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Here I am, coming up to yet another week away from my house, and all I can think of doing is more canning. The good money is down on this being some sort of vacation-induced crisis. I think I have really come into my own lately and being home is what I like. I want to think and plan and do and just get stuff done. Sure, seeing people and places is nice, but at this point my life feels so torn up that I am a constant stress ball!

So, the product of the crisis:

Clockwise from left to right this is Peach Butter, Spiced Peaches, Strawberry Lemon Marmalade, and Lemon Honey Marmalade Jelly. And yes, they are all as delicious as they look. You can stop drooling on your keyboard now.

I have since done a bit more canning. In fact, I’ve canned four other things. A picture of them will come next time, so maybe you can’t stop the drooling just yet!

Despite getting some canning done, I still feel like there is a mountain of things I need to accomplish.

What I would like to do (in near perfect order):

- canning
- knitting
- sewing
- cleaning
- browsing the internet for inspiration

What I would not like to do:

- extra work hours before vacation to prepare
- extra work hours after vacation to catch up
- rush trying to get everything done
- worry about my pets and plants and house

However, I will just have to suck it up and enjoy myself won’t I? Actually, it won’t be hard to enjoy myself while I am there and far be it from me to complain about being able to visit my beautiful home of British Columbia for a week. It’s just that I wish vacation wasn’t so much… work.

But back to things you want to hear about. The results of the voting for the next entry were very demanding by the way! I don’t think you want to see all of that in one entry, so I have decided to start with the generous gift I received.

Matt, the boyfriend, works with a guy who happens to have over 100 alpacas! It’s like a girls dream come true, really. This guy, let’s call him Brian because that is his name, was kind enough to give me a fleece from one of his animals. A CRIA fleece. A beautiful, soft, gorgeous, clean, soft (did I mention beautiful? How about soft?) fleece. This fibre is so soft, it’s like a baby cloud puffing along in a soft fluffy sky.

Can’t you just FEEL the softness? People, I wish you were actually in my house with me today. I would stuff you full of jellies and cover you in fiber. This stuff is luscious. Staple length is about 4.5-6 inches, and it’s so soft it fluffs as soon as you touch it. Unbelievable.

If you want to read more about Brian and his lovely land of alpacas, check out his website at Rockin’ W Alpaca Ranch. He has pictures of the shaggy sweeties, go! Look! But remember, he’s my friend - not yours. All the free fibre goes to me! Unless… should I share?

I have a lot of catching you up to do. There has been organizing, cleaning, purging, and most importantly… canning.

Them there are peaches! Spiced peaches, to be exact. I also made some peach butter (basically cooked down peaches with spice, in a spreadable consistency) but I don’t have a crappy grainy picture of that. You will have to make do with the crappy grainy picture of the peaches only.

The thing about canning is that I know what is in my food and I can make it how I like it. Next weekend I believe I will be making some homemade relish and PICKLES. I know, PICKLES. Yep, life is pretty good when you put food in jars.

The other exciting other thing is that I may be biting off more than I can chew (uhh, can you tell I am kinda hungry here?) and will be taking part in a sew-along. For a jacket. I think I can do it? It can’t be that hard (famous last words) and LOADS of people are doing it so there will be help. You need to check this jacket out, it’s delightful.

This is the stunningly gorgeous Lady Grey coat from Colette Patterns. If you join in the sew along you get a discount on the pattern! The sew along information is over on a really awesome sewing blog I read, Gertie’s Blog for Better Sewing. If you want to join in, check out the FAQ page of the sew along!

I haven’t quite decided on what thickness this coat needs to be, although it’s whispering, “autumn” in my ear. Also, perhaps a nice navy would be best?

And I still owe you all so much more! For other catch up items this can be a pick your own adventure! Would you all like me to talk about:

1. A knitting update and what I am working on now
2. The house organizing I have done and why that even matters
3. A lovely gift I received from a very generous fiber farmer
4. My finished sewing project that I still haven’t shown you

So, let’s do it! What would you rather?

So I’m back! And I can’t believe it took me this long to post. After we got back from England we were house-sitting for a bit. Let me tell you that after three weeks it sure felt good to get back to my house!

I had a great trip full of awesome people. Last time Matt and I went to England we did a bit of touristy stuff (mostly for my benefit, I’m sure!) but this time we just hung out, went to pubs, and ate copious amounts of fish and chips.

But yes, I did manage to fit a yarn store in. The best part was that it was a store that carries a lot of local grown and produced yarns. If you’re ever in Yorkshire, you definitely need to visit Baa Ram Ewe.

I picked up two local yarns, both have an amazing texture. While I wouldn’t call them soft, they are not rough either.

I have 100g of each of these, I can’t wait to figure out what I will knit. Something historically British would be great, so if any of you have any ideas let me know.

The store doesn’t just have a cute name, they also have a cute logo and they make it into cute bags!

Cuuuuute! Don’t you want one? If you’re ever in Yorkshire definitely stop by this store.

I have a lot of other updates coming your way - knitting, sewing, and even some purchases and organizing. So more posts are on the way!

This Thursday I will be going on vacation. There will be no sewing and no spinning while I am gone (well, maybe a drop spindle). As sad as that may be, it gives me the opportunity to sort out my current WIP’s and actually get some knitting done. So, let’s have at it!

OH YEAH! Knitting! I can do that! These gloves are awesome, and will definitely be packed in my bag. Because they are an advanced Christmas gift I don’t need to bust any proverbial balls to get them done. It would be nice to finish them up though, just to have them cleared out. I started these in October 2009!

The throw! Not really knitting, more crocheting. This is definitely coming with as I only have 8 more circles to do. I also think it will be good plane work as last time I went to Europe they TOOK MY KNITTING NEEDLES AWAY. I know. I nearly cried. I had to take them right off of a sleeve! But this time, with a blunt looking crochet hook and some granny looking crochet, I should be safe.

Do you guys know what this is? Anyone? Hrm, not surprising that this may not be at the forefront of your memories. I started it in March of 2006. 2006!!! What the hell?!?! It’s a stole knit out of some beautiful habu yarn. This pattern definitely looks like little spiders on individual webs to me. I had a border picked out and was all set to do that, but then I decided it wasn’t long enough. Until recently, the fortitude to finish this was about nonexistant. I am definitely bringing this with me and sorting it out. Time to get this done once and for all!

The last two lingering UFO’s are meeting the frog pond this week. I am not going to finish them and it’s best I just reclaim the yarn.

Poor Zauberball socks. I love this yarn, but hate it as socks. Something will be done with it, just not this… mess… ugh.

Dear Mr. Lumpy blanket that will never be. I feel bad for pretending like you were going to exist. I’m sorry.

So, that’s it! Other than some mending projects I am all clean. Three things will be coming with me on my trip, and hopefully some make it back as finished garments. I think I may have one more post in me if I have time before I go. There was some last minute sewing and I would love to be able to share it with you before I fly out.

It’s time to go through a few things and clean out some lingering yarns and fibres I just don’t think I will be using. Lots of name brand stuff and some cheapies in here as well. All of my sale items can be found on my Ravelry stash page. I Hope you check it out!