I divided my time today between making more stitch markers and knitting Operation Gratitude scarfs. I won’t sho the stitch markers, they are all red. I have been working on this scarf for a few months at my slower speed. I do have 2 more scarfs for Operation Gratitude in different parts of the house.
This afternoon I was bored and decided I needed some play time. So I got out a drawer of beads. Pick out a few strands of beads, then got out my box of findings. Findings are the bits and pieces that are needed to make jewelry and more importantly stitch markers. Today I made 2 strands of glass mushrooms and 1 strand of ladybugs into stitch markers. I also took a few miscellaneous beads , then made a few more stitch markers. I have a few more strands pulled for tomorrow too. The stitch markers on the left are the ones that just happened to wonder off to my knitting room. I finally made the hand carved bear bead into a stitch marker, it has been in my box for years. The rest I will bring to knitting guild with me.
With my limited knitting time my goal is to finish as many UFO’s as possible. Some of the empty project bags I will keep. Others I will destash with enough yarn for a charity project. So hopefully you will see lots of project pictures in the coming weeks.
The thought occurred to me to night that you have not seen me wearing my new Maxi Fingerless Gloves. I have got to tell you that I did not take time to set up my tripod. I also found it hard to take a picture of my own hand. None the less, here it is in action. Yes I did type up this blog wearing my new gloves. I tend to like warm and toasty hands at night and on cold days. It helps me sleep better.
I will try to take a picture of the red ones at a later date.
I finally have found a path to take. I know it’s been a while.
In knitting, I found that if I knit a few rows and rest a bit. Repeat until it’s time to stop. I do not have pain. Yes, I am not knitting as fast, but I am knitting again. Also no more big projects.
I can really Start exercising again. I will ramp it up slowly so I don’t injure myself. I wish COVID19 was over so I can walk inside the mall without a mask. It’s a lot cooler there.
I have also discovered that I am really, really bad at judging water and ice tea intake when we go out for lunch or dinner and it’s over 100f. Yes we are still only doing outdoor dining. I drink way too much and spend to much time getting rid of the excess. Although I personally feel it’s better to drink too much than not enough.
I have been hiding out in my knitting room listening to an audio book alternating between knitting a UFO That was started before Eric went into hospice. Then was tinked because I should never knit lace work when I am taking care of someone going through hospice. Then thinking it is time to spin on every drop spindle I currently own. Maybe even fill up a basket and ply them later.
I am so totally exhausted and out of sink that I totally forgot about Tour de Fleece. At this point 11 days in I am not going to stress myself. I will just look at my lovelies as I spin on the drop spindle of the day or 2 it takes to fill them. I will pull one braid at a time and spin until I run out and then go to the next one.
I am currently on an Orson Scott Card binge. Currently Invasive Procedures. The last book was Stone Father. Both good reads.
Below is the first spindle filled in this endeavor. A Golding that has an amazing spin on it. I did not think I would be able to spin lace weight on a spindle this heavy. I spun a blend of merino wool and silk.
Things are going pretty good right now. I just wish at times I had a staff to type up my pattern notes and take pictures of my finished objects. I am about 3 patterns behind now. Maybe I will just have to buckle down. When John’s at work I should be working too. I think I will give it a try next week.
I just don’t make enough on pattern sales to hire anyone. If I am really lucky I sell enough patterns to pay for the yarn. I usually don’t include time to design, knit, photograph or type my patterns. The numbers would be just to dismal even for me. Bring a pattern designer is a lot like the other arts. A few make bank and the rest of us have a supportive spouses or full time jobs or both.
Stay safe and consider wearing masks again. The COVID19 numbers are going up again.
It was one of those epic bad body days. Fold 2 loads of laundry and rest for 2 hours. Repeat.
John did not want to go shopping at Tuesday Morning, but since I was too tired to drive he drove and found a new tool for the garden. I found nothing.
After a baked chicken lunch and shopping for coffee, ,guess what? It was nap time again.
I did manage to fill and sew one dog pillow. John loaded my car for tomorrow
I hope I got enough rest today so that I can sleep tonight. Wish me luck.
A few errands left me exhausted. Because of the Jiffy peanut butter recall Skippy peanut butter is still in short supply. I will have to come up with another fast and easy protein. I got 95 zone minutes for 5,200 steps. I need answers. I am just rambling. Time to go to sleep.
This is a tongue and cheek kinda of blog post. Yes it will be cheeky.
First off I would like to thank a nameless local Tucson home improvement store for refusing to help us with our shopping needs. They also had a front desk clerk that refused to get us a sales person to take our money. Silly me. I thought green money was green money, good for helping the bottom line of any retail business during a recession. We came dressed Tucson summer casual, what else are you supposed to wear during summer in Tucson. We were even wearing tennis shoes and not flip flops. At this store it was apparently not good enough for help. This in the end run saved us lot’s of money.
Today we went to Lowe’s Store 1638 where we meet the most helpful and friendly sales associate Estevan. I could not find a more helpful and knowledgeable sales person (outside of Grandma’s Spinning Wheel and Artemesia if I tried). Estevan helped us with a shower head, and plumbing supplies for the new sink faucet, to replace the one that broke in the guest bathroom. You know the one that made 3 full loads of towels . We also got a new rain gauge to replace the one that was literally crumbling in place.
For everything we bought we spent less than the bathroom faucet cost all by itself at the local home improvement store. They also did not have rain gauges which would have meant a separate trip. I know the store manager made a very wise decision in hiring Estevan. Friendly service, help and everything we needed all in one stop. They also did not care that we were wearing Tucson summer casual or that my hair was still wet from my shower. So I will count today’s shopping trip as a win.
Thank You Very Much
John was busy too. He installed the new shower head and rain gauge already today. All that is left is installing the new faucet. We just have to figure out how to use towels to pad the sharp angles and the wood floor of the cabinet. After that is done I can treat the wood with a 10% bleach solution once or twice to get rid of any lingering mold that might have occurred. Let it dry a few more days and pit the pool towels away. Then I can do a happy dance that the a hip high pile of towels will no longer be gracing our den. Not that I don’t love our pool towels.
So it was a very good day.
It has been a year snd a day since we had a Summer Monsoon at our house. We got a good storm with most of the rain falling in the first 30 minutes or so. We had river’s flowing in the front and back of the house. We also had a little white water as the water flowed through the front yard over some smaller rocks.
I was too busy sitting by the window watching the rain to take any videos. So you are just going to see the rain gauge afterwards and our double rainbow. The second rainbow was hard to see from where I was standing trying to stay dry.
