The Perfect Treat

 Now that the holiday season of 2025 is almost over, we are all giving a huge sigh of relief.  Now it time to take a few moments of personal time. It’s also the time to get yourself a special treat that you can use all year long.  After years of searching I have finally found my perfect slippers.  I kid you not.  Somewhere around the mid 1980’s a lot of slipper brands switched from natural fibers for slipper liners to polyester.  Since I am allergic to polyester this made decent slippers hard to find.  I was using candles for years as slippers. 

I have been wearing Haflinger clogs for quite of few years for my winter shoes.  They are nice and comfortable.  It takes at least 4 or 5 winters to wear out.  They are also stylish.  I wear the clogs with both dresses and pants.  The Haflinger Clogs are my go to travel shoes too.  This is how I found my love for the brand. 

Fast forward to October 2025. I left my black traveling shoes at my daughter’s house, because I was also using my red clogs as slippers.  I just told my daughter that I would pick up the shoes on my next visit. I also said that I would come up with a slipper solution.  

While I was looking for a replacement pair of black clogs I saw that they also carried slippers.  In my size too. There were just so many styles to choose from.  I picked out the navy slippers with colorful butterflies.  They are a felted pure new wool top and shoe insert.  They also have a rubber sole, so they do not slip and slide across the tile floors.  I ordered my usual size and the slippers fit perfectly, there is even room for warm socks or a foot brace.  

After a couple of weeks wearing the slippers, I ordered a pair to keep at my daughter’s house.  You can find the complete line at Halfinger. There is also a very limited selection on Amazon or a number of independent shoe stores. If you like to support local businesses in your area check out the shoe stores in your area.

The opinions expressed in this blog are my own. I have paid for all of my Halfinger shoes and slippers. I have not been paid by the Halfinger company to write this blog post.  I will earn a very small commission if you click on the link on this page.  

The Yarn Left the House

 Today my friends and I gathered together to celebrate and share mostly homemade gifts.  I say mostly because most of the 8 cubic feet of yarn was not hand spun my me.  Some of it was lace weight, which my hands can no longer work with.  Other yarn the colors were not right for me anymore.  Everyone was very happy with their yarn. 

I also put together a random bag of small gifts for the staff. They are so kind to us during the year, that it only seems appropriate. 

I will say that I really did over do it in the cleaning out of the yarn room. I can say redistributing the yarn made me feel a lot lighter.  Although hit me today like a brick wall.  I could do nothing but rest for 3 hours.  I was even too tired to pick up knitting needles.  

After an early shopping trip to pick up dinner and some essentials.  I plan on resting most of the day.  

Mentors

 I love the idea of mentoring.  My dad was a very good mentor. My daughter followed in his footsteps.  Mentors must be chosen with care.  A recommendation from a trusted friend or teacher is a good place to start.  I personally don’t recommend that everyone should be a mentor or teacher.  A bad mentor can leave you cleaning up the mess that they taught you was absolutely necessary for years.  If a mentor pushes more is better in terms of supplies turn and run away as fast as you can.  Don’t get me wrong, especially in the arts you need a certain amount of resources also known as supplies. 

More is not better. Let me explain why. Do you have so many supplies that you spend more time searching for the supplies to start your project than it takes to make your artwork?  Do you find it’s faster to rebuy what you need to use rather than take the time to look for them? How many rooms are filled with supplies for the art projects? Do you have extra supplies stored in the garage or basement up to the ceiling? Do the amount of supplies you have, cause you anxiety? Do you spend too much money on your supplies?  Could you survive an epidemic or the Zombie apocalypse with no problem?  If you answered yes to one or more of these questions you picked the wrong mentor. The great part about the solution is that you don’t need a mentor to fix the problem.

All you need is a few good friends willing to help you out. Take my friend Louise for example. Louise on more occasions than I can count has willingly come to my house and filled her car up with yarn.  Her family lives in an area with no local yarn or craft stores. Over 2 hours from a Walmart. So she has brought a lot of my for no better word for it is a horde of yarn home with her. Her family is enjoying the bounty. 

I have donated to my local knitting guild. In fact I filled up the back of a Ford F150 pickup truck with yarn and still had too much. I have donated odds and ends with leftover yarn for camp projects. Had more friends pick out yarn for their next project and still had too much yarn. I have mailed yarn to random people who could not afford yarn. 

What I am politely trying to say is this will take time.  Each time you give away more of your yarn or other art stash it will hurt. You will berate yourself for spending so much money. You will berate yourself for not completing the projects you planned. You will feel like you let yourself and your family down. You will have second thoughts about giving all those supplies away. This is all perfectly normal.  You will also find more supplies that you totally forgot about. This is normal too. 

In the end after more than a few years of going through this process please know that your family will be very appreciative of your efforts. I have helped clean out enough family members homes to know that this is true.  

I brought this up because in talking with my taller half we talked about my former mentor. How it took 3 Goodwill trucks to haul away her stash of yarn. It took them months of selling random 66 gallon trash bags stuffed to the brim with yarn at $5 a bag to get rid of it all. My goal is not to be that person. To get my yarn supplies into one room   Then leave the multi purpose room to its original design. To be a sewing, jewelry making and guest room rolled into one neat and tidy space. 

As I am writing this, I have filled up bags of yarn to the tune of 6 cubic feet.  Then I found 2 more boxes that I had forgotten about to go through. Well after I finish this post, you know what I will be doing. 

All this while resisting the urge to buy more yarn.  

Finishing Unfinished Objects

 It’s been a very rough week physically for me.  Even with all that going on I managed to finish one project, a Tunisian Crochet Scarf for me.  After trying it on, I decided that it was not right for me so it will be leaving the house. I also will not be writing a pattern for it like I planned.  I will not be writing a pattern for every bespoke project.  I have also gone back to the 5 of cleaning.  The five of cleaning is always one of 2 things.  Putting 5 things away or cleaning for 5 minutes.  I know it’s a little Squirrelly in cleaning methods, but it works for me.  

Also when I finished the scarf I actually did not start another project.  My goal is to finish a few more projects before I start another project.  The exception will be charity work.  I know I have at least 6 scarfs in various stages of completion. When I get down the last short scarf or no long scarves

, you know to 6’2” scarf, I will start a new scarf.  So far so good.  It’s hard to pick up a project to finish that has repair work midway or something that I got bored with.  Perhaps the season changed and if I finish it now I can’t wear it for 6 months.  So boring.  So not me.  I have however determined that this will be the only way to avoid the clutter of a massive pile of UFO’s.  This will allegedly lead to less clutter. I will believe it when I see the results or lack of less clutter. 

I also did get some stitch markers finished.  I still have a box full to finish.  I am also working on my sewing repair pile.  I am doing the easy stuff first. This also means for right now the little loom will not be weaving new straps for a few shopping bag repairs.  This also  means that I am also working on my multi purpose room.  My multi purpose room house the guest room, the sewing room and the jewelry making room.   

All of this sounds quite exhausting.   

My Latest Sewing Project

 If you need a really good bandanna for your next sewing project or just a nice soft bandanna against your skin, I would highly recommend The Peacock Crew bandanna’s. The fabric quality is really excellent. I would even consider piecing a shirt or skirt together with these bandannas. The bandannas sew up very nicely. 

The bandannas are the perfect size to piece together a quilt. Even soft enough for a baby quilt. I just ordered a few more for another project.

                                                        . 

A New to Me Cleaner

 I found a new cleaner that I really like. It’s great for small jobs. It cleans and sanitizes. Best of all it scrubs off the grime. I needed some new cleaning wipes and this one had a couple bonuses. First, it was on sale at Safeway. Secondly it had a 50 Cent off coupon from the manufacturer. The savings for me added up to $1.50. Enough of a discount to give something to try.

So far, I have tried the Lysol dual action sanitizing wipes on a number of surfaces. The first surface I tried was the floor. There was a spill that needed to be wiped up.  The wipe not only cleaned up the floor, but left that spot on the floor cleaner then the person who comes in monthly to help us clean has gotten it. I know this means I will now have to get the steam cleaner out, to get the rest of the floor clean.  I certainly wasn’t expecting that from a hand wipe. Now I need to buy more distilled water. 

The second time I used, it was on my sink. I had noticed my sink getting a little dinger over time. With some spots, never getting quite clean. The first time I used the Lysol dual action Sanitizing wipes on the sink even the old hard spots came out without much scrubbing on my part. I find this amazing, because I didn’t have to use a lot of spoons up to clean the sink. The sink looks better than it has in a long time.  The sink came close to looking brand new again.

I would like to personally take the time to thank the chemical engineers and the product development team for coming up with such a great product. It now has a permanent place in my cleaning supplies for the house. 

As I had said before, I bought the Lysol dual action sanitizing wipes on sale at my local Safeway. I will be adding these wipes to my regular shopping list on my phone.  This is my personal experience with the product. I have not been paid for this endorsement. The opinion is my own. If you decide to click on the link in the blog, I will get credit towards payment. I would like to say also that have been writing this blog since 2009 and have not received any payment for writing the blog as of the date of this blog.

Almost Sugar Fee Apple Pie

Almost Sugar Free Apple Pie Recipe 

1 quart thinly sliced Cosmic Crisp Apples. I do not peel my apples.

1/4 cup Spelt flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon 

1 pre made pie crust. I used the Pillsbury pie crust 

Cinnamon Sugar to sprinkle on top for decoration 

Bake at 325f for 45 minutes or until golden brown 

1 Pie pan or 9 inch square cake pan

The first thing that I always do is cut the apples in half. Then I remove the seeds and stems. Slice the apples very thin. You may cut the apples in chunks if you wish. I then place the sliced apples into a quart sized bowl. When the bowl is full I know that I have enough apples for the pie filling. Add the Spelt flour and cinnamon, then fold in the flour and cinnamon. 

Place your pie pan on a cookie sheet lined with foil. This serves 2 purposes.  The first is to keep you cookie sheet clean. The second is to cover and leftover pie once the pie is cut. Please refrigerate any leftover pie. Place the bottom crust in the pie pan. Add the apple filling. If it seems you have too much filling just build a small mountain with the filling. Dampen the pie edge with water. Place the top crust on top. Gently roll the bottom edge over the top.  Pinch and crimp the edges together. We are not going for perfection, we are going for a good seal. Dampen the top with water and sprinkle with your cinnamon sugar. I use a glass pie dish so I bake mine at 325f for about 45 minutes. 

Please note that this pie will be on the dryer side than your typical sugar laden pie. I know the sugar creates a very sweet syrupy filling. Also remember that just 1/4 of a cup of sugar contains 4 tablespoons or 12 teaspoons of sugar which is approximately 120 extra calories. Most pies contain over 1 cup of sugar which adds 480 extra calories per cup per pie.  If you use just one cup of sugar you add 80 non nutritional calories per slice if you cut your pie into 6 slices. For those same 80 calories you can have a plate full of  vegetables or a piece of fruit. 

If you would like to lighten the carbohydrate load just skip the pie crust and bake in a well greased 9 inch square baking pan or small casserole dish. 

This will make 6 to 8 servings.  Top the pie however you like. Just remember that whipped cream, cheese or ice cream will all add extra calories.  

I forgot to take a picture of the whole pie. This is my after dinner dessert  slice which was 1/6 of the pie. 

Drip, drip goes the kitchen faucet

There are somethings that break and the day just goes on as normal.  The vacuum breaks and the floor just not get vacuumed for a week or so.  The washing machine breaks, just go to the laundromat.  The strap breaks on your purse, just swap out purses then head to Goodwill or a clearance sale to replace the purse.  No big deal.  

Then there is other stuff that just blows up the day and then some like the air conditioning unit going out in the middle of summer.  There is the driver who has decided that you should be turning right instead of going straight and  totals your car.  The refrigerator dies for no reason the day after you go shopping for the week. The water line to the house breaks. A roof that leaks.  These are the expensive ones.  We have had a few too many of those this year. 

For us this time, it is the kitchen faucet that starts leaking just out of warranty. The faucet is only 2 years old. The kind of leak where everything needs to be emptied from underneath the sink so that the area can dry out. We don’t want a mold problem.  The faucet has a structural problem that can not be fixed  

SO tomorrow we get to go pick out a new kitchen faucet.  We are definitely not buying the same brand.  I am so not excited about this. I plan to change the knitting project in my purse so that I can knit as we shop. Just a plain garter stitch pattern. 

For me that meant that I don’t get to work on my cooking experiment on a sugar free apple pie with no artificial sweeteners either.  I think I will get up early tomorrow to try to get it into the oven.  I still have the laundry sink that I can do hand washing of the dishes in. 

While I was busy writing this blogpost, my taller half was busy picking out a new faucet. Yes, he picked a different brand.  He is having it delivered.  Later in the week.  Thank goodness.  These things stress me out.  To my taller half it’s just another problem to solve.  To be fair I was thinking how to work around a kitchen with no dishwasher or sink, my solution was the laundry sink.  I still have not figured out cooking or eating out.  On the very bright side, I am prepared for stress eating.  I just filled up the refrigerator with fruit.  I can eat more fruit than sweets with a lower impact on my health.  Although, I will be getting the disposable silverware and possibly paper plates out for meals.  

I hope your day was better.  

Providence and the Recycling Fairies

 It is a special moment in this house when the divine recycling fairies and providence meet up. It has happened a couple of times in the last 24 hours here.  The first time was when I found a skein of yarn that I absolutely love on a pattern that was proving a little difficult for me.  So I tinked the shawl and put the pattern in time out. I find this a perfectly reasonable alternative to throwing away the pattern.  A few hours later I was reading about how a knitwear designer sometimes tries a pattern that she designed and used a different weight yarn to see the difference and possibly come up with a different pattern.  My aha moment sent the yarn on a collision course with my all time favorite pattern that I designed, Grandma’s Summer Shawl.  Of course a summer shawl pattern in Tucson is never ever knit with worsted weight wool yarn for very obvious reasons.  

So with vintage worsted weight yarn from My 8 Kids Farm and U.S. size 10.5 ChiaoGoo Twist with the SWIV360 cables knitting needles the adventure began.  I am so happy with the results so far that I might just find a current worsted weight yarn I like and tweak the pattern for a winter shoulder covering.  Tell me what you think of it. 

The second moment of Devine recycling came this morning.  A couple of months ago, another family member was doing some deep cleaning.  This gray box found its way into my knitting room. It has been taking up floor space ever since. I thought it was my taller half’s, but he said it was not his.  So I opened the box and found that our darling daughter had left it behind in 2008 when she left for grad school.  This very obviously was a little past the 10 year mark when anything left at home was up for grabs.  

I did fail to mention that at the time I was working on a huge paper and book pile and needed some place to put all the patterns. So I cleaned out the box and turned it around because darling daughter’s college course work needed different labels than the patterns.  I felt like I broke my brain by going through the 15 inch pile in about a hour.  I also filled another recycling bag to take out.  I can now see more table.  

I do love how the recycling fairies live by the model reduced, reuse and recycle. I an so glad that they came and helped find such grand solutions.  I am hoping to have the knitting / spinning room fully functional by the end of the year.  I would not mind additional visits from the recycling fairies.  

Cart Before and After

 Today I tackled my rolling cart.  It took about two hours.  Really, there was that much clutter making it unusable.  Don’t worry, I am not stopping at the cart, there is more organizing to do.  I have commissioned 3D printed signs for the yarn shelf’s, to design as he sees fit. My sticky notes just seem to fall off. Apparently sticky notes don’t like the orange oil that I use occasionally on the wood. I trust his judgement on this.  

Now back to the rolling cart.  The before picture.  The cart was not very useful this way. 

The after picture.  As you can see, the rolling cart is much more like I intended for it to look.  Almost all of my yarn bowls fit in one spot. I have found a pile of sticky notes, so I can cross that off my shopping list   I am still not sure if I will move the cones of warp and replace them with my stitch marker collections. I have a larger jar for knitting markers and a smaller jar for crochet markers.  That of course would be on the second shelf. The glass jars would be less likely for fall and break. 

Organization by Project Type

 Today I had the brilliant idea to organize my projects by type.  I have used sticky notes to mark which shelf the projects go to.  Shawls, I have more than one shelf that is full of never started shawls.  Surprisingly only one shelf for clothes like knitted tops.  Way too many advent kits to fit on one shelf, maybe I should divide them up by yarn weight and knit a couple of crayon sweaters. I like the advent kits because they are fun and full of surprises.  Only one shelf of specialty yarns, mohair and silk type yarn.  I really don’t think I will have enough shelf space left for hats, cowls and gloves.  I might just have to pair down those shawl shelves again.  

Did I mention I am also pairing down those yarns and kits that I don’t love anymore.  I have something special planned for those skeins and kits.  It’s a secret, so please don’t ask. 

I started after dinner only planing to do 2 shelves tonight.  Well oops, my bad.  I have only four shelves to finish. I actually have a few extra empty project bags too. For round one.  Round two will take me along the road of do I really want to complete this project.   I worked all the way up to bed time. Then it took me 2 hours to unwind.  

So it’s time to say good night.  

Unintended Cleaning

 I had a remote doctor’s appointment today.  The actual appointment takes about 5 minutes.  The doctor office requires that I call in 30 minutes early.  After my 30 minute wait, I self report my required data.  Tan it’s back to hold for at least 10 to 15 minutes.  Then it’s less than 5 minutes with the offices N.P.  For this they get to bill the insurance company for a 45 minute office visit, because they can prove that I was on line for 45 minutes.  

So the fidgety person I am started cleaning and organizing my knitting room.  I usually take my call in there for privacy.  Also I have a sweet set up for my phone on a stand with a power source, so I can charge my phone.  The stand is also good for hands free calls. 

I filled up one recycling bag and took it out.  Put away 2 bags of yarn.  Found all kinds of samples of yarn, which I am dividing between sock yarn and everything else.  I do know that have more bags of sample yarn in the room.  I just have to find it.  I am in the process of winding every mini skein up.  I have more sock yarn than anything else.  I even took my squirrel cage to the kitchen table so that I could watch the television and wind yarn at the same time. I am thinking tube socks for the sock yarn, only because I hate making heels and scarfs for the rest of the yarn.  Everything will be very colorful.   I might , what a I saying , I will need help in making socks for my favorite charity project. If you would like to make a pair or two let me know.  The sock yarn is in the blue wash tub. There will be a lot of ends to weave in    If you don’t like weaving in the ends , I can do that.  All the other yarn is in the brown bowl.  

Giving Back

 Today was my annual trip to Walmart to fill a shopping cart with toys for a reasonable price.  They do it with yearly sales this time of year on a wide variety of toys and sports equipment.  I shop carefully to try to include as many age groups as possible.  I always include at least one Elmo stuffed toy in memory of Eric, who was a big Elmo fan.  I only fill one cart  to keep within my budget and space in my car.  I always include at least 6 Soccer balls in a variety of sizes and colors, soccer is very popular here in Tucson.

Not surprisingly at all, no one wants to get behind me in the checkout line.  It takes a while to put a whole basket of toys on the conveyor belt. I am getting more efficient at packing the shopping cart. The cashiers always ask how big is my family?  Then I explain that I never removed the yearly budget line for toys.  I figured that since my kids are out of the house I might as well use that money for toys, anyway to help the kids in Pima County have a better holiday season.  

So after I check out and load my car up.  I head to the nearest Fire Station to drop off the toys.  This year it took 3 firefighters one trip to empty the entire back of my car.  I thanked them for collecting the toys to help the kids and they thanked me for bringing the toys and sporting equipment.  

All the helpers were doing a good job today.  Please consider being a helper this year for your favorite charity project.   Because of the economy, I personally feel the need will be greater this year.  This is my personal guesstimate since I don’t have any empirical data to back this up. I certainly hope I am wrong, but I don’t think so.

The Perils of Designing

 When I start a new design I have an idea in my mind of where I want things to go. Sometimes I even have a very crude outline of the design.  I have stitches in mind. This is all well and good until two weeks into working on a design element, it is not turning out the way I want it to be.  

Then I spend some time thinking about all aspects of the design. First and foremost. Can I turn it into a design element? Would I actually wear it with that particular design element? Can I further modify the design element to make it look better? Can it be blocked out? Would it look too wonky? Would anyone else want to wear it?  Sometimes this takes weeks. Sometimes just the length of a television show.  

All I know is that 2 weeks worth of stitching comes out in about 40 minutes.  This includes winding the yarn into balls. Sighs! Then I pick up the next yarn and try something totally random and different.  

If at first you don’t secede, skip the chocolate cake. Pick up your yarn and needles to try again.  With  the hopes that it will come out even better than the first design.  

Enter the design world at your own risk. Please leave your egos at the door.  

A Fantastic Day

 Today was one of the best days of my year.  My friends and I at Old Pueblo Knitting Guild were very busy knitting this year.  I was very excited and privileged to be able to deliver a trunk full of hand knit hats and scarfs.  Along with blankets, school supplies, and socks.   I was very excited to deliver everything to the Flowing Wells School District for their Clothing Bank. The staff was so excited that they emptied the back of the car for me.  I think they already had plans for most of the hats and scarfs.  

Holiday Gifts

 My holiday gift creation was in full swing this afternoon.  I was supposed to be resting, however I figured since I was sitting down while working that was the same as resting.  I got one set of gifts completely finished and in a box waiting for December.  Another one only partially finished due to broken and missing pieces from the kit. A trip to the craft store is in order.   By the way they wanted a review on the kit, I gave it a one star.  I very rarely do that.

I also spent the morning with friends. It’s always nice hanging out with friends.  Since this was my crafty group I took my oak shawl and added a few more rounds.  

A First for Me

 Today I had to have a root canal. Normally they make me cringe and then I get all tense. Making the experience trying.  Today I did something different, I started taking slow deep and relaxing breaths.  I kept taking slow deep breaths. It seemed like just minutes later the dentist was pulling out all the gear. I had actually slept through the root canal.  I’ve got to say that was the best root canal that I have ever had. I highly recommend sleeping through your next root canal. Also the dentist did not mind at all.  I think it made it easier for both of us.  

Also not a drop of knitting was done today. I promptly fell asleep after dinner.  I will have to try again tomorrow.  I am calling it quits for the night.  

My Tunisian Crochet Shawl

 Tonight I am working on a one of a kind shawl for myself.  With the work I did tonight, I have enough of the next section done to show off a little bit of the silk.  The orange and green silk work well together.  The orange and green combination helps bring out the color of the gold Llama yarn.  

You might have noticed that I filled in the corners using some of the techniques that I learned in the Tunisian hat class.  I have still not finished that hat yet.  I am getting closer.  I just have to be at full spoons to work on that project.  

Since I am giving myself some grace, I will not be writing a pattern for this shawl for many reasons.  The first being that I have not kept notes on the project as I have been working on it. The second being that this is a stash dive project, all the yarn in the project has been discontinued.  Third, I just don’t have the spoons to do the hours of back end work to get a pattern out.  Forth and foremost is that I wants one of a kind pice of wearable art that no one expect me has.  This is the artist in me speaking out.  Last but not least is that I am using some of the most expensive yarn in my stash for this project. I am at least $150 USD in and I am only halfway through.  I like to make my patterns affordable and this one is in the I am not affordable for the majority of knitters.  

So it’s time to take a peak.   

R & R

 I am taking a few days of R & R.  See you on the flip side.  

Be productive for me.  

Shiny New Things

 If you are anything like me, you like shiny new things. For me this includes yarn. Sometimes I am right in the middle of a project. I have the rhythm of the pattern down pat. My audio book is playing.  Then just in an instant I notice a skein of yarn.  It is saying hug me. Cuddle me. Make me into something beautiful.  Put down that project, just find a bag for it and finish it later.  However, I have a very bad track record of repeating this cycle over and over again.  

I am currently in a cycle to finish UFO’s.  I was really excited when I made it through a whole basket of UFO’s.  Then started organizing the knitting room.  I found 2 more baskets and a very large bag of UFO’s.  I have since made it through most of the huge bag. I am also slowly moving through other projects.  So with the exception of car knitting, crocheting or class work. I am trying very hard not to start more projects.  

I also need to take photos and log them in my Ravelry account.  Then I will have at least 4 bags of finished projects will leave the house.  

I guess it is time to go back to pencil and paper for my to do list.  Here is my attempt from 2023. I am still going to try again.

Making Progress Everywhere

 My body is still trying to adjust to more activity due to cardiac rehab. I am finding that I had adjusted to less activity better than I thought. My calorie intake had adjusted to my activity levels.  I have just sent that out the window.  This has lead to eating at odd times and falling back asleep because my body is still trying to heal and manage calories.  I find that I can not eat as much as I use to.  I got up at 6 am for breakfast and then got sleepy. I slept until noon.  I had really intended to be at the mall around 10am for my walk.  I did make it there by 1:30pm. Take today for instance, I tried walking at the nearby outdoor mall.  I have not yet been cleared for graded walking so no walking around the block yet. I found that after 20 minutes of the 40 planned minutes I was very tired. I was walking too fast. I know this because my mileage was too high.  I have to figure out a way to walk slower and obviously it was not my current audio book.  I guess that I will have to ask what beat of music I should be walking to and creat a playlist. 

In Tunisian crochet, my Skill Builder Hat by aklori designs has picked up its pace.  I finished round 11 of the crown.  I am now have begun round 2 of the body.  Having never made a top down hat before has left me wondering when the body will turn into a tube. I can say with certainty that it will not occur in the first few rounds.  The body is the easiest part of the hat so far.  The body is also much faster to crochet.  

Time for tonight’s progress picture. When it is finished, if the orange is not the right color for me, I have the perfect friend to gift it to. It is starting to look very orange to me. 

Happy Halloween

 I don’t know about your trick or treaters post pandemic, we have had noticeably less trick or treaters.  Since I tend to offer candy and non candy items for the children I have found that they love the following items in order of what goes faster.  

1. Pencils and erasers. #2’s go the fastest followed by colored pencils, lastly pencils that are anything else. The animal erasers that you can switch the parts around, go the fastest. I never buy them around Halloween, but other times in the year when they’re on sale.

2. Candy - it does not matter which kind, just not marshmallows. 

3. Crayons  and bubbles for the younger children. 

4. 3D printing errors and benches.  All the benches come from printers that have left the house.  

5. Various Halloween items. 

This year to get some extra ice packs out of the house, I gave away sets to parents who were with their kids.  I still have one set left and it comes with its own canvas bag. Let me know if you want it.  

Have a good weekend.  

Boo-boo Fixed

 I had to rip out row 9  of the Skill Builder Hat by aklori Designs and crochet the whole row again.  I have to admit that the row looks better than trying to patch things up.  I am just not that good at Tunisian crochet yet. So I went with my strength and ripped the row out. By the way I prefer ripping out Tunisian crochet over knitting just because I don’t have to be as careful.  I just put a stitch marker where I want to stop and rip away.  Then I got to row 10 the hardest row for me so far. It required dropping 2 stitch markers to accommodate a change in the pattern.  As you can see from the picture below I am starting to add the 2 rows of curves for the medium size hat.  It took 1 1/2 television shows to get through row 10.  I think I should be calling them rounds, because I am crocheting in the round. Rows just sounds better to me right now.  

I have one more row to crochet before I start the body.  That sounds very easy after rows 10 and 11.  Just the Tunisian knit stitch and the Tunisian simple stitch for a lot of rows.  The good news is that I will be down to 1 stitch marker.  Then I get to the brim and have to learn 2 new to me stitches.  Wish me luck.  

Tonight’s progress.  You can see the first row of scallops that I added tonight.

It’s been a very hard day on my body so I am calling it an early night. 

One Booboo

 I have found 1 boo-boo on round 9 of the Skill Builder Hat by Aklori designs.  Tonight I just gathered up the stitches and put a stitch marker to hold it together.  Tomorrow I will go to the back side of the work and pick up the stitch.  I am hoping that the repair work will be similar enough to just pick up the stitches and put them in there proper places.  After all I have over 26 years of experience and people hand me their projects to fix all the time.  If it comes down to the worst case scenario, I will just take out round 9 and fix it.  I have really started to get my rhythm down on the crown work.  

Without further ado, here is the current picture. 

Not So Visible Progress

 In the not so visible progress I managed to start the next round of a bespoke shawl for me.  I am only using “luxury yarn” from my stash.  I am 3 full skeins in with skeins 4 and 5 currently being added.  So far I have used a merino and silk blend for 2 skeins.  One skein of llama.  Currently being added are 2 skeins of 100% silk yarn.  The center panel is Tunisian Simple Stitch.  The first 2 color blocks are a half double crochet.  The current round is Tunisian crochet in the round. Honestly it went much faster once the stitches were picked up off the half double crochet round.  I am not sure how big it will become.  Whether or not, I will add more yarn to the project. Or call it quits once I go through the current skeins that I have picked out.  Only time will tell, and of course more crocheting.  

I added a couple of more rows to a charity scarf tonight.  All progress stopped when the television shows became too interesting. 

Of course 30 minutes of house work and organizing required a 2 hour nap.  The antibiotics are just zapping my spoon level to the basement.  I even sat down to sort the silverware.  I have to say it was a little awkward, although everything was put in the proper place.  

My new Apple Watch is a bit more jumpy than I expected.  Putting away the plates triggered an alarm for loud noise. Excuse me have they ever had a baby crying in their ears nonstop? Smashing a bug that landed on my arm,  elicited an alarm for “did you fall? Do you need medical assistance?”. Cleaning and organizing has had multiple alarms for me to sit down immediately and rest.  At this point I’m not even sure if I bought a watch or a portable mother hen.  I have been using smart watches for a long while.  I have never had one this jumpy.  Of course my last watch refused to give me the temperature in Fahrenheit, one day it decided all it would do with Celsius no matter what I did. When it started dying I gave up brand loyalty and switched to an Apple Watch.  Does anyone have any suggestions on how to make the watch less jumpy? I would love to hear your thoughts.  

Visible Progress

 Today I made some very visible progress on finishing my UFOs. With only one project left in the bag, the big bag was empty,  I emptied the project from the big bag and placed the project in a smaller bag. Going through the yarn in the sheep bag, since it was not super wash yarn I put it in with the weaving yarn .  

For knitting projects completed today, there were 2 charity projects completed. One child’s hat.  One scarf for a teenager.  Now they are headed to a pile of finished projects waiting to be photographed.  Then off to be used by my favorite knitting charity. The clothing bank at the Flowing Wells School District. If you would like to help the Flowing Wells School District, just go to their website and click the donation button for the activity of your choice. For residents in Arizona, the money you donate can be taken off your taxes. Please contact your accountant for details.

You might have noticed the pin on the front of the larger knitting bag. It is in support of Ukraine, with the colors of the Ukrainian flag and national flower. Please remember the heroes in Ukraine. They did not ask for this war, but they will finish it and win..

A Salvage Mission

 This is the yarn from the 7 times failed hat project. The yarn has been in time out for about a week. Of course the idea popped into my head after dinner. With not enough time to finish it before tomorrow in honor of Malabrigo Day celebrating 20 years in one of the most difficult business to become successful in. 

 If you follow my blog on a regular basis you will know the trouble this yarn got me into.  Now I have a perfect solution for this lovely yarn.  A striped scarf using Malabrigo , I think it is Caprino, but don’t quote me on this. I got this yarn in a class with no labels.  I am using a 6 mm Tunisian Crochet hook. I am doing 5 rows of Tunisian Simple Stitch. Since I have not yet learned to invisibly hide the yarn carrying, I am using a similar method that I use in knitting.  I am getting better as I tweak each row.  I am on row 15 of actual rows right now, so that would be half way through row 8 in Tunisian Crochet.  As you can see from the picture below, the yarn is very happy in this new pattern.  This is what the yarn wants to be.  I think I will add a bit of fringe on the ends since my side edges are not curling.  

Round 7 Completed

 It took an entire hour.  I have completed round 7 of The Skill Builder Hat by aklori designs.  The piece is still flat. The rows look fairly symmetrical. I took the pattern one repeat at a time and made sure it was as perfect as I could make it before I went on to the next repeat.  That is why it took an hour for this round.  I am happy with the results so far. So it was well worth my time. Forward progress has been made. 

!! Eureka !!

 Sometimes, I personally find that when I frog a pattern too many times, the yarn picks up bad karma.  So I switched the color way and yarn out.  Tonight, I used Tunisian crochet on the Skill Builder Hat by aklori designs along with the yarn Born This Way and Amber dyed by Twisted Ambitions Yarn in Wicked DK.  I am using Amber as the main color. Born this way is the contrasting color.  I changed out all the stitch markers too using a red mushroom as the start / end of the round like I do in knitting.  After all red does mean Stop. Yes, a hard stop.  I am going old school with a Post it note pad and pen to count the rounds. That way if I forget to move the wasbi tape, I don’t repeat a row by mistake.  The first 4 rows are now complete.  Wish me luck, I have seven more rows to go before the pattern changes focus. This is my first crochet hat ever, so it is my current challenge project.  

I need to stop rambling. So without further ado, rows 1 through 4.  

A Restart

 The Skill Builder Hat was frogged one too many times.  They yarn started to felt together.  The felted yarn will not be wasted, they will be going into a dog pillow for our local humane society.  So I decided it was time for a restart.  So I went into my knitting room.  Looked at the shelves of yarn.  The first package of yarn that caught my eye was a package of 2 coordinating skeins of yarn in DK by Twisted Ambitions Yarn in Wicked DK.  The colors look great together.  They are Born This Way and Amber.  So as you can see both skeins are wound and ready to go tomorrow.   It was meant to be.  

This time I am not relying on taping under the rows, I will use a small pad and pen to keep track of the rows.  This way I don’t crochet the same rows twice.  I am going back to pattern basics.  

The new colors are below and are in super wash wool.  

A New Recipe

 I have a new recipe that is supper quick to put together.  The recipe is good for potlucks, a casual snack between meals and of course good with lunch or dinner.  A low calorie/ low sodium tasty delight.  As you might have guessed it is also vegan.   So without any further ado, here it is. 

Sweet Potato Squash Casserole 

1 18 ounce package of pre cut Sweet Potatoes or buy fresh, then peel and make 1 inch cubes

1 18 ounce package of pre cut Butternut Squash, or buy fresh then peel and make 1 inch cubes

3/4 cup of water

Pumpkin Pie Spice, I used Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Pie Spice, however you can used your preferred brand

1 large ovenproof casserole dish, I used my LeCreuset soup pot.

Pre heat your oven to 350f or if using a glass casserole dish to 325f

Rinse the Sweet Potatoes and Butternut Squash. Place the Sweet Potatoes and Butternut Squash in your casserole dish and toss. Pour water over the mixture.  Liberally sprinkle with your Pumpkin Pie Spice. Cover and bake for 1 hour. After 1 hour the mixture should be fork tender.  If not fork tender add additional cooking time in 10 minute increments.   

This dish can be enjoyed hot or cold without any guilt.  The picture below is the casserole minus 2 servings.  I do have a valid excuse. The casserole smelled wonderful straight from the oven and I was hungry. Please give it a try and let me know what you think.

The 5th try worked

 Ok, I ripped out the hat again. It’s my fifth try and I think I figured out my mistake. My end of roasted marker was to alike in color so I kept missing it. So I’m using an earring right now for my end of roast marker. That is until I can make a red glass bead stitch marker for crocheting. Or finding in an inexpensive pair of red earrings. Of course, red means stop much better than black-and-white. Below are my before and after pictures. For right now it will have to be a white and blue heart. 

All the other stitch markers have been put in a separate jar for crochet stitch markers. The top photo was beginning to look like a brain.

Where should I work on my project?

 Have you ever wondered how I choose which projects To work on while watching Television? Even which projects will never make it off a table with lots of light and lots of room to work, and never be done in front of the Television. Perhaps to take to your knitting group.

First off how complicated is the pattern? Is the pattern a simple garter stitch pattern. A simple broken rib. Is it a lace pattern with lots of yarn overs and knit 2 stitches together? Is it a pattern that requires more than 20 stitch markers? These are all things I consider when choosing which projects to do while watching Television.

I am currently working on two different hats. The hat I will take anywhere only has four stitch markers. These markers are my original counting markers. These markers will tell me one to increase or to decrease. So this hat, I will take anywhere and work on at any time. The second hat is a skill builder hat that I have been working on for a little over a week.  Each row in the pattern is different. I have more than 40 stitch markers and I’m only on round four. This pattern at this point will never leave the table. Which means it’s going to take longer to knit or crochet. 

How do you decide where to need a project?  I would love to know. Please let me know how unit or crochet.