I Fixed It!

And I am very proud of myself!

I fixed my serger!!

First, I had to order a new knife.  What a bummer- they are stinkin' expensive! I finally eBay-ed a set of knifes, for about $25 shipped.  Not bad, when I was looking at some going for $50 for just the upper knife!

I just got all of my tools together, found the right page in the owner's manual and did it! It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.  I did have to re-thread the machine, and fiddle with the tension settings, but the knifes work beautifully!

It's hard to see, but there was an angle difference between the old and new lower knifes.  The old lower knife had an angle, and the new is flat.

Slight shape differences between old and new upper knifes.

 

Site of the serger surgery. Serious business.

All fixed!

Just to brag on my husband a little... he gives the best presents! This SD card and the staple gun he got me years ago are my favorites- he knows me so well!

Now that the serger is fixed, I've been sewing some knit skirts. Pics of those to come soon!

This is just a... Test

And brought it back to the nest singing microphone check

One two one two this is just a test

 

We got up this morning and walked. Now I'm trying out the blogger app. Plus coffee and a green smoothie. .. I like slow Monday mornings. 

... Except now I have Beastie Boys in my head. Could be worse!

Mishaps

Crafting things did not go well last week, my friends. 

The makeup removing wipes from the last post? Moldy within a week.  Gross.  Trying one more time with distilled water.  The boiling water was evidently not enough.  Loved them before the mold, though, so I'm willing to try again!

I also tried making two tops.  Neither worked, for various reasons.  Not fun.  I'm going to take one apart and try again, though. I think I'll be cute, I just have to make it smaller. It's my own design, and I learned to make pin tucks for it.  That's something nice, at least!

The most sad news? The most horrible tragedy?  I broke my serger.  In the process I also almost put my eye out.  Who knew I needed safety equipment when sewing a skirt?  For the record, I was sewing this skirt, and it turned out super cute! The tutorial is great!  I gave it to a friend, though, before I took a pic of my version.  I loved it so much that I'll be making a new one as soon as I get more fabric! It is super comfy and flattering, and I LOVE the fold-over waistband.

But about the disaster...

See that little piece of metal?  That's the upper knife.  It broke off and flew at my face. I think I may have accidentally sewed over a pin. How embarrassing!  Now I have to buy a new one.  I'll probably buy a lower knife, too, since it's a good idea to replace them periodically. Or so I hear. They're kind of expensive, though, so I'm shopping around. Until then, I am sergerless. Or at least knifeless.

And I'm seriously considering adding safety goggles to my crafting supply must-haves.

Makeup, Remover and Fabric

Three things today! A little life-hack I tried, a recipe thing I'm hoping will work and a rant about fabric. Enjoy!

First the incredible thing I found out today! I've been using a tube of BB cream as my moisturizer/sunscreen lately. I've loved it! I thought I had squeezed as much out of the tube as I could, but before I opened a new package I wanted to try something I'd seen online...I don't remember where.  I cut open the tube and scraped out what was left inside into a little container.

Look at all that! The little container holds 15mL. The only problem now is that I'm dipping my finger into the pot- which adds bacteria, and it's exposed to light- which can break down chemicals faster. So I'm keeping it in the cabinet, and counting on using it quickly.  I'm just so excited that I got that much more out of that tube! Crazy!

Thing the second. I'm making homemade makeup-remover wipes.  There are a few tutorials/recipes out there on the internets. I looked at the one by White House Black Shutters.  I used almond oil instead of coconut and I used my CeraVe cleanser as the soap. Also, I didn't have purified water, so I boiled my water and added my other ingredients once it stopped steaming. I'm pretty excited about these. I hope they work!

The Rant. I went to Joanne's today to buy some fabric.  It was a mess.  Everything was out of order, and the bolts were falling all over the place. It was really frustrating.  Not to mention that I had a horrible time the last time I was there because of snooty clerks.  Hobby Lobby is out for various reasons. It seems that all is left to me is small, expensive local stores.  I've switched to buying yarn, for the most part, from my local yarn store- which I LOVE. But I really, really don't want to be spending that much on fabric.  Maybe I'll switch to internet fabric shopping, but colors and textures are harder to figure out online. First world problems, I know. 

On the bright side, I did find some fabric, and that means I've got some sewing to do!

Short but Sweet

The latest project...

... and of course, blogger is being difficult with the photo. It's the right way on my computer, but blogger thinks you should enjoy it sideways. Sorry guys. 

Anyhoo, this is the newest addition to the decor in Mara's room. She and GG painted the rocks, and they were just lying around so I decided to do something with them.  They're hot-glued to a piece of paper, and that piece of paper is hot-glued to the back of the frame.

The only problem- there's no glass, so the back is super wiggly in the frame.  I think I'm just going to duct tape it in the back and call it a day. 

Another potential problem- it's kind of heavy. You know, because... rocks. So here's hoping it stays in the wall!

Grandaddy and Bees

When I told my grandparents that we were getting bees, my Grandaddy told me that they used to keep bees when he was young.  He grew up on a farm near Heber Springs, AR.

This is what he told me... writing it down before I forget!

-When he was a toddler, he crawled through the hedge around the bee yard and got stung all over.  They covered him in sulfur molasses.  He said that they would have covered him in chewing tobacco, but nobody in the house chewed.

-His job was to light the smoker, which was a rag on a stick, and keep the bees off of his dad while he "robbed" the hives.  He said the he couldn't run if he got stung!

-His uncle died of a bee sting.  He was out working in his fields, got stung and couldn't get to help fast enough.  Grandaddy said he died of a heart attack because of the sting.

-His dad used to find new bees by going to the creek, finding some bees getting water and following them back to their hive.  It was usually a hollow tree.  Then they'd cut out the tree-hive and bring the bees to their bee yard and put them in a box-hive.

-They kept 8-10 hives at a time.

-When I showed him the picture of our hive in the back yard, he said, "Don't let 'em swarm!" And told me that I needed to get another box to put them in if they did.


It seems like almost everyone who had family who farmed back in the day kept bees.  Even myy neighbor was telling me that her father kept bees at their farm.

Answering Some Bee Questions, and Our First Sting

This one's for you, Gina E.!  :)

Some questions about the bees answered...

Where is the beekeeping yard now?  It's out at Two Rivers park right now.  Near the community gardens.  The gardeners are happy to have us, and our teacher is planning on making that his "teaching yard". We'll bring them home sometime this week.

Once you bring them home to your yard, they'll know their hive because of their pheromones, I'm assuming? They know their hive because of their pheromones, and because they will start establishing foraging patterns.  When they are moved, scout worker bees will fly out of the hive, realize that things are different, and start flying in ever-expanding circles around the hive.  They'll recognize landmarks around the hive and remember their way home. The scouts will return to the hive and let the rest of the workers know where things are, and how to get there, with the waggle dance. Click here for a little more information about scouts and the waggle dance. 
While they are doing this, we will be careful to keep feeding them sugar syrup so that they can keep drawing out the comb, laying brood and being happy bees.
Incidentally, we have learned that you need to move the hive less than three feet, or more than three miles, otherwise they get confused and fly home to where the hive WAS, because they recognize the landmarks.

Do you have to do anything with the city to tell them you have a beehive? Do they regulate that kind of thing? The state has laws and regulations about beekeeping.  We have to register our hive with the AR state plant board.  When we register, we are entitled to free apiary inspections.  In other words, if we have or suspect a problem, we can get a little help in solving it.  We also have to have our hive inspected if we ever want to give away our bees, or a part of our colony.  Click here for more info on how and why we have to register our bees.


 In other news, X was stung the other day- on his palm, right through his glove! I wasn't there, but the story I got was that he was holding a jar of bees while his teacher was demonstrating a method for counting varroa mites. He probably squished one accidentally, and she fought back a bit.

Also, we have assembled another hive body to add to the hive.  The brood that was first layed by the queen has hatched, and they are starting to fill in that comb with honey.  I really want to bring the hive home before we add that second story, because it'll be lighter and easier to move.


I don't know if anyone who reads this blog would be interested, but our instructor, Jon Zawislak, is planning on doing a three part evening seminar in the fall, covering everything we learned in our class. It'll be free to the public, and I'll update with more information when I get it.  Also, I'm going to give him my blog address, so he'll probably come on here and tell me everything I'm telling you that is wrong. :)

And... one more braggy thing... We were in another paper, this time with an article.  Click here!