In celebration of the season premiere of HBO’s True Blood, I’ve listed more of my handspun and hand-dyed fiber in my Camp True Blood colorways.  In addition to the three regular colorways, two new character colorways have been added:  Quinn, and Bubba!  Now, you have to be a fan of Charlaine Harris’ books to know these two guys, as they have not made an appearance on the HBO show.  So if you haven’t gotten to them yet, read faster!!  Bubba is one of my favorite characters.

And Bubba is extra special in that he is the first of my Bucket Batts!  I’ve been having fun learning the ropes with my drum carder, and I’m proud to show my first offering from it.  :)  Bubba is made of Superwash Merino, Faux Cashmere (which is 100% nylon and SOOO soft), hand-dyed gold Sparkle, and Tussah Silk.  He’s so flashy and glamorous, and yet snuggly too.  Awwww, Bubba…i luuurrve you.

There’s been an update in the shop today – including some fiber in a new base: 50/50 SW Merino/Silk.  SO soft and has a glorious sheen…

It seems these days more and more people are trying to be “earth-friendly”.  Stores are offering reusable bags (or giving them away – I got a neat one from Old Navy the other day!), and giving you credit off your total when you use your own bags; companies are using more eco-friendly packaging; cities are expanding their recycling programs.

My household has been trying to be greener as well, and as Earth Day approached I began thinking of some ways we could do our part:

1. No more paper towels (we’ve actually been doing this one for a while, but I figured I’d list it).  We have one roll in the pantry in case there is a particularly ugly mess which would put out of commission any rag we used on it…like a giant oil spill, but other than that exception we use only washable, reusable rags for clean up.
2. No more disposable sponges (again, this one we’ve had in practice since I created my dish sponge pattern).  We use crocheted cotton dish sponges for dishes, counter clean up, and separate ones for household cleaning. 
3. No more paper napkins.  I want to make some fabric ones that can be washed and reused.  I rarely use a napkin anyway, and the ones I give to my kiddo are never used to full potential with just one meal so I usually set it aside for him to use again, but I still cringe whenever I toss them in the trash.  It just seems so unnecessary.
4. No more plastic bags.  Sometimes I forget to put my reusable ones back in my car (which probably just means I need more reusable ones), but I want to be better about having them ready and available for that spur-of-the-moment shopping trip.  Also, I need to make “manly” ones that hubs isn’t horrified to use.  Haha, I can’t blame him for not wanting to carry a frilly, pink, crocheted bag…
5. Each week I want our recycle bin to be fuller than our trash bin.  My city has recently expanded its list of recyclable items and I want to take advantage of that as much as I can.

Basically I want less stuff thrown away. 

Now it may seem like it’s a toss-up between throwing away things and wasting water to wash reusable things, but with more and more household appliances becoming energy-efficient, and water usage friendly, you really do come out on top when you wash and reuse items.  For instance, my dishwasher uses only one gallon of water for an entire cycle…that’s less than you’d use if you were hand-washing that same load for sure!  And make sure to choose the appropriate wash size on your washing machine as well (i.e., don’t use your default large load selection for a small load of rags).

I’m also using more cleaning products that are made from naturally-derived items (check out Melaleuca, they’ve got some great stuff!) and all my cleaning “utensils” are washable and reusable (and most are hand-made, bonus!). 

Another thing we’ve been doing more of is eating at smaller “mom-and-pop” places.  It feels awesome to know you’re supporting a local business!  In that same vein is shopping for more handmade items…if you’ve never visited etsy.com, you’re in for a treat.  It’s a great way to support independent artists and get some really neat and unique items in the process.  :)  For instance, this week my kiddo and I planted the grass from his easter basket in our courtyard…it was made from handmade, recycled paper, embedded with flower seeds!

What have YOU been doing lately, or what do you want to do differently in the future?  What tips do you have for green living?

How could I resist creating more of my Camp Twilight colorways in celebration of the Twilight DVD release??  Find them in the shop!

Happy movie watching!  ;)

Funny things, birthdays.  A day where you expect everyone you know to celebrate the fact that you were born.  Ha!  It’s an odd concept when you really think about it, and these days it goes against everything we preach.  Be more selfless; put others first; sacrificing is good…and yet, “tell me how wonderful it is that I was born!!”

Someday someone will start a trend where birthdays are no longer celebrated or “cool”.  But, until then…  YAY IT’S MY BIRTHDAY!!  ;)

Thanks to all the wonderful and sweet folks who sent me birthday wishes and stuffz.  I had a wonderful day today and it was because of all of you.  :)

But also…because of my cake.  I have a special birthday cake.  It’s been MY birthday cake for years (and years and years).  It’s not as flashy as some, but it’s special to me.  I’ve kind of got a thing for desserts…especially desserts that hold memories.

And this one definitely does.  The card it’s written on is blotched and stained, and the handwriting is either my mom’s or my grandma’s…my mom can’t remember whose.  It’s a copy cat recipe for the old Tasty Kake Peanut Butter Tandy Kakes.  Tasty Kake is an old company that started in Philly in the early 1900s; they came out with the Peanut Butter Tandy Kakes in the 30s.  For a really long time you could only get them in Pennsylvania, which is where my grandma lived, and I ate a LOT of them.  She would mail them to us down in Louisiana because I would just CRAVE them.  Now you can find them online, by the case, haha!  But I’ll stick to the recipe I have…

It just tastes like my childhood.  :)

Thanks to PrairieGarden on etsy for including some of my Lucky Day hand-dyed yarn in her Treasury!

Things have been super busy over here at the Bucket.  I’ve had my hands in all kinds of projects, including a bunch of goodies for the shop!  Here is a little sampling of what will be listed tonight at 5pm AZ time (click here for a nifty Time Zone Converter):

You can see more items and descriptions over on my Flickr page.  Don’t forget to add me as one of your contacts on Flickr to be notified whenever more goodies go up!

This update was inspired by the greens of March, including one of my new favorite stones: Green Amber.  It’s a gorgeous olivey green with glints of greenish gold captured inside.  How interesting to see how different fibers and yarns took the colorway!  They all seemed to create their own interpretation…

Another fun thing in this update is my Irish Eyes colorway, and when I say “my” Irish Eyes colorway I really mean it – this colorway is exactly the color of my eyes (as seen in my mirror in my bathroom anyway…I make no claims as to how they appear under different lighting, haha!).  I’ve always said my eyes were “blue-ish”, but in reality they are light sage, with pale yellow layers.  Who’da thunk it??  I’d always worn contacts with that blue tint to them so you can find them if they fall, and what a difference just that bit of tint can make on light eyes. 

Happy March everyone; see you at the update tonight!  :)

There will be a Billy Joel Lyrical Edition update in the shop tonight at 6pm Arizona time.  These 6 colorways are are based on lyrics from BJ love songs, and there will be fiber and handspun.  Check out my Flickr page for sneak peeks.

Clever Conversation

about recent t.v.

BSG: 

Could not have happened soon enough.

24:

I know JB is all attitude and pain, but this guy…

is trumping him big time.  Go, Tony, go!!

Are you on Ravelry?  Come on over and join the new Gherkin’s Bucket group!  I’ll be dishing out all the scoop on all that goes on in the shop.  Find out about sales, promotions, new items and colorways, and discuss my patterns.  I realize that this blog may not be the most conducive place to try to tackle all those things, as well as converse with all of you about them, so the group was born.  I look forward to chatting with all you yarn & fiber lovers out there!

Don’t forget the Vamp Camp Collection update in the shop on Sunday, January 18th at 5pm Arizona time.  :)