit of moss, a teensy scroll containing a page of Pride & Prejudice, and a glittery glass pebble.  It’s basically the perfect Jane Austen necklace ever.  Optimystical Studios Link
  • Kiru Pin – $2 – Okay, I’m not a big fan of pink and flowery things, but I like the quote, “Know Your Own Happiness.”  It’s another pin to add to the knitting bag, so I’ll take it!  Kiru Link
  • Mystery Nail Wrap  – $10 – I was super thrilled to open the package and see an old favorite, Unicorn Blood (non glitter) inside.  Perfect!
  • Gothique Lace Nail Wrap – $10 – DUDE.  Where has this been all my life?  A beautiful lace design with skulls grinning through, and it glows in the dark.  I’m super happy that I got these and not the Most Ardently nail wraps I’ve seen other people post because skulls and lace are totally my jam – pink and flowers not so much.  As usual, there’s a nail file included.
  • Glitter & Shadow Duo – $15? – The colors included are Sensibility, a golden cosmetic glitter, and Tea & Crumpets, a chocolate sparkly eye shadow.  I’m still trying to embrace the glitter (lash glue tends to really irritate my eyes, so I’m not sure how else to use this), but the lovely brown shadow is absolutely spot on perfect for me.  It’s not so sparkly that it can’t be used every day which is great!
  • Sam Skyler Art Print and Bookmark – ??? – GLORIOUS.  Sam Skyler knocks it out of the park again with a beautiful print done again using Espionage Cosmetics products.  I really need to find proper frames and get this print and the one from the last box up on the wall somewhere because I love her style.  The bonus bookmark is printed on some lovely pearlescent paper, and I know I’m going to put that to use right away with the next item.  Sam Skyler Art Link
  • Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Book – 1 book / $14.95 – This is the item that  really set up the whole box.  When I grabbed the box out of the mailbox, I wondered why it was so heavy, and this is why!  A paperback copy of Pride  & Prejudice & Zombies courtesy of Quirk Books to go along perfectly with the release of the movie this month.  I’ll dig into this probably next week, although I’d have preferred a coupon for a digital copy rather than a physical paperback book.  The majority of my reading happens on a tablet or phone lately, but the idea of sitting down with the tea from above and this book on a chilly day is rather appealing.

Overall value this month is probably somewhere around or above $100 which is incredible!  The box costs between $25 and $30 per month depending on subscription length, and I’m happy to say that this is quickly becoming my favorite box of the three boxes I subscribe to.  Espionage Cosmetics has wowed me with both boxes so far, and I’m really digging the variety and the fact that they’re introducing us to new artists and products.  In case you’re thinking about subscribing and want to send me some love, hit up my  referral link!

(Edited 18 Feb 2016 to add missing product values)