The Next Step

 90 percent of the deep house cleaning is done.  It’s just things like the pantry, filing cabinet and curio cabinet that need my attention.  

So I am turning my attention to UFO’s problem. I currently have 4 baskets of UFO’s that need to be completed. UFO’s are projects that are in various stages of completion.  Last year I tried a log book to keep track of my UFO’s.  That was a terrible failure.  So I am going for a straight numbers thing.  For every 10 projects I completed, I have given myself permission to cast on another project.  The only exception to this rule will be charity knitting for the kids and some family members.  

To keep track of all this I plan on dropping a stitch marker in a jar for every completed project.  This should be totally doable for me.  It’s not like there is a shortage of stitch markers in this house.  I am also sure that I can find a see through jar or vase.  With a limited amount of hand time per day it will take longer than in the past. I have started this project today with a random project. I got 2 inches completed today.  Pictures for you of my progress when the items are completed. 

My goal is to get rid of my PhD in knitting. Projects half done.  Wish me luck.  

25 Years of Yarn

 I have just finished a massive 9 month project. 

I learned to knit when I turned 40. I thought that it was going to be good for 5 years of learning new things.  I am one of those people who need to constantly learn new things and techniques.  Even reading science journal articles. However; knitting turned into a rabbit hole for me.  First I learned to knit.  I was learning new things weekly in the beginning. I met great friends and developed friendships.  

I met Kathy Withers who was a great influence in my fiber art life. Kathy taught me spin on a drop spindle.  That lead to a whole new world.  More things to learn.  I learned all about fiber animals. I also learned that the younger the fiber animals the softer the fiber will be.  I learned the difference between different types of shepherds and the different philosophies about the animals.  What a carder was and how I could make one of a kind batts. That would in turn make one of a kind yarns.  Even though I don’t dye my own fiber I learned that when fiber is being dyed it’s best not to touch it or push the fiber under the dye. This will result in felted fiber which is very hard to spin. Kathy also taught me about weaving and the concept of neuro felting, although I was much too busy with family issues to take the time to learn. 

Another important influence in my knitting and fiber life is Vicky Konecky the Grandma of Grandma’s Spinning Wheel in Tucson. I started going to Grandma’s Spinning Wheel when Kathy moved her farm lock, stock and barrel to the east coast.  I have learned so much from Vicky and the various staff members and customers over the years.  I learned to spin on a spinning wheel and weave on a ridged heddle loom.  I learned about industry standards of yarns.  I was introduced to other fibers. I especially like the BFL, camel, silk and flax. I have determined that there are very few fibers that I dislike. It is always a comfortable place to sit and knit.  New yarn and fiber show up all the time. 

This is where I was at the beginning of the year.  I had yarn problems.  I had yarn beyond my life expectancy.  I had yarn hidden and in plain sight from one end of the house to the other.  In the garage the yarn was stacked in bins from floor to ceiling in big bins.  It was very overwhelming to me.  It was a creative anchor.  In the beginning of the year I gave yarn to friends and people across the country who could not afford to buy yarn. When they became overwhelmed I felt the anchor grip me tighter.  Then at the Old Pueblo Knitting Guild meeting it was suggested that we donate our excess yarn to the guild to raise money to cover expenses.  It was a big aha moment for me.  I started off in the house going through everything and found 4 kitchen size trash bags full of yarn to go.  Then I moved to the garage.  I limited myself to no more than 5 bins a day to go through.  The bags of yarn started to pile up.  So John moved them behind the couch.  I kept going.  Today I went through the last box in the garage.  I also looked at all my usual hiding places.  I filled another couple of bags.  

This picture is from the garage after I finished today.  Look at all those bins that John can use in the storage room.  We have give some empty bins this year too. This is so he can see inside every single box.  The bottom picture are the bags of yarn leaving the house tomorrow.  The boxes on the left are the only boxes of fiber left in the garage.  A little bit of fiber that needs to be carded and almost all my Sugar n Cream yarn.  I am sorry I don’t have a before picture, but imagine the boxes on the right with 2 more boxes on top, all the way across.  That is an awful lot of yarn that has left the house this year.  I feel lighter.  I feel more creative.  I hope this will give me more energy to create.  Most of all I am really sore from sorting through all the yarn.  My hands are really dry too.  It will take a couple of days of lotion for my hands to recover. The entire family is also happy.  What more could I ask for?  

My aspirational list

 This morning I was tired of the endless to do list that I have been making for decades. I also have been failing to complete them most days which I find quite discouraging.  So today it became my aspirational list. These are the things that I aspire to do during the day. If I don’t get everything done oh well, no harm done. I did manage to complete 80% of my aspirational list today which made me feel pretty good. My dad always said it’s not what you say, but how you say it that matters.  Words do make a difference. Now I just have to get rid of all the list that say to do, and convince people to make aspirational lists instead. 

I was very busy for most of the day. I can’t remember a day recently that I did six full loads of laundry since the end of 2019.  Now to be truthful, two of them were hand wash. But that’s still six loads of laundry. Except for the clothes drying on the clothesline everything is put away too. I haven’t done that in a long time.

I even found time to knit and spin today.  I also managed to get in 10 minutes of Zenning by partly cleaning out a drawer and filling a trash can halfway.  Plus get over 6000 steps just by cleaning house today. So all in all it was a busy day and I’m really tired. I haven’t done this much work since at least the beginning of February so I’d say I’m well on the road to recovery.

TTFN

A Very Busy Day

After an early morning doctor’s appointment, where everything was fine and healed nicely. There is also no visible sign of infection or inflammation. My sinuses are finally working again.  I am very happy with that.  

I accomplished knitting and grocery shopping today after my doctor’s appointment.  I finished hat number 7 for the year. Then of course started hat number 8.  I did not want the stitch markers getting lonely.  After lunch it was nap time.  

Also the clouds got in the way of the lunar eclipse tonight.  Not many good pictures.  I did do some spinning while watching the eclipse tonight.  I can spin in semi darkness.  That is my new superpower. 

I managed to craft today.

 I am spinning some yarn for myself.  The samples are on the smaller side, so I am plying the wool with a llama silk blend yarn  that I bought for a weaving project that will never happen. This will give me twice as much finished yarn.   I have to use the yarn for something. It might as well be me. Hopefully this will give me enough yarn to make a small shawlet.  I am in the middle of plying the third mini skein.  I have a great rhythm going. First I spin the singles for three bobbins. Then I ply those three bobbins.  I will use my 1 yard knitty noddy to skein them.  Yes, they are very small skeins, but not small enough for the knitty noddy that I use for my drop spindles. 

After I finished spinning and plying the entire set, I will divide them up by color ways and wash them in small batches using Soak Wash.  

There will be no pictures tonight because the antibiotic for my sinus infection has hit my tummy very hard today. I spent most of the day resting. I am half way through a 14 day prescription.  Therefore my knitting/ spinning room is very unorganized.  

Also my knitting hit awesome tonight. I found 2 dropped stitches in a black section of a shawl that I am knitting. I was able to fix both dropped stitches so that I can’t find the repair work at 12 inches. I have come so far in my knitting   I used to rip out something like that  now I just go to the row and fix it without have to rip out hundreds of stitches.  

Hopefully tomorrow will be better.  

Recovery Is Exhausting

 I find it just amazing how little it takes right now to tire me out.  This morning I emptied the dishwasher. Knit with friends for an hour before I started falling asleep.  Spent less than $75.00 at the store and put the groceries away.  

I was too tired to eat lunch instead I slept for about 3 hours.  My head hit the pillow and I was out for the count.  I woke up just in time to talk to John and tell him what I forgot to pick up at the store today.  

I started to ply 2 eight ounce bobbins into a DK weight yarn  I am wondering how many bobbins I will fill.

By dinner time I had a pounding headache. After dinner a cuppa helped get rid of the pounding headache.  

My goal tonight is to try to get a good nights sleep.  

The Streak - Day 2

 I am currently working through a weird streak.  Yesterday as you recall, I broke our coffee maker. According to Costco that model broke a lot. We did not even have to explain. Just show the paperwork work for the refund. 

Today was quite different.  While bending down to pick out my shoes for the day a closet clothing rack fell on my head. At least the clothes were soft. But the hangers did do a little bit of scratching.  So I cleaned off a couch. Then moved all the clothes to the couch.  Then I vacuumed up the mess. Cleaned my self up. Did my hair.  Had a very quick lunch. Started a load of laundry. Added water to the pool. Then went to have back to back lab studies done.  Then went to the grocery store where my discount card failed yet again.  I have signed up for that account at least 10 times.  But it’s always someone else’s fault that their discount card does not work as promised.  I re registered the dam app.  I think if it does not work this time I will send a note to the state attorney general’s office and complain about false advertising.  

The good part is that I found time to spin and relax.  After dinner I did some knitting   

Wish me luck that tomorrow will be a better day.  

Tour De Fleece Part 2

 My spin for the second third of the Tour de Fleece is complete.  I finished plying and skeining the last 3 skeins tonight.  The last skein is chain plyed.  I am still not very good at chain plying.  I do however feel that it is passable.  In case you are wondering the chain plyed skein is the one on the left   I used a 1 yard knitty noddy on it   

Tomorrow I start the last section of the spinning.  With the daily spins compressed. This means that I will open more than one packet a day.  

Without further ado here is the second section of spun yarn.  I am getting a little more finished yarn than I thought that I would do so a shawl might be out of the question.  Or maybe multiple shawls is the best answer.  

Testing My Limits

 As a spinner, I always like to test my limits on how full I can fill a bobbin or drop spindle.  My new Hansen mini pro e-spinner is no exception.  While plying my first bobbin of Tour de Fleece 2024 I got to within 1/8 of an inch of the flyer.  I was plying a worsted weight yarn.  I had o problem at all getting the bobbin filled with my first 7 stages plus a coordinating color.  I am spinning up the rest of the coordinating color to use as a break between the stages for knitting my new shawl.

I am still experimenting on where I want the bobbins that I am plying to be. I think I have ruled out having the bobbins adjacent To the e- Spinner, it is just too awkward to pull the yarn out smoothly from the bobbins. Right now I am experimenting with having the bobbins on a step stool which is about 12 inches off the floor. This seems to be working because I am not using my spinning chair. I am using a regular office chair. This seems to be a good distance and an easier plying experience. I also think the yarn looks better. I will have a better idea after washing the yarn to set the twist. 

I am projecting that I will not finish all the stages on time.  This is my current priority spin so I can get the shawl knit up.  I am not sure if I will use an existing pattern or design a new one.  It all depends on the yarn and what it wants to be.  

Spinning in the Dark

 Last night we had a rather wicked monsoon storm.  Over 32,000 homes and businesses in Tucson lost power.  A special thank you needs to go out to all he crews and staff of Tucson Electric Power Company who cut their weekend short to work through the night to get the power restored to the greater Pima County area.  There were still pockets of power outages this morning.  However the vast majority of businesses and homes had their power restored.  

Now it’s the turn of the cable companies, phone companies and data processors to fix their end of their share of the damage so businesses can run smoothly again.  I know that this will involve replacing some electronic equipment and rebooting other equipment.  This always takes longer.  

What we were doing during all of this.  We were out to dinner when the storm hit.  I just watched the very heavy rains while eating dinner.  It was not until we got closer to home that we saw and had to drive around tree branches that had snapped off of the trees. When we got to the house we realized we had lost power when we couldn’t open the garage door.  

John got all the flashlights ready.  He even had one that was powered off a drill battery.  It was too dark to knit because all of my projects are currently using dark yarn.  So I took my flashlight and grabbed a bowl of spinning.  We moved to the back yard to cool off.  The backyard was cooler than the house. I managed to spin almost 3 rolags in the dark.  I was using one of my Golding drop spindles.  I would highly recommend this spindle for spinning in the dark. The grove can be felt by finger tip. It’s very well balanced. The hook is very easily managed in the dark. Below is a picture of last nights spinning.  For a very low light spin, I am happy with the results.

Tour de Fleece Spinning

 The picture of the bobbins tell the next chapter in my spinning journey.  I have gotten much more comfortable with my new Hansen mini pro e-spinner.  I still occasionally turn the speed dial to off when changing to the next bobbin. Then wondering why it won’t start. I am getting much better at remembering to put the break back on after changing the bobbins.  I have found that with my arthritis using pearl cotton as the leader is much easier to see and for my hands to get the fiber settled into than sewing thread.  I might be sacrificing a few inches of yarn, but that’s OK with me. 

In the past 2 weeks, I have upped my spinning skills with the e-spinner.  The bobbin in the front left is the first bag of pencil roving for my older sister.  This bobbin is just shy of 8 ounces.  So the bobbins hold a lot of fiber.  There is one more bag of that color to be spun on a second bobbin.  I will ply them onto a third bobbin until full and then refill the bobbin until I run out of yarn. 

 The bobbin in the front right is the second third ( stages 8 to 14),of the Tour de Fleece spin from Hilltop Cloud in Mallwyd, Wales. Katie is a fabulous curator and dyer of fiber.  It is also faster to get something from Wales than from some parts of the United States. The bobbin in back is the first third of the spin of Tour de Fleece.  Stages 1 to 7. Today I received the extra fiber I ordered from the first day of the spin for the purpose of plying with stages 1 to 7.  I will show that off when I am finished plying it.  Yes, I must spin it first and fast, as I am running out of bobbins. 

For all those who are curious about my other spinning wheels, I still have not gotten the clearance from the doctor to start using them again.  I am hopeful that it will be soon; however, I am prepared to pivot if necessary. So change might be necessary. I really did not think that would happen at all. I have bought and tried 2 e-spinners that did not work well with me.  This time I tried before I bought it. E-spinners are like drop spindles and spinning wheels. There are many different types and there is a right one for each person.  You just might have to try a few to get the right fit.  

It was a wonderful way to spend part of the day. Even though it was cooler with a high of only 107 Fahrenheit or 41.66 Celsius.  Verses yesterday’s 112 Fahrenheit or 44.44 degrees Celsius. This is summer in Tucson.  Although as the population grows, I think Tucson is turning into a heat island with too many paved surfaces and buildings. With not enough desert landscape. The nights are not cooling down much either and I worry about our cactus. That is my personal opinion and as of yet has not been back up by the science people. 

Another Sunday in Summer

 Apparently it was not hot enough today for my freshly washed and thwacked yarn to dry in the garage.  At 108F or about 42C the yarn that was put out before lunch was not quite dry by bedtime. Maybe a high humidity of 18% is to blame.  It should be dry by morning.  

I almost caught up on my Tour de Fleece spin.  Instead of being 2 days behind, I am only 1/2 a day behind.  That is until tomorrow when I wake up to being 1 1/2 days behind.  Even with the e-spinner I have found that when I am having a difficult body day no matter how hard I try the yarn may just turn out a bit wonky.  Also I must remember to put the breaking cord on each time I change the bobbin.  Otherwise it really wonky things happen and it takes me a few minutes to figure it out.  With all that being said. I have had the e-spinner less than a month and overall it is going very well.   

I would love a change of scenery for some knitting.  However with the high at 109F I really don’t think outdoor knitting is really going to happen. It will be in the low 80’s at sunrise. Sighs.  So it will either be my audio book or watching the last episode of Geek Girl and finding another show to watch.  I really hope that they renew Geek Girl, it is cute and light television watching.   

TTFN

A First

 This is my first full bobbin for my Hansen mini E-spinner Pro.  It is a combination of Dorset Horn and Charollaise wool.  I started with the 4 ounces of the  Charollaise Wool and had enough room to add 4 ounces of the Dorset Horn Wool. Since this is going to be art yarn, I saw no problem with using 2 different breeds of sheep on the same bobbin. If you are a breed specific yarn spinner this is the point that you slowly walk away and do your own thing.  I am just tasting new to me fibers on my e-spinner. 

Tomorrow I will ply it with nylon novelty yarn.  Finish processing the wool.  Then weave it into scarfs.  They should make lovely holiday gifts.  

We tried a restaurant that we had not gone to in 6 years.  First off they did not have half of what I ordered.  Second, they asked John what I was going to have instead of what I had ordered, because of course they were out of it too. Really asking a man what his wife wants to eat. This is so 1950’s.  So my dinner consisted of 2 dinner salads, charred chicken and vegetables.  I really want to know how in world do you char carrots and leave a badly chard carrot to serve. If this is a new style of cuisine, I strongly object.  What did that carrot ever do to anyone. They also skipped the edamame that I ordered too.  I nibbled on some of John’s extra veggies too. Did I mention that the air conditioner was limping along too.  It went well with the food.  I think I will give it another 6 years before we go back. I will skip the name of the restaurant to protect the hard working wait staff.  

Where did Monday Go?

 Although I am feeling much better. My energy level leaves much to be desired.  After sleeping in and then taking a solo trip to Target for a few things,  it still required a nap after lunch.  I am snailing  my way back to health.  Maybe more like the inch worm  moving very slowly to get to where it is going.  I might now be able to move faster than a snail.

On the spinning front I should be able to get about 8 ounces of spun roving on the bobbin.  That will give me about 2 skeins of art yarn.  The art yarn will then be used to make holiday presents for the kids who use the clothing bank I support. Mostly handwoven scarfs because they go so fast, especially with bulky yarn. Don’t worry I have plenty of roving and novelty yarn to use up.   

TTFN

My Hansen mini Pro e-Spinner

 I am practicing with my new Hansen mini pro e- spinner.  I am slowly getting the hang of it.  I am using up white fiber that I have wanted to taste or for the non spinner to try.  I am practicing a little more each day with an hours limit so I don’t tire my hands out. This is so that I save some hand time for knitting later.

The spinning is getting a little better each time I sit and spin. I should be up to 15 Micron Merino wool by late this year or early next year.  As with anyone I teach, I  am starting out with a higher micron count for easy of learning.  The higher the micron count the less slippery the roving or fiber will be. As with all things spinning if you spin left handed like me you just do the opposite of what the directions in the book say.  Just for your information the left handed spinner draws the roving out with their right hand and use the left hand for control. 

I have finally found the right e-Spinner for me   My advice is to try a lot of different e-spinners before you buy. When you find the right one it will click just like your spinning wheels or drop spindles.  

In the picture below I have about 5 ounces of spun fiber on the bobbin have you noticed that my bobbin matches my e-spinner?  Once it is filled, I will ply this with novelty yarn and turn it into holiday present for kids by weaving one of a kind scarfs.  I really do hope that the kids will like them.  

****Please note that this e-spinner is a birthday present from my husband. The comments and opinions are my own. I am not being paid or compensated to write this blog post by the Hansen Company or any other company. ****

Setting Things Up

 Today I opened my birthday present. I know it was early. But I am having a hard time coping with my current health issues.  So we opened my present after dinner.  It is a Hansen mini e spinner pro.  I started putting it together and immediately ran into the left handed verses right handed spinning issues.  I have sent in my question and as soon as I have an answer I can start spinning.  

Now off to knit.  

Stress Cleaning

 Today I was so stressed out that I simply ignored my to do list that I made with the 2:30 AM, during a migraine.  We spent the weekend dealing with family issues.  They have not fully resolved. Before you ask my taller half and wonderful daughter and son-in-law are doing well.  My brother and his wonderful wife invited us over for dinner, long story short.  I called my brother and asked him to join us for dinner at a restaurant. He was smoking a leg of lamb so we drove to their house.  My brother is an awesome cook.  I really have to get a smoker.  I really adore my sister-in-law. They make an awesome couple and have great kids too. They are the perfect people to hang out with when I need to recenter..

You might recall that when I hit a certain stress level the only thing that calms me down is cleaning.  I spent most of the day cleaning. I put a lot of things away.  My efforts were clearly visible.  3 bags of recycling and 2 bags of trash later, I was still stressed out, but much more calm.  So I plyed 2 skeins of art yarn.  Then I started spinning some more merino wool to do more plying.  I still have 5 skeins of Little Flower Novelty yarn in red to ply.  I am thinking that they would make a nicely woven scarf for kids.  I was too stressed to knit or weave. 

I will try to sleep tonight. Wish me luck.  If not I have more cleaning to do.  

Spinning My Wheels

 It was a migraine type of day. So needless to say it was a green tea type of day too.  To relax I decide to do some spinning. I had a 4 ounce package of red Merino and fire star which I spun on my Lendrum DT. Next I plied it with some white Merino for a Barber Pole effect on my Louet Victoria.  I will skein the yarn tomorrow and then do the hot bath.  

It’s time to call it an early night. So TTFN.  

Things about the Summer Heatwave

 It has been so hot in Tucson that even my newest Yeti cups are being challenged by the summer heat.  I find that instead of adding ice once or twice a day, I always have to add ice to the tumbler after a trip outside plus a couple more times.  I can’t imagine how much ice I would go through without my Yeti 30 ounce Tumblers.  Also since I am drinking to keep up with the heat my tumbler is being filled more often. I even take it to the bedroom at night so I don’t have to go as far to get water.  That’s not all that the heat is effecting.  My Fitbit watch bands need to be washed more frequently too. Even the trees look hot and tired.  The little over an inch of rain was just not enough for them.  We have a new batch of younger lizards using our front porch as a cooling station, which is fine because in return they eat plenty of bugs.  They are even paving the roads at night because it’s too hot to pave during the day. 

I did venture out to go to spinning today at Grandmas Spinning Wheel and had a great time. I took a drop spindle because I did not feel like carrying my Louet Victoria out in the heat.  I left early when my hands got tired.  I know that they were tired because I dropped my drop spindle 3 times in 5 minutes.  That’s when I know it’s time to stop. I can home and took an unintended nap.  

It need not be said because it is happening so frequently lately, laundry was done by 9 am.  I gave my appliances the afternoon off.  

TTFN

I gave my appliances most of the day off

 Yes, it was another hot day in the Old Pueblo.  The monsoons are late.  The over night temperatures are not falling much below 90 degrees F.  Which means I have to start the laundry earlier to have the washer and dryer off before it hits 100.  Today I finished the laundry before 8:00 am and it was already in the high 90’s F.  

So this afternoon was spent listening to a book and knitting.  My hand is still very crunchy, but I have more use of it.  I worked on 2 different knitting projects and 2 different spinning projects today.  Nothing got finished.  

Tomorrow it will be more of the same.  Stay cool and hydrated.