I’m sending family and friends some lip balm and chocolate hearts for Valentine’s Day. I love the tinted lip balm as it is very sheer and helps protect lips from drying out. Perfect combination. I also got some “regular” lip balm for the guys since they aren’t the type to use a tint.
I used tape donuts on the backs of the wrapped chocolate hearts and attached them to the card surrounding the lip balm. Then I printed out some strips of paper with Valentine-themed images and wrapped those around the bundle sealing the strips with taps.
Want to print your own? Click here and here for the pdf. These wraps will also fit around a candy bar.
At my last paying job (before I retired) our office moved in 2008 to a new location. While cleaning out and tossing old stuff, I found 15-20 reams of pre-printed letterhead. That’s a lot of paper. The logo and business name were at the top and the address was printed at the bottom. But the back was pristine. Obviously, we weren’t going to be able to use it with the old address printed on it. I asked my boss what I should do about all that paper. She said she didn’t want to move it and to see if anyone wanted it. I think a few people in the office each took a ream but we were left with lots of letft over.
Not being one to waste anything (thanks Mom) and with permission, I brought the rest home with me. We used it in our home printer for things we wanted to print but not important enough to use the “good” paper. I used the paper to print off maps and directions, templates, knitting patterns, sewing patterns, and much more. I cut off the tops and bottoms and used the middle sections for notes and stationery.
When grandkids entered the picture, I gave a ream to my son’s children and a ream or two to my daughter. They loved endless amounts of paper to draw or write on. My daughter used the last of that paper in 2020 when the schools were closed and she needed to print off worksheets for her children.
Our supply ran out yesterday.
But fear not as I have more backup scrap/printer paper! My mother gave me a box of assorted colors of printer paper many years ago. Paper dries out and gets crumbly with age so we might as well use it or lose it.
Thank you for the encouragement! I did finish the January Mittens (Ravelry link) on February 1st.
Notes: Yarn: worsted weight – Lion Brand Wool-Ease in charcoal (48 g) and Caron Simply Soft in ivory (50g). Needles: cuff US #1.5 (2.5mm), body US # 2.5 (3mm).
Right mitten – December 11, 2021 – December 26, 2021 using double point needles
Left mitten – January 11, 2022 – February 1, 2022 using circular needles
Modifications: Thumb gusset added while knitting. Thumb was finished after body.
Worsted weight yarn on such small needles (think toothpick size in diameter) hurt my hands. I think that was why I was so reluctant in getting these finished. Plus I was also finishing one pair of socks and starting another pair as well. I am not a monogamous knitter.
But I did it! Yay me!
You may have noticed that I changed the direction of the Latvian Braid on the cuff.
But the GLARING difference is the yarn dominance on the thumbs.
It’s all about which yarn is held above and which is held below as to the color that is more dominant. The ivory yarn was held below the charcoal when I knit the right thumb so the ivory is more dominant. The charcoal yarn was below the ivory on the left thumb.
Yarn dominance occurs because one yarn’s strand travels slightly farther than the other, making it slightly tighter, causing it to recede, and be less dominant. The yarn traveling the shortest distance is the dominant yarn.
If you are interested, here’s a link to a short video on yarn dominance that explains this technique by Beth Brown Reinsel.
The ivory yarn was the dominant yarn on the back of the hand as I wanted the design to stand out but I reversed the yarn dominance on the palm. I wanted the ivory to be in the background and the charcoal to stand out more.
I didn’t write down which yarn was dominant when I knit the thumbs.
It’s a lesson I hope I will remember in the future. Or I could wait and knit both thumbs one right after the other.
Knitting In Flashes 