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.