Just in time for soup weather I have introduced bowl cozies at SubEarthan Cottage.
My cozies are 100% cotton, so they can go in the microwave if you like.
There are tons of cute 100% cotton quilting fabrics available, so if you’d like one or a set customized to your tastes, let me know.
A couple of years ago, I really wanted a knitting machine. I like yarn and the thought of making pretty things with yarn has always appealed to me. I started teaching myself to knit and crochet while I was pregnant with Finn. He is eleven now, and it takes me two days of work to make a single dishcloth. So, a knitting machine seemed like a good compromise to speed things up a bit. They are kind of hard to come by, though, especially a well made machine. Besides, I knew nothing about how a knitting machine works, so I got my embroidery machine instead.
Fast forward to two Sundays ago. The family and I were having fun thrift shopping for some office furniture. (That could also read as, “Chris and I were dragging the kids around to thrift stores, with much protesting on their part.”) The first Goodwill store we went to didn’t have much in the way of office furniture. They did have lots of bins out full of miscellaneous stuff that I really wasn’t interested in digging through, until I happened to notice this long rectangular box poking up out of one bin.
That’s the one. It for is a Singer LK-140, made by Silver Reed. It is a plastic bed hobby machine, but a durable hobby machine. I’ve since learned that, except for having ten fewer needles, it is identical to the newer LK-150 knitting machine. That means parts are easy to come by.
The box was so well taped, and it had a good weight to it, so I decided not to even open it before buying it. I figured I probably wouldn’t even know what may have been missing. Also, let’s zoom in on the price tag:
Back when I was actively looking for a knitting machine, I would have thought getting one for $80 on eBay was a fairly good deal. At $5.49, it was worth it even if it was only good for parts.
When I finally opened it at home, I did notice a few parts were missing, but only the table clamps, manual and transfer tools. I found a free manual online, and the other two items are easily and inexpensively replaced. They also aren’t essential, so I have played with it a bit.
I did need to replace the sponge strip. That’s pretty standard for an older machine. Luckily on this machine, foam weatherstripping works great as an inexpensive replacement. I also needed to clean the needles, because they were covered with gunk from the old sponge strip. With that, I was able to set it up and play.
There is definitely a learning curve, but it is fun. I have noticed, though, that you can still tell it is my own handiwork.
See the dropped stitch. It’s like my signature. The best part, though, is it only took me a minute or two to make that swatch, as opposed to a day or two. A little more practice, and I might be able to make two or three dishcloths a day without dropped stitches, or a scarf with a few holes. Seriously, though, it is fun, and I look forward to coming up with new projects and products to make.
As for office furniture, I felt bad that I got a new toy but we hadn’t found the thing we really needed, so I did a quick craigslist search. There just happened to be a desk posted locally in the free section.
Excuse the mess. That photo was taken while everything was getting tossed around with moving in the desk. There is a trim piece that needs to be put in place on the top. Overall, it is in good shape. More importantly, it provides us with the two main things we needed for the office: more desk space and shelving. Best of all, it was free!
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Last Wednesday I had my wisdom teeth taken out. All in all, it was relatively easy. To me, the worst part of the procedure was the shots of local anesthetic. I opted for nitrous oxide instead of full iv sedation, though. That gave me the added benefit of no needles prior to being very relaxed by the gas.
At this point, I’m feeling pretty good, although I do suspect I’m fighting off the full effects of dry socket in one location. Rather than subject you to photos of my swollen face or worse, I’ll share a yummy staple of my liquid diet: Blueberry Pineapple Smoothie.
Ingredients (measurements are approximate):
3 chunks of frozen banana
1/2 to 1 cup of frozen blueberries
1/2 to 2/3 crushed canned pineapple (fresh is better, if you have it)
1-2 tablespoons of vanilla Greek or regular yogurt
1-2 cups or as much almond milk as needed to get the consistency you’d like.
Blend all ingredients and enjoy!
I love that it’s not too sweet, but yummy enough to hide the yogurt flavor. It has lots of pineapple, which has pain-relieving properties.
In the background you’ll see my knock-off Instant Pot: an 8 quart Go Wise pressure cooker with something like eight different settings. I received it as a Christmas present this past year. In the near future, I’ll give it a proper review. For now, lets just say it has already replaced my much-loved crock pot. It is great for when you’re really busy or really lazy or slightly bitter at the thought of cooking food that requires chewing.
I had a special pillow with a pocket to hold my lost baby teeth when I was little, so when Finn lost his first tooth, I made him one, too.
I didn’t realize just how much easier it made it for the Tooth Fairy until my nephew lost his first tooth. The story my brother told of how difficult it was for the Tooth Fairy to retrieve a tooth that was actually under the pillow my nephew was sleeping on was so amusing that I almost didn’t want to make pillows for my niece and nephew. I finally decided to have mercy on the Tooth Fairy and make pillows for them. I also made one for Beckett, because his teeth should start falling out soon and I certainly don’t want our local Tooth Fairy to have to go through all that.
I thought about making some to list in my Etsy shop. There is so much to customize, though, that I’ve decided it would be easier to take orders for them here. If you are interested and would like more information, contact me through the form at the right or at csloan@subearthancottage.com.
I’m getting better at remembering my reusable bags when we go shopping, especially now that I have an Aldi nearby. It’s made me start rethinking the plastic produce bags. I haven’t found as many alternatives to them on the market, so I decided to make my own.
I used a lightweight netting material so you can see what’s inside.It’s so light and see-through in fact that it doesn’t want to show up well in photos. Hmm.
Marginally better? I don’t know. Anyway, you can find my nifty reusable produce bags and other reusable products here in my shop.
On a similar note, I also added a set of cloth napkins in a cute sunflower print.
Find them here at the SubEarthan Cottage shop. I plan to make and add more prints soon.
One of my peeves is soggy, mushy bar soap. One, it’s gross. Two, it makes a mess. Three, it’s a waste of soap to let it melt away in a dish rather than being used. There are a few ways to prevent the mush and have a long-lasting bar of soap.
The biggest enemy of soap is moisture, so the key to a long lasting bar of soap is to keep it as dry as possible. All soap requires some liquid as an ingredient. The trick is to keep it to a minimum and allow it to cure properly. The longer a soap cures, the more moisture will evaporate and result in a harder bar. This is one reason I wrap my soaps in cloth: the cloth allows the soap to continue to harden even after it’s wrapped.
One thing you can do at home is to allow your soap to harden is to store it away from the humid bathroom and, if it is packaged in plastic or other non-breathable material, unwrap it. You can take advantage of fragrant soaps by storing them in someplace like a linen closet or dresser drawer. That way, you’ll scent your linens or clothes while hardening your soap.
Once you’re ready to use your soap, consider where you put it. The absolute worst place is in the shower where the water will hit it continuously. Observe where the water flows and use a soap dish out of the water’s path. If you don’t mind an extra step, take it out of the shower when not in use. Personally, I don’t do this or I would probably forget to grab it on my way in and have to step out dripping to get it.
Finally, the most important thing you can do to make your soap last is to let it dry out between uses. To accomplish this, you need a soap dish or surface that allows proper drainage. The best option is something that raises the soap up and allows water to drip away and air to circulate under the bar of soap. Something like this is good for a handmade option. If you already have a soap dish you like that doesn’t drain well, I’ve found spiky plastic soap savers similar to this in packs of two at the dollar store. You can use them with a soap dish or alone on the counter. Depending on the shape of your soap, you can also rest the soap up on it’s side rather than flat. This doesn’t allow the soap to dry as well on that edge, but it does limit the surface area that stays damp. I’ve used all of the above methods to allow my soap to dry and have had success with each. I’m sure there are others I haven’t tried.
Nobody likes to see money washed down the drain. Whether you buy your soap at a supermarket or handmade from a soap maker like me, I hope these tips help you to get the most out of your soap.
Find SubEarthan Cottage Soaps here:Â https://subearthancottage.com/product-category/soap-bath-beauty/soap
So, I got a new toy for my birthday:
Yay! Now impatient me with no time and a fear of leaving needles around accidentally in the baby’s reach can do embroidery too! It’s also a regular sewing machine. I’ve never sewn on a computerized machine before. I’ve never sewn on a sewing machine newer than from the early 1990s for that matter. Most sewing machines I’ve used have been older than me. Not that I don’t like old machines. You’ll have to pry my trusty metal mechanical Kenmore and back up Signature(s) from my cold hands.
It’s been fun learning how to use it. I also may or may not be a bit obsessive about switching off the power strip and then going back and unplugging it from the power strip and then making sure I’ve unplugged it again later, lest some random lightening storm attack my precious.
It’s a brother se400. I haven’t done much regular sewing with it yet, so I can’t do a full review. I can say that I worried a little about getting annoyed with all the threading and re-threading involved with a single needle embroidery machine. Brother took care of that by giving it the most amazing needle threader I’ve ever seen. I usually skip “automatic” threaders as I find them harder to use than just sticking the thread through the eye by hand. This one is some sort of magic. Seriously, if you were to stop over, I’d probably briefly introduce you to my family and then insist you come see me thread my sewing machine.
Aside from just playing, I’ve rescued a few shirts from (probably coffee) stains by embroidering things on them to hide the stains. Considering my clumsiness and love of coffee, that alone will probably help me get my money’s worth out of it.
I am looking for decent digitizing software so I can do things like embroider the SubEarthan Cottage logo and make traditional monograms a little easier. Embird seems to be the go-to, but it’s a little pricey. Stitch Era is more my price range, but I’m not sure it’s as user-friendly. I’ve also seen Sew What Pro mentioned, but haven’t looked into it enough to know what it’s like. Any advice on software would be appreciated.
