Something New and Exciting

 Some times it takes a while to buy something new for the house. Yesterday’s delivery was case in point.  I saw the Cubii when the first version was released.  I read reviews. I went back and forth. I bet you thought that John was the only one that did this.  Fast forward to yesterday.  The Cubii2 was delivered. With all the boxes it came in we thought it was going to be huge.  No, we just played the box game.  You know the one. You open the first box only to find another box, only to find another box.  Just like Russian Nesting Dolls.  John assembled it while I read all the paperwork.  Then we put it on the charger for 6 hours.  

This morning despite waking up with a headache, I spent 18 minutes working out after breakfast.  The first workout  was not bad, but some adjustments needed to be done.  After dinner I did a 25 minute workout after one adjustment.  The workout was even better than the morning one.  I am not sure who thinks that you can not get a good workout with something like the Cubii2, but after this evening’s workout I needed to towel off and change clothes.  Best of all no back pain at all while using it.  

John did the research after I book marked it.  He bought it for me in hopes it helps my fitness levels get better.  It seems my fitness level drops after every surgery.  I still have not gotten my stamina back after December’s surgery.  This is easy and fun.  My goal for right now is twice a day for 15 minutes or so. However once the music starts and I get in the groove I just keep going.  I hope that this is really going to help.  

This post was not paid for. John bought the Cubii2 for me.  These are my personal opinions.  

Unintended Cleaning

 I was so tired that all I wanted to do was take a nap.  Instead I organized my tea cups and tea.  I wonder if I could really justify a couple of me Pawley tea cup in the 30 ounce size? This is just a thought.  I gave the plants some of the expired tea. Plants that are not native to the Sonoran Desert need a boost of caffeine a couple times a year,  I am sure that there are other things that they like in the tea too.  By the way coffee works just as well if you don’t drink tea.  I was left with 2 bags of recycling, 2 bags of trash, 1 1/2 shelfs of newly freed space, no tea cups on the counter, tins for an art project and a lot of happy plants. 

On the me side I got 3,000 steps while cleaning. If I thought I was tired before I started, we’ll after I finished I was just to tired to move.  I still feel it hours later.  I hope tomorrow is a good body day, I could really use one about now.  

Decluttering

Today I filled the back of my car with the 3 newly made dog pillows and dropped the off at the Southern Arizona Humane Society.  The have new drop boxes for donations.  The were over sized dog houses.  They were very cute. My only problem with them is that they were not quite arthritis friendly.  The lids were very heavy and hard to lift.  I found this sad, because a few dollars of hardware would make the lids easier to lift.  

The next stop was Goodwill for 2 boxes and a bag.  I thanked the gentleman taking the donations and said that he was aiding in cleaning my house.  As a treat I stopped at Brugger’s bagels and got 3 Rosemary bagels for a job well done.  

My next deep cleaning task is go go through my knitting books to see which ones I will be keeping and which ones I will be listening on eBay.  I have one book currently listed and have lined up 5 more to list tomorrow.  My goal is to have my books sorted by project or craft type.  My second goal is to have all my books fit in the bookcase and not stacked around the house.  I am hoping that this is doable.  I am listening most books with a 99 cent beginning bid with the buy it now price 50% of retail at the time they were published.  I will put links on my Twitter and Facebook feeds. Some are in nice enough shape for gift giving.  I might even have some out of print books too.  Did I mention that I listed a first edition of a Noro book today.  It is only a 7 day listening so hurry over.  

Thriving Me Nuts and more.

 I just finished the next 3 dog pillows.. All I have to say is thank goodness dogs can’t see in the green range, because I had 2 pillows that were the same pattern but different colors.  No, I am not ripping out the final seam.  At least something is finely finished. I am so use to finishing multiple projects a week.  This not using my hands is driving me nuts..

I guess my sewing is done for the day.  I see lighting is the distance. Unlike my old Kenmore mechanical sewing machine which ran in any weather, my newish BERNINA does not like static discharges. It just messes with the programming. Not to mention it can fry the chip.  Newer innovations are not always better.  

Something else that is driving me nuts is the weather forecasters and the National Weather Service   They have decided that 100 degrees is a heat emergency. I live in the middle of the Sonoran Desert.  Did anyone bother telling them in school that it gets hot in the desert, it’s not unusual for the temperature to stay above 100f for weeks at a time. We usually only used to keep track of days above 110f.    I can really see setting it at 110f or 115f  or above for a heat emergency. I am the 3rd generation of my family to live in the desert. My grandparents came when swamp coolers we brand new technology.  The swamp coolers did not work during the monsoon season, which is our rainy season. For those of you who are not familiar with swamp coolers, they are also called evaporative coolers. The equivalent of blowing air over a bowl of ice cubes to cool off.  My point is that if you don’t like the heat don’t move into the desert because you like our winters.  We just don’t have enough water..

We have always known that we did not have enough water in Tucson. My dads 1st job after graduation from the University of Arizona in 1956 was with the Better Business Bureau to tell people not to move to Tucson, because there was not enough water.  Fast forward to 2021 and low and behold they were right.  We are 20 years into an Epic Draught.  One good year of rain is not going to fix this.  Growth is not always good.  

This blog post is a bit rambling and disjointed.  That is where my mind is now.  The rising COVID19 numbers across the country combined with a very low vaccination rate , means that I probably won’t see my family until spring. But to end the blog on a good note, here are the dog pillows.

Just Maybe?

 I am slowly getting back the use of my right hand.  It still gets tired very easily.  I did manage to fold one load of laundry today.  Most of the day my hand was to tired to do anything. Tomorrow before my hand gets tired, I will try to sew up 3 seems to get the dog pillows out of the house.  

I think I have a lot of small projects that can be finished with the sewing machine. This means that I just need to guide the fiber and let the machine do the work.  

I am still bored.  I need a new hobby. One that is not so hand intensive.  

Boredom Has Set In

 I have gone to the doctor about my hand.  I got 3 shots.   If my hand is not working in 2 weeks we might try something different.  Meanwhile, I am board to tears.  I can think more clearly now that the pain level is down.  

I finally figured out that I really crave sweets and coke made with sugar when the pain level is high enough. Oh, I did not go out and get a coke, the COVID19 numbers are rising in Pima County.  I also managed to keep surgery foods to a minimum too.  It was just to much work to wake up very early, find a mask, get in the car to drive to the store. When I get there are there too any cars in the lot.  What about other people wearing masks? To the massless I just want to scream that there is no ME in PUBLIC HEALTH.  It’s very exhausting, the snow birds are so judgmental.  I had one following me around the supermarket today,  I wonder if she thought that I had to many fruits and vegetables in my basket.  You know the type, dresses up to the 9’s to go to the grocery store.  Looks down on the rift raft who don’t meet their standards.  Oh well at least she did not say she was 50 something and shove her way ahead of me in line, because I was younger.  Many reasons to avoid the stores.

There is still no knitting, spinning or weaving going on.   I have been doing puzzles of all kinds on my pad  .  Thank goodness I found jigsaw puzzles at the App Store   I have been doing a couple a day, I can’t imagine what John would think of the mess of cardboard puzzles   I have also been play card and word games. Today I even managed a little cleaning until you hand stopped working.  I am still board. I would like to be board at a coffee shop so I could at least people watch.

 

A Small Repair

 My first reusable shopping bag got a smallish fix this afternoon.  I bought this bag at my then local natural foods store and restaurant, Follow Your Heart in Canoga Park, California.  I bought it just after I moved into my first apartment.  That was so last century, before John and I were even engaged.  Follow Your Heart had the best vegetarian burgers and shakes.  Oh well the whole truth was everything was wonderful and tasty.  Milk free donuts in the 1980’s awesome.  Carob everything to my heart’s content.  I was not allowed chocolate, nitrates or nitrides back then.  I still skip the nitrates and nitrides, they cause so many migraines.  They also have a wonderful cookbook to make things at home.  

But I digress.   I got my first reusable shopping around earth day, I got my second on my next payday.  Yes, I still have both of the bags.  They are a bit faded now.  One is starting to show some age with the beginning of fabric breaking down.  I patched the bottom with a piece of curtain fabric, leftover from dog pillows.  I am not sure if I should quilt the bottom.  My main problem is I forgot how to program the memory on my sewing machine.  I guess I will find the manual to morning.  My handy work is below.  

A Busy Day

 I had a very busy day today.  I ran errands until my lesson.  I transferred my students knitting from 14 inch straight knitting needles to circular knitting needles , in the process I knit one row.  All I can say about that is ouch.  

My big failure of the day was trying to write a lace pattern with just a pencil and paper.  I tried making a chart. That was an erasers heaven.  Then I tried visualization of the pattern in my head and tried to write it out long hand better, but I could not figure out if the knit 2 stitches together should be in the middle of three stitches or right before the yarn over. The shawl is on hold until I can knit again or figure out the knit 2 together thing  

I think I will look around my yard for inspiration on a washcloth patterns.  No yarn overs to place.  I was thinking of sitting outside and playing with cactus, no not literally. Rather with graph paper and a pencil.  Maybe even a small cottonwood tree.  

I have to find away to end my boredom.

My Day in a Nutshell

 This just about sums up my day today.  Yes, they are two different shoes. Both from Finn Comfort.  Similar but different styles and different colors.  I did not realize I had mismatched shoes on until we came home from lunch. Thank goodness that the skirt grew in the closet, so my shoes and feet were covered.  Yes the shoes are very comfortable. I have several different pairs that my husband who indulges my comfortable shoe habit buys.  

No money was received from Finn Comfort Shoes or their agents for this blog post.  I just like how comfortable they are and my husband buys them for me.  I hope this covers all the bases for regulations worldwide.  

A Day Off

 Today I took most of the day off.  I also found out that my shoulder does not like to be iced.  After that mistake I immediately went to put some heat on.  The heat did the trick.  I am still trying not to use my hands much.  It is not help my hands, but my elbow is better.   

Connections

 I am beginning to think that there is a connection between our summer rains and my arthritis flare ups.   The bad ones seem to happen at the end of July or beginning of August.  I wonder if having the humidity between 46% and rain for days on end is the reason.  

Meanwhile I have not knit or spun for days.  Yes, it is quite survivable, but depressing at the same time.  My right hand has been on almost total rest for what seems like forever.  I put away my Ashford Drum Carder today.  I only have a small box that did not get carded.  My hand is slowly getting better.   I am getting ready to set up the sewing machine to do a few lap quilts.  Nothing fancy, just basic useful quilts and a few more dog pillows.  Sewing uses different hand movements than knitting or spinning.  

It has been suggested that I add another art to my line up that is not hand intensive. So i am open to suggestions.  Right off the bat I am thinking that pottery is too hand intensive.  Anything that involves extreme heat or fire my dynamic tiro would say no to.  I have gotten a punch yarn kit to try.  Someone also suggested adult coloring books, that might be worth a try.  I might even get bored enough to go through my books to see which ones to keep and which ones to sell.  

The lighting and thunder seem to be winding down so it’s time to call it a day. 

A Pattern, No Not Knitting

 I have found a pattern to my bad flare ups.  Somehow they are triggered by our summer rains aka the Monsoon.  I am not sure why.  I will look into that.  

Today was spent icing my elbow. Putting knitting things away, By the way I have more room now to put things than when I set up the new craft room / pantry.  This means that I am doing something right.  I must have used a lot of yarn and roving since the start of COVID19.  

Now that the house has cooled off, it’s time to reset the thermostat and go to sleep.  

Mandatory Down Time

 My arthritis flare up is being quite stubborn. Instead of getting better with lots of rest, the inflammation is getting worse.  So for the next few days I will slowly put everything away. I will rest more, which to me equals major boredom.  I will try to catch up on my reading. Nothing but the bare minimum will get done. I am down one hand, thankfully it is my right hand up to the elbow. I can usually get by with just my left hand.  I will also see what my doctor thinks.  

On the bright side, I did manage to fill 2 boxes for Goodwill today. John will drop it off when he has a chance.  

This too shall pass.  

O-Rings and Yeti Tumblers

 I have 3 Yeti 30 ounce tumblers that I rotate through, using a new one every day. I have noticed that over the years the o- rings on the lids all die with in a few days of each other.  It’s like they are talking to each other saying it’s time to annoy Sheri.  It always seems to happen during a flare up, when my hands are all but useless.  I have to ask for help to get the new one on.   I pretty sure that this is the 4th set of o-rings that this has happened to.  

John would probably say that this is just the life cycle of the o-ring. That they wear out because you use them so much.  Silicone has a limited lifespan. Since you use the same cups every day it’s bound to happen that they wear out together.

Me on the other hand is just think that the o-rings get tired of me and the constant work, so they all decided to quit together. Quitting In mass seems to be a thing these days.  

I am sure John’s logical answer is correct, but mine is more fun.  What is your take on the o-ring issue?

These are my personal Yeti cups. I bought one to try and liked it so much that I bought a second one.  The third was a gift from John and the kids. No endorsement money was accepted. We paid for every cup and replacement o-ring.  This is my personal opinion.

How Do I Know When to do Laundry?

 The biggest constant chore that I do is laundry.

 I don't like to do laundry everyday.

 Sometimes I do laundry everyday. 

When do I know that it past time to do laundry?

1. I am out of sponges. I use a fresh sponge every day. There are studies that say you need a fresh sponge everyday. The sponges build up bacteria fast. When that happens I do whites because I wash the whites in hot water. 

1a. Maybe I just need more sponges.  Just a thought. 

2. I have too many empty hangers in the closet. We hang up our empty hangers together by type, John's, mine and pant / skirt hangers. For the last 1 1/2 years this is how I know I need to do laundry. We never fill the baskets to overflowing anymore. 

3. It has been 3 weeks since I did towels. It takes 3 weeks worth of towels to fill the washer.

4. When we run out of something.

4a. Just buy more of the item we run out of  frequently. More than just a thought. 

5. Company is coming and I need to clean the 3rd bathroom for guests to use. 

5a.  Where else am I suppose to put the laundry baskets to keep them out of the way. I swear that our laundry room was just an afterthought. It is barley big enough for the newer larger washers and dryers. I can't have the dryer door and the back yard door open at the same time. 

The trouble with modern life in the first world.

The Ugly Side of Spinning

 Don’t get me wrong, I love spinning.I find spinning very tactical and relaxing.  I love that I can have yarn that no one in the world but me can have.  I generally love playing with fleeces and carding them into batts.  I did have to give up spinning from the lock for a large project.  Although I am happy to teach people how to spin from the lock.  It’s just an arthritis thing.  I try to figure out how to do things that won’t get my hands tired super fast.  I have modified how I spin too, but it works for me.  I can still spin cob web, lace, fingering, worsted and larger weight art yarns.  It’s my play time.  So this is all good. 

This is the ugly side of spinning.  A fiber producer who won’t skirt their fleeces.  To skirt a fleece you basically take out as much vegetable matter as possible.  You also take out short cuts, the oops of shearing.  You take off the ragged ends. It’s like cleaning house, you get rid of the yuck.  Below is an example of an ugly fleece. Now it should not be an ugly fleece because it’s kid mohair from the first or second shearing of the goat.  See how the fiber is all matted, twisted and knotty…

 I actually had to get my combs out to get through this mess.  I can’t tell you how much feed I had to pull out. A lot of the knots were caused by short cuts of 1/2 inch or so.  There was also more barnyard stuff like hay then most producers allow in their dyed locks.  The combs are very sharp, think of nails. They come in pairs so the fiber can be gently combed out. It actually did not look that bad in the bag, but the store owner in the metro Phoenix area did not let anyone open the bags to check the fiber out.  I now now that this is a sign to leave the store and not look back. 

From what I combed today I filled this little blue basket. Then I decided to stop for the day so that I could weave or knit tonight. 

This is after combing.  It looks pretty good. Combing did not correct all the problems.  This small basket made one batt.  

You can see how little fiber that over flowing basket had.  This was all I could make from that one basket.

The above picture shows how much was not carded into the batt do to short cuts.  

 The above picture shows how much was unusable do to short cut of fiber. That is a business card on the side so you can see how much waste there is. From a good supplier you would not even get 25% of that mess of short cuts.   

This is not to scare you off from making your own batts, but rather a lesson in buying from business people who know what they are doing. Yes, raising goats and sheep for fiber is a business.  

The first business that I would like to recommend is WithersWool. Kathy is the lovely person who taught me to spin and lead me down the fiber rabbit hole farther then knitting alone could.  Kathy raises her own flock of Merino Sheep and Angora Goats.  She is very picky about who stays and who goes.  So she has wonderful fiber. Kathy has very love art yarn , hand spun yarn, weaving, patterns, roving and locks. Kathy even makes rug yarn bumps for those who want to weave their own rugs.  

The second business that I would like to recommend is Grandma’s Spinning Wheel. Vicky is the grandma behind Grandma’s Spinning Wheel. Vicky carries a wide range of fiber and spinning supplies. Vicky personally skirts, washes and sometimes cards each fleece that comes into her store.  Being a spinner herself she is very picky, making sure each fleece is skirted and washed properly before it is put on the sales floor.  Vicky does take special orders and can even order an Ashford Drum Carder for you.  Just for your information I use the Wild Drum Carder, which might be a special order.  Whether you order online or shop in person I’m sure you will be happy with everything that Vicky carries.

I know this is a rather long post. So I will let you go now.

I forgot to add that this is my own personal opinion. I have not been paid or given items to review.  My wonderful husband John paid for all the supplies used in this blog.  I hope that this enough for all the regulators worldwide. 

This and that.

 I caught the cold du jour, the fever, runny nose and sore throat.  The cold was gone by mid day, however my arthritis kicked in.  I slept for a lot of the day and am still tired.  My limbs did their best interpretation of 2 x 4 lumber.  My hands were to tired to knit or weave. So I will have a few more unplanned down days.  

We still do not have a roofer for the leaky roof and we are supposed to have another week of rain starting today.  The tarp is in place. The pan is strategically placed. We are hoping for the best.  The 8 inches of rain in July put us  just one notch above the worst drought conditions.  I wish there was a way to bring the excesses water from the east coast out west.  We could really use some help filling up our Reservoirs. A nice early snow pack on the Serria Neveda range would be nice too. Somewhere between 20 and 50 feet would be perfect.  Just as long as it was a slow snow melt come spring.   

Still Going Batty

 We did our usual Sunday chores today. I am also trying to add a clean a once in a blue moon items.  That way I can tackle the boring stuff a little bit at a time.  We also had a great call with the now grown up kids.  They are doing great.  

Then I went on a carding spree and made 11 mini batts this afternoon.  I am almost done with this round of carding.  I will have a lot of yarn to spin and weave.  I will also get some sewing projects done too.  

Going Batty

 This afternoon I carded over a dozen batts form bits and pieces of fiber. Some were just the leftovers from other spinning projects. Some were samples of various fibers. The only things that they will now have in common are they are one of a kind batts and once they are spun up they will be going into handwoven scarfs for the children’s clothing bank in the Flowing Wells School District here in Tucson.  

I am very thankful that Vicky from Grandma’s Spinning Wheel in Tucson was able to get me new drive bands for my Louet Victoria even though they were not in the catalog.  Vicky is simply amazing.  My Victoria is 2 years old and this will be the first drive band replacement.  Just remember when your drive band starts to get loose it’s time to replace them.  

Here is a very small sample of the mini batts. I think that this is box 2 or 3.  I used my Ashford Art Drum Carder.  Vicky carries those too and can ship to your house.   Another few days of carding and I will move on to spinning these.  The bits and pieces that are not relevant to any color way will go into a box to be carded later.  I will empty the last of 3 laundry baskets tomorrow. By the way a laundry basket can hold a lot of fiber.  This is a very small part of my deep cleaning projects. Make it useful or dump it.  

My Body Hates Me

 My body and I have not been in sync for a few days now. I really have been slowing down. I am doing a lot of reading and resting. Which is what my body wants.  My mind on the other hand wants to go and keeping things rolling at a moderate pace. I have about 3 really good hand hours a day, which is not to my liking. The pace of my crafting has slowed way down.  Also not to my liking.  Maybe it’s time to get some outside consultants to weigh in.  

Well it’s time for breakfast and to see what my body and I can negotiate today.  

The 3rd Time Was The Charm

 Let me start off by saying that I was having a very bad dyslexic day.   So starting a new pattern was not my best idea ever.  The words and numbers were jumping all around the page.   Somehow my mind translated “Size 9/5.5mm” into Size 11. Don’t ask, I would not be able to explain it.  So I started with U.S. size 11 and the knitting did not match the picture.  So I went down to U.S. size 10, but luckily I moved my pink marking tape over that one line, totally by accident.  I was able to save the second cast on and just replace the needle tips.  Luckily I was using my LYKKE interchangeable knitting needles.  

Because I was having such a hard day with numbers, I put a stitch marker after evert 10 cast on stitches until I got the right amount of stitches   I highly recommend this when adding more the 25 stitches to a project   

So now the next row is 5.   I love the pattern “Hermosa Tee” by Grace Akhrem.  The yarn I am using is Alumco in color 10 by Araucania Yarns. If your local yarn shop does not carry this yarn you can always use my favorite local yarn shop, Grandma’s Spinning Wheel. They have a new on line store too.  

My progress so far.  

P.S. I would like to make a personal recommendation to pattern designers and yarn companies with the fore knowledge that every Millimeter on the pattern page counts. By adding just two spaces you could make a pattern so much easier to read. For example instead of 9/5.5mm, try 9 / 5.5mm. You can see the correct knitting needle size right away. I know that this is a decades old industry standard most likely set up when print pages were set by typesetters.  Now that most everything is done electronically this should be very easy to accomplish.  This is my 2 cents worth on the subject.  Thank You for listening.  Have a wonderful day.  

An FYI

 Just so you can plan for it. This is my vain attempt at humor.  When a crown that is over 20 years old falls out, it will require a check for cavities and re shaping of the tooth. Lots of numbing medicine is required.  This then requires a new crown.  Then the rest of the day is spent cranky and tired.  I would recommend a nap.  Then in two weeks I get the new crown and hopefully it will fit. 

Tomorrow must be a better day.  

Just Another Summer Day At Home.

 My hand is a little better, but still wonky. I did manage to knit a little on U.S. size 11 knitting needles.  There is a scarf that I am knitting out of hand spun for a holiday present.  The rest of the day was taken up by chores, napping, carding batts, finishing a book and starting another book. We did get to talk to our darling daughter and she and her husband are doing well. Work is keeping them busy. 

It was a record breaking month for the monsoon rains in Tucson for July.  At least it has not rained for a few days.  The roof seems to be drying out a little.  John is busy interviewing roofers.  

The COVID19 rate is up in the county.  So for the most part even though I am vaccinated I will wear a mask in public.  Because the virus is more active in the afternoon, I need to finish my errands by noon.   I think I am going back to parking lot pick up for most groceries.  I am trying to make the best of things and may finish deep cleaning the house.  I moved another tub of yarn off the stacks in the garage and onto the shelf’s.  Progress by inches.