The Calm After The Storm

 Yesterday after talking to the 3rd doctor in 2 days, I finally have my head wrapped around last weekend.  Partly be cause I finally had a definite answer. Be cause of it I am less anxious and can get on with the very slow recovery process.  We are talking months not days. 

I am designing a new shawl.  I will play catch up on a lot of UFO’s, one project at a time.  I will catch up with getting patterns listed.  I do have one question for you though. If I open an Etsy store for my patterns would you use it if you currently do not use Ravelry?  

I also have another question.  Does anyone else knit both right and left handed. If so do you have a different knitting style for each hand? The knitting nerd in me is curious.  

TTFN.  It’s rest time again.  

Saturday in the Pecan Groves

I started out Saturday morning in the pecan groves of Green Valley at La Posada. It was the annual walk against hunger in Tucson. I managed to do 2.8 miles in 47 minutes. I am happy to say that the food bank exceeded its goal.

Then it was home for a quick shower and chores. I got most of my paperwork done. The mail and Etsy order were dropped off at the Post Office. Which happened to be on the way to Noah's 1st birthday party on Harrison road just south of Speedway. Yes I did a lot of driving yesterday.

To avoid eating too much at the party, I brought my knitting and made 4 mini washcloths for the older girls at the party. I made them promise to read to their younger siblings or parents in exchange for the washcloths. That added 120 rows to the 1 million row challenge.

I stopped at AJ's to pick up a light dinner. John made a wonderful salad with all the fixings. By 9:30 I was so tired and sore that I could hardly move. Eric had decided that I had too much fun and did too much gallivanting around so I can't do that any more. In his opinion Eric is job number one.

Surprised

Last night and today I got into dresses for services that I have not been able to wear for years because I was too heavy. I was totally surprised. John was not surprised at all. I tried the first on a whim and it looked great last night.  Then this morning I tried on another one and it looked good too.  I guess that I am in an inches losing phase.   This means that I have more options for clothes without spending money.  Yeah!!!

On the crafting front I was able to finish the scarf that I started last night.  I also tagged and priced over a dozen skeins of hand spun yarn.  I think I could have gotten more done if my pain level had not reached the tears because it hurt so much phase.  I may have over done it a little keeping Eric entertained this afternoon. 

What does everyone think about putting my hand spun yarn on my Raverly de stash page with prices or should I just list a few more on Etsy?  I am torn because I just don't have the SEO numbers to make Etsy a place for me to sell my excess hand spun yarn. Or are their other avenues that I should be looking at? If I get 10 or more responses there will be a prize drawing for the input.  

Now it is time to go top Eric off and try to get some sleep.  

Unusaly Good

Yesterday was an extraordinary day in my Etsy shop. I have sold out of all of my hand spun yarn. So last night I started spinning more. It will take me a few days to restock. I will be making skeins with more yardage, so if you have a color preference please let me know. Also let me know if you want some art yarn, as the majority of the skeins that I have spun never made it past my Tuesday knitting group.

Things have reached a new level of crazy and will get crazier around here. We are redoing the kitchen. The memories of the last remodel project 6 1/2 years ago is fading. So we are taking the plunge again. This time I have a bit more time so I will be decluttering the kitchen as I pack it up. I hope to get rid of things that I do not use or don't know why I have them. There will be some exceptions of course like my grandmothers grinder, I have good memories of her using it. My cake decorating supplies will also be off the chopping block for the most part. I still do make an occasional cake. I just wonder what I have hiding in the backs of the cabinets after 21 years in this house. Just maybe with more cabinets and less clutter everything will fit into my cabinets once we finish.

I need to go get ready for tomorrow.

Help Needed

With the next phase of deep cleaning, I am going to need every ones help. If you have been reading this blog for a while, you know that I am constantly creating new things. I have been hiding all the finished work in bags. In closets and drawers all over the house. Well John found just some of them. He was not to happy with all my "clutter". After a very gentle conversation it was decided that I need to fill up my Etsy shop with everything.

I will be putting as many finished objects a day in my shop as possible. I will have hand spun yarn. Hand sewn project bags and bibs, both regular and special needs. A lot of hand knit items not suitable for donation to charity. Some hand woven scarfs, my newest obsession. So if you can visit my shop and share my shop with your friends maybe we can have this next phase of cleaning done by the end of the month.

I will also have a de-stash section with yarn that I was in love with and now that I know a lot more about knitting can't really see myself using. I just love lace knitting, but with my current lifestyle I can not see myself knitting lace. So that is some of the first yarn to go. There will be other yarns and things as the month progresses.

What you will get are some very nice presents and useful everyday objects. Did I mention that the holidays are just around the corner. You can shop in your P.J.'s and have everything dropped off at your door.  What I will get is a very happy husband and a lot of closet space back..hum more closet space to store things...well maybe not so much.

So here is where the sale will be, https://www.etsy.com/shop/skaro964 . Please feel free to pass this on to everyone.

Letting Go

Some dreams are hard to let go of. Take my Etsy shop for example. I am just not selling anything. It is way more money out then money in. So I have spent the last month or so deciding weather I should continue it or not. Then G'd puts someone in the right place at the right time.

I was standing in line outside the opening of the new Whole Foods Market on Oracle this morning. I was knitting as usual. I was working on a wool hat. Then the unexpected happened. A woman behind me asked why I was knitting a wool hat in the middle of the summer heat. I told her that this was a charity hat for local kids in need. Now this is where the conversation gets even stranger. She said that she had just retired from the Flowing Wells School District where I had donated bags full of hats and scarfs last winter. "Last year some one donated a whole lot of hats just like the one I was knitting. All homemade. The kids just loved them. Sometimes even wearing them in the classroom to show that they had a new hat."

She then asked where these hats were going? I told here that I just drop them off at the superintendent's office of the Flowing Wells School district and then they take care of the rest. That brought a smile to her face. In that moment my mind was finally made up. Everything that I have earmarked for sale that does not involve silk or other fussy yarn will go to the kids.

This does not mean that I won't take on commissions. It just means that I will put more energy into designing patterns, charity knitting, weaving and other fiber arts. I will not be knitting in hopes that I can sell something. I know a few of you who are very close to me will say thank goodness and at last.

It also means that more knitting will leave the house. I know someone that will be very happy with this decision. It also means that I won't get depressed over my lack of sales, or waste hours of thinking how I can fix this.  Now it is time to spring sloppy joe's on John.

Monday Where Did You Go?

Monday was a very busy day around here. We had a couple of appointments followed by  errands. This left me pretty tired. So I can't figure out for the life of me why after I picked Eric up from his day program I decided to start cleaning the garage. I was dressed in a skirt and blouse for the earlier appointments, not dressed for cleaning. I also forgot to put an apron on.

Thirty minutes latter John and I had made a very small dent. We had filled 1/2 of empty recycling bin, you know the big on that rolls out to the street. Added more to the garbage can and the charity bin. We were even able to move 5 storage boxes from useless piles to easy access. This might not seem like a big deal, but it gave me a better idea of which yarn was going to be used up next in my yarn stash down challenge.

I am just thinking that it will only take a couple of dozen more hats and scarfs before I can refill the cotton basket with more one of a kind skeins of yarn to make more hats and scarfs. This will intern make more room inside for yarn to come from the garage to used. Looking around the house and garage it seems to me that I am about 50% of the way done in my goal of having yarn in only one area of the house with none in the garage.

The only thing that is really hindering my stash down process is my need to spin more yarn. To that end I will try to list a few skeins of yarn either on my Raverly stash down page or my etsy shop. Either way I will add links to my blog.

A Non Stop Day

Today was a busy day. I finally got to meet up with the girls for knitting. I only have 6 inches to go on the second half of the never ending poncho. I did not finish the laundry, but will throw a load on before bed. I listed 1 more skein of yarn in my etsy shop. Last but not least, I got the last spot for a yarn tasting tomorrow night at Grandma's Spinning Wheel. I have never been to one before.

The things I learned today is that unlike my Louet spinning wheel, the Ashford Traveler must be oiled before each use or it wont work. It wont spin worth a dam and makes wonky yarn.  It took me an hour to figure this out. Also when taking pictures there is a very sweet spot of natural light in the dining room in the late afternoon that lasts about 15 to 20 minutes. Pictures taken during this time frame come out perfect. I also found out that the word scrumming has many meanings and as it pertains to knitting is also called free form knitting. It is also some kind of computer platform, but that is way above my pay grade.

My advice for today is that if there is a question you really don't want to or should not answer, just return with a question along the same lines and the person usually answers back and then it dawns on them that they just answered their own question. Try it some time and let me know how it works for you.

Well its time to start some more laundry. Then call it a day.

An Uphill Climb

Today started out less than perfect for me. I did not sleep well. I also found a baby tarantula ( about the size of a silver dollar) in the bathroom at around 2am. I did manage to get him outside without waking the house. Although I think he was more happy in the house than outside. The question that still remains is how the heck did that little guy get all the way to the middle of the house? After that I found it hard to get back to sleep. So I woke up with a pre-migraine. I took my Tylenol and caffeine with breakfast. Around lunch time things started clicking for me.

After lunch I got the grocery shopping done. I also noticed something at the check out line today. When I save money with coupons the cashier usually says you saved x amount of money today. Today was different, I approached the $100 mark in savings with coupons. I did not even get to the 40% off mark. There were a lot of buy one get one free along with a few high value coupons. The cashier just looked at it and handed it to me. Then there was just enough time to put the frozen food away and pick up Eric from his program.

I added another 1 1/2 inches to the never ending poncho, I did make it to the second half of the second piece so that went well.  I also listed a few audio books on e-bay. Then went on to start stocking my Etsy shop Handmade~by~Sheri . John has mentioned that I have a little to much hand spun yarn hanging around and a lot of finished items. So it is time to zen the house a little. To that end I listed 13 items today with more to come in the next few days. To help things move I have added a coupon code for 50% off all items in the shop. Just use the code: "Husband" at check out. It will apply to your entire purchase through August 25, 2013. Please feel free to share the sale with all your friends. There is no limit on the amount of coupons that can be used. One coupon applies to the whole transaction.  The more that leaves the house the happier my guys will be, yes even Eric.

I almost forgot to mention that I have a new Face book page just for Handmade~by~Sheri where I will put all the shop updates. Just type in Handmade~by~Sheri in the search field. I would like to get to 50 followers of the shop by the end of the month, can you help me make that goal?

Well I think that it is time to call it a night.

Goodbye Old Friend

Over the weekend my Kitchen Aide K-5A mixer died. There was that awful noise of gears slipping while I was making some frosting. Today I got confirmation that Kitchen Aide does not make or stock parts for K-5A's anymore. This made me very sad.

I bought K-5A about 35 years ago. I got K-5 before I got married almost right out of high school.  I spent an entire paycheck on K-5A. I would have to say that it was one of the best ways I have ever spent an entire paycheck. It has been a big part of my kitchen since then. K-5A has made birthday cakes, other cakes, numerous wedding cakes and part of every holiday dinner since the late 1970's. I have made bread and cookies too. K-5A did what ever I asked of her.

I guess I will take my knitting money that I had been squirreling away for a new loom and put it towards a new mixer. I can live with out a loom. Yes, I can also live without a replacement mixer but I don't want to. That would mean I would have to go back to mixing, slicing, shredding and what every else I asked K-5A to do by hand. Please believe me that it is much easier to use a mixer to make frosting then it is by hand. Yes it can be done and I would burn more calories, but it would be harder on my joints.

Yes, I forgot to budget for it. After 35 years of faithful service I never thought that she would die. Lesson learned add a small appliance replacement line to my budget in the future. In the mean time with the code K5AFREESHIP I will give free shipping for any item sold in my shop to up my mixer budget. The link for my etsy shop is at the side of my blog. Thanks for listening to me tonight.

A Fibery Day

Today was a very lay back day around the house. Both they guys got up and then decided it was nap time. Thus it turned into a very fibery day for me. I just love play time, don't you? I got caught up on washing yarn, some fleeces and a delicate hand wash item. I also carded 4 new batts for Teri's shawl from the fiber I washed last week. Did I mention that I love how soft and squooshy the alpaca yarn is?

I also got to watch the Disney Christmas parade. I worked on a new scarf during the parade. I did get caught up and do chores during the commercials. It was knit 2 rows do a random chore, repeat. 3 loads of laundry, with a little tidying here and there. John did remind me after the parade was over that if I had TiVo'ed it I could have just skipped the commercials altogether. Well I would not have hustled as fast to do the chores.

I also found time to list 2 new hot of the knitting needles, items in my Etsy shop. A new hat and a neck warmer.  I will try to find time to list a few more items this week.

If you have not seen it yet the Dr. Who Christmas special is not to be missed. I really can't tell you more, but you really have to watch it. Well its getting late.