[Hair Journey] Week 1: 6/10 – 6/16/18

Wash Day

– Shampoo: Suave Professionals Rosemary and Mint Shampoo

– Deep Conditioner: Nature Republic Argan Essential Deep Care Hair Pack

– Moisturizer: Cantu Shea Butter Leave-In Conditioning Repair Cream and Water (5%/95%)

-Leave-In/Detangler/Styling Cream: Carol’s Daughter Hair Milk

Upkeep (if needed, throughout the week)

– Moisturizer: Cantu Shea Butter Leave-In Conditioning Repair Cream and Water (5%/95%)

– Styler: Carol’s Daughter Black Vanilla Hair Smoothie

Thoughts:
I really can’t tell the difference between regular Suave and Suave Professionals. I’ve tried pretty much all the regular Suaves, and a few Suave Professionals, and the only difference that I can tell, is that the Professionals line has more “grown-up” scents. That’s it. They all pretty much work the same (in my experience). The reason I chose this one, is that while visiting relatives in another state- the hotel my Hubby and I stayed at had this as the complementary free swag. It smelled pretty good, so I went out and bought a full-sized bottle.

This is also the first time I have deep conditioned in many MANY years. I’ve heard good things about the Nature Republic, AND it is a Korean brand (and a brand easily found in Japan), so I thought I’d start with this one.

Please note: I realize NOW (at the time of posting this), that the Black Vanilla Hair Smoothie is a hair mask, not a styling cream. So my deep conditioning results on this and the next few wash days may have been tainted by the over-conditioning of my hair. I know this NOW, not at the time. At any rate- I have proved that you can use the smoothie as a leave-in, because I haven’t had any adverse effects to leaving it in my hair. Also- this is my SECOND jar of this, as I have been using it for awhile.

Product reviews to come!

Advertisements

Where I’ve Been

I haven’t left. It’s just hard to find time to blog, when you’re night shift AND working 12 hour days. It’s also hard to find time to knit. Basically- I just work, eat, sleep, and repeat.

Work has been fun (if you didn’t catch the sarcasm there- please reread and insert sarcasm). We basically can’t keep anyone on the other 2 shifts to do my job. And it’s not a hard job. It DOES require some thinking, and some attention to detail, but it is not hard. Yet- when people find out that this is not a breeze- they don’t want to do the work.

And anyone who works night shift knows that sleep is hard to come by. And sleep in an apartment complex is extra hard. See- there are noise ordinances for the night time. Basically you can’t do crazy things after 9 pm and before 6 am. So deciding to rearrange your house? Do it before 9pm. Washing a few loads of laundry? Do it before 9pm. Beating that steak to make it extra tender? Do it before 9 pm.

However- there are no ordinances for the daytime. Everyone mows lawns… works on cars… blasts their stereo as loud as possible. Everyone works on roofs… does siding… road work… maintenance… moves in… moves out… sits on their keys so the car alarm goes off repeatedly for an hour. And all of this while you are trying to sleep.

And then there are the other people you LIVE with. People still on daytime hours. They bang stuff in the kitchen… drop heavy things on the floor… stomp back and forth to the trash can, and all of this while you are trying to sleep. And it is no use trying to ask them to be quiet. Have you seen someone TRYING to be quiet? They make MORE noise.

Then there are your friends. They are mostly all on day shift, so if you WANT to spend time with them- it means you have to alter your sleep schedule. Get up earlier or stay up later. In some cases- you have to forgo sleep entirely. And they want you to be happy! Yes, I’m happy to spend time with you, but I’m also happy when I get sleep.

And then there’s the food. When you get off from work, all you want is to grab something quick and go home. Do you know what it’s like to be FORCED to grab breakfast food? I appreciate bacon and eggs as much as the next person, but when that is your only choice- you don’t really want to look at another egg.

Then there’s the sunlight deprivation and sunlight overload. See- when you’re not really used to seeing the sun- being up and running errands in the sunlight means it’s that much harder to go to sleep. Why? Because sunlight triggers a switch in your brain, telling you that you should be up. But it’s time to go to sleep. So you’re tired, but you’re also WIRED, because your brain received the sunlight signal. That is sunlight overload. And then there is sunlight deprivation. Because you are up mostly when the sun is not- you become Vitamin D deficient. Which means you’re tired and sluggish ALL THE TIME.

So all of this makes you eternally sleep deprived and cranky. It’s hard to focus to do all of the things you used to do. And THAT is where I’ve been for about a year and a half.

But- I have some news.

I’m going to take this blog in a different direction. Not necessarily leaving behind all the things I’ve done up till now- just adding to it. I have a new journey, and with that comes new and different things to talk about.

So stay tuned!

Curly-haired mess

The moral of this picture story, is do not dry your yarn in the high-efficiency dryer to save time.  It will still be wet (just not dripping wet), and will curl like my hair on a high-humidity summer day.  It’s just not worth it.

Now-I will need to completely unwind six skeins of yarn, and reskein them to get the curls out.  Luckily- none of them felted.  (Yay, superwash!)

Normal Monday / Shop Update

​For those of you don’t know- I changed jobs a little over a week ago.

And updating my blog is – well not difficult, but it is presenting a challenge.
I basically need to prepare the post, then send it to the email on my phone.

Then I need to copy it from my email, and paste it into the WordPress app.
(From this inference- you can assume that I cannot get to WordPress at work, nor can I get to Photobucket- the site I use to house my images.)
I’m not complaining- it just means that I need to change when I write my blog posts.
I’ll work on that this week.
—————————

In the meantime- I have swatches!

Cinnamon and Spice

Zombie Rainbow

Harvest Time

Unicorn Intestines

Denim

Saturday Afternoon Aftermatch 

AND there are six new yarns in the store today!  Some are completely new (check out Vanilla Raspberry Chocolate Chip!) and some are old ones that never made it to the store (like Shamrock and Good Golly, Miss Molly).
Etsy shop

6 swatches down, 31 to go!

Casting on

So after working up this lovely deliciousness:

I thought I was ready to cast on.

 

I’m one of those people who doesn’t really care about gauge.  I do a gauge swatch, but I really just do it to tell me how off I’m going to be from the original pattern.  After all- I took a gauge class at Stitches South last year, and they just confirmed what I already suspected- gauge is as individual as the person.  If you can get someone else’s gauge- you are a special unicorn.  But mostly you just work the pattern to fit YOUR gauge.

So I’m going to be a maverick on this pattern.

I picked out the pattern- I will be working that lovely Cinnamon and Spice into Harvest:

Picture copyright: Tin Can Knits

Isn’t it gorgeous?  And I think Cinnamon and Spice would compliment it fabulously!

 

The pattern calls for 4 mm and 5 mm needles.  I’m using 7 mm. (Because it’s my new Karbonz needles and I love them, that’s why!) Row Gauge is supposed to be 18 stitches to 4 inches.  I get 13 stitches to 4 inches.  So what’s a crazy knitter to do?  Easy!  Go down three sizes in the pattern!

I casted on last night, and made it through the whole collar… before I messed up.  I picked out the provisional cast on waaaaay too early. (In my defense- I’ve never done a provisional cast on before, crochet or not.)  So I’m going to have to rip back all 59 ridges of collar and start over with the cast on.  And trust that when it says pick up and knit the provisional stitches of the cast on- it does not mean PICK OUT the waste yarn and knit the live stitches.  That comes later.

 

Oh look- I swatched!

I was working on a gauge swatch of Cinnamon and Spice last night.  Yes, I do swatch, but only halfway.  All of that bind off and wash like you would the finished garment?  No- I don’t do that part.  But I will knit 6-8 inches and measure the middle.  Then I unravel it and use it in my project.

Look at that! For those of you who are a bit scared of variegated yarn- that’s not scary at all!  (Or maybe I’m just used to it.)

Anyway- I kind of feel like using the Lightbox for a gauge swatch is overkill. But I wanted you to see it as true to it’s actual coloring as possible.

Magneto will work up the same way.

Now I need to work up a swatch for all of them. This way- you’ll have an idea of how they look before you get them.

…
…
…

That’s a lot of swatches.  1 down, 36 to go.

Spotlight on Winter Bark

This one is my very favorite of all the yarns I have dyed.

I think it’s because it looks soo… bark-like.

I originally wanted to do sort of a winter candy cane kind of thing. So I did the icy blue and set it out to dry. And every time I looked at it, my brain just kept saying it was incomplete. It needed something… else. However- my brain is almost never specific on what is missing, so I knew it needed another round in the dye pot. I just didn’t know WHAT it needed added to it.

So for the next round- I sprinkled it all over with brown and black sprinkles. Some smudged and became solid areas, some stayed… sprinkle-y. Then I went to set the sprinkles, and it jumped out of the pan and gave me a huge, messy hug. No lie. I have the brown and black blotches on my dye clothing to prove it. I also had to clean the floor from where it landed after my hug.

I think it was just happy to have some character.

I kept eyeing it as it dried, and I really do love it. I was initially afraid of using too much brown or black, but in this case- it really works!

Doesn’t it remind you of bits of tree bark?

Happy Five Year Blogiversary to Me

WordPress just reminded me that I registered for an account five years ago today.

 

I posted a few times, then promptly fell off the face of the earth for a few years.

(Hey- it happens.)

 

Nowadays- I am posting semi-regularly, and dyeing all over the place.

 

Luckily- this little beauty (Cinnamon and Spice) is the only one so far that has grabbed me by the heart and demanded that I knit something with it (and by something- I mean a cardigan).  So- I had to dye it’s five other brothers, so that cardigan can be made.

Now don’t get me wrong- I love almost everything I have dyed.  But none of the others have grabbed at me to knit them.  Not even my favorite one- Winter Bark. (More on Winter Bark tomorrow.)

 

Shop update later today.  More Tangerine.  More Cinnamon and Spice, and a new colorway- Magneto!

 

Dye Day!

Ahhh, it feels good to be back dyeing!

I dyed a sweater quantity of Cinnamon and Spice for me (plus a few more for the store).  I dyed a few more Tangerines for the store, annnnd I have a new colorway to put into the store.  Store update on Monday!

A productive day AND I went out to play Pokémon Go with friends!

Catching up

Whew! It’s been a wild week and a half around here.

– They changed my schedule at work, so I’ve been a cranky, sleep-deprived mad woman. It also means that I need to figure out what my new posting schedule is.

– I was sick most of the weekend, due to the weather. Lovely cold snap that actually brought snow. And everyone panicked.

• I’m trying to finish some of the UFOs from 2016. This includes the Blanket that was supposed to be completed by New Years. Yes I’ve started it! Yes I’m not far from the beginning… I think I may have developed a bit of blanket-phobia…
• There should be a shop update next Monday. Yummy yarny goodness!