20,21 and 22

The next 3 projects are dog pillows.  No fiber goes to waste.  The stuffing is made from yarn scraps, fiber leftovers from the carder, left over fabric scraps from sewing, UFO’s that are not worthy of finishing or tinking and mixed with Polly fill to even things out. Nothing goes to waste. I use material from my material stash and material that can be gotten for a good price on the clearance table. They are give to dogs without charge.  This is a great recycling project.

I Have Been Busy

I have big news. I have spun, knit and woven through my entire stash of yarn. All my sewing projects are caught up too. Now I can go play with some jewelry making.

A Long and Hilly Day

Today started out at 5 am with Eric wanting attention, T.V. and to have the covers put back on. Then I put last night's wash in the dryer and started the laundry for the day. I think it was about 5 loads, but don't quote me on that.

Eric supervised and napped while I worked on his new bibs. I only got 4 finished today. I have 6 more bibs to make. If you would like to make some of the bibs I make for Eric you can find the pattern here. Please remember that this pattern is for personal use. You may not use this pattern to sell these bibs. With that said, if you are in love with the pattern and want to make some to donate to a local special needs program or school please feel free to make as many as you like. Just send or post a picture or two before you send them off.

There was also a final goodbye to my friend Faye today. We need more people like Faye in this world. Faye was always kind and generous in spirit. A wonderful student who also brought a great question  or thought to the Torah Study group. Always had a kind word to say. Was always a lady in the classiest sense of the word.  I wish that everyone could have known Faye. She will always have a place in my heart.

A Blanket and Zenning

Today I started a new blanket for Eric. All I have left to do is pin and quilt it tomorrow. It was nice to get a blanket started this year. I used two twin sheets to make the blanket. It really feels good to have enough energy to get projects completed. Finished projects equal less clutter. 

I have decided to switch from polyester batting, the only batting that was available when I started quilting so last century to cotton batting. The polyester batting is a little rough on my hands and I can not pin or use the sewing machine with gloves on. I have ordered the two cotton batts that I need to finish two more blankets this year. The remaining polyester batting will be give to friends. This has freed a lot of space for yarn storage. This will let me get a bit more organized.  

Thanksgiving Dinner

After more than a few years, I actually have Thanksgiving Dinner for 2 down pat. The secret is to make fewer side dishes. Today I made 1/2 of a turkey breast, stuffing, cranberry sauce and green beans. We skipped the candied sweet potatoes , rolls and the second vegetable. We used luncheon plates instead of dinner plates and dinner was perfect. We were comfortable after dinner and not in a food coma. I think that this is my new game plan.

Did I mention that I was the one to spill cranberry sauce on the pale green damask table cloth. I sprayed it with Tide stain remover to pre treat and washed it as soon as the table was cleared. I would like to say thank you to the people at Procter and Gamble for making Tide. The cranberry sauce stain came out in the wash. The paper napkin that I forgot to take off the tablecloth did not fare as well.

I have got to make a list of fiber and art projects that need to be finished before the end of the year. It occurred to me today that the holidays are really here. I have enough projects to keep me busy until mid December. So if I am not on Facebook or Twitter I will be sewing, knitting, quilting and making jewelry for presents. I think I might just try to wrap things as I go. At least my sewing machine just had a tune up.

Well it's time to get back to some knitting. I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

No Presser Foot 18

The day started out very slowly due to a headache. I trudged through the laundry and finished all 4 loads today. After dinner things started clicking. I hemmed and hung the new bed room curtains. Reapired the lace work on a jacket. Then I went to the next repair job and came to a sudden stop. I do not have the number 18 presser foot for my sewing machine. Thank goodness for Amazon, the repair will be made later this week when the presser foot will arrive.

I am hoping that tomorrow will be better.

Sewing

I spent the day sewing. This was a plan to give my hands a break. I tried to work around a BBD and had partial sucess. I finished one quilt, which is now in the dryer. Pictures of the quilt will be posted after the birthday person gets to unwrap it. I started catching up on repairs too.. one skirt is now in the wash and the next one will head to the wash tomorrow.

By lunch time my body won and got a nap. Everyone went to their own quiet place to take a nap. The nap did not seem to make a diffrence for Eric. He had a small sizure tonight followed by by wild eyrps an hour later. So we will be laying low all weekend. I wonder how much cleaning and sewing that I can get done this weekend. Laundry is a given, it just depends on how much laundry Eric makes. I am backing down on knitting until my hands feel better. This means that I will not get 31 hats knit this month but every hat that I have made so far will help a child. Let me know if you want to knit a hat, scarf or sweater for a child in Tucson. I have some donated yarn that you can use.

Have a great weekend.

22

You might have noticed that my knitting has slowed to a crawl. My hands are being very cranky. So I have been filling my time with deep cleaning. It is starting to take some thought as to what is going to get cleaned next. I have also taken out the sewing machine to catch up on repairs and make a few items for this October's Taglit fundraiser. I need to come up with new an exciting gifts that people have not seen before. I also want to use as many supplies from my art supply stash as possible. As I am organizing things, I have found that I have more art supplies than I thought I did. So look for some awesome new stuff in October.

With out futher ado here is hat 22 and part of the new quilt.

15 and More

I got to go watch Sue Houseman of Sewing with Sue give a talk today. If you ever have a chance to see her talk, it is a must do. She had lots of wonderful ideas. I will be trying some out soon.

Hat number 15 is done. Hats 16 and 17 have been cast on.

10

The 10th hat of the month. Also a lot of sewing.

Cleaning

I spent most of the day cleaning. I did a little deep cleaning too. When I was too tired to do anything else I srarted sewing pillows for Eric. I have 2 out of the 5 that the program requested. To try to deter pillow theft this time in red permanent marker I wrote "Stolen from Eric K" on the pillows in spots where they can not be covered up. They only question remaining is how fast they will be stolen from Eric this time? On the knitting front I finshed hats 8 &9. Hats 10 & 11 are now cast on.

A Slow Saturday

The reorganization of the yarn last weekend has has a positive effect. I have found a lot of UFO's that are now back in progress. Some of the projects are so old that I no longer have the outfit that I was making the hand knit item for. For these I will finish them and put them in the box to be sold for the Taglit fundraiser later this year.

I also finished 2 more hand knit hats today and cast on 2 more hats. One hat is in cotton and the other is wool. Below is a picture of the pile of hats, 19 hats and still standing. The hemming of the 5 skirts also got started today. No deep cleaning was done, I took a nap instead.

Hopefully Optimistic

Right now I am hopefully optimistic about Eric. He went to his day program in what seems like forever, but I know it has only been a month. He had a great day and was all smiles when I picked him up. He has not fallen asleep yet. I am hoping that this is a good sign. I don't think he will ever be a five day a week kid ever again, but just to be able to get Eric with his friends 2 or 3 days a week will be a great relief to me.

I used my time off to knit 1 row of lace. I now have just 1 more lace pattern row and 2 purl rows before the last 3 rows of garter stitch. It should be done in time for the Old Pueblo Knitters Fashion show next month. If you are in Tucson and want to come just follow this link, Old Pueblo Knitters. Even if you don't knit it is fun seeing all the hand knit creations. Then I will work on an art piece for a local knitting competition.

Now its is time to get some sewing done.

A Long Day

Today was a very long day. The good news is that Eric is on the mend for at least the current moment. I spent the day taking care of Eric and cleaning. I am so tired that I can not see the progress, but John says that he can see it. So I must have gotten something done.

No craft or art projects were finished today. I am on day 5 of a hand knit hat. I have not taken so long to finish a hat in almost a decade. I hope to finish it tomorrow night. Meanwhile I have lost enough weight that at least 4 skirts need to be hemmed, but I need someone to do the pinning. I can drop another size because of the construction of the skirts, but 2 inch heels are not cutting it right now. I am tripping on the length and wearing holes in the hems from walking around the house without shoes on. I know that this is a good thing. I just wish more of my friends sewed so that I could trade a favor for them pinning the skirts.

I think that that I am ready to call it a night.

More Deep Cleaning

OK, so today I actually hired someone help me with the deep cleaning and organizing. At times it really helps to have another craft person to help organize a craft room instead of an engineer. While we were deep cleaning we also managed to get a few quick projects finished and out the door including a 4 foot by 3 foot dog pillow. It is bigger than Eric and very hard to finish. It took 2 of us to get the last seam sewn. I did the sewing and Amber held up the pillow. I also found 2 sets of old soft cloth diapers that needed to be surged in half so that the cleaning rags don't land back in Eric's room as face wipes.

Amber and I also divided the yarn into kits and projects in progress and just yarn. I have officially turned 1 closet into a Fibber McGee closet with fluff.  Sadly all the fluff did not fit in the closet, so I will have to look for more homes. We also separated the weaving supplies out so I know what I have to weave.

Amber and I decided that I was going to be the go to person during the Zombie Apocalypse. I will have all the fiber you could want for a price. We figured that I would have about a year's worth of knitting in my kits and at least 2 years worth of spinning. We did not even take a guess at the weaving supplies.  I also am passing on a sock pattern and using the yarn for something else. A few more balls of yarn were added to the destash bag too.

Still to go through tonight are a pile of patterns. Some from 12 years ago when I started knitting. I also found more knitting books not already on the shelf, so I think a book purge might be in order, but not today. My mind says keep cleaning, but my body says nap. So I will rest until its time to cook dinner. When John called after work, being the great husband that he is,"said that I sounded tired and is bring home dinner." 

When Sharing Is Not Good

Eric has shared his cold. It's not my favorite thing to be sick. At least I have been able to do limited knitting and crochet projects. I am on a cup cozy binge right now. I have 7 finished with 4 waiting to be seamed. I have also sketched two other versions of cup cozies too. I plan on making 24 of each design by the  November 10 fundraiser.

I have also started to piece together the shabby chic quilt. Hopefully it will be finished soon so that I can make a few more sewing projects. They have the added bonus of not hurting my hands and being faster to make.

The more I use my hand the better it seems to be within limits. My ring finger is still not up to par, but I am working on that every day. I have not tried to fold laundry yet, but hanging up wet clothes for the clothes line is getting better. Each day is a little better.

Cleaning at a New Level

This morning I have taken my cleaning to a new level. Over the years I have ended up with bits and pieces of fiber left over from other spinning projects and samples that I just did not know what to do with.  So this morning I got out my Ashford Art Carder, so appetly named I think. I am taking many little bits and pieces and mixing them up together to make one of a kind mini batts to be spun up into you guessed it more art yarn.   Here is the batch of 7 batts that I made this morning.

I also managed to spin 1 art skein too.  It was a very crafty day around here.    I had friends over working on projects too.  Amber managed to make 2 bibs from scratch and appliqué Elmo's on 4 bibs.  Amber also finished a twin sized blanket for a gift. I taught Lisa how to use her new to her spinning wheel and she made some great art yarn. We will have to do this again.  

Happy Summer Solstice

I just love summer. This summer is no exception. I am keeping way to busy with too many projects going at the same time. Spinning, weaving,sewing and knitting projects are getting finished at a good rate.  I am really enjoying my creative streak. 

We have hit a real cool down in the summer heat.  I think our wonderful days of 110f are gone for a while now.  There might even be rain in the forecast. 

My next deep cleaning project is going to be the kitchen.  It is going to be a real treasure hunt.  Who knows what will land up at Goodwill.  I think I will start off simple and just demagnetized the fridge, I bet I can fill a large Tupperware container with just the magnets on the fridge. 

I think that I will either spin or clean house to unwind right now. 

The Laundry Monster Rears its Ugly Head

Laundry seems to be my downfall this week. As of this morning I have done 15 loads of laundry since Sunday, 4 of them were made in just a few hours last night. Yes Eric did have a very eyrpy night last night. The outlook does not look much better for today.  I have at least 3 more loads of laundry as of 7:00 am this morning. Its only Tuesday morning!  

I asked Eric if he could slow down in making more laundry this morning explaining that after I finish what is in the laundry room I will have done 18 loads of laundry this week. That we still have 4 more days to go this week. I asked if he could limit his laundry production to only 7 more loads this week to keep his total at 25 loads of laundry. His response was to roll his eyes and give me the look like its my job to make laundry.

Thank goodness Target had Tide on sale a few weeks ago so I won't run out of laundry detergent. Laundry detergent is like gold around here, I can never have too much. I seem to go through detergent like water, even using line one on the cap I am lucky if the 75 ounce bottle lasts for 2 weeks.

So I plan to spend the rest of the day doing laundry and knitting. If Eric does take a nap, I will see how many of the 5 towels that I can get finished, so I can can get more sewing projects out of the way and get some weaving done.

I am Overwhelmed

I agreed to do a project on a very short time frame. I knew going in that it was going to be nearly impossible to finish without someone else helping with the sewing. With any luck at all, I think I should reach about 75% completion by my dead line. I feel really bad that some very good people will be given IOU's,but then again I don't think that I can sit at the sewing machine for another 8+ hours again tomorrow.  

Today I left the sewing room ready to throw the sewing machine out of the window. John in a perfect way that only John can do, ushered me out of the sewing room and closed the door for the night. Then redirected me towards dinner.  The chicken and roasted vegetables were even better the second night.   I am so glad that the asprain kicked in before bed time. 

I think tomorrow I will limit myself to no more than 4 hours at the sewing machine.  I tried the impossible today and did not make it.  My body is worse for wear. I think it's time to rein in my goal to be more realistic. My body and family will thank me. 

Lesson learned from this fiscaso. If I think a job will take 3 weeks, ask for 3 weeks.  Never say that I will try to get it done in 1 week. It's just bad in so many ways.