low-water immersion dyeing ✦ a tutorial ✦

as per my list of hobbies that i'd like to try,  i finally tried low-water immersion dye.  there is definitely an art to this.  i just threw dye in, not knowing what i was doing and was really nervous once i saw some horrible looking projects online.  i guess i got lucky because i'm really happy with the results, which are now available in my shop (top, headband).

you can make your own by following the instructions below:

✦ wet shirt & ring out.
✦ stuff in small jar. i used a gallon mason jar with it crushed tightly to the bottom.
✦ mix 1 cup water and 4 teaspoons turquoise procion dye. pour over shirt.
✦ mix 1 cup water and 2 teaspoons fuchsia procion dye. pour over shirt.
✦ place weight (i used a jar full of water.  don't use anything metal.) on the shirt.
✦ heat 1 cup water in the microwave until boiling. mix 4 tsp of soda ash in and WAIT.
✦ after 1 hour, pour this on your shirt. if your shirt still isn't submerged, add more water.
✦ after 24 hours, run it through the coldest rinse cycle and then wash with detergent twice. synthrapol is always recommended, but i didn't have any.

new domesticity.

i was perusing the front page of etsy in my free time yesterday and i came across the mention of a book called Homeward Bound:  Why Women Are Embracing the New Domesticity.  it sounds intriguing so i plan on checking it out, but i can't stop thinking about my collection of hobbies and my intention of adding to the collection.  i often have so many things i want to do that i don't know where to start.  this is definitely one of those times.
current hobbies
✦ crocheting ✦ of course, this one rarely stops.  check out what i've been working on by following me on ravelry or checking out my etsy shop.
✦ candle making ✦ i just started this one.  i have a great recipe for easy aromatherapy candles.  lavender essential oil and soy wax are perfect for these.  would anyone be interested in a tutorial?
✦ knitting ✦ i first learned to knit in about 2004.  i haven't done much since 2009 or 2010, but i'm slowly getting back into it now that i'm crocheting.  i made a fingerless mitt the other day.
✦ painting ✦ i'm not any good, but i have paints and i'm not afraid to use them.
✦ gardening ✦ this is more of a budding hobby (hardy har har), but i'm trying to grow an avocado tree from a pit with some success so far.  bonus:  i also own three other plants.  that counts, right?

✦ hooping ✦ we had a nice little hoopfest in a friends back yard yesterday.  a few drinks, some hooping, and a few games of bags.  that's a great memorial day.

✦ cooking ✦ i feel fortunate that this is something j and i enjoy doing together.  most nights we cook together.  it's perfect for me because i don't touch raw meat, and he doesn't mind.  i feel confident that we can conquer any recipe.  after all, if i can make my mom's ravioli and sauce from scratch anything seems possible.

✦ macrame ✦ i don't do much with my skills anymore, but i enjoy creating little beauties out of metal hoops and undyed yarn to hang around our home.  christi jay makes many inspiring pieces.

future hobbies

✦ dyeing ✦ i have some procion dyes waiting in my closet for me as i type.  i hope to dye some scarves using low-water immersion techniques.  i'm also planning to dye some yarn.  i'm collecting inspiration here.

✦ sewing ✦ i'm collecting inspiration here.  as much as i want to support etsy artists, i know i can't reach my goal of a 100% handmade wardrobe just by shopping on etsy because it would be unaffordable.  i'm going to have to learn some skills for myself.  i'm very much intimidated by this one.  i know how to thread and basically operate the machine.  that is the extent of my knowledge.

✦ canning ✦ i got interested in this one in 2012 when i discovered the canning subreddit.  this will probably wait until we have a yard.  i don't care for canned veggies much, but if we could grow tomatoes and cucumbers i would love some canned tomato sauce, salsa, and pickles.  

✦ homebrewing ✦ we are complete novices, but this would be something fun for j and i to learn together.  we tried to take a class once and accidentally signed up for the tasting class instead.  that may have been a sign.

✦ weaving ✦ i have wanted to learn since i saw a beautiful wooden loom in 2005.  someday i'll own one and create amazing works of love with it.

✦ spinning ✦ if i can weave, knit, and crochet, it's about time i learn how to spin my own yarn.  maybe with my own sheep?!

✦ soap making ✦ i'm super intimidated by this one and it feels like i have the least to gain from this.  i will probably put this one off although i'd love to learn.  it might be worth investing in a class.

✦ urban foraging ✦ it would be a useful skill to be able to grab edibles out of the city forests.  there's a class offered around philadelphia through mainline school night that i plan to take eventually.

✦ stained glass making ✦ this is another that isn't on my short list and takes a lot of tools.  i'd love to learn eventually, but it isn't a huge priority.

✦ bee keeping ✦ once we have our imaginary garden, i hope we have the chance to bee keep for pollination aide as well as a personal supply of raw honey.

✦ dehydrating ✦ i'm hoping to get a dehydrator after we are feeling settled.  it will be fun to experiment and practical.

✦ composting ✦ i have been looking into a nature mill composter.  it's been on my wishlist for some time.  we'll get one eventually.  
one day we'll have our homestead complete with our tiny house and our space for all of my hobbies.

gratitude.

i am ridiculously thankful for my friends that put up with my constant need and desire to change up my shop pictures constantly.  pouring my heart and soul into this shop makes me so happy.  i couldn't ask for anything more fun to do for 13+ hours a day.  

Some other things that I've been up to:

- we went to see Atlas Genius and Family of the Year at the free block-party that philly hosts every month in the summer.

- i made some fun new tags for my etsy shop.  i'm in love.

- i crocheted a couple of new bikinis.  one is a work in progress, and the other is in my shop.

- we celebrated cinco de mayo early (the 4th) at dos segundos in nolibs.  

catch up.

i've come a long way in the past couple of weeks.  i'm starting to feel like i'm regulating my technology usage more.  because of this i'm feeling more moderation in every area of my life.  i've been more active.  i've been sitting less.  i've been more productive.  i've been eating better.  who knew that so many good things could come from reducing attachment to electronics?  
of course, there is a cost.  crocheting feels almost like a compulsion now.  i have so much fun yarn and so many colors that i just want to try everything at once.  i did try something completely new the other day.  see for yourself:

that, my friends, is my first yarn bomb.  bringing happiness one stitch at a time.  if you'd like to make your own, you can check it out here.  maybe if there's interest we could do a tutorial?  you can pretty much find anything that i make lately on my ravelry page.  i'm trying to get better about documenting experiences with any patterns to help myself and others out.  
i also finished a long-awaited project:  the crocheted festival top.  i don't know why the first one took so long.  i suppose i had a long of decisions to make.  i started a new one today and almost finished it.  just a touch of fringe left.  (available in my shop.)

i was also able to finally steal a friend for a bit to take so pictures.  i'm so thankful that my friends put up with this business.  
technicolor hip pouch:

headband/dread wrap:

fringed crystal pouch:

nomad slouch hat:

art of flow poi:

barefoot sandals:

wildflower bamboo pixie vest:

headband/dread wrap:

a retreat.

one of the best feelings in the world has to be just retreating from real life to my yarn for a couple of days.  i finished a shrug in the most beautiful bamboo and a loofah and soap sack in some recycled cotton yarn.  and i get to top off the wonderful beginning of the week with hoop class tonight.  it's a good life.

on occult sciences.

it's about to get real around here.  when bloggers that i read start posting about a similar topic, sometimes i just feel like it is the thing to do.  i do not and will not ever believe in astrology, but i feel like i need to address the subject because i just can't get over my writers block without posting this.  it's written out of frustration and anger, but these words are me, so here they are:
i'm sorry, i know many people in the blog world are a fan of astrology, but seriously?  seriously...?  or is this just a fad?  welcome to the twenty-first century where doctrines with esoteric character and mysticism can be dismissed.  we can view the stars as they really are or as we wish them to be.   the intellectual foundations of astrology were swept away 300 years ago by Johannes Kepler, the first astrophysicist and last intellectual astrologer.  why does astrology still exist?  because it fulfills our desire to be personally connected with the cosmos.  if this connection is a large part of your belief, perhaps you need only watch this video to feel the authentic connection that is not based on fuzzy truths, lies, and myths.  
why does it matter?  the psuedoscience perpetuated by belief in astrology is not advancing our world.  i want future generations, my own progeny to realize that they control their own fate, the fate of civilizations, and the world as a whole.  there is no predisposition, and your life is what you make of it (although socioeconomic status does greatly affect youth).  astrology and other disempowering beliefs are dangerous and could have profound affects.

"What we do with our world, right now, will propagate down through the centuries and powerfully affect the destiny of our descendants. It is well within our power to destroy our civilization, and perhaps our species as well. If we capitulate to superstition, or greed, or stupidty we can plunge our world into a darkness deeper than time between the collapse of classical civilization and the Italian Renaissaince. But, we are also capable of using our compassion and our intelligence, our technology and our wealth, to make an abundant and meaningful life for every inhabitant of this planet. To enhance enormously our understanding of the Universe, and to carry us to the stars." -- carl sagan

if you are open to hear a scientific opinion of astrology, i present to you the late great carl sagan.

feeling lost.

i've been feeling a bit lost lately.  i've been uninspired to blog/journal, and my creative process in general is lacking.  i've all but given up on painting.  i injured my hand crocheting last week, so i'm taking a break to let it feel better.  (only i could injure my hand while crocheting...)  i still have hooping though...  
one huge reason for a lack of blogging is some confusing feelings regarding blogging and the blogging world.  there are a lot of good things about it, but right now i'm feeling very critical of blog-culture.  i don't really know how much i want to address, but i'll just say that i thought blogging was about self-expression.  i'm finding many blogs to just merge together and feel completely inauthentic and scripted. 
i've taken the time off to decide on a tattoo.  i don't know when i'll be able to get it.  unfortunately my desired placement isn't the best for someone wanting to work in schools.  it doesn't help that there's still gender discrimination regarding tattoos (and oh-so-many other things...) in schools.  i would hate to have to wear long sleeves all the time.  i had a plan to get it a couple weeks ago and i changed my mind.  i'll do it eventually, but there's no need to rush.

what do i desire?

If you say that getting the money is the most important thing, you will spend your life completely wasting your time. You'll be doing things that you don't like doing in order to go on living, that is in order do things that you don't like doing. That is stupid. Better to have a short life that is full of what you like doing than a long life that is spent in a miserable way.

another goodbye.

finja is off soon--back to austria.  and i'm left feeling like i have an empty nest again.  these past couple months have been a whirlwind of visits back and forth to DC and visits from finja and other family.  it's always such a busy time, but a happy busy.  and it's hard to see her go.  especially this time, knowing that she'll probably never live in the US again.  
we didn't spend her last days here thinking about that though.  we never need to.  doing happy things is much more valuable.  she always seems to make it back to see us anyway.  even if there are months and years in between.  

a google reader alternative.

i've  noticed that a lot of you have been following me on bloglovin now that google reader is shutting down.  for those of you that are interested, you can follow along here.  
alternatively, i would suggest transitioning to feedly (and following me by clicking the add button by my blog title here), which can import your google reader reading list to make the transition smooth.  the layout is much more minimal and visually pleasing.  it also has apps for mobile reading and plenty of ways to personalize your experience.

gratitude & insecurities.

i can't even tell you how many times i've started to do this:  writing something and photographing it for use in a blog, eventually deleting it before it is ever published.  i'm quite sensitive about insecurities, you see.  one of them happens to be my handwriting.  what better way to get over it than to broadcast it to the world, right?  (kind of like that one time that i tried to beat a fear of heights by jumping out of a plane...)  
so there it is, my handwriting in all of its glory.  that's not the most important thing i'm trying to accomplish here.  i watched the documentary HAPPY last night.  in addition to being an interesting and powerful program, it suggested that we should (1) take time every day to do things we love, (2) take time to consider our blessings, and (3) take time to do acts of service for others.  these things aren't individual keys to happiness, but they will certainly put you on the right track to potential happiness.  
this is my attempt to become more in touch with myself and others, while making strides toward a happier more meaningful life.  i've been planning to start an art journal for months.  this is a great opportunity to dedicate time to arts that i've often neglected.  i've always felt quite insufficient when i journal/draw/paint.  i hope this journey will provide me with a new confidence and expanded consciousness to my own thoughts and feelings, as well as the world as a whole.  
what better way to begin my soul searching than by making a list of the things that make my heart swell with gratitude.  
enough:  because its all i ever truly need. books:  because they open the doors to inspiration.   health:  because without it i could not do the things i love. tea:  because sometimes all one needs is a bit of comfort. mind:  because memories and thoughts are to be cherished.   body:  because i am able to be strong and independent. today:  because the beauty is in the moment. my love:  because he is my sun, my moon, and all my stars. senses:  because without them i cannot experience this amazing world. home:  because that is where my heart lies. family:  because they love unconditionally. dharma:  because she lives and loves in the moment.   education: because knowledge is power. community:  because we all need companions in this life. inner peace:  because it is my stepping stone to peace in the outer world. connecting:  because our deep connections shape the journey. humanity:  because the compassion of humanity never ceases to surprise me. laughter:  because that is true happiness.   music:  because nothing is quite like music blasting with the windows open during a springtime afternoon shower.   the journey:  because life is a pretty amazing thing. nature:  because i find her awe-inspiring.   creativity:  because it makes the world a wonderful place. challenges:  because growth is a beautiful thing.
what are you grateful for?  i'd love to read about it.

accomplishments & body acceptance.

true life:  every time my classes end i get so excited for all of the things i'm going to do in my free time. decorate our apartment.  paint like there's no tomorrow.  solidify my running schedule.  explore our new town.  fill my new shop.  
unfortunately that's not what reality looks like.  it's halfway through my week off and so far i've put a couple things in the shop, painted one painting, learned that i'm not so good at painting, and explored our town a bit.  i've also woke up with a nauseating headache and took a nap, prepared for my hoop class starting next week, and dreamed about all of the flow arts classes that are available in philly (buuuut the price adds up fast.  i'll stick to playing on my own and youtube videos for now.).  
it's always disappointing not accomplishing all that i dream to accomplish.  hopefully we'll start setting our running schedule tonight.  i know that my body has changed, and i don't have the metabolism that i did when i was 15.  i've been a pretty consistent size (12) and weight since 2009 or so.  if i were trying my best to eat well and exercise, i wouldn't feel as guilty.  but that's not the case.  i mean, we eat pretty well, but we all have our challenges (like a love of beer and a craving for pizza once a week).  our main problem is establishing an exercise schedule after j gets home.  he's usually tired and hungry, and i'm not usually one to push him into exercising if he doesn't feel up to it.  things are getting better thought.  we both know that we can and need to do better.  the addition of a running schedule, my hoop class, and a recreational volleyball league that we are joining this summer should add a nice dose of exercise. i'm not trying to get all anti-body acceptance on you here, but i know i can and will do better.  maybe i'll see results.  maybe i won't.  the important thing is that i'm healthier, whether or not i'll ever be a size 3 or 5 again.

lately.

i'm finding myself drawn to painting lately.  this video may just be why.

springtime is in the air.  this TED talk about guerilla gardening was inspirational on so many levels.  not only is it providing nourishment to the undernourished, but it is beautifying the neighborhood and encouraging positive interactions between a diverse group of people from south-central LA.
we listened to this Radiolab episode about the original of morality on the way home from brooklyn, and i really enjoyed it.  the trolley problem is one of my favorite problems to ask people that i'm getting to know.
i love this weekend homework from the gottman relationship blog.  definitely going to do this one.
this is such a sweet story.  an open air poem store.  your topic.  your price.  it really is about the art of asking (of which there's also an interesting TED talk about).  this is the world that i want to live in.
have you ever heard of the vau de vire society?  i need to see them.  i especially love the aerial hoop.

craft it forward.

would you be suuuuper excited if i told you i'm going to send a handmade item straight to your door step?  then you should be really excited  :)  the first five people that comment on this post (include your email address, please) will be receiving a surprise handmade from me.  all you have to do is comment and later post your own craft it forward on your blog.

i participated in a craft it forward with richelle of we shall fly a shamefully long time ago.  she sent me the sweetest package.  i want to send her a huge thanks.  i can't wait to spread the love forward!

“You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.” ― Kahlil Gibran

the universal mind.

i've been neglecting this space because i've been dedicating all of my extra energy to a new project.  something special.  there are big plans in the works, but not receiving our mail for two weeks (since we've moved) is causing a bit of a delay.  excitement and impatience have brought me here to give an earlier than expected sneak peak.

The Universal Mind is my dedication to the Art and commitment to our Mother Earth. The creations you find here are in reverence of the intricacy, beauty, and subtlety of the nature that surrounds our collective consciousness. Through my intentional designs, I lovingly bring to you a grassroots effort to create aesthetic beauty which is compatible with the ebb and flow of the natural condition. As it is, for small creatures such as we, the vastness is bearable only through a shared love.

follow along, please? :)  watch the evolution.

feminisms.

last week was international women's day.  truth be told, i didn't realize until the end of the day.  so many people seem to think that we've got all we need.  the ability to work and vote does not constitute gender equality, and this is why i need feminism:
the media can't shut up about hillary clinton's hair.  not her ideas.  her hair.
the record number of female CEOs in fortune 500 companies is 20.  that's 4%, while women make up 40% of the workforce.  
there have only ever been 30 women in senate, and they only make up 20% of the current senate.  
photoshopping in the media has created unrealistic socially constructed ideas of beauty.  
women are being fired for getting pregnant and demoted after maternity leave.
a huge disparity (adjusted by degree) exists in starting salaries despite the fact that women have (on average) a higher gpa.
pat robertson thinks that feminism is women wanting to leave their husbands, kill their children, and become lesbians.
people like rush limbaugh scapegoat women and still have a public platform.

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I myself have never been able to find out precisely what feminism is: I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat. Rebecca West

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My idea of feminism is self-determination, and it's very open-ended: every woman has the right to become herself, and do whatever she needs to do. Ani DiFranco

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The thing women have yet to learn is nobody gives you power. You just take it. Roseanne Barr

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I became a feminist as an alternative to becoming a masochist. Sally Kempton

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Women are the only exploited group in history to have been idealized into powerlessness. Erica Jong

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I would have girls regard themselves not as adjectives but as nouns. Elizabeth Cady Stanton

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The world has never yet seen a truly great and virtuous nation because in the degradation of woman the very fountains of life are poisoned at their source. Lucretia Mott

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I've yet to be on a campus where most women weren't worrying about some aspect of combining marriage, children, and a career. I've yet to find one where many men were worrying about the same thing. Gloria Steinem