Binge Cleaning

 After a bad morning dealing with getting older and still feeling very trapped by COVID19. I resorted to binge cleaning after lunch.  I did a pretty good job.  I filled the green rollout recycling bin 1/2 way full and added one trash bag to the garbage rollout. That made me feel a little better. 

After dinner I finished the same gloves I made a few months ago in pink. The picture is below. This time I kept copious notes and they were 1/2 inch too short.  So doing my thing, I will rewrite the pattern to suit my needs.  If they turn out good, I will type the pattern up. Wish me luck.  

Tennis Shoes

 Yesterday afternoon John and I went on a nearly impossible quest.  To find tennis shoes that I could put on by myself without help. It involved going to 3 different shoe stores and buying something I was not expecting to get.  I was expecting to buy another pair of Finn Comfort shoes.  Or something similar.  

The first 2 stores were a total wash out.  I was ready to go home and take a nap.  Thank goodness John was driving because the next shoe store was on the east side of Tucson.  We went to a locally owned shoe store called Alan’s Shoes on Speedway.  I first tried on the Finn Comfort shoes and found out for closed toed shoes you have to go up one size which they did not have.  Apparently in Tucson these shoes are considered fall / winter shoes only.  

So I explained to the very knowledgeable sales woman that the arthritis was getting worse in my hands and I really wanted a pair of tennis shoes that I could put on by myself.  She asked if I had any objections to New Balance Shoes and I said no. So she went to the back and found a pair of shoes she thought would work. 

She came out with the New Balance shoes pictured below.  They are model WW813HWT Walking Shoes.   As you can see they have a long strap made with Velcro.  Don’t cut the strap as it will make it easier to put the shoes on. The secret to putting them on is to open them as wide as possible. Slip my foot in  then tilt my foot towards the heel of the shoes to make sure I am are all the way back.  Then just pull the straps starting with the toe strap first.  

I can put them on by myself  I wore them shopping today. They did not exactly go with my dress . They were comfortable although a higher arch support would be nice. That however is a tiny problem   

If you can’t get them at your local store Alan’s shoes has a website.  I used it during the pandemic and they were fast and efficient.  Alan’s Shoes is a link to their website.  

This is not a paid endorsement.  I bought the shoes myself.  If you use the link to Alan’s Shoes website I will not get paid.  I have been shopping at Alan’s Shoes for years.  The opinions are my own.  

Sunday

 The day was spent doing a little cleaning, laundry,and knitting.  A lot of time was spent Zenning.  We also went to a store that claimed that they just got a shipment of Tilly hats and had one in John’s size.  A knock of is not a Tilly hat with proper ventilation.  A tiring but productive day.  

The Next Project

 I am about to start my next project. I had to steal a pro owl from my weaving supplies because the skein of yarn is so big.  Updates to follow. 

The Picture

 The picture of Grandma’s Summer Shawl in yarn I spun.  Fiber from Cloudlover in 50 % merino and 50% silk. I also won yarn chicken.  The tiny ball in the center is all the yarn I have left.  The pattern is available on Raverly and Love Crafts dot com.  

The Shawlette is Finished

 I finished the shawlette at 9pm tonight. Alas it was to dark to take pictures.  I also won yarn chicken.  I did not even have enough yarn left over for an extra row.  

I also did something I have not done since March of 2020. I went to Starbucks, ordered a tea. Yes I sat on the lovely patio in the shade.  I had the patio to myself.  I listened to my book and got a whole lot of knitting done.  I also got to the post office and gas station.  The gas was down to $4.79 a gallon.  Then it was time to go home and do a couple of loads of laundry.  A little picking up too.  

This Much Left

 There is an old adage in knitting circles.  When a project looks almost finished. When someone asks how much more knitting do you have to go? The response is always holding up the last of the yarn and saying this much.  Well tonight is my this much moment on Grandmas Summer Shawl in my own hand spun yarn.  Ooo’s and awe’s welcome.  Tomorrow morning I will finish it and block it.  

More Progress

 Last nights dinner did not sit well on my tummy.  So instead of errands I relaxed and knit.  You can see progress on the shawl. I am about to add the last skein of hand span yarn to this project.  I did manage to make a color change on the 5 foot long scarf.  So very visible progress there. 

I am going to call it an early night.  

Works In Progress

 These are my current couch works in progress. These are the projects that I work on at night while watching television.  One wash cloth,  One drop spinning project. One shawl in the Indigodragonfly bag that I am making with hand spun yarn. One scarf destined to be 60 inches long, yes I have a bit to go.  

My stitch markers and darning needles are in the Altoids tin.  A great way to recycle them. 

It’s Finally Finshed Plus Commentary

 I delivered this completed baby blanket to the mom to be today.  Just 2 weeks before the baby is due.  

Commentary

My only issue was with the chiaogoo knitting needles. The workmanship of the knitting needles was, not up to my standards.  On one side the yarn kept getting stuck and would not slide like the knitting is supposed to.  I had to stop and free the yarn every 30 or so stitches. I could not replace the knitting  needles part way through the project because even though they are labeled the same size there can be a tiny variation in fractions to small for my eyes to see that can change the size of the knitting gauge.  I could not visually see where it was snagging.  This slowed down my knitting. Now that they are used I doubt that they can be returned or replaced.   Even though they are more expensive and do not have a curl free cord, I like workmanship on my Addi turbos and Lykke knitting needles better. I have never had this problem with any Addi turbo or Lykke Knitting needles.  I doubt that I will buy chiaogoo knitting needles again. 

Finished

 The baby blanket is finished. I will show pictures tomorrow.  I did ein at yarn chicken.  

Dog Pillows

 I had an incredibly bad night, followed by a BBD with a pain level of crying.  I still managed to sew 2 pillows to be filled and filled 2. This leaves me with one pillow to add my yarn scraps to.  The pillows are loaded in the back of my car.  Yes this is the 3rd  charity trip in the last 7 days.  I am on a roll.  I thought I would be able to make more pillows but the green one is very large.  There is just no comparison on the sizes.  Off to the shelter they go tomorrow. 

Less is More

 Getting rid of 2 car fulls of unwanted stuff combined with the yard sale has freed up space in the house and my head.  I now find myself wondering around the house putting things away or in the appropriate trash or recycling place.  

 Have also done some more fiber arts. Tonight I spun a little yarn, about a 1/2 ounce.  Finished project 14 for the year.  And worked on a hat.  

I am becoming a firm believer in less is more.  It’s just so hard to look at all the new spring yarn colors or look at the holiday Boxes for December and not order more yarn.  So I am in make more buy less mode.  It is so hard.  

I think I will drag the sewing machine out and bring it to the knitting room to make some dog pillows this week.  That should fill up my car one more time.  An free up more space.  

Well I Was Going Too

 Well I was going to show you the picture below and say this was the highlight of my day and I did not cry.  They were delighted to receive the box of arts and craft supplies, snacks and other goodies. Yes the art supplies included yarn.  

I was going to tell you about the lovely lunch we had downtown at Cup Cafe in the Hotel Congress named after the street it is on. For crime buffs this is where John Dillinger and his gang were arrested. The hallway to the bathrooms is lined with everything you need to know about this piece of Tucson history. 

Speaking of the hallway to the restrooms. There is a high step that you really need to look out for.  I tripped on that very step today and did a knee plant. Nothing is broken one toe looks wonky but I can bend it so it is not broken.  I have a few bumps. I expect to be a little more sore tomorrow. This is also the day I became an old geezer. I was suddenly surrounded by people checking on me.  I took a minute to pull my self together and let other people help me up.  Thank goodness I was wearing an ankle length dress so nothing showed. After getting up I headed to my original destination.  A young girl was very concerned about me and opened all the doors for me.  Sadly I don’t know her name , but to her mom and dad you are doing a wonderful job. She also walked me down the hall to make sure that I did not fall again.

I then found John in the Cup Cafe outdoor dining area. Told him about my adventure. We ordered lunch. It was very good. Then a stroll around downtown. Then a little sightseeing. Yes, Downtown has changed that much.  We did make the mistake of trying to take Broadway out of downtown, that turns into a parking lot because of the Broadway repaying project. It really looks like they are doing a sub par job at best.  I wonder what has happened to the work ethic of days gone by.  Yup even talking like an old geezer. 

Going,Going,Gone

 I promised myself that what did not sell at the yard sale would be leaving the house on Monday. Well I was exhausted yesterday. So I organized the things to go today.  John graciously load up my car so I could drop everything off at Goodwill.  At Goodwill the very nice employee unloaded my car.  It looks like I was not the only one doing spring cleaning.  There was a constant stream of cars  

Because it was the beginning of rush hour, a misnomer in Tucson.  Rush hour starts at 3:00pm and ends around dinner time.  I decided to turn right instead of left.  It was a good choice in the end.  I took Glen to Stone and went north on Stone.  Right at Prince a couple of fire trucks and an ambulance started turning on to Prince.  My guess there was an accident at 1st Avenue and Prince.  This is because the fire station is at 1st and River.  The accident must have messed up southbound traffic too.  I was so glad that everyone pulled over and we all let each other back into traffic.  This is rare in Tucson.  

I came home and vacuumed the back of my car. John loaded the back of my car for tomorrow’s charity drop off.  I am too tired to do much.  I hope that there will be knitting tonight.

Here is the picture from today.  The car is a lot smaller than the van, but I still got a full load in.  

A Mixed Day

 I had a lot of energy this morning when I started 2 loads of laundry and went grocery shopping, by the time I got home and put everything away  I was tired   I did finish the laundry   I was to tired to knit or do anything else this afternoon and evening. So goes my life   

A Fantastic Day

 Today I had my 1 1/2 hour targeted back yard sale. It was one day by appointment only.  I sold out of grab bags.  No additional discounts were necessary.  I sold a few cones and house hold items.  To make it easier on me, I will not be running around Tucson to try to get extra cash out.  I will divide it between 2 Charities, and either John or I will drop it off.  The house already seems emptier without the yarn grab bags.  

This is so freeing to get useful clutter out of the house.  Yes, the items are still very useful.  No, I don’t need them anymore.  So off it goes back out into the world.  

Yes 80% of that pile is gone and off to new homes   Hooray for us!!!!!

We Got Out Today

 Today we got up early and went to the 4th Avenue Street Fair.  We got fairly good parking considering that almost all the available parking even a decade ago is no longer available.  There was a church group asking or donations for their orphanage and the parking was only 2 blocks away from the street fair.  

After so many years everything seemed to be the same stuff  as the previous years. So no new items came home with us.  We did however buy 2 ears of roasted corn at $9.75 an ear.  Yes, that is not a typo. We used to be able to get 2 ears for $10 just a few years ago.  We debated burritos  at 18.00 a piece and went elsewhere for lunch.  

I came home and had a nap.  Then did some knitting while watching television.   I am into the longer rows on the Shawl and did 3 rows.  I have been too tired to knit a lot. 

Although something amazing happened this week.  I got so tired and depressed about missing my daily 10,000 step goal that I lowered it to 5,000 steps.  I have made and exceeded my goal every day since then. No I am not going to bump it up just yet.  I will be happy to make 5,000 steps a day, and elated if I pass it.