A Busy Time

 We seem to be in a cycle of replacing and repairing things around the house. The latest thing that was about to die was the air conditioning unit. It was 16 years old. So I think we got our moneys worth from the old unit.

We did a lot of research into air conditioning units and installers. We learned some new things along the way, such as when they say an air conditioner is so many tons. What it really means in the original meaning was how many tons of ice would it take to keep a building in England cool for a day in the summer. We also learned that our old air conditioner use the old ser Ratings. The new ser Ratings are much different. We landed up getting a Lennox air conditioning unit from Costco.  It was a mid range unit. Not the best and not the worst unit, but it suited our needs. The new air conditioner is now fully installed and running well.

What we didn’t realize is the day that we picked in advance was going to be the hottest day of the year in Tucson. The outside temperature reached 112 Fahrenheit. The inside of the house got up to 85°, despite pre-cooling the house to try to keep it cooler. I went out after lunch to find some cool places to knit.  

First, I went to Bird House Yarn on 6th Street and Tucson Boulevard. Birdhouse Yarn is under new ownership. The new owner is Sarah and she has done a lovely job with the shop. I even signed up for class next month. Tunisian Crochet in the round. If you haven’t been to Bird House Yarns since the change of ownership, I would highly recommend a visit. There is a lot of dyed in Arizona yarn from independent artists. The store has a nice layout with yarns group by weight.

I then headed over to Grandma’s Spinning Wheel on Tanque Verde. What I did didn’t realize as I had it down sixth Street going east was how much road construction there really was. I would probably avoid sixth Street and fifth Street until the construction is over.  I spent the afternoon knitting and catching up with friends. Around dinner time I went next-door to the pizza place and got a nice sub sandwich for John and I to share. Then I headed home. I took a different route home mileage wise. It was a little longer drive, but time wise It was really shorter. In avoiding Grant Ave, I cut At least10 minutes off my drive time. With less traffic too. 

John also repaired our shower door. Cleaned up a pack rats nest by our back door.  I on the other hand went through 5 drawers, getting rid of clothes that were too big. Yeah me! Filling up 3 bags for Bookman’s. Then repeating the process on Friday.  

I nearly forgot to mention that I started trying to get back in some semblance of A fitness level. In the last 12 days, I have exercised 10. I have not done that since I got sick last March. Hopefully, it will have some positive effect on my life and my body.

Should I Write the Pattern?

 I think about this a lot lately.  It takes so much time and energy to write a new pattern and everything that goes along with it being a one woman show.  The only pattern that I have ever exceeded the cost of the yarn was a washcloth.  The cotton yarn was on sale for $2.50 USD.  The pattern sells for $5.00. I have sold less than a dozen patterns since I listed the Cactus Washcloth on Ravelry.com more than 10 years ago.

I designed it to based on a saguaro cactus in my backyard.  I initially used it to teach a guild class. Then I figured I had put about 60 hours into this washcloth. So why not try to recoup money for some of my time and supplies? The money made off the pattern was less than $60. After supplies they came, my profits were less than $57.00 in “profits” after 10 years. I also made less than $1.00 An hour for all the work. That is my best selling pattern. Most I have not even recouped the cost of the yarn.

I’m thinking about this now, because I’ve designed an easy to make pattern whilst doodling with yarn. The pattern can be used for Yarn tastings, leftover yarn from other projects, or one skin of yarn. Please let me know if you think I should write the pattern. Is it something that you would buy? Is it something that Yarn store Owners would consider selling by making a kit or selling the yarn and pattern together. I know people love free patterns. But the time spent, and the expense, it just does not seem right to be given away my intellectual property like that. I’m not sponsored by any Yarn companies. I pay for all my Yarn. I take all my pictures. I type and edit the patterns. Since I’m running on a lot less spoons I used to, is it really worthwhile? 

Please note that this is a first draft and changes will be made for the final version. I usually just doodle out my first drafts and decide whether it’s worth while to do a second draft. I also edit the patterns like writers do. 

A Hiccup

 I think I have had a hiccup on the road to recovery.  I personally think the stress of my mom being in hospice and dying shortly after has set my bodies systems off kilter.  I kept my to do list to five activities today. It took me till 9 o’clock at night, but I did finish everything.

I spent a good part of the day resting. Which everybody who knows me, knows it’s not a good thing. I am not a person who’s meant to sit still. I did finish a book today, My Korean Grocery Store. A book that I highly recommend.  It was hard to put down. Then I started another book.  Then I spent some time on untangling some yarn. I also spent some time working on an oak knitting project for me. There will be no pattern written. I am just doodling with yarn and color.  An oak knitting project is a one of a kind knitting project, not to be duplicated ever.  

My Weight Loss Journey

 I find sometimes on a journey I have to stop and weigh things out.  Today was one of those times.  I was at the supermarket of all places when this thought occurred to me.  I was busy picking up distilled water for the roborock, yes it takes distilled water.  The water in Tucson is notoriously hard. Tucson water is full of minerals. My husband has found that using distilled water decreases maintenance time.  

The 1 gallon jugs of distilled water weigh in at approximately 8.34 pounds which is equivalent to 3.785kg. Meaning that picking up 2 at a time is approximately 16.68 pounds or 7.57kg.. if I take the amount of weight I have lost over the last several years, 50 pounds, that would be equivalent of 5.99 jugs of water.  Rounded up to 6 gallon jugs, you just know that they would unceremoniously kick you out of the supermarket if you ask for .99 of a jug of water. That I determined was an awful lot of weight. Just lifting 2 made me think how lucky I was to lose that much weight.

The weight loss has changed the way I move. The size clothing that I wear. My entire appearance. My weight loss journey is far from over. I did however, hit a major bump in the road when I got sick in March 2024. Like the fact that I have been doing a lot of resting at times. Certain medications can make healthy food taste absolutely horrible. More take out food than is healthy. The overall lack of spoons. I have only lost about 5 of those pounds since I got sick. My body has taken the time to make some other adjustments besides weight. This has lead to dropping 2 dress sizes since I got sick.  Remember that inches are just as valuable as pounds in a weight loss journey. 

I made major lifestyle changes. Adjusted the way I view food. By eliminating most processed foods, I did not have to weigh or measure my food or count calories.  The book and program that I use is called “A Pound of Cure” by a local Tucson Doctor, Matthew Weiner M.D.. I personally did not use weight loss surgery. I save surgery to keep my hands useful.  The book can be ordered online.  

I made this decision along with a doctor that I was seeing at the time.  If you like the information and the lifestyle changes in the book. Please ask your doctor to read the book and work with your personal physician. I am not giving medical advice.  I am giving you a peak of my lifestyle changes and sudden realizations that I go through at times.

The Upside of Losing Things

 There is always an upside of losing things in my house.  The first is I tend to find a lot of things to recycle. The second thing is that I find things I have lost and given up of ever finding them again.  So today’s tally is pretty good with one exception, I still have not found the missing gloves.

I did find enough old paper work to necessitate doing 3 rounds of shredding old paperwork. I really hate getting behind on that. 

I recycled a batch of old magazines. If they are 2 to 3 years old and full of current events, the events are not so current. 

I added to our perpetual Goodwill box.  Always a plus. 

I  also found an old knitting tool for my newest student. I also found a small magnet board for putting patterns on for me. 

I also found 3 lost weaving magazines. One even explains how to set up a little loom for inkle weaving. All dated from 2016 to 2022. I did say they were old. They still look new. 

Most importantly found my knitting book from Cat Bordhai.  Unfortunately I did not have the necessary skills to take her classes when she came to Tucson. Now that I have the skills, I at least have her last book “One Dozen Magical Momo Cowls”. I can now also read the charts from the book. The book also includes a detailed explanation of how to do a möbius cast on . I might even try to make one for an upcoming fashion show. 

I would like to leave you with a thought. May your deep cleaning time always be filled with adventure, wonderful finds and a slightly cleaner house. 

This and that

 When looking for something else, I managed to find out why the recliner was not working properly.  Apparently a coloring book worked its way into the recliner mechanism.  It was very difficult to dislodge, however it was accompanied.   The recliner works perfectly fine now.   

I also spent some time spinning today. I went old school with drop spindles.  I finished off one spindle and started another.  After spinning this project on and off for more than a year the first phase is almost finished.  Then it will be time to ply it  I also got to spend some time with a fellow artist.  We talked all things spinning for a while.  

All shopping was done online today 

Another Scarf Finished

 I finally figured out a very good solution for the 3 pound cone of fluffy fingering weight yarn.  I combined it with a double knit. I then used a U.S. size 13 knitting needle.  The first’s scarf came in at just over 50 inches long.  The colors are terra cotta and a variegated blue.  It looks and feels wonderful.   I am sure a teenager will love it.  

I also spent a little time organizing yarn stuff again today.  The priority projects to finish are on the fireplace.  Teaching bags were emptied and sorted.  Some patterns went to the giveaway pile.  I also found time for a lot of rest too.  

I still have not found the missing fingerless gloves. I really hope that they show up   They just can’t walk off inside a silver Della Q bag, can they?

The Number of the Day is 3

 As in 3 loads of laundry finished, now we are not counting folding the laundry. That is because “No laundry shall be folded before it’s time.”  1 bag of trash and 2 bags of recycling out which equals 3.  And most importantly 3 chores finished around the house.  Alas, that did not include my knitting.  I did not complete any knitting projects today.  I can say that I am almost finished with another scarf.  

The day also hit an interesting note. The grocery store up the hill from us has decided to do an upscale makeover.  Really does anyone really need an upscale bohemian grocery store when they are looking for their Orville Redenbacher popcorn? I looked all over the store for it. Turns out the country’s best selling popcorn is no longer good enough for them. I also got the you aren’t the right fit for our grocery store look. All they had was some upscale $15.00 a bag popcorn from back east.  They have also gotten rid of most of the made in Tucson or Arizona products. It’s a-shame because most of the hotels drop their guests off at the mall to do some shopping.  In my humble opinion people flying in from the east coast don’t want to buy, what they can get at home cheaper to give as gifts.  Something made in Tucson or Arizona would sell faster. 

They also did something that I have never seen before at any meat or fish counter. They weighed my purchase, but did not print the tag. Then they wrapped up my purchase in a lot of butcher paper, more than they use to use. Weighed my purchase again and then proceeded to print the tag. So what ever the meat or fish cost per pound, I was paying the same price for the paper per pound. Most stores figure in the cost of the paper into overhead, which is fair. That really has me tempted to look up the state law on that. Maybe even proceed with it. 

 My usual summer sundress with an oversized cover up and silly socks was not appropriate wear by the looks that I got from the staff.  It’s summer in Tucson, we do not get dressed to the 9’s to go grocery shopping.  Come to think about it, we never get dressed to the 9’s to shop in the winter either.  Are they going to be disappointed if they expect us to dress up to shop.  

The popcorn solution was to make an online order at Walmart to be delivered tomorrow.  It’s worth paying the delivery fee not to leave the house and get some extra rest.  I might have over done it today.  

TTFN

Tinking Yet Again

 I tinked another scarf today.  I did not like how it was turning out.  So I combined the original terracotta yarn with a variegated blue yarn which was slightly thicker.  It has a distinct southwestern flair. Then I went from a U.S. size 9 knitting needle to a 13.  I started another Broken Rib scarf.  I am past the point in the terracotta yarn, when I decide to tink it out.  

I am so glad that I made the decision midway through the project to change it.  Even if I have to say so myself. It looks so much better.  The combination of the yarn and the stitch pattern adds so much depth to the scarf.  Even better is that I have 3 more skeins of the blue yarn.  That will be 4 scarfs in total for this color combination.  Since the terracotta is on a 3 pound cone I will have to look for more coordinating yard. I am beginning to wonder just how many scarfs that I will get out of 3 pounds of fingering weight yarn.  

Below is a picture of today’s progress after tinking.  Just in case you were wondering, the scarf is currently 31 inches long.  

That is not all I accomplished today.  I actually got some deep cleaning done too. I did not quite fill a full recycling bag, however John felt it was a good start.  I still have not found my purse gloves. The decision has been made to start a copy of both pairs.  Maybe then I will find them.  

Delivery Day

 Today is one of the best days of the year for me.  It’s delivery day for all the hand knitted scarfs, hats and other warm weather items that I have gathered since January.  There were 6 carrier bags full of warm clothing.  The back of my car was packed to the brim.  

The Flowing Wells School District was pleased with this year’s delivery.  I have also started working on the next delivery.  The scarf that I finished yesterday is the first finished project of the next delivery.

133% of Goal Plus A Free Pattern

 I am now at 133% of my knitting goal for the year.  I just finished a charity scarf with yarn gifted to me by my friend Mary Gavin.  To celebrate, I am giving you the pattern for this scarf for free. The name of the pattern is a broken rib.   It is an easy pattern to make.   

Broken Rib Scarf

Cast on in multiples of 4 plus 1

Row 1 knit 2 Purl 2* repeat until the last stitch. Then knit 1.  

Repeat row 1 until you reach your desired length or run out of yarn.  

Cast off in the pattern. This means knit the knit stitches and purl the purl stitches. 

Spoonie Life

 Even though I am feeling better and have more energy on some days. I can’t attend more than one event per day.   It just leaves me exhausted for a couple of days.  Today was the first day since I over did it on Wednesday that I feel better.  I even did some small chores around the house.  Despite the Sjogren’s flare up and the need for multiple naps per day   

So I am moving some chores to next week.  I just don’t like not being the energizer bunny.  

11 Hats

 I finished my 11th half of the year today. I also spent a good portion of the day cleaning. I have completely filled the bottom portion of the recycling bin today. In my cleaning, I still have not found the silver storage container that I have two pairs of gloves in. It’s been a busy day so I think it’s going to be a short blog.

Blogger is having trouble uploading my photo tonight.  

Pictures

 I finally had time today to take some pictures of my finished projects.  These are my favorite 3 out of the 6 completed projects. The silk scarf and wool mittens are for me. The woolen mittens did shrink, but not felt after a hot bath followed by hanging in a very hot garage.  Who am I kidding, it’s summer in Tucson the garage is always hot this time of year. Yes, I actually make things for myself very occasionally. The cotton scarf is for charity, it going to my favorite children’s clothing bank.

Project Failure

 I am going to plan B with the pattern that I started on July 11th.  There were errors in the pattern that lead to the shawl literally, falling apart, as I was knitting it. I went back and looked at the pattern. There were some errors, but I didn’t feel it was up to me to correct them.

So I ripped out the knitting And designed something totally different. That won’t have so many ends to weave in. It also won’t have a lot of fussy stitches. Adding fussy stitches just to add fussy stitches is just silly.  They would not have been seen from 5 feet away even when blocked. So I’m designing something that’s similar but different. It will be easier to knit.  I have no idea if I’ll release the pattern or just chalk it up to not doing knit along again. This was my first knit along. I was sorely disappointed.  I do however like the yarn and will use it up.  I do see a lot of Russian joins instead of weaving in a ton of ends.  

TTFN 

Knitmas in July

 I do admit that I am knitting a project out of my normal wheelhouse.  I am currently knitting Knitmas in July designed by Becky Beagell with a kit by Nomadic Knits and yarn by Emma’s Yarn. In fingering weight yarn.  Yes, you read this right, fingering weight yarn on U.S. size 6 / 4mm knitting needles, no less.  

I started this project 11 days late. Yes, it has been one of those months.  It’s only July 12th and I am ready for August.  Although I still hope to have the shawl finished by the end of the month. I made better progress yesterday.  Today I only accomplished 5 rows.  If you want a challenge this is it.  The first several rows convinced me that I had an easy pattern to make.  Then I got to the second column of directions.  I have not done today’s twist stitch in over 20 years.  I had to watch the tutorial to get it right.  I also had to tink back a difficult row because I forgot to pay attention to the color change.  I did get it to look okay.  I am taking notes and keeping track with moveable tape.  

There are a lot of color changes.   Oh, the ends to weave in.  I am sure if Dr. Seuss were a knitter he would have written a book about this pattern.  I also can’t be tired when I knit this one.  Wish me luck. 

Oops I Forgot

 With as hectic as this month has been, I forgot that I have a Christmas in July knit along. I started today after lunch and got through the set up rows and 40 other rows. Now Let’s see if I can get it done by the end of the month. Wish me luck. It’s fingering weight Yarn on US size 6 needles. By the way, It seems to be a two row pattern.  The first color change is coming up. No pictures yet. The yarn feels yummy too. 

An update

 Last week has left me physically exhausted and drained.  It has also caused a flare up.  So that equals a lot not getting done.  I hope the flare up ends soon.  

113

 The best thing about summer and really warm days is, that I can wash a pair of mittens at noon.  Put them in the garage to dry.  Then they will be warm and toasty for bed time.  By the way our high in Tucson was 113 F  Or 45 C., today.

Tomorrow will be almost as hot so it is a day for knitting and spinning all day.  

A Travel Hack

 We have all been there.  We have checked into our hotel rooms.  Opened the cute little bar of soap and put it in the little tray provided for the soap. Used the soap and placed it flat on the soap dish only to come back later to the soap glued to the dish.  I stumbled upon this hack quite by accident.  It has worked in 2 different hotels over 10 days, with 2 different soap dishes.  It is even husband approved.

After washing your hands, simple put the soap on its side like in the picture below. The first time you try it you might have to exert some light pressure to make the soap stick.  After that you will be golden for the rest of your trip.  

L.A. Is Fine….

 After being away from L.A. for over 31 years ago.  We found  that the city is fine. Also more crowded and a bit on the run down side.  Everything was so expensive.  We went back for almost a week. My mom died early in the week. There was initially, some misunderstanding on the date of the funeral. So we had a few extra days to hang out. 

We hung out with some family and friends.  We tried a few new places to eat.  Drove around a bit. Most surprising of all is that I did not need to buy any yarn, to do any retail therapy.  We did not stop at one Yarn store. Although we did have a trip to one of the local malls.  Considering the week I handled it very well.  

There was a huge sense of relief when we crossed back into Arizona.   The drive was uneventful.  We did some chores when we got home, but mostly rested.  Tomorrow I will finish unpacking.  Start the laundry. Do some errands.  Life goes on.  

Time to Tink Another Project

 This project will be tinked because I am not liking the way it is turning out.  See where the double pointed knitting needle is, you can see areas where both strands of yarn were not caught in the stitch.  The project consists of 2 strands of lace weight yarn, one is mohair/ silk and the other is wool. Then I am going to spin it into 1 a two ply yarn.  

I am going to try my new plying tool called iPLY from i spin in the United Kingdom.  This should make it easier to ply on bad hand days.  This part may not happen today. All three of my spinning wheels are currently on other projects.  Then I will start the project over because I like the overall design of the shawl.  

A Slow Summer Day

 It’s been one of those days.  I am a lot on the tired side. So spinning did not happen.  A little Tunisian crochet project saw a little action on an oak* shawl, I am working on the center panel right now.  I also found time to work on a pounder scarf in progress, just because I needed some left handed knitting time.  I find alternating between knitting right and left handed takes pressure off my right hand.  

Because I have finished, but sadly not photographed them all yet. I have found space to move some knitting projects from the sewing room to the knitting/ spinning room.  I even found a few UFO’s. Imagine that, me having multiple UFO’s.  I think I will take the basket off the shelf and just stack the projects on the shelf and use the basket elsewhere.  The basket just uses up to much shelf space.

Some time in the far future my plan is to separate the sewing room from all yarn. Wish me luck on that one.

*oak is a one of a kind project that I will be making for myself.  This is usually because the yarn is no longer available or the yarn is too expensive for most knitters.  I like to keep the price of yarn down on most of my patterns.  Fiber arts can tend to get expensive, thus seem too exclusive for many.  Also the more expensive the yarn in a pattern is, the less likely the pattern will sell. 

The Rabbit Hole and more

 My car is now freed from the garage. The garage door was fixed today.  The broken spring was older than the service man who fixed it.  The spring was from the late 1980’s,the original garage door spring from when our house was built.  He had never seen one so old.  The new spring is made of lighter more brittle steel that should last only 10 to 12 years.  How is that good for the environment? We should be making things that last as long as the part it is replacing.  We definitely live in the era of greed by big business.  Make things break sooner and don’t provide replacement parts of the same quality if they break.  

I did a bit of hand carding of an art wool batt that was just so not right for spinning as it was.  The carders worked great.  Now if I can just get a decent rolag off the carders.  I do admit that it has been a few years since I have carded wool by hand.  I am keeping up with spinning one 2 ounce/ 50 grams batt a day.  I can feel the difference already, which means that I am almost hopelessly out of shape.  Maybe by the time I go through all 3 boxes of mini batts, I will be ready for the 4 ounce/ 100 grams a day. If not 2 days is not an unreasonable amount of time to spin a braid.  Even after a major de stash of wool, I still have a closet full of wool. The good news is I kept only what I wanted to spin.  

Then that of course will lead to more weaving and knitting.  It will mostly go to my charity projects.  That is unless I like it a bit too much to let it go.  As I feel better, hopefully more projects will get finished and leave the house.  

They Don’t Make Things Like They Used To

 This was the bane of my existence today.  When the garage door closed this morning, the garage door made a strange thunk. I thought the garage door had came off the rail.  John came home and noticed the broken spring. The space between the spring is not supposed to be there. The spring was the original spring from when the house was built.  Not even 40 years old. The poor thing, the heat must have gotten to it. It could not possibly be metal fatigue. 

I only found this out on the way to the grocery store. Needless to say my car did not make it out of the garage. So until the garage door is fixed, meaning a new spring is installed. My car is stuck in the garage.  Hopefully they can fix it tomorrow.  Until it is fixed I am stuck at home.  

Hopefully this will give me a chance to tweak the numbers on the third piece of the new pattern. Then warp the loom. I have started spinning one, 2 ounce art batt a day to increase my exercise. Eventually I hope to increase my spinning time, on my Louet Victoria.  Which is equivalent to riding a bike or using the sitting elliptical machine. I currently have three boxes of 2 ounce mini art batts. I am spinning them as singles because it is easier to weave with them. Then hopefully I will have more to donate to the children’s clothing bank that I support. I have a feeling that it is going to be a rough year for many families. 

I Found More

 Just as I was seeing the end of the UFO pile. I found more UFO’s on the shelves.  I was just doing a bit of organizing and peaking.  I found several more shawls that were only partially finished.  So my UFO pile just got a little bigger.  I guess I will not be starting any new projects anytime soon.  

If at First You Don’t Succeed.

I just love the color way and feel of this Queensland Collection Perth in Bay of Fires yarn. Please be forewarned that this yarn might not be in your local yarn shop anymore.  The explanation is quite simple really. I tried five different patterns with this yarn. The yarn was not happy with the previous patterns.  It was really saying I know what I want to be. You are not understanding what I want.  So after each failure the whole project bag was put in timeout.  Yes, sometimes yarn does need a time out.  Maybe, I just did not know what to do with the yarn.  

I need to start a different UFO,  I have completed 3 projects in 2 days. I still have to make time to take the pictures. I believe I am up to 5 pictures that need to be taken. It has been crazy busy since we got home from our last family trip. 

Well last night everything changed.  I tried knitting the project that was on the knitting needles.  The yarn said no.  So I frogged the work.  Using U.S. size 10 1/2 knitting needles and not the recommended U.S. size 1 to 3 knitting needles I charged ahead using a slightly different cast on count of My Doodling Shawl pattern, available on Ravelry.  By the third row the yarn was sing, she finally got me.  So I kept knitting until I needed a longer knitting needle.  Believe it or not I did not have a circular knitting needle in 10.5 by 60 inches long.  So out came the LYKKE interchangeable knitting needles to the rescue.  By the way don’t the copper knitting needles look good with the yarn?  

I don’t know how big the shawl will be.  I have 3 skeins of Bay of Fire at 437 yards each. Again I think the shawl will make the decision for me. This should make a great summer weight shawl for those cold places. 

Tuesday

 Meta has changed the rules yet again.  I am only being give the option of one Facebook page. So you will find me on Handmadebysheri on Facebook.  All my posts will go there in the very near future.  

Now that today’s business is taken care of. We go on to the real stuff.   I finally finished a UFO today, with the exception of weaving in the 2 ends. So you will see it tomorrow.

My new gloves shrunk as hoped for with the exception of 2 small areas by my fingers.  Since it supposed to be 110f on Sunday, I will try shrinking them one more time.  The garage should be nice and hot.  Along with the water temperature.

In looking at all my featherweight spindles today I have discovered that they are all between 10 and 29 grams.  I can’t believe that I did not realize that I had a 10 grams drop spindle.  Gee, that is awfully light. 

I Completed My Yearly Knitting Goal

 This has been a very rough year health wise for me.  There are still some days when I don’t have the energy to move let alone knit or even just listen to an audiobook book without falling asleep.  Yet today I managed to log my last 4 knitting projects for the year, charity hats 6-9 which brought me up to 24 completed projects for 2025.  Mostly charity projects.

In January this goal was a stretch for me.  I was dealing with my second bout of Pericarditis in less than a year.  I am on a new medication that seems to be helping.  However, this being said I never heal as fast as I want. The older I get, it also seems to take longer.  This go-go girl is not used to living life in the slow lane at all.  Don’t get me wrong, I am very happy to be alive and to be able to create things for kids whose families normally could not afford the prices for my work.  This beats customers who say that they can get a bespoke hat, scarf or shawl for less money than I pay for my yarn.  Then try to get the item for a loss for me. No way in he double toothpicks. From feed back I get from the Flowing Wells School District staff, all the kids and staff are very happy to get my mostly one of a kind hats and scarfs.  That makes me so happy.  That amount of happiness that I create is better than money.  

So without further ado, here are charity hats #6-9-2025.  

The Gloves WereTo Big

 When I wore my new gloves this week I was quite dismayed that they were about an inch too wide and let in a lot of cold air. The pattern said that they were meant for an adult hand. Apparently my hands are too small.  I do wish pattern designers would put the across the palm measurement for sizing.  So as you can see in the picture below I soaked them in hot water with a hot water rinse.  Careful not to agitate them.  I did not want them to felt.  Then I put them in a very hot garage to dry.  

If the easy method does not work, I will then have to steek them. I will put them on and put several marks where the seam will go.  Then I will baste them on the sewing machine, making sure I have a very secure seam.  Then it will be time for the surger.  I think the first run through will be without the blade.  I will cut them by hand. Wish me luck in this endeavor.  

Lost Gloves

 The only thing to do when I lose my hand knit fingerless gloves after 2 weeks of searching for them is to make a new pair.  To that end as of tonight I am 1 1/2 way through knitting a replacement pair. I know for a fact that the only way that they will come out of hiding is to have competition from a new pair of fingerless gloves.  

How is your weekend going?

Trying Something New

 I am trying something new and different.  In the past 25 years of knitting I have always had multiple projects going at the same time.  Currently I have at least 5 scarves, 2 hats, various shawls and mittens on the knitting needles. It can be so overwhelming at times I just start a new project for a change up.  

Today, I started to try something new.  For me it’s revolutionary.  I have never done this before, well really after my first scarf.  I really wanted to start a new shawl today.  I currently have 4 different shawls on knitting needles.  I decided to try to finish all the shawls on my knitting needles / crochet hooks before I wind yarn to start another shawl.  Most of my friends only have a couple of projects going at once.  Some even only buy more yarn when they finish a project, this will not happen for me for so many reasons.  

So instead of winding more yarn to start another project, I put the project bag back on the shelf.  I pulled out a shawl in progress.  With plans to finish it and several other shawl projects before I wind yarn into cakes for the next shawl.  

It’s probably not conducive to a neat house having 10 or more UFO’s on the fireplace waiting for my attention.  Not to mention a few baskets worth in the knitting room. This does include weaving projects that have not been completed.  

So wish me luck. I will try my best to finish most of the projects, before I start new a new one.  I am trying to see if it’s more efficient to only have one of anything going at once.  I might not make it. I will at least give it a trial run before I can pass judgment on the plan.  By August I should have enough data for a conclusion.  

The Sewing Room

 My sewing room has been dubbed the black hole for small mending jobs.  Today I started to remedy that situation.  It did require me to rethread the sewing machine for each repair job. This being said, I repaired 2 pairs of pants, 1 shirt. I decided to giveaway 1 shirt rather than trying to modify the neckline. I could have done it given enough time.  Did I want to spend the time? Definitely not.  

I was in the middle of modifying 1 of 2 skirts when I noticed that I had bought the wrong size elastic for the waistband.  I had 1 inch elastic instead of 1 1/2 inch elastic.  Since Joann’s closed it has been a different store for each item needed for the repair work.  Cathy’s Sewing and Vacuum for thread.  Believe it or not Walmart had the right size elastic that I needed for the 2 skirts.  Also the poly fill for the dog pillow that I have to finish.

While going to find the right colors of thread, I noticed that some polyester thread had made its way into my thread.  It took about 30 minutes to clear out the polyester thread.  John and I decided that it will be going with my friend when she visits her family in Northern Arizona.  As her family lives off the beaten path, it will be a nice surprise to get a whole lot of thread in a lot of colors.  Craft supplies are meant to be shared.  

Given a few weeks maybe the sewing room will no longer be a black hole.  I even cleared off the ironing board. I even know where the iron is stored. I also know where the distilled water is.  

Playing Catch Up

 I spent the day doing little things that have piled up around the house while I have not been feeling well.  I spent 10 minutes organizing the knitting room. Then 20 minutes knitting and listening to a book.  I also spent 20 minutes looking for the sewing machine brush so I could clean out the bobbin area so I could do a 20 minute repair on a pair of pants.

  I think that I should probably get a spare sewing machine brush too. Just in case it happens again.  An often overlooked chore is washing the sewing machine brush with a little Dawn and water. They work so much better when they are clean   

My taller half got into cleaning out too.  He decided he as not going to be wearing a bunch of pants any time soon. So I bagged them up to go to a new home.  He also tried to fix the broken kitchen sink faucet. Alas it was installed wrong, parts were broken. We might have to get a new kitchen faucet.  Sometimes the little annoying things in life just build up.  

They Are Gone

 These 6 scarfs have left the house.  In late October they will be delivered.  These are the final pictures of them.  In the top photo all 6 are laid out side by side on a California King Bed. In the bottom photo they are rolled up, which is how I store them.  Each scarf is knit in the round with multiple strands of yarn.  All are 6 feet 2 inches long plus or minus a few inches.  No two are ever alike.  They are fun to knit. They use up a lot of odd skeins of yarn.  As a bonus for me, I know that they will keep kids warm.  

UPDATE: Compression Gloves : UPDATE

 There is an important update on the compression gloves from The Mailo Design. The new design price is the price for one glove. So if you are a knitter or need the compression gloves for both hands you must order 2 gloves. The site does not specify that they are selling a single glove or a pair of gloves.  Since it is a crochet site I forgot to make the assumption that I would not be getting a pair of gloves.  I am truly sorry for making that mistake. Please accept my humblest of apologies for not making that clear in the first post. I did not realise my mistake until I opened my package from The Mailo Design that I received in today's mail. 

My rheumatologist has suggested wearing compression gloves when my hands are sore or when I am knitting. I bought the first version of compression gloves from The Milo Design. They are the most comfortable compression gloves that I have found.  They are made of nylon and are cooler to wear than other gloves that I have tried. Since I have ordered them they have gone through a design change that will make it easier for the yarn to flow through my fingers.  I will also be able to leave on my rings.  The picture below is of the original design.  The newest design is on the website.  As of today May 7th, 2025 they are on sale.  I don’t know how long the sale will last so act fast if you want the sale price.  Go to this link to access the site The Mailo Design.  They also have a coupon offer for 10% off your first order if you sign up for their email list.  

*****Disclosure: I have paid for the compression gloves myself and am not receiving any form of payment for my recommendation from Mailo Design. As I always recommend, please check with your medical professional to see if this is something that would benefit you. I am not giving medical advice. I am sharing my experience with The Mialo Design compression gloves..*****

Have a wonderful day.  

Yesterday

 Yesterday was a busy day.  I started out in the garden cutting back a bush that had gotten all branch very little green.  Then it was laundry and chores.  

The good news is that I have completed enough UFO’s to send a laundry basket back to the laundry room.  Yes I was seeing what I needed to finish and organized things as I went.  Thus the knitting room got a small reorganization.

Knitting waited until dinner time.  Then I finished 2 charity projects,  1 hat and 1 pounder scarf.   Then I cast on another pounder scarf and hat for my charity projects.  

Compression Gloves

 My rheumatologist has suggested wearing compression gloves when my hands are sore or when I am knitting. I bought the first version of compression gloves from The Milo Design. They are the most comfortable compression gloves that I have found.  They are made of nylon and are cooler to wear than other gloves that I have tried. Since I have ordered them they have gone through a design change that will make it easier for the yarn to flow through my fingers.  I will also be able to leave on my rings.  The picture below is of the original design.  The newest design is on the website.  As of today May 7th, 2025 they are on sale.  I don’t know how long the sale will last so act fast if you want the sale price.  Go to this link to access the site The Mailo Design.  They also have a coupon offer for 10% off your first order if you sign up for their email list.  

*****Disclosure: I have paid for the compression gloves myself and am not receiving any form of payment for my recommendation from Mailo Design. As I always recommend, please check with your medical professional to see if this is something that would benefit you. I am not giving medical advice. I am sharing my experience with The Mialo Design compression gloves..*****

Have a wonderful day. 

13

Thirteen. This is today’s total of bags of trash and recycling that left the house today. Both trash cans are almost full. I was not able to do my normal pantry cleaning last year so this today was a two year clean out. Since I have been low on spoons for over a year. There was a lot of cleaning to do. It took me 3 1/2 hours to get it all done in the end. I have a cleaner pantry. It looks less cluttered and I actually know what I have. As an added bonus. I even have one empty shelf.

Just with the heck of it, I did Three loads of laundry. There were two loads of hand wash, and one full load of dress clothes.

After all that, I thought I was going to have the energy to sit and knit or crochet all afternoon. After all, I do need to learn a new Tunisian crochet stitch. Instead, I rested, listening to a book and taking a nap. Not as productive as I wanted it to be today, but I did get a lot done.

Oh well there is always tomorrow.   

Unconscious decluttering

 I have lost something yet again. This lead to a 2 hour cleaning spree. Which lead to a giant pile of recycling for my husband to break down. More yarn being taken out of shopping bags and put into proper project bags. Which lead to more shopping bags no longer needed for yarn projects. Which lead to more laundry to do. It also added 3,800 steps to my day.  

Did I find the missing object? Of course not.  It will show up when and where I least expect it to.  

How is your day going?

Another one bites the dust.

 I have finished my fourth hat of the year. Of course it’s another charity hat. That means that I am at 71% of my goal of 24 finish projects this year. Depending on how I feel, I might even exceed my goal this year. I must knit faster winter is coming.

Pictures Taken

 

I have finally gotten around to taking pictures. In the above picture, there is one handwoven scarf, One crocheted scarf, and four knitted scarves. Also included our two of the three mud rugs that I have recently finished. They are now all logged in to ravelry so I have completed 16 out of 24 anticipated projects this year for 67% completed so far this year. They are all being put in the appropriate bags to leave the house.

I have had a lot of health issues this year, so I have not been doing much Crafting. I have mostly been resting this year, however, as I start to feel better, I’m starting to get things done and I’m going after my WIP’s So I can have a sense of accomplishment. I continue to empty the WIP basket. So this is a good start and as I get as I feel better, I’m hoping to accomplish more. 

All the above projects were stashed dive projects. So no new yarn was bought to complete them. Although  I still seem to be losing the stash war..

I still have good days and bad days. So some days, I don’t accomplish anything at all.

I hope everybody has a good holiday season and enjoy your friends and family.

*WIP is works in progress.  

Cooking More and other things

I have been feeling well enough to do more things like cooking. In the past 2 weeks I have cooked 5 times which resulted in 9 homemade dinners for my husband and myself.  The home cooking is great and some creative recipes have come into our dining rotation.  A new favorite is Scottish Loch Trout, which is similar in appearance to salmon but with an entirely different flavor and texture.  I am happy to report that the Scottish Loch Trout tasted even better the second night.  

You have guessed that there is a down side to all this cooking.  Yes, there is a downside. I plan my shopping trips early in the morning.  Then after the food is put away I take a 2 to 3 hour nap.  Wake up in time to start dinner and nap again while dinner is cooking.  

I am also working on a small shawl.  It has a 7 row repeat.  I find that since I am on the second skein of linen yarn I can only do 1 repeat of 7 rows a day.  That’s ok with me.  The shawl is slowly getting finished.  Any progress is good progress. 

As for house work it is all done in 5 to 10 minutes at a time followed by resting or a nap.  Sometimes I wonder if the old energizer bunny will ever return.  Other times I am grateful that I can get so much accomplished between my many rest and nap breaks throughout the day.  

A Fairly Good Day

 I managed to sprain my ankle yesterday.  Please don’t ask me how I did it.  I honestly don’t remember.  The good thing about the whole thing is that I managed to get my foot wrapped up all by myself.  This is the first time in years that I have been able to do that.  

I also managed to shop for and make dinner tonight. This is the second time this week.  We will eat the leftovers tomorrow night.  

Then the major accomplishment for the day was doing a Russian join on fingering weight linen yarn.  Even if I have to say so myself. The join came out fairly smooth and flat.  Once knit in I personally don’t think anyone will notice it especially from 5 feet away.  

The Trouble With Cooking Beef Stew

 I made a beef stew for dinner from scratch today.  Hours later the house still has the wonderful smell of beef stew.  It is making it hard to fall asleep.  The recipe I used is below.  

Beef Stew

1 pound of flank steak cubed

1 large onion peeled and diced

1 pound of carrots peeled and sliced. 

1 whole celery cleaned and sliced

2 tablespoons olive oil 

Salt and pepper to taste

1 pound frozen mixed vegetables 

Water as needed

1 Le Creuset soup pot*

Heat the olive oil in the Le Creuset soup pot over a medium heat.  Add the flank steak, salt and pepper.  Brown the meat.  Add the diced onion.  Cook until the onion is translucent.  Add the carrots and celery. Cover with water and bring to a boil.  Turn the temperature down to medium low.  Simmer for 3 hours or longer if you have time.   Add the mixed frozen vegetables. Cook for an additional 30 minutes.  

Refrigerate the leftovers and you have a delicious meal for the next night.  

Makes 5 to 6 servings.  

*I used my Le Creuset soup pot for this recipe.  My husband bought it for me when we no longer need the 7 1/2 quart pot. I am not receiving any compensation from the Le Creuset company for my recommendation.  I just think it makes a better pot choice and I am less likely to burn the stew with a heavier pot. I also love the even heating.  

Feeling Better

 The new medication is amazing.  I am slowly, but faster than last time, feeling better.  I am slowly getting my energy back.  I am playing catch up right and left.  I can even drive myself to the store, do the shopping and still have enough energy to drive home.  Naps are less frequent, which is a good thing.  I am sleeping more at night.  

That being said I am still hopping from project to project.  I still have a very short attention span. Occasionally finishing one every few days.  Maybe this will actually help lower my UFO pile. I can at least hope that will be the case.  

TTFN, I have a sweater to pull out of the hand wash sink before bed.  

Another Project is Finished

 Another project bites the dust and goes into the storage bag until October or November when it will get delivered to the Flowing Wells School District Clothing Bank.  This is the second completed scarf and the 7th completed item for the year.  I have less energy right now, so things are going very slowly.  

This came off the loom a few days ago, then it was wash and thwacked. Rinsed and hung to dry. Today I did the trimming  and took its picture.  It will probably go to a high school student. As you can probably tell it is another stash buster scarf.  

Spin Together 2025 Has Ended

 My total spinning for Spin Together 2025. 

8 ounces of plyed yarn.  I did not check my mileage before washing.  

1 ounce on a Navajo made bottom whorl spindle.  My first spin on a bottom whorl spindle.  

1/2 ounce on another bottom whorl spindle.  

I do think that I like bottom whorl spindles.  

Also after the yarn bath, my hand wash sink turned purple.  The only thing that got the excess dye off was Comet Cleanser with bleach.  Now I can wash an ecru linen shirt tomorrow.  

That is one full bobbin.  

The Next Bobbin

 Today I started the next bobbin for Spin Together 2025.  

Time to Pivot

 For Spin Together 2025, I had originally planned to master the supported spindle spinning.  My body however had very strong reservations on the subject. So today I did a major pivot and  looked in my fiber stash and choose 2 color coordinated roving’s that I bought at my favorite Local Yarn Store, Grandma’s Spinning Wheel . By the way I am on the Grandma’s Spinning Wheel team  for Spin Together 2025. 

I switched to my Hansen mini pro e-spinner. Since I was not planning to use my e-spinner this week, I spent the morning finishing up some quick plying and skeined in the yarn off the bobbins.  I do not have enough bobbins to cover unplanned projects. Of course the four skeins had to have a bath and are now drying in the garage. You can find Hansen Crafts at this link.  I do love my Hansen e-spinner.  One of the best things about it is that I can use it when I am in a flare up and can’t use my Louet Victoria or Lendrum DT.  It’s the whole bit that I must rest as much as possible during a flare up. But as long as I am not treadling I can still spin.  

I am a little over 1/3 of the way through my first roving.  This is my spin from this afternoon. 

Spin Together 2025

 The first day of Spin Together 2025 was today.  I chose to challenge myself with learning to spin on a supported spindle. The first spindle I tried I did not get the knack of it. After an hour I changed spindles.  Maybe I need a little more practice before I go to something like that again. So I picked up another spindle, yes, I brought several with me to spin in public day. This Spindle was made by a Navajo artist. It was a better spin experience for me. The spindle was more balanced and easier to use. I wish I could find his card because I’d like another one. Alas I am getting ahead of myself.

With the second spindle, I spun until my hands were too tired to work. I think I did a pretty good job on a brand new to me spindle. I was also trying out different fibers in 1 ounce fiber samples. The picture below shows about a quarter of an ounce of hand spun yarn.  I think it will ply to a DK weight. I have a bunch of other spindles to try so once I get this spindle full, I will go to the next. I will put aside the ones that I’m finding difficult and then decide what to do with them. If they don’t work for me after several tries, it might be time to thin the herd again. I think I might have another spindle de stash.

The above spindle is a keeper.  

Completed Projects

 These are my completed projects for the week as of yesterday.  The 4 blue skeins of yarn are going to my sister. The 2 small skeins are going into my hand spun yarn stash.  The 4 skeins of pink were responsible to compress some of the air out of the yarn to make it more suitable for weaving.  The green skein of yarn is going into a new pattern design.  The hat is part of my holiday knitting for the kids clothing bank here in Tucson that I am supporting.  That would be 6 more completed projects for the year.   

Now to pit everything away or get it ready for mailing tomorrow.  I hope to have a big stack to bring to the post office.  It’s always good when things leave the house.   

The End Is Insight

 This scarf has been on the loom since early last year.  The end is finally insight.  The color combo was not that inspiring to me. But I need the loom so it has to be finished.  

Lace Weight Yarn

 I managed to spin lace weight yarn on something besides a drop spindle. I spun it on my Hansen Mini Pro e-spinner.  I got 493 yards out of 4 ounces of roving.  I am really proud of my accomplishment.  It’s not like I have not spun lace weight yarn before, but it has always been on a drop spindle.  

I spun 4 ounces of Targee Wool plyed with Ashford Caterpillar cotton.  It should have a definite artsy look when it is finished.  The roving was a fairly fun spin, but it took a long time. I also found that it was easier to sit on the left side of the e-spinner. With the e-spinner on my left side instead of the traditional way of being in front of the orifice. I set up the yarn in multiple skeins so it would dry faster.  

I also put so much plyed yarn on the first bobbin that the end popped off when I took the bobbin off.  Well there is a first time for everything.  Note to self: don’t over fill the bobbin ever again. 

Don’t worry. It is not being added to my yarn stash.  As soon as I give it a hot water bath.  Thwack it.  Then line dry it. It will be leaving the house with other yarn in a big box.  

So Many Projects

 I have so many projects that I want to work on: however, this little energizer bunny has run out of batteries. I spent the day resting.

That being said I decided to do something different for this year’s Spin Together event. A no pressure spinning project.  I decided that I am going to finally tackle the supported spindle.  I will gather my supported spindles in a basket and get a sampler of different fibers to try out.  At least from a Navajo spinning class that I took several years ago, I already know that I will spin to the left which means putting everything on the right, I think.  I will have to look that up. 

Still Exhausted

 Yesterday I started a new medication.  I am still exhausted. I spent a good part of the day sleeping.  I am, however in less pain. Which is wonderful.  

Just in case you are wondering about today’s race, the snail won by several yards.  Autoimmune diseases really are awful.  

My Creative Energy is Back

 I am starting to feel better after my bout with food poisoning.  I have got my creative energy back. Now I just need my body to catch up with my creativity.  I am on day two of winding yarn for various projects.  I also managed to find room in some bins for yarn.  That might have something to do with pulling out yarn for projects from the bins.

I have also found that if I sit to the left side of my espinner it has some definite advantages.  The first being no sun in my eyes during afternoon spinning sessions.  The second being that I get a smoother thinner yarn. I can also see the yarn at a better angle. Did I mention that is also easier to spin that way?  If it is written in stone that you must sit facing the orifice of the spinning wheel or espinner, I have just broken that silly stone.  However if you must really have it written in stone the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show is going on until February 14th. 

Just Reading

 With one hand out of commission due to tendinitis I spent the day reading.  I almost finished a book that I started in December 2008.  We will file this under no book should be finished before it’s time.  It’s a really good book.  Let’s just say I had a lot of distractions at the time, I am not mentioning any names, but that is a period in my life where sleep became a luxury.  If sleep was a luxury reading fell further down the list.

The book is called Deep Blue by Meir Uri Gottesman.  A little warning there are a lot of Yiddish phrases and transliterated Hebrew phrases.  So either keep a Yiddish to English dictionary on hand and use google translate.  

Two More Done

 So far I have completed 2 projects this week.  I will show you my spinning. It’s a huge skein.  It came out perfectly balanced too.  It is a wool for the first spin, plyed with a darker silk yarn.  This is a one of a kind spin, so I will not spin more of this.  I will show you the picture.  It is already in the box to mail out. Just one more skein to spin and ply before I mail it.  

The next one I will not show you because it is a new pattern.  I have two more to knit. Pictures to take and a pattern to type up before I send it to my test knitters. Whew, it sounds like a lot of work.  Since I am using larger knitting needles it goes fast.  

I have also made the decision that I will no longer knit with a double strand of worsted weight cotton  it is just to hard on my hands. 

I am a Book Dragon

 Let’s face it.  I am a book dragon.  I tend to collect books faster than I can read them.  Once read I hate to let them go.  This is the pile I have on my nightstand waiting to be read.  I find it a bit overwhelming and daunting at the same time.  

So with some clever organizing I was able to clear one bookshelf off by rehousing everything on the shelf.  John then graciously dusted the shelf and moved a shelf of books for me to the higher shelf.  He then dusted the lower shelf too.  

Then it was my turn to prioritize which books to leave on the nightstand and which books to move to the shelf.  Then I went and gathered books off my dresser and some from the knitting room.  The empty shelf is now almost full with knitting books on the left and smaller fiction and nonfiction books on the right.  With the taller knitting books on a different shelf.  It feels good to get more organized.  

One of the books that was waiting to be read got started tonight.  I really love the ease of reading in short bursts.  The book is very spot on about our hectic lives.  I would highly recommend reading this book.  “ I’m not too busy “ by Jodi Hills. No, this book will not be leaving the house when I am finished because I managed to snag an autographed copy. This book you will have to find on your own.  

TTFN

Life in the Slow Lane

 I am having trouble adjusting to a slower pace.  I am having trouble just sitting still and resting.  In this endeavor practice does not make perfect.  

Oopise

 Oopise. The pattern that went wrong in so many ways will be going to a kids clothing bank. This goes under waste not want not.  A child will have a one of a kind winter beanie for next Christmas. 

Repeat after me. 

 Never ever try to write a pattern during brain fog. 

Never ever try to knit a sample during a really good television show.  

It never turns out well.  

I started rewriting the pattern and making the new sample tonight.  I foresee many, many changes along the way. 

I am still counting this a a completed UFO. 

An Empty Project Bag

 I did not complete any projects today.  This is even better.  I emptied one project bag.  I can now transfer a work in progress to this empty bag.  I do think the project will easily fit inside.  It has a shoulder strap so I don’t have to leave it anywhere if I have to get up.  Even better, I can put my wallet, car keys and glasses in the bag too. Less stuff to carry. 

This is because of a recent incident.  Some went into my project bag while I stepped away from my seat and stole 1/3 of my projects yarn.  A friend said that I had to stop trusting people so much.  Stop giving everyone the benefit of the doubt that they will do what’s right.  I have heard from several other fiber artists and they have had the same experience.  So now I will never leave my project bag alone on a table again, unless it’s a charity project. I tend to use less expensive easy to replace yarn in charity projects. A cup maybe, those are easier to replace and will not put a project on hold. 

I really don’t know what to make of this 2 year old mentally in older women.  If they wanted white yarn so badly they could go to a local yarn shop or buy from an Indy dyer on line. It is not necessary to steal my yarn. Also there was a lot of white yarn on the stash table that day. So I am cutting them no slack. If I do find out who did this, I will demand that I be reimbursed for the cost of replacing the 2 skeins of yarn. I am really getting tired of the entitlement that some people think that they are owed.