Wher Did March Go?

I am ending the Month of March sick and resting.  I don’t know where the month has gone. There has been a lot of knitting and spinning. A dozen new bibs for Eric. By the way he loves them all. They have the soft not washed a hundred times feel.

What I have not accomplished is writing the 2 new knitting patterns.  The finished items are folded on the table in need of blocking.  Taking photos of the new patterns.  So my goal for April is to get 2 patterns self published.  Finish knitting 2 more shawl patterns and completing the process. To get that done I will stop writing and go to sleep.

A New Design

The new design with Mary Gavin’s yarn is coming out better than expected.  Only 10 zillion rows to knit, just kidding only about 300 rows to go.  youcan ask for her Measyarn at your local yarn shop or go to MartGavinYarns.com.

No Carpe Deim

Not all days are a Carpe Diem kind of day around here. Some days my standards are very low as long as everyone is alive at the end of the day and the laundry is not above knee level, I will call it a win.

I did get some Spinning done. This is going to be plied as an art yarn.  Pictures will follow when finished.

I did barely manage to get my 8,000 steps today.

I had a very enjoyable day. I went to the n4th Avenue Street Fair today. All my usual parking places were gone. I truly mean gone. The church parking lot is now a building under construction. My others were filled with vendor booths.  So I parked at the Tyndall garage at the University of Arizona and walked down hill to the street fair.  I did do a little shopping but skipped the street fair food.  I picked out a few things for my birthday while I was there.

It was a very good step day with over 10 thousand steps.  Just before bed my body decided what it thought of all the days activities. Let me tell you that it hates me at this moment.  I am hopeful that a good nights sleep will fix everything.

Failed Parenting

Eric has not slept for the last 2 nights. In my extreme tiredness I decided that Eric would not get his afternoon television time. So instead he came in the sewing room with me. I am in the middle of making a dozen new bibs so we can retire the worn looking ones.  

It did not occur to me until his afternoon aide came that it looked to her like he was getting a special treat.  Extra time with me and brand new bibs to boot. This is an epic parenting failure.

In my defense I did try to nap today, but every time I fell asleep the door bell rang.

Busy

Despite Eric wakings me up every 2 hours last night, I got a lot done around the house.  I did not finish the laundry and only did 2 loads.  Other chores were done instead

On the fiber side of my life Eric did help me start and finish 4 new bibs. I really don’t think he quite understood how many steps there are to making his bibs.  I only have 8 more to make and we can then retire some of the worn out bibs.  I cast on a new hat and got the first 1/2 inch of ribbing done. Only another 6 1/2 inches to go before the crown work.  I added another inch to the hand spun sherbet shawl on Raverly.   It was pointed out to me that I might just need to rewrite the pattern for a zourball. As not everyone can look at a basic pattern and just decide to use different yarn and needles and know it will come out.  Last but not least I got my Louet S15 out and started spinning some rolags from The Wooly Witch on Etsy. I am getting an nice fine spin.  Once plyed it should be a sport weight yarn. It has been on my to do list since the spring of 2017.   I am still on the first rolag.  See the yardage so far.

 

Finished

I finished 3 knitting projects today. Pictures and row counts will follow when I am more awake. The 2 new patterns will follow once the items have been blocked, photographs, data collected and the patterns typed up. I also started working on a new UFO and it should be ready for summer.  I am using the Hand Spun  Sherbet Shawl pattern on Raverly with 2 zourballs of yarn.  and US sized 4 circulars. Don’t be afraid to try my patterns with different yarns and knitting needles.  Just use the right size knitting needles for the yarn.  Have fun knitting.

Finished Projects

A lot of projects are coming off my knitting needles. Some need to be blocked.  Although I will need to find a new place to block my knitting.  My favorite spot has broken.  Patterns need to be typed up.  I am even finishing projects that have been put aside for awhile.

Frogs and Other Things

Today while looking for a lost skein of Mary Gavin’s yarn, which is still hiding.  How could I possibly lose a skein of yarn wound on to a bobbin for knitting my house? I also found a few projects that needed to be frogged. I also threw out the pattern that came with the very colorful sock blank that had been dyed in rainbow colors, this will make a wonderful shawlette.

I am not quite sure how the wonderful people at Sock Panda dot com manage to match my socks with my current actives, but today’s shipment was of frogs, rip it, rip it. This is the perfect gift for someone who likes socks that are not plain.  The bonus is that for every pair of socks you buy 1 pair is given to charity.  How cool is that?

I also finished 3 more dog pillows and along with 4 hand woven rag rugs Eric and his aide help me to deliver them to our local  humane Society.  Thanks to Google maps for helping find it and miss all the construction and road work projects.

*Sock Panda , Mary Gavin Yarn’s, and Google Maps did not pay any advertising fees.  I already use the products.  Also I have gifted several friends with a sock panda club.

What It’s Not Sunday?

I spent most of the day going around as if it were Sunday. I spent the day cleaning and organizing the house.  I went through piles of paper. Found projects that were never going to be done and sent the fiber to the dog pillow bin. I now have 3 dog pillows to do the final seams on. I got the kitchen towels down that I can’t remember who gave them to me for bibs down. They are not Eric colors so the will go to The Flowing Wells SD Clothing Bank.  If you need the pattern for the bibs I.believe that I published it in October of 2009 or 2010 under the key word bibs.  I also got by with only doing 4 loads of laundry.

I finished another hat and cast the next one on. I am on the final rows of 2 of 3 A Shawl Study pattern.  Sadly this one is more fussy and will require blocking. Hopefully it will be done tomorrow.

Well tomorrow is going to be just as busy so it is time to call it a day.

It’s Official

This afternoon I found out that Eric will be home for another week.  The site where he goes for his day program is under going major repairs to its gym. Air quality is the issue for Eric.  So Eric and I have planned some activities for next week.

So to make this happen for Eric, I will be making dog pillows, with help on the stuffing stage.  Then sewing them up.  These will go to the Humane Society.  I will also go through my knitting bags to find all the tabs I can. We are going to drop them off at the local Ronald McDonald House to help the kids. The tabs pay for the utilities here in Tucson with any leftover money going to help the families. This is Eric’s favorite charity project.

So if I am cranky next week, please forgive me. I also am apologizing in advance.  Now I am going back to knitting.

Q

Did I ever mention how much I love crocheting using a size Q hook and bulky yarn.  I was able to start a scarf at 3 pm  today and finish it around 8 pm with all the ends woven in. I still had

time to cook dinner, take a walk and clean up dinner.  It was a bright spot in an otherwise dismal day.

Eric kept me up last night so I was tired to.begin with. Then there is building construction at Eric’s day program which will muck with the air quality, so he will be home until at least Monday.  So besides a much needed nap, all I did was play pick up.  This lead to a cranky mommy day.  Yes, I know in my heart that things could be worse, but sometimes it is hard to see outside my four walls.

So this is what 56 rows of crocheting looks like when you only go through the back of the top loop.

Tuesday

Dropping off Eric.  Paying activity fees for the year. 

Getting 2 knitting projects off the knitting needles and weaving in the ends. I am to tired to take pictures or count the rows.  Cast another hat on and knit 1 3/4 inches of the band. 

A trip to Bookman’s and they took everything today. I used the credit for 2 more pairs of socks for The Flowing Wells SD Clothing Bank. 

Went to 2 different grocery stores to get shopping done. I managed to put almost 

everything away and do the rebates. 

Fixed Eric’s Wheelchair and cleaned off some of the formula that spilled on the chair.  

Was too tired to cook dinner. I don’t have to wonder much about that. 

Praying that Eric does not want a 1 am play date with me. 

Time for lights out.  

Today

laundry, 3 loads
Nap, a long one
Knitting, not as much as I wanted
Cleaning, just the right amount
Bookman’s, sadly no