More Deep Cleaning

Today I spent the day deep cleaning again. Eric's closet made the to do list today and all the clothes that were too small we added to the Goodwill pile. Books and magazines also made it to the top of the to do list. I filled up the center of the van again. Most was only one layer, but there were some areas where it was 2 layers deep. John was kind enough to make a trip to Goodwill for me. I am needless to say exhausted. I really don't recommend this type of cleaning with a headache though, it will not make it any better.

The next thing on my agenda will be finding uses for all the regained space. This should be the easy part.

Failed

Clothes shopping was a failure yesterday. If the top fit, it was see through. If the tops was not right and the fit or look was awkward it was not see through. Come on clothing manufactures most women I know hate see through clothes. If we wanted that much transparency in our wardrobes we would walk around in a bikini year round. Get it right.

Cleaning

Teri and I finished organizing the fiber by breed. Teri found out that there are a lot of different breeds of sheep. I think everyone learned more about sheep and breeds at dinner than they wanted to.  The fiber is now neatly stored. The only mistake that I made was not labeling the big bags. Oh, well that can happen at a later date. We also went on a deep cleaning spree. The end of the hallway is knee deep in charity for Goodwill. I think it will take me a couple of hours to make a list of everything. I think we are going to try to fill the van.

We also found time to go see the new Star Wars Movie, The Last Jedi.  No spoilers here, just go see it on the big screen. 

Intervention

My family is trying a Lola of Lion Brand Yarn intervention of my fiber stash. So I am going through every bag of fluff to see what I really don’t want to spin. Basicly it amounts to anything with bamboo blended in and some of the fiber that I bought as a novice that I don’t want to spin any more.

So I am taking the time to organize it by fiber. I have more alpaca fiber than I thought I had. I also have a bunch of small amounts of diffrent breeds of sheep to see how they spin. I found some unprocessed fiber that I thought that I would have time to wash and prepare. Now I think that I will send it off to a fiber mill that will do a small batch. The short fibers went into the dog pillow box, I have no time to mess with short fibers.

Some was bought when I thought that I. Ould help pay for Teri’s grad school. I needed to spend a lot more time at art and fiber shows than I had being a full time care giver for Eric. I will still spin it up and see if my Local Yarn Shop will take it on consignment. If not, I expext to give hand spun yarn to friends who knit and chrochet for future gift.

So all in all I rally don’t think I have a fiber problem. Rather, I have a distrubition problem.

Family Time

The whole family is under one roof. I am having a great time. I may be to busy to post for a week or so. So please take the time to enjoy your families too.

Shawl's

I seem to make fewer shawls for myself than some of my friends. I was thinking about this today as I reorganized my shawls and scarfs. I have the first shawl I knit for myself about 17 years ago, I still use it a lot. I bought some high quality mohair yarn from Kathy Withers of Withers Wool she also has an etsy shop at this link . Kathy used to be local and I loved going to her farm when it was in Tucson. I was like a candy store for me. Kathy has moved to the east coast and still offers classes.

All my shawls seem to be made from high quality yarn straight from the farm or my local yarn shop. There seems to be a direct correlation of the quality of yarn with how long the hand knit or hand woven item lasts. So even though it is more expensive it is worth spending the extra money for high quality yarn. After all how often can you say my hand knit item is 17 years old when you use cheep, low quality yarn?

So if you are planning to make something for yourself or a family member Please remember to buy your yarn directly from the farm or you local yarn store. They have a vested interest in the outcome of your project. These are also small businesses that deserve your business.

*These are my own opinions and I have not received any compensation from anyone or any business.

More Deep Cleaning

Believe it or not I spent 5 hours cleaning this morning. I have to say that this was fueled by 3 cups of tea and trying to get one last good load off to Goodwill this year. I also have to give credit to my new arthritis medicine. Not to say that I was not sore by lunch time, but I had to work very hard to get sore.

Eric's aide Nikki wanted to learn how to make my style of bed quilt for her boys, so we collaborated on a second big quilt for Eric today.  We are telling Eric that this is his holiday gift from Nikki. I must say that I am really liking the cotton batting. It is easy on my hands and sews up like a dream.

I also think that I have way too many projects in progress. Although now that I am feeling better they are getting finished at a faster pace. I also found my watch at the bottom of you guessed it a knitting bag. It is time to see if I can finish one more project tonight and give John the computer chair so he can change colors on the printer.

Triple Chocolate Haystacks

I had enough energy to make my triple chocolate haystacks for tomorrow's party. The chocolate mixture came out very smooth. John was nice enough to clean up the double boiler. I was surprised that John knew what a hot water bath was. It must be because he likes to watch Chef  Gordon Ramsay on the Food Network. I also made fresh bread for dinner.

Now if we could just get Eric to sleep through the night.

Blankets and Watches

It is no secret that the kids are getting blankets this year. So Eric’s twin size quilt is almost done. Teri’ queen size blanket is hand knit on U.S. size seven knitting needles in a modular pattern. I have about 2 1/2 rows of modular knitting plus the I-cord boarder. I am really stumped on what to make Tej. I am also wondering since Teri’s blanket is so big if they could share the blanket. So many things to think about while I am waiting for Eric to fall asleep.

I am sad that my new watch died after less than a week. I have to return it and pick out another watch. I would not have to do this if my 10 year old watch did not sprout legs and walk away. So much bother.

Early December

Eric is just getting over the cold that he has had since last Thursday. John and I are very tired and trying to get too many things done at once. Can someone invent a 48 hour day for me please?

Holiday presents are going slower than I would like. I wanted to be done with a few more than none by this point. It did not help that my body needed rest today. Hopefully I will make progress tomorrow.

Deep cleaning has kicked up to high gear again. It's not like I have the time, but with itemized deductions disappearing next year it has to be done by December 31st. We filled the recycle bin to the point that it needed to be stuffed down yesterday. So that is some slow progress.  All the quilting batts have left the house and freed up some much needed room. Fifty percent of that is filled already. I also need to clean up a desk to turn it into an electronic work station for John. You did not think that I was going to play with the electronics did you? The electronic equipment has started to arrive. So I guess that I am way behind on that too.. I wonder how many drawers will need to be emptied?

Well tomorrow is almost here so it is time to call it a day.