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Big Chunky Knitted Cowl Pattern

Savvy — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 16:11:58 +0000

I’ve had several people ask me where I get some of the knitwear that I’ve posed in on the site, and to be honest, I can’t usually find exactly what I want, so I end up making it a lot of the time. I knit and crochet and I find them both to be extremely therapeutic and calming. I learned to knit from my grandmother and to (properly) crochet from my aunt. I mostly make accessories, because I don’t really have the attention span for a sweater, (sorry Nana). So here’s the first in a series of patterns I’ll be posting this season. Enjoy!

Big Chunky Knitted Cowl Pattern by Savvy Brown

Skill Level: Easy

Wool: Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Bulky
(or any super chunky wool you want to try)

Colors: – 2 skein Chianti, 2 skeins Brown Heather

Gauge: – 3 sts = 1” on US 10.5 circular needle
(told ya it was bulky)

Pattern:
Starting with the Chianti yarn:

Cast on 70 sts. Carefully join the row without twisting the stitches K1,p1 for 3 rows. Then Stockinette stitch for 28 rows.

On row 29, start knitting with the Brown yarn, leaving a bit of a tail that you can weave in later. P across the full length of row. Then Reverse Stockinette Stitch for 18 rows.

Stockinette Stitch for 3 rows. Reverse Stockinette 2 rows. Stockinette Stitch for 3 rows. Cast off. Weave in ends.

The finished product looks like this!

When you wear it, you fold one side down, so all the stitches match! It’s also big enough to wear as a hood if you want, and it’s nice an wide so it won’t mess up your ‘do! Tada!

Notes: I’m a “loose” knitter, so I tend to use needles one size smaller than what is suggested on the yarn package for the proper gauge. Also, if you’re not comforatble using a circular needle, then use straight ones, and work the pattern back and forth. You’ll just need to whipstitch the end together when you’re finished.

Hope this all makes sense! (It’s the first time I’ve actually written out a pattern). Please let me know if I missed something!

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Savvy DIY Cable Organization

Savvy — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 19:47:47 +0000

In my continuing quest to organize stuff in our home, I had pushed cable organization to the top of the list. Both my husband and I have a couple of laptops, not mention various video game systems each with its own set of cables. I was tired of not being able to find the correct cable when I needed it, or resorting to a dusty game of twister when something blew behind the TV and spending an hour trying to find the right cord, before I could troubleshoot the problem. These ideas helped us, and maybe they’ll help you too!

image from unpluggd

Cables Under the Desk – You know those little plastic thingys that keep the bread bag closed? Well they make EXCELLENT cable holders/labelers! Put one near the outlet and another up near the top of the cord at the back of your monitor, computer, drive, cable box, video game…whatever. This negates the need to play cable roulette whenever you have to move a drive or find out why the XBox isn’t working.

image from diyphotography.com

Cables On the desk – I use binder clips for everything as you can see from [this post]. But they’re really come in handy when I’m trying to organize the cables up on my desk. Just clip one to the back or side of your desk and snake your USB, fire-wire or even your phone charger cable right through it. That way it’s always within reach, and you can avoid c”able yoga”" trying to reach around and under the desk plugging things in.

image from lifehacker aus.

Cable Storage – I’ve been using empty single toilet paper rolls for awhile now to hold the cable for the iron, the hairdryer and the toaster. But I never thought of collecting a few for multiple cord management! Take multiple empty toilet paper rolls, (or cut a few paper towel rolls into thirds), and fit into a shallow box. Like a shoebox. Fold up each cable and push through the rolls, label each roll accordingly and place in the box. We currently have an ugly wall hanger full of a spaghetti full of cables for all kinds of things. I might get another box just to hold all the game controllers. I can’t wait to try this!

What are some your cheap/handy cable storage ideas?

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Review: Bona Hardwood Floor Cleaner and Mop

Savvy — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 17:34:37 +0000

Our house is over 100 years old, and the oak hardwood floors have a clear poly finish on them. For those of you who don’t know, real wood, should never be cleaned with tons of wet soapy water, you’ll only warp the wood and ruin the grain. The best thing to use is a floor cleaner that can be poured sparingly or sprayed on then damp mopped up. My father-in-law introduced me to this stuff and I liked the ingredients so I thought I’d give it a try.

Bona Hardwood Floor Cleaner Spray (32 ounce) $8.35

Ingredients not available.

Bona 8X15 Shine Floor Mop with 2 Microfiber Covers $18.99

Now normally, I would list a product’s ingredients in a review, but, like many cleaners Bona doesn’t provide them. So I decided to research their claim of being “environmentally friendly” and found out that they are Greenguard certified. GREENGUARD Environmental Institute is an industry-independent, non-profit organization that establishes standards and testing for indoor products. They have deemed Bona products safe for use around children and pets, and that the product causes little to no indoor air polution. The product as also first made and sold in Sweden, which has much stricter “green” guidelines than the US.

Here is Greenguard’s description of the product:

A waterborne, environmentally responsible cleaner specifically formulated for cleaning all types of wood floors coated with a clear, unwaxed finish, including all polyurethane finished floors. Non-toxic cleaner, will not dull the finish or leave any residue.

That being said…I LOVE this stuff!

It gets my floors clean quick and easy, and makes them shine. I also love the mop! Unlike other quick mops, this one has a wide surface area, and cleans more of the floor more quickly. It also has an elastic edging that fits the thick microfiber pad around the head of the mop securely so it doesn’t pull off as I’m using it. I also love that I’m not filling up a landfill somewhere with those disposable stick-on wipes. I just throw the pad in the wash when I’m done, and wash it with my Homemade Laundry Powder and a little peroxide and it cleans up well every time. I think the price of the mop is worth it, especially since the pads are reusable. I also like the fact that refills of the cleaner are available, as opposed to buying mulitple smaller spray bottles and throwing them out.

RATING*: 4 Smart - Great product, great price, multiple uses, can’t give it a “5” because it doesn’t list the ingredients.

Bona Spray Floor Cleaner , Bona Floor Cleaner Refills as well as the Bona 8×15 Shine Floor Mop are both available in the Savvy Shop.

*Savvy Ratings: 5=Savvy 4=Smart 3=Suitable 2=Satisfactory 1=Stupid

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Green Clutter Busting

Savvy — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 14:27:16 +0000

Every year I try to downsize and re-organize a bit so that we have less clutter to deal with. I have dreams of coming home to a perfectly calm, serene space where not only is everything neat and clean…but I actually remember where I put everything.

I’m still working on it.

The following is a list of a few things that have really helped make the task easier, that also happen to be earth-friendly and pretty cheap!

Receipts

Wrangle Receipts and Business Cards – I have only one solution to this problem. Shoeboxed.com They send you a few large envelopes in the mail, you stuff the envelopes with all of your receipts and then drop them back in the mail (postage is free). They scan, organize and post the receipts online for you in a password protected account, then destroy/recycle the originals. I can easily see what receipts I can use for deductions as well as what we’re actually spending our money on. They also have a nifty and free iPhone app that lets you take pictures of business cards and automatically imports them into your address book! The service we use is $9.95 a month, and since we’re independent contractors is a tax write off. (Money well spent, trust me).

Recycle

Kitchen Recycling – We made recycling simple in our house and now I keep two wastepaper baskets, one blue and one grey under my kitchen sink. I got them both from an office supply store for less than $10. Paper and plastic packaging goes in one, and bottles/aluminum goes in the other. Another cheap idea is to use reusable shopping bags or even plastic storage crates under your sink to collect items. IF you’re really handy you cna DIY your own bins like this guy did here

Junk Mail

Less Junk Mail – The best way I’ve found to get our names off of those annoying junk mail lists is to do a few things.

Credit Offers – Contact the major credit reporting agencies at 1-888-5 OPT OUT (or 1-888-567-8688) 24 hours a day. Give them your address, former address within two years, and social security number. One call does it all for agencies Equifax, Trans Union, Experian and Innovis. Online visit optoutprescreen.com.
Catalogs – Call the company’s customer service # 1-800 number and have the address label handy from the front of the catalog. Give them the code on the label and tell them you no loner want their catalogs. Sign up at Catalaog Choice to get your name off of most catalog lists.
Local business and Flyers – To get rid of those ValPak coupons click this link and fill out from to get off their list. You can also sign up with 41 Pounds to get your name off of any remaining lists you may have missed.

Mail Center

DIY Mail Holders – I grabbed two cardboard magazine holders from my office and I printed up pretty labels for them and placed them right by the backdoor (where the mail comes in). They’re big enough to hold magazines and oversized envelopes, and at the end of the week, I just pick the whole thing up and go through the bills and recycle the junk mail! Here’s a link to the monogram border I used.

Home Staging Area

Staging Area – This is so important I can’t even tell you. We have baskets where stuff gets tossed when we walk in, a place to hang the keys, hang bags, put chargers and of course shoes. (I’ll post how we did it for cheap in an upcoming post!) Folks, you need a staging area if you’re going to get in and out of your house everyday on-time, organized and without killing each other, or any small pets. Need some inspiration? Check out these neat entryway ideas.

How do you keep the clutter down in your home?

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Composting for Dummies Pt. 4: DIY Countertop Compost Caddy

Savvy — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 21:16:49 +0000

There are a few ways in which you can collect your food scraps in your kitchen so that you won’t be constantly running outside to dump them in your compost bin. There are a bunch of countertop containers on the market and I even have some available for you along with compost liners in the Savvy Shop.

But here, I’m gonna show you how to make your own! (It’s really easy).

DIY Countertop Compost Caddy

What you’ll need:

An empty container that’s at least a 3lb capacity (I recycled an old oxygen cleaner container for this, because it has a nifty handle.)
Power drill with small drill bit to make hole in top (No drill? You can use a hammer and drywall nail instead)
Charcoal filter (You can find these here and at pet stores )
Hot glue gun or Crazy Glue
Velcro (you’re only going to use the side with the “teeth”)

Directions:

1. Rinse and thoroughly dry container.

2. Drill 10-15 holes into the top of the lid wider than the width of your velcro

3. If you bought a filter that is larger than your lid, cut it to fit on the underside of lid

4. Cut strips of Velcro

5. Spread hot glue (or crazy glue) all over the underside of velcro strips and glue in between the holes (hold firmly for a few seconds while the glue does its thing).

6. Press filter onto Velcro

7. Place food scraps in container as needed.

Done!

I was really excited to find all of the elements to make this around the house, so it cost me nothing to make! We are BIG fans of free here at the House of Brown.

For a list of what foods can and cannot be composted please refer to Composting for Dummies Pt 1 the start of this series. You can also use extra large compost liners if you wish inside of this container. (I don’t shrugs) I kept mine under the sink for awhile until it became insanely hot this summer, and then I began keeping it in the fridge. No matter what compost collector you use, you should empty the little guy about every two or three days. I would replace the filter every six months or so.

For a full list of composting supplies, check out the Composting Section of the Savvy Shop!

What do you use to collect food scraps in your kitchen for composting?

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DIY Hanging Hoop Laundry Bag

Savvy — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 16:45:09 +0000

I saw this over on Pinterest, (my new favorite hangout), and I couldn’t resist!

It’s originally from Martha Stewart

This laundry bag has 3 components:

12” embroidery hoop (she used a 14” one, but I felt it was too big.)
Standard pillow case (you can use larger if you wish)
OR regular sized laundry bag with drawstring
Twine, string or ribbon to hang the whole thing up with

I made the pillowcase version, cuz, well, we’ve got a bunch of orphaned pillowcases laying around…

For those of you not familiar with embroidery hoops, they consist of two interlocking rings that are held together by tension from the outer ring in the form of a thumb screw.

Directions:

DIY Hanging Hoop Pillowcase Laundry Bag

Slip pillow case around the inner ring
Secure with outer ring, and tighten thumbscrew
Slip ribbon, string or rope around or through the thumbscrew
Hang it up!

DIY Hanging Hanging Drawstring Laundry Bag (Martha’s version)

Slip a drawstring laundry bag around the inner ring, letting the drawstring hang to the outside
Secure with outer ring, and tighten thumbscrew
Shorten drawstring if necessary by cutting it and retying it.
Hang it up!

12" embroidery hoop

thumbscrew

pull 1/4"-1/2" edge of the fabric through hoop

tighten thumbscrew

attach cord, tie or ribbon

Finished Product:

DONE!

Neat huh? It stays open without holding it, so you can easily toss things into it with one hand. (I keep my mine on the inside of the closet door myself.You could get fancy with this and paint the embroidery hoop, or use pretty pink ribbon for a girl’s room. Blue rope for a boy maybe? When I made one of these for Sexy, he hung it withan errant shoelace that had been driving crazy. Every couple of weeks, I pull off the pillowcase and wash it. This has helped us stay organized in our small bedroom. No more mounds of clothes spilling out of that stupid little rattan hamper that never went with the furniture anyway.

What are your DIY laundry wrangling ideas?

You can find the items needed for this project in the Savvy Shop

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Composting for Dummies pt.3 : Indoor Composting

Savvy — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 15:29:21 +0000

Believe it or not, you can compost indoors very effectively, and no it will not smell up your house or apartment. Here are two types of indoor composters to chose from:

Automatic Indoor Composter – This little baby works like magic. It can take all kinds of food, including meat, fish and dairy that other composters can’t take. It’s compact, can fit under a sink or in a cabinet and consumes and aerates large amounts of food rather quickly. You can have a full harvest of ready-to-use compost in as little as 2 weeks with this thing. It eliminates having to collect your scraps to take outside, plus, there’s no odor at all. PROS: Incredibly easy to use and low-maintenance. Takes all kinds of foods, doesn’t take up much space. No need to keep collecting food and dragging it outside. CONS: Expensive. One of these babies is gonna run you about $400. It does use electricity, and needs to stay plugged in all the time, so it’s not helping lower your carbon footprint by much.

Bokashi Indoor Composter -This composter was developed in Japan, and Bokashi literally translates as “fermented matter”. How it works is all kinds of foods are added to an airtight container, (including meat, fish, dairy and bones), then Bokashi pellets which contain microbes are added to the mix. This type of composting breaks down food waste without aeration through a process called fermentation (kinda like wine), as opposed to putrefication, which is how traditional compost bins work. In as little as 10 days you can bury the contents of the bucket in your garden or add it to an existing compost pile, as a catalyst. PROS: Easy to use, uses no electricity, no odor at all, makes compost quickly. There are several local organizations that will pick your compost up for you. Good way to compost during the winter. Affordable. The bin itself only costs around $50. CONS: You have to keep buying the microbes to add to the pile. Must chop up all food into smaller sizes. The food doesn’t completely break down into soil in this bucket, it will do that only when it’s buried in a garden or added to a traditional compost pile. (Critters may be an issue here).

Next time: Collecting/Prepping Food to Compost

Do you indoor compost? What system do you use?

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DIY Pebble Boot Tray

Savvy — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 18:38:17 +0000

A boot tray is a good idea to keep water and snow from tracking across your floors, but why not jazz it up a bit with a Pebble Boot Tray? It’s DIY and really easy to make. I saw this great idea on Pinterest and followed it over to Martha Stewart’s website. The stones allow the water, ice and snow to drip right into the pan, without leaving those icky white marks around the edges of your boots. Here’s her version…

The stones aren’t glued or anything, they’re just poured into the tray so that wet shoes and boots have someplace to drain. I already had a boot tray, but I don’t live near a craft store, so I had to wait until I went to visit my mom out in Jersey. It’s funny, I was all set to go to Michael’s when mommy looked at me, pursed her lips, squinted her eyes and said the magic words…

“Let’s try the dollar store first.”

Well lo and behold, the dollar store had bags and bags of river stones, pebbles and all kinds of fun stuff. It took about 7 of those little mesh bags of stones in various sizes to fill the tray, but that’s $7 plus the boot tray I got for less than $10! So for less than $20 I got a classy little addition to my hallway, and I way to protect my hardwood floors from rain and snow.

Here’s my version. Not bad huh? I love my mom!

‘Oh! And for a twist on the same idea, you can use a deep cookie sheet like this one with pebbles and stones.

Gotta lotta boots? Line up multiple trays!

Wanna make your own? Check out these items at the Savvy Shop to DIY!

Where do you put your wet boots and umbrellas?

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Composting for Dummies pt.2 – Outdoor Composting

Savvy — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 20:36:19 +0000

Types of Outdoor Composting

So in Composting For Dummies Part 1 we covered what composting is, why it’s beneficial to you and the environment and what it’s used for. Now let’s get into the how’s of composting. Here’s a list of the ways in which you can compost and they’re pros and cons.

Simple Compost Pile – This is essentially just an area of land that is used just for composting. It’s just like it sounds, just a pile of compost. PROS: No setup, no tools needed, compost can just be scooped from the bottom of the pile. Plus it’s free. CONS: Animals can get to it easily. A fair amount of land is required, so that when it rains or when the wind blows, compost bits aren’t flying at your house, must be aerated* by hand.

Wire or Wood Fence Composter – This is essentially a length of fencing that is staked into the ground. PROS: It doesn’t take long to make, and takes virtually no tools. Cheap. CONS: Animals can get into it easily, because it’s not “contained” it can smell, needs to be manually aerated, must sit on open soil, need to dig out finished compost from the bottom of the pile.

Basic Compost Bin – This type is your basic no-frills compost bin usually made from plastic and can be as simple as a large garbage can with the bottom cut out of it and holes drilled into the top for air flow. The most common bin in this category is a large square bin with the bottom open that sits on top of the soil, that has air holes on the sides, and a sloped roof to allow for rain runoff and drainage. PROS: relatively easy setup and assembly, very simple to get started, can just lift door at bottom or tilt unit to get at finished compost.. Animals can’t get it easily. Relatively cheap. CONS: Tools needed to setup and manual aeration is needed on a regular basis, must sit on open soil.

Spinning Composter - (This is the type I have) – This is the fastest way to make your own compost, and requires the least amount of messing with it. This type usually consists of some type of drum with air holes that sits on legs or a base that allows it to literally spin. The spinning action adds oxygen and aids in decomposition PROS: Simple to use, you just dump in your compostable materials and let nature do it’s thing. Every now and then give the tumbler drum a spin and that’s it. Doesn’t have to be placed on grass or soil. Fits in a small space. CONS: At some point you need to stop adding compost to this bin, because it will be to heavy to turn and not enough air will be getting through.

Worm Bin – This bin is also called a vermi composter and here’s how it works: Basically, the worms munch on the food in the compost bin, and their “castings” or worm poop, is basically what makes the soil from this type of composting so rich.The worms that are used are red earthworms, but not the same kind that you go fishing with. There are different bins and ways of working with worms, some are even DIY, but they all essentially work the same way. PROS: nutrient dense soil is produced, and the worms are very efficient at, well, pooping CONS: The worms don’t eat everything so you need to be careful what and how you feed them. Pretty high-maintenance, because the worms are essentially your pets, (even though they’re working for you). Fruit flies are also a common problem with this type of bins. To harvest the compost, you need to dump the whole bin out, wat for the worms to burry themselves, and scoop out what you need. Oh and yeah, by the way, they’re worms.

Hope that helps! Next, I’ll be talking about how to collect your food waste properly, and how to feed the bin. All of the composter shown here are available in the Savvy Shop Garden Section!

*Aeration – Allowing air to circulate through the compost pile so that it doesn’t get a clumpy and dry. Usually this is done with a pitchfork-like tool like [this one], or my tumbling.

Do you compost? What method do you use?

References

Savvy Gardener
The Paupered Chef
Gaiam

Compost guide

Composting For Dummies (Pt 1) Since I just got very first composter about a week...
Composting for Dummies pt.3 : Indoor Composting Believe it or not, you can compost indoors very effectively,...
Composting for Dummies Pt. 4: DIY Countertop Compost Caddy There are a few ways in which you can collect...

Last Minute Green Father’s Day Gifts

Savvy — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 02:11:47 +0000

So if you’re still trying to figure out what to get Dad for Father’s Day, you still have one day left. If you’re dad’s like mine, then he’s so happy to get any kind of gift, he won’t care if it’s o Father’s Day or a few days after, you’re in luck. You can still order something. If you just flaked, and just can’t show up empty handed, go buy a card tomorrow and write in it that his gift is “on it’s way” and pick one of the items below. (If you’re here, you’re out of time anyway, so read on…)

Last-Minute Green Gifts for Dad’s

Logitech Wireless Anywhere Mouse MX for PC and Mac – Sexy has one of these and he loves it. (Granted, I find it all over the house but that’s another story).

Aladdin 16-Ounce Recycled and Recyclable Tumbler – This thing is made from 100-perecnt recycled food grade polypropylene and contains 25-perecnt post consumer content. The mug itself can also be recycled where [5] recycled plastic is collected

Black & Decker MSW100 Ready Wrench - If you don’t know how to use a wrench, don’t worry, your dad does, and he’ll
love this thing.

Logitech Wireless Solar Keyboard K750 – This thing is so cool, I might have to keep this and get Daddy something else. Hmmm.

Bulldog Natural Skincare – This British company, sports fair trade, healthy ingredients, even low-emissions production. And guys seem to like the stuff. I haven’t tried this on Sexy yet, but I’m hearing great things about this product line.

Upcycled Wetsuit iPad Sleeve – When I save up for an iPad, I’m gettin’ one of these!

Deluxe Solar Power Charger Bag – This is a really great idea for a dad with gadgets.

Online Gift Cards – This is for you 11th hour folks who have to get something by Sunday…

Feed him – Take him to dinner, or bake him cookies! Need a recipe? Try this one

- What did you get your dad this year?

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