Day 4

 I am on day 4 of recovering from food poisoning.  My best guess is it was either the chicken or the salad, since I have not heard of any recent outbreaks from pecans or dried cherries.  I am doing much better than Thursday or Friday.  My ribs are still sore from all the wild eyrping.  I am still on the bananas, rice, applesauce and toast diet. Although the rice hit very hard today so I am backing off for a bit.  

Is am not sure if this hit me so hard because it is the second time in a few months that I got food poisoning or that I got a stronger dose of the toxin.  

My 10 ounce Welly: cup is perfect for laying in bed and drinking.  No more drenching myself with a 30 ounce tumbler.  

I was able to do 2 very small chores today. This comes with a caveat of a rest was required after each chore.  I am also ignoring my Fitbit request that I move more. I have gone into snail mode.  

I am very sad that I am missing the Mercado Christmas Market this weekend.  I have been looking forward for this for a while.  

*my usual disclaimer.  I bought the Welly: cup.  I am not receiving and compensation for mentioning it.  I like it therefore it got a mentioned.  

The Next Step

 90 percent of the deep house cleaning is done.  It’s just things like the pantry, filing cabinet and curio cabinet that need my attention.  

So I am turning my attention to UFO’s problem. I currently have 4 baskets of UFO’s that need to be completed. UFO’s are projects that are in various stages of completion.  Last year I tried a log book to keep track of my UFO’s.  That was a terrible failure.  So I am going for a straight numbers thing.  For every 10 projects I completed, I have given myself permission to cast on another project.  The only exception to this rule will be charity knitting for the kids and some family members.  

To keep track of all this I plan on dropping a stitch marker in a jar for every completed project.  This should be totally doable for me.  It’s not like there is a shortage of stitch markers in this house.  I am also sure that I can find a see through jar or vase.  With a limited amount of hand time per day it will take longer than in the past. I have started this project today with a random project. I got 2 inches completed today.  Pictures for you of my progress when the items are completed. 

My goal is to get rid of my PhD in knitting. Projects half done.  Wish me luck.  

How to Fix a Leather Slipper

 Let’s face it, it has become common practice to repair anything useful again.  That includes leather slippers.  Things just don’t last like we think they should.  One scissor company has decided a lifetime warranty is now not my lifetime but 10 years. So that when a blade starts going wonky and I bought the scissors in 1984 they are not going to replace them. The cake slicing knife I bought in 1975 is out of its lifetime warranty because the company went through bankruptcy. But I digress. We are here to talk about slippers. The seeming work is not done as well as it used to be.  The knots are not made to stay in place.  The knots are put in wonky places. You are lucky to make it one whole season without the slipper falling apart.

This is where you have to get creative. You will probably need a darning needle, a needle threader, a smaller crochet hook, toothpick and either Fray Check or Krazy Glue.  For this repair they can be used interchangeably.  These are both under a registered trademark, but I do not know where the symbol is on my iPad keyboard also under registered trademark.

The first thing you will do is run the remaining thread, which was cut to short to tie off properly, through a hole with the darning needle to the outside of the slipper.   Then you will run it through a stitch a couple of times.  As you are running out of thread run the crochet hook through the wrap that you just made. Twice if you have enough thread.  For this repair I used Krazy Glue because the Fray Check is playing hide and seek in the knitting room.  I like to keep a four pack of Krazy Glue around.  That way it is always fresh when I need it.  With the toothpick gently dab the Krazy Glue on the repair being careful not to get any on your hands or the leather.   It is only for the thread. Let dry in a safe place over night to dry.  

As a word of caution.  Please don’t attempt to do this anywhere but at a table with good lighting.  Things like the darning needles and threaders like to play hide and seek.  They are very good at hiding.  Almost as good as the Fray Check in the knitting room. The person you send hunting for the hidden items will not be happy with you.  Below is a picture of my repair attempt.  It’s not perfect, but it is not going anywhere soon.  The dark brown spot is where the glue is drying   

Also I regularly purchase both Fray Check and Crazy Glue.  I have not been paid to endorse these products. They have been in our home repair kit for years. 

My Navajo Style Tapestry Weaving

 I have finally finished my Navajo style tapestry weaving class with a little bit of help.  Ok, a lot of help at the end.  That much sitting and weaving was very hard on my body. I usually do not weave for more than 1 hour in any 24 hour period. My hands were useless the day afterwards. I hurt down to the bone. My body is still not happy with me.  If I ever under took making a second one, it would take at least a few weeks.  

The reason I am calling it my Navajo Style Tapestry Weaving is that I am obviously not Navajo.  You have to be a registered member of the Navajo Nation to make a genuine Navajo Tapestry Rug. This skill is handed down through the generations.  The tapestries are definitely worth the price, with the amount of work that goes into even the smallest pieces.  If someone claims that you don’t have to be Navajo to weave a Navajo rug just don’t believe them and move on. I personally feel that it is not ethical to profit off of someone Else’s culture and heritage.

I would also like to clear up another misunderstanding about Navajo fiber arts.  The Navajo do not ply their yarn. That would add too much time to the project. They could also not compress the yarn as much as is required,  please believe me there is a lot of pounding the yarn to compact it well. Also when rugs were made for the trading posts for sale, they were paid by the pound for rugs.  It was a family affair with the children doing a lot of the carding of the fiber as per my friend Louise. They also took care of the sheep.  

That being said I really enjoyed taking a class with world class instructors.  I would recommend taking a class with Barbara Teller Ornelas and Lynda Teller Pete.  By the way they have 2 books on Amazon or at Barnes and Nobel that are worth reading. You should be in very good physical condition to do this class.  There are so many new skills that I learned.  I am very grateful  that Vicky and Michael Konecky of Grandma’s Spinning Wheel in Tucson Arizona made this class possible.  

I am also grateful that my daughter and son in law gave me a portable hand massager.  My hands would be much worse off.  At least I can do non intricate work with my hands today.  I even emptied the dishwasher without dropping any plates today.  I also folded 3 loads of laundry too.  Then it was seek, toss or put away.  This was followed by a gourmet dinner of a duck egg omelette with mixed vegetables and fresh fruit.  I even managed to flip a 4 egg omelette without breaking it to pieces.  

My tapestry is below.  Louise helped me pick the colors out.  I picked out the design from a deck  of patterns.  The Teller sisters helped with the technical difficulties. 

Navajo Tapestry Weaving

 I started my Navajo tapestry weaving class today.   This is just before my first color change.  I am having a wonderful time.  I am learning so much.  There is a small difference between each of the weaving styles that I have learned.  It is easier than I thought.  

Slowing Down

 I have been in high gear for a few weeks now.  Being the proud owner of a couple of autoimmune diseases does not always allow me to do what I want. When I want to do things.  

I really have enjoyed doing massive amounts of decluttering the house.  Filing up the recycling bin almost to the top. Sending huge boxes to Goodwill instead of having a garage sale.  Sharing extra fiber related things with my friends.  Emptying cabinets to the point of having not one but two empty shelves.  Leaving books in the little libraries around the neighborhood. 

Tonight my body gave me a stern warning.  Slow down right now or else.  So if I have enough spoons I will do one project a day.  Then rest by listening to books, spinning, knitting, weaving, Tunisian crochet and watching rom coms or documentaries on television.  Pay more attention to my body instead of wishful thinking that I am 30 again with only one autoimmune disease and all the energy in the world.  

My Shark Multi Functional Wasp Eliminator

 I feel that global warming is very real.  Why else would I have to have to use my Shark multi functional Wasp eliminator on this the 5th day of December, 2024?  I spotted the wasp on the window. By the time I got back the wasp was trying to hide in the dark brown carpet.  

I was prepared with my wasp eliminator and a fly swatter for a little extra protection.  How the wasp eliminator works is very simple.  Put the D shaped opening over the wasp and turn the wasp eliminator on.  Once the wasp is safely inside the Wasp Eliminator, you walk outside with the Wasp Eliminator still on.  Find a place very far away from the house.  Make sure the wasp is not moving, because they can be tricky.  Turn the wasp eliminator off. This is a must because you can’t open the elimination door with the machine on. Make sure you are away from foot traffic.  Open the trap door and shake out the machine.  Walk away very quickly.  

Everyone who is allergic to wasps should have one of these handy devices available at all times. Because sometimes our knight in shining armor is on a grocery run.  This machine allows me to be a self rescuing princess.  Albeit a very shaky self rescuing princess.  

I would like to thank the wonderful people at The Shark Corporation for making this wonderful Wasp Eliminator aka the Shark hand held vacuum.  The Shark hand held vacuum was a present from my husband.  No advertising has been accepted.  I also did not ask The Shark corporation for permission to write about or repurpose their hand held vacuum.

Just Wow

 Despite a very bad body day, I got a tremendous amount of things done today.  I started off the day at 3 am in crying pain with tears running down my cheeks.  Not the way I prefer to wake up any day.  I took aspirin at 3:30 am with a very eclectic breakfast. Followed by my first nap once the aspirin kicked in.  Then it was up again at 6 am, I was really stiff and had to move , so I started 2 loads of laundry. Then took my second nap of the day.  

I managed to put a few things away.  I organized things in 5 minute chunks followed by resting.  It’s amazing how much I can get done in 5 minutes. Hang a load of laundry. Open an Amazon box and put things away.  Bring stuff from one end of the house to the other end. 

I did do quite a bit of craft hopping today. I plyed 2 skeins of yarn. Then put them up in skeins to get the bobbins back.  Spun 1 1/2 bobbins of yarn.  Added a few more inches to a knitted scarf. Also worked on a Tunisian Crochet baby blanket.  Hopefully it will be finished before the baby arrives.  

My biggest accomplishment of the day was cooking and cleaning up dinner with very little help.  I have not been able to do that since mid February when I got sick.  It was wonderful.  

Just so you know that some things don’t change.  I left a load of dry laundry in the dryer to be folded later.  The laundry might just freak out if I fold it too soon.  

Priorities

 It has just occurred to me that when I spend my day shopping, doing laundry and Zenning the house I just don’t have the spoons left to knit, or crochet more than one row or do about 3 inches of weaving on a scarf.  I have really got to finish the Zenning of the house so I can play with yarn most of the day.  I really have to get my priorities straight.  

I have also figured out for the umpteenth time that the greater my pain level the less I want to move.  When the aspirin kicks in I am ready to go again. 

More stuff has to leave the house.  I am currently looking at book shelves thinking I need to go through them while also thinking it’s bed time.  It can wait a day or two.  

Thanksgiving

 We are back home after a brief visit with our daughter and son-in-law for Thanksgiving.  We had a delicious and delightful dinner with my son-in-laws extended family.  Many did not recognize me after a 50 pound weight loss and a few years between seeing them again.  

Speaking of weight loss. I am now in another smaller size. Right now my body is going through a let’s lose inches phase before the next round of weight loss.  I just can’t seem to lose inches and weight at the same time.  

I started unpacking and had had an early breakfast.  Right now I can’t decide whether to take a nap or finish unpacking and start the laundry. I also have to go shopping to restock fruits and vegetables.  Now that my tummy is full a nap seems more prudent right now.  

TTFN

Happy Holidays

 Wishing everyone who celebrates Thanksgiving today a wonderful day.  Just don’t over indulge. Take a break and take a walk to, weather permitting.  

The Amazing Shawl

 As you know, I have been doing a huge deep cleaning all over the house.  Currently I am working on the knitting room. I also store all my shawls in there too. So today’s project is to start going through all my shawls. I am happy to report that one of my favorite traveling shawls has grown over the winter. 

When I first bought this shawl it was just big enough to go around my shoulders. Over the last several years it has grown big enough to be used as a blanket.  I am definitely keeping this shawl. I am also going to have to plan a trip somewhere so that I can use my new traveling blanket/shawl. 

By the way this makes me very happy. Now to choose where to go. 

All Wound Up

 In preparation for my next doodling project, the first in Tunisian Crochet. I caked 24 mini skeins and one full skein from an advent yarn collection that I lost the pattern to.  To supplement the color palette I also caked up 3 more skeins from another yarn set that as you probably have already guessed, I have lost the pattern to.  

I am going to be following the sizing of my Count 1-2-3-4 pattern on Ravelry.  Not necessarily the pattern.  Mostly it’s going to be playing with colors and the Tunisian Simple Stitch. Since there will be 27 different color ways in play with a neutral color for the broader. There will also be only one stitch through out because of all the color changes.  They will alternate light and dark. 

Let the fun begin.  

Sleep

 Hopefully I will sleep well tonight. I got over 10,000 steps today.  Yes, I was very busy today.  

I Won the Trifecta

 No not the one where you win actual prizes.  I won the carrot trifecta.  I bought and ate carrots from 3 stores in my area.  This is before my wonderful daughter let me know about the carrot recall today.  

My body has been really weird the last week.  After I threw out all the carrots that were left.  Yes I ate a little over a pound.  What can I say I love carrots.  I went to look up the symptoms of E. coli.  Yes, it explained all my weird symptoms this week.  Down to the last detail.  

I am in recovery mode, yet again this year.   

Now here is my pitch to get rid of corporate farms.  We need to go back to smaller family run farms.  All I know is the more consolidated the food industry becomes, the more food recalls we have.  Can someone run a test on my hypothesis?  Pretty please with sugar on top.  

An Editorial

 Let’s face it. This has been a very rough election cycle.  A whole lot of us did not get what we were hoping for.  While the inflation numbers are down that does not mean prices are going down.  Unhinged craziness still abounds.  I know that I feel very unsettled.  A lot of people on social media and in my community are feeling the same way. That is why we must go back to some of our countries founding values.  

This country was not founded on 10 multi billionaires or hedge fund’s who own most of the world’s wealth.  It was founded by people like my dad. An immigrant to this country who ran a small family business.  It covered our families expenses and an employee or two. He paid taxes. He gave back to the community.  In essence he was living the American dream.  Don’t get me wrong the hours were very long at times. Money was tight at times and he bartered for his services.  Yes, he paid taxes on those bartered services.  We were like a lot of families in my youth.  Fellow community members supporting each other.  

During this time of uncertainty we must go back to those values.  We must support each other.  I am personally recommending that this holiday season we cut back on creating more personal debt.  That we avoid the crowded malls. We instead go to all our neighbors who run family businesses.  We support them and their families so they can pass the business to their children.  This Black Friday let’s make it about putting small businesses in the black.  Followed by Small Business Saturday where we continue the buying spree so that they have a lot less inventory to count at the end of the year.

  This will also give them more money to add some fresh inventory.  Right now a lot of small businesses are picking and choosing which items to restock. They can’t afford to order everything that they need all at once. This is causing all kinds of stress. 

If all of us that can afford to shop just spend $50.00 a month at our favorite family owned businesses this year and into next year it would go a long way in helping our country right itself.  

You can double your impact in other ways too.  Say for instance that you love to knit, but don’t have anyone to knit for.  Just go to your local family owned yarn store and buy some washable yarn.  Make your favorite hats, scarfs or sweaters. Bring them back to the yarn store next month. They have people and charities that they work with in your community.  Then buy more yarn and repeat this process monthly.  This will help keep this small business afloat.  This will also give much needed warm clothing to people in your community who can’t afford to buy warm clothing.  This will bring you the joy and relaxation of knitting. This is a win on so many levels.  

We are in this together.  We have two choices.  The first choice is to whine and stick our heads in the sand hoping everything will fix itself.  I really don’t recommend this approach. 

 The second is supporting each other. Making life better in our communities.  Doing small things that will add up to bigger things.  Become as active in your communities as you feel comfortable with. No more.  No less. Educated your neighbors on the issues you care about.  Be there for each other. Support the under served and those at high risk in a way you feel comfortable.  Most importantly be kind to each other.  Open doors for moms with strollers.  Say hi to each other.  Be kind to service workers.  As long as we have each other’s backs, we have got this.  

New pattern coming

 I have crocheted the new pattern enough times to feel very comfortable with it.  Now I am moving to the new expensive yarn and will keep copious amounts of notes and pictures.  

Number 10

 I have finally finished my 10th charity scarf for the year.  The picture is below.  

In other news, I think I have accidentally designed my next pattern.  I will make it a couple of more times in different weight yarns and different fibers.  Also in different color schemes.  I know it sounds really weird to accidentally design a pattern. I find it no less weird than waking up and scribbling down a new design.  

TTFN.  It has been a very long day.  I am extremely tired.  

Cleaning Out the Closet for Winter

 I took a break from reorganizing the knitting room to try on winter clothes. Twice a year I tend to see what fits or is too worn out to last another season.  Today 9 shirts were too big. The body length of the shirts were not the problem. The shirts had gotten so big that the sleeves were 2 to 4 inches too long. Apparently folding my sleeves up to mid forearm or elbow is not a fashion thing. So the rule of thumb was if my hands can’t be seen the shirt must go. The were all nice shirts so they will be going to Goodwill on our next charity run.  The funny thing about this was most of the shirts were black.  Usually it’s the lighter colors that have gone in the past.  

Before we headed out to lunch we stopped by J.Jills for their sale.  I replaced a few of the shirts and some of my pants.  The funny thing about it was that except for some pants, nothing was black.  Did I mention that everything I got was on sale. Also everything was smaller. I noticed that an extra large petite is equivalent to a large in the regular size clothing, just shorter. This is just in case you were curious.  

I might not have lost as much weight this year as last year, but the inches seem to be catching up with the weight loss. It seems that in the moment of the weight loss inches do not come off. In the moment of inches lost does not mean that the scale is moving.  I will take the inches lost as part of the process. 

At lunch I found that I really hated the jalapeño pepper hummus.  It was a definite not ever going to eat that awful stuff again.  I am usually a big hummus fan and will try different add ins.  But this being Tucson and snowbird season weird stuff like the jalapeño pepper hummus land on the menu for the snowbirds. You will not find odd combinations on the menu in the middle of summer.  

In the knitting room I matched patterns with bags of yarn to set up more projects that need to be completed.  I also realized that I need to take everything out of the rolling cart and reorganize the entire cart.  That will wait until next week.  

It’s getting late do TTFN.  

Did Anyone Say Playtime With Yarn?

 Another day of preparing the yarn for projects and organizing the yarn by colors.  Since I was hungry and had breakfast at 5 am., I  managed to get 3 hours of organizing done while the house was still quiet.  I got to play with a lots of colors.  I also found a very large basket with kits already made for charity scarfs. 

I am pulling all my shelf yarn out and organizing it. So the shelves are looking pretty empty and my floors are covered with baskets of yarn.  

After lunch out and a walk in the park I managed to do another hour before my body decided it was nap time.  

After dinner which I managed to cook 2 days in a row. I got to test a new prototype.  I can’t say what it is yet.  I can say that I absolutely love it.  It is one of the best designs that John has come up with.  I was not gentle with my testing.  I used yarn that required a U.S. size 6 knitting needle and it did not disappoint me.  I might just request an extra one just for Tunisian crochet.  

Prep Work

 Today was all about winding yarn into cakes to be used for my favorite 6 foot 2 inch scarfs for charity.  I combined colors and textures to make a 2 strand cake to be combined with a one strand single.  The resulting 3 strand yarn is just shy of bulky.  When knit in the round it provides excellent warmth for the young person who will receive it.  

Today I managed to cake enough yarn to fill a 2 gallon Ziplock bag.  I still have more yarn to wind.  I was also thinking that in order to make the knitting bags and baskets more portable, I would find a place to stack the full 2 gallon Ziplock bags. Then I would only need to carry a 1 gallon Ziplock bag with an assortment of yarn cakes to make it easier to transport.  Of course this would only work with the blue / green and  red/ purple and pink bag.  The black bag would never need this.  Yes, I do have more than one charity scarf going at a time.  Currently it is 3 different color ways of the 6 foot 2 inch scarfs, 2 other knit scarfs for warmer climates and 2 Tunisian crochet scarfs.  I also have at least 1 hat and 2 blankets in progress.  I really do finish projects, however some like long scarfs and blankets can take weeks to finish.  Sometimes I just need a quickie project to make me feel more productive.  Did a mention that I have 2 shawls in progress too?

As I tear the knitting room down, it’s looking messier than ever. I have Yarn scattered all over the place, but I am organizing it and when I’m finished, it will look wonderful. Also the bags that I like for the project have been discontinued so I have ordered at least six more so I have enough to complete the task. I initially thought it was a supply chain issue until I went to the companies website to see where I could locate some. They no longer show the bags I’m using on their website. I wish it was reflected on Google Search. Based on the search results I went to 2 different Walmarts and various other stores.  That took time and energy away from my project. I guess I will make a useful feedback comment.  

I feel like winding more yarn now, but will call it a day instead.  

Binge Organizing

 Today I meant to spend 30 minutes working on organizing the knitting room.  Somehow, 3 hours later I only stopped working when I ran out of the Ziplock XL Flexible Totes*. I checked out Target, Walmart and Ace Hardware to buy a couple more tote bags.  Even places where Google shopping said they were in stock there were none.  I am not sure if it is a supply chain issue or that they just don’t carry as many sku’s in the stores.  So I ordered them on line and they will be here Wednesday.  

I did manage to empty one basket and 2 canvas tote bags today.  Tomorrow I will work on winding yarn and putting odd skeins away.  The knitting room now looks worse than this morning, but I swear parts of the room are more organized.  Like skeins are gathered together.  I had more of some yarn than I thought I had.  John was not surprised like I was.  

I will have to prune a few more knitting books to get the books I found tucked in odd places put away. That will wait until I can get back to my knitting / spinning table.  

All the organizing and waking to find the Ziplock XL Flexible Totes gave me over 10,000 steps today. So all in all it was a good day.

*I like storing some of my yarn in the flexible totes.  I purchased them myself.  I am not receiving any compensation from the makers of the Ziplock XL Totes.  

Catching Up

 I honestly did not realize that getting rid of 60% of my yarn and about 30 % of my spinning fiber with cause so much backend work. Now all my spaces need to be re-organized. I am doing it in 15 minute increments. I still have not gotten back all my energy from earlier in the year. But I can definitely see progress.

This is also leading to more knitting and Tunisian crochet projects getting completed. I have finished more projects in the past month than I have finished in the previous four months.

Lemonade Anyone?

 My day is off to a rather disappointing start.  First after staying up way too late last night I found answers that made a lot of sense but were not the ones that I wanted to read.  Yesterday, I tried to teach myself how to crochet left handed. Try as hard as I could, I could not make my hand do the subtle movements necessary to move the crochet hook.  This is not to be.  Monster inflected damage 63 years ago means that my left hand is still damaged in a way to make the movements necessary to crochet are still impossible with my left hand.  My dream of being able to do everything with either hand is just not going to happen with this one thing.  

I woke up to muscles that felt like 2 x 4’s.  I spent an hour working on my muscles before getting out of bed.  I started off by stretching and kneading the muscles. That was not very successful.  Then it was trying to create muscle spasms to ease the stiffness. A little progress.  Then it was pressure points. A little more progress.  What I am left with are tired, sore and stiff muscles in my legs and hands.  My personal thoughts on this are that I am going to have the best day possible In spite of my muscles.  

After breakfast it will be time to conquer my day.  Make today the best possible day.  Get as much done from my aspiration list done.  The enjoy some couple time.  

I wish everyone a peaceful and productive day.  

Five

 Yes, I have finally finished 5 projects.  Need I say more? Well yes   Four charity scarfs and a washcloth for myself. The great thing about teaching people new fiber arts skills is that I always get a new washcloth out of it.  

The Word of the Day is….

 I spent a lot of time doing the very hard work of what I call organizing/cleaning.  This means that while I am throwing away old magazines and papers ( 3 recycling bags full today ), I am also putting things away and filling bags for Bookman’s ( 2 bags today ).  I also dusted some shelves.  Put books away in the bookcases to fill up the space created by books going to Bookman’s.  Also organizing the current space to make better use of the space at hand.  

I have more empty space in some areas and more clutter in other areas. I matched up newly found patterns with the yarn for knitting.  I wish it was in my nature to be more organized, that way I would not have found duplicate books in different areas of the house.  

Honestly I can only do so much of this type of cleaning before I want to cry from exhaustion.  I do know that a lot of progress was made today, but enough is enough cleaning in one day.  I am too tired to spin any new yarn.  I an also to tired to read.  I may find a quiet place to knit. 

The word of the day is exhaustion.  

A Recovery Day

 Today we did a recovery day.  Yesterday afternoon we got our annual Covid19 vaccination. My arm did not hurt until this morning.  Yesterday I caked 5 skeins of yarn which helped with the soreness. It was a lot of work considering 1 skein had to be done twice.  

My body has almost recovered from my big yarn de stash. Now I am going to be taking smaller steps with the reorganization of the knitting room.  Also I am no longer going to be making mass quantities of dog pillows. I have other things that I would like to spend my energy on.  So if you have been saving scrap wool for me consider using your scraps to make your own dog pillows to drop off at the animal shelter. I can share my pattern with you. 

If you would consider getting your Covid19 shot and about 3 weeks later the flu vaccine it would help make us all healthier this winter.  

Zenning and More

 Even before breakfast I started cleaning and decluttering.   My goal was to add 5 books to the Bookman’s bag, I add 6.  Not on the agenda was gathering all my art yarn thread in one place.  That was sort of an organic happening. Now from three different places all my art yarn thread is in two boxes below my knitting table. I even have some empty cupboard space which is a bonus. My next goal was to get my sewing machine out. To do that I had to clean off first one table and organize and put everything away. Then I had to move stuff from my sewing table to my other sewing table or put it away. My sewing machine is now on the table, but not set up. That will wait until after lunch. Not bad for a cleaning spree with a pain level of eight out of 10.

I am very hyper this week.

 I am on a roll today. I managed to finish 2 scarfs and 1 washcloth today. 5 total projects this week.  I also cast on 2 new charity scarfs and a pair of mittens for myself.  

For some unknown reason just getting rid of 60% of my yarn and fiber stash made me more excited to start knitting again.  It has also set off a reorganizing the house binge too.  John is doing the very smart thing and staying out of my way unless I ask for help.  I am excited to see where this takes me beyond sore muscles and extreme fatigue.  

My pile so far this week.  Once the pictures are taken of each individual hand knit items with the exception of the washcloth, they are going into the charity bag for the drop off before Thanksgiving.  The earrings that are in the back of the picture are my own designs.  

On The Fifth Day

 Today is day 5 in a row of my massive fiber and yarn de stashing binge. Thank goodness it is the last day of going through every single fiber in the house.  Today was spinning fiber of which there is a whole lot less. Just about a closet full.  It took all morning.  I even found some yarn that needed to leave the house with the yarn mixed in with the fluff. 

I managed to fill a massive shipping bag full of roving that I will never spin because I just don’t like the colors.  I am also a better artist than a sales person.  This is why I am sending this huge bag to a person who is an artist and a great sales person.  

In going through all the fluff, I found one storage bag that was falling apart.  So the fluff got moved to other storage bags.  All the remaining fluff has been put away.  There is a lot more room in the closet including a 2 foot wide section on the top shelf.  2 containers were also freed up.  One went for yarn storage and the other went into art yarn supplies.  

I am officially too tired to move. My legs and back hurt.  My Fitbit gave me 59 minutes of in zone exercise.  So instead of mailing the fluff today, I will spend the afternoon resting.  Along with some Tunisian crochet or knitting.  I feel pretty good about all the work I have done in the past 5 days.  By the way the yarn that left the house this morning filled 1/2 of the back of a friend’s pickup truck.  Not a bad effort.  

Now is the hard part organizing my work spaces.  That is definitely for another day. 

This is a picture of the bag of fluff leaving the house.  I double bagged it, just because the bag is so thin. 

25 Years of Yarn

 I have just finished a massive 9 month project. 

I learned to knit when I turned 40. I thought that it was going to be good for 5 years of learning new things.  I am one of those people who need to constantly learn new things and techniques.  Even reading science journal articles. However; knitting turned into a rabbit hole for me.  First I learned to knit.  I was learning new things weekly in the beginning. I met great friends and developed friendships.  

I met Kathy Withers who was a great influence in my fiber art life. Kathy taught me spin on a drop spindle.  That lead to a whole new world.  More things to learn.  I learned all about fiber animals. I also learned that the younger the fiber animals the softer the fiber will be.  I learned the difference between different types of shepherds and the different philosophies about the animals.  What a carder was and how I could make one of a kind batts. That would in turn make one of a kind yarns.  Even though I don’t dye my own fiber I learned that when fiber is being dyed it’s best not to touch it or push the fiber under the dye. This will result in felted fiber which is very hard to spin. Kathy also taught me about weaving and the concept of neuro felting, although I was much too busy with family issues to take the time to learn. 

Another important influence in my knitting and fiber life is Vicky Konecky the Grandma of Grandma’s Spinning Wheel in Tucson. I started going to Grandma’s Spinning Wheel when Kathy moved her farm lock, stock and barrel to the east coast.  I have learned so much from Vicky and the various staff members and customers over the years.  I learned to spin on a spinning wheel and weave on a ridged heddle loom.  I learned about industry standards of yarns.  I was introduced to other fibers. I especially like the BFL, camel, silk and flax. I have determined that there are very few fibers that I dislike. It is always a comfortable place to sit and knit.  New yarn and fiber show up all the time. 

This is where I was at the beginning of the year.  I had yarn problems.  I had yarn beyond my life expectancy.  I had yarn hidden and in plain sight from one end of the house to the other.  In the garage the yarn was stacked in bins from floor to ceiling in big bins.  It was very overwhelming to me.  It was a creative anchor.  In the beginning of the year I gave yarn to friends and people across the country who could not afford to buy yarn. When they became overwhelmed I felt the anchor grip me tighter.  Then at the Old Pueblo Knitting Guild meeting it was suggested that we donate our excess yarn to the guild to raise money to cover expenses.  It was a big aha moment for me.  I started off in the house going through everything and found 4 kitchen size trash bags full of yarn to go.  Then I moved to the garage.  I limited myself to no more than 5 bins a day to go through.  The bags of yarn started to pile up.  So John moved them behind the couch.  I kept going.  Today I went through the last box in the garage.  I also looked at all my usual hiding places.  I filled another couple of bags.  

This picture is from the garage after I finished today.  Look at all those bins that John can use in the storage room.  We have give some empty bins this year too. This is so he can see inside every single box.  The bottom picture are the bags of yarn leaving the house tomorrow.  The boxes on the left are the only boxes of fiber left in the garage.  A little bit of fiber that needs to be carded and almost all my Sugar n Cream yarn.  I am sorry I don’t have a before picture, but imagine the boxes on the right with 2 more boxes on top, all the way across.  That is an awful lot of yarn that has left the house this year.  I feel lighter.  I feel more creative.  I hope this will give me more energy to create.  Most of all I am really sore from sorting through all the yarn.  My hands are really dry too.  It will take a couple of days of lotion for my hands to recover. The entire family is also happy.  What more could I ask for?  

The Good News

 It was 107f today so I spent it going through more yarn boxes.  More yarn is leaving than staying.  I only have 7 more boxes to go through this weekend. I have more shelves to purge too. If it sounds like a seek and de clutter mission, you are absolutely correct.  

My pile of to go yarn was getting too overwhelming for me to look at until it is gone.  So John decided to hide the bags behind the couch where I can’t see them. He even carried most of the bags out for me.  As you can see from the picture below, which does not include all the bags there was a fairly large pile of bags.  

The even better news is that I found a couple of projects that I want to knit for myself. That will have to wait a few days right now I am using all my spoons cleaning and de cluttering the house. It has literally taken me 25 years to accumulate this much yarn so spending a week to purge a lot of what I don’t need anymore will take a few days more. Then it will be time to reorganize the areas that were cleaned out. Alas, I am getting ahead of myself. I need to finish one task before I start the next task. No cutting corners here. 

All of this yarn and more will be available for sale at the Old Pueblo Knitting Guild fundraiser in January. The details will follow.  If you are nearby or a couple of hour’s drive from Tucson this will be a great opportunity to add to your stash.  

Stash Beyond Lifetime Expectancy

 Do we really need a stash of yarn, fabric, jewelry, making supplies or any other supplies for our crafts that will last longer than we are expected to live? I have found that I don’t. I have lost count of the number of times that I have done de stashes this year. Each time sending yarn or fabric out to different people and charities. I am in the middle of another de stash that will take me several days to finish. I am going through every single box and project bag. I am currently at the end of day two And I have almost  Six kitchen trash bags full of yarn. I also know that I said that I would donate 4 bags of yarn.  I really hope they take all of my de stash. I know this is all going to a good cause. Our knitting Guild in Tucson is having a stash sale in January so I decided it was time to pair down my yarn stash again.

How many shawls, sweaters, pairs of socks or any other items do we really need in our closet? How many quilts can you put on one bed? How many pairs of earrings can you wear at once?  How much is too much? I want to preface this by saying if the items are going to charity please feel free to ignore this post. Do keep in mind that you need to make a very high-quality project because the recipients do not have the funds to replace them. If you would not give an item to your child or wear it yourself, you should probably not be giving it to other people.

Who started this whole idea that we need to fill every single nook and corner in our houses with crafting supplies? That we need to fill the garage or rent a storage space for all the supplies? How much can you realistically create in a given year.  Is it really necessary to buy supplies that we only marginally like because it’s a good price? Even if  the craft item is at a good price would we use it? If we just buy what we need and use on a regular basis we would not have a space problem. We might even have a few extra dollars to go out to lunch with friends. Perhaps actually take a weekend away or do a fun activity with our families. Have moremoney for retirement.  Perhaps even have more time to create.

This would also eliminate the clutter problem which does stifle creativity.  Clutter can in my case cause an under current of anxiety. The less clutter means that I will not risk misplacing an item I really want to make and use. I found 4 misplaced projects today.  

Also what happens to this incredible collection that you have amassed? Will your family know what to do with it? Will the resort to filling up baskets with crafting supplies and give them away at your services? Will it land up in the landfill? Will it overwhelm your local charity when your family calls them to pick everything up?  

After 40 years of trying to collect a stash of crafting supplies that will last beyond my lifetime, I have said enough is enough.  I am going through everything that is currently in residence in various parts of my home.  I am only keeping a very carefully created and curated collection of supplies.  

The reality is that I don’t have the spoons to start a small business to sell everything that I don’t need to keep or send to charity.  This has not been a stellar year for my health.  Even in the last 24 hours my body and I are not exactly on speaking terms. I am hopeful that by giving away most of my stash that it will help relieve my stress.  Don’t worry, some of it is staying.  I will have enough to keep me busy for a few years still. Also, guess what? If I run out of supplies, I know where to go and get more.  If I find something that I truly love, I will still probably buy it.  

What I will not have is crafting supplies from one end of the house to the other end.  John will have most of the garage back.  I am saying this because I still reserve the right to keep the clothes line and my car in the garage. I am going with the concept that less will be more.  Will you join me in this endeavor?   Let me know. 

Making a Big Mess

 I find it simply amazing how much mess that I can make when I go about decluttering and reorganizing the house.  Today I tackled my yarn beyond life expectancy problem.  I know you have read it here many times before.  This time even though I have less yarn, I plan on cutting my stash of yarn by another 25 to 50 percent.  

Today was the start of the project.  I spent the entire afternoon doing this.  I filled 4 kitchen trash bags full of yarn. Back when I could knit up to 20 hours a day, that would have taken me 4 months to knit.  I knit much slower now and a maximum of 2 hours a day, less if my hands are tired. So any yarn  that wanted a U.S. size 1 or 2 knitting needle I did not give a second thought to.  My over abundance of hand spun yarn 50% is gone.  Most of the fingering weight yarn is gone too.  Projects that I did not want to knit, I kept the bags but the yarn is gone.  Even if I loved the yarn and color and texture, it was gone too. 

I only have 2 more bags in the sewing room to go through.  Then it’s the garage.  My goal is not to have any more boxes of yarn in front of John’s car.  I have a very sizable collection of empty storage bags and 3 boxes.  At least 2 of the boxes will be holding more yarn.  

Did I mention that I found a lot of silk yarn that I can use to make art yarn? I found misplaced projects that I knew I bought and have wanted to knit up.  I threw away a basket that was falling apart. I found a new home or a place of residence for the things in the basket. So all in all it was a very productive afternoon.  I have bits and pieces of more room. 

Just don’t go into the knitting or sewing room right now.  They are still a mess.  I have a small pile of yarn to cake up and put in the scarf box.  Yes, I have a box of yarn for scarfs and hats too do I just have to reach in and grab a skein for my next project. I have a new box for my spinning accessories, crochet hooks and Tunisian crochet hooks too. The box that held those things is now full of yarn. A much better use for a big drawer. 

By the way the yarn will be going to the Old Pueblo Knitting Guild for the big yarn sale.  Hopefully my decluttering efforts will help the guild balance the budget.  I will give out the date and place as it gets closer.  

A little peek at the empty bags and the 4 bags full of yarn.  

 

Finding Balance

 Today I think I found balance between cleaning, organizing, shopping and resting   Yes, today did include a 2 1/2 hour nap.  Trips to 3 different stores and I got everything I needed for the up coming task’s for the rest of the week. 

I finished my first Tunisian Crocheted Scarf.  I did not use a pattern for the scarf.  I just did 15 stitches across and the basic Tunisian stitch for the entire scarf. I found a bright cheerful verigated yellow and orange color way to offset the dark brown for the edges. It is the perfect size for a younger child. It was too late to take a picture tonight. So you can see it tomorrow. Yes I had one skein of the yarn left and I started a second scarf tonight. I am teaching some friends next week and we will start with a washcloth.  

Now that I have recovered from the latest surgery and the multiple year sinus infection I seem to have a lot more energy.  I also have the need to create.  I am finishing projects as fast as I can.  I am also into organizing things beyond Recognition.  I even have a Dedicated drawer for small spinning items, crochet, and Tunisian crochet hooks, and Miscellaneous knitting items.  Maybe when I’m done I will take a few pictures. Although that is not guaranteed.

Now that my scarf yarn drawer is almost empty, I will have John pull down a box so I can add more yarn for charity projects.  I like to just pull out a dozen or so projects at a time from my stash.  I will also be knitting about 4 pairs of mittens for me.  I lost most of my mittens to the overwhelming scent of the hand lotion fiasco last winter.  The scent of the lotion would  not wash out of the yarn.  I even tried Dawn which I use on raw fleece. After 3 unsuccessful tries, I just threw them out.  

TTFN. My aspirational list for tomorrow as long..

The Boomerang Effect

 I have to admit it has been a very hard year for me.  I need to learn to reset my days activities and plan accordingly. To use my spoons more wisely. Wednesday and Thursday I really over did it.  Today was my wake up call. I have been sore and tired all day.  I have to remember that I am not 30 anymore.  I bounce back much slower.  

That being said, I still have a hard time sitting still.  I like to give the energizer bunny, a run for his money.  I am starting to think this is currently not a good plan. I will have to build back up to that level. It took me months to get out of shape. It will take time  to get back in shape and I am not a very big fan of being patient.  

To that end I picked out a small multi day project to start today.  I made very good progress. Tomorrow I will buy some supplies to finish the job. It should be done by Monday or maybe not. Only time will tell.  

My aspirational list

 This morning I was tired of the endless to do list that I have been making for decades. I also have been failing to complete them most days which I find quite discouraging.  So today it became my aspirational list. These are the things that I aspire to do during the day. If I don’t get everything done oh well, no harm done. I did manage to complete 80% of my aspirational list today which made me feel pretty good. My dad always said it’s not what you say, but how you say it that matters.  Words do make a difference. Now I just have to get rid of all the list that say to do, and convince people to make aspirational lists instead. 

I was very busy for most of the day. I can’t remember a day recently that I did six full loads of laundry since the end of 2019.  Now to be truthful, two of them were hand wash. But that’s still six loads of laundry. Except for the clothes drying on the clothesline everything is put away too. I haven’t done that in a long time.

I even found time to knit and spin today.  I also managed to get in 10 minutes of Zenning by partly cleaning out a drawer and filling a trash can halfway.  Plus get over 6000 steps just by cleaning house today. So all in all it was a busy day and I’m really tired. I haven’t done this much work since at least the beginning of February so I’d say I’m well on the road to recovery.

TTFN

A Very Geeky Day

 Today was one of those incredible geeky days for me.  I figured out that if I went over international yarn standards and deviations in my head it would relax me enough to fall asleep.  Things like how many knots are actually allowed in a standard ball of yarn.  The answer is 3.  If you would like no knots in your yarn I would suggest using an independent yarn dyer because even though you pay more, you generally do not get knots in your skeins of yarn.  The knots in yarn are actually what helps keep mass market yarns on the less expensive side. Say $3 to 10 USD versus $25 dollars or more for a small batch skein.  Yes, you get what you pay for.  Yes, there is a large place in the market for mass market skeins.  Think beginning knitters or crocheters. Young kids art projects.  Charity projects.  Table decorations etc….

The day did get even more geeky, yes that is possible.  At knitting guild I explained that each country had its own yarn standards that are different from the international standards.   I did not go into details, but basically before mass yarn manufacturers. There are currently 5 that dominate the world market. All yarn was manufactured in each individual country. Weights and needle sizes were most likely determined by local weather conditions.  Thus an Aran weight yarn could be different in different countries.  Thicker in colder climates and thinner in warmer climates.  That account for the variation of size on knitting needles with the same numbers but the millimeters are different. The current yarn standards make international shopping much easier with numbers for the weight. Each yarn distributor can then label to their country standard. 

The last geeky event of the day was a knitting in public kind of thing.  I was working on a right handed knitting project. The comment made was I don’t knit like that.  With a little discussion I figured out she was a left handed knitter. So I put the project I was working on down. I picked up a left handed knitting project and started knitting left handed. Yes, that is how she knit. A person across the table looked at me and was probably wondering what kind of person brings both left and right handed knitting projects. Also how does she keep track or could use both hands to do the same thing a different way.  After all aren’t all people either right or left handed?  The simple answer is a definite no.  So of us are lucky enough to be able to use our hands interchangeably.  They call that being ambidextrous.  I am sure it bothers a lot of people, even my own family.  I have been know to switch hands in the middle of something as mundane as a meal.  It came in handy when the kids were younger.  I would feed them with my right hand and myself with my left hand.  It did make meals go faster. Also I made special stitch markers for just that reason. I made L and R stitch markers.  Each project is marked.  You would want to ask my friend Louise why that is necessary.  

I hope your day was less geeky.  

A Very Busy Day

After an early morning doctor’s appointment, where everything was fine and healed nicely. There is also no visible sign of infection or inflammation. My sinuses are finally working again.  I am very happy with that.  

I accomplished knitting and grocery shopping today after my doctor’s appointment.  I finished hat number 7 for the year. Then of course started hat number 8.  I did not want the stitch markers getting lonely.  After lunch it was nap time.  

Also the clouds got in the way of the lunar eclipse tonight.  Not many good pictures.  I did do some spinning while watching the eclipse tonight.  I can spin in semi darkness.  That is my new superpower. 

Things For Sale

 In an effort to de stash some more things around the house I am making a foray into eBay and Etsy.  Today I started with listing 5 things on eBay.  Things like collector issues of knitting magazines like Vouge Knitting  20th anniversary of the European magazine and 1st issues of magazines.  These are things that local resellers will not take.  So here is your chance to help me de clutter my knitting room and keep things out of the landfill.  While getting an out of print issue of a magazine  

I will continue with magazines and books on eBay.  Then my curated knitting kits with my patterns, hand spun yarn and stitch markers on Etsy. I will put the highlights on my blog post and the usual social media sites.  I also have a bespoke shawl that is going to be listed on Etsy.  I made it a little too large for my current size.  

So keep an eye out for what I have listed.  

Spinning.

 I think that I have finally gotten rid of the sinus infection that lasted over a year and caused so much grief in our lives.  It feels wonderful not to be in pain all the time.  I am slowly getting my energy back.

  Today I worked on a spinning project for me.  It will be a shawl. I think I finally got the knack of plying on my e-spinner. I just thought what do I do on my wheels.  It worked.  The 3 skeins on top are from today.  The red is the next spin.  Each bag is its own spin.  I only open one bag at a time.  I am plying it with a llama and silk blend yarn.  This is truly going to be a bespoke project.  

First Sample Is Finished.

 I made the first of two sample washcloths for a class I am teaching next week.  I like to start with smaller projects for a first pass on a new skill. I like to keep the supplies as inexpensive as possible.  This should come in under $15.00 for 2 different washcloths.  This will be 1 skein of yarn and 2 different crochet hooks  

As a teacher I really hate to see students spend almost $150 USD for a beginner project that they might not like.  So if they don’t like Tunisian Crochet not a lot of money is down the drain. If they like it they have 2 new washcloths to use themselves or give as gifts. If they don’t like it they have 2 different washcloths to show for their efforts. If after making the 2 washcloths they still want to make the expensive shawl we can move forward with the project.  

The next washcloth will be in the same stitch that they want to use for the 3 skein designer shawl pattern.  That I will do tomorrow. In the meantime this is the basic Tunisian Crochet stitch in washcloth form.  I do believe that the picture is sideways.  Do turn you mobile Device 1/4 turn and it will be right side up.

I managed to craft today.

 I am spinning some yarn for myself.  The samples are on the smaller side, so I am plying the wool with a llama silk blend yarn  that I bought for a weaving project that will never happen. This will give me twice as much finished yarn.   I have to use the yarn for something. It might as well be me. Hopefully this will give me enough yarn to make a small shawlet.  I am in the middle of plying the third mini skein.  I have a great rhythm going. First I spin the singles for three bobbins. Then I ply those three bobbins.  I will use my 1 yard knitty noddy to skein them.  Yes, they are very small skeins, but not small enough for the knitty noddy that I use for my drop spindles. 

After I finished spinning and plying the entire set, I will divide them up by color ways and wash them in small batches using Soak Wash.  

There will be no pictures tonight because the antibiotic for my sinus infection has hit my tummy very hard today. I spent most of the day resting. I am half way through a 14 day prescription.  Therefore my knitting/ spinning room is very unorganized.  

Also my knitting hit awesome tonight. I found 2 dropped stitches in a black section of a shawl that I am knitting. I was able to fix both dropped stitches so that I can’t find the repair work at 12 inches. I have come so far in my knitting   I used to rip out something like that  now I just go to the row and fix it without have to rip out hundreds of stitches.  

Hopefully tomorrow will be better.  

Wow, Just Wow

 It’s 5:00 am where I live. I know it’s a little bit early to write a blog post.  Today has started off weird, not the bad kind of weird, but the good kind. I have had a continuous sinus infection for over a year. It has caused an array of health issues. The sinus infection has been going on so long that I don’t remember when it started exactly.  Today I woke up very early being able to breathe freely. My face does not hurt anymore.   My body does not know what to make of it. I have a sudden burst of spoons.  I will try to not overdo it today. I am just going with this is a good thing.  

It has been a very long journey to get here.  It involved 2 new to me doctors.  Lots of lab work and x-rays.  A surgery.  Surgery recovery. My current round of antibiotics.  By the way the antibiotics are messing with my tummy, I am totally ok with that for this result.  

I am really hoping that this is a sign of things to come.  I hope that after I finish the antibiotics, I will have more spoons and less inflammation. That a few weeks after I finish my antibiotics, I will be able to get my fall seasonal vaccines. I can dream about that now.  

In the meantime I will enjoy this new sensation of peace and tranquility until it’s breakfast time.  

Have a wonderful day. 

Bigger Steps

 Today I managed to do 2 loads of laundry without John. Empty the dishwasher.  Then pick up around the house.  Yes, it required a nap that was over 2 hours long, but I accomplished all of this on my own.  So I consider this progress.  Just a few weeks ago, I required a 2 hour nap after sitting and eating a meal.  Now if I could just build up my core muscles a little faster.  

After all the chores around the house I did not have the spoons to knit or spin.  Everything has a different priority on different days.  Just in case you were wondering. My to do list was only half finished. The top priority items all got finished.  

Where Does Your Loyalty Belong?

 I am finally being to feel better.  I have had the same sinus infection for over a year. It has caused major health issues this year for me.  This year it has caused a major health crisis.  A surgery.  Months of required resting. Just recently I have been cleared to begin to get my body back in shape.  I am taking baby steps. 

I have had constant sinus issues since the 1960’s.  Until Covid19 hit. I never had trouble getting the help or antibiotics that I needed.  COVID19 changed a lot of people including some medical professionals.  A small number of people became irrational in respects to healthcare. Sometimes medical science was just thrown out the window. Conspiracy theories are currently the rage in some circles.  

If you find yourself in the situation where you can’t get the same level of care from your current health care provider that you got before COVID19 hit, I urge you if at all possible to find a newer and younger healthcare provider.  

Now that my sinus infection is responding to the new antibiotic, here are a few things that I have noticed.  My blood sugar levels are generally lower. They were pretty good in recent months, but are even lower which is good. I am in less pain.  Remember infections cause inflammation which results in pain and higher blood sugar levels. I have more energy.  Inflammation can make me tired.  My creative energy is back.  Yes, inflammation can mess with my creative mojo.  I am getting things done.  Last week I finished 1 spinning project and 2 charity beanies.  I am also finding it a little easier to get things done around the house.  

Now to the question at the top of the blog.  Just where does your loyalty belong.  First and foremost it belongs to you and your family.  If your provider is continuing to provide a good level of care, by all means stay with them.  If, however you find your level of care is getting a little bit wonky, just remember that you are buying a service from them.  You are under no obligation to continue to purchase care from them if they don’t meet your expectations.  By staying you are telling them that everything is perfectly ok. This can put your health in jeopardy.  This in turn puts stress on your loved ones.  

Please take care of yourself and your family.  TTFN..

Recovery Is Exhausting

 I find it just amazing how little it takes right now to tire me out.  This morning I emptied the dishwasher. Knit with friends for an hour before I started falling asleep.  Spent less than $75.00 at the store and put the groceries away.  

I was too tired to eat lunch instead I slept for about 3 hours.  My head hit the pillow and I was out for the count.  I woke up just in time to talk to John and tell him what I forgot to pick up at the store today.  

I started to ply 2 eight ounce bobbins into a DK weight yarn  I am wondering how many bobbins I will fill.

By dinner time I had a pounding headache. After dinner a cuppa helped get rid of the pounding headache.  

My goal tonight is to try to get a good nights sleep.  

More Baby Steps

 Today I started with 3 pound weights.  I did a number of upper body exercises plus some stretching. We walked again after dinner. We went a little further without stopping. This is what progress looks like after months of being a couch potato.  

A little bit of knitting happened.  I have to say that after the little bit of exercises that I did, resulted in long naps.  

This seems to be a recurring pattern these last 4 years.  Get in shape and my body makes a bad decision.  Then rest followed by trying to get back in shape.  The good news is that I never stop trying to slowly get back in shape.  

Baby Steps

 I have been given the medical clearance to start exercising again.  I am going very very slowly.  It’s been 6 1/2 months of just resting.  Being a couch potato is not good for me.  I am doing repetitions of 5 or 10 depending on the core exercises that I am doing.  I can really feel it.  My goal is not to exercise until I can’t move, but to stop when I can feel it in my muscles.  Right now that takes all of 5 minutes. 

I have resumed outdoor walking.  The very first walk I had to stop and catch my breath.  Tonight on the same walk I did not have to stop to catch my breath.  That is progress. Remember the baby steps I was talking about. I don’t think I will increase my distance this week.  I will just try and build up my strength.  

The good news is that I tried my balance exercises today and that is one area that I have not lost ground in.  I can also do those daily.  

I am not sure if I should do chair yoga or Wii Fit yoga. I think building flexibility is a must.  

I might scan the internet to see if there are any programs already set up for reconditioning.  I think I am on the right track regardless of what I find on the internet.  

Hindsight is 20/20

 I am really frustrated.  The sinus infection from hell has reared its ugly head again.  I was up at 2am dealing with the sinus infection. The decongestant took 2 hours to kick in so I could go back to sleep. It has caused me so much grief over the last year or so.  Not even the nasal surgery got rid of it.  I am currently waiting for the lab to figure out what bacteria this is so we can knock this thing out of my body for good.  

My advice to all my readers with chronic medical conditions is to ditch your doctor if they don’t take you seriously or refuse to treat a chronic condition.  If I had really not trusted my previous doctor so much and listened to my family this whole year or so from hell could have been avoided.  They had been trying to get me to switch doctors for a couple of years. 

I finally switched doctors and a lot of stuff that should have been part of my regular and routine care is getting done. The difference between my old doctor and new doctor is light years apart.  My new doctor may not have all the answers, but is willing to send me to the other doctors who do.  

Making Progress

 I got the all clear to resume normal activity at my post op appointment today.  So the first things I did was start a load of laundry and the dishwasher.  The dishwasher got emptied. The laundry is still waiting for me in the dryer.  It apparently was not the day to fold 2 loads of laundry.  

I also did a 5 minute Zenning project in the kitchen.  I pared down my measuring cups.  I have lost a lot of measuring cups over the years.  So I kept 1 metal and 1 plastic set of measuring cups.  The excess cups are headed to Goodwill.  I also have a set of glass bowls that have not been used for at least 10 years.  I had to face the fact that I just don’t bake as much as I use too. This might have something to do with kids growing up and moving out. So why waste the space.  My husband immediately put extra tea and coffee cups in the space.  So this is a massive win for 5 minutes of work.  The extra cups are no longer on the counter and the measuring cups are not falling down when I open the cupboard.  

The last of my Tour de Fleece yarn from Hilltop Clouds was washed and thwack.  It is now drying in the garage.  It will take a couple of days to dry due to high humidity.  My current plan for the yarn includes 3 different shawls.  One shawl for each stage.  Pictures once the yarn is dry.  

One Week Out

 I am 1 week out from surgery last Friday and am being to feel better.  I am taking less Tylenol. I am sleeping better.  My daily numbers are down.  Apparently pain and the stress that the pain causes make all numbers go up.  I feel like my old self joking around with my husband.  I am getting faster with my zingers. 

So as much as the first week after surgery was difficult for me, in the end run it was very good to get the repair work done.  Yes, I do for the most part consider surgery repair work.  I still have 1 week of resting to do.  And my 1st post op next week.  I am hoping that things are healing to plan.  

Today I managed to finish plying the last third of my Tour de Fleece yarn.  I even managed to work out chain plying on my Hanson e-spinner, I just wish my arms were longer.  I am almost finished with the brim on the hat that I started yesterday. This one will be a planed scrappy hat.  

At this time blogger is having trouble uploading pictures. I will post the hat to instagram.

Still Exhausted

 I am so over this recovery period.  The supplies that I thought would last for 2 weeks are almost gone.  I am using my last nasal spray. I have ordered another 6 pack which will arrive on Saturday.  I have lost my appetite and finding it hard to hit 20 grams of protein per meal. Not to mention eating my vegetables.  I am also tired of being exhausted.  

To end on a positive note. I completed one charity hat which is very bright and colorful tonight.  I cast on another hat tonight too.  I am only a few rows into the brim.  I am putting the shawl aside until I feel a little better.   I need quick fun projects so hats do fit the bill.  Also the clothing bank I knit for has promised they will find a head for every hat that I knit.  Today’s hat will show up in  tomorrows blog.  You have been forewarned that it is bright and colorful.  

The 5 Minute Rule

 I strongly believe in the 5 minute rule for doing larger cleaning projects. Since my surgery last Friday and my very obviously diminished supply of spoons, I have come up with a very effective variation of the five minute rule. 

It goes as follows. If I manage to get up from my very important job of resting I try to put a few things away.  While my tea is brewing, I put things away around the kitchen.  If I need to go to the back of the house for any reason, I try to return things to the back of the house.  If there is nothing to bring forward, I stop and try to un clutter an area for a few minutes. I find it amazing how much I can get cleaned up in 5 minutes.  

As usual the recovery is taking longer than I think it should.  Although it is going according to the doctor’s recovery plan.  As you know I hate the recovery period. 5 days in 9 to go for the hard core recovery. Then I will start to increase my activity.  

I have also started a new shawl. Hopefully I will finish the entire 100 grams of wool before I complete my recovery.  I am using a Zauerball. I find the Zauerball’s very fun to knit with. My husband thinks that I should choose a brighter color for the next one. 

Recovering Again.

 Going to through the lastest round of surgery recovery. I will be out of commission for 2 weeks.  So the usual restrictions.  Lift nothing over 10 pounds.  No bending over.  So it’s knitting, spinning and reading.  Resting as much as possible.  

The Streak - Day 2

 I am currently working through a weird streak.  Yesterday as you recall, I broke our coffee maker. According to Costco that model broke a lot. We did not even have to explain. Just show the paperwork work for the refund. 

Today was quite different.  While bending down to pick out my shoes for the day a closet clothing rack fell on my head. At least the clothes were soft. But the hangers did do a little bit of scratching.  So I cleaned off a couch. Then moved all the clothes to the couch.  Then I vacuumed up the mess. Cleaned my self up. Did my hair.  Had a very quick lunch. Started a load of laundry. Added water to the pool. Then went to have back to back lab studies done.  Then went to the grocery store where my discount card failed yet again.  I have signed up for that account at least 10 times.  But it’s always someone else’s fault that their discount card does not work as promised.  I re registered the dam app.  I think if it does not work this time I will send a note to the state attorney general’s office and complain about false advertising.  

The good part is that I found time to spin and relax.  After dinner I did some knitting   

Wish me luck that tomorrow will be a better day.  

A Busy Day

 Today was a day to get things out of the house.  We started out by dropping off 2 cubic feet of socks, hats and scarfs at Flowing Wells School District for their students.  The it was off to Costco to drop of a 4 month old coffee maker that died yesterday.  That was another cubic foot out of the house.  

Now on to the good stuff. We picked up 16 duck eggs from Lee Lee’s grocery store. If you are allergic to chicken eggs I would highly recommend trying duck or quail eggs. They might just surprise you.  We did one more pick up.  I left my husband to put everything away.  While I took a nap.  

Then after lunch I went through my piles of mail and packages that had to be sent out. I will have at least another cubic foot of mail leaving the house tomorrow.  

We are reclaiming space left and right.  Then Tuesday another 2 cubic feet will leave the house unless I can manage to get more stuff done and ready to leave the house. 

All of this would not have been possible without my husband doing all the driving.  If I use myspoons wisely I can get a lot done if I ask for help and take naps. 

I also had to add an extension to my current knitting project.  I also managed to get some spinning done too. 

A Healthy Dessert

 This healthy, two ingredient dessert was a childhood favorite of mine. It is simple to make. It tastes wonderful. Yes, and kids are sure to like it.  

Peanut Butter Kisses

1 small banana cut into slices.  You may substitute any fruit you like, just cut them into bite sized pieces. 

1 skippy peanut butter squeeze tube.  Or your favorite brand of peanut butter. You can even substitute with almond butter, cashew butter, or sunflower seed butter.

1 dessert plate 

1 knife

I like to peel my Banana from the bottom, not the top stem. This makes it easier to peel. After peeling the banana. Cut the banana in slices. Arrange the banana slices on the plate. Squeeze a small dollop of peanut butter on each banana piece. Grab your fork and enjoy your dessert. 

This recipe is vegan. Can be made nut free. Is a very satisfying snack. It’s like eating candy, but healthier this serves O.N.E. adult or two children. Tell me what you think. 

This is an off-the-cuff blog tonight. So the plate is not very clean. It’s covered with peanut butter, but darn it was good. As you can see the dollops don’t have to be perfect., Yes, I do have the skills to make it very pretty. In a previous life, I taught cake decorating and was a professional cake decorator. However, I did not feel like making a pastry bag or finding a pastry tip to make them very pretty, I just wanted a quick bedtime snack. 

A Bumpy Day

 I made a very short to do list today by my spoonie standards.  I got half my list done by lunchtime.  After a small salad for lunch I thought it would be nice to close my eyes for 15 minutes.  Three hours later I woke up still feeling very tired. I made scrambled eggs for dinner  along with vegetables and honeydew melon.

I guess shopping at 2 stores and doing the driving in one morning is too much for me right now. I guess I still need help with the driving . Just when I thought I was finally getting my energy back.  My body decided it was in charge not my mind.  

In other news my dresses decided to get longer all on their own.  I see some hemming in my future.  

The Road to Recovery

 The road to recovery can be very bumpy.  This morning I was feeling very good. So I packed my car with shopping bags.  My first stop was Walmart where I picked up some Rit dye remover to try to fix one of my husband’s shirt that got some bleed over dye in the wash.  Yes, I had a fully saturated color catcher in the wash.  It is the first time in over a decade that the dye catcher did not pick up all the stray dye in the wash. 

Then it was off to Whole Foods to get some fresh fruit and goat milk yogurt. I got a treat for lunch too.  My husband graciously carried in the heavy bags and put the groceries away.   Then we had lunch.  I had planned to do paperwork and spin after lunch. Instead I spent the next 3 hours resting.  The morning activity had worn me out.  

I still do not have the stamina I had before I got sick in mid February.  Just walking around two stores and the house I managed to get 100 minutes in the Zone of moderate to vigorous exercise.  I have really got to figure out how to get back into shape so it is actually exercise instead of  just walking that causes an exercise heart rate. 

I am getting very tired of not being able to do much.  I am not a happy person right now.  My mind feels that I should be able to do more.  My body says no.  

Kitchen Confusion

 I think there is a lot of kitchen confusion in our local restaurants lately.  In the past 2 months I have had to send food back about 80% of the time.  The confusion seems to be what exactly is milk and what products contain milk.  So I thought I might try to clarify this for restaurants.  

Milk is Obviously milk, cheese, butter, cream, sour cream, yogurt and anything that contain those ingredients.   Your kitchen needs to know what contains milk.  Item that can contain milk are breads, coated French fries, almost all desserts.  Here is my plug to put fresh fruit on the menu for dessert. 

Milk is not mayonnaise, yes it is white but mayonnaise it is an emulsion of eggs and oil. 

For those of us allergic to milk we get tired of sending our food back.  Various reasons that I have sent food back.  My meal was coated with cheese, this is very common. Sour cream was covering my meal.  Butter was liberally applied to a milk free bun, not my meal.  My dry potato with chives on the side was covered with cheese and sour cream. My salad was covered with cheese and or sour cream.  

Now I always say I have a milk allergy and request that milk items be left off. I even go so far as to call them out.  I have done my part. Now it is time you do yours.   I even go to restaurant websites to see what is allergy friendly.  So I know what to order.  

By making my order right the first time saves you money.  It leaves me less frustrated.  You can also turn your table faster.  This all adds to your bottom line in a very tight economy.  

Breaking Things

 I thought I was only good with breaking electronics.  Well tonight I thought I broke the pantry door.  It just stopped opening and closing for me.  So it turns out my husband who just lays hands on electronics to fix them can also troubleshoot and fix pantry doors too.  No laying of hands though.  

First I checked all the hinges and they seemed to be in place.  So I could tell the door was not falling off the hinges. That hit my limit of door fixing. I can handle hinges. This was definitely not a hinge problem. So hat in hand I went to tell my husband that I had broken the pantry door. I told him that it was not the hinges. 

So he came out and double checked the hinges and said they looked fine.  He sent me for screw drivers and he got the flashlight because something on the floor looked odd. 

It turns out that a thumb tack landed on the floor earlier today and went missing.  I can tell you exactly where that stupid little thumb tack went.  Straight to the middle of the pantry door. Just in the right place to give a solid jam.  So with the screw driver he managed to get the thumb tack out. Other than the tile getting scratched everything is working and fine. 

The husband is a keeper.  I really wanted to throw the thumb tack out.  Since the thumb tack only annoyed us. Since we did not step on it, the thumb tack went back on the cork board. 

So how was your evening?