Sorry I've been MIA

I disappeared rather abruptly and unexpectedly. Sorry about that! My laptop died, and then we moved where I don't have Internet access on a regular basis. I'm going to try to post more often now that I've replaced my laptop with a tablet, but it probably won't be as regularly since I'll have to use a public hotspot to do it. :)

To catch you up ... We accepted a 6-month pastorate at the beginning of December. After 6 months, we'll evaluate how the arrangement is working for us and the church. We're allowed to keep our evangelistic meetings, so it works out well for us. We also have a very nice place to stay for the winter (without heading south) as well as a steady income, so we're counting our blessings.

This has to be short right now, but hopefully I'll have another, longer post for you soon. See you then!

posted from Bloggeroid

Sheets, Steps, Closets and a View of My Kitchen

If you have an RV with bunks, you know that regular sheets will not fit well on the bunks. They are 9" narrower than regular twin beds. I originally planned to sew a seam down the middle of the sheets to take in the excess, but then I remembered the sheet straps I'd seen at Dollar Tree.

Sure enough, they did the trick. This is how the sheets look with these straps in place:

You can see they work very well! I'm thinking about making my own version of these with metal "teeth" grips to keep the comforters in place, too. I'll post more about it once I get it worked out.

The next improvement we made was to cut a traditional rubbery mat (with "teeth" to clean your shoes) in half and bungee-strap it to our fold-out steps. I got the idea from Pinterest, and it works very well. I didn't realize I was going to need a second mat, so the middle step is waiting on that. This works well to keep mud out of the trailer and should keep our carpeting nicer for a longer time.

Our smaller wardrobe closets needed some form of shelving to be most useful to us, but they're a weird size. I stumbled upon these plastic shelves at Aldi for $10, and they fit perfectly. I didn't use the rollers on the bottom, so they should stay in place nicely while we travel. I may add a non-slip liner to the bottom of the closet just to be safe.

There is enough space at the top for another shelf, and we're seriously considering buying another 3-shelf unit to add a shelf to each set.

One caveat if you need a similar shelving unit: Because of the size of these, you have to put them together inside the closet. It's not the easiest thing you'll ever do, but it's certainly not the hardest, either. If you need to remove them in the future, you'll need to take them apart inside the closet so they'll come back out.

Lastly, here's a picture of my kitchen area in action. We had just hooked up our hot water heater, so please excuse the dirty dishes in the sink.

We start homeschooling next week, and I'll try to keep you posted about changes we make and how things are working for us.

Oh, and in case you remember the last post about our power converter not working, it happened again. :( We're going to have to replace it.

We're (almost) moved in!

We moved out of our traditional home last Wednesday and started moving into our travel trailer. The transition has not been a completely smooth one. We discovered what we thought was a bad power converter (no overhead lights, no a/c, but the outlets worked). It took us nearly a week to find the power converter in the trailer (hiding behind the kitchen drawers, not anywhere near the fuse box where it usually is), only to discover that it was working fine. I'm not complaining, mind you. The part alone is around $300; labor to install it is extra.

In this whole process, we brainstormed with knowledgeable RV owners and thought to check the battery. Sure enough, it was deader than a doornail, as they say. We bought a new one, hooked it up on Monday, and it seems to have fixed the problem.

Since I wasn't sure if we would need to tow the trailer to a mechanic, I didn't move a lot of things in at first. I wasn't sure what the protocol was for how much you leave in your trailer when you take it in for repairs, especially when you're living in it full-time. Thank goodness our trailer is parked in my parents' backyard! We've been using their facilities and eating with them for a week, not to mention all the boxes of our stuff that are temporarily sitting in their extra bedroom.

I'm looking forward to getting water and sewer hooked up today, and then we can eat, shower, and actually live in the trailer properly.

Lest you think that it's been a completely and totally frustrating week, here's the view out my screen door:

When things got overwhelming, I'd just sit down on the couch, take a deep breath, and enjoy the scenery.

I did manage to get a few organizational things accomplished, and I thought I'd share them with you.

First of all, I had to maximize my kitchen cabinet space. We have an impressive amount of kitchen cabinetry for a travel trailer, but I was used to a lot of cabinets in our previous house. My parents had these plastic-coated wire shelves sitting around and offered them to me.

I didn't think to take a picture once I put our things in, but you wouldn't have been able to see the shelf at that point anyway.

I added non-slip shelf liner beneath them and on top of them. According to a fellow RVer, it should work. The weight of the items on the shelf will help to keep them firmly "attached" to the nonslip liner. We'll find out when we tow it to get it inspected. I hope she's right! :)

The other challenge is dresser space. All four of us had a dresser to ourselves in our previous house. Now we have two drawers of dedicated dresser space for all of us combined. I'm still working on some of it, but here's what I have so far ...

I discovered that these white baskets from Dollar Tree fit over the sides of the drawer, but not too snugly to close the drawer. It's almost like they're on a track.

I put pajamas on the bottom and added underwear to the baskets on top. It works perfectly!

This is how I'm organizing the space above our queen bed - squarish plastic baskets from Dollar Tree, turned on their sides. These slide along like they're on a track, too. I just left a little bit of space at each end so we could get to all of them. We were able to fit four of them in there, and it should easily accommodate the things we need to store there.

Lastly (for now), I'm cutting apart this shoe organizer to fit inside each of the smaller wardrobe compartments. Between the two of these, we should be able to store all of our dressy shoes (basic black for the guys; a pair of white and black for us girls). The casual shoes will most likely be used on a regular basis, and I anticipate those being stored by the door. (One pair each isn't too overwhelming.)

I hope you've enjoyed the peek into our week. I'll keep you posted on new solutions as I come up with them.

How I'm keeping the purging/moving momentum going ...

I'll be honest. I am not a 24/7 motivated moving machine. I can't even wake up in the morning and start purging items from my house as soon as my feet hit the floor. I need a little "down" time, even when life is hectic and busy.

So I've learned to go with the ebb and flow of my energy levels. There are at least a few hours every day that I can purge household items "like nobody's business," as they say. I take advantage of those hours and do all my purging/throwing away when I'm energized for it.

So what do I do when I'm overwhelmed or just need a break? I do things that aren't hard on the brain and/or don't require tough decision-making:

1. Take pictures of things I need to sell.
2. Upload said pictures to local Facebook selling groups or Craigslist.
3. Browse Pinterest for more ideas for RV living. (Hey, at least it's relevant!)
4. Play a game on the computer. (This is for some serious brain vacation time, after I've made really hard decisions and feel like my head is going to explode.)
5. Take a 15-minute nap if I'm tired.

I try to limit #3 and #4 to about 15-20 minutes at a time, since they can easily get out of hand. The important thing is that I'm giving my mind a break from the hard decisions, and then I'm usually energized to get back at it.

This is nothing earth-shattering, but it has helped me tremendously in the last few weeks. We still have a few weeks before Moving Day, and I'm hoping this strategy will help me to get everything done in time!

I downsized my yarn ... and still have too much!

If you remember, I'm downsizing the possessions of four people from a 5-bedroom house to a 32-foot travel trailer. I knew my yarn stash was going to have to go down drastically, and I finally worked up the courage to do it over the course of the last few days.

This is what I got rid of in regular manufactured yarns. In my defense (and lest you think I'm wasting TONS of money), a lot of this was donated to me.

This is what I got rid of in my recycled yarns (mostly natural fibers unraveled from thrift store sweaters).

When I got done, I felt like I had accomplished something ... Until I realized that I still have six large space bags full of yarn. They're all my favorites, but I just can't justify the space it will take up. I'm going to have to go through it again and make some hard decisions.

I just thought I'd share to keep things real. Some people make it sound so glamorous and fun to downsize to so few possessions. I do look forward to the simplicity of downsizing, but there are some hard decisions to be made along the way.

Easy DIY "Sleevies" (Sleeve Extenders)

I wear my sleeves below my elbows, and it's not always easy to find shirts with sleeves in the right length. My sister-in-law told me about sleeve extenders they make for guys (especially in athletic fabrics, although I'm not sure why). But I wanted a girly version that would work with my casual and dressy clothes. I was puzzling over this last summer when an easy solution came to me - try girls' leggings!

I've been using these for a year now, and I love them just as much as - if not more than - when I started. I've had numerous requests for a tutorial, so here you go ...

The first thing you'll need is a pair of girls' leggings. These are the kind I'm talking about - the footless, jersey-knit kind, not footed tights. You don't need lace trim, but it's a pretty touch. I found these at the thrift store.

Before you buy them, slide them over your arm to make sure they're going to be a good fit. (You might get some strange looks, so I recommend shopping for these on a day when the store isn't very busy.) You want them to be tight enough to stay put but not so tight that they're uncomfortable.

Everyone should be able to find a size to fit them. I have very small, child-sized arms. These fit me well, and they're a toddler size. If you have very large arms, you may want to try ladies' sizes.

This is all you have to do: Cut them at the very top of the leg. You're done!! Wasn't that easy?

You can adjust the length of the "sleevies" to suit your particular tastes, if you want them a little shorter. Capri-length leggings are good for shorter "sleevies," too. If they're too big at the top, you can always take the seam in a bit with a sewing machine, but I haven't had to do it to any of mine yet.

To use them, simply slide them over your arms before you put your short-sleeved shirt/dress/sweater on. Adjust them to the desired length on your arm and then put the outer layer on. No one will ever know!

The blog got a new look!

Ever since I sold all my vintage sheets, I've been thinking about re-doing my blog. Well, I finally took the time to do it, and I think I have all the "bugs" worked out. If you find broken links or any problems, please let me know (using that little envelope feature to the right).

This is a drastically different look, but I like it and I think it works for a non-vintage-sheets approach to blogging. Again, I won't be changing my blog themes or topics, but our move to full-time RVing will certainly affect the kinds of projects I tackle and write about. I hope you stay on and enjoy the ride (pun intended)!

Our tow vehicle

We began the search for our tow vehicle by looking at trucks. That's all we had ever seen pulling campers, so we thought you had to have a truck. But if you've priced extended-cab trucks capable of pulling a camper recently, you might understand the sticker shock we got.

A knowledgeable family friend finally thought to ask why we wanted a truck. I'm sure the look on our faces said it all - Didn't we need a truck to pull a camper?? He informed us that a Suburban was every bit as capable, if you got the right one. And so the search began.

A few weeks later we bought our Suburban 2500 from John the Baptist. (I'm only partly joking. The man's first name was John, and he is a Baptist. You just have to understand pastor humor around here.) ;)

It's a well-kept beauty that was within our price range. In short, it was nothing short of a miracle! And my dream of purchasing our next vehicle with cash came true. YAY!!

Let me show you our "new" home!

I thought I'd introduce you to our travel trailer.

Here's what she looks like outside with the slide out:

This is a good, concise view of most of the inside, which I showed you in my last post:

That's the master bedroom you see at the end. There is a folding partition for privacy at night, but it unfolds in the daytime to make a LOT more visual space in the trailer. Little things can make a BIG difference!

Here are the bunks you can't see in that picture (because they're behind the camera):

These bunks are the same length as twin-sized beds, but 9" narrower in the width. Both of my kids are thin, so I don't anticipate this being a problem. There is another folding partition here, if we want to section it off from the living area at night or before the kids get up in the morning ... or just to extend the size of the bathroom area when no one is sleeping.

As you come in the door, the couch is right in front of you. The upholstery doesn't look like anything special in the pictures, but it is in brand-new condition, so I'm not planning to re-upholster anytime soon.

The seat part flips up to store things underneath. Those throw pillows are gone.

Next to the couch is the built-in dinette. These are both part of the super slide.

There is storage space under each of the booth seats, too.

The kitchen area is on the other side of the trailer by the couch and dinette.

For a travel trailer this size, the kitchen area is impressive!

 In the back of the travel trailer, there are the bunks (already shown) and a small but serviceable bathroom:

The shower is about half as long as a traditional shower, but we're not large people so it shouldn't be an issue.

No, that's not my husband in the mirror. These pictures were taken by the people who were selling it. :)

Not shown: a wardrobe closet next to the refrigerator/freezer. We were really excited about that since we will have to have our dressy clothes as well as our casual clothes.

I hope you've enjoyed a little peek at our new home!

What has been keeping me busy lately?

Lest you think I've died or quit crafting, I guess I better post an update and explain what has been occupying my mental and physical energy of late.

This is a view of the inside of our travel trailer.

To put it simply, my family and I are transitioning from being a full-time pastor's family to being a full-time, living-in-an-RV evangelist's family. Yes, we are moving four people from a two-story, five-bedroom house to a 32-foot travel trailer. No, we are not renting another house or huge storage unit. Yes, we are getting rid of at least 90% of our possessions. No, we are not crazy.

Like many people I've been reading after lately, I've been suffocating under the load of too much stuff. I long for a simpler, more manageable life. When my husband told me that he felt it was time for us to enter full-time evangelism, I knew our time had come to act on those longings. It is time to downsize to what we can reasonably manage and use.

I'm sure some people think we've lost our minds. After all, who in America understands that a 32-foot travel trailer with a slide-out is really more than adequate living space for a family of four? If you asked people in many other countries, they would be envious of the beautiful, cozy place we will have all to ourselves. It's all a matter of perspective. And faced with the choice of living out of people's guest rooms and suitcases or living out of a 32-foot travel trailer, I would pick the travel trailer every time. (You probably would, too.) :)

This is our travel trailer and Suburban, parked and waiting for us.

As of this writing, we have about another two months to finish the transition. We have our Suburban and travel trailer already purchased and waiting for us. We're simply trying to figure out what we really need in order to live simply and how to get rid of what we don't need (without just donating it all to Goodwill). There are days when I'm optimistic that we're doing great and then there are days when I don't think we're going to get it all done in time. I'd guess that's pretty normal.

My husband suggested I start another blog called "Wilderness Wanderings" to document our experiences living in the travel trailer. (Our travel trailer is a Wilderness brand, and my husband is a Bible scholar. He gets a kick out of the whole "wandering for 40 years in the wilderness" irony, especially since we'll be traveling around the country preaching and singing.)

Instead, I think I'll incorporate it into this blog, since I don't expect to be blogging entirely about RV life for years on end. I'm sure I'll be featuring my crafting projects along the way, and I really don't need two blogs to manage. After all, I'm simplifying, right?? And I'm sure I've featured some of my home projects on this blog before. My home will just have drastically changed size, that's all.

I'll try to keep you updated on how things are going, but if I go MIA for awhile just understand that I've probably gotten overwhelmed and don't have time to keep you up-to-date because I have to make the most of every minute I have to get things done in time. I'll be back. I promise!

Knitting: Big Herringbone Hat test knit

I recently had the opportunity to test-knit this hat pattern for the designer.

If you know me, you'll know that orange is not my usual color. However, my casual winter coat is orange, and I wanted a hat to go with it. I love the dramatic herringbone design on this, and it's doubly-warm since it's a stranded (colorwork) pattern.

If you're interested in the pattern, it's for sale on Ravelry here: Big Herringbone Hat by Ingrid Aartun Bøe.

Knitting: Tessellated Pullover Sweater for Me

This pattern caught my eye the first time I saw it (Tessellated Pullovers). It's a seamless sweater knit in the contiguous sleeve method. The top part looks like an orangey-red in the photos, but it's really a hot pink. The lighting in my bedroom is awful.

There is waist shaping to make this fit well, and I love how it worked so well with the colorwork. It really looks like a traditional seamed sweater.

If you'd like to see my more detailed notes on this project, you can view my project page on Ravelry here.

Knitting: Another $5 in Paris Sweater for Me

I knit myself another sweater in the $5 in Paris sweater pattern that I love so much. Please excuse the skirt that doesn’t match. I was just trying it on for a fitting, not wearing it for the day!

I made a few (more) changes to the pattern this time.

First of all, I only did 2-1/2” of ribbing to finish off the bottom of the sweater. Since I’m so short-waisted, I didn’t need the extra 2”. This put the sweater right in my ideal range: 14 to 14-1/2” from the underarm.

Secondly, I added a stripe to the sleeves and ended with a contrast stripe (also 2-1/2”, which ended up being a total of 15 rows before binding off). I hope this won’t bother me when I wear it (to have the sleeves end on a different stripe than the body), but it just made sense to make the sleeves to my ideal length as well.

I love how it turned out!

Knitting: Cornflower Socks for Me

I recently discovered a non-wool sock yarn at my local Michaels store. I think they've carried it for awhile, but my store just recently got it in stock.

I bought a ball of it to see how it would work for socks, since it's acrylic and nylon instead of wool and nylon.

I was excited to discover that I can get two pairs of socks out of one ball of this yarn. It took just a little less than 1/2 a skein for this pair.

The yarn is super-soft, and it holds up well to washing and drying. I've already worn the socks and washed/dried them several times, and they look just as nice as the day I finished them. I don't notice my feet sweating in them any more than in my wool socks (which does occasionally happen), and they don't feel any different when my feet sweat than my wool socks do. If your feet tend to sweat a lot, you may have a different experience, but I really like these socks and will make more.

At about half the price of a ball of wool sock yarn (which has half the yarn), this is a real value!

As for the pattern itself, I went down a needle size since this yarn is a light fingering and my feet are small anyway. It worked perfectly, even though I was afraid that the socks would be too small as I was working them. They stretch very nicely! (Surprise, surprise! This is supposedly a concern with acrylic.)

The design isn’t too difficult, but it’s not brainless, either. I made a mistake on the foot portion of one sock because I was working it during a lively game of Scattergories while visiting family. [I wasn’t playing the game, but it was pretty distracting anyway. You'd have to know my in-laws. :)]

Knitting: Musical Fingerless Gloves

I knit these amazingly detailed fingerless gloves for my kids' piano teacher for her birthday recently. If you play piano, you will appreciate the thoughtfulness that went into the designer's choice of the bass clef on the left hand and the treble clef on the right hand. :)

I'm modeling these in the pictures, but the recipient has larger arms and hands than I do. I made this using a sportweight yarn. If I were making this for myself, I'd have to size down to a smaller yarn. However, I tried it with light fingering yarn, and it was way too small. Regular fingering weight (think sock yarn) would probably be about right for me.

These might look very complicated (and the charts are a little intimidating at first glance), but it's just basic colorwork. Take it one line at a time, and it's no big deal. It was some of the easiest knitting I've done in awhile. But, then again, I do enjoy colorwork.

So why would a musician need fingerless gloves? They're great for keeping your arms and part of your hands warm if you're practicing or playing in a drafty hall or even outside. My kids' piano teacher also plays the harp and does a lot of outdoor weddings. I hope these will be helpful!

This is a free pattern available on Ravelry. If you'd like to knit a pair for yourself (or your kids' piano teacher), go here.

Knitting: Garland Cowl for Me

My daughter bought a skein of this color yarn to make herself a cowl, and I fell in love with it. I had to make one for myself, too. It's Impeccable yarn (by Michaels) in the Arbor Rose colorway, which looks nothing like the dusty rose color I think of when I think of that name. 

This is a fast and easy cowl with a very pleasing stitch pattern. It's also a free pattern on Ravelry, if you're interested. Go here.

Knitting: Layer Cake Loop Cowl for ME!

I've knit myself a few decorative-style cowls recently in an effort to keep my neck warmer this winter. Usually I would reserve cowls like this for wearing with my coat, but they do wonders to keep me warmer when I wear them with my regular clothes, so I picked some nice colors that would go with my wardrobe.

This pattern (a freebie) is called Layer Cake Loop, and it's one of my all-time favorites. The first picture is how it looks un-looped. You could wear it like this or pull it down to cover the tops of your arms, almost like a cape. Mine fits perfectly either way.

If your neck is especially cold, you can double it. (This is mostly how I've been wearing it.)

I used Michaels' brand of yarn called Impeccable. When they had it on sale recently for $1.74/skein, I picked up a bunch of it. I really like the yarn and appreciate that it comes in some nice, vibrant colors. Not every yarn line does.

Stay tuned for more cowl pictures in the future!

Knitting: Penny Candy Pullover Sweater for ME!

The next sweater I made for myself is this lovely Penny Candy Winter pullover. It's also a paid pattern ($6.00), but lovely enough to be well worth the price.

The lace detailing was what "sold" me on this sweater. I love lace!

The sleeves really are even on the sweater. It's just sitting on the hanger crooked.

When I first finished and tried it on, I wasn't overly thrilled with the results. This is not the fault of the pattern, but actually the yarn I used. (More on that in a moment.) But the more I look at the pictures of it on me, the more I think I actually do like it. I just doesn't feel like a great fit, mostly because of the yarn.

So, about the yarn ... It's Michaels' brand alternative to Simply Soft (theirs is called Soft & Shiny). The only way it compares to Simply Soft is by how it looks in the skein. And after you've worked with it, even the look of the skein wouldn't fool you anymore. This yarn is so slippery that I (a tight knitter) was knitting loosely on needles that would usually have been too tight. I also went down a full pattern size, and it still came out with plenty of room. (Yes, I did a gauge swatch. This should not have happened, so I'm chalking it up to my problems working with the yarn.)

The yarn is very loosely plied and very splitty. This might be one of the things that makes it soft. It really is super-soft, so it might be nice for baby items. But I have a feeling it's going to be like Hobby Lobby's Simply Soft alternative and end up with all the yarn ends coming to the outside of the sweater every time I wear it, no matter how well I weave them in.

Needless to say, I'm returning the rest of this yarn that I bought on sale. I'm going to replace it with Simply Soft for the next few sweaters I have planned.

I really like the overall design of the sweater and the pattern, so I'll be making it again with a different yarn. One other thing I'll change next time - I'll make the lace in a lighter color. Black is my best color next to my face, but it completely hides the lovely lace pattern.

If you'd like to check out my more extensive notes on this project, you can view my notes on Ravelry here.

Knitting: Cabeladabra Sweater for ME!

I've been knitting more than I've been blogging lately, so I have several projects to share with you in the next few days. I figured I'd start with my favorite hand-knit sweater to date - the Cabeladabra Sweater.

First of all, this is not a free pattern. It's $7.00. That may sound steep if you're not a knitter, but the pattern is very well-written and worth every penny. Yes, that really means a lot coming from thrifty little me. :)

I fell in love with this sweater as soon as I saw it, but I have to admit that I thought twice about it because it's so skin-tight on everyone else in their project pictures. I try not to wear my clothes that tight due to modesty issues and the fact that I'm small enough that they don't usually make clothing two sizes too small for me. But that's the great thing about knitting your own sweaters - you can make them to whatever size (and with whatever ease) you need or want to.

Interestingly enough, I thought I would have to go with a size larger than I usually wear. Not so. What you see was knit in my regular size and with near-perfect gauge. If you're especially curvy it may be different for you, but this turned out perfectly for me.

The safety pin marks the point in the pattern where you would usually "break" for the neckline cables (only another repeat further). In this picture, I stopped at the point where I actually "broke" for the neckline cables.

I did have to make a few adjustments for my unusually-short-waisted body. I needed to take a full 3" off the bottom of the sweater so it didn't end mid-hip, which is the worst possible place on me. I was originally going to take it off the bottom of the cabling pattern (just starting several rows into the pattern), but I forgot to do that in my enthusiasm to start the sweater.

So I had to figure out how to do it later. This was a bit of a problem because you have to end at a certain spot for the neckline cables to twist off correctly. This would usually be Row 14. Happily, Row 26 had the same exact instructions, so I was able to do it there instead. (My notes on Ravelry have more extensive details about how I did this.)

You can get a better idea of how well this worked in this picture, where I had finished the neckline.

You may notice that there is waist shaping on this sweater. For the longest time, I avoided waist shaping for the same reasons that I don't wear my clothing skin-tight. But then I realized that it didn't have to be immodest if you just decreased enough to fit your body without being too tight. I doubt anyone would look at the finished sweater on me and think, "She decreased at the waist." Done properly, you don't even notice it. It just makes it fit better without being baggy.

Here it is, all finished and ready to be blocked. I debated whether to steam-block it or just throw it in the washing machine. Since it's 100% acrylic, either method would work. Since it came out to the perfect size and just needed blocking to even out a few stitches, I opted to put it in the washer and dryer. (I put the dryer on low and only dried it 20 minutes. It was just the right amount of heat and time.) It worked perfectly!

If you'd like to see more of my knitting notes on this sweater, you can view my project page on Ravelry here.

And in case you're wondering about the yarn, I used Michaels' brand Impeccable. I got it on sale for $1.74 a skein and figured I'd see how it turned out. I really like it! I have no complaints about it and will probably stock up when it goes on sale again.